262: The first wave of probing

Their goal was clear: they only needed to climb onto the Nameless Monster's body, observe it carefully, find some clues, and return to report, ending their mission.

While these hundreds of people were observing how to climb onto the monster's back, the fingers of all the zombies behind them twitched, and they slowly opened their crimson eyes.

“Xu Chuang, take your men up from the back. Guo Shengyan, take your men up from the sides. The rest will follow me up from the head. Everyone, be careful!” said Zhou Tao, who had been appointed as the commander of the two teams, after a brief observation.

“Yes, everyone be careful,” said Xu Chuang and Guo Shengyan.

The group cautiously approached the Nameless Monster and touched it tentatively. Finding no reaction, they began to climb up.

Just then, a scream suddenly came from behind. Everyone turned around instantly, and the scene before them chilled their hearts, freezing the blood in their veins.

The zombies, who had originally been facing away, had all turned around. In unison, their crimson eyes stared coldly at the group. At the very front, a zombie held a human corpse, tearing off an arm and stuffing it into its mouth.

Presumably, the corpse it was holding was the person who had just screamed.

Blood dripped from the zombie's mouth, trickling down its chin and onto the ground.

Seeing such a bloody scene, everyone's minds went blank. What was happening? How did these zombies wake up? And why were they eating people?

For a moment, the entire space fell silent, save for the sound of the lead zombie chewing on the corpse.

“Crunch, crunch...”

After the initial shock, Zhou Tao was the first to regain his senses. He swallowed hard and scanned his surroundings.

What he saw was terrifying: they were completely surrounded. Even more horrifyingly, two High-level Zombies stood at the front in every direction.

Overcome with fear, Zhou Tao broke out in a cold sweat.

With their level of Superpower, they could only handle Level 2 zombies and struggled even against Third-Tier Zombies, let alone High-level Zombies that could swat them to death with a single palm.

After seeing the situation clearly, Zhou Tao felt a sense of despair. However, seeing that there were still several hundred people on his side, his panic eased slightly. Perhaps he could escape in the chaos.

“Crack...” A crisp sound rang out as the High-level Zombie finished the last bite of the arm. Just as it was about to tear off the other arm, it suddenly stopped. It tilted its head as if listening to something. A moment later, it threw the corpse behind it, spread its arms, and roared toward the sky.

The zombies behind it immediately bared their fangs with fierce glints in their eyes, let out a collective roar, and lunged toward the crowd.

The zombies' sudden movement caught everyone off guard. Fortunately, their bodies instinctively unleashed Superpowers at the zombies, stalling them for a moment as the battle broke out instantly.

Although they had experience killing zombies, this time was different; almost all of them were Level 3 zombies.

Once they engaged, they barely killed any zombies, while many of their own were wounded instead.

From then on, it was essentially a one-sided slaughter by the zombies.

From the start, Zhou Tao had been purposefully fighting his way toward the perimeter. Taking advantage of his comrades blocking the zombie attacks, he used every ounce of strength he had and finally reached the edge of the zombie horde.

Just as he was about to escape, a High-level Zombie suddenly blocked his path.

By now, Zhou Tao was exhausted, sustained only by the thought of getting out. Seeing the High-level Zombie appear, he was filled with despair and utter hopelessness.

He couldn't get out!

He would never get out!

Before he could finish the thought, the High-level Zombie’s claw ripped out his heart.

Further inside, Xu Chuang and Guo Shengyan were still struggling to hold on.

The High-level Zombies hadn't even made a move yet, but the Third-Tier Zombies were already more than they could handle. Looking at their team of only a few dozen remaining, they were on the verge of total annihilation.

Xu Chuang shouted, “Quick, everyone climb onto the monster's back!”

After shouting, Xu Chuang turned, kicked off the ground, and leaped onto the Nameless Monster's back in a few bounds.

Guo Shengyan followed close behind.

At this point, they didn't care if they would wake the Nameless Monster.

They hoped that escaping onto the Nameless Monster would give them a moment to breathe.

The remaining survivors scrambled onto the monster's back.

Fortunately, once the zombies saw everyone climb onto the monster's back, they stopped chasing. They stood by the monster, retracting their claws and fangs, and remained still.

A moment later, the zombies retreated in unison, no longer paying attention to the people on the monster's back.

Everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief. Some, having lost all strength, slumped directly onto the monster's back.

“Damn it, that was too close! I almost had my heart ripped out by a zombie!” Guo Shengyan said with lingering fear.

Xu Chuang wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and nodded, equally shaken.

Looking at the remaining people around him, Xu Chuang felt a chill. They had come with several hundred people, and in just a short while, only these few were left.

“Everyone, take a moment to recover. I’ll call for backup right now,” Xu Chuang said.

Hearing this, the survivors sat down on the ground to rest.

“Xu Chuang, did you see Commander Zhou? With his abilities, he shouldn't be dead, right?” Guo Shengyan asked curiously.

“Him? Hah...” Xu Chuang said with disdain.

Guo Shengyan was surprised. “What's with that expression? What happened to him?”

“That bastard made us stay in front while he took advantage of the chaos to... run away!” Xu Chuang said angrily, gritting his teeth.

“He... he ran away?”

“Yes, he left us and ran!” Xu Chuang squeezed the words out from between his teeth.

Just as Guo Shengyan was about to speak, a commotion broke out behind them. The two of them quickly looked over.

One of the people among them had turned into a zombie and ambushed the person sitting next to him, biting down hard on the other's neck and refusing to let go.

The person being bitten screamed in unbearable pain, “Help! Help! Ah...!”

Seeing this, the others scattered, moving far away from the two.

Those two were beyond saving.

Having just faced life and death together, the others hesitated, unsure of what to do. Killing them felt wrong since they were comrades, but if they didn't, they would become zombies.

Seeing this, Xu Chuang stepped forward, pulled out a knife, finished them both off, and threw them down.

The others' expressions shifted, their hearts trembling as they all went on high alert.

Taking in everyone's expressions, Xu Chuang said solemnly, “From the moment they were wounded by the zombies, they were beyond saving. It's better to give them a quick end than to let them turn into zombies and hurt us. It's all for the sake of survival.”

The others looked at each other, and feeling that Xu Chuang's words made sense, they lowered their guard.

“From now on, if anyone is wounded by a zombie, end it yourself to save us all from the pain,” Xu Chuang added.