si-mexico Chapter 18 Fierce Battle
Chapter 18 Fierce Battle
At nine o'clock in the morning, at the lunar base, Ingram was watching a large screen while drinking a glass of green liquid. Science Officer Little, standing beside him, said smugly, "This time we sent our latest advanced zombie research to Earth, and ordered them to attack major cities like the capital of Xia Kingdom, Worthington of Mai Kingdom, Moxike of Xiong Kingdom, and Lunton of Ying Kingdom. Once their core areas are destroyed, when General Babar arrives in a little over a year, they'll definitely be able to successfully relocate to Earth, hahaha." Ingram handed Little a glass of green liquid, saying, "Congratulations, Little. Now we don't need to commit a large number of troops for the time being. After all, the slaves captured from Mera are quite limited. If you..." "If they all turn into zombies and are sent to Earth, our workforce on Meral will be greatly reduced." Little nodded. "That's fine. Anyway, my zombie virus has already taken over Blue Star. Now we can use this time to rest and relax." Ingram downed the liquid in his cup. "Alright, notify all Kiel soldiers to close all exit routes, activate energy shields and automated defense weapons, and then enter sleep pods to rest for a year and a half on Blue Star. I believe that when we wake up, Blue Star will be a habitable planet for us, hahaha."
At Jinghai City First People's Hospital, Li Chenglong and all his soldiers, fully armed, stood at the first line of defense, one kilometer in front of the hospital. Li Chenglong had all the gasoline brought out, creating a sea of gasoline 300 meters in front of the position. He planned to burn many zombies as soon as they approached. They also pushed many cars to the gasoline area to further hinder the zombies' advance. Seeing that the position was almost complete, Li Chenglong said, "Everyone can eat something first, so you'll have the strength to wipe out the zombies later." He then took out bread, energy bars, bagged chicken legs, drinks, and other items from his storage space and piled them up, allowing everyone to help themselves. Li Chenglong also took a piece of bread and a sausage and started eating, with Wu Gang, Zheng Aiguo, and Zheng Yong sitting beside him.
Li Chenglong gazed at the front of the position: "I sensed two very strong energy fluctuations, one of which is even stronger than mine. Are you afraid?" Zheng Yong smiled calmly and said, "To be honest, although we train every day in the army and have fired countless bullets, we only really started killing anything that can run after the zombie outbreak. To say we're not afraid would be a lie, but what can we do? Someone has to do it. If we don't, not only will the survivors be wiped out, but our entire garrison will be overwhelmed by the zombie army." Li Chenglong nodded and asked again, "I sent Yunlan and Li Xue, two level four warriors, to guard the convoy. You won't blame me for showing favoritism, will you? After all, one is my sister and the other is my girlfriend." Wu Gang immediately said, "Captain, what are you saying? This battle wasn't supposed to be for those two girls. Even if they joined, we would have applied for their evacuation."
A few people wanted to say a few more words, but Li Chenglong downed his drink in one gulp, stood up, and shouted, "All soldiers, take up positions!" More than fifty soldiers and ten superhumans quickly took their posts. A boundless army of zombies appeared in the distance, advancing rapidly towards them. Li Chenglong activated his True Sight and scanned the area: 2725 Level 1 zombies, 457 Level 2 zombies, 55 Level 3 zombies, 13 Level 4 zombies, and 1 Level 5 zombie. "So there really are Level 5 zombies, and two of them at that. Looks like this is going to be tough," Li Chenglong said with a wry smile.
During the break, Li Chenglong had retrieved all the crystals that had been handed over and distributed them according to combat strength. Combined with the supplies of each ability user, this ensured they could fight for a considerable time. Zheng Yong loudly instructed, "Make sure you're within range before attacking. Just focus on the ordinary zombies; don't waste bullets on the advanced ones. They're immune to bullets. Leave those to the ability users led by Captain Li." Zheng Yong's adjutant, Zhu Qian, gripped his Type 95 rifle: "850 meters, 800 meters, 750 meters... 450 meters, fire!" At this moment, the battle, later known as the Sixty-Two Warriors of Jinghai, began.
Dozens of tongues of fire erupted, rifle and squad automatic weapon bullets instantly engulfing the ordinary zombies in front. The charging zombies fell with a thud, tripping over those behind them, only to be trampled into a pulp. But the chaos lasted only a minute or two. Due to the sheer number of zombies, and the garrison's depleted ammunition after so many days of fighting, the few dozen men were forced to switch to single-shot bursts.
