Invincible through Touching Corpses

Just as Lin Xinghai had predicted, after the zombie tide began its assault, the Mecha’s built-in Zombie Detector finally detected a black dot that signified a Mutated Zombie.

As soon as the black dot appeared, Lin Xinghai immediately aimed his Mecha’s optical telescope toward the distance.

His eyes narrowed, and his expression turned grave.

It was a Mutated Zombie he had never seen before. The creature was enormous—a full three stories tall and powerfully built. Its body was more than twice the size of a Mecha.

Its body was covered in a layer of black keratin that glinted with a metallic sheen under the sun.

But its most striking feature was the five-meter-long Sharp Claws extending from its hands. Even through the optical telescope, Lin Xinghai could almost feel their radiating sharpness.

As the Mutated Zombie moved, everything its Sharp Claws touched—houses, cars, even the concrete ground—was silently sliced apart.

Lin Xinghai quickly sifted through his knowledge of Mutated Zombies, and a name soon surfaced in his mind.

Death Claw!

This was a creature that could almost be called a king among Mutated Zombies.

Many Mutated Zombies had their strengths, but they also had weaknesses.

For example, the Armored Corpse he’d encountered before was skilled in Defense, but its Attack Power was weak. Then there was the Hunter; while its Speed was incredible, its Defense Power was lacking.

The Death Claw, however, was strong in both offense and defense—a Mutated Zombie with almost no weaknesses.

This instantly made Lin Xinghai’s expression turn grave.

But if Lin Xinghai was merely grave upon seeing the Death Claw, then Song Yao and Qin Wenbo both sucked in a sharp, cold breath.

Theirs were among the very first Mercenary Corps to be formed, so they had naturally encountered their fair share of Mutated Zombies. Both had faced a Death Claw before and knew better than anyone just how terrifying it was.

An ordinary Mutated Zombie could be pinned down by a single Mecha, and two Mechas stood a chance of killing it.

Against a Death Claw, however, even five Mechas could only fight it to a standstill. Actually taking it down was next to impossible.

Qin Wenbo knew this from personal experience. When his Soaring Dragon Mercenary Corps had encountered a Death Claw, that was exactly what had happened. In that battle, it had cost them two nearly-scrapped Mechas just to grievously wound the creature and force its retreat.

The Holy Light Mercenary Corps had fared even worse. When they ran into a Death Claw, they were still just an Intermediate Mercenary Corps. If they hadn’t escaped quickly enough, the entire group would have been annihilated.

It was precisely because the Death Claw had left such a deep and traumatic impression on the two Mercenary Corps Leaders that they reacted so strongly.

Even with their Three Major Mercenary Corps now allied, both men felt a deep sense of unease.

And very soon, that unease intensified.

Just as Lin Xinghai had said, another black dot representing a Mutated Zombie appeared on the Zombie Detector.

The two men hastily aimed their optical telescopes toward the location of the second Mutated Zombie.

They were terrified that another horrifying Mutated Zombie would appear.

To their immense relief, it was a Hunter this time.

Although Hunters were notoriously difficult to deal with due to their terrifying Speed, it was still a far better alternative than facing another Death Claw.

"We might need to change our battle plan," Song Yao said quickly, recovering his composure.

"Agreed!" Qin Wenbo nodded quickly and gave his own opinion. "The Hunter is too fast and slippery. If it decides to flee, we can’t stop it. So, I think we should combine our forces and take down the Death Claw first."

"To take on a Death Claw, we’ll need at least ten Mechas to guarantee a kill without any accidents. We’ll have to combine our strength. Fortunately, between our Three Major Mercenary Corps, we have more than enough," Qin Wenbo continued, his voice filled with relief.

"Ahem!" Lin Xinghai cleared his throat, interrupting their conversation. "Sorry, but... I have more bad news. Another Mutated Zombie is approaching."

"What?!" This time, the color truly drained from Song Yao’s and Qin Wenbo’s faces.

They hoped Lin Xinghai’s detection was a mistake, but barely a minute later, the Zombie Detector confirmed the approach of another Mutated Zombie.

They all immediately looked. Lin Xinghai realized this was another type of Mutated Zombie he had never encountered.

He searched his mental database and quickly confirmed that this final Mutated Zombie was a Spitter.

It was one of the few Mutated Zombies capable of ranged attacks. This type of zombie could spit a green venom from its mouth, a substance so corrosive it could even melt special-grade Alloys.

He looked at the three zombies in his line of sight: one with balanced offense and defense that would require a massive effort to contain; one with nimble movements and ghostly speed, whose surprise attacks would be nearly impossible to guard against; and now a Spitter that could provide ranged fire support.

Even Lin Xinghai felt that this lineup would be extremely tricky to handle.

"Do you have any good ideas?" Qin Wenbo asked nervously, unable to keep his composure as he watched the scene unfold.

Song Yao remained silent. Even he had no good solution for the current situation.

"We could try holding a defensive position!" Lin Xinghai suggested. "At our current speed, we can be out of the city center in a little over ten minutes. The Zombie density should drop then, giving us a chance to break out of this tide."

The Spitter’s ranged attacks meant they didn’t dare to rashly go on the offensive. If they did, the convoy would be left without enough Mecha protection and could suffer a devastating blow.

"That’s our only choice," Song Yao immediately agreed. "Let’s hope they’re wary of us as well. It would be best to avoid a conflict altogether." He was no longer even considering killing the Death Claw; he just wanted to survive this ordeal.

Some things, however, couldn’t be avoided simply by wishing. Once the three Mutated Zombies gathered, they began to close in on the convoy.

The sight made everyone’s nerves tighten.

The first to attack wasn’t the strongest, the Death Claw, nor was it the ranged Spitter. Instead, it was the Hunter.

Its two-meter frame could almost be called "pocket-sized" among Mutated Zombies.

But it was precisely because of this size that it vanished from sight the moment it blended into the zombie tide. Even though the Zombie Detector could provide a rough lock on its position, it was simply too fast and its frame too difficult to distinguish from the horde to pinpoint its exact location.

"Careful! The Hunter is about to attack," Song Yao warned, his expression grave.

As he issued the warning, the Hunter had already used its terrifying Speed to close within 100 meters of the convoy.

For a Hunter, a distance like that was nothing more than a single charge.