Chapter 197 - 196: Progress Bar

Chapter 197: Chapter 196: Progress Bar

"Roger that."

Lin Fan spoke only those two words before turning the walkie-talkie’s volume to its minimum and stowing it away.

Leaving within thirty minutes should be doable. After all, Liu Bin and the others had already finished packing, and for dinner, they’d eaten the miscellaneous supplies they were planning to leave behind anyway.

’Those superhumans back at our base are all exhausted, but they don’t have to fight. Just packing up and running should be fine.’

Lin Fan glanced at his watch to check the time. Deciding to trust them, he began to assess the immediate situation.

’Ye Qingniao is the farthest away, but if she’s capable of hiding and smart enough, she should be trying to make her way back here on her own.’

’That guy, Jiang Jing, was the closest. Logically, the zombies shouldn’t have reached him yet. Since we’ve lost contact with him too, his chances are slim.’

’Ye Qingniao is twelve kilometers out. At a full sprint on the ground, it would take me about eight to ten minutes. But if I run into a horde or have to detour around ruins, I won’t be able to maintain top speed. A round trip could take almost half an hour!’

Lin Fan immediately formulated a plan: first, he would push south at full speed to determine the position of the zombie vanguard and prioritize finding Wang Zhong, who was in the middle.

If he couldn’t find him, or once he confirmed his location, he would then push forward again to look for Ye Qingniao. Regardless of whether he found her, he had to turn back within five minutes of encountering the zombie vanguard.

’It would be best if I spot Jiang Jing along the way, but if not, there’s nothing I can do!’

With a thought, a long spear appeared in Lin Fan’s hand. He then broke into a run, sprinting south along the road with all his might!

Only after he burst through the smoke and dust did he realize it wasn’t just that one building that had collapsed. Even the three-story storefronts lining the road were tilted or caved in here and there.

The clouds of dust kicked up along the road had not yet settled, a clear sign that these buildings had fallen at the same time as the large tower.

The street, which had looked at least somewhat normal during the day, now resembled the aftermath of a magnitude seven earthquake—a total ruin.

Yet back at his base, just a few kilometers away, and even at the gas station, no tremor had been felt.

Finding this strange, Lin Fan leaped onto the roof of a storefront that was still standing. With a powerful push, he shot dozens of meters into the air, looking down upon the land below.

’Is this an earthquake? ...But the epicenter isn’t here...’

It wasn’t just the roadside; residential and office buildings within his line of sight for several kilometers to the south had also partially collapsed, exactly as if a small-scale earthquake had just occurred.

But the earthquake’s range was extremely small and its borders sharply defined.

At this point, digging into the cause was meaningless. Dotted red health bars had already appeared beneath the collapsed and leaning residential buildings. Zombies of all kinds, with health ranging from the dozens to the thousands, had been driven out of their hiding spots by the "earthquake."

And in the far distance, a dense, fluorescent "red wave" was slowly slithering along the highway.

Thousands of health bars, hemmed in by the ruins on both sides, were crammed onto the road. Like an all-consuming tide, they "slowly" surged in this direction.

Wherever the horde passed, the Mutated Zombies in the residential complexes or those shaken out of their rooms were immediately drawn by the commotion and merged into the torrent.

The red mass looked just like some sort of progress bar—steady, slow, but unstoppable.

"That’s..."

A few kilometers ahead of the horde, in a residential complex on the right side of the road, a faint yellow health bar flickered in and out of his vision. It was mixed in with several red ones, and tiny flashes of fire sparked intermittently.

He couldn’t make out the exact number on the health bar, but it had a blue border...

’A gun. An Awakened One.’

’It has to be either Wang Zhong or Ye Qingniao!’

’Either one is fine. I’ll save whoever I can!’

Seeing a glimmer of hope, Lin Fan hit the ground and immediately kicked off, racing toward that direction across the ruined rooftops.

...

Wang Zhong scrambled over a low wall and slipped through the back door of a street-facing shop. He stumbled across the room and hid inside a storage closet.

One of his forearms was gone. A faint blue light covered the wound, barely staunching the bleeding. The night-vision goggles on his head were also partially shattered, leaving him with only a small, clear patch of vision.

The sudden earthquake had nearly buried him under that shop. He had barely managed to crawl out using his ability, only to be attacked by a Bone-Spike Zombie, which cost him his forearm.

Fortunately, his ability could also bind the wound, saving him from bleeding out and going into shock. However, two other Mutated Zombies, drawn by the sound of gunfire, had him completely trapped.

The assault vehicle was on the road in the distance. He had to break out and get to it.

Because that vehicle wasn’t just his own path to survival—it was Cyan Bird’s only hope.

The earthquake would undoubtedly stir up the zombie hordes. His purpose here wasn’t just to act as a signal relay; he was also tasked with providing support for Cyan Bird on the front line. For both professional and personal reasons, he had to get that vehicle and continue south.

His walkie-talkie had been smashed during the earthquake. Although he couldn’t contact Cyan Bird, he believed she was definitely still alive.

More than death, he feared that his teammate would fall in that final kilometer because he failed to reach her in time.

Wang Zhong picked up a scrap of cloth from the storage closet floor. Tearing it into strips with his teeth, he used his left hand to tightly bind it around his right upper arm, staunching the blood.

The pain from the mangled stump sent beads of sweat rolling down his forehead, but he clenched his jaw and didn’t make a sound.

Even so, the sound of the cloth tearing carried outside, and the two Bone-Spike Zombies that had been lingering around the building followed the noise, slowly creeping inside.

Eight bone spikes went CLICK-CLACK on the floor, the sound piercing the silent room.

"HUFF... HUFF..."

The pain from his severed arm was muted by the drum-like rhythm of their steps. Wang Zhong suppressed his breathing as much as possible, taking quiet, deep breaths. He filled his lungs with the foul air, letting the oxygen enter his bloodstream and activate the strength in his muscles.

He had dropped his rifle when his arm was severed, and he was out of pistol ammo. Now, he had two full rifle magazines on him, but no gun to use them with...

’That Lin Fan kid was right. Sometimes, a melee weapon is more reliable than a gun...’

He slowly picked up a crowbar from the base of the wall. For some reason, he suddenly recalled that young face.

A faint blue light flowed from his remaining arm onto the crowbar, making it glow as if it were fluorescent.

This was his ability. It could not only form a shield on the surface of his body but also be applied to weapons, making them harder.

Unfortunately, the shop’s only front exit was a roll-down security door, which he couldn’t get through quickly. If he wanted to reach the vehicle now, his only option was to act while the two swift Bone-Spike Zombies were inside the room...

With his left hand, he slowly pulled a grenade from a pocket on his tactical vest and gripped the pin’s ring in his teeth.

The convoy was low on explosives. They had only been able to issue one of these things per person, so they had to be used at the right moment. And this moment was as good as any...

With a soft CLICK, he slowly opened the storage closet door a crack, letting out a faint CREAK.

The two Bone-Spike Zombies that had crept into the room had just turned their heads, drawn by the sound of the opening door, when a series of faint, metallic CLINKS sent them charging straight for the shop’s front entrance!