At the beginning of D City’s base construction, it had already experienced dozens of zombie tides, large and small.
So far, the largest zombie tide they had dealt with had been on the scale of ten million. During that confrontation, they had used large-scale weapons and obtained several thousand crystal cores. This had laid the foundation for D City Base to hire so many ability users, and it was also the source that allowed the base to raise one fourth-rank ability user.
However, weapons of mass destruction — bombs that could wipe out three or four million zombies across several districts with one drop — were limited. D City Base had only five such bombs in total.
During the early construction of the base and the handling of tens of millions of zombies, D City had used two of them one after another. Now, only three remained, and they could not be used lightly.
The current zombie tide numbered around two million. It did not count as a top-level zombie tide, so the base did not want to use large-scale weapons.
Especially since there should be a zombie king among these zombies, causing the zombies not to swarm from one direction, but to come from all directions at the same time. This meant that even if bombs were used, the bombing directions would be scattered. They definitely could not afford to waste weapons of mass destruction like that, so they could only use ordinary bombs.
The base’s people had made preparations.
However, after the zombies reached an open area within attack range, the detection device showed extremely intense ability fluctuations from the zombie tide.
At this point, Fu Erdie could not help sighing. While her side had still been busy with all kinds of infrastructure, D City had already optimised the detector to the point where it could detect ability fluctuations from such a distance. The improvement was not minor at all.
The base immediately judged that there were at least twenty ability zombies around third rank among the zombie horde, and the zombie king was very likely fourth rank.
This was no longer something ordinary weapons could solve. Even if most of their weapons were used there, they might not be able to accurately target the positions of the third- and fourth-rank zombies.
No wonder the base’s ability users were unwilling to go out and fight the zombies. They had long since sensed something unusual and were shrinking back into the base to preserve themselves, waiting for the base to use weapons.
The base proposed that the ability users go out and lure the ability zombies out of the zombie horde, so the military could carry out targeted strikes.
However, the ability users refused to move no matter what. Even when the base offered high rewards, they were still unwilling.
As Fu Erdie listened to Auntie Cao Rui translate and relay the telegraph, she rubbed her fingers together.
How was this a matter of not daring or not wanting to move? They were clearly seizing every opportunity to make the base use up its bombs as quickly as possible, then take over this large base whose infrastructure had already been mostly completed over the past year of the apocalypse.
The reason the ability users gave openly was very reasonable: there might be a fourth-rank zombie in the zombie horde, so they needed the base’s fourth-rank ability user to go out first and test the waters before they could go out.
But when both sides had fourth-rank fighters, whichever leader showed themselves first would be more dangerous and more likely to be ambushed. Did these ability users really not understand even this?
They understood. The base also understood. This was an open scheme deliberately forcing the base to accept the loss.
One of the people on the base’s side could not hold back, and before the zombie tide arrived, they had a huge argument with the ability users.
The zombie tide’s marching speed was not particularly fast. From receiving news of the zombie gathering at dawn, to confirming the direction and number of the zombie tide during the day, to the base’s internal conflict erupting in the evening over the ability zombie issue, and then D City Base informing Fu Erdie by telegram at eight that night and requesting cooperation and help — all of this had taken less than twenty-four hours.
At the zombie tide’s walking speed, they would reach D City Base in one more day.
Fu Erdie thought about the zombies’ movement speed. It was probably seventy or eighty kilometres a day. In other words, the D City base’s people active outside had noticed the zombies’ abnormality from nearly two hundred kilometres away. That was much stronger than Senyu Residential Complex, which could only detect abnormalities when things approached within a few hundred metres of the dandelion coverage area.
Fu Erdie could not help feeling a little envious of D City Base’s detection system again.
Sang Wenhao looked at Fu Erdie. “Are we going over now?”
Fu Erdie looked at the time and shook her head. “It’s too late. We’ll set off early tomorrow morning to take a look.”
D City was afraid of these zombies, but Fu Erdie felt that every zombie tide was an opportunity for her plants to level up.
However, two million zombies was still an enormous number for Fu Erdie and Sang Wenhao. After all, previously, they had only dealt with a little over a hundred thousand in a day, and that was after luring the zombies to open ground.
Now, if they had to deal with more than two million…
Fu Erdie decided to use the old method: first deal with the ability zombies in the zombie horde.
Previously, when she and Sang Wenhao dealt with ability zombies, they waited for those zombies to recklessly rush out and come to them before eliminating them.
But this time, the leader of the zombie tide possessed intelligence and could somehow make ability zombies within a range of several hundred kilometres serve it.
A zombie like this definitely would not charge out recklessly just because of bait.
So Fu Erdie planned to bring Han Zhi and use his psychic ability as a searchlight. One by one, they would accurately identify the ability zombies and carry out precise strikes.
Of course, this time, Fu Erdie and Sang Wenhao would not only bring Han Zhi. They would bring the entire six-person ability-user team from the complex as their first true battle.
This would no longer be practice inside the complex, but real combat.