After a brief period of chaos, the zombie horde resumed its advance. Seeing a large number of zombies already at the gasoline dump, Li Chenglong said, "Wu Gang, it's your turn." Wu Gang immediately gathered his energy, unleashing his fire and wind abilities, releasing a fireball. The wind fanned the flames, and the fireball hurtled forward. In less than 10 seconds, flames shot into the sky, engulfing hundreds of zombies in the inferno. Although the lower-level zombies felt no pain, they were still terrified of the raging fire and scattered in all directions. While the flames were still burning, Li Chenglong led his ability users a short distance closer, each unleashing their abilities to kill the zombies. Li Chenglong gathered his strength in both hands: "Explosive Light Bullets!" The Explosive Light Bullets were now at level four, significantly improved in both quantity, range, and power. Wherever the bullets hit, they exploded; any zombie that came into contact with these blast zones would be instantly obliterated.
Just as the superhuman squad unleashed their abilities to slay zombies, Zheng Yong led twenty grenadiers forward. The effective throwing range for grenadiers was only thirty to forty meters. Protected by Li Chenglong and his men, and blocked by the sea of fire ahead, the grenadier group closed in. Then, at Zheng Yong's command, dozens of grenades flew out. After the grenades were thrown, everyone immediately retreated, abandoning the first line of defense and moving to the second. The explosions of the dozens of grenades were as powerful as missiles. After these waves of attacks, few of the ordinary zombies that had charged forward survived.
As Zheng Yong retreated, he said, "Captain Li, we're out of grenades. In the attack just now, each of us only has five or six bullets left at most." Li Chenglong replied, "There aren't many ordinary zombies left in front of us now, and a small portion of the level two zombies have also died. We don't need to fight to the death. Let's fight and retreat. Just buy time for the main force to evacuate." In less than two minutes, the group had retreated to the second line of defense. Li Chenglong glanced at everyone and said to Zheng Yong, "Company Commander Zheng, in 10 minutes, you take 50 ordinary garrison soldiers and retreat. Take the vehicles from the rear and then join the main force from Qing'an Town." Zheng Yong said anxiously, "If we retreat, there will only be 10 of you, and there are still at least a thousand zombies on the other side. These are not ordinary zombies; you can't hold them off!" Li Chenglong replied, "As I said before, we're not going to fight to the death. We're going to use the advantageous terrain to hold them off layer by layer. The ability users here are at least level two, with attributes far superior to ordinary people. If you leave, it will be easier for us to retreat. Besides, it's been 30 minutes since the main force left; we only need to hold them off for another 20 minutes or so." Zheng Yong looked at the zombies that had already reached the first line of defense: "Alright then, but you all have to come back alive." Li Chenglong smiled and said, "Don't worry, I value my life even more than you do."
Li Chenglong and several other ability users stood up and unleashed their abilities: "Super Fireball, Exploding Light Bomb, Gale Water Arrow, Earth Shake..." Suddenly, they felt a tremor and a wave of heat wash over them. Li Chenglong turned around and saw that Wu Gang and Hao Aiguo had leveled up at this crucial moment. Li Chenglong activated his True Sight: Wu Gang, Level 3 Fire/Wind Ability User, Constitution 45, Strength 30, Agility 50, Spirit 50. Zheng Aiguo, Level 3 Earth/Strength Awakener, Constitution 55, Strength 60, Agility 40, Spirit 38. The two laughed and said, "Boss, now we're not a burden anymore, haha." Li Chenglong faced the zombie horde: "Then let's have a good fight, my good brothers!"
With ammunition running low, they could only fire sporadically. Although there were some roadblocks along the way, they hadn't slowed the zombies' advance much. Li Chenglong took out a few white crystals and ate them, then fired another volley of explosive light bullets, knocking down a group of zombies. Seeing the zombies getting closer, many were sweating profusely. Li Chenglong said to Zheng Yong, "Zheng Yong, quickly lead the brothers to retreat. Don't make unnecessary sacrifices." Zheng Yong nodded and shouted, "Everyone except the superhumans, follow me! Quickly, execute the order!" Although many were reluctant to retreat, military orders were paramount, and they all followed Zheng Yong and retreated in order. Li Chenglong shouted, "Zhao Chuan, Zhou Li, you two guard our rear. Don't let the zombies surround us. Report immediately if there's any movement. Due to the traffic congestion, the main force might be moving slower than we expected, so we must hold out as long as possible until the main force shakes off the zombie horde."
