The General’s Residence
Messages kept arriving from the front lines. The news that a horde of zombies was surrounding the city had become an undeniable fact.
At this point, the general no longer had the time or inclination to concern himself with the Gu residence, much less worry about Chu Tian and the others. If the city fell, whether Chu Tian and his companions lived or died would be completely meaningless to him.
The troops began moving toward the city walls in all directions. The other high-ranking officials in the base had also received the news and gathered again, with one person after another requesting an audience with the general.
Apart from those who needed to discuss essential military arrangements, the general refused to see anyone!
He continued pacing anxiously back and forth inside the room. That man was his last hope. He waited impatiently for him to arrive, hoping he would be able to resolve the crisis successfully.
The anxiety made every moment feel like an entire year. The general had no idea how much time had passed; to him, it was as though a whole century had gone by.
At last, the door to the secret chamber gave a faint creak and slowly opened.
The general let out a breath of relief, feeling as though a tremendous burden had finally been lifted from his shoulders.
However, the only person to emerge from the secret chamber was his trusted subordinate, whose face was deathly pale.
“General, he’s gone!” His subordinate gasped for breath, his expression utterly grim. “The… the entire laboratory is empty! Everything is gone!”
The news struck the general like a bolt from the blue, leaving him completely stunned. His trembling finger pointed at his subordinate, but for a long time, he could not utter a word.
After a long while, the general finally slumped into the chair behind him, as though every last ounce of strength had been drained from his body. Still pointing at his subordinate, he asked weakly, “Y-You… what did you just say?”
“He’s gone! Everything in the laboratory is gone! It’s empty! Completely empty!”
His subordinate, who knew the whole story, looked just as devastated. It was over. It was all over. Even that man had left. What was the base supposed to do now?
They had relied on others for far too long and had never considered that, when the base was surrounded, they would have to depend on their own strength.
The disaster had bestowed upon them extraordinary supernatural abilities unlike those of ordinary people. Those powers had not been given to them so they could bully the weak and then lord it over everyone from the top of the pyramid.
Perhaps, starting today, they would finally understand that.
But would it be too late?
Who knew?
There was only one thing the general understood now—
He had been abandoned!
Dawn Base had been abandoned!
Completely and utterly abandoned!
Outside Dawn Base
The man who had remained hidden in the darkness was sitting steadily within a temporary formation of troops assembled outside the city.
They were a certain distance away from Dawn Base, just beyond the range of the base’s current firepower. At the same time, they were close enough to see everything happening along the city walls.
This was going to be a very interesting battle. How could he possibly fail to appreciate the spectacle?
Thinking this, the man smiled with refined elegance. His smile was filled with compassion.
A small number of people dressed in white stood around him. They remained motionless and silent, simply standing behind the man.
Yet the area surrounding them was teeming with all kinds of monsters: enormous spiders with eight human heads, octopuses with six human heads, hunting dogs with human heads, short, potato-shaped creatures…
These monsters encircled the group in dense layers. At first glance, one might have thought the few people had been surrounded and cornered by the monsters. But on closer inspection, it became clear that the creatures were gathered around them docilely, even forming a protective barrier.
Beyond the monsters lay countless zombies.
Strangely enough, the zombies were not fighting the monsters. They continued gathering in greater numbers, pressing toward Dawn Base, yet they paid no attention whatsoever to the monster-infested area. They simply continued forward, advancing relentlessly!
Their movement raised thick clouds of dust. The swirling dust obscured their figures, making them look like a storm sweeping toward Dawn Base!
Disaster had arrived!
Dawn Base
Ever since its establishment, Dawn Base had enjoyed a remarkably peaceful existence.
Even the two neighboring major bases had occasionally encountered zombie hordes of varying sizes. Dawn, however, had never experienced anything of the sort.
They had once taken pride in this, believing that they possessed a geographical advantage and had earned the heavens’ favor.
Their city walls had not been built particularly high. They had considered it sufficient if the walls could stop Level Three zombies from climbing over them. They had not even bothered to dig a moat.
Dawn’s heavy firepower was actually quite limited. After all, they had traveled a long distance to get here, abandoning weapons and equipment along the way.
Many of the supplies they possessed now had been acquired through trade with the two neighboring bases after Dawn was established.
