Chapter 137: Immediate Retreat
Intelligence was humanity’s only advantage against zombies and mutated flora and fauna in the apocalypse. Therefore, seeing a talking hybrid of a zombie and a mutated plant set alarm bells ringing in everyone’s heads!
Just as Lynn Shelby and Blake Blue exchanged glances and were about to step forward for a closer look, the zombie’s body suddenly bloated at a visible rate. Its skin stretched until it became increasingly translucent, revealing something writhing madly underneath.
In less than a second, with a deafening BANG, the zombie exploded!
Yellowish-white chunks of flesh and pus blasted outward in an instant, leaving a messy splatter all over the surroundings. A pale yellow, granular mist scattered into the air, carrying a damp, musty odor.
Spores! In a flash, two barriers materialized out of thin air. A thick metal wall and a crystal-clear ice wall firmly separated the group from the spore mist. Luna Dawson simultaneously activated her superpower, conjuring a massive, transparent water sphere that completely enveloped everyone, sealing them off from the bizarre spores outside.
The group had been stunned by the sudden explosion, taking a moment to recover. After three seconds of shock, Miles Dawson and Aaron Palmer immediately unleashed a dense net of fire. Evan Olson followed up with a blast of wind. With a WHOOSH, the spores in the air were completely incinerated, not even leaving a trace of smoke behind.
Rhonda Dawson’s face was deathly pale, her voice trembling. "What the hell was that?!"
Lynn narrowed his eyes at the space beyond the barrier and said in a deep voice, "Looking at this, it was trying to parasitize us with those spores."
Blake pointed at the roof of an abandoned car, his tone steady and completely unruffled. "Look downstairs. That zombie has mushrooms growing on it."
The group leaned in to look. Good heavens! The zombie was entirely wrapped in silvery-white mycelium, and a cluster of plump, white mushrooms was sprouting from its waist. As it crawled, the mushrooms wobbled back and forth, occasionally dropping one or two. The smell was a nauseating mixture of rotting meat, musty mold, and a cloying sweetness that made them gag.
Miles frowned as he inspected it. "Huh? Why does the shape look a bit like a white button mushroom?"
Rhonda immediately covered her nose, waving her hand with a look of utter disgust. "Stop! Stop talking! How are we ever supposed to eat mushrooms again? This smell is seriously grossing me out. I’m going to throw up!"
Kevin Keane glanced at Luna’s pale face and teased, "Don’t push yourself too hard. If you really can’t handle it, we’ll have to carry you when we make a run for it."
Luna glared at him, her tone full of confidence. "Who are you looking down on? Within a fourteen-hundred-meter radius, I haven’t detected anything above the Third Rank, nor any zombies with Spirit superpowers. Either it’s beyond the Third Rank, or it’s hiding even farther away."
Rollo whined anxiously, stomping its feet and spinning in circles.
Little Sweet Potato climbed on top of Kevin’s head, pointing a vine toward the west. "It should be over there. It’s too far; neither Rollo nor I can catch a clear scent."
Luna’s face darkened. "These spores might be highly contagious. Let’s not waste any more time here! Hurry up and clear out the zombies, grab the supplies from the mall, and evacuate immediately!"
In two lifetimes, she had never encountered a talking zombie like this. A wave of chilling dread crept from the soles of her feet to her scalp. She just wanted to get as far away from here as possible.
Hearing this, the group sprang into action. Evan’s team stood on the roof, firing their submachine guns down at the horde. The RAT-TAT-TAT of gunfire echoed continuously.
"While the zombie levels are still low and bullets are still effective, grind them down to the last drop!"
Since the distance was close, Shane Shaw and his sister took aim with their submachine guns under Aaron’s on-the-spot guidance, RAT-TAT-TAT, blowing off the zombies’ heads. Their eyes were astonishingly bright, filled with the thrill of fighting with firearms as they looked down at the zombies. Awesome! Firearms were truly badass!
Meanwhile, Luna piled up a ring of abandoned cars around the mall as an isolation zone. Dozens of zombies were already swarming both inside and outside the barrier, howling as they crashed into the scrap cars.
Lynn and Blake operated a drone. Playing a song at around 70 decibels, the drone flew steadily toward the first floor. The drone’s control screen displayed the dim interior of the building. Within its line of sight, scattered zombies were wandering about. Hearing the noise, they roared and lunged at the drone.
