Chapter 184 - 173: Return to Xiangti Bay

Chapter 184: Chapter 173: Return to Xiangti Bay

BOOM!!!

The logistics personnel in the back threw Molotov cocktails one by one from the semi-truck, and roaring flames instantly engulfed the bank’s entrance.

Yu Dong and the others scrambled onto the already running semi-truck, escaping toward the ship base amidst the roars of the charging zombies.

The truck hadn’t picked up speed at first, and a horde of zombies chased after it through the sea of fire, desperately clawing their way up its sides.

"Holy shit, flaming zombies! Stab them, quick!"

Everyone on the truck viciously stabbed at the zombies with their spears.

Once the semi-truck picked up speed, the zombies couldn’t keep up, and the team sped away down Binhai Avenue, heading west.

But the massive horde of zombies, drawn by the roar of the semi-truck’s engine, continued their tireless pursuit.

Until they passed the Golden Sand Villa District...

Half of the zombies split off and charged inside.

Song Jinchuan, who was in the middle of setting up anti-climbing defenses, heard the sound of running zombies. He pointed to a boy of about ten and said, "Guang, go see what’s going on."

Guang scrambled onto the roof as nimbly as a monkey and saw the scene unfold.

"So many zombies!"

"Those people in the big truck, they led the zombies right to us!"

Song Jinchuan: "What!?"

"Everyone, out to the defenses!"

It wasn’t until the zombies reached their defensive line that they realized at least a hundred of them were charging at once, and many were still on fire.

They crashed into the wooden cheval de frise, setting them ablaze.

Instantly, the Golden Sand Villa District was plunged into a desperate battle.

Song Jinchuan’s white beard whipped in the wind, his eyes filled with rage.

"Why?!"

’Just yesterday, I’d judged them to be a good group,’ he thought. ’I figured refusing them would let us maintain our independence. I never imagined they’d pretend everything was fine yesterday, only to pull such a despicable move today!’

"Damn it! If I survive this, I’ll burn their ship to the ground!"

"So treacherous! How could they do this!"

"So we either become their dogs or we die? Watch out for the zombie! No, the northern barricades have been pushed over! Retreat to the south, quickly!"

"It’s no use! Split up and get inside the villas! Bar the doors!"

The Golden Sand Villa District fell into chaos.

Meanwhile, the combat team speeding down Binhai Avenue in the semi-truck also noticed that the zombie horde had split.

"Half the zombies are gone, looks like there are just over a hundred left. Tell the truck to slow down. We’ll kite them and pick them off!"

They stood at the back of the truck, crossbows raised, continuously firing at the zombies behind them.

Faced with this moving hundred-ton behemoth, the zombies couldn’t catch up or land a hit. They were forced into a chase where they were relentlessly picked off, one by one, as Crossbow Arrows pierced their skulls.

More and more combat team members were using crossbows, and their ranged capabilities were on full display in this highway chase.

SWISH!

Yan Yikai finished it with one last shot.

"Done!"

He had just jumped down to clean up the battlefield and retrieve the Crossbow Arrows when Yu Dong shouted:

"Collect them later! Turn around, now! Head back to the Golden Sand Villa District! They’re in trouble over there!"

He’d estimated that small horde had over two hundred zombies, and nearly half of them had split off toward the Golden Sand Villa District.

"Their weapons and defenses... aren’t enough to handle a surprise attack from over a hundred zombies."

The hundred-ton semi-truck turned around and drove back toward the Golden Sand Villa District, crushing a trail of corpses. Gore and broken Crossbow Arrows littered Binhai Avenue.

Upon arriving at the villa district, the combat team members quickly jumped down.

The vanguard, armed with Death God Repeating Crossbows loaded with Crossbow Arrows, followed the sounds.

The zombies had already breached a gap in Song Jinchuan’s villa district and were chasing people everywhere.

Small groups of zombies now surrounded the individual villa yards, clawing and banging at the doors.

SWISH! SWISH! SWISH!

Crossbow Arrows flew, quickly clearing out the zombies that had broken in.

SQUELCH! SQUELCH!

Between the villas, the spear team held a huge advantage. A line of them held their spears out, and as the zombies charged forward, they impaled themselves on the spearheads, smashing their own skulls against the weapons.

After the chaos subsided... the team finally finished clearing out all the zombies that had invaded the Golden Sand Villa District.

Once they confirmed no zombies were left, everyone collapsed onto the ground wherever they stood.

"I’m dead tired... That was an intense skirmish."

"Got a smoke? Let me have one..."

"My hands are so numb from stabbing, I can’t even light it."

That wave had completely drained their stamina.

Wang Dingbei went through the villas, gathering all the people who had hidden inside.

Still shaken, Song Jinchuan saw the ground littered with zombie corpses and the combat team members bathed in blood, looking as if they had fought their way out of hell itself.

They had just fought in the open, in close combat, and taken down over a hundred zombies!

’He knew... he had still underestimated this team’s combat prowess. They weren’t the type to just crush zombies with superior equipment; they were true warriors with the guts to fight zombies in close quarters.’

