Chapter 131 - 101: Superpowered Squad

Chapter 131: Chapter 101: Superpowered Squad

Xu Mo subconsciously followed his gaze toward the sky. The clear blue expanse held only a few thin clouds; he saw nothing out of the ordinary.

He looked away from the sky and back to the red-haired woman on the stretcher. Another young man from the squad, whose complexion was hardly better than the injured woman’s, darted to the stretcher’s side. Without hesitation, he reached out and placed his hand over the wound on her abdomen, which was still seeping blood.

The next moment, a spectacle unfolded that astonished Xu Mo and the many other survivors who had noticed the commotion.

A soft, unstable white light suddenly ignited in the young man’s palm. The light seemed to have a life of its own, trembling faintly. As fine beads of sweat broke out on the young man’s brow and his face grew ever paler, the light slowly seeped, bit by bit, into the woman’s wound.

Miraculously, the gushing blood visibly slowed, then stopped completely.

"Superpower User?!"

This time, it wasn’t Xu Mo. The gasp came clearly from several onlookers nearby, filled with disbelief and a hint of awe.

After completing the seemingly simple yet utterly draining treatment, the young Superpower User swayed violently. The last trace of color fled his face, leaving it as white as a sheet. His breath came in ragged gasps, and he looked ready to collapse. Fortunately, a quick-acting teammate caught him just in time.

Just then, Xu Mo finally heard the roar of helicopter blades approaching from the distance. He looked up again to see a small black dot speeding toward them. It grew rapidly, soon revealing the distinct silhouette of a helicopter.

The helicopter circled once over the temporary base, found a spot, and landed steadily in an open area next to the infantry fighting vehicle. The cabin door slid open, and several people in white uniforms—clearly professional medical personnel—jumped out and quickly coordinated a handover with the medics on the ground. They carefully carried both the red-haired woman on the stretcher and the exhausted young healing-type Superpower User onto the helicopter.

The rotors spun up again, kicking up clouds of dust. The helicopter rapidly gained altitude, sped off in the direction of Jiang City, and quickly vanished from sight.

As for the others who had disembarked from the IFV, they were led elsewhere by one of the soldiers.

From the IFV’s dramatic arrival to the helicopter’s departure, the entire process took only a few minutes. It was astonishingly efficient.

’A standard Superpower User combat squad...’ Xu Mo thought, his gaze distant. ’They must have been on a high-difficulty mission deep within the Red Star Industrial Zone, suffered heavy casualties, and were forced to make an emergency retreat. That burly man was likely a Defense or Strength Type Superpower User, and the young man is a rare healer.’

’Their injuries...’ Xu Mo’s mind raced. ’Judging by the marks on the IFV and their battered condition, their opponent was no ordinary zombie. If they were wounded by a mutant zombie, or something even stranger, could it cause zombification?’ He recalled the wound on the red-haired woman’s abdomen—it hadn’t looked like a simple tear.

’And yet, when they were evacuated to the core district, none of them—especially not the red-haired woman—showed any obvious signs of zombification, despite her severe injuries. Is it just a matter of time, or does Jiang City—or more accurately, the Superpower User system—have a way to suppress or even cure zombification?’ The thought sent a jolt through Xu Mo.

If that were true, it would mean there was another glimmer of hope in the fight against this apocalyptic disaster. It would also mean that the value and status of Superpower Users were likely even higher than he had previously imagined.

’When the time is right, maybe I can try to find some information about Superpower Users,’ Xu Mo mused. ’I don’t need to dig deep, but I should at least get a basic understanding of the situation.’

Pushing those thoughts aside for the time being, Xu Mo stopped wandering and returned to the rest area. The incident had provided valuable information, but his first priority was to make sure he was in good condition. He lay back down on his cot, closed his eyes to rest, and waited for night to fall.

At six in the evening, Xu Mo and Feng Dayong woke up on schedule. They went to the logistics point for dinner, then headed to their designated assembly point.

Last night’s commander, Zhao Ming, and his team had been relieved to rest. Taking over the defense of Position C-07 was another full-sized combat squad, led by a commander named Wang Nade—an equally capable and steady-looking veteran.

After briefly confirming Xu Mo’s identity, Captain Wang was quite courteous. He assigned Xu Mo to a firing position in the central section of the line, where he would be responsible for medium-to-close-range fire support and the precision elimination of specific threats. Feng Dayong was once again tasked with ammunition supply, partnered with another survivor.

Night fell on schedule, completely swallowing the ruins ahead in darkness. The position’s floodlights had already been switched on, while massive beams from searchlights swept back and forth across the more distant rubble, searching for any suspicious movement.

The first wave of zombies attacked around nine o’clock that night. The horde was small—about thirty or so, mostly ordinary zombies.

But at the rear of the horde, two Agile Mutant Zombies moved like phantoms. Staying low to the ground, they used the shadows of craters and wreckage to silently circle toward the flank, probing for a weak point in the field of fire.

"Two o’clock! Two high-speed targets!" the spotter yelled out a timely warning.