Chapter Forty: Savage Shadows

Xie Han’s heart-wrenching roar instantly put everyone in the King Hummer on edge, their submachine guns waving in disarray. The R3 moved with uncanny agility, its form nearly a blur—most could only glimpse a shadow speeding by. If the R2 trailing behind the vehicle was already a formidable menace, what would the R3 be like? Even without thinking, anyone could sense the danger.

A thunderous shot rang out. The Star of Destruction in Xie Han’s hand fired, and the explosive round struck the head of the charging R2 some twenty meters away. Its skull, as hard as steel, burst like a shattered watermelon, blood and gore splattering everywhere. Its body collapsed mid-run as if its energy had been cut off, sprawled lifeless on the street. Even the powerful R2 could not withstand the explosive force and died on the spot.

As the R2 fell, the R3 running along the building facade let out a furious howl. It seemed to sense the threat posed by the last King Hummer, accelerating swiftly as it leaped ahead of the convoy. With a powerful push, it bounced off the building and lunged at an Audi in front.

“Damn!” Even a fool could see things were wrong now. Chen Liu quickly tapped the global communication function on the intelligent system and shouted, “Everyone, listen up! Fire at that zombie the moment you see it!” Almost as soon as Chen Liu finished, the Audi chosen by the R3 echoed with agonizing, blood-curdling screams as the five people inside were shredded by the R3’s razor-sharp claws. The uncontrolled Audi careened into a storefront, crashing like a drunken beast.

The R3 did not immediately emerge, but everyone who witnessed the scene knew that the fate of the five in the Audi was sealed—they would be torn and devoured.

The convoy stretched long, and Chen Liu’s warning left those in the front unsure of what was happening behind. Could a single zombie really throw a group armed with terrifying firepower into chaos? It seemed unbelievable, but in this apocalypse where danger lurked everywhere, everyone’s nerves were taut with vigilance. Chen Liu’s words brought confusion, but those in the middle of the convoy aimed their machine guns toward the sides of the street regardless.

The R3 consumed its victims with astonishing speed. In just two minutes, it burst out from the shop drenched in blood and swiftly chased after the convoy. Xie Han could sense the mocking gleam in the R3’s blood-red eyes. He didn’t know why he felt this, but now was not the time to ponder. He might be the only one barely capable of dealing with the R3, so he had to find a way to draw its attention.

Trailing faint afterimages, the R3 bypassed Xie Han’s King Hummer. This time, everyone was prepared, especially the several King Hummers ahead of Chen Liu—those drivers understood the situation all too well. As soon as they glimpsed the R3’s shadow, the eight-barrel heavy machine guns on five King Hummers roared to life, weaving dozens of fiery tongues into a terrifying net of metallic fury that engulfed the R3.

The R3’s enraged howl echoed—the creature, possessing a human vocal apparatus, unleashed a beastly cry. Even its formidable strength could not withstand the barrage; its screams grew more desperate under the heavy machine gun fire. People believed some zombies could withstand bullets from pistols or submachine guns, but none could survive heavy machine gun rounds. These were humanity’s most powerful anti-zombie weapons.

Yet, things did not go as expected. The bullets failed to penetrate the R3’s skin, instead inciting an even greater ferocity in it.

As the R3 burst out of the metallic storm, Xie Han finally saw its full form. The main feature of the R2s was their human-like musculature, but they lacked skin, making them appear monstrous and terrifying. The R3s, however, evolved perfectly—muscle and skin both refined. Yet, their evolution led to changes in their skeletal structure and DNA, increasingly diverging from human form.

This information was transmitted to Xie Han by Zhou Ruomeng through her mental link. Even Xie Han found it difficult to classify the XR virus: was it radiation, or some kind of virus? It was baffling how the XR virus could drive zombies to such perfect evolution. What would an R4 look like?

Seeing even heavy machine guns fail to harm the R3, panic swept through everyone. The convoy formation began to disintegrate. Fearing they would be the R3’s next meal, drivers veered their vehicles through gaps in the convoy, instantly accelerating to over a hundred kilometers per hour, desperate to escape the monstrous R3. Such speed on these streets—especially with zombie corpses everywhere—was tantamount to suicide.

Xie Han cursed aloud but could only shake his head and laugh bitterly. Everyone had their own fears, and their actions stemmed from encountering an enemy like the R3, one that could not be overcome. But was fleeing useful? With the R3’s speed, maybe they had a chance on the highways, but in the city streets, escape was impossible.

The R3, already enraged by the machine gun barrage, focused its attention on the vehicles that broke away from the convoy. It abandoned the King Hummers firing at it, ignoring the bullets that continued to pelt its body, and madly rushed toward the fleeing cars.

Those who risked everything to escape had no idea their actions would only draw the R3’s focus. Seeing the R3’s shadow approaching triggered fresh screams of terror. Some cars, without the R3 even touching them, veered uncontrollably and crashed into storefront walls.

The R3 pounced, its claws slicing through the car roof like tofu. With a fierce tug and a screech, it ripped the roof off and flung it a dozen meters away. Those inside, even if not knocked unconscious by the crash, fainted from sheer terror at seeing the R3 so close. The few who remained conscious screamed and fired wildly at the creature, but their gunshots and screams soon faded, leaving only the sound of bones being crushed in the intelligent system’s audio feed.

Many people kept their intelligent systems fully activated, which included communication, video, and even network transmission functions. One of the destroyed vehicles had these features turned on, so everyone in the convoy learned exactly what had happened.

The R3’s terrifying power, like a spreading virus, infected the hearts of all with fear. At that moment, the convoy could no longer maintain calm. Everyone’s sole thought was to rush out of the city—once on the highway, no matter how fast the R3 was, it could never catch up with a speeding car.

In the chaos, the convoy became deadly in the narrow streets. Several cars in the middle inexplicably collided with each other, blocking the entire road and trapping more than forty vehicles behind them. Curses and cries of despair flooded the intelligent system.

Without the heavy machine guns to stall it, the R3 unleashed its full might amid the chaos. Each leap brought a shower of blood and carnage. Those trapped, though protected by steel vehicles, were no safer—the R3’s claws sliced through metal as easily as tofu. Screams and wails of despair became the only music in the street.

(P.S.: Many worry this novel will become extremely exaggerated. Don’t worry, such abnormal evolution is highly improbable. As for future weapons, they won’t appear in great numbers at the outset, but will emerge gradually.)