Chapter 266 - 146: Mori Town

Chapter 266: Chapter 146: Mori Town

SCREECH—!

The sound of brakes screeched as the SUV came to a steady halt on the road. The engine didn’t die; it maintained a low, idling roar.

The moment the vehicle stopped, Xu Mo had already pushed open the driver’s side door. As he got out, he was already holding his AK-47. With his other hand, he pulled the Barrett from inside the vehicle and slung it over his back.

He raised the AK-47, the muzzle aimed steadily in the direction of his pursuers.

The Agile Zombies in the distance were the first to bear down on him. They seemed not to have expected their prey to stop so suddenly, but their bloodthirsty instincts drove them to charge forward without hesitation!

These Agile Zombies clawed at the ground with all fours, kicking up clouds of dust. Behind them were the heavy figures of the Strength Zombies.

"Sometimes, chasing the wrong person gets you nowhere. Don’t you guys know that?"

Xu Mo muttered under his breath, locking onto the Agile Zombie at the very front, the one closest to him.

BANG!

The crisp sound of a single shot rang out. A 7.62mm bullet spun out of the barrel at an extremely high velocity, tore through the air, and precisely drilled into the zombie’s twisted head, just to the left of the space between its brows.

The immense kinetic energy instantly pulped what little brain tissue it had left, blowing a bowl-sized hole out the back of its skull and splattering a mix of shattered bone and a viscous, blackish-red substance.

The Agile Zombie looked as if it had been struck head-on by an invisible sledgehammer. Its forward momentum came to an abrupt halt, its body twisting grotesquely as it slammed into the dust, never to move again.

Xu Mo’s expression didn’t flicker in the slightest. With a minute adjustment of his wrist, his muzzle was already aimed at the next target.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

A series of single shots rang out in a steady rhythm with minimal delay between them.

With every shot, a sprinting Agile Zombie’s head would explode or a vital part of its body would be pierced, causing it to collapse lifelessly.

Xu Mo’s shooting was ruthlessly efficient. He made full use of the AK-47’s reliability and power at medium range, along with the superior stability and dynamic vision granted by his Iron Bone Realm, to precisely reap the lives of the Agile Zombies.

The remaining Agile Zombies were oblivious to the deaths of their companions. They showed no fear or hesitation, simply continuing their frenzied charge with turbid eyes and rotting mouths dripping with saliva.

This was one of the most terrifying things about zombies—there was no individual consciousness to allow for fear, only a group instinct driving a relentless, all-or-nothing assault.

’Eleven...’ Xu Mo counted silently as the bullets from his AK-47’s magazine roared out, knocking over the last Agile Zombie that had charged within fifty meters.

Eleven Level 1 Agile Mutant Zombies, all turned into corpses littering the road and its shoulders in under a minute.

Xu Mo quickly hit the magazine release. The spent mag dropped as his other hand smoothly pulled a fresh, full one from his tactical vest and slammed it into the rifle.

He had no time to admire his handiwork; the next threat was closing in.

The Strength Zombies, though slower, had now drawn considerably closer. Their heavy footfalls thudded against the ground, their burly frames exuding an oppressive, brutish aura as they advanced.

Standard rifle rounds would be less effective against their thick muscles and potentially mutated bones. It was time to bring out the big gun.

Xu Mo slung the AK-47 over his back and switched to the Barrett. The heavy anti-materiel sniper rifle was cool to the touch, but it brought him an immense sense of security.

After a quick check of the weapon’s status, Xu Mo leaned against the warm front tire, rested the Barrett’s heavy frame on a relatively flat spot on the edge of the hood, adjusted his position, and pressed his right eye to the high-powered optical scope.

His vision instantly zoomed in, the crosshairs steadily locking onto the Strength Zombie at the very front of the pack.

Through the scope, Xu Mo could even see the bulging, bluish-black veins on its swollen, twisted neck, and the jagged, filth-encrusted fangs in its gaping mouth.

Xu Mo’s index finger rested lightly on the cool, wide trigger, and he began to apply pressure.

Just as he was about to pull the trigger and end the Strength Zombie’s existence with a thunderous strike—

AWOOO—!!!

A violent roar, like that of a wild beast, suddenly erupted from the sparse woodland just off the right side of the road. The cry was filled with a primitive wildness and a predator’s menace—definitely not a sound a zombie could make!

A jolt of shock went through Xu Mo, and his trigger finger froze by reflex.

The timing of that sudden roar was too perfect! And along with the sound, Xu Mo clearly heard a series of CRACKLING noises from the woods to his right—the sound of dry branches being snapped and fallen leaves being violently rustled!

Something was moving through the woods at an incredible speed, and it was getting closer to the road—closer to his position!

’Another predator?!’

’If I get caught in a pincer attack, or if this beast is somehow cooperating with the zombies, I’ll be in deep trouble!’

Xu Mo subconsciously glanced at the idling SUV—thankfully, the engine was still running. He could take off at any moment.

He then vaulted onto the roof of the vehicle, his gaze locked firmly on the patch of woods to his right. It was sparse, but still dense enough to conceal a medium-sized creature or larger.

The sound grew closer. The disturbance it made moving through the trees was like a fish darting across the water’s surface, creating a distinct "ripple" across the tops of the bushes and grass!

The vegetation parted and then quickly closed again, a testament to the creature’s considerable speed and power!

’No time to think! Whether it’s the zombies or this unknown beast, I can’t let either of them get too close!’

Xu Mo abruptly swung the Barrett’s muzzle, abandoning his shot at the Strength Zombie. He instead aimed it at a point just ahead of the "ripple" moving through the woods to his right—he was going to intercept it!