Chapter 140: The Burning Sea of Corpses

The tactical approach adopted by humanity dealt a devastating blow to the zombies. The primary threat of ordinary zombies lies in their sheer numbers, while their greatest tactical advantage is found within urban environments. Within cities, the vast majority of ordinary zombies wander aimlessly, but a significant portion remains hidden. Moving through a city, it is impossible to predict where a zombie might suddenly emerge to deliver a fatal strike. It is no exaggeration to state that in an urban setting, the capabilities of ordinary zombies are multiplied several times over compared to the open wilderness.

At this moment, however, this massive horde of zombies was completely exposed across the expansive hilly terrain, open fields, and highways. They were like cuts of meat laid out on a cutting board, entirely at the mercy of humanity's systematic tactics for attrition. Given sufficient time, a single day was all it took to completely eradicate this million-strong horde.

In truth, maintaining the firing frequency of the initial assault would have allowed humanity to annihilate the zombies in just a few hours. Yet humans are not mindless zombies; they experience a full spectrum of emotions. Sustained shooting breeds fatigue and causes concentration to wane. Recognizing this during the tactical planning phase, the strategy dictated that after every round of attacks, a distance of two to three kilometers would be opened up between the forces and the zombies, granting the soldiers a much-needed window for rest. While this method was slightly slower in dealing with the zombies, it was by far the safest approach.

During each retreat, the fleet of over one hundred trucks requisitioned from the Yong'an freight yard in New City played a vital role. Each of the long, narrow truck beds could evacuate four squads in a single trip. Combined with a scattering of other vehicles, the fleet of over a hundred trucks could seamlessly transport five thousand soldiers away from the front lines in one go, guaranteeing them a crucial ten- to twenty-minute window to rest and prepare.

The relocation of the machine gun units was handled by specialized weapon transport vehicles. Their weapon systems were pre-positioned five kilometers to the rear; once detached from their primary systems, the transport vehicles regained full tactical mobility. It was precisely this mechanical agility that maximized the effectiveness of the entire guerrilla warfare strategy.

If anyone had initially doubted the wisdom of this defensive strategy, not a single skeptic remained. They had bitten off a tenth of the zombie horde while suffering zero casualties. What a glorious achievement! Looking back over the past three years, this was undoubtedly the finest victory yet.

When humanity defends its homeland, the resulting power is born of absolute unity. While leaders of other bases commanded armed forces numbering in the tens of thousands, they had never faced a true zombie horde. Their efforts were entirely concentrated on passive defense; for them, the greatest success was simply avoiding an attack. This mindset fostered a culture of rigid conservatism rather than expansion, inevitably eroding troop cohesion.

Within the various bases of this apocalyptic world, regular military personnel often considered themselves superior to ordinary citizens, a mentality that bred widespread corruption. Extortion, oppression, and looting were commonplace. The base leaders naturally turned a blind eye to these infractions. In their eyes, the entire base belonged to them, and allowing the soldiers to vent their frustrations served as a pressure valve to alleviate the psychological strain of facing the zombies, thereby preserving their combat effectiveness.

Under such management, the state of these bases can easily be imagined: chaos, filth, and backwardness became their defining traits. The citizens living within them survived day by day with no hope for the future. As this vicious cycle continued, conditions within the bases deteriorated further. Discerning observers could only shake their heads in despair. They had previously debated the dynastic cycles of history, but looking at the present, while historical factors certainly played a part, could human agency be discounted? Perhaps the true architects of dynastic collapse were none other than leaders acting just like these base commanders.

Once the machine gun units had re-established their positions behind the riflemen, Chen Liu verified the coordinates of the zombie horde and issued his orders: "Instruct the demolition team to detonate all incendiary bombs. Five minutes after the detonation, have the transport vehicles unleash all artillery shells. Furthermore, alert the riflemen; there will undoubtedly be numerous stragglers slipping through the cracks. Tell them to keep their eyes sharp and not let a single zombie escape."

