Seeing Roger and Xu Hao step forward to deal with the advanced zombie, Lin Xinghai instantly grew alert, watching every movement.
This kind of creature radiated pressure. If he could observe how veterans handled it, he might live through the same one day.
Roger calmly loaded a special round, then pulled a high-power scope from his combat uniform and fixed it to his Ripper rifle. The casual ease he'd shown earlier was gone—his focus now was absolute.
"Are you finally going all out?" Lin thought, anticipation stirring.
Xu Hao, though without special ammunition, also fitted a scope, raised his rifle, and took aim. Unlike before, he held his breath for a long five seconds, waiting for the zombie to close.
When it was within thirty meters—Bang!
The crack of his shot split the air. The advanced zombie, sprinting at terrifying speed, jerked sideways in an uncanny dodge.
Lin's heart clenched. If it had been him shooting, that dodge would have been enough.
But Xu Hao's skill showed. His prediction was perfect—the bullet still drilled into the creature's chest.
Ordinary zombies would have been blown apart. Even intermediates staggered under such force.
This one merely paused. The round lodged against its sternum, drawing only a thin trickle of blood before it steadied itself and surged forward again.
That heartbeat of hesitation, however, was all Roger needed.
Bang!
His rifle barked, the special bullet screaming downrange. The advanced zombie had no chance to evade. The shot punched straight through its forehead, blowing out the back of its skull.
Plop!
The monster crumpled, dead before it hit the ground.
It looked effortless: two shots, two men. But Lin knew the truth. It was their skill—the flawless coordination, the precision of timing—that made it possible.
Roger's marksmanship had to be near seventy percent proficiency. To Lin's estimation, killing such a creature alone would demand at least ninety.
"It's getting more dangerous the deeper we go," Lin thought grimly. "Should I raise my own shooting?"
Even as a gene optimizer, close combat against such monsters was suicide. Only guns could level the field. But blood energy was limited. If he spent too much on marksmanship now, he might not have enough to complete his optimization later.
And back at the shelter, he couldn't even use a gun openly. His strength had to come from himself—especially with the Axe Gang still out there.
He sighed, forcing the worry aside. "One step at a time. For now, just kill zombies."
The convoy pressed onward as though nothing had happened. None of the older mercenaries even spared the dead advanced zombie a glance. Clearly, this was routine, and they trusted Roger and Xu Hao to handle it.
Their confidence proved justified. As the group drove deeper, more intermediate zombies appeared, with advanced ones striking from all directions. Each time, the response was the same: one man's bullet staggered the creature, another's special round ended it with a shot to the head.
Minutes slid by. In twenty minutes, they covered seven kilometers.
Lin noticed the path wasn't random. The route had been cleared during a previous expedition. Without that preparation, the convoy would've been forced to hack through rubble, collapsed buildings, and broken roads at every turn.
Even so, accidents were inevitable.
The convoy rolled onto a cracked, uneven street littered with wrecked cars and stone. But the true obstacle loomed ahead: an entire ten-story building had collapsed across the road, forming an impassable wall.
This hadn't fallen during the last expedition. Its ruin was fresh.
Lin frowned. "What do they do in this situation?"
The answer came quickly.
The mechas "Split Sky" and "Sky Frost," which had stood idle until now, leapt from their carriers. Pneumatic systems hissed, propelling their five-meter frames forward.
Zombies swarmed toward them, but against alloy plating they were toys. The machines kicked aside clusters of undead as easily as clearing gravel.
Reaching the fallen tower, Fang Tianhe's "Split Sky" drew its vibration blade.
Swish, swish, swish!
The mecha moved with startling grace, its massive arm a blur as the blade carved through concrete and steel. In moments, the high-rise was reduced to massive slabs.
Then the two mechas set down their weapons and bent to their new task—hauling the wreckage piece by piece, clearing a path through the ruins.