Pixian County had a permanent population exceeding 300,000, and including surrounding villages and towns, the total population surpassed one million. That meant there had to be at least 700,000 to 800,000 Zombies roaming the area.
Bai Wen sat atop the RV, having decided to temporarily settle in Pixian. His plan was to clear out the entire county, creating a safe zone completely free of Zombies. Though he only had seven Marine Corpsmen at his disposal, their overwhelming firepower more than made up for their small numbers.
Moreover, Pixian wasn't severely damaged. With some minor repairs, it could easily become the foundation for humanity's resurgence!
Bai Wen had already mapped out his future—he would rewrite history and restore human dominance over Earth!
Fueled by such grand ambitions, he threw himself into the task with even greater determination. Without delay, he ordered the Marine Corpsmen to charge into Pixian County while he climbed to the top of a high-rise building, scanning the town's movements through binoculars.
Rat-tat-tat!
The roar of Gauss Rifles soon echoed from below, accompanied by the shrieks of countless Zombies. The Gauss Rifles were devastating—veritable meat grinders against the undead. Wherever the Marines advanced, blood and gore splattered everywhere. In just half an hour, they had already cleared an entire street.
SCVs followed behind, collecting Crystals. The Crystal count quickly jumped from 30 to 100, and as the number continued to rise, Bai Wen nodded in satisfaction. This was far more efficient than hunting Zombies himself!
Soon, the gunfire drew the attention of countless Zombies, who began converging on the area. Through his binoculars, Bai Wen spotted numerous Speed Zombies, as well as hulking Strength Zombies with terrifying power. Hearing the gunfire, they let out earth-shaking roars and charged toward the Marines.
Bai Wen issued his command: "A massive horde is incoming. Secure the high ground and destroy the staircases!"
"Let's hope this works!"
The standard DNA templates for these Marine Corpsmen were all battle-hardened veterans. Their skills and experience had been genetically encoded and passed down to these clones.
Implanted with Bio-Inhibition Chips, the Marines felt no pain or fear. Their bodies and bones had undergone genetic enhancement, making them several times stronger than even Bai Wen, who had injected multiple doses of Enhancement Serum.
Most importantly—they were absolutely loyal.
"Move, move, move! Let's go!"
Upon receiving Bai Wen's order, they sprang into action, storming a five-story building. After blowing up the staircases, they took positions on the rooftop and peered over the edge, awaiting further instructions.
Bai Wen joined them, observing the swarming Zombies below. "Begin the hunt. Conserve ammo where possible."
"Got it, boss!"
Rat-tat-tat-tat!
Seven Gauss Rifles thundered in unison, their devastating firepower tearing through the Zombie horde. The tightly packed undead only amplified the carnage—each Metal Spike could pierce through seven or eight Zombies effortlessly. Even if the shots didn't hit vital points, the sheer kinetic force ripped them apart, rendering them immobile.
The SCV had been collecting crystals amidst the horde of zombies. As long as it wasn't discovered by the intelligent zombies, it was perfectly safe—ordinary zombies had no interest in a hunk of metal like her.
Just then, the Speed-Type Zombies arrived. They dodged the metal spikes fired by the Marine Corpsmen, letting out furious roars.
Their speed was incredible, and their jumping ability was equally impressive. One zombie suddenly leaped, using the wall to propel itself, and landed directly on the rooftop.
The Marine Corpsmen reacted just as swiftly. The moment it touched down, a barrage of metal spikes rained upon it.
Crackle-pop… The Level 2 zombie was instantly reduced to mush.
"Time to go on a killing spree~" The Marine Corpsmen couldn't resist their signature catchphrase.
Bai Wen had already shouldered his sniper rifle, aiming at the Strength Zombie charging in the distance.
Pew…
A bullet left the barrel, and the head of the sprinting Strength Zombie exploded in a burst of blood. It staggered another dozen meters before collapsing.
Bai Wen immediately ordered the SCV to collect the crystal. The crystal from a Strength Zombie was particularly large, so it took priority.
There weren't many Strength Zombies here, so Bai Wen could handle them alone. None got close to the block before being taken down by his shots.
Though they had awakened some intelligence, their minds were still rudimentary, and most of their actions were driven by instinct. That's why Bai Wen kept succeeding.
Three hours later, they had wiped out over 3,000 zombies. Nearly all the attracted zombies were eliminated!
