133: Chapter 133 A Symphony of Steel and Soul in the Apocalypse

The [dream chaser]'s engine roared on the dark red highway, its speed of 110 km/h kicking up scorched earth from the ground as a pale blue defense shield shimmered around the vehicle. Li Mubai lightly pressed the [Star Rail] on his shoulder and said loudly, "3 kilometers ahead, a large zombie zone! [Star Rail] has detected over 400 zombies densely distributed in the center of the highway, with at least 5 variants mixed in!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the [dream chaser]'s intelligent System synchronized and popped up a holographic map. The center of the highway was marked with dense red dots indicating zombie positions, and five flashing orange dots were particularly eye-catching—those were the signals of the variants.

"[dream chaser] received. Weapon System switching to combat mode, laser gun preheating, Armed Power Claws on standby." An electronic synthesized voice sounded, and the laser gun on the roof slowly rotated, the purple light at its muzzle growing brighter; four Armed Power Claws deployed from the sides of the truck bed, their serrated blades glinting with a cold light like octopus tentacles poised to strike.

The moment the [dream chaser] charged into the zombie zone, the laser gun fired first. A pale purple cluster laser shot out like a sharp sword, instantly piercing through five zombies in the front row, their severed surfaces carbonizing immediately under the laser's high temperature. Then, the laser switched to scattering mode, and a fan-shaped purple light blade swept through, cutting down rows of zombies at the waist. Murky green blood splashed onto the shield, only to be deflected by the energy barrier.

"Holy cow! This laser gun is way more satisfying than a flamethrower!"

Chen Rui leaned over the edge of the truck bed, watching the zombies fall in swathes, and couldn't help but shout out.

Just then, two Speed Variants suddenly darted out from the zombie crowd, moving so fast they were mere afterimages, lunging straight for the [dream chaser]'s rear wheels—they intended to circle behind the vehicle to attack everyone in the truck bed.

"[Roar]!" Zhao Hu suddenly raised his hand, and his Dream Spirit [Roar] jumped from behind him onto his shoulder. Black patterns emerged on the silver-gray tiger fur, its mane stood on end flickering with electricity, and it opened its mouth to let out a deafening howl. Pale yellow sound waves rippled out, and the two Speed Variants instantly froze in place, their movements significantly slowed—this was [Roar]'s "Paralyzing Electronic Sound" ability. "Watch me!" Zhao Hu activated [Giant Strength Berserk], veins bulging on his arms as his muscles expanded. He leaned halfway out of the truck bed and swung his fists toward the variants' heads with a whistling wind. With two muffled thuds, the variants' skulls instantly shattered, and murky green brain matter splashed onto the ground.

On the other side, a third Speed Variant bypassed the laser's range and lunged toward the soul gourd where Lin Wan was. Chen Rui was quick and agile, his fingertips brushing over the Dream Spirit [Thousand Faces] at his waist: "Thousand Faces! Blade Boomerang!" [Thousand Faces] instantly transformed into a silver-white boomerang with pale green energy blades along its edges. Chen Rui raised his hand and threw it; the boomerang curved through the air, precisely severing the variant's hind legs. The variant screamed as it fell to the ground, and before it could get up, it was snatched by an Armed Power Claw, the blades tightening and instantly shredding it to pieces.

"Armed Power Claw capture efficiency increased, 37 zombies currently cleared!" the [dream chaser]'s intelligent System reported in real-time. The four Armed Power Claws were incredibly flexible: some directly grabbed zombies and threw them into the Matter Conversion Furnace, where the furnace mouth lit up with blue light, instantly converting the corpses into pale blue Liquid Energy; others used their serrated edges to cut through the dense zombie crowd, each swing leaving several trails of blood, like four tireless steel tentacles.

In the center of the truck bed, the soul gourd was slowly rotating, its mouth aimed at every killed zombie. On the Soul level, pale gold light filaments were drawn from the corpses, turning into tiny light specks that were sucked into the gourd. Lin Wan's fingertips glowed with pale green life element as she lightly touched the gourd. She could perceive the subtle differences in every Soul: almost all of them were filled with a violent Honkai Power, their light specks so dim they were nearly dissipating; only one retained a faint fragment of its pre-death consciousness, its light speck occasionally flickering as if struggling against the pollution. "Zhang Hao, among these zombie Souls, one actually still has a bit of its former consciousness..." Lin Wan looked up and shouted in surprise, her voice carrying a hint of hope.

