Sure enough, it was Si Yunqi and Liang Qingyun who had arrived with their men.
They had originally been following the zombies from a distance near the north gate, bombarding them in a one-sided attack.
As the zombie horde advanced, the Dawn Base’s artillery fire gradually ceased. Si Yunqi and Liang Qingyun knew that the base had run out of ammunition.
The zombies began advancing faster, and the two groups also quickened their pace to keep up. Even though the situation at Dawn Base was extremely grim, they could not give up at a time like this.
As the zombies moved forward, a strange area to the northwest gradually came into view.
When they looked through their binoculars, they discovered a gathering of monsters unlike anything they had ever seen!
In the apocalypse, the most common monsters other than zombies were mutated animals. But no matter how much these animals mutated, they still retained some of their original characteristics. These creatures, however, were bizarre combinations of different body parts. The most horrifying thing was that no matter how strange their bodies were, every single one had a human head!
Ordinarily, for the sake of their own safety, they should have kept well away from those monsters. Yet, for some reason, they felt that they ought to go there!
After discussing it, Si Yunqi and Liang Qingyun led their men toward that area.
When they got closer, they discovered that the monsters were attacking something. They had surrounded their target completely, making it impossible to see what was happening inside.
So they began attacking the monsters from the perimeter.
However, these creatures were not zombies. The moment they came under attack, they turned around and retaliated. Their pressure in battle immediately increased.
They had no idea whether the people—or other monsters—being attacked inside were still alive. Unable to see anything clearly, all they could do was pray that they had made the right decision.
Inside the encirclement, although Quan Xiaoyu and Bai Mingxi felt much less pressure, they were still gradually struggling without Chu Tian as a combatant.
With no other choice, after briefly communicating with Li Nan, Quan Xiaoyu released Xiao Yu and Xiao Ning from his space.
The two little ones had been itching for a fight for ages, eager to avenge the humiliation they had suffered that night. They were not intimidated by these monsters in the slightest and unleashed their full power.
With the pressure easing once more, Quan Xiaoyu glanced back at Chu Tian, who was sitting safely on the ground with steam rising from his body, and breathed a slight sigh of relief.
Still, he could not help thinking how wonderful it would be if Xie Mingxuan were here. Perhaps he could even summon the zombies back to deal with these monsters.
When they had given Xie Mingxuan the crystal core, they had never imagined that something like this would happen. Otherwise, they might have delayed giving it to him.
He had barely finished thinking about it when a surge of supernatural energy appeared inside the space.
After a slight collision with the energy within the space, a force that did not belong to it, Xie Mingxuan opened his eyes inside the little house.
As the master of the space, Quan Xiaoyu was the first to sense that Xie Mingxuan had awakened.
He immediately became nervous!
He had no idea what Xie Mingxuan would be like after waking up. Li Nan was still inside the space, and Quan Xiaoyu was somewhat worried about him.
But very soon, he received a message through their mental connection from Xie Mingxuan, who was asking to be let out.
Quan Xiaoyu thought about it. Their current situation could hardly get any worse, so he gritted his teeth and released the newly awakened Xie Mingxuan.
After emerging, Xie Mingxuan stood perfectly still, staring at Quan Xiaoyu for a long time before looking at Chu Tian.
His pupils, which had previously been no more than tiny dots, expanded until they filled his entire eyes, making his gaze extraordinarily deep and unfathomable.
The hairs on Quan Xiaoyu’s back nearly stood on end.
He discovered that the natural mental connection he had once shared with Xie Mingxuan had been severed. It had become a one-way connection, with Xie Mingxuan communicating with him but not the other way around.
For the first time, Quan Xiaoyu found himself completely unable to read Xie Mingxuan’s thoughts.
Bai Mingxi also regarded the current Xie Mingxuan with some wariness.
But soon, Xie Mingxuan turned his head and began tearing into the zombies behind him with his sharp claws.
Quan Xiaoyu and Bai Mingxi both breathed a sigh of relief.
Only the two little ones remained completely carefree. Seeing their companion, who had been asleep for so long, they immediately surrounded him. Just as they had in the past, the three of them joined forces to fight.
Meanwhile, the priest, who had already left the battlefield with the remaining monsters and his subordinates, suddenly sensed an unusual fluctuation. He turned and looked back.
In truth, he was now so far away that he could no longer see what was happening with the naked eye.
That familiar fluctuation was just like the one he had sensed in J City!
So the young man had grown powerful as well!
The priest sighed with emotion. As expected, he was not the only one who had continued to grow stronger. His enemies had been developing all along, too.
