Chapter 41: A Rude Awakening

As he had expected, the scent of blood was the perfect tool for attracting zombies.

Hhhh... hhhh...

A dozen or so zombies were crawling on the ground, their heads buried in the frozen corpses. Guttural growls squeezed from their throats as their sharp canine teeth tore at the bodies, making soft, rustling sounds.

Evidently, the meal before them was not enough.

Disturbed by the light, the zombies paused their feeding. A gust of cold wind carried Chen Yuan's scent to them.

Why eat frozen meat when there was something warm nearby?

The next second, Chen Yuan saw the zombies rushing toward him.

"Heh... is that all?"

Just a dozen zombies. He could wipe them out with a flick of his wrist. A smirk touched Chen Yuan's lips as he extended the cannon's muzzle.

He flipped off the safety and began to charge. The blue point of light at the muzzle spun rapidly.

One second... two seconds... three seconds.

The light ring flashed, charging complete. By now, the zombies had already covered nearly fifty meters, their speed far exceeding that of a normal person.

Chen Yuan grinned and pulled the trigger. "Go say hello to your great-grandma..."

whIRRRRRRR—SHOOOM!!!

Under the night sky, an azure sphere of light flew out at extreme speed.

With a deafening BOOM, the entire alley seemed to be bathed in a ribbon of blue light. The intense flash was gone in an instant, and the world returned to its silence.

The dozen or so zombies had been blown to pieces, their remains scattered throughout the alley. This time, there wasn't even any white smoke from corroding blood; they had clearly been instantly incinerated.

Well, that's for the best, Chen Yuan thought. Otherwise, the smell would be unbearable, and living here would be a nightmare.

After the baptism of several real battles, Chen Yuan was basically able to adapt. Since this was a kill-or-be-killed fight, any unnecessary sentimentality was pointless.

"Alright, let's go home," he called out behind him, then confidently strode forward.

Tiedan and Tieniu exchanged a glance and silently began to drag the large tree, following behind him. The branches scraped along the ground, making a rustling sound.

When he was about twenty meters from his building, Tiedan's voice suddenly sounded in his head.

「Report, Master! Threat detected!」

Chen Yuan's steps halted, a look of confusion on his face. Didn't I take care of them with one shot? How can there be more? And a threat, not a zombie?

As he was wondering this, a figure slowly walked out of the stairwell of his building. The searchlight from his dogs swept over, illuminating the figure's appearance.

Chen Yuan stared. It wasn't human.

It was... a zombie?

The creature stood nearly two meters tall, its upper body bare, revealing powerful, well-defined muscles. Its facial features were sunken, and its head was completely hairless. A pair of eerie, green lights glowed from within its eyes. The skin on its body was as thin and translucent as paper, and the dark green blood vessels beneath were clearly visible. Its muscles were bulging and covered in irregular green patches. Its sharp fingers and toes were exposed, glinting coldly.

Hhhhh...

The zombie opened its great mouth. A viscous saliva drooled down like a long, sticky thread.

Chen Yuan silently swallowed. This is...

Lan Ya's words suddenly flashed through his mind.

This was an advanced zombie!

Damn it! How could a few corpses attract an advanced zombie?!

He didn't know what level of speed and strength an advanced zombie possessed, but he knew it was a creature that gave even Lan Ya a headache.

His feet unconsciously took a step back. With his left hand, he quietly flipped the safety on the plasma cannon. The blue point of light began to spin as it charged.

One second... two seconds...

But in the end, he had underestimated the power of the advanced zombie.

The two-meter-tall shadow pounced toward him like a fierce tiger descending a mountain, its momentum unstoppable.

At this moment, Tiedan and Tieniu were still dragging the tree trunk. The tow rope from the Apocalypse Store was not something that could be broken in a mere moment. It was already too late to untie it.

In other words, Chen Yuan's strongest support was currently useless.

The twenty-meter distance vanished in the blink of an eye. He had just raised his left arm, not yet having time to pull the trigger, when he felt like he had been hit by a large truck.

"FUCK!"

The immense force on his chest made it hard to breathe. If his thermostatic suit hadn't been upgraded with the anti-blunt-force function, that one blow would have probably killed him outright.

His feet left the ground, and his entire body was thrown into the air. The wind howled in his ears as he sailed for more than ten meters before crashing to the ground with a heavy thud. Due to inertia, he rolled several more times before finally coming to a stop.

Face down in the snow, his heart was as cold as ice.

So strong...

He pushed himself up with his right hand and raised his left again. The zombie was already half a meter in front of him. Firing the plasma cannon at such close range was no different from mutual destruction.

But it seemed he no longer had a choice.

Gritting his teeth, Chen Yuan pulled the trigger.

whIRRRRRRR—SHOOOM!!!

The blue sphere of light exploded directly between the two of them.

With a massive BOOM, the shockwave from the explosion rocked his internal organs, and the intense light blinded him. But he could clearly feel himself flying through the air again.

When he landed, he tumbled several more times before stopping, his face buried in the snow.

"Ptooey!"

Chen Yuan's head was spinning, and a sharp pain throbbed in his chest. But this was no time to relax. He endured the pain and immediately drew the Flame Dagger from his waist. With a press of his thumb, the dagger's blade ignited with a bright, orange-red glow, the high temperature distorting the air around it.

The plasma cannon was out of deuterium, and he didn't have a spare canister on hand. Chen Yuan let go of the cannon and got to his feet. He adjusted the mask on his face, a look of grim resolve in his eyes. He didn't want to become a zombie. He would rather die.

At that moment, Tiedan and Tieniu finally smashed the tree trunk apart, still tied together by the tow rope, and rushed to Chen Yuan's side. The searchlights on their heads swept forward, illuminating the scene.

In the center of the explosion, a crater one meter in diameter had been blasted into the ground. About three meters from the center, the two-meter-tall, burly advanced zombie was lying quietly on the ground.

Chen Yuan didn't relax his guard. He quickly untied the tow rope binding his dogs. The man and his two companions began to slowly and cautiously approach the zombie.

Using the bright light from the searchlights, Chen Yuan could now see the zombie's condition clearly. Dark green blood was splattered across the ground in a fan shape. A crater the size of a pot lid had been blasted into its chest, and the skin around the wound had been scorched dry.

His gaze moved up. The zombie's eyes were slightly open, but it was no longer moving.

Phew...

Chen Yuan let out a long sigh of relief. He had almost completely screwed up today. He never thought his first encounter with an advanced zombie would end in such a pathetic state. If he hadn't produced the plasma cannon today, who knows how badly he would have been beaten.

It seems I shouldn't be so arrogant when I go out in the future.

He had only encountered one today. If he got cocky one day and poked a hornet's nest, who knew what would happen. Right now, he had some power, but he wasn't invincible. He needed to be steady.

Pushing the various thoughts from his mind, he walked over to the zombie and slowly crouched down.

He wanted to see for himself what made an advanced zombie so different.