Chapter 39: The Hunters

Yue Zhong shook his head, "We don't have enough drivers. We can only take one truck for now."

Once in the truck, Wang Shuang, sitting in the driver's seat, asked Yue Zhong, "Where to now?"

Yue Zhong thought for a moment and said gravely, "Head to Leijiang Bridge on Xingning Road!"

Hearing Yue Zhong's words, Wang Shuang was shocked, "Leijiang Bridge on Xingning Road? Past that is Zhongshan Road. That area is the commercial district and pedestrian street of Leijiang City. The number of zombies there will be dozens of times higher than anywhere else, Yue Zhong! Are we really going there?"

"Exactly!" Yue Zhong said firmly.

"I understand!" Wang Shuang gritted his teeth, turned the truck around, and headed towards Leijiang Bridge.

On Leijiang Bridge, wrecked cars were everywhere. Even the bridge's guardrails had been smashed in multiple places, and the entire bridge was blocked by vehicles. Zombies roamed the lanes.

In the bustling commercial areas, the roads were usually blocked by abandoned vehicles. Only the less crowded streets allowed for passage. When the world changed, many people had been trapped on the roads and eventually devoured by zombies.

On the other side of Leijiang Bridge was the most bustling commercial district of Leijiang City, where tens of thousands of people would gather every weekend to shop and play.

Now, that once-thriving area had become the most dangerous place in Leijiang City.

As soon as Yue Zhong's group arrived at Leijiang Bridge, the zombies on the bridge began staggering towards them.

Sitting in the truck, Yue Zhong looked towards the end of the bridge.

At the far end of Leijiang Bridge stood a series of strange, photon-like gates. In front of these gates were four humanoid creatures with tails, crawling on all fours, their bodies dark brown, two meters long, and hideously ugly.

"Level 20 Boss: Hunter Type 1. These are another evolutionary path of the infected after being eroded by the virus. They retain only the instinct to hunt. Their combat instincts are formidable, with no weaknesses in speed or strength. Innate skill: Virus Infection."

As if alerted by the sound of Yue Zhong's engine, the Hunters, which had been feasting on zombies, raised their heads, discarded their prey, and charged towards the truck.

The four Hunters were incredibly agile, leaping like cheetahs over the wrecked cars and through the zombie hordes, closing the distance at an alarming speed.

"Retreat!!" Yue Zhong's face turned pale as he shouted at Wang Shuang.

Without hesitation, Wang Shuang turned the truck around and floored the accelerator, fleeing at full speed.

The powerful Dongfeng truck plowed through the zombies blocking the road, speeding away.

The four Hunters gave chase. After crossing the bridge, two of them stopped—one returned to guard the photon gates, while the other stayed at the bridgehead. The remaining two Hunters continued their pursuit, their limbs moving like cheetahs as they closed in on Yue Zhong's group.

The two Hunters, true to their Level 20 Boss status, were faster than the Dongfeng truck, which had a top speed of 80 km/h.

Bit by bit, the two Hunters closed the gap.

"What do we do, Yue Zhong?" Wang Shuang, pale and sweating, looked at the rearview mirror and asked Yue Zhong. He had never seen monsters that could outrun a vehicle before, and he instinctively felt the terror of the Hunters. Those creatures were far beyond his ability to handle.

"Take the highway!" Yue Zhong said firmly.

Wang Shuang nodded and immediately steered the truck towards the highway.

"It's over!" Wang Shuang's heart sank as he approached the highway and saw the situation ahead.

The highway was completely jammed with vehicles of all kinds, leaving no room to pass. Clearly, when the world changed, many car owners had tried to escape via the highway, only to be trapped there.

The Dongfeng truck had no way of getting through the blocked highway.

Yue Zhong's eyes flashed coldly, "Stop! Prepare for battle."

Wang Shuang knew there was no escaping the monsters that could outrun the truck. He gritted his teeth and brought the vehicle to a halt.

"Use guns! Don't use the beginner's wooden clubs!" Yue Zhong grabbed the Type 79 submachine gun from his chest and jumped out of the truck. Facing Level 20 Boss Hunters, engaging them in close combat with a wooden club would be suicide. Each of them had brought a Type 79 submachine gun and six magazines for this trip.

At this life-or-death moment, even the usually timid Wang Shuang picked up his Type 79 submachine gun and jumped out of the truck, standing beside Yue Zhong. Only by staying close to Yue Zhong could he muster the courage to fight.

Chi Yang and Ji Qingwu also quickly jumped out of the truck, gripping their Type 79 submachine guns tightly.

The two Hunters were incredibly fast, closing the 50-meter gap in the blink of an eye.

"Fire!" Yue Zhong roared, channeling his fear into the shout as he pulled the trigger, unleashing a barrage of bullets at the two Hunters.

Wang Shuang, Chi Yang, and Ji Qingwu also opened fire, spraying bullets at the two Hunters.

Bullets flew everywhere. Although Yue Zhong's group had poor aim, some of the bullets still hit the Hunters, creating bloody holes in their bodies. Dark blood oozed from the wounds. Due to the Hunters' speed, some bullets even passed straight through their bodies.

If these had been ordinary creatures, they would have collapsed from such injuries. But the two Hunters remained agile, leaping towards the group. Unlike the mindless zombies, the Hunters immediately began evading, dodging and weaving unpredictably.

Even Hunters would die if their brains were shot and destroyed. Similarly, if their joints were hit, their mobility would be affected.

Yue Zhong's group had poor aim to begin with, and with the Hunters' evasive maneuvers and incredible speed, it was nearly impossible to hit them.

A magazine of 20 bullets was quickly emptied. As the group reloaded, the two Hunters pounced like cheetahs.