Aside from Fu Erdie and Sang Wenhao, only the short-haired woman Ye Jia, who had wind blades, was almost third-rank. The other ability users were still only second-rank. It was time for them to improve.
For plant combat, Fu Erdie chose the zucchini, which had already risen to second rank.
As the ace Fu Erdie had discovered, and also a comrade-in-arms who had cleaned zombies with Fu Erdie for four months, it combined frontal strength, extremely resilient roots and stems suitable for binding, and the scent from its flowers and fruit that could slow movement. No matter the situation, it had room to perform.
Although both it and the ability-user team were second-rank, when working together, it could display the effect of third-rank.
That night, Fu Erdie confirmed the people who would travel, handed the main base’s security to the five third-rank plants — pothos, spider plant, succulent, potato, and gardenia — explained some precautions, and confirmed the later strategy and tactics with the ability-user team. Only after everyone had a clear idea did they prepare to set off with a mix of excitement and anxiety.
The next day, the house entered the box van and came to the roof of the electric scooter. The group set off toward D City.
From Senyu Residential Complex to D City Base was only about three hundred kilometres. And because the two sides had been exchanging goods during this period, the roads had remained continuously open, so the group moved very quickly.
After travelling fifty or sixty kilometres, they discovered many traces of zombie movement.
Whether it was the messy footprints on the ground or the rotting flesh and blood belonging to zombies, all of it proved that zombies had indeed gathered here. They were even advancing along this expressway toward D City Base in a planned and purposeful way.
When they reached a place one hundred kilometres from D City Base, Fu Erdie and the others could already see the zombie groups from certain bends or higher terrain.
Han Zhi used his ability, swept his gaze around, and quickly reported the data. “There are roughly three hundred thousand zombies. There are three ability zombies above second rank, and more than ninety first- and second-rank ones.”
Fu Erdie raised her brows slightly. This ratio seemed much higher than the normal ratio of ability zombies.
“Share the locations of the third-rank and above ability zombies with me and Sang Wenhao,” Fu Erdie said. “Leave those three to us. Just share the information once so we can lock onto them. The remaining ninety-plus first- and second-rank zombies are yours.”
Han Zhi: “…”
The others: “…!”
Four second-ranks, plus one zucchini, against more than ninety ability zombies?!
Fu Erdie smiled. “Sang Sang and I will support you. Good luck.”
As she spoke, she had already found the positions of the three third-rank zombies through the shared vision and signalled to Han Zhi that he could cancel it.
Sang Wenhao stepped on a metal sheet and flew over the hundreds of thousands of zombies. In an instant, he killed the nearest third-rank zombie. At the same time, he took out the sniper rifle on his back and, while moving at high speed, shot and killed the other two third-ranks.
Everyone who had just received Han Zhi’s shared vision and seen this scene: “…!!!”
So it was this simple?!
Sang Wenhao removed one third-rank crystal core. Coincidentally, it was metal-type, so he immediately absorbed it himself.
Fu Erdie, meanwhile, used her newly developed “ability” — stepping on the fluff controlled by third-rank dandelions — and slowly walked through the air, creating the image of lotus flowers blooming under each step. She arrived beside the dead third-rank ability zombie and casually placed an intelligent mutated seed down, waiting for it to slowly corrode the zombie and leave the crystal core for her.
The zombies around her rushed toward her desperately, but before she even had to fight, they were dealt with by the dandelions.
Fu Erdie tossed the third-rank crystal core like a ball. “Actually, I wanted to stretch my muscles a little.”
The dandelions ignored her and dutifully eliminated the zombies still swarming over.
On the other side, Sang Wenhao returned to Fu Erdie’s side with two third-rank crystal cores and said helplessly, “Stop playing. When we meet a fourth-rank zombie, you’ll have your chance to act.”
The two of them brought the dandelions back. The intelligent mutated plant that had just grown out of the zombie’s body feared being left behind. It worked with all its strength to corrode the zombie as quickly as possible, then used its leaves and roots like hands and feet to hurry toward the area where Fu Erdie’s box van was.
At this time, after months of practice in the complex, the ability-user team was also cooperating in real combat for the first time.
Han Zhi shared his vision. Ye Jia controlled her wind blades according to their previous training, doing her best to attack the ability zombies at the edge of her ability range.
Unlike when she had first joined Senyu Residential Complex, Ye Jia’s control over her wind blades had clearly improved a great deal. Although she was only second-rank, she could already hit ability zombies one kilometre away. Although she could not perform large-scale attacks in order to maintain distance, this was already excellent progress for long-range attacks.
She could handle ability zombies within a one-kilometre range, but among the more than ninety ability zombies, over thirty were within this range.
Ye Jia caused damage and restrained seven of them. The remaining twenty-plus rushed toward their location.
When the rushing zombies narrowed the distance between themselves and Ye Jia’s group to within one hundred metres, they entered the “mid-range” attack range of the zucchini and Cen Xiyang.
