Chapter 41: Danger—The Zombies Are Evolving

After firing the first shot, Bian Changxi was stunned.

Just how tough were the bones of a Tier-2 zombie? If one of them rammed into a wall, the steel-reinforced concrete would give way before it did. She’d thought that even with a large-caliber sniper rifle, at most she’d just punch a hole in the zombie—that was exactly what they wanted, to enrage these creatures with a hint of intelligence.

Who could have guessed that a single shot would blow away the zombie’s entire shoulder and part of its chest?

Was this gun designed to take out armored vehicles or something?

There was no time to dwell on it. She glanced at the zombie—luckily, it wasn’t dead yet. She aimed the muzzle at the next Tier-2 zombie, this time targeting its knee.

One shot—its leg shattered. The Tier-2 zombie crashed to the ground, howling in rage.

The third Tier-2 zombie seemed to sense something was wrong. It began moving rapidly, emitting a piercing screech.

The two wounded ones joined in, making the same sound.

The Tier-1 zombies grew agitated, clustering protectively around the Tier-2s, and more of them surged forward to slam against the supermarket’s main doors.

From the second floor, bullets rained down like a storm. The closest Tier-1 zombies fell one after another, their bodies piling up nearly two layers deep. Suddenly, someone tossed a grenade—the explosion sent zombies flying, and amid the smoke, a figure, secured by a safety rope, leaped from the second-floor window of the supermarket and sprinted down the path cleared by the gunfire, heading away from the building.

He was fully armed: helmet, bulletproof vest, elbow guards, gloves, and metal plates strapped from his feet up to his thighs. Yet, despite all that gear, he moved with astonishing speed, darting away like a shadow.

The uninjured Tier-2 zombie immediately caught the scent of a human—its prey was escaping. It let out a low growl, its mouth working as if about to spit something out.

A small bullet from the rooftop struck its tumor, forcing it back a step. Its power was interrupted, and only a small splash of water sprayed from its mouth—like spit.

Bian Changxi steadied her right hand with her left, gripping her pistol, and muttered under her breath, “Water element.”

Since the sniper rifle was so powerful, there was no need to waste its ammo—disrupting a zombie’s ability could be done with a less powerful handgun.

But handguns were less stable at this distance. If not for the seven years of marksmanship she’d honed in her previous life, she wouldn’t have dared attempt it.

Her gaze shifted. The zombie with the broken leg was quick to react, green light gathering in its mouth, about to spit out a green branch.

“Wood element?”

She sent a bullet into its left eye. Almost simultaneously, from another angle, a fiery bullet shot into its open mouth, the force blasting the zombie back several meters, slamming it into a truck and leaving a deep dent before it crashed heavily to the ground.

Bian Changxi jumped in surprise—the second shot was fired by Gu Xu!

She was on the rooftop, four stories up, her bullet trajectory slanting downward. Gu Xu, on the second floor, could shoot almost parallel to the ground. Only he could imbue a bullet with fire-element power—otherwise, how could it be so destructive?

The poor zombie’s throat was billowing black smoke; its powers were likely disabled. Watching this, Bian Changxi, also a wood element user, couldn’t help but feel her own throat itch in sympathy.

Never provoke Gu Xu!

The water-element zombie finally snapped, making a sound like water droplets sizzling on hot oil. Bian Changxi’s eardrums tightened. She saw zombies converging from all directions, especially from behind and the sides of the building, all surging forward.

“They’re coming!” she shouted into her earpiece.

Gu Xu ordered over the comms, “Chen Haitao, get back!”

It turned out the one who’d jumped down to lure the Tier-2 zombies was Chen Haitao, one of Gu Pei’s three classmates and the one who’d pledged to follow orders. He’d awakened a speed ability at some point and volunteered for this decoy mission.

He was also wearing an earpiece. Hearing Gu Xu’s order, he felt a wave of relief. He turned and dashed back like the wind, while someone hauled him up by the safety rope. Everyone focused their fire to cover him.

Bian Changxi kept interrupting the Tier-2 zombies’ abilities.

He was still dangling in midair when the ground below was completely overrun by zombies—so many it made people sick to look at them. Following orders, they pounded furiously at the building’s front. The whole structure shook, cracks spreading across the battered glass doors and walls. Fortunately, heavy furniture and counters inside were barricaded tightly against the walls. Even if the doors shattered, the zombies wouldn’t be able to get in.

The wood-element zombie finally recovered, letting out a long, shrill screech. The other zombies began attacking the pillars, biting and clawing as if they meant to tear the whole building down.

Everyone on the second floor watched in terror. These zombies sure knew how to hold a grudge!

Gu Xu’s eyes were sharp and cold as he asked quietly, “Qiu Feng, what’s your situation?”

“Half the zombies are gone… two-thirds… a Tier-2 is heading your way,” Qiu Feng replied calmly, then suddenly raised his voice, “Get ready—break through!”

Explosions and gunfire erupted from the rear. Outnumbered, they had to concentrate their firepower to break out, fighting for just a brief window of opportunity.

But this also alerted the zombies at the front.

Gu Xu watched as the Tier-1 zombies fell into chaos. The Tier-2s seemed confused, then as if realizing something, tried to lead the Tier-1s away. He ordered, “Block them!”

The people on the second floor began tossing grenades in a controlled pattern—not to kill the zombies, but to cut off their retreat and trap them there.

But the Tier-2s were selfish, always pushing the Tier-1s to the front. The Tier-1s stuck together and were often blown up in groups. That was why the Tier-2s were still around—without their control, the Tier-1s would have scattered like sand.

An enemy’s strength, if used well, could become a weakness. But after this battle, Gu Xu realized just how absolute the higher-tier zombies’ control over the lower-tiers was, and it worried him.

“Hold on a bit longer—the breakout team is almost through!” he encouraged everyone. Suddenly, he saw the zombie whose shoulder Bian Changxi had blown off get up. It roared, grabbed a nearby Tier-1 zombie, and bit through its skull, devouring the brain and the crystal core inside. As it chewed, its ruined chest and shoulder began to slowly regenerate.

“Ugh!”

Everyone who saw this turned pale, covering their mouths to keep from retching. Gu Xu quickly said, “Stay focused! Don’t stop with the grenades! Changxi, kill it!”

Bian Changxi had already switched to her sniper rifle, but her next two shots only killed two Tier-1s nearby. “No good, it’s moving too fast, and there are too many zombies… Wait, it’s going after the wood-element zombie!”

After devouring a zombie, it doubled its speed, reaching the wood-element zombie in a blink and biting down hard. Bian Changxi fired, but it dodged with a quick jerk of its head.

It tossed the wood-element zombie into the air. Bian Changxi’s second shot hit the wood zombie, which exploded like a balloon, flesh and bone flying everywhere. She tried to fire again, but the zombie started moving erratically, dodging her aim. When it finally stopped, its grotesque tumors were shrinking, its whole body glowing strangely, and its decay visibly lessening.

Bian Changxi took a deep breath. “It’s evolving.”

It had evolved from a transitional form into a true Tier-2 zombie.

It stared at Bian Changxi, its mouth working as it gathered power. She shot and shattered its cheekbone, forcing it back two steps, but its ability wasn’t interrupted. Suddenly, a thick black-green vine shot from its mouth, stabbing straight at Bian Changxi.

Her heart leapt. She dropped her gun and ran, but the vine was even faster, chasing her relentlessly. She dashed to the other side of the rooftop and leapt off, the vine twisting midair to follow. Just as it was about to pierce her skull, a burst of fire engulfed it from behind, reducing it to ashes in an instant.

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