Chapter 508: Yanluo Army Doesn't Harbor Idlers

"So, such an important research subject—how could you… how could you just blow it up on your own?!"

Far off, Fu Wei saw the motionless zombie corpse on the ground and scattered body parts; seated in his wheelchair, he pounded his chest in anguish, bitterly regretting he'd been a step too slow—perhaps he could have saved the subject.

Zhong Xiaoshan took a deep breath and declared firmly: "I ordered Qingqing to detonate the bomb. An unknown mutated zombie appeared in camp, threatening everyone's safety—we had to kill it immediately, with no room for hesitation!"

She knew Fu Wei held a special status in camp—he'd provided critical items like petrified skin and venom extract, making outstanding contributions—but as interim leader, she bore responsibility for everyone's safety.

That massive zombie, charging out like a small tank, was terrifying beyond words—if it had rampaged through camp, the scene would've been unimaginable.

"I think Sister-in-law's decision was crystal clear!"

Guo Dachao, face grim, brushed dust off his clothes, stood up, and pointed toward the scenic area's entrance: "Those two things were like half a steel tower each—when they ran, the noise was terrifying. Every extra second is a hazard!"

"Exactly! Exactly!" Wang Xin chimed in, nodding like a chicken pecking grain: "We already lost one sister fighting regular zombies, and two more got bitten—we can't afford to be careless again!"

Lü Lei's gaze was heavy: "This snow has clearly made zombies much stronger. Right now, we don't seek glory—we just don't want failure. I don't want Brother Su to come back and find a disaster he can't fix…"

Seeing everyone united—and invoking Zhang Su—Fu Wei knew pushing further would make him the target. He had no real argument either. If the mutated zombie turned out too powerful, it'd be too late to stop the fallout.

Just then, Duan Wu came running over from Cui Lengxuan, face tense, worries written plainly on it.

"What's wrong?"

Seeing Duan Wu's expression, Fu Wei felt dread.

Duan Wu looked around at the group, saw many eyes on him, clicked his tongue, and said: "When I came out just now… Qiu Hui had a strange reaction."

"Oh? What kind of reaction?"

Fu Wei asked urgently.

"She was sleeping fine, then suddenly woke up—luckily, she was tied tight, didn't break free…"

Duan Wu rubbed his wrist—he'd nearly been injured trying to hold down Qiu Hui's struggles.

"What happened after?"

Zhong Xiaoshan pinched her temples, head throbbing.

"Did she turn?"

Yang Liehuo was most anxious, a bad premonition rising in his chest.

Duan Wu shook his head: "No transformation—just lost control. Dr. Xie gave Qiu Hui another injection of higher-concentration zombie-blocker. She passed out again. Let's hope for a miracle."

The last words carried resignation.

"Then the other two need increased doses too!"

Hearing about the lab incident, Fu Wei turned to leave.

Duan Wu grabbed his wheelchair: "Dr. Xie already injected Fenfang and Qiu Hua."

"Good, good…" Fu Wei relaxed his urgency, paused, then said: "Brother Duan, can Dr. Xie handle the lab alone? Maybe you should go back and help him."

"Hah, all three women are unconscious, under observation—old Xie can manage alone…"

Duan Wu gave a dry laugh—he'd planned to stay and help, but Dr. Xie told him to come keep Fu Wei company.

It was clear Xie Yan was deeply uneasy about Fu Wei being alone—his concern ran on multiple levels.

"I see… alright then…"

Fu Wei nodded, then spotted the scattered zombie remains and turned to Zhong Xiaoshan, who wore a worried expression: "Dr. Zhong, live mutated zombies are dangerous, but dead ones are harmless—can we go take a look?"

"Let's go. Stay alert. Adapt as needed!"

Zhong Xiaoshan drew a deep breath of cold air and nodded.

Even without Fu Wei, everyone wanted to see the scene. The group crept cautiously toward the scenic area's "ruins." The cement ground was cracked, the gate pillars blown meters away—clearly, the explosion had been violent.

The scene was gruesome. Two corpses were shredded, with no traditional blood—only thick black fluid oozing from the remains. Limbs were scattered everywhere. Both zombies' heads were smashed to pieces—exactly why they were truly dead.

Due to the severe ground damage, Fu Wei's wheelchair couldn't approach. Duan Wu had to carry him to the bodies. Years of lower-body paralysis had atrophied his leg muscles; combined with post-apocalypse rations, he weighed barely seventy pounds—Duan Wu's burden was light.

Fu Wei picked up a fist-sized chunk of tissue. Its density and mass were clearly unlike human tissue—tighter skin and muscle, heavy as hell. If this were human tissue of the same volume, it'd weigh at most two pounds—but this lump weighed at least five! "Higher density… greater strength…"

He squeezed it. His confusion deepened: Why hadn't the zombies specifically bred for mutation experiments changed with the snow, while the ones locked in the temple did? A string of recent mysteries left him baffled. But the lab's equipment was too crude—biological samples piled up, awaiting testing. He couldn't enter the microscopic world, couldn't study further.

