Chapter 387: Attack with Splash Damage (Last day, please cast your monthly votes!)

On the first line of defense, the most valiant were none other than the three reserve squad leaders.

Zhang Su held a steel rebar club in one hand and a wood-chopping axe in the other. At fifty years old, he showed no signs of flagging; under the glow of the lights, his arms danced, creating streaks of afterimages. His combat effectiveness was quite impressive, and every strike he made sent a zombie to the ground.

Pan Guoliang's approach was slightly different from Zhang Su's. His combat power was also strong, but he favored finesse over the sweeping, wide-open style. Naturally, his efficiency in killing zombies couldn't match Zhang Su's in the short term, but his stamina was superior, making him better suited for prolonged combat.

Lu Lei's fighting style was extremely erratic. In terms of zombie-killing efficiency, his speed wasn't slow, but the visual impact was far inferior, and it even looked a bit sleazy—yet this was simply the combat style he had chosen that suited him best! Although the reserve squad members seemed to be killing with great momentum, that was only from their perspective. If one switched to a god's-eye view, it would be clear that the zombies surging up from the rear were increasing bit by bit. The killing speed simply wasn't fast enough; the pressure was constantly mounting, the crisis hadn't been alleviated, and they had fallen into a completely passive state, especially after a series of cracking sounds.

Crack, crack, clatter…

"Fall back! Fight while retreating, and whatever you do, don't get surrounded!"

As the Czech hedgehog barricades collapsed, the horde of corpses lunged forward, causing a pile-up. Those behind stumbled as well, so they didn't rush over immediately, but this was only a brief respite. If anyone lingered to fight at a time like this, they would likely lose the chance to retreat later!

In reality, fighting while retreating requires considerable combat experience and formidable ability. For the reserve squad members, they simply didn't possess such a level. Even though Zhang Su issued the order immediately, one woman was still pounced on by a zombie and bitten on the calf right on the spot.

"Ah! Help… ah!"

"Auntie Hui!"

Su Xiaoya was closest to Qiu Hui, who had been pounced on. Just as she was about to go save her, a large hand holding an axe appeared before her eyes and shoved her, causing her to stumble backward! "Run!"

Zhang Su pushed Su Xiaoya away with one hand, while the other hand thrust the steel rebar club into the zombie pinning Qiu Hui down.

*Puchi. *

The reaction force from pushing Su Xiaoya, combined with the strength from his feet, added massive power to the strike, piercing the zombie's skull. He didn't bother retrieving the rebar club from the zombie's head; he grabbed Qiu Hui by the back of her collar and dragged her back. The moment he pulled her away, two zombies tumbled over the obstacle formed by their own kind, landing with a *thud* exactly where Qiu Hui had fallen. If he had been even a second slower, she would likely have been beyond saving.

Zhang Su's seasoned combat skills had snatched Qiu Hui back from the jaws of the zombies, but it was a pity she had already been bitten.

"She's been bitten! Quick, sever the leg!"

Lu Lei, who was assisting nearby, saw that the pants on Qiu Hui's leg were shredded and soaked in blood, and his heart tightened.

Qiu Hui naturally knew her own situation. With tears streaming down her face, she looked at the dancing horde of corpses ahead. Feeling the pain radiating from her leg, she felt completely hopeless, but upon hearing the deputy leader mention severing the leg, a glimmer of hope ignited in her heart.

"Cut it, cut it off, I don't want the leg! Someone help me…"

Qiu Hui screamed; as long as she could live, what was losing a leg?

"There's no time now! Hold them off, hold them off, be careful!"

Zhang Su yelled while dragging Qiu Hui backward, then immediately said to Lu Lei, "Little Lu, are you sure severing the leg works?"

"It works, hurry, don't dawdle!"

All core members of Tianma Island knew about Chen Hanzhou's encounter; in their view, as long as the action was fast enough, there was hope for survival! Alas, at this very moment, even a stable environment was a luxury…

"Brother Su, we can't hold them!"

"Retreat, Captain Zhang, it's no use!"

After losing the obstruction of the barricades, relying on a human wall to block the zombies' advance was extremely difficult. Unless every single person was a brave warrior, they couldn't hold out for much longer! From the moment the zombies rushed the barricades to this point of total collapse, the time span was no more than three minutes, and the reserve squad had killed fewer than 150 zombies—not even a tenth of the horde! Frontal conflicts were often decided in a very short time.

At this moment, the reserve squad members felt cold to the bone. The women's army hadn't expected that facing zombies directly would be so difficult. Killing one was easy, and two or three wasn't hard, but when forty people faced over two thousand…

*Awoo! * Just then, a roar filled with fury resounded across the heavens, like the howl of someone clearing a glob of phlegm from their throat, drowning out all the chaotic zombie shrieks. A brief silence actually descended upon the scene! "They're here! Brother Su and the others have arrived! Quick, quick, regroup, and let's pincer the horde with Brother Su and his team!"

