Chapter 490, Catch That Kid
The oddly shaped zombie made Wu Heng feel suspicious.
Based on the phantom's "Spirit Vision," it appeared to belong to the Level-3 zombie category.
But wearing a suit and being able to immediately sense invisible phantoms showed that its intelligence and perception were far superior to any other Level-3 zombies he had encountered.
It was more like the Level-4 Zombie King that Qi Hancai mentioned.
Wu Heng released the two phantoms again, letting them hover midair.
"Are we about to start fighting?" Xiaoxiao asked.
Wu Heng replied, "That suit-wearing zombie is strange. It resembles the new zombie described by the Central Command, marked with a Level-4 danger rating, equivalent to the strength of a Level-18 Professional."
"That one? No way—it doesn't even look as threatening as Big Guy!" Xiaoxiao remarked.
Glenda pondered for a moment and said, "There are two possibilities."
"Let's hear them!" Wu Heng prompted.
Glenda continued, "One, your people can't accurately assess the new zombie's level. It feels more dangerous, so they labeled it Level-4, but its actual strength is Level-3. Two, the new zombie can conceal its strength, appearing to be Level-3 but actually much stronger."
"Hmm!" Wu Heng nodded in agreement.
Those were the only two plausible explanations.
After all, zombies lacked human-level cognition to a certain degree.
Glenda chuckled, saying, "Whether it's Level-3 or Level-4, it's no big deal for you. What's there to fear?"
"It's not fear. I just want to be prepared. I didn't bring many skeletons, so I can't charge in recklessly."
After multiple encounters with Level-18 Professionals recently,
they no longer seemed as terrifying as imagined. Even if the Zombie King was a Level-4 mutated zombie, it wouldn't be a major issue.
"Fair enough," Glenda agreed.
"Stay invisible and close to me. I'll need your reconnaissance during the fight," Wu Heng said, smiling at the two phantoms.
"No problem," Xiaoxiao responded immediately.
Glenda also nodded.
The two phantoms disappeared from sight, and Wu Heng opened the car door and stepped out.
...
Three corpses were dragged over.
Liu Chuang's was the most gruesome, with his head severed from his body, his eyes wide open in fear, showing his terror before death.
Qi Hancai approached and said, "We checked the van. There were machetes, metal pipes, and even homemade explosives. It looks like they were ready to go down with us."
Go down with us?
Liu Chuang had sold their intel to the rescue team to gain some benefits.
Why would he try to go down with them?
"That's unlikely. He was probably afraid of danger and wanted bargaining chips for negotiations," Wu Heng speculated.
"Makes sense. A lot of movies show that," Qi Hancai chuckled.
Wu Heng turned his gaze back to the corpse and used [Speak with the Dead] on Liu Chuang's head.
The head's eyes snapped open, its cloudy gaze struggling to focus on him.
Wu Heng asked, "Will the rescue team come?"
The corpse replied, "I'm not sure. They didn't give me a definite answer."
Wu Heng continued, "If they do, which route will they take?"
The corpse answered, "They'll probably take this road. It's unlikely they'll cut straight through the city."
Wu Heng asked a third question, "How long do you think it will take them to get here?"
The corpse hesitated before saying, "If they started preparing when I notified them, it would take at least five hours to arrive."
Wu Heng considered this and asked a fourth question, "Are the locations you marked on the map accurate?"
"The commercial streets and gold shop areas are accurate, but I made up the provincial rescue team's location."
Both Wu Heng and Qi Hancai frowned.
This guy really was untrustworthy.
It seemed he had planned to deceive them from the start.
The final question.
Wu Heng asked, "Where is the provincial base? Be specific."
"On Dongying Avenue, there's a small stone fort where they've established a base. As for other outposts, I don't know."
After answering five questions, the head's eyes closed.
Qi Hancai walked up and kicked the head away. "Bastard! We gave you grain to guide us, and you tried to screw us over."
Given the current situation,
offering five bags of grain to guide them was more than generous.
In any shelter, that much grain could save countless lives.
Yet Liu Chuang had schemed against them the entire way.
If they hadn't brought him along, he might have given them a fake factory location.
The head flew through the air in an arc.
Wu Heng used [Raise Skeleton] to turn the other two corpses into skeletons.
Qi Hancai then asked, "What now? Should we wait for the rescue team to arrive before attacking the factory?"
With only 13 trucks and about 7,000 skeletons,
it wasn't like the overwhelming force of tens of thousands they had in the city.
If they started fighting upfront and the rescue team's forces arrived, they'd be caught in a pincer attack.
That would be dangerous.
Capturing and detaining Xinfu City's base leader could guarantee a steady supply of grain.
Wu Heng thought for a moment and said, "Don't worry. Five hours is enough to finish the battle. We'll deal with the rescue team after that."
