Chapter 221: A Series of

Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding!

In less than half a minute, the melodious sound of a bell rang out from the loudspeaker at the entrance of United Village.

The placement of the loudspeaker was deliberate; it was located a hundred meters away from the villagers' residences, separated by several rows of houses. This distance ensured everyone could hear it, and in critical moments, it could serve to attract zombies, creating a buffer zone for counterattacking the enemy.

"One, two... five, holy crap, six?"

"Six rings, damn it, quick, quick, quick, grab your weapons!"

"Where's the thunder? Go get the detonators!"

"I have to go too? I'm over eighty! What? Even if you have one breath left, you have to go? Understood, understood!"

In an instant, United Village was bustling with activity. The laborers from Beitaziying, who had only recently joined the village, were stunned when they learned the situation, but they soon began to move as well. In the apocalypse, who didn't have a bit of strength to spare?

Six rings—no one had ever encountered this before. Some of the more timid ones were already starting to tremble at the knees...

As the leader of the village, Wang Longzhong could never hide in the back. However, before he could even gather the village's elite fighters, he heard the sound of dense footsteps coming from the side of the village, accompanied by the distinct roars of zombies.

This was the most effective move to reduce pressure. If only a small number of zombies attacked, sound alone could handle it. The zombies that had crawled out of the quarry had been lured in this way before, and now, seeing the light of day again, they fell for it once more.

The overwhelming horde of zombies swung their legs, stepping from the fields onto the village's concrete road, moving like a torrent toward the people of United Village. In the darkness, pairs of scarlet eyes emitted a bloodthirsty glow. Even from over a hundred meters away, it was enough to make one's heart run cold!

Bang, bang, bang, bang...

Fight, or run.

A series of muzzle flashes erupted, smoke billowing from the barrels, dancing in the air in various shapes.

He touched the firelock at his waist, looked at the rows of roadblocks on the street, and the combat force that was already prepared...

As the voice faded, loud singing erupted from both sides of the side road. The broken loudspeaker played low-fidelity music, quickly attracting the zombies' attention. The villagers driving the three-wheeled motorcycles didn't hesitate to lead the zombies behind them toward the distance.

The two three-wheelers took away quite a few zombies, but at most, it was only about half of the horde. It seemed like a lot, but the remaining zombies still posed a huge threat to United Village!

Fortunately, the big loudspeaker at the village entrance diverted another small portion of the zombies. Although the lured zombies wouldn't die on their own, it at least bought the villagers time. Between a head-on clash and a war of attrition, a war of attrition clearly offered a better chance of survival!

Awoo-woo!

The attraction of the music caused the entire horde to riot. The zombies that hadn't caught up to the music seemed to sense the presence of humans in the dark, and they all charged toward the direction where the main force of United Village was stationed.

"In your heart, flying freely!"

Wang Longzhong felt they could fight!

"Fellow villagers, the greatest challenge United Village has ever faced is right before us. Prepare for battle!"

Two spotlights were turned on behind the villagers, illuminating the incoming zombies. Since zombies didn't rely much on light anyway, it was better to create a better fighting environment for the humans!

United Village launched its defense, the first wave: diverting the zombies!

"First row, aim!" Wang Longzhong shouted, holding his firelock, "Fire!"

Unfortunately, this time it wasn't a scattered group of zombies, but a horde stretching over a hundred meters. The sound-luring tactic was effective, but not enough!

Following the first row's volley, the zombies in the lead fell twenty meters before the roadblocks. These three zombies were like the first dominoes, causing a chain of zombies behind them to trip and fall, creating a small-scale stampede that severely impacted the horde's speed!

Seeing that everyone had basically arrived, Wang Longzhong immediately began directing the battle.

In fact, at this moment, Wang Longzhong had two paths to choose from.

Awoo-woo-awoo.

Second wave of defense, point-killing with firearms!

At the same time, the big loudspeaker at the village entrance began playing high-energy music, ding-donging non-stop. Never mind the zombies in the village, it felt like it could be heard for a kilometer around!

Relying solely on zombie corpses wouldn't hold them back for long, but if you added a tripwire, the effect would be much better.

"Tripwire!"

