Chapter 37: Heading to Wanqian City

Chapter 37: Heading to Wanqian City

Shenchi spun and delivered a side kick, sending a Level One zombie flying into the wall with a thud. Instantly, a sharp ice arrow pierced through the zombie's forehead.

Shenchi pressed the grab clamp button and easily extracted the crystal core from the pineal gland of the zombie.

The others didn't show any surprise; the existence of crystal cores inside zombies' heads was now an open secret. Over time, more and more people would learn about the cores and their uses. What piqued their interest was Shenchi's method, as digging out crystal cores by hand wasn't particularly pleasant.

In just a few breaths, Zhou Yan, who had speed abilities, had already pulled down and locked the roll-up door, blocking the zombies that were following the sound of the car.

Deng Hu and a few others pushed cars from the parking lot to block the roll-up door. Although the door was sturdy, it couldn't withstand continuous attacks from zombies.

The garage, now cut off from outside light, was pitch black. Cao Kun tried the power switch but found no response, indicating that the city had lost electricity.

Everyone turned on their flashlights and carefully checked if there were any other zombies in the garage.

The wooden door leading to the hotel's interior had been locked from the outside, while the electric roll-up door facing the outside had been raised just enough for a car to pass through. It seemed someone had locked the zombies inside the hotel and driven away.

The Julong Hotel had three floors. The first floor housed the lobby, offices, and public restrooms, while the upper two floors were guest rooms.

Sun Yong listened intently at the door and determined that there were seventy-three zombies currently active within the hotel.

Deng Hu immediately directed everyone to secure the Julong Hotel as their base.

Cao Kun's gaze lingered on Sun Yong for a moment. He had initially guessed that Sun Yong had some exceptional means to track their movements, but later realized he was likely a hearing-type ability user. After the incident with the SWAT team, he deduced that the government wouldn't easily harm these individuals. Now, it seemed even Wang Wei might have been released.

He hadn't expected a hearing-type ability user to be able to determine the number of zombies. With further advancement, they could probably pinpoint locations based on sounds.

The moment the wooden door was broken, the surrounding zombies swarmed over like flies drawn to blood.

Cao Kun waved his hand, creating a wall of fire at the entrance, blocking the low-level zombies trying to rush in.

Metal decorations on the counter suddenly came alive, bending and skewering the zombies one after another like kebabs.

A gust of wind swept down, and flames engulfed a Level One zombie attacking Shenchi, devouring it in mere seconds.

At the same time, a ten-year-old Level Two zombie lunged at Shenchi's back. Shenchi turned around, facing the zombie's rolling eyes, and spread his hands, forming a square ice net that surrounded it.

The next instant, countless ice arrows shot out, turning the zombie into a pincushion.

Deng Hu and the others put away their guns and swiftly dispatched a low-level zombie with a bayonet.

All eight of them acted together, quickly leaving a pile of corpses on the ground.

The hotel's front doors were double-leaf tempered glass, with one side shattered. They removed a guest room door and used it to create a four-panel folding door for the entrance, then pushed a large sofa against it.

After thoroughly checking the hotel and finding no survivors, they dispersed to find rooms for the night, planning to head towards Mingguang City early the next morning.

Zhou Yan ran to the garage roll-up door with a tool kit, squatted down in a small designated area, opened the kit, and started working on the parts.

The hotel lobby had iceboxes, but the drinks inside had all been scavenged, with a few bottles smashed on the floor, the water long dried up.

They searched the front desk cabinets and storerooms, finding dozens of mid-to-low-grade cigarettes. Deng Hu distributed these among everyone.

Cao Kun liked a niche brand of cigarettes and hadn't stocked up, so he hadn't smoked much recently. When he got the cigarettes, he took a couple of drags but felt something was off. Still, he kept one pack on him and stored the rest in the car.

Shenchi, who never smoked, also placed his share in the car to avoid drawing attention.

He found an unoccupied guest room and discovered two buckets of instant noodles, two sausages, two marinated eggs, a deck of cards, and a cut watermelon infested with mosquitoes in the opposite room.

Other guest rooms had some food, but it had all gone bad.

Back in his room, Shenchi filled a kettle with ice cubes. Since there were no containers in the room, he went downstairs to the storeroom, found a bucket, and lined it with several layers of garbage bags, intending to use it for bathing.

He then returned to the parking lot, retrieved a battery and an inverter, and plugged them in to heat water.

After showering, Shenchi changed into clean undershirt and boxers. Just as he was about to heat water for the instant noodles, someone knocked on his door, and Cao Kun's voice sounded:

"Are you there?"

Shenchi quickly dressed and opened the door. Cao Kun stood there with his hands behind his back, still wearing his stab-proof vest. Seeing Shenchi's freshly washed appearance, he raised an eyebrow slightly: "What are you planning to eat tonight?"

"I found two buckets of instant noodles," Shenchi said, tossing the other bucket to Cao Kun and tearing open the packaging of his own. "There are sausages and marinated eggs on the table."

Cao Kun wasn't shy. He placed the items on the table, tore open the noodle, sausage, and egg packages, unplugged the kettle, and covered his hand over the water, making it slowly bubble.