"Are you all right, Uncle Song? We ran into a horde of zombies at the bank and accidentally led them over here..." Yu Dong said, looking somewhat apologetic.

"No... I’m fine."

Song Jinchuan looked into Yu Dong’s sincere eyes, and for a moment, he couldn’t tell if this was intentional or a genuine accident.

Fortunately, their lookouts had spotted the danger in time, allowing them to take cover quickly. Coupled with Yu Dong’s group returning so fast, the Golden Sand No. 1 Villa had only suffered some burnt and broken barricades and barbed wire, with no major losses.

"It’s a good thing you’re all okay, otherwise we’d really be at fault..."

Hearing Yu Dong say this, Song Jinchuan quickly replied, "Running into trouble while clearing zombies is unavoidable. It was just an accident... and it served as a good reminder that our defenses still have a lot of room for improvement. We’re the ones who should be thanking you."

"Ah, no need for that. If you’re okay, we’ll be heading out. There are still a lot of stragglers we haven’t caught."

"I’ll see you out."

Song Jinchuan showed Yu Dong and his group out without a word of complaint, a broad smile plastered on his face.

Only after the group had reached Binhai Avenue and driven off in their hundred-ton behemoth did the smile vanish from Song Jinchuan’s face.

Someone behind him asked, "Uncle Song, did they do that on purpose, or was it an accident? I can’t... I can’t tell."

Their homes were overrun by zombies out of nowhere, and then they were saved just as bewilderingly.

It was a trial of ice and fire that left them unsure whether to hate or be grateful to the leader named Yu Dong.

Song Jinchuan took a deep breath.

"The most terrifying part is how real their act was. Regardless of whether it was intentional or not... today, they officially flexed their muscles at us. Perhaps this is the greatest warning about our existence here."

"Huh? What warning? I don’t see it."

"A warning for us to understand who’s the boss on this road. If we dare to make any funny moves, the fate of these zombies lying on our ground today will be our own."

Everyone gasped, sucking in a sharp breath.

"Hiss~ So that’s what it was..."

...

"Brother Dong, what happened? Weren’t there supposed to be only three people? Why were there so many zombies at my death spot?"

What Zhao Wenjie saw today was completely different from the story Yu Dong had told.

"It’s my fault. I didn’t scout for zombies ahead of time..." Liu Ye’ye stepped forward to take the blame.

"That’s because the glass was all reflective, you couldn’t see inside... The zombies charged out as soon as we broke down the door. There wasn’t even time to deploy the mechanical dogs. How could it be your fault?"

Shen Xinyi argued, holding onto Liu Ye’ye’s arm.

"Yeah, it really has nothing to do with you two. I was the one who was careless... Why were there so many people at the bank this time? What happened?"

’At the same time, yet such a huge difference!’

Hearing this, Wang Dingbei slapped his forehead. "I know why... It’s my fault!"

"Huh?"

"I was investigating Yin Shuangyang’s accounts and implicated the president of the Yanhai Bank Headquarters. A lot of his dirty money was here, so they were probably working overtime on an audit... After I caught Yin Shuangyang, I didn’t follow up on this."

The butterfly effect.

Catching Yin Shuangyang led to the bank employees working overtime...

"It was just a small hiccup. On the bright side, it was a good test of our retreat plan."

Their semi-truck was usually parked in reverse with the engine kept running, ready for a quick getaway at any moment. The team would lie prone on the modified truck body and fire outwards, leaving the zombies completely bewildered.

It was basically a pentagonal war machine.

It could haul cargo, transport people, and serve as a mobile bunker.

"But hey, it’s a good thing. We lured out all the zombies from the bank and wiped them out, so now we can search the Yanhai Bank Headquarters..." Huang Zhiqiang, the "Hamster," rubbed his hands together, unable to wait.

"There’s nothing good in the bank besides gold bars. Let’s push east quickly. We don’t have much time."

It was now noon on the eighth day of the apocalypse. In two days, a torrential downpour was set to begin at dawn. Things wouldn’t be so easy then; they’d have to start watching out for the appearance of climbing zombies.

"Right, right! Let’s hurry east, we’re almost there..." Zhao Wenjie also urged.

After a quick meal of compressed biscuits and canned food on the semi-truck, the group set off again.

In the afternoon, after clearing the zombies from the park and the beach, they successfully reached the Xiangti Bay Community.

Returning here again, Yu Dong felt a wave of emotion.

"It’s been a lifetime, but coming back here... it’s still the same as before..."

Suddenly, Yu Dong noticed that the only ground-level entrance to the community had been tangled shut from the inside with a large amount of steel wire.

There wasn’t a single zombie on the community grounds.

"Huh? Why aren’t there any zombies in here? Were they all lured into the stairwells?"

"Brother Dong, should we go in now? You’re a Reincarnator, so you must know there aren’t many people in this community. We can take out those zombies easily."

"I need to go back to my place and grab some clothes anyway..."

Zhao Wenjie said.

By now, the sky was gradually growing dark.