After successfully changing its class, Pipi's size increased significantly, and its standing height was comparable to some medium-sized dogs. It inadvertently pounced on Zhang Shi, its immense strength nearly knocking him over.

Zhang Shi rubbed Pipi's head and checked its attributes, discovering that its strength attribute was as high as 27 points, only slightly lower than his own.

Name: Pipi

Race: Dog

Experience points: Level 15

Rank: High

Strength: 25+2

Agility: 16

Physical fitness: 10

Magic: 3

Talent: Combat Mastery

Ability value: 14

Zhang Shi noticed that Pipi had gained a new talent attribute: Combat Mastery. Upon closer inspection, he discovered that this was the talent mentioned in the job change description that could increase his attributes. As long as he and Pipi entered combat together, Pipi could grant him 5 points of Strength and 5 points of Agility.

Zhang Shi affectionately rubbed Pipi's head and teased him softly.

"It seems I'll have to take you with me in any future battles."

...

As the sun sets, all staff at the shelter cease work as usual, preparing to face the blood moon zombie horde that night.

Ge Dalong informed Zhang Shi that, thanks to several days of hard work, Gong Er and Gong Wu's proficiency had met the requirements for upgrading, and they had successfully been promoted to craftsmen.

Being promoted to craftsman means unlocking more strange and wonderful crafts. Zhang Shi jogged over, full of anticipation, to the research center.

When the engineers saw Zhang Shi coming, they all saluted and stepped forward to introduce their abilities.

After listening to everyone, Zhang Shi realized that the manufacturing processes they had unlocked were all irrelevant at this stage and could not help in fighting the zombie horde.

Instead, Gong Yi gave Zhang Shi another surprise. Using the wrecked cars that Zhang Shi brought back, Gong Yi actually modified them into an armored vehicle.

“My lord, this vehicle can carry up to 15 soldiers at a time. I have also specially designed matching carriages that can be used to transport supplies.”

Zhang Shi nodded in satisfaction. He hadn't expected Gong Yi to be able to turn waste into treasure and conjure up a truck by hand. This thing would be very useful when the shelter expanded outwards in the future.

After several days of hard work, the shelter's resources were sufficient to handle the large zombie horde. Zhang Shi then adjusted the soldiers' workload to allow them to get better rest.

Zhang Shi did this for another reason: during his trip to the instance, he encountered more types of mutated zombies, and he was worried that the zombies in the wilderness world might also mutate into this form. In preparation for the possible tough battles to come, he needed to allow his soldiers to rest and recuperate.

Inside the fortress, Zhang Shi recounted the general situation of the dungeon expedition to his companions, emphasizing the characteristics and abilities of the mutated zombies.

Ge Dalong stroked his chin, pondered for a while, and concluded that Zhang Shi's concerns were likely true. While the current zombie horde was exhausting, it wasn't fatal; it was merely tiring and troublesome. This didn't fit the style of the wilderness world. The temperature had already dropped to around 30 degrees Celsius, making it quite suitable for survivors. Ordinary survivors encountered only a handful of zombies each night, posing no real threat.

“In the past few days, some high-quality zombies have also appeared, but they are only larger and faster than ordinary zombies. In yesterday’s zombie horde, the number of high-quality zombies did increase significantly. I didn’t mention it because they didn’t cause much of a commotion. Looking at it this way, the zombies may be evolving.”

Sure enough, when the blood moon arrived, the zombies unleashed their ultimate attack right away.

A violent tremor suddenly shook the plain, and the ground cracked open. A gigantic, blood-red head slowly emerged from the ground. The head was covered with a dense network of blood vessels, and its eye sockets contained dozens of compound eyes, like those of an insect. People with trypophobia would find it unbearable.

The dozens of eyes stared in the direction of the shelter for a moment, then let out a roar, causing the ground to tremble even more violently.

Many fortifications were destroyed by the earthquake. Not long after, the monster stretched out its hands and pulled itself out of the ground. A dark red, giant monster with a bloody aura appeared on the plain.

Zhang Shi observed from afar. The giant monster was as tall as a three-story building. Like a Titan zombie, it had no skin and was covered in blood. Its body was composed of the corpses of countless ordinary zombies.

Its joints are also covered with giant fleshy growths, but unlike the zombies in the dungeon, these growths are orange-yellow and shimmer faintly in the night.

It was like a giant made of flesh and blood, roaring to the sky, and the entire ground trembled with its movements.

Then, countless zombies crawled out of the cave, including many mutated zombies that Zhang Shi was familiar with.

The horde of zombies rushed toward the shelter. With the loss of the river and the deep pit as defensive barriers, the barricades alone were hardly enough to stop the dense army of zombies. Under the destruction of the tall iron arm, the horde of zombies quickly broke through the barricades and rushed to the wall.

On the walls, the soldiers unleashed their full firepower, hurling various crossbow bolts, explosives, and Molotov cocktails at the top of their lungs, greatly slowing down the advance of the zombie horde.

The giant zombie, like a commander, saw that the zombie army was blocked, so it squatted down, picked up a clump of soil with both hands, kneaded it into a ball, and threw it at the city wall.

With a loud bang, Zhang Shi was almost knocked over by the huge impact. He hurriedly got up to check the condition of the wall.

Fortunately, the gold-infused stone was incredibly sturdy, and the giant zombie's attack did not cause significant damage to the wall.

Seeing the giant zombie so arrogant, Zhao Feng's anger was ignited, and he shouted loudly.

"Fire! Fire! Shoot it in the head! I want to see if the shell is harder than its head!"

Then, ten cannons fired simultaneously, and all the explosive shells hit the giant zombie's head, blowing the fleshy growth on its head to smithereens.

The giant zombie cried out in pain, then turned to try and distance itself from the shelter.

Seeing that the giant zombie was trying to escape, Zhang Shi quickly flashed behind the heavy crossbow, drew the bowstring taut in one go, activated the triple strike, and fired at its leg joint.

Zhang Shi unleashed his full power in this attack, amplified by various buffs. The steel crossbow bolt, as thick as an arm, emitted a piercing sonic boom, containing unimaginable destructive force. It accurately struck the tumor on the giant zombie's leg, then pierced through it.

The giant zombie let out another wail, then its mountain-like body crashed to the ground, crushing many other zombies into a bloody pulp.

As Zhao Feng watched the giant zombie fall, he was about to cheer when the giant zombie underwent a strange transformation. Its flesh disintegrated and then rapidly reformed. In the blink of an eye, three smaller giant zombies appeared unharmed in everyone's sight.