Chapter 149 Humanity has already seen it, and...
A sharp blade flashed down from behind, but Fu Qing seemed to have eyes in the back of his head. As he drew his sword, he rolled to the side.
The long sword was pulled from his chest, spurting out a large spray of dazzling blood, which splattered all over Phoenix's face. "Jingyun's" body suddenly leaned back and collapsed to the ground.
Phoenix's eyes were filled with hatred as she turned to look for Fu Qing, but her ankle was suddenly gripped tightly by something.
It was a hand stained with blood and with bulging veins.
She paused, looked down in bewilderment, and met a pair of cold, pure black eyes, devoid of any other color.
"Give me your body."
The voice seemed to resound directly in her mind, instantly occupying her entire being.
Every cell in her body seemed to boil with excitement, rushing towards the haggard boy before her.
Her body betrayed her at the crucial moment, banishing the soul that belonged to the phoenix.
Those eyes dimmed in an instant, and when they reopened, "Phoenix" expressionlessly stretched her shoulders and nonchalantly kicked away Jing Yun's hand at her feet.
This body is no longer useful to it; keeping it will only be a burden.
So, taking advantage of the phoenix's attack, it forcibly took over her body.
—The Zombie King implanted a part of himself into the body of each of his most loyal believers, seemingly weakening himself, but also leaving countless escape routes.
When the believers are ecstatic about the power they are given, they never imagine that one day it will become a dagger stabbing them in the chest.
"You guessed it all along?" Hidden inside the phoenix's body, the zombie king looked at Fu Qing and said in a hoarse voice.
Otherwise, she wouldn't have remained indifferent to the phoenix charging towards her.
She essentially used the zombie king's own hands to eliminate one of its most capable generals.
But it had no choice but to do it.
Fu Qing remained silent for a moment, gazing at the phoenix's body with a complicated expression.
She died so easily, but Fu Qing still managed to catch the last fleeting emotions that crossed her eyes before the light disappeared.
Shock, resentment, and then relief.
In this new world, even the most ordinary of us can break free from the constraints of our birth and rise to a high position. Isn't that a good thing?
For her, this year was stolen; at least here, she briefly experienced the unprecedented joy that power brings.
Her swift acceptance of death may also be because, in accepting happiness, she also accepted its falsehood.
“How could I not have guessed?” Fu Qing raised his eyes and said calmly, “Those powers that are easily gained will also be easily lost.”
The devout believers who were originally approaching this place unconsciously slowed down their pace.
They looked at Fu Qing standing in the center, and at the zombie king opposite her who had changed into a completely new body, their faces showing fear.
But their bodies have become constantly being used.
"No!"
"……don't want!!"
"This is not what you promised!"
"Please spare us, please..."
They screamed in terror, summoned by an inexplicable force, and uncontrollably lunged towards Fu Qing.
It was an extremely bizarre scene. In the empty hall, dozens of people simultaneously and nimbly attacked one person. Their fangs and claws gleamed coldly, but their bloodshot eyes were fixed on another person standing to the side, filled with pain and despair.
In contrast, Fu Qing, who was standing in the very center and being attacked by dozens of people at the same time, had a faint sneer in his eyes as expected.
Voluntarily surrendering and offering one's strength is entirely different from losing control of one's body and becoming a pawn to be manipulated and sacrificed at will. The first person to approach had their throat slit, the next person's brains splattered, and all the others could do was watch helplessly as they were embraced by death.
The cries of pleas were incessant, a mixture of wailing, screaming, frenzied shouts, and incoherent ramblings, sweeping across the entire space like a surging wave.
Dressed in a black combat suit, wielding a long sword, and with a cold expression, Death brandished his scythe and began a frenzied harvesting spree.
The number of devout believers who remain may seem small, but that is only relatively speaking.
Compared to the surging tide of corpses outside, there were naturally not many, but they were enough to almost drown Fu Qing.
As some fell, more were added to their place. The corpses underfoot became obstacles to their movement. At the same time, a steady stream of devout believers and zombies, like insects, rats, snakes, and ants hiding in the sewers, emerged from hidden passages and pounced viciously.
The system watched with trepidation.
In its eyes, Fu Qing, without any special abilities, was as vulnerable as an infant facing the zombie army.
If she makes even one mistake, if her strike is even an inch too high, or if her dodge is even a fraction too slow, the zombie's teeth will carve a bloody gash on her body, and what awaits her is an irreversible end.
It didn't dare utter a sound, and even wanted to cover its eyes, awaiting its fate.
It saw that its host's movements were gradually slowing down, and more and more corpses were piling up under its feet. Slippery blood smeared every piece of ground in sight. At a certain moment, when Fu Qing stepped on it, the landing point of the combat boots shifted slightly.
The system immediately gasped and blurted out: 【Watch out—!!】
Fu Qing quickly regained her balance, but felt a chill on her side as blood spurted out. She turned her head coldly and saw the Zombie King withdraw his hand from among the many figures, slowly licking the bloodstains on his sharp nails.
A fresh scent of blood suddenly burst into the stench of zombie blood, stimulating the senses of all the devout believers and causing an instinctive restlessness to take control of their mad and irrational minds.