The crystal count jumped from 100 to 500.
This number left Bai Wen somewhat dissatisfied. Even after taking down several Level 3 zombies, the crystal points were still low. Without the advanced zombies, the yield would've been even worse.
"If only there were crystal ores on Earth!" Bai Wen mused, spreading his hands in a whimsical gesture. But that was probably impossible.
The SCV returned to his side and remarked, "It's not impossible."
"What did you say?" Bai Wen's eyes widened.
"If zombies can produce crystals inside their bodies, then a planet is even more likely to. Commander, where did these zombies come from?" the SCV asked.
"They were caused by a meteor shower from outer space. Are you saying…?" Bai Wen's eyes grew brighter.
"Exactly. If we can locate the meteors or their impact sites, we might find clues!"
Bai Wen nodded, a thrill of excitement bubbling inside. He remembered reading posts online about the meteor shower's aftermath and knew a few impact locations. The closest was in BY City, about 150 kilometers from Pixian.
"Let's head back to base first. Tomorrow, we'll set out for BY City!" Bai Wen snapped his fingers, instructing the Marine Corpsmen to clean up the remaining zombies. After collecting a final tally of 645 crystal points, they immediately drove back to the mining site.
By the time they arrived, it was already 8 p.m. The others rushed to greet them but were puzzled when they didn't see any gathered supplies.
Bai Wen slapped his forehead. He had been so focused on eliminating zombies that he completely forgot about gathering supplies. Although food wasn't an issue, other daily necessities were still needed—items like blankets, clothes, soap, toothpaste, and toothbrushes. Their stockpile of such items was running low.
Yun Fei Wu, ever considerate, didn't bring it up to embarrass him. Instead, she proactively prepared toiletries for him and encouraged him to take a hot shower.
The Marine Corpsmen had no such needs, so under Bai Wen's orders, they returned directly to the mining base, leaving only two behind for patrol duty.
From the moment Bai Wen left for Pi County in the morning, the SCVs had begun upgrading the barbed wire fence around the mine. In just one day, the two SCVs had completed most of the upgrades, but they had to stop temporarily as they ran out of materials.
This highlighted the downside of Bai Wen's choice to stay far from the city. While safety had greatly improved, resource acquisition had become their weak point.
More importantly, the rate of crystal collection had slowed. Traveling back and forth over a hundred kilometers every day was simply too troublesome.
Pi County had returned to silence after a day of fighting. Only the towering pile of zombie corpses remained, casting an eerie and chilling presence in the quiet night.
Deep in an underground air-raid shelter somewhere in Pi County, a few pale and emaciated survivors were cautiously nibbling on small pieces of crackers. They ate with extreme care, picking up and consuming every fallen crumb without hesitation, unbothered by the dust clinging to them.
A middle-aged man in his forties took a sip from a small cup of water, then said thoughtfully, "You all heard the gunfire today, right?"
The others nodded.
"Such intense firepower—could it be that humanity has begun its counterattack?" a young man exclaimed excitedly.
The middle-aged man shook his head and sighed. "I listened carefully. Though the gunfire was fierce, there weren't many shooters. It was probably just survivors like us, coming to gather supplies."
"Even so, if they have that many guns, they must be strong. Should we try to find them?" the young man asked.
"You still don't understand anything! If we meet them, they won't help us—they might even kill us all!" the middle-aged man scolded in frustration.
"How could that be? We're all survivors. Shouldn't we help each other and work together for humanity's revival?" the young man protested naively.
"Ah, you're still too green," the middle-aged man sighed, his expression darkening.
"I say we should go check it out. Our food won't last much longer, and there's nothing useful left nearby. Hiding here is just waiting for death—we might as well take a chance! Even if they have more guns and people, we're not pushovers either!" A bold female voice suddenly spoke up. Everyone turned to see a girl in her late teens leaning against the wall, twirling a throwing knife deftly in her hand.
The girl was rather plain-looking, not particularly beautiful, but her figure was athletic. She wore denim shorts and a snug cotton tank top, revealing her smooth abdomen and delicate collarbones.
Everyone fell into silence, while the young man jumped up excitedly and exclaimed, "That's right! Huifei is an Ability User, and she has the powerful Invisibility Ability! Even if they want to kill us, Huifei can easily escape!"
