Chapter 153 — Rest?
No one knew who first realized what those “pieces of trash” really were, but the shout of “Zombie rats!” exploded like thunder across the wall, sending chills through everyone present.
Zombie rats?!
Rumors had already spread during the day that zombie rats had made their way into the base, and even now no one could confirm whether those things were still hiding somewhere inside.
Some people had supposedly already been bitten and turned into zombies!
And now, if these “air force” units were really transporting zombie rats…
How were they supposed to survive this?!
Just as panic spread, something suddenly began gathering at one section of the wall.
Green wind tightly spiraled around a figure, circling and circling as it expanded higher and larger, as though trying to suck all the surrounding air into one place.
The zombie rats dropping from the sky in that area, along with the zombie birds flying overhead, were immediately caught by the growing hurricane and dragged helplessly into a violent spiral around its center.
Even the bits of debris the zombie birds had been carrying were sucked into the storm, becoming sharp, deadly weapons capable of shredding the zombie rats and zombie birds alike.
As the massive tornado rose, the gigantic metal wheel rolling outside the wall nearby suddenly came alive.
It spread open above the wall into an enormous exaggerated metal “bowl,” catching the falling zombie rats and debris.
Then the huge bowl abruptly tilted toward the outside of the wall, dumping everything it had collected back out beyond the base.
But the metal construct didn’t stop there.
As it tipped outward, the bowl transformed into a gigantic metal plate that slammed downward with a thunderous crash—
BOOM!
Zombie birds, falling zombie rats, and even the zombies gathered outside the wall were smashed beneath it.
Afterward, the massive metal slab twisted and curled as if alive, rolling several times across the zombie horde before finally stopping.
Yan Fei was drenched in sweat by now.
He had already sat down against the inner side of the wall, clutching a handful of crystal cores and absorbing energy from them.
Luo Xun carefully wiped away his sweat while vigilantly watching the surroundings, afraid a stray zombie rat might sneak over and attack them.
On the other side, Zhang Suo—who had wiped out the nearby zombie rats and birds with that hurricane—also walked over while gripping crystal cores in his pocket.
Although he too had consumed a great deal of mental energy and needed replenishment, he had only arrived recently. Even after expending energy along the way, he wasn’t nearly as exhausted as Luo Xun and Yan Fei, who had been fighting nonstop since noon.
“So? How much longer do you two have to keep this up?” Zhang Suo asked lazily, hands stuffed in his pockets as he leaned against the wall.
Luo Xun glanced up at him before handing another bag of crystal cores to Yan Fei.
These were the combat reserves Captain Guo had forcibly confiscated from that “new captain” before everyone boarded the armored vehicle earlier.
Apparently the man had even intended to skim off part of the wartime crystal core supplies, planning to distribute only a portion first and “decide later” whether to issue the rest.
“No idea,” Luo Xun replied hoarsely. “We’ll hold on as long as possible.”
Not only was Yan Fei exhausted, even Luo Xun’s throat had gone rough from overuse.
As he spoke, he pulled out water from his backpack and handed it to Yan Fei before drinking some himself.
Then he turned to Zhang Suo.
“Zombie rats may already be inside the base. Send your man a message and tell them to be careful when they come out tonight.”
Zhang Suo curled his lips dismissively.
“You think they needed you to tell them? The news spread across the whole base this afternoon already. Supposedly people in the old residential blocks nearby got bitten. Luckily it’s winter, so everyone’s bundled up in layers. The rats didn’t bite through the clothing.”
Luo Xun sighed in relief and finally managed a faint smile.
Yan Fei opened his eyes and looked at Zhang Suo.
“Be careful later. Things are chaotic on the wall right now. Earlier those giant zombies formed suicide squads and rammed the wall. Quite a few people standing near the edge got knocked off.”
Zhang Suo looked over in surprise.
People nearby were currently firing weapons and throwing explosives desperately down the side of the wall.
After resting briefly and recovering some energy, Luo Xun and Yan Fei ate a little food to replenish their strength.
That afternoon they had obtained something valuable—energy bars.
They were definitely expired by now, but for restoring stamina they were still far superior to most other food.
Luo Xun even regretted not trying to stockpile cocoa tree saplings before the apocalypse. If they could grow chocolate, it would make incredible expedition rations for future crystal-core hunting trips outside the base.
After resting, the group threw themselves back into battle once more.
With Zhang Suo protecting them, his wind ability now covered an enormous area with tremendous force, providing excellent protection.
Luo Xun finally relaxed slightly and focused more attention on watching the ground beneath their feet.
Earlier, after they resumed moving and Yan Fei rolled the metal wheel toward another area, they unexpectedly discovered activity from zombie rats on top of the wall itself.
Although visibility was terrible, Luo Xun reacted immediately.
