Chapter Thirty-Four: A Mountain of Corpses, an Ocean of Death

Seeing the detailed division of tasks in the intelligent system, Xie Han felt secretly thankful for yesterday’s modifications. If Yang Huaiyuan hadn’t installed this smart system in the battered van, they would truly be fumbling in the dark. It would be one thing if he alone lost his sense of direction, but if he disrupted the convoy’s deployment, that would be troublesome indeed. No doubt, those cold-blooded types in charge of the heavy weaponry wouldn’t hesitate to tear his minibus apart.

The division of tasks was, in fact, simple. Ten modified sports cars would act as bait to lure the zombies. Ten other vehicles would remain on standby in the square at the entrance, while the remaining vehicles waited for the bait cars to successfully attract the horde and draw most of the zombies away. Then, the heavy road-clearer would lead the charge, racing at top speed to the target three kilometers away—the storage warehouse of Hengda Food Factory in Wangtian City.

Vehicles with overwhelming firepower, like the King Hummer, were tasked with protecting the safety of the twenty Dongfeng Menglong heavy trucks in the convoy. If all went according to plan, once they reached the refined flour storage warehouse, everyone except those assigned to guard duty would have to help transport the flour. Given the sheer number of zombies, the entire operation would allow less than fifteen minutes for moving the supplies.

After everyone confirmed their understanding of the plan, the heavy road-clearer took the lead. The chosen sports cars peeled away from the convoy and charged wildly into the city. Within moments, a line of furious machine-gun fire erupted; the guns mounted on the sports cars had begun their deadly work.

The wait was long and tense. The success of the plan hinged on whether the bait cars could attract and lead the zombies away. If they failed to draw off the horde, the convoy would have no choice but to rely on its own firepower to blast a path through.

Chen Liu’s King Hummer silently pulled up beside the minibus. A cigarette dangled from his lips—no doubt from the half-pack Xie Han had given him the day before. “Kid, since you gave me those Zhonghua cigarettes, don’t say I didn’t warn you. Stick close behind me later. Nobody else is going to look out for you.”

Grateful for Chen Liu’s kindness, Xie Han replied, “Thanks for the reminder, Brother Chen!” Chen Liu merely nodded and had his men move the King Hummer to the front of the minibus. After buckling his seatbelt, he also released the safety on his weapon. His men fastened their seatbelts as well—a battered, open vehicle meant any collision could easily fling them out. The crates of ammunition atop the King Hummer were already open, revealing rows of gleaming bullets.

Soon, the intelligent system transmitted footage from the lead bait cars. What appeared in view was an endless sea of zombies, packed densely along the street with barely any gaps. These zombies were somewhat different from those Xie Han had seen before—some even wielded steel pipes and other makeshift weapons. The roar of the sports cars’ engines quickly caught their attention, and the previously aimless horde surged as one toward the vehicles.

But this alone was not enough. The ten sports cars each found their positions and, after adjusting their orientation, the machine guns welded to their roofs unleashed a storm of bullets into the oncoming zombies. It was like harvesting wheat—row after row of zombies were torn apart, their bodies trampled by the relentless masses behind. The metallic fury from the sports cars’ guns only managed to slow the zombies’ advance; their overwhelming numbers still allowed them to creep ever closer.

The wild staccato of machine-gun fire successfully drew the zombies from the entire street. Though the drivers of the sports cars were fierce, they were not devoid of fear. When the zombies closed to within ten meters, the cars began to inch forward, always maintaining a gap of ten to fifteen meters. Sweeping up the whole street’s worth of zombies was no easy feat; all they could do was try their best.

Ten more minutes passed. The bait cars had managed to capture the attention of the vast majority of zombies, leaving the street deserted. At this, everyone tensed; shouts rang out between vehicles. They all knew that the three kilometers ahead would not be so easily traversed—the streets to come would require brute force to break through the packed hordes.

As the intelligent system blared its red warning, the uproar reached a fever pitch. The heavy road-clearer shot forward like a wild stallion, followed madly by the dense procession of vehicles behind. The previously motionless stream of steel surged with frenzy. Everyone was on edge, machine guns aimed at either side of the convoy, gunners’ ragged breaths audible even over the engines.

The deserted street was crossed in under two minutes. The heavy road-clearer’s drill roared to life, and after rounding a corner into another street, it plunged headlong into a mass of zombies. The eight heavy machine guns atop the road-clearer erupted in unison, eight streams of flame mowing down the zombies on either side as if they were wheat.

The bullets from the heavy machine guns, driven by powerful propellant, shredded zombie flesh with ease. These fearsome rounds didn’t merely punch through one zombie; in a straight line, a single bullet could cleave through two, then pierce a third, a fourth, even a fifth. Under such firepower, the zombies were instantly carved open, allowing the convoy to roll past their mangled remains.

Everyone in the minibus was breathing hard. The zombie swarms they’d seen before were nothing compared to this; none had ever imagined just how terrifying such numbers could be.

Compared to the others, Xie Han was even more fearful. In such a dense horde, there were bound to be R2 or R3 evolved zombies among them—and likely in no small number. He had no idea if they were hiding in the throng. Perhaps the crowd limited their movement for now; but what if the mass was cleared? Xie Han shuddered to imagine the consequences if R2s, ten times as powerful as a normal zombie, or even R3s, dozens of times stronger, appeared to menace the convoy.

He gripped the Starburst tightly, loading five explosive rounds into his pistol. Among the convoy, the strongest individuals possessed genes only a few times more potent than ordinary people. Against R2 or R3 zombies, their abilities were still insufficient. The highly agile R2s and R3s would be difficult to take down even with concentrated machine-gun fire; even if torn apart, their threat would remain far above that of common zombies.

“Xu Qiang, keep right behind Chen Liu’s King Hummer. If anyone spots a zombie with abnormal signs of decay, everyone is to focus fire immediately—do not allow them within ten meters of the convoy!” Xie Han barked his order. Killing an R2 zombie was tough, but not impossible; but as for R3s, he simply didn’t know, having never encountered one. Their power, he feared, was beyond anything he could withstand.

(Author’s note: I’ve always wanted to keep the chapters clean and free from excessive vote-begging at the end, unlike others. But without it, votes are really scarce! Still, voting is voluntary. I’ll mention it this once and, unless absolutely necessary, won’t bring it up again. Thank you all for your support.)