noveldrama
Chapter 436: Under Surveillance
Chapter 436: Under Surveillance
Chapter 436: Under Surveillance
After driving off the rat swarm, Zhang Yi and his team pressed on.
For ordinary people, those oversized rodents would have posed a grave threat.
But for this group of elite Superhumans, they were little more than a nuisance.
Even so, Zhang Yi voiced a concern: “I just hope that rat commotion didn’t alert the zombies.”
Liang Yue furrowed her brow. “What’s the connection between these rats and the zombies? They’re both underground. Could there be some kind of relationship?”
“Who knows? Let’s keep moving,” Zhang Yi replied.
He had no desire to linger in the unsettling underground space any longer than necessary.
As they continued deeper into the tunnels, they couldn’t shake the feeling of being watched.
Countless unseen eyes seemed to track their every move from the darkness.
These shadowy underground creatures hadn’t given up yet, seemingly waiting for another opportunity to strike.
Zhang Yi, however, ignored them.
It wasn’t until he stumbled upon a shredded piece of combat gear, torn and stained with blood, that he felt a twinge of unease.
“Those teeth are no joke. They tore right through this gear,” he noted grimly. “Let’s keep our distance from them.”
Fatty Xu added nervously, “Do you think these rats hold grudges? What if they follow us back to the Shelter?”
“They won’t,” Zhang Yi reassured him. “It’s damp and warm down here, while the surface is freezing cold. These rats aren’t Arctic lemmings. Even if they can survive the cold, they wouldn’t travel miles just to bother us.”
Meanwhile, in the subway tunnels near Yangsheng Base, Dong Hu led his team of elite soldiers on a reconnaissance mission.
They hadn’t gone far before they were ambushed by a massive rat swarm.
The rodents attacked from all sides, their sharp teeth easily piercing through protective gear.
“Ahhh!”
“These rats—they’re monsters!”
“Careful! Don’t let them bite you! They can tear through our suits!”
Screams filled the air as soldiers desperately fought off the swarm, using flamethrowers and rifles to burn and blast their way through the horde.
Dong Hu and two other Superhumans unleashed their abilities with full force.
Dong Hu’s [Blazing Fist] engulfed his hands in searing flames, incinerating entire clusters of rats with each strike.
After a grueling fifteen minutes, they finally drove the swarm back.
But by then, they had lost eight soldiers to the rats’ vicious bites, and several others were seriously injured.
Surveying the carnage, Dong Hu’s face darkened.
They hadn’t even located the zombie horde yet, and they were already in such a sorry state.
A soldier pried open a rat’s jaws, revealing teeth like icy daggers, and shuddered. “If these things ever reach the base, they could be even worse than the zombies!”
Dong Hu remained silent for a moment before declaring, “We press on. Our mission is to locate the zombies and gather intel. No matter what obstacles we face, we must overcome them.”
To retreat now would be to return empty-handed—a prospect Dong Hu couldn’t bear to face.
Back in the tunnels, Zhang Yi and his team continued their journey, eventually passing two more subway stations.
At the third station, they finally found the zombies.
The horde wasn’t hiding, nor did it attack. Instead, they lay scattered throughout the tunnel as if in a deep sleep.
From wall to wall, the narrow passage was packed with dormant zombies.
“They’re sleeping,” Uncle You whispered.
“That makes sense,” Zhang Yi murmured. “Even as virus hosts, their movements consume energy. Without orders, they conserve it by lying dormant.”
Uncle You raised his flamethrower. “Should we torch them all?”
Zhang Yi hesitated, recalling Zhou Ke’er’s observations. These zombies retained some biological traits, functioning more like a hive than traditional undead.
If they were truly asleep, there was no need to disturb them unnecessarily.
“That’d be ideal,” he said. But reality rarely conformed to ideal scenarios.
A single zombie suddenly opened its eyes.
One by one, more began to stir, their twisted bodies rising in grotesque, unnatural motions.
Spotting the living intruders, they let out guttural snarls and surged forward in a frenzied mass.
“So much for that plan,” Zhang Yi muttered, his brow furrowing.
Rather than unleashing the flamethrowers, he activated his Dimensional Gate, blocking the zombies’ advance.
The glowing portals swallowed the rushing horde, preventing them from reaching the group.
While effective, this tactic carried a risk—it could alert the Zombie King deeper within the tunnels, making it harder to catch off guard.
As the tide of zombies poured into the portals, Liang Yue and the others watched in awe.
“Your Dimensional Gate really is a perfect defense,” Liang Yue remarked, her eyes gleaming with admiration.
Zhang Yi didn’t respond immediately, his focus on maintaining the gates. The ability was nearly invulnerable unless overwhelmed by massive energy attacks, making it the ultimate shield in situations like this.
Suddenly, the horde stopped as if on command.
The abrupt stillness was eerie, like someone had pressed a pause button.
Then, in perfect unison, the zombies began emitting guttural, mournful wails.
“The Zombie King knows we’re here,” Zhang Yi said grimly.
With their presence exposed, he decided there was no point in holding back.
“Burn them,” he ordered.
Uncle You and Fatty Xu stepped forward, unleashing twin jets of flame down the narrow corridor.
The fire swept through the front ranks of the horde, setting dozens of zombies ablaze. The tunnel was soon filled with the crackle of flames and the stench of burning flesh.
Despite their numbers, the zombies began retreating, shuffling back out of the fire’s reach.
Zhang Yi’s eyes narrowed as he watched their movements.
“The Zombie King is close. Pursue them!”
He dismissed the Dimensional Gate and led the team deeper into the tunnel.
The path ahead was choked with zombies, their sheer numbers forming a living blockade.
But instead of charging, the horde retreated further into the darkness, their eerie howls reverberating through the tunnel.
With the flamethrowers clearing the way, Zhang Yi’s group advanced steadily.
Their relentless use of fire turned the fight into a grotesque spectacle, as if they were grilling the undead en masse.
Zhang Yi’s Spatial Storage provided an endless supply of fuel and ammo, giving them a decisive edge.
The zombies’ inability to counter his spatial abilities made them seem almost feeble.
But Zhang Yi knew better. He had seen the devastation these same zombies wrought on the Western Alliance.
Their current dominance was no reason for complacency. The true threat was still ahead, waiting in the shadows.
Author's Note