Zhang Hao was leaning over, staring at the soul gourd, his [Eye of Numerology] activated as a pale gold light enveloped the gourd. He could clearly see that every zombie Soul being sucked in dragged a long, thin fate trajectory. These trajectories gathered into the gourd like faded threads, intertwining with the pale gold patterns on its surface. "[Person of Numerology]—Resonance!" Zhang Hao barked in a low voice, fully activating his Talent. A golden mark appeared on his brow, and inside his pocket, Zhang Hao's Dream Spirit 'Silver Star's' [All-Knowing Eye (Pseudo)] was also operating at high speed. Instantly, an ancient and grand power flooded his mind, and he felt as if he could touch the [Source] of [Fate]. The fate trajectories within the soul gourd suddenly became clear: one zombie had been a supply station clerk who was infected while protecting customers; a variant had once been a truck driver, eroded by Honkai Power after a car accident... These fragmented memories gave the grayish-black zombie Souls a bit more "human" warmth.

"So they were once ordinary people too..." Zhang Hao murmured to himself, his fingertips lightly tracing the surface of the gourd. The previous prompt of "Soul Analysis Progress 1%" had now quietly jumped to 3%—every zombie Soul was providing a boost to the soul gourd's analysis.

"100 meters to the left, 10 zombies are swarming this way! There's also one Hardened Variant!" Li Mubai's voice rang out again. The shimmer of [Star Rail] linked with the [dream chaser]'s intelligent System, adding a new set of red dots and one blue dot to the holographic map. "dream chaser, switch laser gun to cluster mode, aim for the Hardened Variant's chest!" Zhang Hao ordered.

"Received. Laser gun has locked onto the target, high-intensity mode prepared." The purple laser instantly condensed into a beam three times thicker than before, shooting toward the Hardened Variant. Upon impact, the variant's Rock skin began to melt, revealing the flesh inside. "Armed Power Claws, capture!" Two Armed Power Claws extended simultaneously, grabbing the variant's limbs and pinning it in place, while the remaining two claw blades continuously sliced the variant's body until it stopped struggling.

When the last zombie was pierced by the laser gun, the [dream chaser]'s intelligent System popped up a combat summary: [This battle lasted 12 minutes, cleared 422 zombies and 5 variants, absorbed 472 units of zombie Soul, current total soul gourd capacity 1080, Soul Analysis Progress 15%, Matter Conversion Furnace added 47.2 units of Liquid Energy].

Zhao Hu was breathing heavily, the [Giant Strength Berserk] effect on his arms not yet faded. He wiped the blood from his face and grinned: "This intelligent weapon is too awesome! I only had to deal with those that slipped through the net, it was much easier!" Chen Rui retracted [Thousand Faces], the boomerang turning into a stream of light as it returned to his waist, and he casually checked the laser gun's energy reserves: "Liquid Energy is very sufficient."

Lin Wan looked at the number "1080" on the soul gourd, her life element gently wrapping around it: "The analysis progress is at 15%. If we can collect more zombie Souls, we might be able to uncover the secrets of these zombie Souls..."

Zhang Hao deactivated his [Eye of Numerology], and the golden mark on his brow gradually faded. He looked at Li Mubai: "President, we need more zombie Souls to prioritize increasing the Soul Analysis Progress, and also to let the dream chaser's intelligence adapt more to actual combat."

Li Mubai nodded, the light of [Star Rail] scanning across the holographic map: "6 kilometers ahead is a Two-Way Junction where two highways merge into one. The junction is a super-large zombie zone; [Star Rail] has detected at least 800 zombies and the energy reactions of at least 12 Special Variants."

"Safety first, prepare to keep mowing them down!" Zhang Hao raised his hand and patted the soul gourd, which swayed slightly as the grayish-black light specks inside flickered. The [dream chaser]'s engine roared again, its pale blue shield enveloping the vehicle as it sped toward the Two-Way Junction—on the truck bed, the laser gun's muzzle remained pointed forward, and the Armed Power Claws stayed in a semi-raised position. A trial of "collecting Souls, analyzing Souls, and the Redemption of Souls" awaited them ahead.