Chapter 403: Unrecognizable
Zhuang Mingxu was silent for a moment, then said, “How much purification can you still do over there?”
“Estimated… at most twenty thousand,” Lu Weiyi looked at the large chunks of accumulated snow collected early in the apocalypse and used over the past year. He guessed based on the remaining piles in the corner.
“Then purify everything first. Distribute it by level to them. Use it as leverage to get them to resist until the zombies retreat,” Zhuang Mingxu’s voice was resolute, as if burning his bridges. “I’ll have someone send you the crystal core guns.”
“Xiao Yi.”
“Hm?”
“I want to survive with you,” Zhuang Mingxu’s voice was soft, almost like a hallucination.
“Hm!” Lu Weiyi replied, then hurried toward the teammates still holding the line.
As Jiang Ning said, they had poked the zombie nest. Most of Pingjin Base’s zombies were here—hundreds of thousands of them.
The crowd was dense and chaotic.
With more than two thousand powered users from Pingjin Base sharing the pressure, the powered users at Moon Half Bay finally had a chance to catch their breath.
As purified crystal cores were distributed, the morale of all squads was boosted, especially after two B-level powered users suddenly achieved an A-level breakthrough right on the battlefield, greatly inspiring everyone.
When the sky began to lighten with dawn, everyone was already fighting like mad—they had lost the ability to think, with only one belief in their hearts: kill the zombies and survive.
“Xiao Yi, I feel something’s off about a zombie. Come take a look,” Zhuang Mingxu’s voice suddenly came through.
Lu Weiyi stopped what he was doing, quickly leapt onto the city wall, and looked in the direction he pointed.
Compared to other zombies, this one was very clean. His clothes were neat, and it even looked like his hair was styled. Although it looked like it had been chewed by a dog, it still showed that someone had taken care to tidy him up.
He blended among the surrounding zombies, calmly strolling as if just taking a walk, amid snarling and rampaging monsters.
The moment Lu Weiyi sent his spiritual force to probe, the zombie sensed it immediately and looked in his direction, twitching the muscles on his face.
If that could be called a smile.
“That’s… an SS-level zombie,” Lu Weiyi said just as the zombie accelerated, running toward Antonio’s direction.
“Antonio, watch out for an SS-level zombie!” Lu Weiyi shouted as he left the wall, running toward Antonio.
“All squads, attention: SS-level zombie spotted. Black down jacket, very clean, extremely fast,” Zhuang Mingxu informed all teams. “S-level powered users, be alert. He might be targeting you.”
Unlike the zombies who moved with ease, Lu Weiyi was struggling. It felt like the zombie was draining his energy—sometimes moving toward Li Zhuang’s position, then turning toward Ning Yuan.
Whether zombies could get fatigued was unknown, but after a few passes, Lu Weiyi was getting worn down, especially since he needed to use spiritual power to lock on to the target.
“I’m locking him with spiritual power. All tanks, aim at the attacker.”
“Received, waiting for orders,” Zhuang Mingxu replied, quickly issuing commands to several tank operators.
“Three…”
“Two…”
“One…”
As his voice dropped, Lu Weiyi’s spiritual force spread out in a vast web, binding the zombie. The zombie seemed stunned for a moment, then was hit simultaneously by incoming shells.
A loud buzzing roared in their ears. Nearby sounds turned into sharp whistles. Lu Weiyi heard Ning Yuan shouting something fearfully, pointing continuously downward.
Lu Weiyi lifted his foot—but a strong hand grabbed his ankle and with sudden force dragged him down.
The thick ice beneath shattered like paper, turning into thin fragments as he was pulled. Lu Weiyi barely had time to shield himself with spiritual power before being submerged in eerie blue water.
His curved blade appeared in his hand. He quickly slashed at his ankle, detecting a zombie close by, and launched a spiritual attack toward its brain.
The SS-level zombie no longer looked tidy like when first seen. Bombardments had torn off its clothes and hair. Its bare body showed no wounds.
Lu Weiyi wasn’t sure if the zombie had been infected early in the apocalypse or if zombie flesh could regenerate with rising levels.
In the later stages of the previous life, zombies gradually leveled up, and he was never allowed out of the base. He had never seen zombies of this level before.
His curved blade struck a block of solidified ice with a clang, leaving only a faint white mark. His heart sank.
This was a water-type zombie. Being in the sea was like entering its territory.
Especially since zombies didn’t need to breathe, but he had fallen hurriedly into the water, surrounded only by a spiritual power shield, which had to be carefully maintained or it would break at any moment.
Lu Weiyi continuously attacked with blade and spiritual power, while the little green branch he sent onto the ice quickly bound a group of people gathering and trying to rescue him.
“Pull up!” Antonio was the first to feel the tug. He twisted his wrist, wrapped the little green branch around his arm twice, and pulled hard.
