Chapter 224: Human Body Outlining Master?

"Quick, get on the three vehicles behind!"

When Wang Longzhong's group had run to within thirty meters of the Mercedes RV, Zhang Su pointed backward and shouted; though the others had no breath left to answer, they would surely understand.

At the same time, Zhang Su yanked open the grenade's safety pin, swung his arm back, and hurled it forward with all his strength.

The grenade, slightly larger than a goose egg, became a tiny black dot in the flames, tracing a graceful arc across the night sky; by the time it reached its peak, Wang Longzhong's group had drawn within ten meters.

Thrown with Zhang Su's full force, the grenade flew eighty meters (a soldier's record was 102 meters), the timing calculated to perfection—it landed right at the head of the flame dragon!

"Everyone, open fire!"

As the flames engulfed the grenade, Zhang Su gave the order.

BOOM!

Steel pellets shot out; though their power fell short of detonators and their lethality was limited, they still served as excellent suppression, clearly slowing the zombies' advance!

TATATATA, TATATATA…

As the gunfire erupted, the zombie horde erupted in sparks; occasionally a zombie collapsed, but more always filled in behind—yet the flame dragon's advance wasn't fully halted, still stubbornly pushing toward the RV, this courage and persistence worthy of song and lament if shown by human soldiers!

TATATATA, TATATATA.

Zhang Su stood beside the driver's seat, emptied a full magazine; just as he prepared to swap the magazine, he heard the sound of the Ford Mustang's horn.

DU DU!

"Cease fire!"

Zhang Su shouted, leaping onto the vehicle, stomping the accelerator while spinning the steering wheel, chasing the bread van's taillights northward!

In the livestream rearview mirror, Zhang Su clearly saw the burning zombies regrouping briefly before resuming their relentless pursuit—yet their speed was no match for internal combustion engines, and they were quickly left far behind, vanishing from the screen!

"Damn it, what the hell is going on with those zombies?"

Zhao Dezhu kept peering out the back until they vanished, then slammed shut the icy wind-blasting window, snuffled his nose, and declared loudly: "Why do I feel like those zombies are hopping around like they're hurt from the fire?"

Zhao Dezhu's remark about "being hurt" eased the tense atmosphere.

"Big Brother Da, you're a genius—zombies don't feel pain, you know!"

Qi Xiaoshuai leaned against the fridge, his heart still racing from the earlier shooting.

Zhang Su said: "I also feel something's off with the zombies. Logically, even if we can't hit heads as precisely as Lao Tan and Teacher Yu, shots to the body should still cause damage and disable them—but just now…"

Here Zhang Su hesitated slightly, for he saw details others couldn't; if he explained too precisely, they'd suspect him, so he rephrased:

"We didn't knock down many zombies. Could we all just be doing body outlining?"

"Exactly, exactly—I also felt we didn't kill many. Are you all hoarding ammo?"

"Bullshit, I emptied a whole magazine."

"Me too—I fired ten extra rounds!"

After tallying, the group had consumed over four hundred rounds in just over a minute.

Based on past kill ratios, that many rounds should've taken out over a hundred zombies—they'd all been aiming for precise shots, not spraying blindly.

But what happened just now? No need to count—the flames on the ground showed the clear difference: nearly a hundred burning zombies had fallen, yet many still writhed and crawled—clearly not dead; perhaps only forty or fifty were truly killed!

The ammo-to-zombie-killed ratio reached a shocking ten to one—this was absurd.

"Ask Wang Longzhong's group what the hell happened later."

Zhang Su's face was grim; he'd caught up to the vehicles ahead and could even hear their occupants' rapid, panicked breathing.

Speeding along, the four vehicles soon returned to Tianma Island.

"Young Brother Zhang, the United Village is finished, finished! It's all my fault for poor command!"

As the vehicle stopped, Wang Longzhong stepped out, his body collapsing to the ground, weeping bitterly.

During the ten-minute ride back, he'd gradually calmed, realizing that under his command, villagers had suffered heavy casualties and nearly been wiped out—he felt overwhelming guilt, his heart as dead as ash.

Every leader bore the duty to lead companions to survival; a leader was the group's spiritual anchor and hope. Wang Longzhong deeply felt he had betrayed everyone who trusted him.

