New Base-1

Marcus stood up after a few minutes of rest. He still felt the slight pain of exhaustion, but thanks to his 6 STR stat, he was recovering quickly. General Joseph, Eliza, and the other soldiers had gathered around him. Marcus took a deep breath and stepped forward to take charge of the team.

"If you're ready, we're moving out," Marcus said in a decisive tone.

Joseph nodded in agreement and gave Marcus a slight smile of support. In these dark days, a true leader was emerging, and Marcus' rise to this role was reassuring to Joseph.

Marcus led the way, followed by Joseph, Eliza, and the three pilots, Pete, Bradley, and Tom, with the other nine soldiers marching behind them in orderly formation. They made their way cautiously into the depths of the forest. The surroundings were quiet, but everyone was on high alert. They had about twenty miles to go, and no one knew where danger might come from.

The first few miles were quiet, but the peace was short-lived.

Marcus suddenly stopped and pointed. There were two figures moving slowly among the trees. These were creatures that had once been deer. Their ribs protruded from their skin and fur, their necks bent at a strange angle, their eyes staring at Marcus with a dead gleam.

"Watch out," Marcus whispered, gripping his mace tightly.

The soldiers behind Marcus quickly took their positions. Pete and Bradley raised their light machine guns, while Tom drew his short sword. Marcus didn't hesitate, swinging his mace at the first zombie deer's neck.

"CRACK!"

The deer's head rolled off its neck and landed on the ground. Another deer charged at Marcus, but Tom's quick reflexes allowed him to swing his sword into the creature's mouth, emerging from the top of its head. The creature quickly lost all its strength and collapsed to the ground. 

The team quickly moved on. In the hours that followed, they encountered several more small zombie creatures: some were half-rotten squirrels, rabbits, and other small animals. These small creatures were more annoying and demoralizing than threatening. Eliza helped the team maintain their speed by quickly and effectively dealing with these creatures.

In the late afternoon, as the sun's rays grew dimmer, they finally saw the point they wanted to reach through the trees. The Secret Communication and Information Center stood in the middle of the forest, surrounded by high barbed wire fences and barbed wire. The outer walls were reinforced with reinforced concrete and steel doors. 

The Secret Communication and Information Center was covered with dense ivy, including the fences. The ivy had swallowed the rusty wire fences and wrapped its roots around the steel doors. The plants hanging down from the walls surrounded the building like a living organism. The entire structure seemed to have turned into a nightmare in various shades of green.

Despite this image, however, the sounds coming from inside suddenly alarmed the team. The growls of the zombies could be heard muffled in the echoing emptiness of the metal. Although the thick walls suppressed the sound, it was clear that there was movement inside. There were zombies, yes, but from the sounds, they seemed to be low-level creatures. They weren't moving in packs but were scattered around, bumping into things randomly like unconscious figures. 

Marcus narrowed his eyes, then locked eyes with Joseph and Eliza.

"These plants..." Eliza whispered. "They couldn't have grown this much in six days. It's not natural."

A few others from the team were also looking around in astonishment. Some had noticed the glowing blue veins among the plants. They could be plants mutated by ley energy.

Joseph shook his head silently. "This is definitely a place that requires careful entry. We need to plan well before stepping inside."

Marcus took a deep breath. The unease inside him was growing. This was no longer just a building. It had transformed into a living, breathing, threatening organism.

He stepped forward silently. Signaling the others to stop with his hand, he crouched down near the barbed wire. He began observing the interior through the vines. His eyes immediately spotted several figures stumbling across the concrete floor.

They were wearing military uniforms... but they were no longer human. They were clearly the building's former staff. Their uniforms were torn, covered in blood and moss. One of them still had a rank patch on his shoulder, but his face was unrecognizable. The zombified soldiers slowly bumped into walls, doors, and even each other, wandering aimlessly from side to side.

Marcus furrowed his brow. His eyes scanned the building. The vines around him had completely covered the walls. In some places, roots that had broken through the metal clung to the building like a living covering. However, there was no visible entrance anywhere. The doors were completely covered, and the windows had been swallowed by plants. It was as if the building had sworn to protect those inside from the outside world or to prevent them from escaping.

Marcus turned his attention back inside. He noticed a movement among the shadows of the vines. At first, he thought his eyes were playing tricks on him, but no... it was there.