"Kill her, and we won't have to die!"
Someone shouted something, and the system watched as the believers' cloudy eyes lit up with excitement.
The fear of death transformed completely into a fighting spirit at that moment.
Outside the horde of zombies, the zombie king looked up and let out a terrifying shriek.
*
Outside Qinghe Village, Chu Hai, who was lying on the roof of a vehicle, raised his head from behind the machine gun: "What's going on?"
The group was in a frenzy of killing; Chu Hai estimated that they had killed at least a thousand zombies.
But more zombies are still arriving from afar to join the battle.
Machine gun fire swept across the roof, and spent shell casings rained down on the vehicle.
Several grenades were thrown far into the horde of zombies. A few seconds later, they exploded like thunderclaps, sending limbs flying everywhere. However, for zombies, creatures with a single weakness, the area-of-effect damage of grenades was not that useful.
As long as they don't have both legs broken, even if they lose a leg, an arm, or have a large hole in their body, they can still drag their incomplete bodies forward.
Apart from a few at the epicenter of the explosion, most of the other zombies simply shook their heads and got up.
The crowd had become numb; they couldn't even muster a feeling of despair.
They had long since calmly accepted death; their only hope was to kill as many zombies as possible before they died.
At this moment, Chu Hai was surprised to find that the horde of corpses that had surrounded the three vehicles was slowly retreating.
Like predators that have caught the scent of blood in the air, they looked up into the pitch-black night, trying to discern something, and a look of almost "seriousness" appeared on their rotting faces.
The next moment, the leading zombies, some strong and some agile, let out muffled howls and bowed their heads respectfully.
Then, he suddenly dropped to all fours or took long strides, bypassing the special forces team and others, and strode toward the entrance hidden behind them.
What's going on?
Zhou Lingxi was stunned. He fired several shots in succession, each one hitting the head. Several zombies fell heavily to the ground, crushed and deformed by countless feet that stepped on them, and disappeared into the horde of zombies.
The death of their companion elicited no reaction. The zombies turned their heads slightly upon hearing the gunshot, but were quickly pulled forward again as if by some inexplicable force.
Bai Xianglei realized what was happening, his pupils dilating: "They don't care about us anymore, something must have happened inside..."
"Is someone calling them?"
He sheathed his gun, drew his knife, and charged straight at the zombies, stabbing one of them in the eye socket.
Finally, two or three zombies nearby reluctantly stopped in their tracks.
"team leader!!"
"That classmate surnamed Su said that zombies in a horde have an instinct to follow the group, but they are not completely unattractive!" Bai Xianglei shouted while busy fighting, "It's just a matter of how to attract them."
Early-stage zombies are like children who act entirely on instinct; if something catches their attention, their focus will be instantly diverted.
To take it back, we must offer even stronger bargaining chips.
Zhou Lingxi understood, gritted his teeth, and charged into the horde of corpses with his submachine gun.
She fired at extremely close range, wasting a lot of bullets that hit her body, but she didn't care anymore.
The recoil from the gun had already numbed his arm. Bullets rained down, and blood and flesh flew everywhere. The zombies, riddled with bloody holes, finally managed to fix their gaze on Zhou Lingxi.
They gradually approached her until she was completely engulfed by the horde of zombies.
The soft click was the sound of the magazine locking.
Zhou Lingxi dropped his gun and drew his sword without hesitation.
All she could see was pure, dense blackness, not a ray of light could penetrate it. She couldn't tell which way was which, and all she felt were zombies all around her.
She had killed countless zombies when suddenly a sharp pain shot through her wrist. A zombie twisted its neck and nimbly bit her.
With another flick of his head, his wrist bone cracked, and he lost his strength, the military knife falling to the ground.
His combat uniform was soaked with sweat and became incredibly heavy. The air was blocked, and less and less oxygen was entering his lungs. His ears were blocked and made a buzzing sound.
Someone called her name from afar, and Zhou Lingxi stumbled and fell face down.
In an instant, countless zombies pressed down. The last thing she managed to do was to ensure that she fell just a few meters in front of the entrance to Qinghe Village.
As long as she has a weapon, she can continue fighting.
Even without weapons, with guns exploding and blades broken, she could still use her own body to form the last line of defense.
"Lingxi!!" Seeing Zhou Lingxi disappear into the horde of corpses, Chu Hai, who was looking down at the whole situation from a higher position, was furious. Bai Xianglei, after his grief, turned around and looked at the narrow entrance of Qinghe Village, which could only accommodate one car.
The only thing to be thankful for now is that although there are many entrances to Qinghe Village, none of them are spacious.
The rescue teams had difficulty getting in back then, and now it won't be easy for the zombies to get in either.
Bai Xianglei jumped onto the armored vehicle, started the engine, and when it suddenly started, Chu Hai was too slow to react and almost rolled off the roof.
With a loud bang, the armored vehicle crashed into the wall, blocking the entrance with its body.
Bai Xianglei jumped out of the car. "Everyone, move towards the entrance. Don't stray too far!"
Looking at the endless horde of corpses before him, he quickly calculated in his mind: even if all three vehicles were combined, it might not be enough.
Then, add thirteen more people on top of that to form a human wall.
