Chapter 505: The God Who Rules the Jinxed Mouth

"Big brother, these things are insane—those bastards are driving us straight to our deaths!"

Zhao De zapped two kicks at the zombie corpses beside him, venting his fury. He had just slaughtered with exhilarating ease, but now, looking back, he felt a tinge of fear—if he hadn't trained relentlessly these past few months, he never would've kept up with the zombies' enhancements!

Everyone had a clear sense of their place; Zhao De knew exactly where he stood among Tianma Yu's fighters—and if even he struggled, others were hopeless.

"Yeah, this snow… damn, I hate it!"

Zheng Xinyu sighed upward, frowning. She trained hard daily, yet just now she'd felt real danger. Her style relied on technique—using various moves to kill zombies—but against raw speed and strength, technique lost its edge, even became useless.

Look at Ju Wuying—calm as ever after the fight. She suspected she'd have to shift to brute force from now on…

Qi Xiaoshuai rubbed his thighs, his expression twisted: "I think the real problem is zombies are getting faster. This is turning into Busan Row—makes me look like an idiot."

(Correction: Qi Xiaoshuai was previously omitted.) His strength was running—whether short bursts or long endurance, he excelled. Before, facing zombies, he'd been confident: if I can't beat them, I'll just run. But now their speed's caught up; his advantage is fading fast.

"Don't worry—we still have this."

Chen Hanzhou tapped his head with a mechanical prosthetic.

Zhang Su sheathed his weapon, took a deep breath, and faced the group. As leader, he had to project strength—he forced a resolute smile, rallying them: "Humans survived the primordial age. Our genes are written with unyielding resilience. These obstacles won't break us! Xiao Chen's right—zombies are just muscle-bound monsters. We're thinking humans. If we unite, pool our strengths, we'll find a way!"

"Zombies are bullshit!" Liu Yao raised his arm. "We're the strongest—look, we just wiped them all! Even if stronger ones come, we won't back down!"

"Pfft, pfft, pfft—skip the last two lines!"

Yang Xinqi glared at Liu Yao. His words boosted morale, but if they came true, it'd be catastrophic.

"This was a sudden ambush. We humans have little advantage. But in a prepared defensive position—with fortifications and weapons—enhanced zombies aren't scary! As days pass, we kill more zombies, so fewer survive. One day, we'll see the rainbow after the storm!"

Zhang Su had never liked pep talks or empty promises, but sometimes they worked. The proof? Fear and panic on their faces slowly faded.

Everyone believed Zhang Su—though the path ahead was brutal, and none knew if they'd live to see the rainbow. But someone would. After calming them, Zhang Su frowned at Liu Yao and Yang Xinqi: "Whose territory was this neighborhood before?"

Yang Xinqi scowled and pointed at Liu Yao: "His."

"Hehe… Boss Su, you're wondering why there are so many zombies here?"

Liu Yao chuckled nervously, explaining: "Killing zombies always carries risk. If we can avoid it, we do. We trap them in already-searched zones—when fuel runs out, we drag them out and kill a few as coal. Never had problems before…"

Zhang Su shrugged, saying nothing. Every survivor camp had its own survival methods. The Little Eagle Society's approach wasn't wrong—just unlucky today.

"If we'd known these zombies would turn into this, we'd've killed them all from the start—kill, kill… damn it!"

Liu Yao was pointing at the neighborhood when he spotted an unusual figure behind the gate—his face turned from earthy yellow to deathly pale.

"Fuck me, you're the Greek god of the jinxed mouth!"

Yang Xinqi followed Liu Yao's finger, his face contorting.

Zhang Su, facing away from the gate, turned sharply at their expressions. There, beside the gate, stood a towering figure over two meters tall, trembling. With a guard booth nearby for scale, its height was unmistakable. This zombie hadn't always been this big—its clothes were shredded into filthy rags. Its body was massive, limbs thick, but its head was normal-sized. Unlike the usual dried, grayish zombies, its skin was a pale brown, no longer withered—more like hardened rock.