Qi Hancai nodded. "Alright."
"Get everyone ready. Make the ammo resupply for the wyverns quick."
"Understood. I'll handle it now."
The skeletal wyverns descended from above.
Survivors began swapping out their ammo magazines.
Large groups of skeletons climbed out of the truck beds.
Amidst the sound of clattering bones and clashing weapons, the skeletons formed tightly packed ranks at the front.
Spears pointed forward.
...
Wu Heng instructed, "Glenda, stay close and monitor the surroundings. Xiaoxiao, keep an eye on that suit-wearing zombie in the factory. Let me know if it moves."
"Got it."
"Understood."
Two voices answered from either side.
Glenda ascended vertically to the skies, while Xiaoxiao flew straight toward the factory.
Wu Heng pressed the radio button and asked, "Is the ammo ready?"
Qi Hancai's voice came through. "All set."
Wu Heng turned to a nearby large-headed skeleton and said, "Send a skeleton to lure the zombies over."
One skeleton broke out of the formation and walked quickly toward the factory.
When it was close enough,
it banged its skeletal fist twice on a signboard.
The loud noise immediately drew the attention of the aimless zombies, which turned toward it.
The skeleton turned and ran back.
Roars erupted.
The zombie horde went wild, their growls spreading rapidly.
Zombies from all around gathered quickly.
Like a tidal wave, they chased after the retreating skeleton.
Even within the factory, the zombie numbers looked substantial.
A dense swarm filled the entire street.
Wu Heng ordered, "Send out the skeletal wyverns."
Whoosh!
The sound of air being torn apart resounded as the skeletal wyverns soared overhead.
Reaching the zombie horde, they opened their bomb bays, releasing a torrent of iron rain.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Smoke and dust erupted everywhere.
The entire road trembled continuously.
As the dust began to settle, Wu Heng's eyes narrowed.
The zombies suddenly split into two groups, moving left and right into the forested areas off the road.
In an instant, the woods were filled with the horde.
They moved through the trees, continuing their charge.
"As expected, it can command ordinary zombies."
This increased the likelihood that the suit-wearing zombie was indeed a Zombie King.
"Tighten the formation, protect the convoy, and prepare to repel the charge," Wu Heng ordered swiftly.
The skeletons' formation contracted inward.
They surrounded the convoy, forming a circular phalanx.
Skeletal wyvern bombardment was most effective when the zombies were densely packed.
This dispersal tactic significantly reduced the bombing's impact.
"Ammo's reloaded," Qi Hancai reported.
"Have the wyverns bomb the forest," Wu Heng instructed.
The skeletal wyverns rose again, heading toward the forest and dropping solid iron bombs.
Deafening explosions echoed once more.
Trees snapped in half, soil flew, leaving craters in their wake.
Zombies in the woods were instantly pulverized, their remains splattering the surroundings.
More zombies reached the skeleton ranks nearby.
Their chaotic footsteps and the overwhelming stench of decay filled the air.
The horde crashed into the skeleton formation.
Spears thrust forward repeatedly, impaling zombie after zombie.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Skeletons manning machine guns on the off-road vehicles began firing into the horde.
Gunfire erupted like firecrackers, accompanied by muzzle flashes.
Zombies fell en masse, but more surged forward, clawing and tearing to breach the skeletons' defense.
Amid the fierce battle, some zombies broke through.
Only to be hacked apart by axe-wielding skeletons in the rear.
The scene was a bloody and gruesome spectacle.
...
Survivors frantically carried ammunition, reloading the skeletal wyverns' bomb bays.
Yet their faces were pale with fear.
Even though this wasn't their first battle with the convoy, slaughtering zombies alongside them.
Previous fights had been one-sided massacres. These zombies seemed to employ tactics.
They weren't behaving like mindless beasts.
"Sister Qi, are we going to be okay?" a survivor asked, his face pale.
Qi Hancai, busy with her tasks, glanced at the battlefield with a serious expression. "Don't jinx it. Have we ever lost a fight against zombies?"
"This time feels different."
"Sister Qi, I just got married last week."
Qi Hancai's eyes sharpened, and she snapped, "No one wants to die. Focus! If anyone screws up and delays the fight, I'll skin you alive."
The survivors shrank back and returned to work, though the nearby growls and the overpowering stench left their hands trembling.
...
Wu Heng issued orders quickly.
Meanwhile, he cast [Battlefield of the Dead], causing scores of corpses to rise and grab the approaching zombies.
Glenda descended from the sky, pointing at a distant rooftop. "Look over there. The zombies are just standing there!"
Wu Heng's enhanced perception allowed him to see much farther than an ordinary person.