At Wang Longzhong's command, a hemp rope was stretched taut across the street.

Pfft, pfft, pfft...

The tripwire was very effective, causing the leading zombies to tumble over immediately, piling up into a chaotic mess.

"First row, continue firing... retreat and reload... second row, step forward and aim, fire!"

Wang Longzhong directed the battle while participating in it, a megaphone hanging from his waist. His voice was very loud; at this point, he didn't care about attracting more zombies.

Bang, bang, bang...

"Second row, retreat, third row..."

It was fortunate that Wang Xingui had participated in Zhang Su's battle to wipe out Beitaziying and had traded grain for over a dozen firelocks. Otherwise, with United Village's original firearms, they could have only supported two volleys, but now they had a third row.

One must never underestimate this third row. With its addition, the cycle of reloading the firelocks was closed, achieving the most effective firepower coverage under the current conditions.

Bang, bang, bang...

Bang, bang, bang...

With orderly firing, flames erupted and smoke filled the air. Each volley of bullets meant several zombies met their end!

However, no matter how much firepower they covered, the villagers' homemade firelocks were no match for standard automatic rifles. After a few rounds, leaving a scattered pile of corpses, the zombies finally charged to the roadblocks!

Awoo!

The scene the villagers least expected occurred.

Because they were using firearms, the villagers were standing three to five meters away from the roadblocks. Just when everyone thought the zombies would be blocked, the first zombie to reach the roadblock clumsily jumped. Although it was tripped by the roadblock in the end, it rolled over and successfully landed on the other side. From that point on, there was no obstacle between it and the villagers!

Bang!

Before the zombie could get up, Wang Longzhong shot it right in the skull, shouting, "Switch weapons, kill them!"

The zombie's behavior shocked him, but there was no time to think. The priority was to keep the zombies on the other side of the roadblock!

He shoved the firelock into his waist. In his haste, he missed, and the gun fell to the ground. He didn't have time to pick it up, so he pulled out a custom-made large fire tong and stabbed forward!

"Kill!"

"Kill..."

"Finish them off!"

With the villagers' shouts, they finally engaged in close-quarters combat!

However, it was only at this moment that everyone realized the clumsy jumping was nothing; the biggest surprise had finally arrived, and the sight before them made everyone's heart turn cold!

Previously, when killing zombies, one swing of a woodcutter's knife would at least sever an arm, and a sharpened steel bar would pierce right through them. But this time, fighting the zombies was a different story.

It couldn't be denied that some zombies were the same as before, with little resistance against sharp blades. But some were extraordinary. When the villagers' knives and hoes struck them, it didn't bring up flesh and blood, but a cloud of dust. The hard sensation felt like hitting stone, and the zombies were only slightly pushed back by the immense force, leaving only chisel marks on the struck areas without causing injury!

Only sharp weapons could cause some degree of damage to this type of zombie, but it was still extremely difficult.

"Damn it, what's wrong with this zombie? Why is its skin as hard as stone? Fuck, fuck..."

Someone let out a soul-searching question. He swung his sharp double-edged sickle wildly, but it was hard to break the zombie's defense. Only when the tip of the sickle pierced the zombie's eye socket did it finally die. The killing efficiency was far worse than before!

"Everyone, pay attention! Some zombies have extremely high defense. Don't attack other parts, aim for the head, aim for the eye sockets!"

Wang Longzhong roared. He had also encountered zombies that seemed to be wearing armor during the fight. He had no idea what was going on, but there was no time to stop and study it. The fire tong in his hand was like a piston, his arm the connecting rod, constantly retracting, stabbing, retracting, and stabbing again!

The villagers were fighting for their lives, but the more they fought, the more terrified they became. Facing ordinary zombies was fine; they could basically be handled in three to five strikes, six at most. At worst, severing their legs could limit their mobility, which was a way to increase their own survival chances.

But if they encountered a guy with super-high defense...

A flurry of hacking and stabbing had little effect. It not only consumed stamina but also became increasingly dangerous the longer it dragged on. In the end, they had no choice but to pull out a firelock and shoot it in the skull, but this was clearly not a long-term solution!

As the killing efficiency dropped, United Village slowly began to lose ground!

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 222 =====