"So this is the 'stronger zombie' you said we wouldn't fear? Now you scared?"

Ju Wuying's cold voice cut through Liu Yao's ear.

"I… I was just blowing smoke."

His expression was grotesque—like being sentenced to immediate execution on New Year's Eve.

"Comrade Liu Yao, official notice: effective today, you are banned from making any flags—no promises, oaths, or prophecies of any kind!"

Zhang Su lowered his voice, eyes locked on the massive figure. Even regular zombies, after enhancement, rivaled old burning zombies. This one looked slow and dumb—but anyone with sense knew it was abnormal. Its combat power would be monstrous.

"Could this be a mutation triggered by the snow?"

Zheng Xinyu lowered her head, eyeing the hulking zombie with a strange, tense gaze.

Zhang Su raced through memories: last snow brought petrified-skin zombies, venom zombies, fire zombies—species never seen before. This snow, besides enhancing regular zombies, could've birthed something stronger. "Possible… but why now? The snow just started!"

"Maybe it was Biedetaijiu …"

"This zombie's huge—like an NBA player. What do we do, Boss? While it hasn't noticed us—stealth attack or run? Should I lure it and test its reaction?"

The group whispered urgently.

Before Zhang Su could answer, the hulking zombie sensed humans. Its normal-sized head turned, locking onto them. Its mouth opened mechanically—no roar came. No sound at all. Yet the silence felt eerily terrifying.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

In a blink, the hulking zombie charged—its massive frame moving fast. Not faster than regular zombies, but close—like a black whirlwind barreling toward them, radiating crushing pressure. Its expression wasn't the usual bloodthirsty frenzy—it was blank, puppet-like. But that meant nothing.

"Shoot! Aim for the head! Fire!"

Zhang Su's hairs stood on end. He'd grown stronger—but not invincible. And because he'd grown stronger, his danger sense sharpened. A voice inside screamed: this thing is dangerous! Tap-tap. Tap-tap. Tap-tap.

In haste, rapid bursts struck the hulking zombie. Small-caliber rounds left no real damage. Even rifle rounds only slowed it momentarily—leaving dents, but no stopping it. Some aimed for its thick legs—hard to hit. Even when they landed, no real harm.

Conventional firearms had become terrifyingly ineffective against this zombie.

Splat. Splat.

Its massive feet crushed zombie corpses beneath, bursting flesh—making everyone nauseous.

Tap-tap-tap. Pop-pop-pop…

Gunfire erupted. Finally, a bullet from some gun pierced the zombie's eye socket—slamming into its brain. It froze mid-charge, standing motionless in the snow. Now, in stillness, they saw its bullet holes. A regular zombie would've collapsed seven times over. This one kept charging—until its head exploded.

After five or six seconds, the hulking zombie slowly toppled sideways, crushing several regular zombies beneath it. The contrast was stark—its arm was thicker than a regular zombie's thigh. No one dared imagine what a single blow would do.

"Phew… hahaha!"

Liu Yao touched his hot barrel, grinning with relief: "Damn, that was terrifying—please don't ever—"

"Shut the hell up!"

"Don't say another word!"

"Shh! Be quiet!"

"Please, say nothing more…"

Everyone glared at Liu Yao with hostility. He flushed, embarrassed, rubbing his toes into the ground.

"Close call… but Boss, we're low on ammo…"

Wang Xin patted his chest, checking spare magazines—all empty, only a dozen rounds left in the guns.

"No problem—the crisis is over! This mutated zombie is unique. We take it back for study!"

Zhang Su reached for his cigarette pack, planning to light up before approaching. As he turned to offer smokes to his comrades, he saw Zhao De's terrified eyes fixed on his back—his lips trembling.

"Big… big brother… this thing… it's not… not unique at all…"

Zhao De's facial muscles twitched like a seized lock.

Zhang Su had no eyes in the back—but Zhao De's words told him something was wrong. He turned slowly. His pupils shrank. Simultaneously, survivors from the car park raised hands to their mouths, eyes wide with shock.

