Invincible through Touching Corpses

"Originally, the plan was to clear out the threats in the subway. The initial cleanup went quite smoothly—those Ordinary Zombies couldn’t really harm us."

"But as we pushed deeper, especially into the subway tunnels in the city center, we discovered the presence of Mutated Zombies."

"The subway tunnels are too narrow for Mecha to navigate, let alone fight in. That’s why we wanted to ask your team for help." Zhou De’s gaze was fixed intently on Lin Xinghai as he spoke.

He wasn’t so much asking Lin Xinghai’s team for help as he was asking for Lin Xinghai himself. After all, an average Blood Qi Realm Martial Artist would be useless against a Mutated Zombie, but Lin Xinghai was a different story.

Zhou De had seen Lin Xinghai in battle. The way he could make a Rare Level Mecha move with such terrifying Speed meant he definitely possessed an incredible Speed-type Superpower. That was precisely what they were after.

Lin Xinghai didn’t react, but Liu Miaomiao’s expression changed slightly when she heard Zhou De. "You want us to fight Mutated Zombies with our bare hands?"

"Don’t worry," Lin Xinghai said, gently squeezing her hand. "Since these Mutated Zombies are living in the subway tunnels, they can’t be the large-bodied types, like a Death Claw."

He then turned to Zhou De and asked, "What kind of Mutated Zombies are in the tunnels? And what kind of compensation are you offering for such a high-risk mission?"

"There are two main types of Mutated Zombies: Sprayers and Hunters. The Hunters are especially problematic because they’re incredibly fast, which is why the Military Department sent me to invite you specifically."

"As long as you can pin down the Hunters and keep them from escaping, our Body Shaping Realm experts from the Military Department can get there to finish them off."

"Besides, your safety will be guaranteed. For one, the Military Department will dispatch a combat squad to assist you. On top of that, the supplies we just bought from East Sea Base include a batch of Exoskeleton Armor designed specifically for dealing with these Mutated Zombies."

"When you put on the Exoskeleton Armor, its Defense Power won’t be on par with a Mecha, but it will be more than enough to hold out until reinforcements arrive." Zhou De first addressed the concerns Liu Miaomiao had raised.

He then turned to Lin Xinghai and continued, "As for the payment, it’s variable. The Military Department has agreed that if you can kill a Sprayer, we’ll give you 100,000 Huaxia Coins. For killing a Hunter, you’ll get 500,000 Huaxia Coins."

"If you can only stall them instead of helping with the kill, the payment is halved."

When he finished, Zhou De watched Lin Xinghai nervously. He’d seen how quickly the man earned Elemental Crystals, and this was the highest reward he had been able to secure for him.

Lin Xinghai stroked his chin, mulling it over. ’To be honest, that reward is quite tempting,’ he thought. ’Especially for the Hunters. Killing just two of them would net me a million Huaxia Coins.’

Now he had only one question left. "How many Mutated Zombies are in the tunnels altogether?"

’That’ll determine how much I can rake in this time.’

"Based on our surveillance over the past few days, there are about thirteen in total. Six of them are Hunters," Zhou De said.

"That many?" Lin Xinghai was genuinely surprised. By that calculation, if he managed to kill all of them, he could make a total of 3.7 million Huaxia Coins.

He was instantly sold.

"Yes. If you think that’s too many..."

"No, no, no. I mean the more, the better," Lin Xinghai cut in, "as long as you can afford it."

Zhou De studied Lin Xinghai’s expression. After confirming he wasn’t joking, he let out a silent sigh of relief.

After a moment’s thought, however, he added hesitantly, "There’s one more thing I should mention. We suspect there might be another, special type of Mutated Zombie in the tunnels. We haven’t found any direct traces of it and can only infer its existence from circumstantial evidence, so we can’t be sure if it’s really there or not."

"Oh? What kind of Mutated Zombie?" Lin Xinghai asked casually.

"A Shadow Demon," Zhou De said, uttering the two words.

But those two simple words made Liu Miaomiao, who was listening nearby, turn instantly grave. Even Lin Xinghai couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow.

A "Shadow Demon" was an extremely rare type of Mutated Zombie. It possessed a special ability that allowed it to merge with the darkness, making it completely invisible to the naked eye.

Furthermore, this type of Mutated Zombie was agile and moved without a sound. Generally, you wouldn’t know it was there until it was already attacking you.

This made it a Mutated Zombie with a danger level several times higher than a Hunter’s, and in an environment like a tunnel, it would essentially be in its personal hunting ground.

"Of course, if a Shadow Demon really does appear, we’ll acknowledge the increased mission difficulty and compensate you with an additional one million Huaxia Coins," Zhou De quickly added, afraid Lin Xinghai might back out.

"I can see you’re sincere. In that case, I’ll take the mission. By the way, if we manage to kill the Shadow Demon, how many Huaxia Coins are you willing to pay?" Lin Xinghai inquired.

Others might fear the Shadow Demon, but he wasn’t one of them. ’After all,’ he thought, ’this Mutated Zombie might be invisible to the naked eye in the dark, but my Perception Power can still detect it.’

Zhou De was genuinely surprised that Lin Xinghai would even ask about this. Most people would be scrambling to get away at the mere mention of a "Shadow Demon."

After all, unless one had the Perception Power of a Divine Demon Realm expert, even those at the Body Shaping Realm couldn’t accurately lock onto the target.

Under those circumstances, even a Body Shaping Realm expert wasn’t guaranteed to win a fight against a Shadow Demon.

"If you can actually manage to kill it, we are willing to pay you three million Huaxia Coins," Zhou De said after a moment of thought, finally naming a price.

"Deal! So, when does the mission start?" Lin Xinghai asked.

"That’s up to you and your schedule," Zhou De replied.

"Then let’s go now. I’ll call my people over, and we’ll head to the subway tunnels." As he spoke, Lin Xinghai activated his Communication Wristwatch. He had no intention of wasting any time.

"Wait!" Zhou De hadn’t expected him to be so decisive. He quickly added, slightly embarrassed, "Uh... the Military Department might need about half an hour to get ready."

"Alright, we’ll head out in half an hour then. I’ll take the opportunity to go back to the hotel, drop off the things I bought, and brief the others on the mission." As he spoke, Lin Xinghai began typing on his Communication Wristwatch, summoning the rest of his team back to the hotel.