Their eyes lit up—why hadn't they thought of that? Huifei could turn invisible. Though her ability had a time limit, escaping wouldn't be a problem at all.
"By the way, Huifei, how did you get your ability? If we all had abilities, would we still be stuck hiding in this miserable place?" the young man asked eagerly, voicing a question he had long wanted to know.
Huifei shook her head and sighed, "If only I knew!"
"Even though Huifei can turn invisible, we can't let her go alone. Let's make a plan—tomorrow, we'll prepare to make contact with those people, and we'll all go to support her!" the middle-aged man said.
"Lao Li, there's one problem. If they intend to kill us, once we expose ourselves, this place won't be safe anymore. Where will we hide after that?" another middle-aged man asked.
"Huifei, do you know any safe places to hide?" Lao Li turned his gaze to Huifei.
Huifei thought for a moment, then said solemnly, "I actually have an idea—a place that should be very safe. But it's far, and we'll need transportation."
"Tell us! There are plenty of cars outside, and I'm a mechanic. That won't be a problem!" Lao Li said.
"I want to go back to BY City. There's a research institute there with reinforced concrete walls, complete facilities, and even a courtyard where we can grow our own food. Then we won't have to stay cooped up in this godforsaken place anymore!" Huifei said.
"BY City? Isn't that where you came from? You said before that the Zombie Virus outbreak started there. Wouldn't that place be even more dangerous?" Lao Li exclaimed.
"That may be true, but after all this time, the Zombies there must have scattered elsewhere. Besides, there probably aren't any other survivors left, and with a sturdy place like the research institute, it would be the perfect Safe Zone!" Huifei argued.
Everyone fell into deep thought, weighing the feasibility of the plan. In the end, Lao Li made the decision. He slapped his thigh and declared, "Alright! We'll follow Huifei's plan and head to BY City. Staying here is just waiting for death anyway—might as well take the risk!"
"Li Dan, you come with me to fix a car. The rest of you, gather weapons and food—take only what's necessary. Huifei, scout outside and see if you can find those people. If you do, don't act rashly—observe their situation first!"
There were six people in the Air-raid Shelter: besides Lao Li, the young man Li Dan, and the girl Huifei, there were two other men and a woman—Lao Wang, Lao Zhou, and Lao Zhou's wife, Di Yan.
With the plan set, they immediately sprang into action.
Lao Li and Li Dan went to repair a car, while Lao Wang and Lao Zhou gathered their weapons—nothing more than baseball bats and fire axes. They only had one shotgun, picked up from a bank, with just over a dozen bullets, which Huifei usually carried for protection when she went out to scavenge for food.
Di Yan, meanwhile, collected several bags and packed food and essential supplies.
When Huifei cautiously arrived at the place where Bai Wen had hunted Zombies the previous day, she was instantly stunned by the scene before her!
Around this five-story building, Zombie corpses were scattered everywhere, with even more lying further away. The piled-up bodies had completely blocked the entire narrow street, forming a small mountain!
Huifei's eyes widened in shock. Who were these people? How could they be so strong? How was it possible to kill so many Zombies in just a few hours?
These Zombie corpses could hardly even be called corpses anymore—they were more like piles of mangled flesh. Among thousands of bodies, not a single one remained intact, sending chills down Huifei's spine.
Suddenly, her gaze shifted, and she spotted a bullet casing thicker than her forearm firmly embedded in the ground. She walked over and, after much effort, managed to pry it loose.
The bullet casing was about as thick as a baseball bat, ten centimeters long, and gleaming silver. She couldn't tell what metal it was made of. Huifei's eyes widened further as she realized that a small portion of these Zombies had been killed by such projectiles.
When Bai Wen and his group had left, they had instructed the Marine Corpsmen to retrieve all the Metal Spikes and bullet casings—partly to avoid revealing his secrets, and partly because he was currently short on Crystals and needed to conserve them wherever possible.
However, with so many Metal Spikes scattered around, it was impossible to retrieve every single one, which was how Huifei had discovered them.
Staring at the sea of Zombie corpses, Huifei murmured softly, "Who exactly are these people? And what kind of weapon fi
res these Metal Spikes?"
Volume One is now complete. Thank you all for your support. I will continue to work hard and strive for improvement. Please don't hesitate to cast your recommendation votes, and I welcome your comments and opinions. Thank you all once again!!