parentshiftbook Chapter 42 Cleaning up the entire neighborhood
Chapter 42 Cleaning up the entire neighborhood
Shen Qingci naturally wouldn't object to Lu Chen's decision.
She thought for a moment, then asked the question that had been bothering her, "When did you break through to the next level of your superpower?"
"4 a.m. today," Lu Chen said bluntly.
"I really envy you!" Shen Qingci's eyes were a little complicated. She had also absorbed the Red Moon last night, but now she could only vaguely feel the existence of the bottleneck. She had no idea when she would be able to break through.
"Maybe I cultivate faster!" Lu Chen smiled, offering no further explanation. He didn't intend to tell anyone the secret of the meteorite mark.
Shen Qingci didn't press the matter; she was a smart person.
After discussing their plan, the two immediately took action.
This time, in order to save time, it wasn't just the two of them who went out.
Lu Chen asked Gao Yuan to call all five field staff over.
Ning Tieshan, Zhao Yongqiang, and three other men who had volunteered for fieldwork yesterday quickly lined up in the corridor.
Yesterday, when choosing field missions, several of them were actually a little apprehensive. Choosing field missions meant going out with Lu Chen to face zombies and unknown risks.
But after experiencing the battle against the elite zombies last night, they still had concerns, but it was completely different from the fear of the unknown they had felt before.
Lu Chen told them to bring all their weapons and equipment... kitchen knives, cleavers, helmets, scarves, thick cotton-padded clothes, all of them, to dress up the zombies he had just controlled that morning.
Only then did everyone realize that there were significantly more zombies standing in the corridor than the night before.
Tie Zhu and Er Zhu stood next to the fire door, with the elite zombies on the outermost perimeter, followed by several veteran members at the Da Zhuang level, and a dozen or so new zombies that had just been recruited that morning, making a total of 21.
Zhao Yongqiang was taken aback for a moment, then couldn't help but ask, "Captain, have you increased the number of zombies you're controlling again?"
"I broke through my superpowers last night, and now I can control 30 zombies," Lu Chen said casually.
Zhao Yongqiang opened his mouth slightly, then clenched his fist tightly. Even Ning Tieshan, whose face was usually expressionless, showed surprise.
The other survivors in the corridor who heard this sentence all had similar expressions on their faces: surprise, excitement, and a sense of security, all of which sent their emotions soaring.
With the help of others, the 13 newly controlled zombies were quickly equipped with full gear.
Before leaving, Lu Chen thought for a moment and decided not to take all the zombies with him.
He picked two out of the 21 zombies and left them in the corridor, just in case something happened upstairs, at least they could hold them off for a while.
He then led the remaining 19 zombies downstairs quickly.
Upon reaching the first floor, Lu Chen did not rush into action.
He first gave the elite zombie an order, instructing it to circle around the plaza and garden and bring back all the zombies roaming the neighborhood.
This was done for two reasons: firstly, to replenish the number of zombies, and secondly, to test the effectiveness of the elite zombies' ability to control other zombies.
The elite zombie rushed out quickly, stood by the fountain in the small garden, and let out a low growl.
The sound was different from the roar in the stairwell last night. It wasn't a battle cry, but a deeper, more resonant sound, like some kind of primal horn exploding in the morning light.
As the sound rang out, the zombies roaming around immediately turned their heads to look.
Several on the lawn, several next to the electric scooter shed, and several at the entrance of the building opposite—all the zombies stopped their aimless wandering and began to gather at the location of the elite zombie.
They moved much faster than usual, and the hoarse sounds from their throats rose and fell, soon merging into a chorus.
The elite zombie circled the neighborhood, and wherever it went, the other zombies followed it.
When it finished circling around and returned to the foot of Building 3, a large group of them had followed it. I roughly counted them, and there were at least 40 of them.
Ning Tieshan stood behind Lu Chen, gripping the iron rod tightly. Zhao Yongqiang's Adam's apple bobbed. The other field agents also looked tense, their palms sweating.
Lu Chen secretly rejoiced that the elite zombies hadn't deliberately summoned other zombies when they came last night.
Of course, now is not the time to think about these things.
He immediately gave the elite zombie another order, instructing it to control the group of zombies and stop them at the entrance to the fire escape.
The elite zombie immediately let out a roar, shorter and sharper than before, as if giving some kind of command to the horde of zombies behind it.
The 40 zombies following behind it paused for a moment.
However, when they saw Lu Chen and several field staff standing at the door, their eyes instantly turned red!
All the zombies simultaneously roared wildly, completely ignoring the elite zombies' commands, and swarmed towards Lu Chen.
"Just as I suspected, the elite zombies can only be roughly controlled," Lu Chen said in a low voice.
Elite zombies can summon their kind and roughly guide their movements, but their control precision and loyalty are far inferior to his supernatural ability.
Once a living person appears, the zombie's core predatory instinct will be activated, and any summoning or guidance will instantly become ineffective.
However, he had expected this, so he wasn't too disappointed.
He immediately began to direct the battle. Several zombies, including Tiezhu, Erzhu, and Dazhuang, had already formed a battle formation and stood in a row at the entrance of the fire escape, completely blocking the entrance.
Tie Zhu held the new cleaver he'd just gotten that morning; its thick back gleamed coldly in the morning light. Da Zhuang and the others, wearing helmets and scarves, held their kitchen knives and watermelon knives, waiting quietly.
When 40 zombies charged at us, it was like a wall of flesh crashing into another iron wall.
Because the iron pillars were firmly blocking the entrance to the fire escape, although there were many on the other side, they couldn't maneuver effectively.
The zombies in the back row were blocked by those in the front row, and they were squeezed on the steps, trampling each other. Only three or five of them could actually rush to the iron pillar each time.
On the other hand, Tie Zhu's side had a huge advantage in terms of strength, weapons, and equipment, making the fight a complete rout.
Tie Zhu slashed down with his sword, cleaving the leading zombie from shoulder to chest. Er Zhu followed up with another slash, sending another zombie's head flying. Da Zhuang, guarding the side, stabbed through the eye socket of the third zombie.
Several zombies took turns wielding their knives, their movements simple yet efficient, each strike accompanied by a dull thud of blades piercing flesh and the cracking of bones.
More importantly, they also have elite zombies on their side.
Lu Chen controlled the elite zombie to fight his way through the horde from behind. When the elite zombie swung its claws, the ordinary zombies were swept away like pieces of paper.
It pierced through the entire horde of zombies, carving a gap in the dense mass of hordes, and arrived at the entrance to the fire escape. It then turned and stood side by side with Tie Zhu.
With its addition, the entire defense line became even more impregnable.
In less than 10 minutes, 33 of the 40 zombies were killed.
The remaining seven were all a size larger than ordinary zombies, making them top-tier cannon fodder.
Lu Chen had the elite zombies pull them out one by one and pin them to the ground. Then, several field agents quickly stepped forward and tied them up securely with nylon rope.
The seven zombies were tied up and piled up in the corner of the fire escape, waiting for Lu Chenteng to take them in.