Chapter 214 - 205: Suicide Squad 2

Chapter 214: Chapter 205: Suicide Squad 2

He didn’t explain further, just gave Zhang Ziyi a push toward the convoy.

"Take care of Haitao and the others... and everyone..."

Having said his piece, he tightened his gun strap and returned to Chu Zhaotian’s side.

"I’m going too. I can fight..."

Wang Yuanhua stepped up beside Liu Bin and said in a low voice.

He had overheard the conversation between Liu Bin and Zhang Ziyi and understood what Liu Bin meant.

Everyone believed Lin Fan wasn’t dead. If he hadn’t caught up, something must have held him back, but he would definitely return.

’That being the case, his only options were to either flee and never see Lin Fan again, or leave with the convoy.’

’But that was precisely where he differed from Liu Bin’s group. He was an Awakened One, and he knew perfectly well that these people weren’t *that* important to Lin Fan.’

’Though he was nominally part of Liu Bin’s faction, that wasn’t really the case. As a "wild Awakened One" who joined later, he’d always been a party of one.’

’Liu Bin’s group could have a representative, the military could have a representative, but he could only represent himself. His only option was to throw in his lot with these Awakened Ones who were Lin Fan’s "kin"—to live or die together. There was no other choice.’

’Besides, he had fought alongside Su Qing. And he owed Lin Fan his life.’

’He had to go back for Su Qing. Whether for camaraderie or for self-preservation, it was his only option.’

"Me too..."

"The hell you are!"

Yu Wentao had just excitedly begun to speak when Cheng Qi’s fist flashed out, striking him on the side of the face. The precisely controlled force knocked him unconscious in a single blow.

Nearby, Captain Tan’s eye twitched as he watched, and he instinctively took half a step back.

"Take a little nap. When you wake up, you’ll be on duty watching Wang Zhong and those researchers..."

As he spoke, Cheng Qi hoisted Yu Wentao over his shoulder and shoved him into the truck where the unconscious Wang Zhong lay. Seeing this, the researchers inside scrambled to receive their new "guest."

Liu Bin’s men were guarding this truck; after all, they didn’t fully trust Captain Tan.

"We’ll take the armored car..."

’Ye Qingniao and Jiang Jing were missing, and the fate of Ye Qingzhou and the other two was unknown. From what the little girl said, their vehicle had flipped, but the zombie horde hadn’t arrived yet. Regardless, one of the two of them had to go back.’

’Yu Wentao was a technician; he was more valuable to the convoy if he stayed. Rescue missions like this were a job for a brute like him.’

’Best case, we save five people. Worst case, we lose one. That’s a good trade.’

Cheng Qi climbed directly into the driver’s seat of the armored car. He slammed on the gas, grinding against the makeshift barricade of cars, knocked down a small tree, and wrenched the vehicle’s nose around.

The armored car had been positioned at the rear of the convoy, meant to be used to block the zombies as a last resort. Ye Qingzhou had already planned to abandon it—all its equipment was fried, leaving nothing but a mobile "iron tortoise." Now was the perfect time to send it on one last run with the crew.

"Get in!"

He opened the vehicle’s door and waved them over, then turned his head and shouted to Captain Tan, who was still standing off to the side, stunned by the group’s swift action.

"Captain Tan, there’s a parking lot five kilometers east on the route we planned. If you’re smart, you know what to do!"

The men below didn’t hesitate. Liu Bin and Chu Zhaotian helped Chu Zhaozhao scramble through the half-open hatch. Xu Qian and Wang Yuanhua vaulted onto the roof, grabbing the twisted machine cannon for support and pounding on the front viewport.

"Go!"

The armored car’s turbo-diesel engine let out a low growl. The twenty-ton steel behemoth ignored the hastily assembled barricade, plunging headfirst into the southern darkness that the two searchlights could not pierce.

Watching the armored car disappear into the distance, Captain Tan stood frozen for a moment before collecting himself with a sigh.

"Head north on Tianshui Road for one kilometer, then turn right. Five kilometers east. Our destination is the Yueshui Road parking lot!"

"All personnel, to your vehicles! Move out! Now!"

Once the order was given, all other chatter ceased. Engines rumbled to life as the vehicles slowly began to move. Even the two RVs were handed over to Liu Bin’s people to drive.

