Chapter 73

Chapter 73

Lin An’s sense of smell was sensitive, and with his obsession for cleanliness, he couldn’t bear the thought of being sprayed.

Besides, he didn’t have a human scent, so he wouldn’t attract zombies.

Unfortunately, Luo Yuan didn't know this. He stood by the car with the can, frowning at the person refusing to come out, and kicked the tire impatiently: "Hurry up, or if zombies are attracted by you, we all die."

Lin An shook his head frantically inside the car.

Luo Yuan clicked his tongue, opened the car door to forcibly spray him. He disliked those who were incompetent and troublesome.

He noticed when they went for supplies with Shen Xiuzhe and others, only the old lady and this guy did nothing. The old lady was excused for her age and frail appearance, but this young man did nothing, always hiding during fights.

Though it didn’t matter to him if this guy fought or not, as he wasn’t part of their team, it was still irritating to watch.

Even more aggravating than the constantly defiant bald man.

If this guy’s caprice led to their mission’s failure, he wouldn’t let it go easily.

As the car door opened, a hand quickly closed it again.

Shen Xiuzhe held the door shut: "He doesn't need that."

"What, can he turn invisible?" Luo Yuan said sarcastically. He knew their main task was his team's operation, but they also needed to enter to retrieve the energy source.

"Luo Yuan," Lu Li approached slowly, "If he doesn’t want to spray, let it be."

Although the reasons behind Lin An's issues were unclear, Lu Li was aware that Shen Xiuzhe and his team were mainly discussing how to store the meteorite in their space. They didn’t seem worried about Lin An's ability to secure it, so it wasn’t worth fussing over.

He trusted Shen Xiuzhe's judgment.

Glancing at Lin An still coiled up in the car, Lu Li always felt the man harbored many secrets, having never seen his face. Every approach was blocked by Shen Xiuzhe, as if protecting them from a ferocious beast.

With the captain’s word, Luo Yuan relented.

To avoid alarming their targets, they had to walk the remaining kilometer on foot.

Lin An walked a bit farther from the group, usually hiding behind Shen Xiuzhe and others in the presence of strangers. Today, however, everyone’s reek made him reluctant to approach them.

In contrast, the scent wafting from the Sand Dune Town amidst their stench seemed even more attractive to zombies.

His social anxiety had improved slightly, but his obsession with cleanliness couldn’t tolerate the smell.

Xu Fang was also struggling; he was well-acquainted with Lu Li's team, currently chatting with them.

"Where did you get this stuff? Ugh, it’s so foul, a thousand times worse than falling into a sewer."

The rest were suffering too. As superhumans, their senses were more acute than ordinary people's, especially now with the stench covering them and even their teammates smelling the same, almost suffocating.

"Ugh, it’s extracted from a skunk living in the desert."

"It’s rare and was only recently produced. I tried it last night fighting zombies, and it worked well, not sure about its effect on the zombies of Sand Dune Town. Ugh, stop talking, the smell’s getting into my mouth."

It seemed effective, as Ouyang Dong observed Lin An, who silently walked alone at a distance, his solitary figure revealing his strong aversion to the stench.

Finally, they completed the kilometer. The sign for Sand Dune Town hung overhead, revealing the town's interior, as it had no gates.

They had expected a swarm of zombies, but surprisingly, the town was completely deserted.

The streets were eerily quiet.

Waves of heat scorched the ground, turning the empty streets white and blurry, with steam rising in wisps, and not even a hint of wind.

"Where is everyone? Or rather, where are the zombies?" Ouyang Dong wiped the sweat from his forehead, murmuring.

They stood at the entrance of the town, under the scorching sun, weapons ready, looking rather foolish.

"They're inside the houses," Lin An had already smelled them. After all, zombies don’t bathe, and their stench was not much different from the spray on his teammates.

Xu Fang cautiously approached the nearest house, typical low mud-brick buildings of the desert, with only a few two-story structures, Lu Li's two-story villa in the Eye of the Desert being a rare exception.

The interior of the mud house was dark, too dark given the area's intense sunlight.

Xu Fang peeked inside from the doorway, the scene inside was chilling.

The small house was packed with zombies.

They stood motionless, heads bowed as if under a spell. Something dark and grim hung on the side window; upon closer inspection, Xu Fang realized it was a human corpse.

The body was squashed out of shape, twisted and stuck to the window, dried and thinned from prolonged sun exposure. More than one corpse was plastered there, some reduced to skeletons, others layered on top to block out the sun.

