As Big Black Dog climbed up from the tunnel, it shook itself, scattering dirt everywhere, even splattering onto Memphis's clothes. It paid no mind, merely sticking out its tongue to lick its wet nose, then barked wildly:
“Woof woof howwwl…”
“Human, I’ve finished digging. Bring it over. Woof!”
Memphis nodded, pointing at the refrigerated truck and barking back:
“Yip!”
“Good! Now let’s transport the treasure
Lakeside District.Lakeside District covers roughly the same area as Renaissance, but its population is 2.5 times larger. Because of the zombie horde near Lakeside Bridge, Jarred's convoy took over an hour to navigate through the danger zone. They had to detour around the area where the zombies were concentrated; otherwise, they might not have made it through at all.Sitting in the back seat of the jeep, Jarred focused his gaze out the window, trying to gauge the distance to the Lakeside base according to Memphis's descriptions. Memphis had scouted the area last night and had gathered essential information about it.After the convoy drove for another five minutes, Jarred suddenly clutched his stomach and yelled out."Damn it, stomachache! I need to use the bathroom…"He shouted while stomping on the car floor, startling Richard beside him, who quickly waved his hands to reassure him."Captain Lawton, just three more minutes…""Hurry up and stop the car! I’m about to explode here; pull
After passing the relief zone, they headed toward the resettlement area. The scene here wasn’t much better—dilapidated houses with dark red or black stains, some buildings destroyed by artillery, and plenty of bullet-riddled walls.People shuffled back and forth, most of them ragged or even filthy, especially the children, whose matted hair was almost brown. Watching this, Jarred couldn’t help but ponder silently:“Is there no cleaning or sanitation? A water shortage, perhaps? That’s likely, seeing as the nearest river crossing is six kilometers away, with the Hour Ferry Point four kilometers off… But they have that woman Starla, so why let water shortages happen? I heard she’s been hovering around, managing her boats these past few days. What’s she plotting?”Hope Town, besides its groundwater pumped from wells, also supplies the entire Pinecrest area, and it’s only 800 meters from Grieving River at its edge, so there’s no shortage of water resources.Around the resettlement area, st
Without something to strive for, the entire community would stagnate. Those with strength and vision deserved different rewards; forced to mingle with the ordinary, they’d feel like lions among dogs—eventually growing frustrated, and in time, losing their drive.No human could entirely subdue their instinct for superiority. The skilled should be distinguished, placed elsewhere, granted special benefits. Living close to brilliance uplifts; people in the apocalypse don’t get to shine by mere proximity but through sacrifice on the front lines, risking life, exchanging blood and sweat.Such sacrifices deserved to be rewarded with a better life in the center—that was true fairness.
After Richard left, Murphy pushed the "document" to the center of the table and turned to the thirty-something man in a gray suit with a hint of arrogance on his face, asking,"Deputy Chief Reyes, what do you make of this?"This young man was Percy Reyes, deputy chief of supplies, responsible for overseeing non-standard supplies for the entire survivor base in Lakeside County. Of course, he was also the only son of County Chief Murphy Reyes.Percy carefully re-read the fake document, scrutinizing it repeatedly but finding no flaws. Finally, he replied cautiously,"Father… County Chief Reyes, I think we should confiscate all related materials and issue a strict reminder to all military personnel against indiscriminate acceptance of supplies. We absolutely cannot appear to be supporting these bandits."Murphy tapped his fingers on the table before asking,"Hmm, anything else?"His tone was calm and indifferent, seemingly without any emotional nuance, making it impossible to gauge what h
After a brief fifteen-minute respite, the vehicle arrived at the frontlines.Brady had taken over for Richard to accompany Jarred, and now he turned to him with a cautious question."Captain Lawton, which battlefront would you like to join?"This young man’s strength was almost at a commander’s level, so his opinion mattered most.Jarred listened as Brady quickly introduced the four battlefields, then, considering his own plans, quickly made a decision."Take me to the front where the humans have the strongest defenses, I’m terrified of dying and need safety—absolute safety."After thinking for a moment, Richard replied: “Then the frontline led by Commander Sears is the place for you, it has the highest number of protectors."With the decision made, Jarred was soon escorted to the battle’s border by a Lakeside soldier.The fighting here was ferocious. As far as the eye could see, black waves of zombies surged forward. The humans, though valiantly holding their ground, were forced to r
In addition, Jarred wanted to keep the secret of the demon-slaying gun under wraps. From the intelligence gathered, no one in Lakeside had heard of this weapon, and he had no intention of sharing it with the opposing side.By drawing their attention to his unique ability to create effects for the bullets, he achieved his objective for this mission.After finishing the preparations and climbing out of the vehicle, Jarred was met by cold and hostile stares from all around. He scoffed. These fools had annoyed him since he’d arrived, ogling his sister-in-law as they were. He could only wish to bind them up and haul them back to Hope to deal with, but they had no real connection to him—why should he care?Jarred then stepped forward, tossing the modified round to a nearby team member operating the SPG-09 recoilless gun and nonchalantly commanded:“Direct shot at shielded Level 25, target should be at least 1.6 kilometers away.”The teammate, catching the PG-9V round, was taken aback, stari
At that thought, his eyes widened, his pupils darted around before narrowing quickly.Memories flooded back of being chased by a towering creature, standing at nearly three meters, with dark, slimy skin and furious howls echoing behind him. That had been one of Wylie’s riskiest missions, where he was tasked with luring a terrifying monster into a trap."A Devouring Type… an Eat-2, at least level 23…"Cold sweat poured from Wylie’s forehead. It had been so long since he’d last encountered a Devouring Type that he’d almost forgotten the existence of such creatures.This was the most formidable kind of zombie. Intelligent, strong, fast, resilient, with supreme combat skills, the ability to level up by devouring other zombies, self-repair abilities, tactical awareness, and even the instinct to retreat when facing danger. Practically without weaknesses, even severing the head couldn’t kill it — they had to electrocute it with high-voltage power. It was only missing flight and the ability t
Tyra, a woman in her twenties, pointed to a newly drawn terrain map, cross-referencing it with the data on the screen and the written report, and began her update in a soft tone:“Commander, currently, approximately 80% of Cloudy Town shows no signs of free-roaming zombies, and the entire townscape is one of complete ruin.”“Both Zone A and Zone D exhibit signs of intense explosions and fires. Observations suggest these were accidental, possibly caused by electrical short circuits after the apocalypse or unattended fires, not deliberate attempts by humans to attack the zombies.”“In Zone C, several barricades and new roadblocks ha