The neighborhood gate had opened like Pandora's box. One after another, hulking zombies emerged from behind the wall, drifting toward the main entrance. Everyone stopped breathing.

One, two, three, four, five! When the fifth hulking zombie entered view, no more appeared. But even five were enough to crush morale. "Boss… what do we do? We don't have enough ammo!" Wang Xin gripped his rifle, eyes locked on the distant figures.

"Drive it away—I think we can…"

Qi Xiaoshuai suggested.

"The city's too chaotic. If more zombies pop up elsewhere, we won't have room to flee!"

Zhang Su rejected the idea outright. This wasn't the northern outskirts. He turned to Ju Wuying: "Sakura, do you have detonators?"

"Here!" Ju Wuying rummaged through her bag.

But in that brief moment, the zombies inside the neighborhood had noticed them—not because of their talk, but naturally, as if turning their heads to say: Found you. Hehehe.

The five zombies had been male and female in life. Normal heads sat atop monstrous bodies—grotesque. They all opened their mouths toward the group—but for some reason, no sound came. Perhaps gaining size cost them speech.

No sound didn't mean no danger. An invisible sonic wave slammed into Zhang Su—he felt his scalp explode, as if time slowed. He lit the detonator Ju Wuying had shoved into his hand, roaring: "Run! Everyone, run!"

Whoosh.

Ordinary survivors didn't hesitate—they bolted. Fear was one reason; another—they knew they'd just be in the way…

One hulking zombie took over ten people firing to kill. Five at once, this close? Long-range firepower was useless. Ammo was low. Killing two would be a miracle! "Big brother, run! Hey, don't—forget it!"

Zhao De turned to flee, but saw Zhang Su hurl the detonator at the charging zombies—then leap into the cargo truck's driver's seat.

"What's Boss Su doing…?"

"Just run! The fire zombie won't get away!"

Other members of the Yama Corps urged frantically—face pale with panic. The fire zombie mattered, but if they all died, it'd be lost anyway! BOOM!

The detonator's fuse was short—it exploded mid-air. The blast wave pushed outward. No one was hurt. But the zombies, close to the blast, were affected.

"Husband, run! Come back for the truck later—the fire zombie's the same type, it won't get away!"

Zheng Xinyu was thrown by the blast, face dusty, ears ringing. Seeing Zhang Su fiddling in the cab, she assumed he couldn't bear to leave the fire zombie. But as she spoke—CRASH! The cargo door slammed shut.

Aaao! Aaoo!

Even through thick steel, they heard zombie roars. The hulking zombies couldn't scream—but only the fire zombie could make that sound.

The usually silent fire zombie, affected by snow, grew wildly agitated. Its iron chains rattled violently. The whole truck shook. Luckily, it wasn't strength-based—or the cargo box would've shattered!

"Sister, come over here!"

Qi Xiaoshuai held his rifle in one hand and waved frantically with the other. He knew what Zhang Su planned—it wasn't about being reluctant to leave the fire zombie. He was going for the big one! Long-range firepower wasn't enough? Fine—there was something even deadlier. Seeing that Zheng Xinyu couldn't hear Wang Xin's shouts, Ju Wuying stepped forward and pulled her toward the group.

In just three or four seconds, the five hulking zombies recovered from the blast. Not at the epicenter, and detonators were weak—they suffered no real damage.

Regular zombies tripped on corpses. These didn't care. They kept charging, massive strides closing the distance.

Inside the truck, Zhang Su's eyes were calm, focused, ignoring all shouts. His fingers didn't tremble as he entered each digit of the code.

When the final digit was entered, he glanced left at his comrades, then turned cold eyes rightward.

Heat likely attracted these zombies. They were within arm's reach. But one was poorly positioned—the flames wouldn't cover it. Too late to adjust. "Burn to ash!"

His voice was low, thick with rage. He yanked the chain hard.

(End of chapter)