Lu Lei naturally knew what that roar was about; it must be the Tianma Island elite team arriving with Zero-Zero-Three!

"Captain Lu, don't, don't leave, save me, save me!"

Qiu Hui gripped Lu Lei's arm tightly, refusing to let go.

Lu Lei looked into the distance, then back at the scene before him, let out a roar, snatched the axe from Zhang Su's hand, and raised it high…

A massive dark shadow appeared at the rear of the horde. Drones hovered in the sky, spraying pheromones. Pang Dakun held a stun gun, following Zero-Zero-Three like a phantom. Figures also flickered on the flanks of the horde; wherever cold light flashed, dark shadows fell to the ground.

Finally freed from its seal, Zero-Zero-Three, upon sensing the call of the pheromones, charged into the horde like a mad demon. It was like a tiger entering a flock of sheep; a single arm was as thick as a zombie's waist. With every swing, it carried immense force. With a flash of the blade, a row of zombies was cleanly severed. A zombie's corpse was impaled on its weapon, and with a powerful flick, Zero-Zero-Three sent it flying four or five meters away.

The rear of the horde suddenly encountered Zero-Zero-Three's attack, and a large group of zombies immediately twisted their bodies to pounce on the crowd behind. But they had no chance at all; ordinary zombies were too insignificant before Zero-Zero-Three. It swung its waist-thick arms back and forth, and the horde was like soybeans being stir-fried in a wok, flying everywhere! The flanks of the scattered horde would not be ignored; Zhang Su and Zhao Dezhu had each led a team, waiting for this very moment! Zombies weakened by the low temperature had no ability to resist when facing true elite zombie-killers…

In one encounter, a row of zombies fell to the ground. Eye sockets, mouths, and temples all became breakthrough points for one-hit kills. Even more savage were the cases where zombies had half their heads cleaved off; the clean-cut surfaces were chilling to behold.

Only one person could produce such an attack, and that was Zhang Su.

After eighteen days of high-intensity training, his combat power had improved by several grades. Walking at the very front of the team, he, like Zhang Su, chose dual-wielding: a steel rebar club in one hand and a long-unused kukri military knife in the other.

The incredibly solid metal material, paired with footwork more agile than before, more full utilization of the body, more ingenious ways of applying force, and a body containing infinite power—every strike was like thunder, resembling a miniature version of Zero-Zero-Three…

The people in Zhang Su's team noticed something wrong as soon as the battle began. Originally, everyone was advancing together to wipe out the horde, but as soon as they started, they saw Zhang Su acting as if he had activated a cheat code, taking out one "kid" after another, as if the things in front of him weren't zombies, but wax figures!

Standing to Zhang Su's left was Zheng Xinyu, and to his right was Wu Lue. The two watched as Zhang Su not only solved the zombies in front of him but also helped take out the ones in front of them.

It was as if everyone was standing in the squares of a chessboard; the others were short-range linear attackers, only able to cause damage to the square directly in front, while Zhang Su possessed a fan-shaped splash attack range, and the three squares lined up in front of him would all suffer violent strikes…

When the reserve squad faced the horde without the obstruction of the barricades, they were in total retreat, while the elite team led by Zhang Su could not only hold their ground but also had a faint momentum of pushing forward. Everything was because the lethality of Zhang Su, this sharp blade, was too great! "Holy shit!"

Lu Yubo, standing a few spots away, saw Zhang Su killing zombies like mowing grass and was scared on the spot.

He had once felt that after long-term training, the gap between him and Zhang Su was getting smaller, but now, looking at it, not only had it not narrowed, but he was being left further and further behind. This world was too crazy!

"Is this the level Brother Su reached after practicing martial arts with Tachibana Mai?"

Wang Xin was also nearby, feeling equally shocked.

For eighteen days, Zhang Su hadn't participated in daily training with everyone. Everyone slowly learned that he was learning some techniques of the Tachibana style from Tachibana Mai, but they hadn't expected the progress to be so exaggerated.

It wasn't just the feelings of others; Zhang Su, as the person experiencing it most directly, was also astonished. Before, whether training alone or sparring with Tachibana Mai, he had never exerted his full strength. Only when he fought with everything he had did he finally experience the thrill of mowing down enemies.

Like a god of war reborn, Zhang Su had endless strength. The zombies in front of him were nothing but weaklings. He felt that as long as he paired it with two spare energy slots, he had the ambition to kill all two thousand zombies by himself.

Everyone thought Zhang Su had become powerful after learning martial arts from Tachibana Mai and began to look forward to becoming powerful themselves after learning, but they ignored the real key: the person!

Regardless, after the others felt the heaven-shaking fighting spirit of Zhang Su, an unprecedented passion erupted in their hearts, and the weapons in their hands seemed to feel two parts lighter! Zhang Su's side was like a meat grinder, eroding into the interior of the horde and directly capturing the left flank of the horde!

(End of chapter)