These were all the bargaining chips he could offer, no matter what.
...
Inside Qinghe Village, Song Rushuang and her three companions were running desperately. They were all injured to varying degrees and covered in dirt from rolling and dodging, making them look disheveled.
However, upon closer inspection, it becomes clear that they are not simply fleeing, but rather intentionally guiding the zombies in the direction they are heading.
At the same time, try to control the attack pressure faced by your side.
Although they weren't as skilled as Fu Qing, they managed to hold on until now.
But at this moment, the zombies behind them suddenly slowed down, which surprised Xue Ran: "Why do they suddenly seem uninterested in us?"
"Could it be...?" Qin Yufei's expression changed.
The group simultaneously recalled the scene in that instance where the zombies were lured away by the zombie king.
It is known that, under normal circumstances, novice zombies cannot be perceived or controlled by the Zombie King. However, in certain special moments, such as the scrambled dungeon in the past, the Zombie King seems to be able to indiscriminately trigger a zombie riot through a brief outburst, causing them to move towards him.
Such a powerful move would inevitably come at a very high price. Undoubtedly, it had been thoroughly enraged by Fu Qing and even driven to the brink of despair.
Song Rushuang slammed on the brakes and came to a sudden stop, her expression one of surprise and uncertainty.
Liang Yi looked down and confirmed with his bracelet: "They are indeed heading in the direction of the principal."
The four men looked grave.
Song Rushuang gritted her teeth, her mind racing, and realizing something, she suddenly ripped off the haphazardly wrapped bandages.
This bandage was taken out of Liang Yi's backpack when he met up with Liang Yi and Xue Ran's group.
But there was no time to bandage it, so I just wrapped it around a few times as a way to isolate it from the dirty outer clothes and prevent the wound from becoming infected and suppurating.
At this moment, the wound was covered with a layer of congealed scab. Although the bleeding had been temporarily stopped, the exposed flesh and tissue were stuck together, making it a shocking sight.
Song Rushuang wiped her hands haphazardly on her trouser leg, then pressed the wound with all her might—
Xue Ran, who was standing nearby, hissed and reflexively turned his head: "Xiao Shuang!"
“No, look…” Liang Yi said, startled.
Blood gushed out, and a strong, pungent smell of blood instantly filled the air.
A few scattered zombies at the back of the group were attracted, sniffed around, and turned back.
This trick actually worked?! Xue Ran and the other two were stunned.
The excruciating pain that spread throughout her entire arm made Song Rushuang's face turn deathly pale, but her eyes shone brightly as she exclaimed with uncontainable joy, "It works! It really works!"
Evolved zombies will have more acute senses, and for them, the blood of living people is a very strong stimulus.
They had no other choice; any method was worth trying.
Xue Ran and the other two also focused their attention on their arms, eager to make a move.
Qin Yufei was the first to draw his sword and slashed deeply, the wound so deep that bone was visible, but the effect was immediate.
Several more zombies stopped and turned back to cast numb, empty glances at them.
Xue Ran and Liang Yi followed suit without hesitation.
Their knives weren't clean; they were covered in filthy marks from killing zombies. Fortunately, to avoid accidentally cutting themselves with the zombies' teeth, they never stabbed them in the mouth, so there was no saliva on them. As long as there was no saliva, it wouldn't cause mutations, so they didn't care.
Creating wounds is not the end; they cut with their non-dominant hand, letting the wounds bleed while they rush towards the zombies they have managed to hold off.
They weren't the principals, and even in narrow alleys, the number of zombies they faced was limited. Confronting a large number of evolved zombies head-on was still a dangerous thing.
Moreover, the cramped space not only restricted the zombies, but also their movements.
Therefore, they had previously tried to avoid direct combat.
Once the battle begins, stopping will only give more and more zombies the opportunity to surround you, and the longer it drags on, the lower your chances of survival will be.
But in this critical moment, the four of them had no time to care about such things.
The battle started off smoothly, but after a whole night of fighting the zombies, the disadvantage caused by the loss of stamina became more and more obvious. The encirclement gradually became denser, and each counterattack became more and more difficult.
Is this the end?
Song Rushuang felt her vision blurring, relying solely on instinct and willpower to stay upright. In the distance, she heard a shout that sounded like a hallucination: "Hold on!!"
A slender figure suddenly appeared from the side, leaping behind the zombie. One arm gripped its neck tightly, and a dagger plunged into its eye socket with a soft thud. Before the zombie collapsed to the ground, she rolled to her feet.
Was it support sent by Fangzhou or the government?
Song Rushuang stared intently, her half-open eyes widening in shock: "...Xiao Juan?!"
No, according to seniority, shouldn't she call her "elder sister"... or "teacher"...?
"How come you recognize me too!" The girl was devastated.
Where exactly did she meet these people? How come she has no recollection of them at all?
But this was clearly not the time for chatting. Xiao Juan was dressed in a thick, mixed-style outfit, and had borrowed two overly long coats from Brother Liao. To avoid hindering her movement, she roughly tied a few ropes around her cuffs and joints. Wearing this homemade armor, she bravely charged into the battlefield.
She was petite but exceptionally agile, and her every move showed clear signs of training.
