Xiao Ziran and Quan Xiaoyu were both startled. They knew far too well what those words meant.
Xiao Ziran had heard the entire process from Chu Tian’s account, while Quan Xiaoyu had personally been involved. They knew exactly who this “it” was.
So at this moment, both of them turned toward Chu Tian in unison.
“Where?”
“What do we do?”
Two different questions came from the two of them.
Although Ouyang Jing and the others did not understand what was going on, seeing Xiao Ziran and Quan Xiaoyu’s reactions, they all realized that something was wrong.
“Who’s coming?” Ouyang Jing asked.
“There’s no time to explain.” Chu Tian said, “Get everyone into the vehicles. Follow my car. Drive as fast as you can. Everyone, prepare for battle. If you encounter a zombie horde, absolutely do not turn around and run. Find a way to charge forward and break through!”
It was easy to imagine that, according to the mental-type zombie’s habits, it would once again form an encirclement from all directions. Their only chance of survival was to fight desperately forward and break through the encirclement.
After Chu Tian finished speaking, he pulled Quan Xiaoyu along, called Bai Mingxi and Li Nan over, and the four of them quickly returned to their own vehicle. Bai Mingxi was still driving. Under Chu Tian’s instructions, their vehicle rushed to the very front and led the way forward.
Xiao Ziran and the others were not slow either. After Chu Tian’s words were relayed exactly as they had been given, everyone quickly got into their vehicles and followed Chu Tian’s car one after another.
Having received the order, everyone stepped hard on the accelerator and drove as fast as they could.
The pretentious man and the six ability users who had remained behind had only just calmed down when they saw the group they had been in conflict with suddenly flee as if they had gone crazy.
They watched for a long while, completely baffled.
Only after that group had left and another group appeared behind them did they suddenly understand and begin to speculate. Could they have been fleeing from this group of people? Could there be someone even more powerful among this group?
This S City really was full of hidden experts!
Having learned his lesson just now, the pretentious man was no longer arrogant. He sent someone over and properly went to greet them, while also taking the opportunity to inquire about the situation.
As for Lei Shi and the others, they had originally been arguing with Zuo Li behind the group and were already on the verge of fighting.
He was extremely displeased. He was a dignified lightning-type ability user and the captain of the Lei Jia Squad, yet now even some nobody dared to casually block his way! If it had not been for the fact that they had all lived in the church together before, he would have already attacked.
After Chu Tian pulled Quan Xiaoyu into the car, he immediately had Bai Mingxi drive as fast as possible. At a time like this, communication equipment seemed increasingly important. Unfortunately, Bai Mingxi had no more time to study and overcome this problem.
“Tian Tian, what exactly happened?” Bai Mingxi asked while pressing hard on the accelerator.
“A mental-type zombie, late-stage Level Three. Very powerful. It can control zombie hordes in battle.” Chu Tian gave a brief explanation.
Quan Xiaoyu’s expression was extremely solemn. They had deliberately taken another route to avoid it, yet it had still come.
Seeing his expression, Chu Tian reached out and rubbed his head.
“It’s okay. We’ll definitely be able to break through.”
Quan Xiaoyu bit his lip and said, “I’ll do everything I can to protect all of you. But, Chu Tian, Xiao Bai, promise me that no matter what happens, you’ll protect Xiao Nan.”
When disaster struck, he would definitely charge into the front line and fight. If anything happened to him, the person he would be most unable to leave behind was Li Nan. He was still a child and did not have a combat-type ability that could allow him to protect himself.
“Don’t worry.”
Chu Tian could not help but pull Quan Xiaoyu into his arms. Those words sounded almost like a final entrustment, making his heart ache.
Everyone present understood very clearly that this time, they had only a one-in-nine chance of survival.
Chu Tian did not say anything else to comfort them. The four people in the car fell silent, with only the roar of the engine filling the vehicle.
After remaining silent for a long time, Quan Xiaoyu suddenly spoke again, as though he had made up his mind.
“Listen carefully. I’m only going to say this once. I also have a space, but it’s different from Xiao Bai’s.”
“Xiaoyu-ge!”
Li Nan turned around from the front seat and cried out in surprise. He knew that this was Quan Xiaoyu’s final trump card.
He wanted to stop him, but seeing the expressions on Bai Mingxi and Chu Tian’s faces, he could not bear to do so.
Quan Xiaoyu smiled at him.
In his previous life, he had been blind and entrusted the most important things to someone he should never have trusted. This time, he hoped that he had not misjudged Chu Tian. He was willing to trust Chu Tian once more.
“There are mountains and water inside my space, and I can enter it. But I don’t know whether other people can enter, and I don’t know what will happen to them if they do. But when the situation becomes critical, this is the only way I can try to save you.”
“So, are you willing?”
“Maybe you won’t be able to get in. Maybe you’ll die even if you do.”
“Xiaoyu-ge, I’m willing.”
Li Nan answered immediately. He had known about the existence of the space for a long time. As long as he could reduce Quan Xiaoyu’s burden, he did not care what happened to himself. Xiaoyu-ge had revealed his final trump card for their sake. What right did he have to say no?
As for Bai Mingxi and Chu Tian, they remained silent for a long time because of their shock.
Just as Chu Tian had expected, Quan Xiaoyu indeed had far too many secrets.
