Zombie Tide

"These two..."

If he hadn't seen Sun Xiaoqiang's post, Lin Dong might have believed it.

On this shelter's official website,

there was not only information about rescue teams,

but also sections for pleas for help, mutual aid, discussions, and more.

Many people in the shelters were venting their complaints there.

"I'm starving to death. Can anyone give me something to eat? I can pay with my body. I'm a professional model..."

"Fuck! I'd like to give you some, but I don't have any either."

"If you're really that hungry, I can produce some milk for you to drink..."

"Is that milk of yours the proper kind?"

"Hehe, I dug foundations yesterday, and the shelter rewarded me with a quarter of an instant noodle block. It was way too much; I couldn't possibly finish it. I didn't even add water to the noodle soup—I chugged it in one go. That's what I call wasteful..."

"..."

It was clear that supplies in the shelters were extremely scarce. But people were productive resources, which was why they kept rescuing survivors everywhere.

Someone had also reposted a Tech Company research report.

"According to our company's research, Brain Cores can form inside the heads of high-level zombies. Human Awakened can absorb them to rapidly increase their strength. Therefore, our company is currently capturing Zombie Kings, an initiative designated the King Hunt Operation!"

Tech Company had previously launched a "Zombie Elimination Plan," and now they had come up with a "King Hunt Operation." They had been particularly arrogant lately.

Lin Dong was pondering this

when he suddenly heard a rough, sobbing "woo woo" howl from outside the door.

"Why is he crying now?"

Judging by the sound, it wasn't Little Eight, the female zombie, but the tall and mighty Tank.

Lin Dong walked to the door and opened it.

Sure enough.

A burly figure filled his view. Tank's body was covered in knotted muscles, but there was a charred black mark on his broad face, as though he had been burned by fire.

There were also wounds from bullet impacts on his body. But he was physically robust, and they had already healed without causing any serious harm.

"Woo woo woo woo woo~~~"

Due to evolution, Tank had developed basic emotions as well. He was crying miserably now, like a five-hundred-pound child.

His crying conveyed only one meaning.

"Humans bullied me..."

"What happened?"

Lin Dong asked.

"Woo woo woo, woo woo woo, woo woo."

Tank gestured wildly, like a child complaining to his parents, but with his current intelligence, he couldn't fully explain himself.

At that moment, the Doctor Zombie stepped out from behind him.

"My king... humans occupied the prison. They want to hunt us, and among them is someone who has condensed a Crystal Core and can control fire."

"Oh..."

Lin Dong nodded, already understanding what had happened.

Once a human Awakened's "Brain Core" evolved into a "Crystal Core," they would awaken an ability. Clearly, that person was a fire-type ability user.

"What does a Crystal Core... taste like?"

Lin Dong had eaten mutant beast meat and Brain Cores before, and they tasted good. Only Crystal Cores remained untried.

But presumably, Crystal Cores were definitely better than Brain Cores.

Lin Dong had been lying low at home for half a month. He felt it was about time to go out for a stroll, so he sent his underlings the signal to "hunt."

"Roar—"

Tank immediately stopped crying and let out a roar.

The roar seemed to trigger a chain reaction. Thousands of zombies near the building grew excited, their roars ringing out without end.

Lin Dong stepped onto the messy street, followed by his three underlings: Tank, Little Eight, and the Doctor Zombie.

And behind those three underlings

were thousands of vicious zombies.

A sizable zombie tide had already formed. With the strength of this zombie horde, they could completely swagger through this terrifying apocalypse.

Mutant rats, mutant snakes, and other creatures by the roadside shrieked and fled when they saw the ferocious zombie tide.

"All troops, advance."

"Roar—"

At Lin Dong's command, the zombie tide released earth-shaking roars, then charged forward in a frenzy toward the prison.

At that moment, more than a hundred people guarded the prison. Armed to the teeth and dressed in uniform combat suits, they were all from Tech Company.

With the prison's high walls and watchtowers, ordinary zombies couldn't get in at all.

So they were quite relaxed.

In one room, a young man sat on a sofa while two curvaceous women attended to him.

The young man was the fire-type ability user, Zhang Xiaoyuan.

For him, getting women in the apocalypse was far too easy. All he needed to do was give them two pieces of bread.

Before the apocalypse, Zhang Xiaoyuan had been a 996 office worker.

Now that he had become an Awakened, Tech Company had invited him over and kept him well fed and well supplied.

"Feels good~~"

Zhang Xiaoyuan couldn't help sighing.

At this stage, not many Awakened had managed to condense Crystal Cores.

Zhang Xiaoyuan had killed high-level zombies and absorbed their Brain Cores. Among humans, he absolutely counted as a powerful figure.

"I need to hunt more Zombie Kings and keep evolving. In an apocalypse novel... wouldn't that make me the protagonist?"

He mulled it over inwardly.

There was food and drink in the apocalypse. The goddesses who had once never even spared him a glance now submitted at his feet and served him obediently.

It was practically the perfect underdog comeback story...

But just then, someone rushed in hurriedly.

"Brother Zhang, the drone we sent out filmed a zombie tide heading this way."

"A zombie tide?"

Zhang Xiaoyuan's expression didn't change. He wasn't particularly afraid.

Instead, another thought occurred to him. If it was a zombie tide, then a Zombie King had to be leading it. He could hunt it down and obtain its Brain Core.

"Come on, let's go take a look."

Zhang Xiaoyuan then climbed to the watchtower atop the high wall. Looking into the distance, he indeed saw a vast black mass filling the streets.

Countless zombies were sprinting forward, their roars unceasing.

"Pretty fierce... Once they enter range, open fire."

"Yes."

The person beside him answered.

When the zombie army drew near, an order rang out, and the firing positions atop the high walls began shooting. Bullets poured down like raindrops, forming a storm of metal.

But many of Lin Dong's underlings' underlings had already evolved. Their bodies were exceptionally tough and possessed healing abilities.

Taking a few bullets was no big deal.

They climbed up from the ground and continued charging forward.

Before long, the zombie tide arrived beneath the high walls and began forming a human ladder.

"Hehehehe~~"

Little Eight gave an eerie laugh. Her jumping ability was now incredibly strong. Stepping on a zombie, she leaped into the air and actually jumped straight onto the high wall.

With a swipe of her claws, she disemboweled a guard.

Tank picked up a massive boulder. Like throwing a discus, he spun around several times before hurling it upward.

"Rumble!"

The boulder smashed the watchtower apart, sending the people inside plummeting from the wall.

"Something's wrong..."

Zhang Xiaoyuan vaguely sensed that something was off. He realized these zombies were anything but ordinary.

Then a crossbow bolt shot over,

piercing through the head of a guard beside him.

"Fuck???"

Only then did Zhang Xiaoyuan realize what the problem was...