On the other side, just as Li Chenglong had predicted, even after an hour, the poor transportation and sporadic zombie attacks meant that the superhumans had to carry the cars and other heavy objects every time. Yun Lan and Li Xue, along with several superhumans, were also killing the attacking zombies. So, although an hour had passed, the main force had only advanced 25 kilometers. Yun Qian and Liu Dongliang looked at the map and found a side road, which was usually less traveled and should be easier to traverse. Then the convoy slowly continued forward.
The garrison had just begun their retreat under Zheng Yong's command when a piercing sound ripped through the air. A bird-like zombie flew down, grabbing a garrison soldier in each hand. Both were instantly lifted high into the air before crashing to the ground. Zheng Yong, his eyes bloodshot, roared, "Fire! Shoot that bastard down!" But the bullets struck the bird-like zombie without leaving a mark. The bird-like creature then swooped down to the ground, grabbed another soldier, and flew back up, slapping the soldier's head off with a single claw before opening its beak to drink blood. "Star Dragon Slash!" Li Chenglong angrily swung his Dragon Emperor Sword, but the bird-like creature was too fast and dodged the attack. Li Chenglong shouted, "Zheng Yong, what are you dawdling for? I'll hold off this bastard! You retreat, now!"
Although Li Chenglong's attack hadn't hit the birdman, it had successfully drawn its attention. Taking advantage of this time, Zheng Yong led his men in a hasty retreat. Zhao Chuan and Zhou Li followed, ensuring the special abilities team's retreat was unobstructed. Li Chenglong then activated his True Eye: Level 5 Birdman Zombie, Constitution 90, Strength 85, Agility 105, Spirit 90. Its ultimate move was a whirlwind slash from its wings. The birdman stared at Li Chenglong and then flapped its wings, unleashing a powerful gust of wind. Li Chenglong nimbly dodged, and everything in its path was cleanly severed; even the truck tires used as fortifications were split in two along with their rims. Li Chenglong was astonished; he hadn't expected the birdman zombie's skill to be so powerful. Wu Gang and Zheng Aiguo, seeing the birdman zombie's ferocity, immediately rushed forward to help, but Li Chenglong stopped them: "This beast is very powerful; you're no match for it. Stay with the other brothers and fight the Level 2 zombies ahead. Be careful."
The bird-man zombie unleashed several rapid slashes at Li Chenglong, which he evaded with his agile movements. During these evasions, Li Chenglong noticed the bird-man zombie seemed to be locking onto its prey using sight, so he pulled a flashbang grenade from his tactical backpack. He then leaped with all his might, reaching a height of 10 meters. The bird-man zombie, seeing this human recklessly reach such heights, launched another rapid slash at Li Chenglong. Li Chenglong, unable to dodge in mid-air, took the hit. However, at the same moment the bird-man's attack struck, Li Chenglong threw a flashbang, which hit the bird-man zombie directly. The bird-man zombie was immediately dizzy and swayed precariously in the air. Li Chenglong, having already landed on the ground, ignored his injuries and unleashed a powerful Star Dragon Slash. A blue dragon flew directly towards the bird-man zombie, blasting off its wings. The bird-man zombie, having lost its wings, crashed onto the battlefield. Li Chenglong rushed forward again and stabbed the bird-man zombie in the mouth. The bird-man zombie struggled a few times before its legs kicked out, lifeless. He then immediately began searching for zombie crystals, and soon found a green crystal in the heart of the bird-man zombie. After washing it with water, Li Chenglong swallowed it whole.
Just moments ago, while scanning the bird-man zombies with his Eye of Truth, he inadvertently discovered a powerful entity behind the zombie horde, whose details the Eye of Truth couldn't detect. Long Ling had mentioned that anything two levels higher than him couldn't be detected. This meant it was at least level six, something he, at level four, couldn't possibly withstand. Therefore, after defeating the bird-man zombies, he immediately began searching for crystals, hoping to level up before the level six zombies could attack.
What Li Chenglong didn't know was that this Level 6 zombie was created by Little, the science chief of the Kiel aliens, using a zombie virus and warriors from the Mela aliens. Given Earth's current growth rate, even Level 5 zombies are extremely rare, let alone Level 6. Furthermore, when Kyoto fell, a total of six Level 6 zombies participated in that battle.