Chapter Forty-Three: Battle of the Zombies

However, Xiao Ba soon gave them a taste of ‘affection’, ensuring their suffering ended swiftly. Watching corpse after corpse collapse, this was the price of invasion. In just a few minutes, over a hundred humans fell prey to the zombies. Once the interlopers were dealt with, the Red-Faced Zombie King and his followers finally confronted Lin Dong.

A thunderous roar erupted from the Red-Faced Zombie King, his fury reaching its peak. Today’s losses had been catastrophic, and now at last he faced Lin Dong—their hatred for each other was palpable, as if blood itself boiled at the sight. The remaining zombies under his command echoed his roar. The street shook with the cacophony of enraged zombies, a scene both terrifying and awe-inspiring.

Battle was imminent.

Of course, Tank, Xiao Ba, and the elite zombies on Lin Dong’s side were not only undaunted by the challenge, but seemed excited by the impending fight. “Go have fun,” Lin Dong commanded, and his followers immediately charged forward.

The two ferocious zombie hordes collided at full speed, but Lin Dong’s underlings were too elite—like professional football players mowing down ordinary people. At the moment of impact, they sent their opponents flying. Tank, especially, relished this sort of battle, plowing through the opposing horde with ease.

High above, on a tall building, the Human-Faced Rat—known as Scarf—shrieked with rage, his heart seething as he spotted the enemy responsible for his wife’s death. He unleashed his strange power again: mental control. A faint black mist began to drift toward Tank, Xiao Ba, and the other zombies.

In a nearby alley, Doctor watched secretly, his gaze fixed on Scarf. Perhaps owing to his intelligence, Doctor lacked Tank’s brashness and was more cunning. Recently, Doctor had awakened a new ability: Mental Penetration. It hadn’t been used much in the current battle, but now he targeted Scarf, intending to strike as its mental power floated outward to control others.

Focusing his mind, Doctor launched a sudden sneak attack. His mental force transformed into a steel spike, piercing directly toward Scarf.

Scarf screamed in agony, his brain wracked with pain. He collapsed, legs flailing in the air, foam frothing from his mouth, his body convulsing violently—his fate uncertain.

“Scarf!” the Red-Faced Zombie King raged. At this moment, he realized his side was no match for Lin Dong; their evolution was simply too advanced. His capable lieutenant, Monkey, leapt onto Tank’s neck.

Monkey bared his savage teeth, aiming to bite into Tank’s scalp. But Tank thrust a massive hand into Monkey’s mouth, gripping its upper jaw, then threw it heavily to the ground with an over-the-shoulder slam. “Trying to bite my head?” Tank grumbled, and delivered two more crushing kicks to Monkey for good measure.

Lin Dong’s followers swept through the opposing horde like a storm, suffering almost no casualties. The Red-Faced Zombie King was livid. “Die, all of you!” he shouted, thrusting his arms forward. His limbs swelled, veins bursting from his skin in countless tendrils that swept across the street.

Many zombies on his side were impaled by these veins, but Lin Dong’s followers, fearless and fierce, bit down on the veins, some pushing forward with reckless abandon despite their injuries. Like savage wolf pups, even in death they sought to bite a chunk from their foes.

Tank roared, furious at seeing his comrades strung up like candied fruit, and leapt beside the Red-Faced King, raising his fists to strike. But he was still no match for the Red-Faced King. The King’s chest split open, countless veins surged out, wrapping Tank and piercing his flesh, draining him of blood and meat.

Tank howled in pain, struggling violently, but the veins lifted him off the ground, rendering him powerless.

“Die, all of you!” the Red-Faced King absorbed more blood, his skin crimson, veins bulging grotesquely across his face. Just as he reveled in his power, a black cloud drifted overhead—a flock of enormous crows with glowing red eyes. The crows swooped down like missiles, their sharp beaks slicing through the veins like scissors, blood spraying and a stench filling the air.

“Damn crows!” The Red-Faced King could not withstand the crows’ relentless attack, his body wracked with pain, and he hurriedly withdrew his veins. Tank, once restrained, was finally freed. Looking up, he saw a red-eyed crow—the very ‘little black bird’ he had tried to capture before.

Tank hadn’t expected it to come to his aid. The little black bird returned kindness for past wrongs, saving his life rather than holding a grudge. Tank was deeply moved. “Little black bird, you’re amazing. I promise… I’ll never try to catch you again!”

“Big fool… big fool…” The crow flapped its wings and flew off, just as it had before. Tank was left speechless.

With the help of the crows, the Red-Faced King lost his trump card and was consumed with resentment. Looking up, he saw he was surrounded by Lin Dong’s elite zombies, all exceptionally powerful.

“It’s over…” The Red-Faced King felt a deep sense of foreboding.

……

At that moment, Lin Dong flashed through space, using his corpse domain to pass through walls and enter the building where Lu Hao was hiding. Once a hotel, it was now in ruins, bloodstains everywhere on the marble floors. When the apocalypse struck, the hotel had been crowded, making it a disaster zone.

The hotel’s walls were now sealed by Lu Hao and his companions using their powers, making them a full ten meters thick. “With this ability, you’re wasted not working construction…” Lin Dong thought to himself.

The space was sealed, pitch black, not a ray of sunlight penetrating. Only a few beams from tactical flashlights flickered up ahead—armed personnel resting on the ground.

“We need to recover some strength while we can. We spent too much energy just now,” Lu Hao said.

“Mm.” Xiao Wen nodded, thinking it wise to hide here.

“There’s no way zombies can get in—we have time. Earlier, I had to drain myself to block the Human-Faced Rat’s mental control. I feel completely empty now.”

“Brother Wen, please stop talking…” The female awakener looked miserable, deeply anxious. Just witnessing the Zombie King’s abilities was chilling—he’d killed Xu Jian in an instant, as if it were nothing at all.

She’d read reports about strange zombies: even awakeners had an eighty percent mortality rate when encountering them!

“Who collected the intelligence? Who classified this as a one-star corpse nest?” The woman’s nerves were fraying.

……