This was the first time they had ever faced a zombie horde of such a massive scale!
The journey over the long distance had certainly been fraught with danger, and countless lives had been lost every day. Nevertheless, they had escaped the massive bombardment of City S and avoided the devastating battle that destroyed City J.
This was the first time they had encountered their most formidable disaster yet!
All the base’s heavy weapons had been moved onto the city walls, but the young officer responsible for directing the defense at the front was trembling inside.
In the distance, something rolled toward them like a vast sea of yellow sand.
It was a terrifying horde of zombies!
Could their firepower really drive them back?
Not long afterward, the first group of supernatural ability users sent as reinforcements finally arrived. Yet the commander felt no less anxious. If anything, his heart sank further, because the expressions on the ability users’ faces were even more grave than his own.
Inside the City
The soldiers and supernatural ability users who had received the summons gathered into units and ran through the streets. They had to hurry to different sections of the city walls and establish emergency defenses.
The large-scale troop mobilization alarmed the residents. Whether they had families or lived alone, people rushed out to see what was happening.
Their faces were filled with unease and fear. They did not know what had happened, but they could not shake the feeling that a catastrophe was imminent.
Chu Tian drove at full speed. As they approached the city gate, however, the sheer number of people on the road finally made it impossible for the vehicle to proceed. The three of them had no choice but to get out.
Some people with a strong sense of danger had already made their way here, preparing to leave the city. However, the military had blocked them from proceeding, and the crowd in the vicinity had become extremely congested.
“It’s starting!” Chu Tian said solemnly, holding Quan Xiaoyu’s hand tightly in his own.
“Xiaobai, stay close. Whatever you do, don’t get separated from us in the crowd.” Quan Xiaoyu felt embarrassed about taking Bai Mingxi’s hand, so he could only remind him verbally.
“The city is already descending into chaos. I’m afraid we won’t be able to get out like this!” Bai Mingxi shouted.
There were too many people. In their panic, the crowd had become unbearably noisy, filled with shouts and angry reprimands. He had no choice but to raise his voice.
“We can get out,” Quan Xiaoyu replied.
With his current abilities, taking two people over the not particularly high walls of Dawn Base would not be difficult.
But that was not the real problem.
The real problem was how they would survive the enormous number of zombies waiting outside!
“We’re not leaving the city,” Chu Tian said, scanning the crowd ahead for someone in particular. “Even if we get outside, I’m afraid we won’t be able to break through the zombies’ encirclement.”
“Then what do we do?” Bai Mingxi asked.
“We’ll go up to the city walls and help them defend the base!”
The zombies’ initial assault had already begun. It was too late to force their way out now. At this point, everyone’s fate was tied together: if one side prospered, they would all prosper; if one side suffered, they would all suffer.
Quan Xiaoyu and Bai Mingxi were both stunned by his words.
Unlike Chu Tian, they did not possess mental abilities that allowed them to know what was happening outside the city.
But after thinking it over, they quickly understood. The situation beyond the walls must be far worse than they had imagined. That was why Chu Tian had made this decision.
“Fine. Whatever you say, we’ll do!” Bai Mingxi agreed without hesitation.
There was naturally no need to ask Quan Xiaoyu. Whatever Chu Tian decided, he would follow.
Chu Tian continued scanning the crowd, his gaze moving back and forth until it finally landed on an officer in the distance who was directing soldiers as they established their defensive positions.
The man’s expression went blank for several seconds. Then he returned to normal, turned toward Chu Tian and the others, and ran over.
“That man is probably the highest-ranking commander at this city gate. I fabricated a memory and forcibly implanted it into his mind. As far as he’s concerned, we’re the new commanders sent by his superiors, here to take over the defenses.” As he spoke, Chu Tian instinctively rubbed his temples.
Ever since they had left his space earlier that day, his mental energy had been continuously depleted.
Sure enough, when the officer arrived, he brought several men to clear a path through the crowd and approached Chu Tian. After saluting, he introduced Chu Tian to his subordinates as the new commander.
The others had never met Chu Tian before, and they were full of doubts and suspicions about this sudden, parachuted-in “commander.”
But the situation was extremely urgent. Now that the order had come down, they had no choice but to accept it. Still, they remained wary in their hearts. If this new commander issued any outrageous orders, they would refuse to follow them.