In the building's garden, a figure stood silently, different from the other zombies. It had a frail, slender build, but its body was completely covered in vines. These vines ran beneath its skin like veins, pulsing with blue ley energy. Its entire body was motionless, neither lunging forward nor swaying from side to side like the other zombies. It just stood there. It seemed to be listening, watching, aware.

Marcus's throat went dry. He instinctively took a step back. This creature... was different from the others. Its power level was clear: the words [Leyroot Zombie Lv9] appeared in his system's display along with numbers that appeared in an instant.

Marcus' eyes widened for a moment. He noticed that almost all of the main branches of the vines were extending toward or around this zombie's body. It was a center. The plants seemed to live with it, to find their way with it.

"This thing..." he whispered to himself, "is connected to all these vines."

A sinking feeling of dread settled in his heart. Not just because of its power, but also because they didn't know what they were up against. This wasn't natural. This was a living nightmare.

But there was something else: despair.

They had to go inside. Without reaching the communication center, they couldn't call for help or escape. This wouldn't be over until they stepped inside that creature, that building, and those plants.

When Joseph noticed Marcus had returned, he immediately approached him. The others gathered around in hushed tones.

"We need to make a plan," said Marcus, his voice firm but cautious. "There's a ninth-level zombie there that can control the plants. And it seems like the entire plant cover is connected to it."

"We can gain an advantage if we go in quietly," said Eliza. "But there must be no gunfire. Only close combat. If we make noise, whatever is inside will wake up."

Joseph nodded. "Everyone be armed with swords. We'll leave the big bite to you." 

Marcus nodded, "Yes, sir," and stepped forward. As the others followed him, they carefully crossed the barbed wire in silence. The small zombies inside were scattered across the garden. Marcus charged forward, crushing the head of a rotting human zombie with a single blow. Pete, Eliza, and the other soldiers quickly and cleanly neutralized the low-level zombies in silence.

Marcus approached the ninth-level zombie. His mace felt heavy in his hand, but his mind was focused. This creature was not just an enemy; it was the heart of this entire region.

"Let's see how tough you are, he whispered, and silently dealt the first blow...

The Leyroot Zombie opened its eyes as Marcus's mace struck. A blue ley energy glow shone in its eyes; the silence was shattered. When Marcus's weapon struck the creature's body, a "BOOM!" echoed. The vines rustled back, but a few reflexively lashed out toward Marcus. Marcus raised his left arm to dodge a blow, but the second vine grabbed his leg and knocked him to the ground.

At the same time, the other zombies in the garden charged forward, dragging their decaying bodies of levels 3 and 4. Eliza sliced a zombie rabbit in half with her sword, while Pete struggled to pin down a creature that had jumped onto his shoulder. Joseph shattered the head of a slow-moving but powerful Level 4 zombie with a tactical strike. However, the numbers were overwhelming, and everyone's attention was divided.

As Marcus struggled on the ground, a vine began to wrap around his chest. He managed to free his arm holding the mace at the last moment and delivered another blow to the creature's chest. The vines retreated for a moment. Marcus stood up, his left arm bleeding, but continued fighting. This battle would be won not only by brute strength but also by determination.

The Leyroot Zombie stood motionless, but the vines moved as if they were its mind. Enemies were emerging from every corner of the garden. The team was being pushed to the limits of their endurance.

Marcus lunged forward with a shout, aimed at the creature's head, and struck again with all his strength. The vibration caused by the mace's impact was so intense it shook the ground... 

At that moment, there were no powerful enemies around Eliza, allowing her to focus entirely on the battle between Marcus and the Leyroot Zombie. 

There were a few things Eliza noticed within a few minutes. 

First, the zombie couldn't move more than two meters forward or backward. 

It mostly stayed within a two-meter radius, using its vines like limbs to fight. 

Another thing she discovered was a crack in the concrete floor. Blue energy was seeping out of this crack. 

Thanks to her ability, she could see the ley energy flowing toward the zombie like a small river.

This ley energy flowed toward the zombie, circled around its head, and then flowed into the vines, working like a heart and allowing the vines to move. 

"Marcus! There are two ways to kill this damn thing! First, you have to blow its head off, which I don't think you have the ability to do! Second, we have to get it away from the crack, which is even harder!" 

Eliza shouted and tried to inform Marcus, but her words were of no help.

At that moment, Marcus, who was blocking a vine like a spear, shouted. 

"I'll do my best!" 

Eliza nodded and went to Joseph, who was fighting a fourth-level zombie.

He immediately joined the fight.