With someone's help, Song Rushuang was able to take a short break. She was initially very worried, but after observing for less than half a minute, she felt relieved.
Then, belatedly, I realized... although I hadn't seen Xiao Juan take action in the dungeon, Liao Ge had clearly mentioned in the conversation before the campfire that Xiao Juan, like Fu Qing and Lu Yan, was very "reliable".
She was able to be successfully ambushed because everyone was drugged.
Unexpectedly, after being reborn, Xiao Juan learned martial arts again and accidentally played a role in the apocalypse once more.
What Song Rushuang didn't know was that if Xiao Juan hadn't been skilled in self-defense, she wouldn't have been bold enough to come to this urban village alone to work a summer job, and Liao Ge's family wouldn't have survived the apocalypse for so long unscathed.
She wasn't afraid of ordinary zombies at all; her only weakness was fighting evolved zombies head-on.
So at the beginning of the virus outbreak, she and Brother Liao could still occasionally go out to scavenge for supplies, until later, for some reason, the number of evolved zombies in Qinghe Village became more and more numerous, and the three of them completely stayed at home.
Now, Fu Qing has cleared out most of the zombies, and the rest are almost all gathered around the four members of the elite team. Xiao Juan boldly went out for a stroll, and when she heard the commotion, she picked up her knife and headed in that direction.
—Qinghe Village has been quiet for a long time. The person who could cause such a commotion, even if it wasn't the woman she just met, was most likely her companion.
She hadn't realized what was happening yet, but now she has to go and help.
Just thinking about the way Fu Qing slashed down the zombies made Xiao Juan feel excited, and this feeling of being encouraged had a strange familiarity to her.
It's as if at some point, she also had the same feeling of wanting to follow someone and fight alongside them.
At this moment, having successfully killed an evolved zombie, Xiao Juan felt an unprecedented sense of pride.
It's a pity the person from earlier isn't here, otherwise she might have received a compliment...
Xiao Juan sighed inwardly, then said smugly, "The weakness is the brain, right? I know!"
"..."
Not hearing a reply, I turned around and found the girl behind me with a look on her face as if she was about to cry.
Looking to the side, she saw that the remaining three people were each entangled by different zombies, and they were even watching her while fighting, their eyes filled with longing.
"……?What’s wrong with you?"
The four of them desperately held back their words, unable to utter a sound, and shook their heads in unison.
The will to survive, which had been gradually fading due to despair, suddenly reignited.
They can't die here!
They have to survive and bring Xiaojuan out safely to the principal!
If zombies could sense something was wrong, they would probably be wondering what was going on by now.
The four men, who had been struggling to survive, suddenly became full of fighting spirit as if in a final burst of energy. They shouted wildly and brought their blades up again, gleaming coldly and with tremendous force.
However, simply adding Xiao Juan was not enough to change the current situation. The four exchanged glances, clearly trying to rack their brains to find a way to break the deadlock.
Xiao Juan was the only one with great energy, and she was focused on the battle. Song Rushuang looked at her and a thought popped into her mind: In such a one-sided situation, why is she still so full of fighting spirit?
Where does her confidence come from?
Song Rushuang quickly received an answer.
The lights came on in the night.
At first there were only a few scattered lights, but soon, specks of light lit up from all directions.
The residents of Qinghe Village turned on their phone flashlights and pushed open the windows and doors that had been closed for who knows how long. The group of four saw swaying beams of light shining everywhere, and their ears were filled with noisy shouts coming from all directions.
"Hey! Over here!!"
"Look at me!!"
"I'm here!!"
Some people were shouting incoherently, yelling meaningless sentences. When they saw the nearby zombies turn around and rush towards them, they were so frightened that they slammed the window shut and crouched down with their heads in their hands.
The zombie crashed into the security bars, nearly shattering them.
Residents nearby saw it and hurriedly helped to attract attention, waving and flashing their flashlights, finally drawing the zombie away again, and then quickly hiding back home before it arrived.
Before closing the door, he threw a kitchen knife with all his might. The knife spun and flew out with a whoosh, actually piercing the zombie's chest.
Although it was meaningless, it sparked a cheer, and then more pots and pans clattered down from upstairs, hitting the zombies on the head.
"Are they... drawing the zombies away for us?" Xue Ran stared in disbelief for a moment, then realized what was going on.
“That’s right,” Xiao Juan said cheerfully.
After Fu Qing left, the three of them didn't feel at ease staying at home for long. The thought that she was helping them clear out the zombies made them restless.
They tried to report the news that someone had entered Qinghe Village to nearby residents—although there was no communication network, the neighbors lived close by and could contact each other by shouting.
The number of zombies in the vicinity has significantly decreased, and there's no need to worry about attracting attention in just a few words.
The news spread from one person to another, and eventually reached Liao and his two companions. They said that someone had seen several students being chased around by zombies.
The four members of the elite squad: "..."
"So, everyone decided to come and help." Xiao Juan explained that it was indeed inconvenient without the internet, and it took them more than half an hour just to communicate their strategy. "We can't beat those zombies, but while ensuring our own safety, we can help you attract their attention so that they won't all come to attack you."