The drone flew back and forth twice, successfully luring out dozens of zombies.
Lynn’s hands moved methodically. As he piloted the drone to draw out the remaining zombies, he reminded everyone, "Keep a close eye out. Watch for any movements from High-level zombies, and don’t get careless."
In no time, the majority of the zombies in the mall were lured out.
Suddenly, with a loud CRASH, over a hundred sharp metal blades flew out of a shattered fifth-floor window, shooting straight toward the group on the roof!
"Defend, quickly!" Shane reacted instantly, conjuring a metal wall. But with a heavy CLANG, the wall was shattered by a Third Rank Gold Element zombie. Half of the blades continued to hurtle forward.
Lynn waved a hand in distraction, instantly raising a ten-centimeter-thick ice shield in front of them. The blades embedded themselves a centimeter into the ice before falling to the ground along with scattered ice shards.
Right at that moment, Little Sweet Potato hung upside down from the roof’s guardrail with a SWISH. It thrust a dozen vines downward, and within seconds, it reeled back a golden Crystal Core the size of a quail egg.
As soon as the Crystal Core was secured, Little Sweet Potato’s mechanical voice rang out. "Something down there just advanced to the Fourth Rank. It’s on the basement level. The number of Third Rank energy bodies dropped from two to one."
Everyone held their breath for a moment. It was a no-brainer: the creature below must have panicked and devoured the other Third Rank Crystal Core to force an advancement!
Kevin immediately delegated tasks. "Evan, Miles, Leo, you guys hold the roof and clear the perimeter! Strike while it’s still new to the Fourth Rank and hasn’t fully grasped its power yet! We need to take it out quickly!"
He then looked steadily at Evan. "Blake, Lynn, Little Sweet Potato, and I will head to the basement. You guys keep an eye on this building and don’t let any other zombies come up."
Evan nodded. "Don’t worry, leave it to us."
Luna looked at Shane, his sister, and Rhonda. "Then the few of us will go down to collect supplies. We’ll handle the remaining zombies in the building."
"Alright."
As soon as Kevin finished speaking, Little Sweet Potato followed the three men, darting to the bottom of the building with a WHOOSH and heading straight for the basement.
The moment they entered the first floor, the stench of rotting flesh mixed with a fishy, plant-like odor hit them in the face, making them frown from the pungency. Blackish-red bloodstains dotted the ground. Some were dried and blackened, while others were still wet, trailing deep toward the stairwell.
Almost all the glass doors of the shops were shattered, covered in blood smears and scratch marks. Stepping on the debris produced a CRUNCH CRUNCH sound. What was even more terrifying was the large number of thorny branches swaying wildly. The spikes were dark green with dark red tips, RUSTLING like tentacles searching for prey.
Little Sweet Potato stood on Kevin’s shoulder, pointing downstairs. "It’s right there. It smells so good~"
The deeper they went into the basement, the heavier the cloying sweetness became. The group, who had almost fainted from the rotting stench earlier, now wore grave expressions.
Wielding his mountain knife to hack a path through the branches, Lynn turned around and complained, "Is there anyone else in your plant circle who smells bizarrely sweet like this?"
Little Sweet Potato didn’t seem the least bit nervous. Crossing two small vines in a hug, its leaves quivered as it spoke. "There are plenty! I’m very sweet myself!"
The group was rendered speechless. Lynn thought, "I shouldn’t have even asked."
Surprisingly, Blake chuckled aloud. "Don’t you guys think it’s acting more and more like Luna?"
Hearing this, the corners of Kevin’s mouth twitched upward, and he let out a low laugh. "Now that you mention it, it really is."
Lynn stared speechlessly at the two men in front of him.
As they ventured deeper, the group palpably felt a chill creep up their spines. The cold was bone-piercingly bleak, prickling their skin like needles.
A heavy, sweet fragrance permeated the air. As it assaulted their noses, it was faintly laced with a rancid, sour stench of decay. The two odors mingling together made their stomachs churn in waves.
The underground lighting was exceptionally dim—so pitch-black they could barely see their own fingers. Only by wearing night-vision goggles could they manage to make out the path ahead through the pale green field of view.
From the surrounding layout, it was clear that this place had originally been the basement cafeteria.