Now that the red rain had finally stopped, the two teams began planning how to break through the zombie encirclement outside.
But then, the worst-case scenario happened—the zombies had evolved. Their sense of smell had become more sensitive, and they could now detect the scent of fresh human flesh from up to forty meters away.
In addition, according to the original host's past life memories, evolved zombies would become much harder to kill. Their bones, strengthened by the red rain, would become far tougher and more resilient.
However, Xie Lingruo didn't dare share this knowledge with anyone. If people found out, she could easily end up as a lab rat, experimented on for what she knew.
That said, this group wasn't blind. Even without her saying anything, they quickly noticed something was wrong—a group of fifty to sixty zombies had silently gathered outside at some point.
Additionally, the zombies' previously filthy and rotten appearance had changed—the dirt and gore seemed to have been washed away, and the chunks of rotting flesh were gone. The usual blackened, mangled skin had turned into something almost polished, a bluish-purple hue, like they'd just left a beauty salon.
From their behavior and appearance alone, both Xie Lingfeng and Zhou Yi quickly realized something was different. The change in color was far too obvious to ignore.
Everyone felt a heavy sense of pressure. None of them were stupid—they could all tell that the situation outside was no longer normal.
But to charge out and fight the zombies head-on would be too risky. So, after a quick discussion, the eight of them decided to leave through the back entrance, hoping to reduce the threat.
Before they set out, Xie Lingruo purposely lingered behind, and secretly collected a few more cars into her space just before everyone left.
She had been eyeing those cars for two days, but hadn't made a move due to Zhou Yi's group being present. She didn't want to blatantly reveal the size of her spatial ability.
After all, if others knew how massive her space was, it might spark greed or malicious intent, especially regarding the supplies she had stored. That was a risk Xie Lingruo could not afford.
Once both groups drove out through the back gate, they found about a dozen zombies waiting—not nearly as bad as the front entrance.
They decided to charge straight through with their vehicles, but just as they were about to make a run for it, another twenty zombies suddenly appeared from the side.
This made Xie Lingruo feel that something was off—it was almost as if these zombies were being commanded.
So she activated her psychic-type ability to investigate further.
Sure enough, she discovered that one zombie on the outer perimeter stood out—this one was wearing clean clothes, unlike the others.
That alone indicated it was a higher-level zombie, likely at least Level 2, and capable of controlling nearby zombies.
Now they were faced with two options:
Break through the zombie circle immediately, or
Take down the high-level zombie first, then leave.
Xie Lingruo quickly reported her findings to Xie Lingfeng, who responded calmly: "Let's wait and observe. Stick to the original plan for now."
But very soon, they discovered that even if they broke through the circle, more zombies would just swarm them again shortly after.
In that case, if their cars ran out of fuel or broke down, they'd be in a dangerously passive situation.
They realized they had no choice but to eliminate the unique zombie.
Upon recognizing this, Xie Lingfeng used the radio to inform Zhou Yi and his team of the discovery.
They then prepared to drive closer to the zombie in question, planning to take it out quickly—but at that very moment, a new vehicle appeared in the distance, driving toward them.