Volume 1, Chapter 55: Attracting the Corpse Tide

Meanwhile, on the Eastern Suburbs Defensive Line.

Chen Feng stood atop a makeshift command platform, his cool gaze sweeping over the battlefield as it sprang into action.

“Everyone, listen up!” He grabbed the radio, his voice carrying along the entire defensive line. “Build cover at the designated positions and reinforce the fortifications! Survivor teams, start moving ammunition immediately!”

At his command, the whole line erupted into activity.

Hundreds of survivors, directed by soldiers, hauled crate after crate of ammunition through the positions.

Not long ago, the hundred-plus loads of ammunition Lin Ye had acquired in exchange for ten thousand merit points had arrived.

7.62 mm machine-gun rounds, 5.8 mm rifle rounds, 40 mm grenades, 60 mm mortar shells… Mountains of ammunition crates were swiftly distributed to every firing position.

“Move! Faster!” Li Hua bellowed, sweat streaming down his forehead.

Watching the frenzied preparations, he had already guessed most of what was coming.

This was going to be one hell of a fight!

Three CSK181 Mengshi armored vehicles stood a hundred meters in front of the breach in the line. The 12.7 mm heavy machine guns mounted on their roofs had been adjusted to the optimal firing angle.

The soldiers were scrambling to set up obstacles in front of the vehicles.

Wrecked cars, steel barricades, even concrete roadblocks dragged over from a nearby construction site—they stacked them in layer upon layer, building a wall of iron.

“What the hell are they planning?” one survivor muttered as he carried ammunition. “With this many bullets, are they going to wipe out every zombie in the eastern suburbs?”

“Shut up and get back to work!” Leng Feng snapped, joining his enforcement squad in hauling ammunition.

He glanced over the defensive setup, and couldn’t help feeling shaken.

The breach had been deliberately narrowed to a width that would allow only six or seven people to pass side by side. On either side stood reinforced concrete walls.

All the heavy machine guns had been concentrated behind the breach, their black muzzles aimed straight ahead.

“Madman…” Leng Feng murmured. Yet a trace of admiration flickered in his eyes. “That’s one hell of a crazy tactic.”

Behind the defensive line, at the relief station.

Mu Qing led the rescue team in hurriedly preparing medical supplies. Bandages, clotting agents, and morphine syringes were neatly arranged inside a makeshift medical tent.

“Captain Mu, this battle… it’s going to be brutal, isn’t it?” a young nurse asked, trembling.

Mu Qing didn’t answer. She simply gazed toward the defensive line.

More than a dozen light and heavy machine guns were already in place, and the mortar teams were ready as well.

The air was thick with the smell of gunpowder, pressing down on them until it was hard to breathe.

Two hours later, the decoy vehicles were ready.

“Report! All three decoy vehicles have been modified!”

The squad leader wiped the grease from his face and saluted Chen Feng.

The ordinary military trucks had been transformed beyond recognition.

Six high-powered speakers had been mounted on each roof, and specially prepared “bait meat sacks” hung from the rear, packed with rotten flesh and chemicals that reeked of blood.

Most remarkable was the cab: every control had been converted to a remote-control system, ensuring the vehicles could complete their mission without drivers.

Chen Feng inspected them carefully, then nodded in satisfaction. “Good work.”

He turned toward the defensive line. Every combatant was already in position.

The heavy machine-gunners were making their final adjustments, and the mortar crews had set their firing coordinates.

The whole position was terrifyingly quiet, broken only by the faint clink of metal and the soldiers’ heavy breathing.

“Attention, everyone.” Lin Ye’s voice suddenly came through every headset, calm and authoritative. “The decoy operation is beginning. Everyone else, prepare for battle.”

Outside the Financial Center.

Boom! Boom!

Two 60 mm mortar shells streaked across the sky and landed precisely among the horde in the Financial Center plaza.

Flashes of fire swallowed dozens of zombies in an instant, sending severed limbs flying in every direction.

The sudden thunderclaps struck like boulders thrown into still water. The entire horde at the Financial Center erupted!

“Aaaargh!”

Thousands upon thousands of zombies shrieked as one, their rotting heads snapping toward the explosions.

And then—

Thump-thump-thump!

Deafening electronic music burst from the speakers of the three Mengshi trucks, echoing down the empty streets.

The “bait meat sacks” hanging from their rear ends began to release a powerful stench of blood, carried toward the horde on the wind.

“Begin the operation!” Chen Feng ordered.

All three unmanned Mengshi trucks roared to life at once, their engines snarling like beasts as they raced toward the breach.

Behind them came the horde, surging like a tide.

First decoy vehicle: code name “Iron Bull”

Iron Bull’s wheels rolled over a rotting corpse, jolting the truck violently.

Heavy metal blared from the speakers. The bait sack swinging at the rear scattered droplets of blood into the wind.

The images relayed by the rearview cameras made the engineers in the control room draw their breath.

At least a thousand zombies were racing after the truck, shoving and biting at one another. Some were trampled into pulp beneath their own kind, but more and more kept joining the deadly pursuit.

“Speed up! Faster!” the engineering team leader shouted into his microphone. “Eight hundred meters to the defensive line!”

Iron Bull’s engine roared under the strain as it pushed to top speed.

But the zombies were astonishingly fast too. The nearest one was already less than ten meters from the rear of the truck!

Second decoy vehicle: code name “Lightning”

Lightning took a narrow alley, hoping the terrain would help it shake off part of the horde.

The decision nearly knocked it out of the operation early.

Bang!

The truck slammed into an abandoned bus, tearing off its right side mirror.

Worse, the impact loosened the rope securing the bait sack. It could fall off at any moment.

“Keep it steady! Don’t let the bait fall!” In the control room, the operator stared fixedly at the screen, fingers flying over the control panel.

Lightning swerved sharply, narrowly avoiding a collapsed building.

But the delay had allowed the horde to close to within five meters of the truck! A zombie in a security guard’s uniform leapt forward, its rotting fingers barely grazing the railing at the rear.

Third decoy vehicle: code name “Mustang”

Mustang was in the most dangerous situation.

While turning, it ran over a sharp object and blew its right front tire.

Now it could only drag the flattened wheel along at a painfully slow speed of less than forty kilometers per hour.

“Abandon Mustang! Detonate the incendiaries on board!” Chen Feng ordered without hesitation.

The operator pressed the red button at once.

Boom!

A massive fireball erupted beneath Mustang, swallowing every zombie within twenty meters.

The heat melted the corpses like candles, while foul black smoke billowed into the sky.

But the flames only enraged the horde. The remaining zombies lunged even more furiously after the other two decoy vehicles!

The breach in the defensive line: the final five hundred meters.

Iron Bull and Lightning raced side by side toward the breach.

Behind them surged a deadly tide of tens of thousands of zombies!

“Prepare to engage!” Xie Jin’s voice rang out across the defensive line.

The machine-gunners racked their weapons. The mortar crews adjusted their firing angles. Everyone held their breath, waiting for the decisive moment.

“Two hundred meters!” the spotter shouted.

The two decoy trucks hurtled toward the breach like arrows loosed from a bow.

Behind them, the horde had formed a wave three meters high. The zombies in front were close enough for the defenders to see their rotting eyeballs and bared teeth!

“One hundred meters!”

Iron Bull and Lightning shot through the breach at the same time. The engineers immediately brought them to a halt using the remote controls.

And now—

The vanguard of the horde had reached the defensive line!

“Open fire!!!”

At Xie Jin’s command, the entire defensive line erupted in a deafening roar!