True Apocalypse Game

The Salvation Army's psychological warfare was highly effective. After a full day of noise pollution and a relentless nighttime bombardment of searchlight beams, the Symbiotes across more than half of New York City had decided to cooperate with the humans.

These Symbiotes possessed extremely high intelligence to begin with; it was only due to conflicts of interest, especially the competition for survival resources, that they had come to distrust one another.

Now, with the humans as a collaborator, they were actually able to coexist peacefully and no longer attacked each other.

After all, since they possessed intelligence, they also possessed reason. They understood that only through cooperation could they survive the coming awakening of the Destructive.

Otherwise, all Symbiotes had only a few days to live. When the time was up, they would all be absorbed into that giant tower, becoming part of Earth's global signaling system.

At the same time, the Symbiotes used the zombies' residual human brain tissue, and many still retained faint memories of human civilization. As a result, they felt a natural affinity for humans.

A total of seventeen Symbiotes came seeking to cooperate. The largest Symbiote collective controlled a full twelve thousand zombies, while the smallest had just over thirty.

The number of these Symbiote zombies, when added up, totaled nearly fifty thousand.

In terms of sheer numbers of individual zombies, this was already on par with the number of Salvation Army Warriors.

The Legion Commander hadn't even expected the Symbiotes to seek cooperation so quickly.

Soon, the Symbiotes' representatives had entered the Salvation Army's base and begun discussing the various terms of cooperation with the Salvation Army Warriors.

Of course, they had only one goal: to destroy the giant tower in the city, gain their freedom, maintain their independent consciousness, and survive the coming awakening of the Destructive.

After in-depth discussions, the Legion Commander and the others immediately realized that choosing to cooperate with the Symbiotes was an incredibly wise decision.

At present, the giant tower was still in a dormant state. Although it had some reflexive reactions and could mount a basic self-defense, it had few defenses against ordinary zombies.

In fact, if an ordinary zombie made direct contact with the tower, it would be naturally absorbed, just like a moth to a flame.

The same was true for the Symbiote zombies.

In other words, any zombie that got within a certain range of the giant tower would, as if possessed, walk toward it and be absorbed.

Upon receiving this news, the Legion Commander and the others felt as if they had struck gold and immediately began devising a new battle plan.

The Symbiotes and the humans were in perfect agreement.

Within the Salvation Army's logistics and quartermaster corps, a large number of electronics, mechanics, and military experts were assembled. They began to dismantle and retrofit various high-explosive bombs and artillery shells.

Soon, with the help of the available equipment and using various components from the military base, the bombs were completely retrofitted, one after another, and fitted with electronic timers.

Next, the medical support unit, led by Li Tongchen, began operating on the selected Symbiote zombies, cutting them open.

The chests and abdomens of these Symbiote zombies were cut open. Their internal organs, which had already been mostly dissolved and absorbed, were completely scooped out and tossed aside.

In their place went the newly retrofitted high-explosive bombs.

These bombs were perfectly packed inside the zombies' bodies, which were then sewn shut with thick metal wires and plastic cords.

Each of the seventeen Symbiotes contributed some of their own component zombies—some as few as two or three, others as many as a thousand.

They understood perfectly well that although these component zombies were precious, if the giant tower seized control of their consciousness, it would all be for nothing.

By the time all preparations were complete, two days had passed.

According to the previous mission's events—before the save was reloaded—not much time remained before the awakening of the so-called Destructive.

At the same time, the special squad led by Fres, which had been sent to find a special weapon, had also returned.

They returned with a convoy. Atop a massive military transport truck, a long, peculiar-looking object was covered by a tarp, its nature a mystery.

But upon seeing Fres and the others return, the Legion Commander was overjoyed; he had clearly been waiting for this very item that Fres had brought back.

Early that morning, the human warriors and the zombies, having rested and prepared all night, began to assemble outside the base.

A cunning glint flashed in the eyes of most of the Symbiotes; they had clearly been anticipating this moment for a long time.

The most powerful Symbiotes, including the Hannibal Symbiote, were occasionally controlling their component zombies to turn and size up the weaker Symbiotes around them.

A greedy look filled their eyes.

And when they looked up at the surrounding humans, there was an equally unconcealable greed in their gaze.

Seeing the way these Symbiote zombies were acting, the Legion Commander couldn't help but crack a sly, fox-like smile, then said loudly:

"Everyone, the future of intelligent life on Earth rests on this battle! Move out!"

After spending the last few days together, there was no need for pleasantries or speeches.

The goal of both the humans and the Symbiotes was unabashedly direct—take down the giant tower and survive the awakening of the Destructive!

The component zombies stuffed with explosives formed the vanguard. Under the control of the Symbiotes, they surged toward New York City in a vast, imposing wave.

The human army, a column of heavy weaponry including tanks, armored vehicles, anti-aircraft cannons, and self-propelled artillery, followed closely behind the Symbiotes, advancing slowly into New York City.

With the alliance of over a dozen Symbiotes, the ordinary zombies in New York City became as docile as kittens, not daring to approach the powerful allied force.

In the Consciousness Field, the Symbiote zombies held a natural suppressive power over the ordinary zombies.

The Legion Commander now stood atop the transport carrying the mysterious, tarp-covered weapon. Watching the Symbiote zombies advancing on the tower ahead, and the armored corps of human heavy weaponry, he felt a sense of unreality.

'In a sense, these Symbiote zombies are just like a puppet army...'

With the Symbiotes suppressing the ordinary zombies, the feeling was completely different from their last trip to the New York City Center. It was a completely smooth journey.

And the giant tower still showed no reaction, as if it were still deep in slumber.

Finally, they arrived less than five kilometers from the giant tower.

Looking up, the closer they got to the tower, the more they could feel its immense, oppressive presence.

The sight of its twisting, spiraling form was enough to make one feel an urge to go mad after looking at it for too long.

The Symbiotes halted their advance.

Any further, and they would fall under the tower's influence.

The vanguard of nearly three thousand component zombies, stuffed with explosives, had reached the base of the giant tower.

Then, the component zombies began to involuntarily walk toward the giant tower, touching its surface with their bodies.

The surface of the twisting, spiraling, pale-white tower seemed to be composed of thick, overlapping layers of human skin.

The tower's surface now melted like wax, beginning to absorb all the zombies that touched it.

Before everyone's eyes, the component zombies dissolved into the giant tower one by one, becoming a part of it.

Soon, all three thousand component zombies had been fully absorbed.

'That went more smoothly than expected.'

Expressionless, the Legion Commander pressed the detonation button.