Trying to shoot rats with a crossbow in this darkness was unrealistic.
Fortunately, he happened to be carrying the giant metal shield Yan Fei had created.
So he simply smashed it downward.
The impact even chipped off part of the stone flooring of the wall.
Its destructive power spoke for itself.
The three of them continued patrolling the walls nervously, using the metal wheel to crush zombies closest to the base.
Occasionally they encountered metal-type zombies attempting to wrest control of the wheel from Yan Fei—or simply trying to “borrow” some metal from it.
Unfortunately for them, Yan Fei’s metal ability wasn’t a normal fourth-level metal ability.
His power had mutated.
Though he might not necessarily defeat higher-level metal zombies, against those of the same rank he held a massive advantage.
The only real trouble came whenever earth-type zombies created “dirt staircases,” requiring nearby earth-type users to clear the obstacles.
Otherwise, things progressed relatively smoothly.
The battle continued all the way until midnight.
By then Li Tie and the others had arrived at the wall.
Although they weren’t stationed in Yan Fei’s section, everyone had exchanged messages earlier and knew that Xiao Xinran and the little dog were once again guarding the apartment upstairs.
Luo Xun still worried whether those two “guards” could truly handle the job, but with zombie rats potentially appearing anywhere inside the base now, it was safer for Li Tie’s group to travel with ability-user escorts anyway.
However, while Li Tie’s group had arrived, the three metal-type users were nearing their limits.
Captain Guo contacted them and instructed everyone to regroup at Luo Xun’s location and—
rest.
The three scattered teams gathered once more.
After all, they had climbed onto the walls shortly after noon—around one in the afternoon—and had fought nonstop until midnight.
And both Luo Xun and Yan Fei, as well as Sun Shaoyang, had also defended the wall the previous night.
Even Xiao Li and the others had been on standby since early morning.
Everyone desperately needed sleep.
Once everyone regrouped, Captain Guo pointed below the wall.
“Higher-ups sent over a vehicle. Since the base is too dangerous at night, we’re supposed to rest inside for the night.”
As he spoke, he fished out a chocolate bar from his pocket.
The poor thing had clearly melted and resolidified countless times. Its shape was utterly bizarre, stuck lopsidedly to one side of the wrapper.
Captain Guo didn’t care in the slightest.
He stuffed several bites into his mouth and spoke while chewing.
“I demanded a cargo-container truck from them. We cut mesh screens into it. It’s colder inside, but as long as the doors stay shut we won’t have to worry about zombie rats sneaking in overnight.”
He swallowed with difficulty before continuing.
“Heard some of the rats already crawled into parked vehicles through the wheels and exhaust pipes.”
“What about tomorrow?” Sun Shaoyang asked with a huge yawn. “Did they say when they need us back on the wall?”
“No,” Captain Guo replied after finally swallowing the chocolate, “but we’re on standby at all times. If metal-type zombies appear again… they’ll definitely call you three back up.”
Everyone exchanged glances silently and nodded.
They followed Captain Guo down the wall.
Zhang Suo announced he was heading to find Li Tie’s group—
or more accurately, his man.
After all, he hadn’t arrived until around seven in the evening and had only just gotten out of bed then. Compared to Luo Xun’s group, his mental and physical stamina were still in much better condition.
Descending the wall, they found a huge number of vehicles parked nearby in the darkness.
Captain Guo led them to a large truck hauling a shipping container.
After opening the door and checking inside, everyone climbed in.
“We should inspect the container’s seals,” Yan Fei said after boarding.
Out of caution, he immediately activated his ability.
Sun Shaoyang and Xiao Li instinctively extended their own mental senses as well.
Yan Fei took the lead while the other two assisted with the scan.
This kind of teamwork had become second nature ever since their earliest cooperative training sessions together.
Their abilities spread gradually through the container.
Having long since grown accustomed to intense combat, the three of them completed a full scan within seconds.
Then all three abruptly widened their eyes in fury and stared toward several corners hidden behind stacks of junk boxes.
“What’s wrong?”
Luo Xun knew Yan Fei better than anyone. The instant Yan Fei’s expression changed, he reacted immediately and sat upright.
The others inside the container also looked toward them.
Yan Fei’s gaze remained fixed on those corners.
Meanwhile Xiao Li had already stood up, his face ugly as he pointed.
“There… and there… and there too. There are holes underneath.”
Everyone hurried over and shoved aside the stacked boxes.
The boxes were light—some were completely empty—and easily moved aside.
Underneath them, several holes had been cut into the floor of the container.
Some of the edges even gleamed with fresh metallic shine.
They didn’t look like rust damage at all.
They looked deliberately cut open.
The expressions of everyone inside instantly darkened completely…
Thank you for reading 🙂 I hope you all liked my translations. If you enjoyed my work, please consider buying me a Ko-Fi 😉
