Tier-3 Zombies-aside from Yang Bin and Chen Hao, none of the others could guarantee a one-hit kill.
And in this situation, failing to kill in one hit meant getting swarmed.
Skinny Monkey hit that wall first. He failed to drop the Tier-3 Zombie in front of him instantly, and the ones behind it pounced. A hand clamped around his leg and wrenched him downward.
Zhao Kun reacted fast, hacking those grasping hands off with several rapid axe strokes.
But that moment of distraction cost him. Zombies surged up his side. Claws and teeth tore into him instantly-bloody gashes across his torso, a chunk of flesh ripped clean from his thigh.
Zhao Kun sucked in a sharp breath through clenched teeth, refusing to scream. The Fire Axe in his hand never stopped, cutting down the zombies climbing toward him.
With Chen Hao's help, he stabilized again.
The battle ground on. The same scenario kept repeating-Tier-3 Zombies appearing without warning, catching them off guard.
Before long, everyone except Yang Bin was bleeding from wounds of varying severity.
Yang Bin was holding fine. His raw strength made the difference. Tier-2, Tier-3-none of them could get close.
That changed the moment a black figure appeared.
While Yang Bin was deep in his killing rhythm, a zombie in black clothing launched itself at him.
Yang Bin didn't think much of it at first. He swung the Barbell Rod like he had a hundred times already.
The zombie raised a Fire Axe and brought it down directly onto the rod.
Clang.
The impact screamed through the metal. Yang Bin's expression shifted-the sheer force nearly threw him off the car roof.
He barely caught his balance, but the thing had already vaulted up beside him, bringing the axe down at his skull.
Yang Bin whipped the Barbell Rod overhead to block.
Clang.
His arms went numb. His body staggered back several steps and he dropped off the roof entirely.
"Brother Bin!!!"
The others cried out in alarm, wanting to help but pinned down on all sides.
Yang Bin jammed the Barbell Rod into the ground, used the momentum to flip, and landed on his feet. In the same motion he swept the rod in a wide arc, smashing back every zombie lunging at him.
No time to breathe. The black-clad zombie was already on him again, axe cleaving downward.
Yang Bin blocked. Got driven back again.
"Tier-5 Zombie."
His jaw tightened. He didn't need his ability to know. Only a Tier-5 could push him like this.
Zombies kept pouring in from every direction, forcing him to deal with them. But the instant he turned to strike, that axe would come whistling in, forcing him back on defense.
He was completely suppressed.
Worse-the thing was significantly stronger than him. Conservative estimate: at least two thousand kilograms of force.
Every block sent agony shooting through his arms.
He knew with cold clarity: keep this up and he'd die here.
But he couldn't find a way out.
He was deep inside the horde now. Chen Hao and the others couldn't reach him.
They had their own problems. A Tier-4 Zombie had engaged them directly-Chen Hao was the only one holding it off while the rest fought to keep the smaller ones at bay.
"Damn it, we're not dying the same day we got out!" Yang Bin snarled.
Then-gunfire. Close.
Over a dozen Troop Transport Vehicles roared toward them. More than a hundred soldiers in camouflage poured out, assault rifles up, and opened fire into the horde.
The guns did work. Under sustained rifle fire, Tier-1 and Tier-2 zombies dropped in waves.
These soldiers had clearly done this before. Every burst aimed at the head.
Inside the cab of the lead vehicle, two men watched the scene ahead with deepening frowns.
"Why are this many zombies concentrated here?" The middle-aged man in uniform spoke with quiet authority.
"Unknown, sir. But this road is the only route to Zhongxiang Academy. We push through regardless." The younger man beside him-late twenties, hard-jawed-answered without hesitation.
The older man nodded and raised his binoculars.
"There are people in the middle of that."
"People?" The young officer's eyes went wide. "That's not possible."
The middle-aged man handed him the binoculars.
A moment later, disbelief crossed the young man's face.
Someone had actually survived that long inside a horde this size.
"Increase firepower-those people are about to go down!" he ordered sharply.
"Yes sir."
Seconds later, soldiers hauled heavy machine guns off the vehicles.
The guns roared to life. Zombies fell like cut wheat.
Yang Bin's team-already teetering on the edge of despair-heard the gunfire and felt hope slam back into their chests.
The sight of those Troop Transport Vehicles wiped the hopelessness clean away.
In China, certain officials might not deserve your trust. But you could always trust the military. Even in the apocalypse, that dark green camouflage still meant something.
The Tier-5 Zombie-the one that had been beating Yang Bin senseless-saw those heavy machine guns spitting fire and actually flinched.
It looked at Yang Bin. Looked at its minions dropping like flies.
Then the sneaky bastard turned and ran.
Yang Bin stared as the Tier-5 vanished into the retreating horde.
A Tier-5 Zombie that knew when to flee.
"I'll remember this," Yang Bin said through his teeth. "Your crystal is mine."
He wanted to chase it down. But his body wouldn't cooperate-the spirit was willing, the flesh was done.
If the Barbell Rod hadn't been solid steel, he'd have been split in half by now.
As it stood, the webbing between his thumb and forefinger was torn and bleeding. His arms still trembled.
Under the sustained machine gun barrage, over half the zombies fell within minutes.
Then the soldiers stopped firing. Bayonets came out. They charged the survivors and went to close-quarters work.
Two reasons to stop shooting: risk of friendly fire, and ammunition conservation.
Bullets weren't plentiful anymore. They couldn't afford waste.
These soldiers were almost universally Tier-2 Peak, with a good number already at Tier 3. Their combat ability was exceptional-disciplined, coordinated, fast. They cut through zombies at a pace no civilian could match.
Between Yang Bin's team and the hundred-plus soldiers, the remaining few hundred zombies were wiped out in short order.
The Tier-4 Zombie that had engaged Chen Hao went down under his axe. He pocketed the crystal before anyone could blink.
Once the field was clear, the soldiers moved efficiently through the corpses, collecting crystals.
Yang Bin's group said nothing. Those were earned.
Two figures stepped down from the lead Troop Transport Vehicle and walked toward them.
When Yang Bin saw the insignia on their uniforms, surprise flickered across his face.
A Lieutenant Colonel and a Colonel.
Moreover, Yang Bin could read their strength: one at Tier-3 Peak, the other at Tier 4.
"Of course," he thought. "The military's always been the strongest."