Yet when faced with an opponent like this, the priest’s expression was full of satisfaction.
That was how it should be! Only then would the world not become too boring.
Children, good luck! I hope I can see you again in the future—if you manage to survive this, that is!
You must grow stronger!
He smiled, mounted a gigantic monster, and quickly departed with the remainder of his monster army.
At Dawn Base, the city gates had been breached, and the zombies had begun a one-sided massacre.
Yet some people continued to resist. Even amid the desperate wails and cries, there were still those who refused to give up hope.
The so-called high-ranking officials remained trapped inside the city. Those who had fled with their families toward the city gates were the first to suffer. They and all their followers had been fed to the zombies.
For the zombies, this was their first proper feast after lying dormant for so long. They devoured their meal with ravenous delight.
Director-General Gu led the remaining high-ranking officials to storm the general’s residence once again, only to discover that it was completely deserted.
“He’s escaped! He’s run away!” someone shrieked, their voice filled with despair.
At that moment, these officials, who ordinarily put on airs of nobility, were no different from the low-ranking survivors outside.
“How is that possible? How could he have escaped? The entire city is surrounded, and the gates have been breached! Where could he possibly have gone?” someone else shouted.
Instantly, the general’s residence descended into chaos.
At this point, Director-General Gu was actually the calmest among them. After soothing the others, he said, “He hasn’t left the general’s residence! No one saw them leave. There must be a secret room or an underground passage of some kind. We have to find it!”
Although it was only a guess, Director-General Gu forced himself to believe it. After all, if such a passage really existed, there might still be a chance of survival.
Sure enough, no one questioned his theory. Like drowning people who had finally caught hold of a piece of driftwood, they each took their followers and began searching the residence frantically.
Jia Lunxu was pushing his way through the crowds in the streets, dragging along the woman he could not shake off.
At this point, even a fool knew that the city gates had been breached!
They had to find somewhere to hide before the zombies reached them. They had to find shelter!
Jia Lunxu was filled with regret. Why had he agreed to take on this assignment in the first place? And why had the zombies chosen to attack at this particular moment—not earlier, not later?
Was his luck finally running out?
No! He refused to believe it!
Before the apocalypse, he had started with nothing, but he had eventually obtained the properties and wealth he wanted. Since the apocalypse began, he had survived countless dangers and always managed to escape disaster.
He had even survived the catastrophic destruction of J City!
How could he possibly die here this time?
Full of confidence, he soon spotted a place where he could hide. Unfortunately, there were too many people, and he could not get there immediately.
He kept shoving aside the people blocking his path, forcing his way forward. He even used his supernatural ability to clear away those who stood in his way.
Screams erupted all around him, but he paid no attention. They were nothing more than people he had knocked down with his ability.
At that moment, the only thing in his eyes and mind was the hiding place he had spotted!
He was almost there!
He was getting closer and closer when suddenly, a pair of hands shoved him hard.
Then came a second pair, followed by a third…
His body lurched uncontrollably in one direction. A zombie’s head appeared right beside his neck.
Why?
He looked in bewilderment at the people whose hands had pushed him. All he received in return were mocking and furious glares.
Meanwhile, the general’s daughter, who had been hiding behind him the entire time, seized the opportunity to slip into the hiding place Jia Lunxu had been aiming for.
Before long, another wave of agonized screams rose outside.
The general’s daughter clamped both hands over her mouth, refusing to let out even the slightest sound.
Jia Lunxu was dead. The zombies had eaten his entire head.
Even in death, his eyes were still filled with confusion. He could not understand why complete strangers had pushed him straight into the jaws of the zombies!
But the general’s daughter knew the reason.
When the scattered zombies had begun rushing toward the crowd, Jia Lunxu, despite being a supernatural ability user, had used his powers to slaughter human beings instead.
Outside the city gates—
The zombies’ behavior changed.
They no longer advanced in the same coordinated formation, moving together with a clear rhythm. It was as if they had suddenly lost their commander. They began acting independently, surrendering to their most primitive instincts: feeding and killing!
With Xie Mingxuan’s arrival, the pressure on everyone decreased significantly. Quan Xiaoyu and Bai Mingxi could clearly feel that he had grown even stronger!
He was clearing the monsters much faster now.
Meanwhile, Si Yunqi and his group, who had been fighting the monsters around the perimeter, noticed something strange.
The zombies that had been heading toward the northern side of the Dawn Base suddenly began turning back.
They were coming toward them!
And just as when they had first advanced, they moved in perfect unison.