Following her direction, he spotted several figures standing on the edge of the rooftop.
At the forefront was the suit-wearing zombie, its posture perfectly human-like, standing with its hands behind its back, overlooking the battlefield.
Beside it were other mutated zombies, including Big Guys and Crawlers.
As Wu Heng observed it closely,
the suit-wearing zombie seemed to sense his gaze and turned its head toward him.
"Its perception is that high?" Wu Heng was taken aback.
He shifted his focus back to Glenda. "Is its level still 15?"
"It is, but it seems slightly stronger than before," Glenda replied.
Wu Heng frowned. "Then it's likely the Zombie King."
Glenda floated to the side and teased, "You always have this kind of luck? You just heard about the Zombie King, and now you're face-to-face with one."
Wu Heng glared at her. "We're in a battle. Stop mocking me."
Glenda chuckled before flying back up to monitor the surroundings.
Wu Heng commanded, "Send two skeletal wyverns to bomb that building."
Whoosh!
Two skeletal wyverns took flight.
They soared swiftly toward the building where the Zombie King was located.
As the skeletal wyverns approached,
the Zombie King retreated with its mutated zombies, disappearing from sight.
The wyverns reached their target.
Solid iron bombs rained down onto the rooftop like a storm.
Thick smoke rose from the roof.
The building shook violently as rubble and debris scattered.
On the battlefield, the zombie horde lost its coordination, ceasing their tactical flanking maneuvers.
Instead, they regrouped on the main road and resumed their straightforward charge.
The remaining skeletal wyverns took to the skies again, bombing the road.
Zombies fell in droves under the bombardment and machine-gun fire.
What had been a zombie advantage quickly turned into chaos.
Crash!
Suddenly, the advancing zombie horde halted.
Although they continued growling and clawing toward the front,
they slowly retreated step by step.
All of them withdrew to the factory.
Wu Heng confirmed with Glenda that most of the zombies had been eliminated outside the factory.
Inside, fewer than ten thousand remained.
"Qi Hancai, have everyone get back in the vehicles and advance with the skeleton army," Wu Heng ordered over the radio.
"Understood!"
Qi Hancai directed everyone to pack up and return to their vehicles.
The convoy followed the skeleton army, advancing along the road.
Wu Heng wielded the "Spine Staff," casting [Battlefield of the Dead] along the way, raising more skeletons.
The skeleton army's numbers quickly doubled, encircling the convoy.
The skeleton horde marched relentlessly toward the factory gates.
They squared off against the remaining zombies inside.
Wu Heng gave his next order: "Prepare the machine guns and wait for my command."
He then scanned the battlefield, searching for the suit-wearing zombie.
...
At Pingxiang Service Station,
a convoy flying the rescue team's flag surrounded the small shelter.
Inside the service station hall,
all the survivors had been gathered.
Opposite them sat a young man in a blue sweater with a buzz cut, his cold gaze sweeping the room. "I'm the captain of Rescue Team Five. Who sent the message to us?"
The crowd remained silent.
The man narrowed his eyes. "Answer me."
The woman in charge of the radio lowered her head and mumbled, "It was Boss Liu Chuang who contacted you."
The buzz-cut man nodded and continued, "How long ago did that convoy leave?"
A man stepped forward cautiously. "About two hours ago."
Team Five had been scavenging supplies nearby and rushed over upon receiving the message.
They had hoped to intercept the convoy, but it seemed they had left quickly without stopping.
The buzz-cut man pressed on. "Tell me about their numbers and vehicles."
Nervously, the man replied, "They left about two hours ago. They had many skeletons, mostly trucks, four off-road vehicles with mounted machine guns, and two armored vehicles."
"Armored vehicles? Do you even know what an armored vehicle is?"
"Yes, six-wheeled vehicles with mounted autocannons. Two of them!"
The buzz-cut man's eyes widened.
They really had armored vehicles.
"Alright, your answers are satisfactory," the man said.
Just then, one of his subordinates returned. "Captain, not much here—just over thirty bags of grain."
The captain nodded. "Leave them half. Take the rest."
The survivors' faces turned pale.
They already had barely enough to survive the winter, and now it would be even harder.
Yet, faced with the cold barrels of guns around them,
no one dared to protest.
They could only watch as the grain was hauled away.
...
After leaving the service station,
the team boarded their trucks and armored vehicles.
The buzz-cut man picked up the vehicle radio. "Let's go to the factory. If we catch that kid, we'll never lack food again."
The timing was perfect.
Most likely, they were fighting zombies by now.
Arriving during the battle would give them the upper hand.
They could capture Wu Heng and possibly even take over the factory.
It would be a major contribution to their base, earning their team more resources.
With these thoughts, his sense of urgency grew.
"Speed up!" he urged.