Wu Di smirked and said, “Vice-captain, you’re way too slow. Step aside and watch me work!”
As he spoke, he stretched out his arms, and in the darkness, a bright orb of light materialized, hovering near his right shoulder.
A second orb appeared near his left shoulder, followed by a third above his head.
In seconds, dozens of glowing orbs surrounded him, forming a radiant halo like something out of myth.
Wu Di spread his arms, and the orbs surged forward, merging into a long, blazing beam of light.
The intense white light illuminated everything ahead, and as the beam pierced through the zombie horde, their bodies were torn apart as if made of paper.
One after another, bright rays streaked through the zombies, reducing them to shredded remains.
“Ha ha ha! I’m the king of the battlefield!” Wu Di laughed maniacally.
Under his assault, the horde crumbled like fragile fabric, leaving a trail of carnage in his wake.
Baili Changqing chuckled helplessly as he scratched his head.
“When it comes to mowing down zombies, I guess I can’t compare to you, Wu Di,” he said with a wry smile.
The zombie horde posed no real resistance as the team advanced steadily.
Finally, their overwhelming firepower caught the attention of the Zombie King.
From the far end of the tunnel emerged several enormous armored zombies.
These copper-armored creatures stood over three meters tall, resembling grotesque stick insects with long, spindly limbs and unnervingly slender waists. Their appearance was unsettling in a way that defied natural symmetry.
Wu Di squinted at them. “So, these are the famous armored zombies? Let’s see how tough they really are!”
He retracted the orbs around him, concentrating a single white light in his right hand.
But before he could act, Bian Junwu placed a firm hand on his shoulder.
“Stand down and rest,” Bian Junwu ordered.
Though Floating Cannons were powerful, they consumed a significant amount of mental energy, and overuse could lead to irreparable damage to the user.
Reluctantly, Wu Di withdrew his power. “Fine, I’ll leave this one to you guys.”
The team knew well that the armored zombies were a far cry from ordinary ones in terms of combat strength. They approached the fight with caution.
“One for each of us,” Bian Junwu declared as he picked his target and raised his oversized black pistol.
The gunshot echoed loudly, and a bullet struck the chest of one armored zombie, forcing it to stagger backward.
Clearly, this wasn’t an ordinary handgun but a specialized weapon.
Bian Junwu advanced steadily, each shot landing on the creature’s long, sinewy body, driving it further back.
Meanwhile, Baili Changqing, Kong Sheng, and Qi Guangming engaged their own opponents.
Baili Changqing, wielding his knight’s lance, charged headlong into melee combat with an armored zombie.
Kong Sheng smashed his fists together, and his body turned an ominous metallic shade of dark silver.
Using his Steel Forge ability, he transformed his body into a weapon—impossibly durable and lethally sharp.
In a flash, Kong Sheng appeared mid-air, his right leg descending like a blade to strike the shoulder of an armored zombie.
The force of the blow drove the creature to its knees, splitting its shoulder open to reveal blood-red bone beneath.
Kong Sheng frowned in disbelief. “Damn, that’s tough!”
His kick could shear through a car, yet the zombie’s bone remained intact.
At that moment, a beam of light streaked past him, piercing the zombie’s chest and tearing a gruesome hole.
Turning, Kong Sheng saw Qi Guangming holding a peculiar black sniper rifle, grinning.
“This calls for teamwork!” Qi said with a laugh.
Elsewhere, Bian Junwu had pinned his target against the wall, shoving his gun into its mouth and firing upward. The shot obliterated the zombie’s head, leaving its body to collapse into a pool of fetid blood.
The armored zombies, formidable as they were, stood no chance against the investigation team.
Suddenly, Meng Siyu clutched her head and said, “The horde is stirring! The white-furred monkey and six armored zombies are trying to escape, and a massive number of zombies are converging to cover their retreat.”
Adjusting his tactical glasses, Bian Junwu’s voice turned icy.
“That settles it. The white-furred monkey is the Zombie King, and the horde is stalling for time. We can’t let it get away.”
The Zombie King’s intelligence and capacity for evolution made it an increasingly dangerous foe. If it escaped, it would learn from this encounter, making any future capture nearly impossible.
“Move out! We must capture it today!”
The team dashed toward the fleeing Zombie King, but the horde and rat swarm surged like a tidal wave, attempting to block their path.
Bian Junwu, unwilling to waste more time, removed his glasses and activated his Annihilation ability.
A searing white light filled the tunnel, and in an instant, the space ahead was wiped clean.
Thousands of zombies were obliterated in the blink of an eye.
The strain of the attack caused sharp pain in Bian Junwu’s chest, and he doubled over, coughing violently.
Despite his condition, he pressed forward without hesitation. “Go!”
The team pursued relentlessly, clearing out stray rats and zombies as they closed in on the Zombie King.
Meanwhile, outside Yangsheng Base, the attacking zombies abruptly halted as if receiving an unseen signal.
They turned en masse, retreating toward the tunnels.
The rat swarm followed suit, leaving Xiao Honglian and her soldiers baffled.
Her body, wreathed in flames like a fiery goddess, trembled with exhaustion. Gasping for breath, she stared at the retreating enemy in shock.
“What’s going on?” she muttered.
Unbeknownst to her, the Zombie King was fighting for its life underground, pursued by Bian Junwu and his team.