One minute after Chen Liu's command was transmitted, massive explosions erupted within the dense sea of zombies, shaking the heavens and earth and ringing painfully in everyone's ears. Countless miniature mushroom clouds billowed into the sky, beneath which rolling billows of thick smoke hid fires burning an intense, glowing red. Over a thousand makeshift incendiary bombs blanketed an area of fully fifty thousand square meters. At least seventy to eighty thousand densely packed zombies were engulfed within the blazing inferno.

The violent shockwaves of the explosions subsided, leaving behind the chilling atmosphere of a silent war. Only the roar of raging flames remained, unaccompanied by a single scream. Countless zombies marched relentlessly forward straight through the roaring fire. The napalm clinging to their bodies caused them not a shred of pain; stripped of cognitive thought, they possessed no comprehension of what fire actually was. Forward movement and tearing flesh remained their sole remaining instincts.

The instantaneous high temperatures generated by such a massive volume of incendiary bombs—crude makeshift weapons though they were—still reached a terrifying thousand-plus degrees Celsius. Under this intense heat, the dark fluids dripping from the zombies' bodies instantly vaporized, and the decaying flesh clinging to their frames was reduced to blackened carbon in less than three seconds, their skulls meeting the exact same fate.

Charred corpses collapsed one after another into the raging flames. No struggle, no screams; the entire spectacle played out like a silent film.

This silent movie shook the soul of every observer. The zombies resembled fearless warriors; neither mountains of blades nor seas of fire caused their steady advance to waver in the slightest as they pressed forward with fierce determination, until they were reduced to blackened, charred corpses. If the previous barrage resembled an unimaginably horrific layer of hell, then the incendiary attack was a literal manifestation of the legendary eighteen layers of frying oil cauldrons, filling every heart with dread.

An invisible pressure pushed the sanity of everyone present to the brink of collapse. Even though the burning figures were merely zombies, one could only imagine the outcome if living humans had been subjected to such a fate. Had it been humans, the agonizing screams would have broken anyone's psychological endurance, driving them to madness and despair.

The withered brush, grass, and dead branches across the mountain ridges caught the spread of the incendiary bombs, compounding their destructive power. More than a dozen mountain ridges burned simultaneously, sending pillars of fire dozens of meters high into the air. Not a single zombie stationed across those dozen ridges survived, swallowed whole by the raging inferno. Only the zombies lingering in the open fields and along the highway managed to escape as lucky stragglers.

Yet their fortune lasted mere minutes. Once they crossed into the effective range of the automatic rifles, their heads were swiftly blown apart by accurate gunfire, sending them crashing backward to the earth. Viewed from the sky, the incendiary strikes resembled sudden volcanic eruptions of molten rock, swallowing a massive chunk of the dark, writhing zombie tide.

The zombies continued their relentless advance, leaving Chen Liu slightly exasperated. "With a combustion zone this vast, we still failed to pull the controller into it." He raised his binoculars, scanning the sea of fire, but the blazing inferno completely severed the rear ranks of the zombies from view, revealing nothing. "According to the intel, at least two controllers are required to drive a million-strong horde. Dammit, where on earth are they hiding?"

The burning time of the makeshift incendiary bombs was limited, lasting only five to seven minutes. As the blazing fires slowly began to recede, the weapon transport vehicles stationed five kilometers to the rear opened fire in unison. The array of artillery was diverse, ranging from small-caliber field guns and medium-caliber artillery pieces to rocket launchers. The sheer rate of fire of artillery in this post-apocalyptic era exceeded all imagination. Rocket-launching vehicles, capable of coordinated salvos, could empty dozens of rockets loaded onto their chassis in a single volley. Utilizing an automated reloading design, a single rocket launcher—provided sufficient ammunition was available—could fire over five hundred rockets in under a minute.