As their relationship with one another deepened, these secrets had indeed been uncovered little by little, exactly as Chu Tian had imagined.
But as Chu Tian thought about it, his eyes suddenly stung.
This idiot was entrusting himself to him!
Thinking back carefully, every time this guy had revealed one of his secrets, it had never been for his own sake. In his heart, he himself had never been the most important person.
With this idiot’s innocent and good-natured personality, if he had not met Chu Tian, then if he had happened to encounter someone even a little more rotten, then…
Remembering the story Quan Xiaoyu had told him, Chu Tian’s heart began to ache faintly.
Some people would never understand in their entire lives how precious such complete and unconditional trust was.
Some people would never understand in their entire lives that once such precious trust was lost, no amount of material possessions could ever make up for it.
Chu Tian had once approached Quan Xiaoyu with the intention of investigating him, yet without realizing it, he had been moved by everything Quan Xiaoyu said and did.
Quan Xiaoyu was not powerful enough, nor was he hypocritical. He simply worked very hard to do whatever was within his ability, worked very hard to protect everything he wanted to protect, and worked very hard to be his most genuine self.
That was what moved Chu Tian the most.
“Are you stupid?”
Chu Tian hugged Quan Xiaoyu and refused to let go.
“Do you know what you just said? Do you know… Forget it. I’m too lazy to scold you!”
“Listen to me. If there’s danger, hide yourself first. Xiao Bai and I will protect Xiao Nan. Got it? I won’t let things develop that badly.”
That last sentence was meant for Quan Xiaoyu, but it was also meant for himself.
Chu Tian was holding him so tightly that Quan Xiaoyu could barely breathe in his arms. He felt that Chu Tian seemed a little angry, so he wanted to say something more.
But the dragon pattern on his neck suddenly began to burn with pain.
“It’s already here!”
Quan Xiaoyu and Chu Tian shouted at almost the same time.
“Stop the car!”
That was Chu Tian’s order.
Bai Mingxi quickly brought the car to a stop.
By this point, the vehicle had already been driving for fifteen minutes.
According to Ouyang Jing’s map, they had taken a shortcut and were preparing to leave the city. Although it was a small road, S City was located in a plain region, and most of the areas on either side of the road consisted of abandoned vegetable gardens or large stretches of undeveloped land, covered mostly by weeds and scattered pieces of waste stone.
Compared with the main roads, the area was relatively open.
But precisely because it was so open, there were also very few buildings that could provide cover.
Chu Tian got out of the car and continuously gestured toward the vehicles behind them.
The vehicles in the rear gradually slowed down. Under Chu Tian’s direction, they all turned their fronts forward and lined up in a row.
Everyone got out of their vehicles.
As the person who understood the situation most clearly, Chu Tian had no choice but to explain the situation in place of the doctor and give everyone their final pre-battle mobilization.
“The current situation is this: there is a Level Three mental-type zombie that can control other zombies in battle. It’s already here, not far ahead.”
“We have no way back. According to its habits, it will definitely have zombies positioned in front of us, behind us, and on both sides.”
“So we can only charge forward. As long as we break through the blockade ahead, we still have a chance of survival.”
“Don’t think of the situation as being too hopeless. Remember, our goal is to break out, not to kill them all.”
“In this battle, follow my commands!”
Time was tight, so Chu Tian did not say anything more and immediately began assigning people.
He basically copied the strategy used by that six-person pretentious group earlier, except that his side had more close-combat personnel who could move forward and deal with any zombies that slipped through.
A ten-meter-high plant net was quickly grown and woven together under the doctor’s urging. The earth-type ability users planted several rows of earth spikes in front of the net, all with the purpose of blocking the zombies’ advance.
Quan Xiaoyu, Bai Mingxi, and Li Nan scattered the evolved crystal cores everywhere and explained to the ability users one by one how to use them correctly.
Just as the defensive arrangements were completed, smoke and dust billowed in the distance.
A huge horde of Level Two zombies came charging toward them at an extremely high speed.
Without saying a word, Quan Xiaoyu took the lead and threw out fireballs, just like last time—one after another, fierce and dense.
The other ability users followed his example.
In an instant, fireballs, ice arrows, earth spikes, and wind blades all rained down upon the charging zombies.
The abilities were so fierce that the first wave of Level Two zombies was completely annihilated before they could even reach the defensive structures.
However, within a few seconds, another wave quickly replaced them.
Their numbers were simply enormous. As they ran along the road, they kicked up billowing clouds of dust. They howled hoarsely, baring their ugly, sharp teeth and claws. The sight made everyone’s hearts tremble with fear, raising goosebumps all over their bodies.
“It’s already very close. It’s mixed in among them.”
Chu Tian quietly spoke to Quan Xiaoyu beside him.
“When I find its position, do your best to kill it. I’ll find a way to forcibly restrain it.”
In a head-on battle of mental strength, Chu Tian was undoubtedly no match for it.
Quan Xiaoyu, however, had the strongest close-combat ability among them. If the two of them worked together—one forcibly interfering with it and the other closing in for the kill—they still had a few chances of winning.
Everyone understood the principle of capturing the leader first.
“Understood.”
Quan Xiaoyu did not say much. As he answered, the fireballs in his hands continued flying relentlessly toward the front.
Author’s Note: I’m sleepy and don’t want to fix the typos anymore. There should be quite a few. Please forgive me.