117: Second wave of attack

The second wave of the Zombie Tide surged forth like a roaring tsunami!

All soldiers stood ready on the city walls, and the pilots of the Air Force Brigade, having finished their rest, were in high spirits. All tanks had also entered the ammunition supply stations for replenishment; it wouldn't be long before they were 'fully healed' and back in action.

The attention of the entire nation, whether in the command centers of official bases or before temporarily erected public screens, was firmly focused here. This was a grand performance concerning human confidence and the future, and the stage was right here in Lujiang!

The battle on the eastern wall was on the verge of breaking out!

This time, the zombie swarm was no longer a chaotic charge. A large number of Tier 1 Elites, who had been hiding among the ordinary zombies, finally bared their fangs!

Hundreds of Fatty Zombies, with bodies as bloated as small hills, and Ironback Zombies, covered in metallic hard shells, stood at the very front like moving walls. Their massive bodies formed natural cover.

In the gaps and behind these 'meat shields,' Tier 1 Acid Throats—eerie forms with dark green slime flowing over their bodies—advanced slowly and lethally. They were brewing highly corrosive venom in their mouths, with a range exceeding a hundred meters.

On the flanks of the swarm were the faster Agiles and the four-legged, whip-tongued Lickers; they prowled the edges of the Zombie Tide like ghosts, searching for opportunities to launch a surprise attack.

A massive death phalanx composed of hundreds of thousands of zombies, guided by the elite zombies and treading over the remains of their companions, let out world-shaking roars as they slowly but firmly approached the two-kilometer line of the city wall!

"Fire!"

"Dong dong dong dong—!!!"

The sentry guns on the wall were the first to roar! The 50mm rapid-fire infantry cannons spat out scorching tongues of fire, and shells smashed into the zombie vanguard like hail, every explosion kicking up a storm of flesh and blood! Immediately after, the Machine Gun Bunkers densely packed along the wall joined the chorus! Inside each bunker, two soldiers operated an automatically-fed 12.7mm heavy machine gun, the muzzles spitting out a continuous line of death! The terrifying metal storm wove into a web of destruction, crazily tearing through the zombie formation! The 'meat shield' Fatty Zombies charging at the front were blasted apart, and the metallic shells of the Ironback Zombies groaned under the sustained heavy fire!

The zombies were unafraid of death, continuing to advance despite the hail of bullets! When the vanguard of the Zombie Tide stepped into the one-kilometer range, the infantry on the walls also joined the fray!

"Da da da da!" "Bang! Bang!" "Boom!"

The rhythmic bursts of rifles and light machine guns, the precise headshots of Sniper rifles, the dull thuds of grenades exploding in the swarm... the sounds of various firearms wove into a cruel symphony. The targets the Snipers prioritized were precisely those most threatening Acid Throat zombies! The range of a Tier 1 Acid Throat already exceeded a hundred meters, and the strong acid they spat was enough to corrode steel! They had to be strangled before they entered their effective range!

The vast number of zombies was like an endless tide, tireless and oblivious to pain, treading upon the land plowed by artillery fire and covered in charred remains as they surged frantically toward the walls! The corpses piled outside the city had already formed foul-smelling, nauseating 'meat mountains'!

Seeing the zombie swarm temporarily suppressed near the one-kilometer line by the intense artillery fire but still stubbornly advancing like maggots on a bone, Zhang Lei's eyes boiled with battle intent. He turned to Jiang Xin, his voice steady: "Brother Jiang! The swarm is almost within a kilometer! Let the soldiers catch their breath! I'll take the Special Operations Brigade and the Mecha Units out!!"

Jiang Xin's gaze swept over the surging Zombie Tide outside the city, then he looked at the Evolvers beside him who were brimming with fighting spirit, and nodded heavily: "Alright! Brother Lei, I'll leave it to you! All Evolvers, go get some practice! I'll send 10 hinds to provide air cover for you; stay safe!"

"Don't worry!" Zhang Lei grinned, revealing a row of white teeth, a smile filled with absolute confidence and destructive power. He spun around, his voice exploding like thunderbolt in the Special Operations Brigade's communication channel: "Brothers! It's time to stretch our limbs! Follow me! Let's slaughter our way through them!"

The heavy alloy gates slowly rose amidst the roar of hydraulic devices! The moment the city gate tunnel opened, a blast of scorching air and the thick smell of gunpowder smoke rushed in!

Following that, a scene that shocked the entire nation appeared!

