After Fang Tianhe gave the order, he took Shen Han and left the team, heading directly toward the mutant zombies.
The three team leaders—Roger, Wu Yan, and Xu Haishui—immediately organized the remaining members into a defensive formation. These were veteran mercenaries; the so-called arrangement barely required words. Within seconds, everyone had chosen suitable terrain and positioned themselves with the two multi-purpose off-road vehicles to create a strong defensive line.
"Captain Luo," Lin Xinghai seized the moment to ask, "if the captain and deputy captain are dealing with the mutant zombies, why do we still need a defensive formation?"
Roger's expression was serious. "Mutant zombies never appear alone. They're like kings among zombies. Whenever one shows up, it's always followed by a horde."
Lin Xinghai glanced at the zombie detector, and his scalp tingled. The screen was filled with densely packed red dots—over three hundred zombies—and a dozen purple dots mixed in, representing high-level zombies, all following the black light of the mutant.
Sweat seeped from Lin Xinghai's palms. This was no minor threat. He considered whether he should spend blood energy to push his basic shooting skills to 100%—but hesitated.
Roger's calm voice cut through his thoughts. "There's a secret compartment under the armrest on your right. It contains special bullets. If needed, you can reload yourself."
Lin Xinghai's mood lifted slightly. He opened the compartment and found two rows of bullets. One row was completely black—armor-piercing rounds, like the ones Roger used to kill high-level zombies. The other row was fiery red, labeled incendiary bombs. Thirty rounds of each type, not a lot, but enough for the situation.
Roars erupted from the distance. The zombie horde came into view. Leading the group was a massive, four-meter-tall creature, its black stratum corneum reflecting sunlight like metallic armor.
"Fortunately, it's an armored corpse," Roger muttered with relief.
Lin Xinghai asked cautiously, "Is this mutated zombie easy to handle?"
Roger shook his head. "The Ironclad Zombie's stratum corneum is practically impenetrable, giving it extreme defensive power. Any ordinary mercenary group would be in serious trouble. But our captain has a special ability that restrains this type of zombie. In a way, this is a blessing."
Lin Xinghai nodded, understanding the gravity of their task. "So our focus should be holding the line until they return?"
Roger nodded.
Lin Xinghai turned to Qin Yang, the off-road vehicle driver. "Brother Yang, do you have any spare magazines?"
"Yes," Qin Yang replied, handing over an empty magazine. Despite being the team's weakest member, his respect for Lin Xinghai's marksmanship was evident.
Lin Xinghai loaded the armor-piercing bullets and prepared himself. Soon, the zombie swarm was just a hundred meters away.
Boom! Boom!
The hand cannon opened fire, followed by the two electromagnetic railguns. Collapsed buildings scattered throughout the city limited the railguns' effectiveness, but every shot contributed to slowing the horde.
Lin Xinghai noticed Roger wasn't firing with the rest. When the zombies closed to thirty meters, Roger raised his gun, firing five bullets in rapid succession. They hit nothing—but each bullet triggered a ball of fire, each ten meters in diameter. The five incendiary bombs linked to form a blazing wall, forcing zombies to scatter and breaking up their collective charge. The mercenary line avoided being overwhelmed.
Still, the swarm pressed forward. Wu Yan, the second captain, shouted, "Physical gene optimizers, follow me!" Lifting a two-meter-high shield with one hand, he led the charge to intercept the zombies.
The defense line was immediately stretched. Each physical mercenary faced four or five zombies at once. Xu Haishui quickly gathered additional power-type gene optimizers, reinforcing the line.
Even with all this, the situation was grim.
Roger's voice cut through the chaos: "Prioritize the high-level zombies! They're the greatest threat."
Lin Xinghai gritted his teeth, raising the Ripper rifle. His focus narrowed. Every shot counted now.