Chu Tian roughly understood what they were thinking, but he did not use his mental abilities to control them. Instead, he hurried to the city walls to assess the situation.
The most powerful weapons available here were three self-propelled howitzers and several small-caliber, short-range artillery pieces. The rest consisted of conventional weapons.
The height, thickness, and sturdiness of the city walls were all inferior to those of City J.
“Point all artillery at the zombie horde. Fire indiscriminately, regardless of the cost!”
After understanding the situation, Chu Tian issued his first order.
“But our ammunition is limited,” the former commander said hesitantly. Dawn Base had never prioritized defense during its construction, so its firepower was limited.
“Use it all!” Chu Tian said coldly. “Do you think you’ll still be alive to save it for later?”
The former commander froze.
While he stood there stunned, a zombie suddenly leaped onto the city wall and bit through a soldier’s neck.
Quan Xiaoyu rushed forward. Before the zombie could pounce on a second person, he cleanly severed its head!
An ice arrow shot over immediately afterward, and a second figure leaped onto the wall.
Quan Xiaoyu dodged aside and once again cut down the attacking zombie.
The first small wave of zombies had already reached the foot of the walls. Gunfire rang out without interruption, and every so often, someone was suddenly dragged off the wall by a zombie that had leaped up.
At last, the former commander gritted his teeth and went off to carry out Chu Tian’s orders in full.
“All soldiers, fall back three positions! Aim at the zombies you can see clearly and prioritize accuracy. All ability users, move to the front and use your abilities to clear the zombies beneath the walls. Don’t let them climb up!”
Chu Tian immediately issued his second order.
The crisis was right before their eyes. They had no experience fighting a zombie horde on this scale, but now that someone was calmly directing the defense, no one raised an objection. They simply followed his instructions.
Bai Mingxi and Quan Xiaoyu also joined the other ability users at the front line.
The first wave of zombies was not particularly large. With more than thirty ability users supporting the soldiers’ gunfire, they quickly cleared the zombies beneath the walls.
Some people had just begun to breathe a sigh of relief when the roar of artillery suddenly erupted.
Flames and thick smoke burst into view, and only then did they realize that the dark mass in the distance had drawn much closer.
Those were all zombies!
They had never seen so many zombies in their lives. There were so many that they could hardly imagine being able to fight them off.
Chu Tian’s section was the first to open fire, and the artillery continued firing one barrage after another with unyielding determination.
Soon afterward, artillery fire erupted from all four sides of the city. In an instant, thick smoke billowed everywhere.
The residents finally realized the full extent of the crisis. By now, even those who had remained indoors with their doors shut must have known that something terrible had happened.
Gradually, chaos spread throughout the city. It was as though everyone had been transported back to the early days of the apocalypse, when there had been no order and everyone had been overwhelmed by panic!
The General’s Residence
By now, all the senior officials of Dawn Base had gathered at the general’s residence, including Director-General Gu.
At this point, no one had the luxury of worrying about factional differences anymore.
When artillery fire erupted from every direction, the general finally came out to meet them. His face was unusually pale.
Every senior official had come here for the same reason: to discuss how to escape. Some were even planning to flee with their entire families.
Not a single person had thought about fighting the zombies or staying behind to defend the base. All around them, people were arguing over how best to get away.
“General, can we gather all our troops and ability users and have them protect us while we break through the encirclement? We can head to the capital and ask for help. Surely they won’t just stand by and watch us die out here!” someone suggested.
“No! I’ve heard there are far too many zombies. We probably won’t be able to break through. I think we should find a safe place to hide and concentrate all our forces on defending a single location. The zombies are hungry and want to eat people. There are so many people in the city! Once they’ve eaten their fill, we can look for an opportunity to fight our way out. That’s more realistic than confronting them head-on!” another person immediately objected, offering his own plan.
“No, no, no. We’re surrounded on all four sides. Where could we possibly find somewhere safe? We should concentrate our firepower and break through one section of the encirclement. General, choose a direction and pull the troops and ability users back from the other areas…” Yet another person put forward his opinion.
The general’s appearance had sparked everyone’s desire to voice their opinions. One person after another spoke up, and soon the room was filled with heated arguments.
