Chapter 27: Encounter with a Mutant Zombie

Lin Xinghai sat inside the multi-functional off-road vehicle, lost in thought for a full five minutes before finally collecting his senses. During this time, the other team members hadn't disturbed him, likely assuming he needed time to adjust. Seeing them struggling to advance while fighting off zombies, Lin felt an inexplicable sense of guilt for sitting idle.

Pulling himself together, he raised his Ripper rifle and began to assist the others in picking off the zombies lunging toward them. Since he was already here, he didn't mind doing his part. Moreover, completing the mission successfully promised substantial rewards, and he wouldn't turn down a dozen or so vials of gene serum—that would solve all his problems.

*Rat-tat-tat-tat!*

Lin began to go all out, observing the elite squad as he did. The entire unit, including himself, consisted of only 17 people. While he wasn't yet sure of their close-quarters combat abilities, he had a good grasp of their marksmanship. Only two members were better than him: Roger and a sniper named Song Mu. Another three had skill levels comparable to his, including Xu Hao and two others from the second and third squads. Essentially, the team's forward momentum relied on a defensive fire net maintained by these five. Strictly speaking, it was four, as Song Mu’s sniper rifle provided limited sustained fire.

When Lin had been lost in thought, the defensive line had grown strained, and zombies frequently reached their front. Once he went all out, the situation shifted immediately. With his superior marksmanship and the luxury of firing from the vehicle, his kill efficiency surpassed everyone else's. This came as a surprise to the team; they had expected him to need time to adapt to the bumpy ride. Instead, after a five-minute pause, he erupted with incredible performance. Seeing his efficiency, the others tacitly adjusted, leaving a sector of the defensive perimeter to him.

*Clang!*

Propelled by its pneumatic system, the off-road vehicle leaped high, clearing an obstacle. Lin, now accustomed to this, took advantage of the elevated vantage point to aim at three zombies eighty meters away, pulling the trigger in rapid succession.

With three gunshots, the zombies collapsed. These were common zombies with limited dodging ability, and at eighty meters, Lin was confident in his headshots. As the vehicle landed, he quickly fired two more shots to the side, neutralizing two intermediate zombies forty meters away. Through brief adaptation, he had mastered using the vehicle’s jumps to create a three-dimensional, multi-range attack pattern, maximizing efficiency and preventing the zombies from clustering into a threat.

This was no easy feat. The vehicle was only in the air for two or three seconds, and identifying which targets were common zombies in that time was exceptionally difficult. Of course, Lin wasn't a god; he managed this solely because of the zombie detector inside the vehicle. A glance at the screen told him exactly how many zombies were appearing, their positions, and their strength. He also noted a purple dot appearing in the top right corner.

"Three o'clock, three hundred meters. Advanced zombie," Lin shouted to Roger outside.

Roger gave an "OK" sign and replied, "Watch my defensive line."

"Got it!" Lin replied concisely.

Thirty seconds later, the advanced zombie was neutralized. The entire operation flowed seamlessly, and the team’s speed didn't slow by even a fraction. Through the intense combat, the team not only acknowledged Lin's strength but began to regard him as a backbone of the unit.

*Thump, thump, thump.*

The team continued to run while fighting. Even under these conditions, they maintained a speed of forty kilometers per hour—such was the capability of gene optimizers, whose physical prowess far exceeded that of ordinary people. Of course, they encountered issues; sometimes they hit terrain too complex for even the multi-functional vehicles. The first time this happened, Lin had been excited, wondering if they would abandon the vehicles and proceed on foot, but his hopes were dashed when the "Sky-Splitter" and "Frost-Sky" mechs simply picked up the vehicles and jumped over the obstacles. Lin: "..." With that, the team surged forward, and Lin abandoned any thought of getting out.

Soon, they had covered three kilometers. Lin fired three shots, neutralized three zombies, and pulled the nearly empty magazine to insert it into the auto-loader. Suddenly, the zombie detector emitted a piercing alarm. Lin, now accustomed to it, glanced at it casually—but this time, he froze.

In the bottom right corner of the screen, a black dot had appeared. Zombies were color-coded by strength: pale red for common, deep red for intermediate, and purple for advanced. It could be understood as "red turning to purple." But what did black represent? Purple turning to black?

Thoughts raced through his mind. Without hesitation, Lin shouted, "Old Luo, there's a black dot on the detector. What's going on?"

As soon as he spoke, the entire advancing team shuddered to a halt, and many of the veteran mercenaries looked visibly tense. Then, a mercenary in another vehicle sounded the alarm with a strained voice: "Attention everyone, a mutant zombie is approaching us at high speed."

If only Lin had said it, it might have been a miscalculation, but with two reports, there was no mistake. They were unlucky enough to have encountered a mutant zombie.

"Leave the mutant zombie to Han Xue and me. Set up a defensive formation where you are and prepare for a retreat," Fang Tianhe’s steady voice rang out, instantly easing everyone’s tension.