The second-rank zucchini, whether its fruit, roots, stems, or leaves, could extend about one hundred metres.
Its fruit, branches, and leaves rose into the air to strike those ability zombies in the zombie horde. Its roots rapidly travelled beneath the soil, spreading within a radius of one hundred metres and forming an invisible underground circle, ready to launch sneak attacks at any time.
Cen Xiyang’s spatial compression ability, through the zucchini’s body and the vision shared by Han Zhi, could accurately cooperate with the zucchini’s attacks. The instant the zucchini hit an enemy, she would push her ability into the enemy’s brain, creating a patch of vacuum.
Immediately afterward, the zombie’s brain would cave in as if smashed flat, instantly losing mobility and dying.
This attack was good in every way, except it always crushed the crystal core inside the zombie’s brain too. To retrieve it, they had to carefully wrap that lump of crystal core fragments mixed with brain matter in light-blocking black cloth. Only then could the crystal core be stored and later distributed.
Fu Erdie watched from the side, feeling a little sympathy for Han Zhi, who would be doing that later.
Because Cen Xiyang and the zucchini were two second-rank beings cooperating, they achieved an effect greater than one plus one and successfully intercepted and killed seven or eight zombies.
In the end, five zombies reached within ten metres, very close to the ability-user team.
Because of Han Zhi’s visual-sharing ability, everyone except He Xuan had their vision focused farther away and could barely see the situation nearby. So close-range defence was handed to the lucky mascot who was not connected to shared vision — Miss He Xuan, who possessed the good-luck buff.
Actually, if uninformed onlookers saw this, they would not think He Xuan had done anything. They would only exclaim in shock: “How is the zucchini so lucky?! It’s clearly raising its fruit and branches high, bypassing so many ordinary zombies to attack the ability zombies in the horde, but somehow, with a casual turn or a random use of force, it sends the ordinary or not-so-ordinary zombies nearby flying?!”
Around the zucchini’s main body were many surging zombies, as well as the few ability zombies that had broken through the defence line and reached close range.
But without exception, these zombies were all “accidentally” sent flying by the zucchini.
And the ability zombies that were hit but not sent flying would be affected by the zucchini flower’s scent, slowing their movements and making it much easier for He Xuan to rush up and finish them off.
Thus, under He Xuan’s luck enhancement, the five ability zombies were often just perfectly hit by the zucchini, which was not paying attention to them at all, and then often finished off by He Xuan. Just like that, they fell one after another or were held back.
One zombie finally approached the zucchini and was about to tear at the zucchini and the main bodies of the people nearby when dandelion fluff drifted down leisurely, turning the zombie into a burst-open ball of dandelion fluff.
He Xuan looked at Fu Erdie gratefully and apologetically, only to see Fu Erdie nod encouragingly at her and give her a thumbs-up.
This good-luck buff was truly mysterious.
More than ninety second-rank zombies were still too many for them.
After dealing with over sixty, everyone was exhausted.
Han Zhi especially, who had maintained large-range shared vision for three people, had his vision blur and almost fell to the ground.
Fu Erdie and Sang Wenhao did not force them. They had everyone return to the box van to rest while they instantly killed the remaining ability zombies themselves and brought the ability zombies nearby. Then, together with everyone, they dug out the crystal cores and stored them properly.
Fu Erdie used her ability on the zucchini and Cen Xiyang, helping them quickly recover their strength and energy.
As for Han Zhi, He Xuan, and Ye Jia, Fu Erdie could currently only barely push her ability into their bodies without harming them, allowing them to recover about half their abilities. It was not realistic for them to participate in the next battle at full condition.
So Fu Erdie said, “He Xuan, Ye Jia, drive back with the crystal cores and lure these three hundred thousand ordinary zombies back to Senyu Residential Complex. Let the plants deal with them. Xiyang, Han Zhi, we’ll continue on.”
Han Zhi’s next task was only to activate shared vision when needed, letting Fu Erdie and Sang Wenhao lock onto targets. That did not consume too much ability, so he could completely manage.
After resting for ten minutes, the group flew the box van onward, continuing toward D City Base.
At this time, the base was still in a state of anxiety.
The base commander had already sent many fighter jets out to bomb the zombie groups. Basically, aside from the zombie group in Fu Erdie’s direction, which they had agreed would be handled by her side, the other six zombie groups all had the sounds of hot-weapon combat.
But reality was just as they had predicted. Ordinary zombies were easy to hit, but after fighting for half the day, they still did not know whether they had hit the ability zombies. Then, unexpectedly, some ability zombies that could fly or attack from long range shot up from the ground and crashed into the wings and fuselages of the fighter jets, causing the aircraft to lose balance and fall. The pilots inside, who had trained their whole lives, lost their lives just like that.
The base comrades watching these scenes from afar through binoculars nearly ground their teeth to pieces. For one instant, compared with the zombies, they hated the ability users beside them even more — those people who seemed completely unaware and were still watching the excitement.
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