At a time like this, they seemed to have forgotten that most of the people present were themselves supernatural ability users. Otherwise, they would never have risen to such high positions in the apocalypse.
The general gazed wearily at the arguing crowd, feeling as though his head were about to split from the noise.
He was still trapped in the despair of having been abandoned and had not fully recovered from the shock. He had originally thought that with so many people gathered together, they would surely be able to come up with a solution.
But instead… just look at them!
The artillery fire erupting all around them threw his thoughts into further disarray. He remembered that their ammunition supplies were limited. If he did not make a decision soon, then once their ammunition and food ran out, his army would become nothing more than an empty shell.
What should he do?
What should he do?
What on earth was he supposed to do?
The general’s residence was in complete turmoil.
Meanwhile, outside Dawn Base, Si Yunqi and Liang Qingyun had already engaged the zombies surrounding the city.
They had brought a considerable amount of long-range firepower. When the artillery from Dawn Base began firing outward, they also started shooting at the zombies from behind.
Since the zombies all had the same clear objective—reaching Dawn Base—they did not even turn around to retaliate when Si Yunqi and the others bombarded them from behind.
Only a few zombies with relatively advanced intelligence seemed to sense their anger and turned around to attack. However, they were quickly killed by the group.
“We can’t move any closer. Otherwise, we’ll enter the range of their artillery fire,” Liang Qingyun said after they had bombarded the zombies for a while longer.
Si Yunqi nodded. Although he was desperate to find the person they were looking for, there was no reason for them to become cannon fodder for nothing!
The people sent to deliver a message to the capital had already departed at the first opportunity. They could only hope that the capital base would dispatch reinforcements as quickly as possible.
Even if it were not for the two young masters of their respective families, the capital should still send people to investigate, if only out of basic humanitarian concern.
Just as they were thinking about reinforcements, the second group of personnel dispatched by the Chu and Bai families finally arrived.
They had been sent on an urgent mission to catch up with the first group, and they had traveled much faster than Si Yunqi and the others had when they first set out.
After asking around, they learned what the An family had done. This confirmed that the two young masters really were inside Dawn Base!
Given the current circumstances, this was the worst possible news!
The two families had spent so long searching for their young masters. Finally, they had received news of their whereabouts, which should have been a good thing.
Yet now, their discovery had been overshadowed by the zombie siege!
The two young masters were inside Dawn Base, which meant they were trapped in the most dangerous place imaginable. Even getting close to the city was difficult. How could they possibly talk about charging inside to find them?
Even if they took a step back and assumed that the men were exceptionally brave and somehow managed to fight their way through the encirclement, Dawn Base itself would probably already have descended into chaos.
The capital had long heard about the kind of place Dawn Base was. There was no way it would remain orderly under these circumstances.
Inside the enormous Dawn Base, there would be crowds of panicked people and zombies everywhere. Even if they managed to get inside, where would they begin looking?
The fate of the two young masters seemed to be shaping up into a tragedy that could already be foreseen.
“No!” Liang Qingyun clenched his fist fiercely. “No matter what happens, I’m going in there! Even if there’s only a one-in-ten-thousand chance, I still want to bring our young master home!”
The Bai family was different from the Chu family. Bai Mingxi was the Bai family’s only son!
If anything happened to the young master inside Dawn Base, Madam Bai back in the capital might not be able to survive the grief.
If both the young master and Madam Bai were gone, the Bai family would be left utterly shattered.
Therefore, no matter what, he had to go!
Looking at Liang Qingyun’s resolute expression, Si Yunqi sighed.
The fleeting thought of retreating that had crossed his mind no longer dared to surface. All he could say was, “We’ll have to go in eventually, but we should at least wait until their artillery stops firing. Otherwise, before we even get the chance to kill any zombies, we’ll be blown to pieces by their own artillery.”
Liang Qingyun nodded and said nothing more.
Dawn Base was practically a laughingstock in the capital, so they all knew that the artillery fire would eventually stop. The base simply did not have much ammunition.
Even Liang Qingyun did not know whether that would turn out to be good news or bad news for them.
The first wave of reinforcements from their families had arrived, so they joined the battle as well.
At present, it was hardly a battle at all. It was essentially a one-sided slaughter of the zombies.
What truly tormented them, however, was what was happening inside Dawn Base.