The elite team was stunned, never expecting that the villagers of Qinghe Village could gather such a huge force without prior planning.
And... Brother Liao was there too?
"……Thanks."
They really didn't know what to say.
The zombies that were constantly converging on this place from all directions encountered a closer and more frenzied target on the way. They were briefly distracted by the chaotic group of people from Qinghe Village, and the pressure on the five people suddenly decreased.
This time, it seems they can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel.
*
Meanwhile, Bai Xianglei and his men, who were guarding outside Qinghe Village and ready to fight to the death, also received their reinforcements.
From his vantage point high above, Chu Hai gazed incredulously at the distant highway.
There, a convoy of hundreds of vehicles appeared.
The car lights formed a river of light, stretching all the way towards the horizon.
This convoy, which seemed to have descended from the sky like saviors, had traveled a long and arduous journey, crossing mountains and rivers, and could hardly withstand close scrutiny.
But this doesn't diminish their imposing entrance, which seems to come with its own background music.
"Charge!!!"
"I've driven so far all night, I'm exhausted! My back and waist are killing me, let's get out of the car and have a fight!"
"You want to compare yourself to me? I've been driving for almost three days!"
"I'm finally back!"
Inside the car, the young drivers were driving with shining eyes, excitedly roaring at the wristbands that displayed multi-person call pages.
—It was on their way back to school that Fu Qing urgently dispatched those Fangzhou students who had been absent before to do missions all over the country.
In fact, if Bai Xianglei and the others could see the scene inside Qinghe Village, they would find that the speeding convoy was just as chaotic as the combat personnel in Qinghe Village. Some people were driving off-road vehicles, some were driving cars so badly shod that their original appearance was unrecognizable, and some were driving tiny mini cars that looked like toys, sneaking around in the convoy.
Those who drive Minis are also quite self-righteous.
Students can't afford fancy cars, of course they'll drive whatever their parents give them!
You have to be careful when driving, don't run into zombies, otherwise you might get dented first without knowing what they're doing...
Despite their ragtag appearance, they exuded the aura of a regular army. The black SUV leading the way was the first to arrive, cutting in with lightning speed, scraping the edge. Occasionally, zombies tried to stop them, but were instantly crushed under the wheels, their flesh and blood flying everywhere.
Having been delayed on the road for so long, putting everything else aside, Shen Qingqing's driving skills alone have probably made her the best in the elite team.
The students behind followed suit. Those who were confident in the car's quality drove straight into areas with fewer people—avoiding the most densely packed areas of zombies, mainly to prevent breaking down too early and blocking the cars behind.
The zombies fell like bowling balls wherever they went, and several cars were smashed, their bumpers deformed. They pulled over and turned off their engines, while the students inside looked indifferent. They unbuckled their seatbelts, climbed out of the sunroofs, and used the cars as a base to clear out the nearby zombies.
The horde of zombies in front of them consisted mostly of low-level zombies, so they weren't afraid at all!
Seeing the Fangzhou students jumping out of the car and their efficient and skillful movements as they cleared away the zombies, the special forces team and the three criminal police officers gasped, feeling a surge of emotion surging in their chests, leaving them speechless.
The students' arrival instantly tore a hole in the dull battlefield, bringing a fresh breeze full of new vitality and hope.
A young detective rubbed his aching arms, feeling a huge weight lifted off his shoulders, and almost cried: "We actually made it through."
Thirteen people fought against a massive horde of thousands of zombies, and they actually held out until reinforcements arrived!
“I contacted the school on the way using my bracelet. Xiao Su said that Chief Tian has received your request for help and the support is on its way…” Shen Qingqing said quickly, then suddenly stopped, hesitating, “Wait, isn’t someone missing?”
Chu Hai stared in one direction with red eyes; two minutes earlier, Zhou Lingxi had collapsed right there.
As she fell, countless zombies, like sharks drawn by the scent of blood, staggered closer, eventually pounced on Zhou Lingxi, burying her heavily.
Shen Qingqing followed his gaze, realized something, her heart skipped a beat, and her expression suddenly darkened.
From the moment they received the message, these hundreds of people began their journey day and night, not daring to drink a drop of water along the way, for fear of wasting time by stopping to use the restroom... In the end, were they still a step too late?
Shen Qingqing's chest heaved twice. She wanted to ask more about the internal situation, but she didn't dare to.
A sorrowful gaze followed as it landed on the small hill piled high with overlapping zombies.
The scene fell silent for a moment, and she stared at it in silence for a long time.
Then, she noticed that the "hill" moved.
Shen Qingqing: "...?"
She rubbed her eyes and found that it really moved.
"Wait, is it...?"
"Bang!!"
Shen Qingqing's bewildered question was interrupted by a loud gunshot.
Immediately following, a series of "Bang!" "Bang!" "Bang!"...
Chu Hai's mouth was half-open, the sadness in his eyes still lingering, and he was completely stunned: "...Holy crap."
As the smoke cleared, some of the still-struggling corpses died completely, and a hand covered by a tactical glove emerged from beneath them.
The hand was raised high, and Chu Hai was completely dumbfounded. He even thought it was a hallucination caused by exhaustion. However, Shen Qingqing, who was full of energy, reacted faster and grabbed it, pulling Zhou Lingxi out from under the pile of corpses.