“Should we retreat?” Liang Qingyun asked Si Yunqi, wiping the sweat from his forehead.
The sheer number of zombies was terrifying.
“Hold on a little longer!” Si Yunqi gritted his teeth. “They’re still some distance away. We can handle this.”
He was unwilling to turn back just like that. However, he knew that an enormous horde of zombies was more than they could handle. Besides, after fighting for so long, their physical strength, supernatural abilities, and ammunition had all been severely depleted.
Even so, he wanted to try a little longer. At the very least, he wanted to see who the monsters were attacking.
Just as he was thinking this, they noticed something else.
The zombies, which had completely ignored the monsters on their way over, suddenly began attacking them. The monsters retaliated as soon as they came under attack!
This was something Si Yunqi and Liang Qingyun had never expected.
With the zombies joining the battle, the monsters were eliminated much more quickly, and the fighting became easier.
Xie Mingxuan, in particular, seemed practically unstoppable.
About half an hour later, all the monsters had been eliminated.
Quan Xiaoyu and Bai Mingxi finally breathed a sigh of relief. Chu Tian was still sitting there with white vapor rising from his body, showing no signs of waking up. Neither of them dared leave, so they stayed close and continued guarding him.
Si Yunqi and Liang Qingyun, however, felt no relief at all.
Instead, they felt even more pressure.
The monsters were gone, but now they were facing a fully assembled zombie horde. By the time they considered leaving, they realized the zombies were too close. If they turned their backs, the creatures could catch up with them at any moment.
Running away would be no better than fighting!
Strangely, however, after the monsters had been wiped out, the zombies did not attack them.
Instead, they all stopped moving and stood perfectly still in neat formation.
So, should they fight or not?
Si Yunqi and Liang Qingyun exchanged bewildered looks—until they saw two familiar faces.
“Young Master!”
“Third Young Master!”
The two men cried out in unison.
At that moment, they knew they had made the right gamble!
The zombies lined up quietly behind the group, standing perfectly still. It was as though the scene from J City Base was unfolding all over again.
Xie Mingxuan had returned.
His eyes were now completely black, without any visible whites, and he was staring intently at Quan Xiaoyu again, just as he had moments earlier.
Quan Xiaoyu moved his lips, but when faced with this version of Xie Mingxuan, he found himself completely at a loss for words.
Fortunately, it did not last long. Xie Mingxuan soon began stroking the heads of the two little ones gathered around him, then crouched down and nestled in among them.
Quan Xiaoyu was speechless.
He could not even determine whether Xie Mingxuan still possessed intelligence in his current state.
All he could do was wait for Chu Tian to wake up…
Chu Tian…
Quan Xiaoyu gazed deeply at Chu Tian and waited quietly.
He waited until the people who had helped them fight the monsters came rushing over.
“Young Master, it really is you! Thank goodness!” Liang Qingyun exclaimed, completely disregarding everything else as he threw his arms around Bai Mingxi.
Si Yunqi also walked toward Chu Tian, but Quan Xiaoyu immediately blocked his path, holding up his spear.
Quan Xiaoyu said nothing, but his eyes were full of wariness.
The spear was still dripping with the monsters’ bodily fluids. Si Yunqi wisely refrained from approaching and instead took a step back.
“What happened to Third Young Master?” he asked.
Quan Xiaoyu guessed that the “Third Young Master” he mentioned was Chu Tian, so he answered coldly, “He’s advancing.”
“Oh,” Si Yunqi replied, at a loss for anything else to say.
It seemed Third Young Master was not in any danger after all. The young man in front of him was even more worried about Third Young Master than he was. Surely nothing would go wrong.
It was just that this young man seemed rather difficult to communicate with, so Si Yunqi also went over to Bai Mingxi.
“So Chu Tian was right. He guessed you would come,” Bai Mingxi said, struggling to pry Liang Qingyun’s overly enthusiastic arms away from him.
Both Liang Qingyun and Si Yunqi were old acquaintances. It was only natural that the two families would send trusted subordinates to search for them, and the men had often dealt with one another in the past.
With the immediate danger resolved, both sides finally had the time to discuss their respective situations.
Naturally, Bai Mingxi was most concerned about his parents’ safety.
When he learned that both his parents were safe and sound, the enormous burden he had carried in his heart for nearly a year finally lifted. He felt much more at ease.
But when he learned that his mother had been so worried about him that she had fallen seriously ill, guilt flooded his heart.
While they discussed the situation in the capital, something began to change beside Chu Tian, whom Quan Xiaoyu had been carefully guarding.