Chapter 304 - 157: Bloody Path

Chapter 304: Chapter 157: Bloody Path

The moment Luo Li’s "Okay" left her lips, Xu Mo was already moving.

Without hesitation, he shot out his left hand and grabbed Luo Li’s arm. With his right hand holding the Triangular Spike angled outward, he shot backward and to the side like an arrow.

This wasn’t a rout; it was a tactical retreat.

Grabbed by Xu Mo, Luo Li stumbled but instinctively grabbed Tiantian. The little one, despite her small and dazed appearance, had no trouble keeping up with Luo Li.

Xu Mo’s mind was racing. Luo Li wouldn’t be able to hold on for much longer; her face was frighteningly pale. Tiantian, sticking close to her side, couldn’t hide the exhaustion on her own small face.

’They need a breather.’

On the main battlefield, Luo Li’s zombie army was being whittled down bit by bit. Although her meticulously controlled zombies had a superior kill ratio, their numerical disadvantage was too stark.

’I have to change the tide of battle, find the enemy pulling the strings. But before I can find it, we have to survive.’

Xu Mo led Luo Li and Tiantian in a retreat toward the rear flank, constantly using the crumbling walls of the ruins for cover. Behind them, the zombies under Luo Li’s control fought as they fell back, using their bodies to buy time.

Every few steps they took, another zombie fell.

Some were Luo Li’s, pounced on and killed by the enemy. Others were the enemy’s, dragged down to hell by the final, desperate attacks of Luo Li’s zombies. Black blood formed streams that snaked through the mud, and severed limbs and shredded flesh littered their path of retreat.

Xu Mo didn’t look back.

But he could hear the sounds—the dull thud of claws tearing through rotten flesh, the sharp crack of breaking bones, the wet slump of zombies hitting the ground.

"BANG!"

Xu Mo released Luo Li’s arm, whipped out his Barrett, spun around, and fired.

Two hundred meters away, the head of a Level 2 Strength Zombie exploded. Its body charged forward two more steps before crashing to the ground, tripping several ordinary zombies behind it.

"BANG!"

Another shot, and another Level 2 Venom Type zombie mixed in the horde was headshot. Its stooped figure slid limply to the ground, the venom in its mouth not yet spat out.

"BANG! BANG!"

Two Level 2 Agility zombies fell.

Xu Mo’s shots were incredibly fast. The roar of the Barrett echoed through the ruins, each shot claiming the life of a Level 2 mutant. He was picking off the threats that were rampaging through the horde, one by one.

But Xu Mo knew this couldn’t go on.

After breaking out on foot, he had limited ammunition for his Barrett—only a little over two hundred rounds in total. Every remaining shot had to count.

Besides, he had a more important target.

"Luo Li," Xu Mo yelled while still firing, "try to sense it. Is that thing nearby?"

Luo Li didn’t answer.

Xu Mo glanced back. Luo Li’s eyes were still closed, her brows knitted tightly and her lips pressed into a thin line. She was focusing all her strength on maintaining control over the remaining zombies, with no spare attention to sense anything else.

’Or maybe she’s already tried and found nothing.’

Xu Mo gritted his teeth and continued the retreat.

After retreating another five hundred meters or so, Xu Mo scanned the battlefield.

The number of zombies under Luo Li’s control had dwindled to just over a hundred. Only one of the two Scale Beasts remained, rampaging through the horde, its dark green scales caked with black blood.

The other one...

Xu Mo’s gaze swept across the battlefield, but he couldn’t find it.

The Scale Beast had died at some unknown point, killed by an unknown foe. Its massive body was probably lying in a pile of corpses somewhere, trampled into the mud by the zombies that followed.

A knot of dread formed in Xu Mo’s stomach.

That was a Level 3 combatant. Even though it was an artificially induced Level 3, catalyzed by Luo Li, it was still Level 3. Its death meant Luo Li’s side had lost another one of its top fighters.

And the enemy...

Xu Mo roughly estimated that the opposing side still had at least three hundred zombies. Although he had picked off many of the Level 2 mutants with his Barrett, the enemy still had the advantage in numbers. Moreover, the Level 1 Agility and Strength Type zombies were still pouring in like a tide.

’We can’t go on like this.’

"You take Tiantian and keep moving forward," Xu Mo said. "I’ll go up ahead and hold them off for a bit."

Luo Li opened her eyes and glanced at Xu Mo. They were filled with exhaustion, but also a trace of worry.

"You..."

"I know what I’m doing," Xu Mo cut her off. "Save your strength to control the zombies. Don’t let them fall into disarray. I need you to have them cover me."

Without waiting for her reply, Xu Mo charged out, Triangular Spike in hand.

Ahead was the zombie defensive line, which was fighting as it retreated.

The zombies under Luo Li’s control were using their bodies to buy time for them. They felt no fear and would not flee; they would only follow Luo Li’s commands and fight to the very last.

But their numbers were dwindling rapidly.

Xu Mo plunged into the fray.

With the Triangular Spike in hand, he fully activated his Iron Bone Realm power. His figure weaved through the horde like a phantom. With every strike, a zombie’s head was pierced.

A Level 1 Agility zombie—stab.

A Level 1 Strength Type zombie—stab.

A Level 2 ordinary mutant—still, a stab.

In Xu Mo’s hands, the Triangular Spike became a blur of lightning, its trajectory almost too fast to see. The zombies that lunged at him had their skulls pierced before they could even get close, slumping limply to the ground.

Black blood splattered onto Xu Mo’s combat suit and caked his face, but he paid it no mind. His eyes saw only the endless stream of zombies, and his hand held only the constantly stabbing Triangular Spike.

Kill!

Kill!

Kill!

Xu Mo didn’t know how many he had killed. Ten? Twenty? Thirty? Or fifty? He only felt the zombies crashing against him like waves. The immense flow of qi and blood in his body, once smooth, was beginning to feel sluggish, yet the zombies still surged forward without end.