With half-dried bloodstains covering his facial features and his hair plastered to his face, Zhou Lingxi looked more like a corpse crawling out of a grave than a zombie.
She raised her hand to brush away the hair that was obscuring her vision, and murmured blankly to the incredulous gazes of the crowd.
"I was wrong, I was really wrong..."
Bai Xianglei hurriedly cleared away the zombies around her, and upon hearing this, his heart tightened: "What did you do wrong?"
"Who dares to say you're wrong!" he roared.
The second half of the sentence coincides with Zhou Lingxi's next sentence: "I will never say again that handguns cannot be used to fight zombie hordes."
Bai Xianglei: "?"
Officer Chen: "?"
The tactical suit was made of a special material and almost covered her entire body, so ordinary zombies couldn't bite through it. In addition, she was also wearing tough gloves. When Zhou Lingxi fell into the zombie horde, the only thing she really needed to defend was her head and face.
With her wrist dislocated and a large horde of zombies surging towards her menacingly, the last thing she did was pull a nearby zombie corpse over to completely block her head.
Although I was almost knocked unconscious by the fumes, I managed to survive.
However, with his military knife missing and most of his body immobilized, he was unable to kill the zombies above.
In this situation, when she accidentally touched the gun on her waist... Zhou Lingxi's ecstasy at that moment was simply indescribable.
"After all this time," she said, gazing lovingly at the gun in her hand, "this thing is still the best!"
Everyone: "..."
*
On the huge screen overhead, the image flickered repeatedly at a frantic frequency, like an old, broken television, with black and white noise appearing and disappearing, symbolizing the owner's irritable emotions.
The zombie king saw the students who had come to help.
Some stayed behind to help the special forces team, while the rest used their wristbands to divide tasks and headed to different entrances to Qinghe Village.
The battle situation changed in an instant.
A muffled laugh, undisguised, rang out in front of it, and it knew that Fu Qing had seen it too.
It couldn't understand why things had turned out this way.
The advantages accumulated over three lifetimes gave it a starting point far exceeding that of the system. It awakened earlier than the system, gathered its forces, and stirred up countless conflicts throughout the world before "that day" determined by the world's consciousness. Humanity has too many desires, and it had already learned how to incite those desires.
It stood by coldly, watching them kill each other, scheme against each other, stir up riots everywhere, and plunge knives into the chests of their own kind. Every time someone died and fear arose in the hearts of the onlookers, its power would grow a little stronger.
Amidst widespread panic and turmoil, even more people are drawn to it. They willingly bend down, kissing its toes, their eyes burning with greedy lust.
The system has only one host, Fu Qing, but it parasitizes Jing Yun's body while its gaze is fixed on all of humanity.
The system was also growing; it clumsily learned something from Fu Qing, but its learning speed was far slower. The Zombie King learned greed, scheming, conspiracy, and all the despicable and ugly things about humanity from its followers.
In return for this, it bestowed upon them lies, exploitation, and betrayal.
These believers coalesced into a vast power, and their elite were infected by it, becoming potential hosts. Each time they prayed for power and received a response, it was an invisible parasitic pact. Those people were completely unaware of what was happening, only ecstatic, trembling as they expressed their gratitude to it amidst the envious gazes of others.
The Zombie King accepted it with a smile.
Filled with confidence, it began searching for the system and Fu Qing, observing its nemesis's movements with a mixture of pity and arrogance.
It almost burst out laughing when it discovered that they had built a school in the suburbs, trying to turn it into a "first-class shelter," and had recruited a bunch of mediocre kids for daily training.
What can more than two thousand people do?
Moreover, they are still "students," naive and inexperienced, without any social support, and their only possessions seem to be a fairly tenacious will and unrealistic fantasies.
As for the so-called last refuge... it is nothing more than a spark of hope that humanity has placed its hopes on. And as a spark, it can be extinguished by a rain, a wind, or even a gentle breath.
It seems the system really doesn't have enough energy, otherwise it wouldn't have come up with such a ridiculous idea.
The only thing it cared about was that this time, the system re-bound itself to the person named Fu Qing.
When it first stumbled and tried to communicate with the outside world in its first incarnation, she was the one it chose. For more than seven years, she was its most frequent conversational partner.
Although each time, it received a different kind of merciless ridicule.
Unlike the fanatical followers, Fu Qing scoffed at what it could offer. But it wasn't until she first charged at it, cleaving down the evolved zombie blocking its path with a single blow, the tip of her blade close to its nose, that the zombie king suddenly realized…
It's astonishing that someone who seems uninterested in anything and appears utterly listless can unleash such a powerful killing intent.
With unwavering will, immense strength, and exceptional talent, it's a pity that she's bound to the system and is destined to be impossible to win over.
Thus, she became the greatest threat, even surpassing the system itself.
So much so that in its second life, after discovering that the system had been divided, it prioritized eliminating Fu Qing. One reason was that Zhao Yunxiao was protected and difficult to deal with; another was that it remained uneasy, always feeling that as long as Fu Qing existed, even if she knew nothing about the system or its existence, she could still pose a threat.