Heads, limbs, and dried skin tightly sealed the windows, explaining the room's darkness; all windows must be blocked.

Despite being accustomed to various corpses in Chu Xi City, Xu Fang still found it hard to stomach, quickly withdrawing his head.

"What do you think, are there any zombies inside?" whispered a teammate of Lu Li.

Xu Fang, somber, replied: "They are in there, but I don’t recommend you look."

This piqued the teammate’s curiosity; not allowed to look? He wasn’t new to zombies.

The teammate peered inside, stunned by the sight of the densely packed zombies and the desiccated, blackened bodies on the window, drawing a sharp breath.

The noise caught the attention of a zombie at the back, its head slowly turning, its murky eyes blankly staring outside.

Xu Fang and another stood on either side of the door outside, ready to silence the zombie if it made a move or stepped out.

The zombie stared for a moment, nothing at the doorway, its nose twitching in disgust before turning away, resuming its motionless stance.

Realizing there was no movement inside, the two outside finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Afterwards, no one dared to run or speak rashly, silently following the others forward.

Each house was crammed with zombies, allowing Shen Xiuzhe and his team to enter the town unimpeded.

"What's with these zombies?" Wu Duo whispered.

"The strong daylight hinders zombie activity. They usually don't come out during the day, hiding in the shade or buried in sand. Now, our stench masks the human scent, so they won’t notice us," Luo Yuan explained, observing Lin An.

Oddly, Lin An had no masking scent, yet the zombies seemed completely oblivious to him.

It appeared this group had some tricks up their sleeves.

Both teams were battle-hardened, and despite no zombie encounters, their vigilance didn't wane.

The energy source Lu Li’s team sought was in the town center, coinciding with Lin An’s path thus far.

The town wasn’t large, and just as they were about to reach the center, feeling fortunate, Lin An suddenly turned and urgently shouted, "Quick, hide!"

Shen Xiuzhe and his team immediately dashed to a nearby building, while Lu Li and his teammates, a beat slower but seasoned in combat, quickly took cover on the other side.

Puzzled about why they needed to hide, those behind the buildings on the opposite street felt an overwhelming sense of dread.

Although nothing was visible, they all sensed something approaching.

It felt like the innate pressure a higher-level being exerts on those lower, compressing their hearts, making it hard to breathe.

No one spoke; everyone instinctively slowed their breathing.

The silent street was eerily quiet; all they could hear was their own heartbeats. The sun blazed down, the sunlight harsh and scorching. No one thought to move to a cooler spot, their senses heightened, standing motionless.

Soon, a sound emerged on the street, reminiscent of sandpaper scraping the ground, gradually approaching from a distance.

The sound grew louder, signaling the approaching entity was nearly upon them.

Luo Yuan, closest to the street, was the first to see the creature.

A meaty, reddish-brown sludge, as tall as the houses, moved slowly. Its uneven surface, strewn with human limbs and torsos, undulated forward. The slow-moving mass was conical, with several eyeballs on top, constantly roving. Both teams were just outside its line of sight.

This creature, loosely termed a zombie, slithered past, leaving behind a thin trail of slime, disgustingly revolting to behold.

Luo Yuan had fought zombies countless times, never feeling as terrified as he did the first time he saw one, tripped while being chased, and came face-to-face with a bloodstained zombie.

It was as if his body instinctively knew, every cell screaming to flee immediately, to leave this place where victory seemed impossible.

Sweat beaded on Luo Yuan's forehead as he bit down hard on his teeth, forcing himself not to look away. As the second in command of his team, destined to take over as leader, he refused to run.

It was a fusion zombie.

Shen Xiuzhe and his companions had encountered this type of zombie before. Fusion zombies were incredibly resilient; it was best to avoid combat. Their main goal was to retrieve a meteorite.

The zombies, oblivious to the humans hiding under the buildings on both sides, slowly dragged themselves past.

Everyone silently prayed for the zombie to leave quickly.

Luo Yuan dared not relax for a moment. His forehead sweat gathered and slid down his cheeks, trembling on his chin, before finally leaving a wet mark on the ground, quickly evaporating in the sun.

Meanwhile, the retreating zombie suddenly stopped, instantly heightening everyone's anxiety.

The zombie's eyes atop its head moved restlessly, seeing nothing.

As the eyeballs whirled rapidly, they slid down from the mushy flesh of its body to the underside, two of them fixating on the humans hidden to the side.

They had been discovered!