The six Mutant Lickers didn't run on the ground. They ran on the walls.
Their claws dug into the brickwork of the dormitory buildings, defying gravity. They were skinless nightmares with exposed brains and tongues that whipped around like snakes.
[Target: Mutant Licker (Level 5)]
[Agility: 35]
[Ability: Sonic Scream. Tongue Lash.]
[Weakness: Exposed Brain.]
"They are fast," Su Chen noted. "Harder to hit."
His skeletons were precise, but they were mechanical. Tracking a target moving at 80 km/h along a vertical wall was difficult for their basic AI.
Su Chen tapped the side of his head.
"Change formation."
The skeletons moved instantly.
The 5 Riot Shield skeletons formed a tight circle around Su Chen, facing outward. A turtle shell.
The 10 Riflemen stood inside the circle, barrels pointing up and out.
"Hold fire," Su Chen ordered.
The Lickers screeched. They saw the prey bunched up. Their predatory instinct kicked in.
They didn't attack one by one. They coordinated.
SCREEEE!
All six Lickers pushed off the walls simultaneously, launching themselves like missiles toward the center of the skeleton circle.
To a normal player, this was a checkmate. Attacks coming from 360 degrees from the air.
But Su Chen watched the air.
[Eye of Truth: Trajectory Analysis.]
[Target 1 Arrival: 1.2s]
[Target 2 Arrival: 1.3s]
...
"Now."
Su Chen didn't order them to shoot. He ordered them to *move*.
"Shields up."
The five Shield Skeletons raised their heavy riot shields above their heads, locking them together to form a steel roof.
BANG. BANG. THUD.
The six Lickers slammed into the shields instead of the soft flesh they expected. The impact was heavy; the skeletons' knees buckled, but they didn't break.
The Lickers were now confused, clawing at the slippery metal shields, clustered together on top of the "turtle shell."
"Open fire. Up."
The 10 Riflemen underneath the roof of shields pointed their M4A1s straight up at the gaps.
BRRRRRRRT!
It was a meat grinder.
The bullets tore through the Lickers from below at point-blank range. The monsters had nowhere to dodge. They were piled on top of the shields, and the bullets shredded their stomachs and exposed hearts.
Black blood rained down through the gaps in the shields, soaking Su Chen's coat. He didn't flinch.
[Kill Confirmed.]
[Kill Confirmed.]
[Kill Confirmed.]
The screeching stopped.
"Shields down."
The skeletons lowered the shields and shoved the mangled corpses off.
[You have slain 6 Mutant Lickers.]
[Experience +3,000.]
[Level Up!]
[You are now Level 7.]
Su Chen stepped out of the formation. He kicked a Licker corpse over.
[Loot: Licker Tongue (Rare Material).]
[Loot: Agility Essence (Consumable - +1 Agility).]
"Agility Essence," Su Chen's eyes brightened. "Drop rate is 1%. Lucky."
He swallowed the essence immediately. A cool sensation washed over him.
Suddenly, he felt eyes on him.
Su Chen looked up at the dormitory building—Block C.
On the third floor, behind a curtain, a face quickly pulled back. But Su Chen had already seen the data.
[Target: Human Survivor.]
[Count: 12 people in Room 304.]
[Status: Shocked. Terrified.]
In Room 304.
A group of students were huddled by the window, trembling.
"Did you see that?" a boy whispered, his voice cracking. "He... he commanded the skeletons."
"Is he a monster?" a girl asked, hugging her knees. "Maybe he's a boss monster that looks human?"
"No," said a student wearing glasses. "He used a gun. Monsters don't use guns. He's a player. Like us."
"We should ask for help!" someone suggested. "With those skeletons, he can save us! We can get out of here!"
"Are you crazy?" the glasses guy hissed. "Look at his eyes. That guy isn't a hero. He just fed a zombie horde to a firing squad without blinking. If we go down there, we might just be XP to him."
Down on the pavement, Su Chen stared at their window for a second longer, then turned away.
He didn't care about them.
Survivors were burdens. Unless they had a unique S-Rank talent or useful crafting skills, they were just mouths to feed. And right now, Su Chen had an army to build.
"Reload," Su Chen ordered.
The skeletons clicked fresh magazines into place.
Su Chen checked the map.
"The Gymnasium is clear. The Armory is clear. The Science Building is mine."
He looked toward the north side of the campus.
The Medical Center.
In every zombie apocalypse, the hospital is the most dangerous place. It has the highest concentration of infected, mutated patients, and... drugs.
"I need antibiotics," Su Chen listed mentally. "And painkillers. And surgical kits."
But his [Eye of Truth] showed him a massive red skull hovering over the Medical Center.
[Zone Warning: The Dean of Medicine.]
[Threat Level: Deadly.]
[Note: The Dean has evolved into a 'Plague Spreader'.]
Su Chen smiled.
"Plague Spreader," he muttered. "That means he drops Poison-type skill books."
He turned to his skeletal platoon.
"March."
The white death squad moved out, leaving the dorm survivors watching in silence as the true king of the campus walked into the shadows.