Such terrifying offensive output explained why rocket launchers still maintained a critical role during this nascent military era of the apocalyptic wasteland. Naturally, New City lacked the logistical capacity for sustained barrages of that scale, so they employed a single-shot mode, dispatching individual rockets directly into the heart of the zombie tide. Artillery shells in this era possessed eleven times the destructive power of World War II ordnance. One can readily imagine the blast radius and devastation delivered by each shell. Ordinarily, zombies caught within the direct impact zone of an artillery shell were blasted into microscopic fragments, dancing through the air amidst the concussive shockwave.

Although numbering only slightly over thirty artillery pieces of various calibers and a dozen rocket launchers, they thoroughly churned up the entire vanguard of the zombie horde. Countless zombies were flipped onto the ground, while many more were blasted into shredded remnants, their mutilated bodies strewn across the wilderness.

Chen Liu's objective was straightforward: to leverage this firepower bombardment in hopes of randomly eliminating a controller. Moreover, under such a barrage, the high-tier Level R zombies concealed deep within the zombie sea would find it impossible to remain hidden. Their only remaining option would be to break away from the horde and expose themselves directly to human fire.

Based on tactical extrapolations, aside from the controllers, the number of Level R3 zombies present should not exceed two. This remained a mere projection; no one could confirm its accuracy, nor could anyone predict the specific mutation types that would appear. Across this open terrain, the threat level posed by stalkers and hunters was undeniably severe. Given their explosive acceleration, a two-kilometer distance could be bridged in a mere three minutes.

"Have the GGB units prepare..." Shortly after Chen Liu issued his command, a dark shadow burst out from the smoldering tree line of the hilly terrain, sending burning embers scattering in all directions.

Cries of alarm rang out in rapid succession. "A hunter! It's a hunter!" Immediately, the sharp cracks of automatic rifle fire echoed across the field. Boasting an effective range of up to two thousand meters, the automatic rifles were theoretically capable of hitting a sprinting hunter at that distance. However, bullets fired from that extreme range retained negligible kinetic energy—barely enough to give the hunter a mild scratch. This was merely a panicked reaction from soldiers overwhelmed by the crushing psychological pressure radiating from the hunter.

Chen Liu raised his binoculars; at such close range, he could distinguish every subtle texture on the hunter's hide. A relentless hail of dense gunfire struck the creature's body, only to ricochet harmlessly off its hardened skin in a shower of sparks. Perhaps due to exposure to the incendiary barrage, intense heat caused fine wisps of steam to rise from its entire body, scorching away the sparse fur it once possessed and leaving its skin smooth and bald.

Chen Liu did not halt the panicked firing; instead, he used the distraction generated by the soldiers to buy time for the GGB units to ready themselves. Dealing with Level R3 variants—other than controllers—theoretically required deployment of the GGB biological agents. According to Dr. Wang's assessment, Level R3 entities could withstand the biological agent for barely over a minute before their toughened outer epidermis began to corrode, losing their combat efficacy entirely within five minutes and dissolving into a puddle of dark sludge within ten.

Therefore, the frontline troops had to hold the line against the frantic counterattack of the hunter for a full five minutes.

The hunter burst from the mountain woods, driving its muscular frame toward the highway section where the densest concentration of soldiers was positioned, reaching a peak velocity of forty kilometers per hour. Without hesitation, ten soldiers from the GGB detachment dropped to one semi-crouched knee, hoisting their launchers onto their shoulders. Having pre-loaded the GGB biological warheads and locked onto the charging beast, they pulled the triggers. Ten biological warheads instantly converged in the hunter's path, detonating to form a massive zone of dense green aerosolized mist.

The hunter lacked the intellect to identify the substance, and its blistering momentum carried it straight into the cloud. Given its speed, it cleared the aerosol zone in mere seconds, lunging onward toward the soldiers. Yet those fleeting seconds proved entirely sufficient, for its entire hide was now coated in the green GGB biological agent. Viewed from afar, it resembled a charging green leopard.