He poured the hot water into both noodle buckets and said before leaving: "Be careful tomorrow."

Shenchi understood the underlying message. Jin Shufan and Cao Kun were known to be at odds, and their collaboration was already suspicious. Moreover, the leaders agreeing to send three nature-type ability users was unprecedented, given that Jiu Zhou City only had five such individuals.

This mission must be incredibly challenging and important.

Cao Kun's agreement, despite the risks, was likely due to Chen Jinglin's request to balance Jin Shufan and prevent any mishaps with the data or personnel.

Deng Hu, too, likely served as a mediator and supervisor.

After finishing the instant noodles, Shenchi filled the kettle with the remaining hot water. Turning around, he saw a bag of unopened peanuts and a small electronic remote control on the table—the new key for the parking lot, provided by Zhou Yan for easy access when returning.

Early the next morning, before dawn, everyone packed their backpacks, donned the improved stab-proof vests from Jiu Zhou City, tightened their wristbands, and armed themselves. The two teams began moving in batches toward the Research Institute, twenty-five kilometers away.

None of them chose to exit through the main gate; instead, they all opted to move across the rooftops, using anchor hooks to climb onto adjacent buildings. Below, hordes of zombies craned their necks, trying to reach the figures flying overhead.

While this method worked well against ordinary and Level One zombies, it increased the danger when facing flying Level Two zombies.

"Watch out!"

As Qi Zicheng spoke, a shadow loomed larger, and the next second, Cao Kun was knocked off the rooftop!

A fire dragon instantly emerged and trapped the zombie, while an ice net conveniently caught the falling Cao Kun. Taking advantage of this momentary respite, Cao Kun fired his right-hand anchor hook, latching onto a balcony railing and jumping inside.

Shenchi and Qi Zicheng quickly reeled in their ropes and also entered the apartment. They had just locked the windows when they heard the sound of shattering glass from Cao Kun's side.

Shenchi was about to go over to support him when two Level 1 zombies charged at him from either side, their sharp claws barely grazing his stab-proof vest.

Shenchi whipped out the partially coiled rope, smashing the knee of one zombie, and simultaneously drew a machete from the sheath attached to his backpack, dispatching both zombies.

More zombies were running over. Shenchi twirled the machete and charged forward—

In the neighboring room, Shenchi found Qi Zicheng twisting the neck of a Level 1 zombie with a dagger, severing its neck.

The two ran downstairs and found Cao Kun on the third floor extracting a crystal core from a Level 2 zombie's brain.

Shenchi locked the door and looked out the window. Below, a sea of zombies surged into the building, rushing upstairs, gradually deforming the entrance door.

Qi Zicheng glanced at a corner to the east where a row of shared bicycles, fixed to locks, stood upright amidst the crowd of zombies.

Qi Zicheng turned back and asked, "Can you ride a bicycle?"

Both nodded, and the three took advantage of the distraction caused by the commotion inside the building, using their anchor hooks to rappel down from the third floor to the ground.

As soon as they landed, the surrounding zombies immediately changed direction and headed towards them.

Shenchi and Cao Kun each took a position to cover them, while Qi Zicheng rushed to the shared bicycles and retrieved tools, unlocking them within a minute.

Excited, they straddled the bicycles, ready to pedal hard, but the chain snapped with a crisp "snap," breaking into two pieces.

Qi Zicheng: "…"

They turned around, only to find themselves surrounded by a dense horde of zombies.

Cao Kun waved his hand, and a fire dragon like a red whip lashed out at the approaching zombies, turning them to ashes as they ran.

The blazing fire created their first line of defense.

Back-to-back, Shenchi drew the machete from his waist. With every swing, icy blades sliced through the zombies, and the next second, a three-foot-long ice arrow pierced their foreheads.

Shenchi then increased his energy output, causing the ice arrows embedded in the ground to twist unnaturally, trapping the incoming zombies' feet and pinning them in place.

Qi Zicheng threw several grenades outward, temporarily halting the zombies' advance. Under the cover of the other two, he used both hands—one to shoot fast-moving high-level zombies and the other to swiftly dispatch the trapped ones, leaving only blurred images of his movements.

Within three minutes, a pile of zombies lay around them. Trapped, they watched as more zombies approached, and those inside the building waved excitedly from the windows. Shenchi leaped and grabbed a zombie's head, twisting his body to stand on its shoulders, scanning the sea of zombies.

Then Shenchi shouted loudly, "Six o'clock direction!"

Cao Kun immediately focused his firepower, sending two fire dragons toward the direction Shenchi was heading. The fire dragons echoed each other, charging ahead with thunderous force, creating a brief path for Shenchi.

Sure enough, there was a sewer at six o'clock!

"Quick, come over here!"

Shenchi erected ice walls around the sewer, knelt down, and lifted the manhole cover. Seeing his companions approach, he jumped in first.

A streak of flame cut through the surrounding zombies, blocking them two meters away. Without hesitation, Qi Zicheng jumped in!

Cao Kun followed closely, rolling on the ground, picking up the manhole cover, and replacing it as he jumped in.