The six of them moved forward cautiously. They had all applied a special agent that masked their scent, so as long as they did not make any noise, they would be fine.
The zombies on the outskirts were not densely packed either. As long as they avoided them, they would not alert them.
From far away,
Chen Ming spotted several zombies standing in the street, their bodies swaying as they wore vacant, foolish expressions.
The six of them pressed themselves against the walls, moving lightly and using abandoned vehicles for cover as they prepared to circle behind the zombies.
But halfway there, Sun Xiaoqiang's stomach suddenly let out a rumbling growl.
"Huh?"
Chen Ming and the others instantly changed expressions, their hearts rising into their throats.
Although the sound was not loud,
zombie hearing was exceptionally sharp.
The swaying zombies immediately froze in place. They became alert, low growls rumbling from their throats as if they were carefully sensing their surroundings.
Cheng Luoyi watched with her beautiful eyes fixed ahead, already prepared to fight.
The others crouched behind the abandoned vehicle, holding their breaths and barely daring to breathe.
Fortunately,
the zombies remained wary for only a moment. Before long, they calmed down and returned to their vacant, swaying state.
"Phew—"
Chen Ming and the others let out long breaths, then hurriedly bypassed the dangerous area.
Once the zombies were farther away,
one of the Awakened said fearfully,
"Xiaoqiang, you almost alerted the zombies just now!"
"I was hungry, okay?"
Sun Xiaoqiang replied as if it were only natural.
Chen Ming quickly tried to smooth things over.
"Alright, the mission comes first. Once we find the supplies, there'll be food!"
"Mm."
Thinking about delicious food, Sun Xiaoqiang was instantly full of motivation.
He imagined it in his mind.
After finding the supplies, he would first take a bite of bread, then gulp down some Six Nuclear Bombs. That would be perfect...
And so, the six of them continued forward carefully.
The journey went fairly smoothly.
They avoided wave after wave of zombies.
When necessary, they even climbed onto rooftops, walking across the tiles like ancient assassins scaling walls and leaping over eaves.
However,
Chen Ming remained extremely tense.
As they ventured deeper, they had already reached the center of the area. The zombies below had evolved to a higher degree, and their senses were extraordinarily sharp.
According to the supplementary information later provided by the Tech Company, this place had been classified as a Five-Star Zombie Nest!
"Woohoo~~ Woohoo~~ Wooooooo~~~"
Suddenly, a woman's crying rang out. It was incomparably shrill, sometimes high-pitched and sometimes low, like it came from the depths of the underworld. It was utterly eerie.
Just hearing it sent a chill down their spines.
The six of them lay prone atop a building and immediately looked toward the source of the crying. They saw a Female Zombie kneeling on the ground with her head lowered as she wept.
"Hiss..."
Chen Ming drew a sharp breath, every hair on his body standing on end.
It was simply too horrifying...
"I'm this hungry and I haven't cried. What's she crying for?"
Sun Xiaoqiang stretched his neck to stare.
Cheng Luoyi said,
"She might be even hungrier than you..."
"We can't go this way. We need to take a detour."
Chen Ming immediately made his judgment.
Around the Female Zombie were many more zombies. They moved swiftly and were not vacant or foolish at all, clearly possessing a very high degree of evolution.
Besides, the group that had looted the supplies could not possibly be hiding here.
Otherwise, they would have long since been torn apart and eaten by the zombies...
The six were just about to change course, but Little Eight's senses were sharp. She had already noticed their gazes. Her loose hair covered her entire face, leaving only one eye exposed. She suddenly turned her head and looked in their direction.
After Little Eight discovered the targets, the pupil of that eye shrank into a pinpoint, making her look even more terrifying.
"Hehehehehehe~~~"
Her originally shrill crying instantly turned into eerie laughter.
Her figure flashed as she ran toward them like a gust of wind.
"This is bad! We've been discovered!"
Chen Ming's expression was solemn, and terror filled his heart. It was his first time seeing such a horrifying zombie.
As Little Eight ran,
she also alarmed the zombies around her.
"Roar—"
Hundreds of Elite Zombies howled, forming a small Zombie Tide as they surged toward them in a frenzy. Their bodies were agile, and with just a few leaps, they could climb onto the rooftop.
Even though the six of them were hiding high above, it was useless.
"What do we do now?"
In his panic, Chen Ming had no idea what to do.
Cheng Luoyi's expression remained calm.
"What else can we do? Prepare to break out."
"Mm!"
Chen Ming and the other Brain Core Awakened drew alloy blades from their waists. They had been specially made by researchers from tough, sharp materials capable of cutting down high-level zombies.
But faced with so many Elite Zombies, the four of them had no confidence.
Even though Cheng Luoyi was an Awakened from Shelter No. 001 and was known as the strongest person there,
there were simply too many zombies.
Even the fiercest tiger could not withstand a pack of wolves...
And among those zombies was a terrifying Agility-Type Zombie King.
Little Eight rapidly closed in. Their territory had been far too peaceful lately, leaving battle-hungry people like them bored.
So bored that she had been driven to tears...
Today, she had finally found prey, so naturally, she was extremely excited.
But just as she was about to reach her target, Little Eight suddenly received an order in her mind.
"Wait. Don't kill them yet..."
"Huh?"
Little Eight came to an abrupt stop. It was the boss's voice. Though she desperately wanted to kill, she had to restrain herself. She merely glanced at Chen Ming and the others before moving away sideways.
"This..."
Chen Ming's body trembled. Even in death, he would never forget the resentment in that Female Zombie's eyes.
But then something even more astonishing happened.
The zombies that had been charging toward them so viciously all became quiet, then scattered in every direction. Before long, every last one of them had vanished!
"What's going on?"
The six of them found it unbelievable. It was their first time encountering something like this.
They had all been prepared for battle.
They had planned to fight to the death.
Yet... the Zombie Tide had retreated...
"Oh, I get it. They were deliberately trying to scare us."
Sun Xiaoqiang analyzed seriously.
"..." Chen Ming was speechless. "Why would they scare you? There must be some special reason."
"What special reason?"
Even Cheng Luoyi could not understand it.
However, she suddenly realized that this world... was not as terrible as expected in every way. Sometimes, there were small surprises too.
Just then,
a tall figure appeared on the street. He had handsome features, and his gaze swept over the group.
Lin Dong looked at Cheng Luoyi. The face before him gradually overlapped with the one in his memories, and scenes from their childhood surfaced in his mind one by one. He could not help reminiscing about the childhood that had passed.
"Long time no see!"
"Uh..."
Cheng Luoyi froze. After living in a psychiatric hospital for ten years, her heart had long become as cold as a bedboard. Yet when she looked at that figure, her heartbeat suddenly quickened.
That face before her carried many memories as well.
They were among the few warm moments of her life.
Sun Xiaoqiang was also exceptionally excited. He had a deep impression of Lin Dong, and tears already welled in his distinctive eyes.
In this desolate apocalypse, he had actually encountered a childhood companion.
So he jumped straight down from the rooftop and arrived before Lin Dong.
"Lin Dong, it really is you! I never expected to run into you here!"
But the more Chen Ming and the others thought about it, the more something felt wrong. Connecting what had just happened with the photos online,
although the pictures had been blurry, the resemblance to the figure before them was extremely high.
"Xiaoqiang! Be careful, he might be a zombie!"
"Don't talk nonsense!"
Sun Xiaoqiang curled his lips. His childhood friend, whom he had not seen for ten years, was being called a zombie, and it made him rather angry.
"Lin Dong can't possibly be a zombie! My eyes are the measure!"
Before you continue