"Dr. Fu, should we move these two corpses to Cui Lengxuan?"

Seeing Fu Wei slumped on Duan Wu's back, holding the tissue in deep thought, Zhong Xiaoshan asked.

"Yes, best that way. Thanks."

Fu Wei snapped back, smiled and nodded at Zhong Xiaoshan. Between them, no grudges—earlier tensions were about the issue, not the person.

While directing others to clean up the remains, Zhong Xiaoshan found Yang Liehuo: "Brother Yang, after this snowfall, zombies got way stronger. I'm deeply uneasy. We can't help Brother Su out there, but we're guarding the rear—this can't fail!"

"Absolutely. Sigh… poor Qiu Hua and Fenfang… and little Lian…"

Yang Liehuo grew somber at her words.

"I'm not talking about that…"

Zhong Xiaoshan waved her hand—this wasn't the time for mourning. She turned toward the mountain gate: "We can't reach Brother Su. We don't know what's happening outside. To prevent further danger, shouldn't we tighten our defenses?"

Yang Liehuo realized: "So you mean… bring everyone from the village up the mountain?"

"Exactly." Zhong Xiaoshan nodded gently. "All our strength is on Tianmayu. The two villages below are poorly defended. We can't afford another incident. Better to consolidate—safer together."

She didn't know the big zombie's strength, but even the regular zombies had been vicious; forget the elderly, weak, and sick in the villages—even the women's reserve units struggled to handle them.

Just a dozen zombies targeting one village? Total annihilation.

"Alright! I'll go notify everyone to come up now. This snowfall isn't normal—I hope we make it through!"

Yang Liehuo sighed, tossed the collected remains into a bag, and sprinted toward where the electric scooters were parked.

Zhong Xiaoshan watched Yang Liehuo's hurried back disappear. She drew a deep breath—finally understanding the pressure Zhang Su carried daily, finally realizing how flexible and comfortable their original small team had been.

When danger came, fight if you could—everyone coordinated seamlessly; if you couldn't, run together—high mobility, no heavy burdens. But now, with dozens or hundreds struggling to survive, the weight on her shoulders was crushing. Without responsibility, life would be easier—but without responsibility, how could one be a leader? The sky was dark. Snow had silently stopped. Zhong Xiaoshan felt uneasy, as if a greater storm brewed in the shadows.

"Everyone, pause what you're doing—listen to me…"

Zhong Xiaoshan turned, clapped her hands to gather the cleanup crew, and announced the order to hold Tianmayu.

One rule only: Before the Yanluo Army returns, no mistakes allowed. No glory sought—only no failure! No one objected. Everyone worked faster.

Tianmayu's crisis passed with a near-miss thanks to Zhong Xiaoshan's decisive action and Yu Qing's bomb—but at Lègòu Mall, trouble had arisen.

"Why are zombies wandering out from Taiyangcheng? Damn it, where did they come from?!"

Zhang Xin, rifle in hand, stared down in frustration.

Moments ago, several shops along a narrow Taiyangcheng pedestrian street had their doors smashed open. Over a hundred zombies poured out, wandered briefly, then shuffled toward Lègòu Mall—as if sensing humans hiding here, their short-range detection clearly improved! "Damn it—that's where the science unit stored zombies! How the hell did they get out?!"

Only Wu Baokang knew: those zombies had been captured by a handful of the former Guard Corps and locked inside for research.

The men who handled the operation were all dead. The three science researchers had been sent away. Wu Baokang had completely forgotten about them.

"Damn it, even dead, they're causing trouble. Come on, let's go down—wait, what the hell is that?!"

Zhang Xin was about to call for a descent to eliminate the sudden zombies when he suddenly saw two staggered figures emerge—one from each of two facing shops.

"These two zombies…" Li Zongkai frowned: "They're huge!"

In open terrain without reference, big zombies wouldn't stand out. But Taiyangcheng was a pedestrian street—human buildings were uniformly sized, some streets tightly packed, with only four to five meters between facing shops.

The big zombies looked utterly out of place. Their tiny heads knocked down wall-mounted lamps—those lamps were at least two meters high! Everyone gasped, staring at each other in shock.

"Hey, if we put these big bodies on a generator, I bet two of them would be enough."

Jia Shiqin nodded firmly—he often thought about improving the camp's power systems, including upgrading kinetic energy sources.

"Could this be zombie enhancement from the precipitation?"

Yu Wen adjusted his glasses. He didn't yet know regular zombies had also strengthened—his dread came solely from the big zombies' appearance. Internal issues weren't resolved, and now external threats arrived. He felt utterly drained.

"Probably! Quick, make room—I'll take care of them!"