Feeling the force, Lu Weiyi struck at the zombie to create distance and surged upward.
Unfortunately, the SS-level zombie’s reflexes were extremely fast. Just as Lu Weiyi was about to break the surface, the zombie’s entire lower body instantly fused with the sea ice.
“Frozen,” Lu Weiyi gasped.
“Coming!” Ning Yuan struck the ice hard. It cracked, and several people quickly pulled Lu Weiyi out.
“Water-type SS-level zombie. No advantage at sea. I’m going to land,” Lu Weiyi said, using the little green branch to drag zombies still underwater out, then threw them ashore and ran himself.
The base had developed ability disruptors, but they worked on both zombies and powered users, and there weren’t enough of them. They weren’t suitable during large-scale battles. At this moment, separating the zombies from the crowd was a form of extra help.
“I’ll go with him,” Antonio strode forward to catch up.
“I…”
“Ning Yuan, go back first and get a few rocket launchers,” Zhuang Mingxu ordered.
“Okay,” Ning Yuan immediately turned back.
“I… I…” Liu Rui lifted his foot and followed Antonio. Xu Sa also wanted to go, but Li Zhuang stopped him. “You stay with me to stabilize the rest here. If the SS-level zombie is killed, the zombies here might retreat. Pay special attention to the people from Pingjin Base.”
Xu Sa watched Liu Rui’s receding figure, bit his lip, nodded, and returned.
The surrounding zombies kept coming relentlessly, as if making a last desperate struggle. Their attacks grew even fiercer.
The SS-level zombie had some intelligence. Contrary to Lu Weiyi’s hopes, it didn’t head straight to shore but engaged in a struggle with Lu Weiyi, inching closer to the shore.
Lu Weiyi activated the ability disruptor but found it only had limited effect—it couldn’t completely block powers.
The ice around them was fragile under the SS-level zombie’s power, constantly thinning and cracking, with zombies occasionally falling through.
“Fuck, this thing is water-type,” Antonio said, stepping one foot into the water, quickly jumping toward the shore but was pulled back by Lu Weiyi using the little green branch, narrowly avoiding falling into the sea.
“How can he still use powers?” Antonio asked.
“It’s on, but it can’t completely block,” Lu Weiyi replied.
With the metal and fire types joining in, Lu Weiyi’s pressure was greatly eased. The three gave their all and soon the zombie was wounded.
Unlike other zombies’ decay, this one’s skin entered another state—no blood flowed, no soft rotten flesh, it was neither human nor a normal zombie, more like an evolved form.
Soon Ning Yuan came running from afar. Compared to other powered users, his water-type ability gave him a clear advantage. The ice-type powered users had built a channel for him straight to shore.
“Here, one rocket launcher each. Lu Weiyi, lock him down; we attack. If once doesn’t work, twice. We have to blow him up,” Ning Yuan shouted, handing rocket launchers to Antonio and Liu Rui.
Without hesitation, Lu Weiyi locked the zombie with his spiritual power again. Three rocket launchers fired simultaneously, blasting the zombie away.
The zombie got up again, neck injured, head tilted to one side. Half of his chest and one arm were gone, and half a leg was missing, but he staggered to his feet.
Suddenly, he howled into the sky, energy swirling with a wintry wind and snow attacking the group. Except for Lu Weiyi, who resisted with spiritual power, the other three were thrown back, falling into the sea.
Behind Lu Weiyi came the sound of crashing waves. Turning his head, he saw a tens-of-meters-high wall of water rushing toward the shore like a tsunami. He could no longer see the base behind him.
Not daring to delay, Lu Weiyi urgently restrained the zombie again with spiritual power, took out the crystal core gun from space, and continuously fired at the zombie’s connected neck.
The S-level zombie struggled with all his might, consuming a huge amount of Lu Weiyi’s spiritual power. Even restrained, he still kept closing in.
Explosions flared before his eyes. Lu Weiyi felt the scorching flames singe his hair, mixed with the smell of burning flesh.
Finally, with the last shot from the crystal core gun, the zombie’s head and body completely separated.
Lu Weiyi staggered forward holding his curved blade. The massive energy radiated from the bald skull, all flesh burned away leaving a bare skeleton. He gritted his teeth, gathered spiritual power on his blade, and struck forcefully at the forehead.
As the zombie’s head shattered, a roaring sea wave surged. Lu Weiyi barely managed to bind the broken zombie head and crystal core with the little green branch and entered the spatial pocket.
“Father,” Tao Tao’s voice rang in his ear.
Lu Weiyi lay on the ground, looking up at the empty sky. Before him was a tender, worried, pale little face.
“You’re hurt,” Tao Tao’s teary eyes reached out, and instantly several shelves of medicine appeared. “Father, take medicine.”
“Wh-which medicine should I take?” Tao Tao, tears streaming, held the medicine box but couldn’t read the words.
