After briefly hovering in mid-air, Zhang Shi used his superior field of vision to discover a large number of zombie beasts gathering in the direction of the mining area, which made him realize that some soldiers and prisoners were still in the mining area.
Zhang Shi hurriedly searched for a target and moved towards the mining area. His figure was like a ghost, constantly flashing around the wild beasts to reap lives. Soon he was close to the outside of the mining area's wall.
Because the mine shelter was newly built, many facilities were not yet fully equipped and its defenses were weak. When Zhang Shi arrived nearby, he found that it had been breached by zombie beasts. There were many skeletons of soldiers and prisoners in the courtyard, with many small zombie beasts crawling on their bodies, gnawing on the remaining flesh and blood on the skeletons.
The surviving soldiers and prisoners held their ground atop a tower, firing fiercely at the horde of beasts gathering below. Many zombie animals were frantically ramming against the tower's doors, while others were attempting to climb the walls.
Zhang Shi shouted and threw several Molotov cocktails forward. The zombies and beasts in front of him were instantly ignited like dry tinder. As they scattered, the flames spread and quickly covered a large area in front of them.
This successfully attracted the attention of more zombie beasts, greatly reducing the pressure on everyone in the mining area.
Relying on the high mobility of his Shadow Step, Zhang Shi weaved through the zombie horde, successfully luring the zombie beasts to the front of the shelter, and the battle entered the rhythm that Zhang Shi was used to.
Before long, thousands of zombies and beasts were wiped out, and the torrential rain washed away the blood, leaving behind countless corpses.
Zhang Shi returned to the shelter, shook the rain off his mask, and then immediately gathered his companions together.
Ge Dalong pointed to the sky and spoke first.
"Something's not right tonight. Those bodies weren't recovered by the system. This attack might not have been orchestrated by the system."
Zhang Shi closed the system panel, nodded, and had some guesses about these situations.
The raid is being discussed in the regional chat, and it's clear that many survivors were attacked at the same time.
"If these beasts are infected and transformed zombies, then the fact that they can launch large-scale zombie hordes in various areas at the same time indicates that there is an intelligent leader behind them."
The fact that they were able to organize such a large-scale zombie horde indicates that there is a lair near the shelter.
After discussing it, the group decided to send some people to search the area tomorrow and, if necessary, wipe it out completely to prevent future troubles.
...
On the third day, Zhang Shi checked in and received [Protective Suit (Blue) x100], which reminded him that he still needed to organize some manpower to deal with the corpses on the plain.
The continuous torrential rains washed many wild animal carcasses into the river. Although the shelter no longer uses river water for drinking since the zombie crisis, much of their drinking water is still obtained from the river, and infection can easily occur if one is not careful.
Zhang Shi first tallied the battle losses and casualties from the previous night, and then commended all the soldiers. The attack by the zombie beasts caught everyone off guard. In the early stages of the battle, the shelter lost many soldiers, especially in the mining area. Many prisoners were unarmed and could only try to hide from the swarming zombie beasts. After the zombies broke through the walls, the losses were heavy.
Having learned from the experience of the raid, Zhang Shi planned to reinforce the mining area's defenses. Until the reinforcements were fully completed, nighttime work would be temporarily suspended, and all personnel would return to the shelter before dark. Similarly, Zhang Shi did not intend to abandon the transit shelter and would increase its troop deployment.
Prior to this, Zhang Shi organized 100 people to go to the plains to dispose of the corpses.
He first dug a huge pit, then built a canopy over it, and then used a cart to gather all the scattered corpses into the pit and burn them.
The torrential rain greatly slowed the soldiers' progress, and they didn't finish cleaning up the corpses on the plain until noon. After ordering the soldiers to go about their tasks, Zhang Shi led 50 men straight to the mine to investigate.
If one were to ask what would be a suitable hiding place for a large number of wild beasts, the interior of a hollowed-out mine would be an excellent option. Since his encounter with the white tiger father and son, Zhang Shi hadn't returned here once; given the passage of time, it was highly likely that other creatures had taken over.
The mine is one of the few high-altitude areas in the vicinity, so it was not affected by the heavy rain. Apart from the mountain road being a bit slippery, it was not difficult to walk.
Upon arriving at the cave entrance, a pungent, fishy stench emanated from within, extremely strong even in the pouring rain. Zhang Shi's expression immediately turned serious, and he raised his hand to signal everyone to tread lightly.
Zhang Shi released Pipi, and as soon as Pipi appeared, it perked up its ears alertly. However, it did not stop, but slowly led Zhang Shi to explore the cave.
As they ventured deeper into the mine, the light gradually dimmed. Zhang Shi lit a torch, its flames piercing the darkness and illuminating the rugged path ahead. Pipi led the way, its nose constantly sniffing, suppressing its instincts to refrain from emitting a low growl, as if warning something.
As they ventured deeper, the cave gradually opened up, the walls covered in damp moss from the torrential rain, and occasional drops of water dripped from the ceiling with a crisp sound. The stench in the air grew stronger, causing them to involuntarily frown.
Suddenly, Pipi stopped, its whole body tense, ears perked up, and tail wagging slightly, showing its heightened alertness. Zhang Shi immediately signaled the group to stop, and everyone held their breath, only able to hear their own racing heartbeats and faint sounds coming from afar.
Soon, a deep roar came from the depths of the cave, accompanied by heavy footsteps, as if something was approaching. The cave was narrow and unable to form a battle formation, so Zhang Shi quickly ordered his troops to retreat, leaving only a few scouts to follow him to investigate.
Zhang Shi and his scouts cautiously approached the source of the roar, quietly exploring along the narrow passage. Everywhere they went, there were connective tissue veins resembling blood vessels, which looked particularly eerie in the torchlight, as if they were the circulatory system of some kind of organism.
As they ventured deeper, the roars grew clearer, a chilling howl a mixture of anger and pain. Zhang Shi gripped the old sword tightly, ready to draw it and attack at any moment.
Finally, they arrived at the center of the mine, where the situation was vastly different from when they left. Blood was everywhere, and only a few rays of light shone in, making the cave slightly brighter than the outside. This was because there were several cracks in the ceiling from which rainwater dripped, merging with the water on the ground to form streams.
In the center of the cave, a huge zombie beast was curled up. Its body was as big as a Titan zombie, like a miniature Godzilla. Its surface was covered with a thick carapace, which was full of cracks, as if it was undergoing some kind of transformation.
Its back was covered with protruding bone spurs, still covered with fresh flesh and blood, as if they had just grown out of its body, making it look particularly bloody and evil.
Around the mother beast, more large, broken red cocoons were scattered. Each cocoon seemed to have once bred new zombie beasts, but now only empty shells and scattered fragments remained.
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