Each villager from the United Village who stepped out bore tear-streaked faces; Wang Xin Gui stood beside Wang Longzhong, comforting him with a sorrowful expression.

The people of Tianma Island, moved by the scene, sighed as well; the United Village, a vital allied force, had suffered a crushing blow—no one felt easy.

Zhang Su could tell Wang Longzhong wasn't acting; he'd just taken over village leadership, rolling up his sleeves to get things done, and now it was all ruined—he'd probably take a knife and slit his throat on the spot if given one.

"Stop crying and wailing here—I want to know what the hell happened to those zombies, Old Wang, tell me clearly!" Zhang Su yanked Wang Longzhong to his feet, then turned to the group: "Find them a place to sleep, everything proceed as usual—don't panic!"

Saying this, he led Wang Longzhong toward Fu Wei's and Duan Wu's room.

Previously, the camp had no scientific personnel; everyone had guessed blindly. Now that they had a specialist studying zombies, naturally they must be consulted.

The same information, to laymen, was just entertainment—but to insiders, it revealed hidden patterns.

Outside, chaos reigned; Fu Weijun and Duan Wuhu knew something had happened, but before they could guess what, they heard a knock.

"Young Brother Zhang, what's this? Quick, come in and tell us!"

Duan Wuhu opened the door, saw Zhang Su's grim face and the middle-aged man weeping beside him, utterly confused.

Zhang Su hadn't informed Duan Wuhu or Fu Weijun about rescuing the United Village—after all, they'd just joined the camp, hadn't even been issued firearms, and couldn't participate in such operations.

"The United Village was attacked by a zombie horde, but these zombies are different from before. This is their village chief—he'll tell us what happened tonight."

Zhang Su and Wang Longzhong entered the room.

"Mr. Zhang, and this elder, my legs are inconvenient, so I won't rise—please sit."

Fu Weijun, propped up on his bed, lowered the book in his hands and sat upright as they entered.

Both sat down; Zhang Su pulled out a cigarette, thought for a moment, walked to the window to light it, tossed one to Duan Wuhu, then said: "Old Wang, speak up—what the hell happened tonight? From your distress call to your escape, was it fifteen minutes? Were you doing some snake dance?"

This was what frustrated Zhang Su most—he'd thought his team moved fast enough, imagining the United Village fighting fiercely inside while his group flanked from behind, shooting zombies one by one, rescuing everyone, and hauling back several trucks of supplies.

Instead, wildly unexpected, before they even arrived, the villagers had already broken and fled in panic—absurd!

"Sigh…" Wang Longzhong sighed shakily, steadied himself, and said: "Shortly after dinner, I was inside discussing relocation with Xin Gui when someone shouted zombies were coming. When I found out…"

"The zombies in the quarry had crawled out—there were over two thousand piled up there. Even if half emerged, it'd be unbearable. I immediately triggered the highest alert."

"I thought we had time to prepare, but before we even gathered and deployed, the zombies were already in the village! Like they were specifically targeting us—yes, maybe the lookout at the quarry made noise and drew their attention."

"Then we fought them as usual—and that's when things went wrong. Damn it, before, zombies blocked by barriers just mindlessly stepped forward, pushing the barriers along—but these zombies jumped. Not high—maybe ten centimeters."

Wang Longzhong gestured, face filled with terror: "They flipped straight over the barriers, got up, and kept charging—the barriers were useless. Luckily, the waist-high tripwires gave us slight delay…"

"This… slight jumping ability?" Fu Weijun, noticing Wang Longzhong's pause, continued: "It seems yesterday's light snow triggered changes in the zombies. Mr. Zhang, my theory must be right—they've received a program upgrade, their abilities slightly enhanced."

From mindlessly walking to learning even a little jumping, the progress seems small—but the change is enormous. Many past zombie-countermeasures now require simultaneous upgrades, or we'll repeat the United Village's mistake!

Today's chapter was written and edited on a phone—I don't know how many typos there are…

I won't be able to return until afternoon tomorrow or after dinner—too rushed. Taking a day off. Dear readers, enjoy your holiday meals.

(End of Chapter)