And indeed, when the second life ended and Zhao Yunxiao died, Fu Qing survived and began the third life.
Fortunately, this time, it has accumulated an unprecedented advantage.
After discovering Fu Qing's whereabouts, the Zombie King tried sending her devout followers to cause trouble twice, but as expected, she easily dealt with them, and even her students were firmly protected by her.
Even without his superpowered cheat ability, Fu Qing still maintains formidable combat skills.
But it didn't care anymore. How could one person fight against a flood that swept the whole world?
What was both surprising and amusing was that Fu Qing and her students seemed to be seriously preparing for the apocalypse.
Besides honing their skills, preparing supplies, and renovating the school, their sense of urgency also spread to the surrounding area, influencing some people around them and online. This quantitative change led to a qualitative one, and surprisingly, it actually eroded some of their growth potential.
However, the impact was too insignificant for the Zombie King to care about.
What truly alerted it was on the day the apocalypse arrived, when Fu Qing, relying on his past experiences of students performing acts of bravery and the commotion they had caused on the internet, directly approached the Chinese government and even gained their trust.
The rapidly issued policies were implemented efficiently, slowing the infection rate several times slower than in the previous life. These insignificant students suddenly became the ones being followed—no, perhaps they never considered it as following. With unparalleled enthusiasm and a sense of responsibility, these students shared everything they had, actively participating in every rescue operation and contributing their strength without expecting anything in return.
This enthusiasm spread like a tidal wave, washing away despair, and more and more people joined them.
Soldiers, students' relatives, volunteers, and even the most ordinary people.
She led those penniless students and actually unleashed a hurricane powerful enough to withstand a flood.
Tearing through the shadow of death that shrouded humanity, until a sliver of golden dawn appeared on the horizon.
Humanity has seen that light and has firmly grasped it.
In the center of the scene, Fangzhou held on. It successfully withstood the impact of the entire night, killed countless evolved zombies, and finally received the first batch of reinforcements.
Fully armed soldiers charged into the horde of zombies, shielding the exhausted students behind them.
The students cheered and raised their arms, while the older parents found their children and the whole family embraced and wept, their faces filled with tears of joy.
The biggest goal of this night's preparations was to conquer Fangzhou, which, in the Zombie King's eyes, carried too many of humanity's hopes. This name had somehow become ubiquitous throughout China, and when people uttered the words "Fangzhou," they were imbued with far too many positive emotions that the Zombie King disliked.
Moreover, with Fu Qing's death, the teachers were recalled, and Zhao Yunxiao, who had once again hidden himself in the research institute, would also leave.
Even if the new host regains the previous cheat codes, as long as it lives, the zombies will continue to evolve, and someone who starts from scratch will never be able to catch up.
Humanity will repeat the tragedy of a second life, desperately chasing after something but always being a step too late.
All it needs to do is retreat to a safe place to recuperate and wait for the opportunity to make a comeback.
The progress may be slower, but victory will ultimately belong to it.
Now, that plan has been completely destroyed.
Fang Zhou held on.
The zombie king repeated the thought to itself, a huge sense of absurdity rising within it, almost leaving it bewildered.
How could that be?
It had tied down all the forces that could come to its aid, and in fact, Fangzhou was almost completely isolated and helpless that night.
Relying on the soldiers under Tian Xuejun's command is not enough to have a disruptive effect. What Fang Zhou can rely on more is the students, parents, and the school itself that stands behind them.
Even so, they held out for a night against the horde of zombies, which consisted mostly of evolved zombies.
In just one year, those students have actually transformed into what they are today...?
It took half a step back, its veins bulging on the back of its hand, and then suddenly slammed it heavily on the screen.
Spiderweb-like cracks spread from the corner to the entire giant screen in an instant, glass shattered and collapsed, falling like a torrential rain. "Phoenix" lowered its head, breathing heavily, its joints creaking. It suddenly raised its head, staring directly at Fu Qing in the horde of corpses, its eyes brewing with violent rage.
Every syllable emitted from the vocal cords destroyed by the flames sounded like the roar of a wild beast, yet it also carried a chilling calm and gentle quality.
"No, I haven't failed yet."
"And you too. If I kill you, the vaccine research will be suspended indefinitely."
Fu Qing, the object of its gaze, looked as if she had rolled through a pool of blood. The siege by the believers, coupled with the zombie king's sneak attacks, inevitably left her with wounds of all sizes. But the zombie king knew that most of the time she had taken the attacks willingly, even using parts of her body that did not affect her movement to replace attacks that might have landed on vital organs.
Even if injury is unavoidable, she can still minimize the damage.
She still maintains a very high kill efficiency, but her knife-wielding and dodging movements are declining at a speed that is imperceptible to the naked eye.
No matter how strong she is, she is still human. She should have been exhausted long ago. The fact that she can persevere is probably all due to her willpower.
Is all this effort to hold on... in the hopes of getting outside help?
The Zombie King glanced at the screen and realized it was shattered. But based on the last images, it deduced that the two groups inside and outside Qinghe Village might actually be able to resolve their troubles and arrive to provide support in a short time.
However, it will not give them a chance to rescue.
