Lin Xinghai sat inside the multi-terrain vehicle, mulling over his life for a full five minutes before he finally snapped out of it.
During that time, none of the other members disturbed him, likely figuring he needed some time to adjust.
Lin Xinghai watched the others struggle to kill zombies while sprinting forward. Meanwhile, he was just sitting in the vehicle, dazed, which made him feel a strange sense of guilt.
Forcing himself to focus, Lin Xinghai raised his Tearing Rifle and began coordinating with the other members, picking off the zombies that lunged to attack.
Since he was here anyway, he might as well pull his weight.
Besides, completing the mission would be highly beneficial for him; the rewards were bound to be substantial.
'He wasn't asking for much. Just ten or so bottles of Genetic Potion, and all his problems would be solved.'
RAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!
Lin Xinghai went all out, taking a moment to observe the ad-hoc elite squad.
The entire squad, including him, consisted of only 17 people.
He wasn't yet sure of their close-combat capabilities, but as for their Gun Technique, a little observation gave him the general picture.
Within the squad, only two people had better Gun Technique than him: Roger and a sniper named Song Mu.
Aside from them, only three others had Gun Technique on par with his. One was Xu Hao, and the other two were presumably from Squad 2 and Squad 3.
In other words, the squad's advance was mainly dependent on the five of them to maintain a web of firepower.
Strictly speaking, it was four people, since Song Mu was using a sniper rifle, his contribution to their overall firepower was limited.
That was why their line of fire had been under strain while Lin Xinghai was dazed earlier, often letting zombies charge right up to them.
The moment he went all out, the situation changed instantly.
After all, Lin Xinghai's Gun Technique was excellent. Since he was riding in the vehicle and didn't have to run, he could focus solely on dealing with the zombies. Once he began firing at full capacity, his kill efficiency was surprisingly higher than everyone else's.
This was another pleasant surprise for the rest of the squad. They had assumed Lin Xinghai wasn't used to the vehicle's jolting and would need some time to adapt before he could fight at his full potential.
They never expected that after just five minutes of quiet, he would erupt with such firepower.
Witnessing Lin Xinghai's kill efficiency, the others instinctively adjusted their coordination, leaving a section of the defensive perimeter to him.
HISS!
Propelled by its pneumatic system, the vehicle once again leaped high into the air, clearing an obstacle in its path.
Lin Xinghai was already used to this. Seizing the opportunity that the high vantage point and open view provided, he raised his rifle, aimed at three zombies 80 meters away, and squeezed the trigger in rapid succession.
With three gunshots, the distant zombies dropped to the ground.
All three were Ordinary Zombies with limited dodging ability. Even from 80 meters away, Lin Xinghai was confident he could land a headshot.
As the vehicle landed back on the ground, he quickly fired two more shots to the side, swiftly eliminating two Intermediate Zombies 40 meters away.
Indeed, after a short period of adjustment, Lin Xinghai had figured out how to use the vehicle's leaps to execute layered attacks, alternating between near and distant targets.
This not only boosted his kill efficiency but also did the most to prevent zombies from gathering and posing a threat.
Of course, pulling this off was not easy.
After all, the vehicle was only airborne for two or three seconds. To distinguish which ones were Ordinary Zombies and kill them in such a short time was extraordinarily difficult.
Of course, Lin Xinghai wasn't a god. The only reason he could manage it was because there was a Zombie Detector inside the vehicle.
A glance at the screen gave him a clear picture of the number, location, and strength of the approaching zombies.
At the same time, he also noticed a purple dot appear in the upper right corner of the screen.
"High Level Zombie, three o'clock, 300 meters!" Lin Xinghai shouted to Roger outside.
Roger gave him an OK sign. "Cover my sector," he said.
"Got it!" Lin Xinghai's reply was concise.
Thirty seconds later, the High Level Zombie was successfully eliminated.
The entire process was seamless; the squad's advance didn't slow in the slightest.
In a relatively short amount of time, the others had not only come to acknowledge Lin Xinghai's strength, but now regarded him as a core pillar of the team.
THUMP THUMP THUMP!
The squad members fought off zombies as they ran.
Even under these conditions, the squad maintained a forward speed of 40 kilometers per hour.
This was the power of the Optimized. Their physical conditioning was simply beyond what an ordinary person could compare to.
Of course, the journey wasn't without its problems.
Sometimes they encountered terrain so complex that even the multi-terrain vehicle couldn't pass.
The first time this happened, Lin Xinghai was actually quite excited.
'Are we finally ditching the vehicle and moving on foot?'
But that thought was quickly extinguished.
Because the two Mechas, "Heaven-Sundering" and "Celestial Frost," each hoisted a vehicle and simply leaped over the obstacle.
Lin Xinghai: "..."
And so, the squad continued its rapid advance, and Lin Xinghai completely gave up on the idea of getting out of the vehicle.
...
Soon, the squad had advanced another three kilometers.
RAT-TAT-TAT!
After picking off three more zombies, Lin Xinghai ejected the nearly empty magazine and slotted it into the ammo box to be automatically reloaded.
Just then, the Zombie Detector once again let out a piercing alarm.
Lin Xinghai was almost used to it by now and gave the screen a casual glance.
But that one glance made him freeze.
A black dot had appeared in the bottom right corner of the screen.
Zombies of varying strengths were represented by different colored dots.
Ordinary Zombies were light red, Intermediate Zombies were dark red, and High Level Zombies were purple.
In other words, so red they turned purple.
'But what does black represent... So purple it's turning black?'
All sorts of thoughts tumbled through his mind. Not daring to hesitate, Lin Xinghai immediately shouted, "Old Luo, there's a black dot on the Zombie Detector! What's going on?"
The moment Lin Xinghai's words came out, he noticed the entire advancing squad lurch to a halt. The faces of many of the veteran Mercenaries were tense.
Just then, a Mercenary in the other vehicle also issued a tense warning, "All hands, be advised! A Mutated Zombie is approaching us at high speed."
If it had just been Lin Xinghai's report, it might have been a mistake.
But with two people saying the same thing, there was no mistake. They were unlucky enough to have actually encountered a Mutated Zombie.
"Shen Han and I will deal with the Mutated Zombie. The rest of you, set up a Defense Array on the spot and be ready to retreat." At that moment, Fang Tianhe's calm, steady voice rang out, causing the tension on everyone's faces to ease.