The King's Arrival

This zombie's physique was far too powerful. It was practically a humanoid beast!

Still, the heavy armored vehicle slowed Tank's pace somewhat.

But before anyone could breathe a sigh of relief, a slender figure appeared behind Tank. A strange smile hung on her face as she charged toward them at terrifying speed.

Little Eight had evolved to an extremely high degree. She had now condensed a Crystal Core and awakened the ability Rapid Shadowstep.

Once her movement speed reached a critical threshold, she would enter an invisible state. It was an eerie ability that allowed her to approach her targets without their knowledge.

One of the armed personnel was firing ahead.

The Female Zombie rushing toward him grew faster and faster, then vanished in the blink of an eye.

"Huh? Where did she go?"

The armed man instantly lost his target and froze in confusion.

He hurriedly looked around, searching for that terrifying figure.

But the very next second—

A horrifying smiling face appeared right before him. They were so close their noses nearly touched.

"This..."

The man blanched and instinctively stumbled backward.

But Little Eight's sharp bone claw slid into his neck as easily as cutting tofu.

Then she flicked her bone claw upward, sending his head flying far away.

"Shit! It's coming over!"

Several armed personnel nearby turned pale with fright. One of them was a Brain Core Stage awakener. He reacted the fastest, gripping an alloy steel blade as he charged at Little Eight.

Little Eight flashed aside and vanished again.

When she appeared next—

She was already behind the awakener.

With a wet squelch, her sharp bone claw plunged into his lower back and yanked out one of his kidneys!

"Ahhh—"

The awakener let out a miserable scream, convulsing as he collapsed in agony.

"That's too terrifying!"

"Th-this is a Wraith Zombie!"

"Run!"

The armed personnel had no will left to resist. They turned and tried to flee.

"Hehehehe~~"

Little Eight let out a strange laugh and immediately chased after them, knocking down someone every few steps.

Her bone claws were covered in blood, which dripped continuously. Her eyes shone with even greater excitement as she reveled in the thrill of hunting.

Lü Hao and the other main combatants noticed the disturbance. They realized that even Brain Core awakeners were no match for Little Eight.

"We have to stop it! We can't let it keep slaughtering people!"

"I'll do it!"

Xu Jian volunteered again. He believed that, with his lightning-type awakening, he should be able to keep up with her speed.

Of the five hundred armed personnel they had brought, two-thirds had already been killed. Only a little over a hundred remained.

Lightning danced around Xu Jian's body, and violent energy rippled outward.

He was just about to stop Little Eight.

But suddenly, an even more powerful pressure spread through the air. From the distant street, it felt as though a sea of blood was surging toward them.

Everyone's hearts tightened as unease spread. It was a suppression embedded in their genes, enough to make their souls tremble.

The true king had appeared!

They turned and stared, discovering a tall, slender young man standing in the street. He wore a spotless white shirt.

His expression was indifferent, his eyes hollow. There wasn't a trace of emotion in the way he looked at them, as though he were looking at... corpses!

"Th-that... is that a zombie?"

The female awakener was not quite sure.

Lü Hao's brow furrowed deeper and deeper.

"Yes. It's my first time seeing a zombie like this too. I think... he's the true Zombie King!"

"He feels hard to deal with..."

As a Mental Type awakener, Xiao Wen's intuition was exceptionally sharp.

With the Zombie Kings appearing one after another, urgency filled their hearts. They felt as though they were stepping deeper and deeper into an abyss.

Xu Jian felt just as anxious. If they did not eliminate a few Zombie Kings, their situation would only grow more difficult. He was starting to panic.

"Then I'll deal with you first!"

Xu Jian gave up on Little Eight, turned, and charged at Lin Dong.

As a lightning-type awakener, he was extremely fast. Lightning danced around him like a bolt of lightning!

Lü Hao did not stop him. In terms of offensive power alone, Xu Jian was the strongest person on the team, the equivalent of the King-Hunting Action Squad's "blade tip"!

But what happened next left them completely dumbfounded.

The instant Xu Jian approached Lin Dong, his speed suddenly dropped sharply. It was as if he had fallen into a swamp, his movements becoming incomparably heavy.

"Not good, Xu Jian is in danger!"

Lü Hao quickly realized something was wrong and considered how to go support him.

But Lin Dong's Zombie King Domain had already enveloped Xu Jian. While his body was stiff and his movements sluggish, Lin Dong passed by him and casually reached into his head, taking out a bright white Crystal Core.

It felt... like pacing through his own living room, then picking up an apple from the coffee table as he passed it. Effortless and natural.

Xu Jian's widened eyes began to lose focus. His terrified face still bore an expression of utter disbelief.

Then his corpse crumpled softly behind Lin Dong.

A group of Elite Zombies immediately pounced forward.

They devoured the corpse!

"Oh my god!"

Lü Hao and the others were completely stunned. They had not even seen what had happened before Xu Jian was killed. He had been the strongest attacker in their team!

This zombie was too terrifying!

"Wraith Zombie!"

"This is a true Wraith Zombie!"

Lü Hao's brows knotted into a deep frown, and his mood sank to rock bottom.

The others grew even more uneasy when they heard that.

"S-senior, does that mean... we're all going to die?"

The female awakener asked in a trembling, tearful voice.

Lü Hao quickly replied.

"No. If we can figure out his ability, we may still have a chance to survive. We can't stay here anymore. Let's hide inside a building first!"

"Okay!"

The others agreed and headed toward a building by the street.

The female awakener used her metal-controlling ability.

She bent the steel reinforcement within the wall, tearing open a large hole.

The three of them immediately crawled inside.

Several Brain Core awakeners and more than ten armed personnel followed behind them.

There were still a hundred armed personnel fighting in the street outside, and it was already too late for them to retreat inside.

"We can't worry about them!"

Lü Hao said with narrowed eyes, intending to leave them outside.

The female awakener did not question him.

She used her ability again, repairing the hole in the wall.

Still not reassured, Lü Hao used his Earth Type ability to control sand and soil, piling it around them and reinforcing the wall layer by layer.

The doors, windows, and walls were all sealed tight.

The wall alone was nearly ten meters thick.

This sturdy "fortress" completely shut out the noise outside, making them feel as though they had instantly left the battlefield. Silence settled around them.

"Whew—"

Everyone let out a long breath, finally feeling somewhat safe.

The armed personnel especially felt incredibly lucky. Only because they had stayed by the awakeners' side did they get the chance to hide inside.

If they had been abandoned outside, death would have been inevitable.

Yet just as they enjoyed this brief peace—

The outside had completely become a slaughterhouse!

The armed personnel fought back, only to suddenly discover that the awakeners were gone. Their faces immediately turned ashen.

"W-we've been abandoned!"

"What do we do?"

Two men looked around anxiously.

But the next second, several Elite Zombies pounced on them and began tearing into them, blood spraying everywhere.

Wails and screams rang out without end. With no way to flee above or below, a crushing sense of helplessness rose in their hearts.

They could only wait for death, helpless and lost in this cruel apocalypse...