"Roar!"
As the roaring sound got closer, the female zombie turned her head, and the corner of her torn lips lifted. The moment she saw a blurred figure appear in the distance, she bent her stiff knees and leaped into the air.
Boom!
The collision between two punches sent a wave of wind through the surroundings, raising dust and debris.
Although the two zombies were at the same level, the male zombie—with a pair of muscular, massive arms—won in the battle of raw strength.
Boom! Crack!
The female zombie was sent flying, crashing into the ground. A huge crack appeared beneath her stiff body. Her right arm was shattered from the impact of the punch.
When she saw the male zombie rushing toward her, she rolled to the side and used her limbs to leap into the air.
Boom!
The male zombie missed his target, and his punch landed on the ground. His fist buried itself into the earth from the force and got stuck.
Seeing the opening, the smile on the female zombie's face widened. As she clasped her hands, her shattered arm had already recovered.
Duagh! Crack!
Her clasped hands smashed the back of the male zombie's head, burying it in the ground. As the female zombie pinned him down with her legs, she opened her palms and stabbed her sharp claws into his nape.
Crash!
"Roar!!"
The male zombie let out an angry roar and struggled to free himself. But before he could throw the female zombie off, she pulled out her claw and pierced his neck again.
Crack!
This time, her sharp claw finally managed to break the male zombie's neck. The sound of cracking bones echoed in her ears.
The next moment, the female zombie's eyes flashed with light before she ripped the male zombie's head off and split it in half.
Black blood and rotten matter splashed on her dress and body, but all she cared about was the rotten brain matter. She scooped it up and devoured it as if it were a delicacy.
Crack! Crack!
As soon as she found the crystal core, she threw the rotten head away and swallowed the crystal. The next moment, her dull gray eyes turned black, and she let out a roar.
"Roar!!!"
Energy waves spread out from her body, rippling toward the surrounding zombies. The lower-level zombies instantly knelt down with their heads lowered, their bodies trembling in fear.
The female zombie raised her head and let out another roar, "Roar!!"
This time, the dull black eyes slowly regained some light. After the energy in her body calmed down, she looked to her left and let out a broken, hoarse voice, "Khk…illh…Ji…gh..ao..Zhi…Grhhk…"
"Roarr!!"
After letting out another roar, she grabbed the nearest zombie and split its head open. As she devoured the rotten brain, the light in her dark eyes grew brighter.
When the sun was setting on the western horizon, Jin Xuyan and his team found a gas station. Using the radio, he gave out his order to his team, "We will stay here for the night."
"Understood," Shen Jinzhe's voice came from the radio.
As they entered the gas station, Qin Luzi checked the map in his head and said with a frown, "Captain, there are no zombies within a 100-meter radius."
When they heard this, everyone's expressions turned solemn. An area without zombies was never a good sign. Thinking about the distant roar they had heard not long ago, Zhou Huajian said, "Captain, maybe there is a zombie horde."
Jin Xuyan shook his head and said, "More likely, a high-level zombie has emerged."
The moment they heard this, everyone was stunned. Besides Jiao Lizhi, no one on the team had broken through yet. If they encountered a high-level zombie, the risk of casualties would be high.
Noticing their worries, Jiao Lizhi said, "Don't worry. Even if a high-level zombie appears, it likely can't think yet. Most of its attacks will be based on instinct. As long as we work together, we will have a better chance of killing it."
The team members nodded at her words, but worry still lingered in their eyes. Once inside the gas station, they refueled and checked the warehouse. Xiao Qi and Feng Yun went to collect the supplies while the rest went to prepare dinner.
After sharing their resources with the survivors, they had more room to store goods from the mini-market. As for the warehouse, they could only store five drums of oil.
Jiao Lizhi waited until the others had gone to the mini-market before she returned to the warehouse to take the remaining oil and supplies. She even found more than 500 LPG portable cylinders—most of them full, with only a few empty.
As she walked back toward the mini-market, she recalled that every gas station should have underground tanks to store fuel. Judging from the size of this station, there should be several such tanks.
She went to the pump to check the types of fuel available. There were four gasoline pumps, three diesel pumps, and two liquid natural gas pumps. Based on that, there were likely at least nine underground tanks.
Just thinking about how much oil she could collect if she managed to store those underground tanks made her excited. But she had never tried collecting such a massive object before, so she wasn't sure if it would work.
"I will just try it tomorrow before we leave," she muttered under her breath.
Having made up her mind, she walked to the mini-market, had dinner with her team, and then went to rest.
As the night deepened, the red moon shone brighter than it had the previous night. From afar, the sound of zombie roars could be heard from time to time.
The team members were already used to the silence of nighttime and no longer felt depressed or anxious. While taking turns on night watch, they would pass the time by chatting with each other.
At this moment, Yu Fuyun was unable to sleep. When he heard the faint sound of voices, he sat up and looked toward the entrance. Seeing two members chatting there, he got up and walked over to them.