Wu Baokang's heart sank. The earlier zombies hadn't felt different—but these two felt deeply wrong. In nature, size directly correlated with power—exceptions were rare.

Must eliminate them immediately.

Back at Lègòu Mall, Wu Baokang retrieved his issued pistol, found a good position on the windowsill, aimed—before he could pull the trigger.

Bang…

A gunshot rang out.

He turned his head—Yanluo Army's fat sister had already fired, head tilted.

"You—"

Wu Baokang's face twitched. Had it not been for her status, he'd have screamed curses. Shooting randomly from over a hundred meters away? You'll spook the zombies—they'll go berserk!

Amid the stunned gazes of the crowd, Tan Hua fired two more shots, ending her barrage; she slung the rifle back over her shoulder and cast a puzzled look at Wu Baokang, whose expression mirrored her own, as if asking, What's going on?

In everyone's stunned gaze, Tan Hua Jun fired two more shots, then lowered her rifle, slung it over her shoulder, and looked at Wu Baokang with equal confusion—as if asking, What's the problem?

"Whoa, sniper!"

"That's insane! Brother Wu, look!"

Nearby, someone immediately noticed the scene in the distance: the massive zombie who had moments ago been mindlessly violent now lay slumped against the shop's entrance, its shot location obscured, but anyone with half a brain knew it had been hit in the head! Wu Baokang was stunned—150 meters in a straight line was nothing for a Type 95 with a 400-meter effective range, but to casually fire two quick shots and achieve a headshot? Who gave you permission to be so nonchalant? You treat sniping like child's play—what about the rest of us? Don't you even care about saving face?

Someone nearby noticed the distant scene: moments ago, the big zombies had been mindlessly aggressive—now they lay slumped at the shop entrance. Couldn't tell where they'd been hit, but everyone knew: headshots. Wu Baokang was stunned. Straight-line distance: about 150 meters. For a Type 95 with 400-meter effective range, that's nothing—but to casually fire two shots and get two headshots? Who gave you permission to be so casual? You treat sniping like child's play—what about the rest of us? Don't you leave even a shred of dignity?

Lu Yu stood beside him, trembling with exaggerated pride; those who knew understood he was basking in reflected glory, but those who didn't might think he'd taken down both massive zombies himself, shouting "Sis!" while actually buttering up his future mother-in-law.

Lu Yu stood beside him, vibrating with pride—he knew it was his own honor, but to outsiders, it looked like he'd killed the two big zombies himself. He shouted "Sis!"—but he was buttering up his future mother-in-law.

Tan Hua Jun, chubby and unassuming, had been assisting Yu Wen with record-keeping, walking among regular members, logging data, her rifle slung behind her—barely noticeable. Some had even whispered she was fat because she stole food.

To others, Tan Hua Jun 's most dazzling trait was her Yanluo Army identity—until now, Lègòu's branch realized: she was a hidden god.

Yanluo Army doesn't harbor idlers.

Beside Li Zongkai, Wu Daqiang gave a strange smirk—they'd all been fooled by this fat sister's deceptive appearance.

"Sis, your shooting is incredible! So awesome!"

"Can you teach me sometime? Sis, I'm diligent and eager—I'll learn fast if you'll teach me!"

"Sis, I'm twenty-one—perfect age to learn. Teach me, teach me!"

Suddenly, Tan Hua Jun became the object of flattery. Young men flocked to her, groveling shamelessly, ignoring the odd glances around them.

【101】 In the apocalypse, everyone craved the favor and protection of the strong. Women could use their advantages to find powerful men—why couldn't men do the same? Gender equality, after all.

Tan Hua smiled awkwardly and waved her hands frantically—especially at that young guy. What even was this? Her daughter was only fifteen or sixteen; was she supposed to find her a twenty-year-old stepfather?

That would be insane!

"Get lost, get lost! What even is this? I'm warning you—all of you—don't even think about going after my sister Tan!"

Lu Yu saw several guys around his age crowding around Tan Hua, and his heart tightened.

He was currently hot and heavy with Mo Qianlan; if they ever ended up together, Tan Hua would be his future mother-in-law. He absolutely did not want his future mother-in-law to pick out a stepfather his own age—that would be even worse than being bitten by a zombie! "Just kidding, Bo Ge, don't get mad."

"Bo Ge, you've got it wrong—I really want to learn gunfighting. If I'm lying, I'm not human."

"Oh come on, Bo Ge, you're being such a miser. What's it to you if Fat Sister takes on a disciple? Don't be stingy, hehe…"

The main instigators were some from the LeGou branch; the combat personnel brought by Li Zongkai were too traditional to joke like this, but Wu Lue loved crude humor—he knew exactly why Lu Yu was furious and kept egging him on…

After defeating the two strange zombies, the laughing crowd had no idea that true disaster was creeping up silently.

(End of Chapter)