Witnessing this, Chen Liu clenched his fist in triumph, punching the air as he shouted, "Yes! Let's see what the GGB agent is truly capable of."

The charging hunter maintained its momentum for barely a minute before its speed abruptly stuttered. Struck as if by an invisible blow, it halted in its tracks, howling in fury as it lashed out blindly at the trees blocking its path. Trunks as thick as a grown man's thigh snapped like twigs under its blows, crashing to the earth. Yet this frantic display lasted only a dozen seconds before it resumed its charge toward the soldiers.

Even to the naked eye, the hunter's hardened hide could be seen dissolving under the influence of the GGB agent, erupting into a dense blanket of weeping blisters across its physique. The collision with the trees burst many of these blisters, sending green fluid streaming downward to scatter into the air as the beast accelerated.

The unbroken volley of gunfire hammered against it, rupturing remaining blisters and sending sprays of green liquid flying in all directions. As the biological agent continued its corrosive work, bullets began penetrating the hunter's flesh, embedding themselves deep within its resilient muscle tissue. Within moments, the hunter's body was studded with brass bullet tips, shimmering with a metallic yellow sheen.

Afflicted by mounting injuries, the hunter let out a roar, its velocity visibly declining. The unyielding chemical corrosion relentlessly degraded its physical prowess; once the epidermis sloughed away, the corrosive agents turned their fury upon the underlying muscle tissue. As the beast tore forward, its musculature grew exposed, raw, and crimson—resembling a monstrosity stripped of its outer skin. As the muscles softened and melted away, the embedded bullets began to shake loose and clatter to the ground one by one.

Driven into a frenzy by this compounding onslaught, the raging hunter finally crossed the two-kilometer threshold, launching itself airborne to crash directly into the terrified cluster of soldiers. Whirling claws pulverized a soldier into a pulp with every strike; even with its capabilities compromised, the sheer destructive power of a hunter remained far beyond what ordinary humans could endure.

Once plunged into the formation of soldiers, the hunter was invincible. This was its killing ground, its absolute domain. Soldier after soldier fell beneath its rampage, their agonizing screams merging into a chorus of slaughter. Yet this failed to satisfy its bloodlust; the hunter's fury had only just peaked. Within two short minutes, the two hundred soldiers guarding the highway section were wiped out to the last man.

Chen Liu felt a sharp pang in his chest. The hunter's combat potential was terrifying; even impaired by the GGB agent, it had slaughtered two hundred elite soldiers in two minutes flat. He wondered if the price paid was too steep, yet the elimination of these Level R3 threats justified any necessary sacrifice.

Having massacred the defenders, the hunter—now heavily degraded by the relentless corrosion of the GGB agent—was at the absolute end of its tether. It struggled desperately to propel its body toward another cluster of soldiers, but half of its muscle mass had liquefied over the past few minutes, paralyzing its limbs. As it dragged itself forward, a mixture of crimson blood and green chemical fluid leaked from its frame, swaying like a frail elder stepping into quicksand as it advanced inch by agonizing inch.

Ultimately, once the musculature of its entire body dissolved completely, the hunter collapsed onto the asphalt of the highway. Its exposed skeletal structure bore a distorted resemblance to a human frame. Its head, the only remaining functional component, dripped fluids as if fished straight out of a swamp. The two crimson eyes rotated sluggishly until movement ceased entirely, dissolving into liquid that pooled across the highway surface.

The potency of the GGB biological agent spared not even bone. When Xie Han leaped down from his helicopter and walked over to the remaining skeletal remains of the hunter, the very bones were actively dissolving into nothingness.

Xie Han suddenly raised his right hand, clenching it into a tight fist. A roaring cheer erupted across the lines. Infected by his triumph, the soldiers bellowed in unison: "Victory! Victory! New City! New City!"

With the fall of a creature as terrifying as the hunter, the illusion of the zombies' invulnerability in the hearts of humanity collapsed into ruins...