The Zombie King narrowed his eyes, a glint of cunning flashing within them, but Fu Qing spoke up at that moment: "The vaccine..."
She overlooked the fact that what she said earlier was inaccurate; the zombie king killing her did indeed have this one "benefit".
However, the pause in progress does not mean that all hope has been lost.
She wanted to take a gamble.
As if receiving a command, the devout followers erupted instantly, surging towards her like madmen. Countless attacks rained down on Fu Qing simultaneously, engulfing her and obscuring her vision. The Zombie King watched coldly, then suddenly moved.
Its figure moved like the wind, seizing the opportunity to strike. The devout believers blocking its way were controlled and "tacitly" dodged aside, revealing Fu Qing's shadow.
With a "thud," sharp, knife-like claws pierced the soft abdomen. The zombie king's heart skipped a beat, and he was filled with wild joy, but then he met a pair of pitch-black eyes that seemed capable of devouring him.
I accept your invitation.
"In return, please give me strength."
Fu Qing said, word by word.
The zombie king was stunned when its repeated, impossible "invitations" were answered. Before it could react, a warm sensation ran through its teeth.
Its body suddenly shuddered, realizing that a portion of its power was being frantically drained away, and its aura instantly weakened.
Fu Qing lowered his head, ignoring the screams from his brain, and looked with almost novelty at the beads of blood welling up on his fingertips.
The wound, along with the massive gash in her abdomen, healed at an imperceptible speed. An uncontrollable, ferocious force surged through her body, roaring and waiting to be unleashed. Following her instincts, she wielded the long sword she had prepared in her other hand with terrifying force, slashing horizontally at the zombie king, whose movements had become stiff due to sudden weakness.
The blade moved like lightning, slicing through the air with a sharp sound, but when it entered flesh, it made no sound at all, slicing smoothly through.
The surrounding believers stopped moving at the same time. Clearly, their manipulators were no longer able to control them. The believers looked up in shock as the head of their "god" flew through the air, a look of disbelief still lingering in the deathly eyes.
Before the head even hit the ground, flesh and blood began to rapidly regenerate in mid-air. The zombie king was not dead yet, and its focus was not on the regeneration of the body at all.
It's frantically fighting the system for control of Fu Qing within his mind! Having gained a portion of its power, Fu Qing can be controlled!!
As long as I can take over this body before I'm killed—
Two higher-dimensional beings unleashed their inner power at the same time, disregarding everything and burning themselves out to fight for a human being—an almost unimaginable scene.
But it really happened.
In his mind, the system's scream suddenly erupted and then stopped abruptly. Fu Qing knew that it probably didn't have time to speak, so he apologized in his heart, casually twirled his knife, and the surrounding believers scattered like birds and beasts.
They watched in horror as she lunged toward the falling head. The longsword struck again, piercing the zombie king's eye socket precisely in mid-air, destroying its brain, and then being pinned to the wall several meters behind it by terrifying force, emitting a buzzing metallic sound.
Everything returned to deathly silence.
"No..." Among the devout believers scattered in a circle, someone was the first to cry out in pain.
Their skin peeled off, their flesh dissolved, and without the power of the zombie king, the corpses inside the house turned into a pool of blood within seconds.
Fu Qing turned around, calmly glanced at the mess around her, found a corner, and slowly sat down.
Inside and outside Qinghe Village, whether they were evolved zombies or ordinary zombies, a look of bewilderment flashed in their eyes at the same time.
They seem to have lost something.
But that's irrelevant.
The desire to move forward into Qinghe Village was no longer strong, but the humans in front of me still made me drool.
The zombies shook their heads, opened their blood-red maws again, exhaled a putrid breath, and launched a persistent attack.
Keen observers noticed the unusual behavior of the zombies.
"They seem to have stopped heading towards Qinghe Village and have started targeting humans instead."
"Just now, one of the leading intelligent zombies suddenly melted away. I thought I was seeing things. It scared me to death."
"……what happens?"
They looked at each other in confusion. Then, a few students exclaimed with delight, "Did the principal kill that zombie king?!"
"That must be it!"
"Long live the principal!!"
"Zombies will never evolve again! And a vaccine can be developed!!"
The students gathered outside Qinghe Village almost gave each other a warm hug.
But then, their smiles froze on their lips.
At this moment, all 2,370 students and 6 teachers in Fangzhou, regardless of their location, clearly heard an electronic voice resonating in their minds.
[Alarm! Alarm!]
[Host's vital signs have been detected to be gradually disappearing, and the situation is determined to be irreversible. All related personnel will be unbound soon, and the teacher character will be recalled to the gacha pool for the next draw. Therefore, this notification is sent to all players.]
The Zombie King is dead, but the mission to save the world is not over yet. The next successor will be randomly selected from the remaining humans in the current world... *sizzle*...
After a piercing electric shock, the electronic voice suddenly became intermittent, like a dying person struggling to utter fragmented passages.
[Warning: Energy consumption too high... Random binding worldwide is no longer supported...]
[...Range reset in progress...]
[Shrinking...z...1km radius...]
Reset complete.
As the last word fell, the sound disappeared with a hum.
-----------------------
Author's Note: I will only write happy endings.
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