Sixty mechas, propelled by the deep blue flames of the vector thrusters on their backs, charged out of the city gate like gods descending from heaven, hovering as they moved! The roar of their engines instantly drowned out the clamor of the battlefield!

"Target: Zombie Tide! Free fire! Crush them!" Zhang Lei's command rang out through the Mecha Unit's public channel.

The two destroyer units piloted by Chen Hao and Yang Ning led the charge! The remaining 20 destroyer mechas, in groups of four, acted like mobile steel fortresses, the enhanced 'Metal Storm' M249 machine guns in their hands letting out ear-splitting roars! The terrifyingly dense belts of 7.62mm armor-piercing rounds, like the Grim Reaper's meat-grinding chains, instantly tore the zombie swarm ahead to shreds!

Chen Hao's mecha was instantly covered in a layer of flowing dark-gold luster, as if possessed by a Vajra! His massive metal fists transformed into the most violent battering rams! With each punch, the air boomed! Zombies in a fan-shaped area ahead, whether ordinary walkers or Iron Backs, were hit as if by a high-speed train, instantly exploding into a mist of blood! The golden energy even penetrated through several layers of zombies!

Earth-yellow energy ripples spread from beneath Yang Ning's mecha; everywhere they passed, the ground trembled! His mecha rampaged through the swarm, every collision like a giant boulder rolling down, crushing large patches of zombies into meat paste! Thick earth-element energy adhered to the armor, doubling its defense and allowing it to withstand acid and venom attacks!

Twenty blaze mechas moved in pairs like walking volcanoes! Their 'Fire Phoenix' flamethrowers were at full power!

"Whoosh—Boom!!!"

It was no longer pillars of fire, but a pouring torrent of lava! Flames with temperatures reaching thousands of degrees Celsius instantly covered an area nearly a hundred meters wide! The air was scorched until it distorted, making crackling popping sounds! The zombies swallowed by the flames could hardly even leave ashes behind, vaporizing instantly! A pungent burnt smell mixed with the stench of charred flesh permeated the entire battlefield! Everywhere they passed, they left behind charred, smoking 'lava carpets'!

Twenty thunderbolt mechas were like messengers of the God of thunderbolt! The lightning projection guns in their hands were switched to high-voltage overload mode!

"Zzzzt—Crack—Boom!!!"

It was no longer scattered arcs of electricity, but condensed into incredibly thick spears of lightning shining with blinding white light! The violent current, like a furious dragon emerging from the sea, instantly pierced through dozens of meters of space! The zombies hit, regardless of size, had their bodies instantly carbonized and expanded under the ultra-high voltage, then exploded violently like ignited firecrackers! The lightning spears swept across, and jumping chain lightning spread crazily through the dense swarm, as rows upon rows of zombies turned into charred charcoal amidst their convulsions!

Blaze Ash's blaze and Yang Yi's thunderbolt were like nuclear explosion points on the battlefield; every thrust and attack created huge voids in the Zombie Tide! Blaze Ash's High-Temperature Cutting Blade was like the Grim Reaper's scythe, every swing bringing with it a flurry of burning remains; Yang Yi's ultra-high-voltage lightning spear was like a precision marking tool, every throw accurately detonating a high-tier zombie!

All the bases across the country watching the broadcast instantly fell into a dead silence! Then, unbelievable exclamations erupted!

"Six... sixty units?! Weren't there only ten yesterday?"

"My god! They were hiding this many yesterday?!"

"This... this firepower... this mobility... it's simply a dimensional reduction strike!"

Just as the various bases were still shocked by the terrifying number and power of the mechas, the Evolver Brigade also arrived at the front lines!

Zhang Lei led the way like a descending God of War! A massive Water-Fire Taiji phenomenon appeared behind him, and a pair of giant wings composed of pure energy—one of ice and one of fire—suddenly unfurled from his back! On the left was burning flame, on the right was freezing ice! With just a light flap of the wings—

"Whoosh—!"

On the left, dozens of zombies were instantly sucked into a flame vortex, turning to ash before they could even scream!

"Crack—!"

On the right, an equal number of zombies were enveloped by extreme cold frost, instantly turning into ice sculptures in various poses, then shattering into ice shards all over the ground under the impact of the zombies behind them!

Within a 10-meter radius around Zhang Lei, the intertwining water and fire energy became an absolute forbidden zone for zombies.

"Come forth! Fire Qilin!" Zhang Lei let out a furious roar that shook the surroundings! His hands formed seals, and a massive crimson magic circle burning with profound runes suddenly unfurled in the sky above him! A pressure from the primordial era instantly enveloped the battlefield!