There were few zombies on Tianshui Road. The convoy reached the intersection and turned east, plunging into the darkness just as the armored car had done...

...

SCREEE—!

A sharp blade slammed down on a shield already covered in scratches and bent out of shape.

At the same instant, a blood-soaked hand thrust a longsword out from behind the shield. The blade passed precisely over the descending weapon and sank into the torso behind it. Imbued with some strange, lingering power, the sword edge cut through the monster’s side without resistance. Then, with a flick of the wrist, the blade sliced downward!

RIIIIP—!

The single stroke nearly ripped open half the monster’s chest cavity, spewing a thick, dark-brown fluid.

But that was all it did.

Su Qing could only watch in horror as countless fleshy tendrils writhed within the wound like a nest of boiling maggots. The very air around it seemed to shimmer as some unseen substance was drawn into the creature.

The wound was deep enough to expose bone, yet the monster didn’t pause for even a fraction of a second. Riding the momentum, its bladed limb swept back around in a vicious, unnatural arc that defied human anatomy.

CLANG!

Su Qing had lost count of how many times she had raised her shield, how many times she had thrust her sword.

Her left arm, braced behind the shield, was numb from the repeated impacts. Her body was covered in cuts.

’Luckily, the wounds were just numb. No blood, no pain. Otherwise, I can’t imagine how I’d have held on this long.’

She parried the blow and immediately fell back, sidestepping to clear the line of fire for the overturned assault vehicle behind her.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

A series of shots rang out from the overturned vehicle. Zhang Wenyuan was hanging at an extremely awkward angle from the mounted machine gun post, both hands locked onto the heavy weapon’s spade grips as he fired in precise bursts.

With every shot, the massive recoil jolted his dangling body. Scalding hot casings, thick as cigars, ejected upwards, and in his awkward position, nearly every one of them landed on his rain-slicked face with a faint SIZZLE, raising a wisp of steam and branding a red mark. Yet he remained perfectly still, eyes narrowed, fighting the sting of rainwater in his eyes as he kept his aim true.

Three 12.7mm full-power rounds easily shredded the flesh of "Jiang Jing," mangling its upper torso and bringing it to a temporary halt. But the blade in its hand never loosened its grip.

That was the head of Su Qing’s spear.

After several clashes, the monster had hacked the spear’s mundane iron shaft into countless pieces. The remaining handle on the spearhead grew shorter with each blow, until it was little more than a long dagger.

But since this "dagger" was the only thing that could withstand Su Qing’s seemingly indestructible longsword, the monster would retrieve its "weapon" at the earliest opportunity, even if its arm was blown off.

Zhang Wenyuan and Su Qing had been coordinating like this for several rounds now.

"Two shots left..."

Blood dripped from the corner of his mouth as he shouted to Su Qing, his voice strained and hoarse.

When the assault vehicle suddenly lost its balance and flipped, the three ordinary people inside only had time to grab a handhold before being slammed hard against the roof.

Luckily, the chassis and doors were solid, so no one was dragged underneath—otherwise, the multi-ton vehicle would have crushed them into paste.

Even so, only the powerfully built Zhang Wenyuan remained conscious; the other two were knocked out cold.

Once he came to his senses, Zhang Wenyuan had just enough time to check the others’ vitals before scrambling out to man the vehicle’s machine gun and support Su Qing.

"Wait until I can’t hold on any longer to fire..."

Su Qing stood her ground, taking a few gasping breaths to recover her strength. Before the monster could fully regenerate, she charged again, clashing with the half-healed creature.

The blaze was nearly extinguished, with only residual fuel in the vehicle’s wreckage still belching black smoke.

The swarms of tentacles that had driven them to despair had long since discovered they were easily severed by Su Qing’s sword. They had cunningly retracted, disappearing from sight.

Only the thick, root-like tendrils that occasionally shot out from the mud below, striking like vipers, forced Su Qing to divide her attention and constantly shift her position.

The monster was wearing her down.

It was like the ruins themselves, possessed of an inexhaustible life force.

Meanwhile, Su Qing could feel the power that had surged through her like lava beginning to cool. The scorching heat deep in her spine was fading, replaced by a terrifying, heart-palpitating emptiness and cold.

The potion was wearing off. ℴ

And the monster... was only getting stronger.