[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-zombie-apocalypse-creation":3,"chapter-zombie-apocalypse-creation-zombie-apocalypse-creation-chapter-523":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","Zombie Apocalypse: Creation",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},1887600,2510,"Chapter 523: Spying in the City Hall","zombie-apocalypse-creation-chapter-523",523,"\u003Cp>Seven minutes ago...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Kate, you found anywhere we can enter through?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As Xiaoyun whispered into the mic, he was standing near the south entrance, which was still filled with zombies to the brim.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"The northern part look a little empty. Just give me a second to check after I finish check the eastern side.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With Kate's answer, Xiaoyun began wrapping around the block, heading toward the northern part of the city hall.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Why are there so many zombies? This is way more than any zombie hordes in a single area like this...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xiaoyun thought to himself as he slowly walked through the streets, hoping over a few fences before finally arriving to the northern entrance's staircase.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To his surprise, there was barely any zombies left. A few of them scattered in the nearby building idling despite the gunshots inside.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Kate, I'm at the northern entrance. Where are you at?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Just give me a second... Okay, I'm at the northern entrance as well. Should we turn off our cloak?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"No need... I'm just going to walk over to the door\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xiaoyun quickly walking all the way to the door, creating a thermal camera in hand before putting it up to his face.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Keep walking, I can see you now,\" Xiaoyun murmured, locating Kate on the eastern side of the grass field.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Okay...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After a few second, Kate finally arrived by the door, standing only a few steps away from him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Where are you at——\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Right here.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As Xiaoyun threw the camera aside and grabbed onto her hand, Kate's face blushed for a second before turning her attention to the entrance itself.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The door was wide open, clearly bashed open by a tank mutant as a giant corpse lay next to door hinges.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Jesus... So much bodies.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Kate's eye was completely stunned as the sheer mountain of zombies inside almost blocked the entire staircase to the second floor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xiaoyun didn't say anything back, continuing forward as he walked around the corpse of zombie before arriving at the staircase.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I'll go up first.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Slowly, Xiaoyun began inching up the staircase step by step, walking along the remaining guard rail as several zombie corpses growled.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Many of the corpses was still alive, incapacitated by their bullet wounds, forcing the two of them to make extra sure not to step onto their faces.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The foul smell alone was enough to knock anyone out, but they had no other choice but to continue upward.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After what felt like forever, the two of them finally made it to the second floor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just as they expected, the hallway of the second floor was still filled with zombie corpses, but most of them are actually dead this time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"What do we do now?\" Kate quietly asked as two path remaining before them, with more turns ahead of them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xiaoyun thought for a second, then grabbed her hands again before taking the route to the right.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, a single gunshot traveling from the left hallway cause him to turned around before they began following where the gunshot came from.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The two of them remain silent as they continue trying their best to avoid stepping on the zombie corpses, but the rooms eventually ran out.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Within seconds, both of their shoes was stained with blood.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Ugh, this stain is going to reveal us...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"It's fine Kate. The hallway is filled with blood anyway... As long as no footsteps show, it's all fine.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As the two continued heading forward, they finally noticed a group of soldier standing at the stairway to the third floor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The soldiers' faces looked extremely tired, but not a single one of them had their guards down as they held up their rifles down the hall.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Northern Hallway 5 cleared.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Northern Hallway 7 cleared.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As one of the soldier's walkie-talkie transmitted, he quickly picked it up before clicking a button.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Northern Hallway 6 cleared, \" the soldier murmured before clicking the button again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"We're finally done. \"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A young soldier barely looking old enough to drink murmured as he lowered his rifle before streching out his elbow.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Not so fast. We're probably going to the southern flank after this——\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Hallway 6, can you send someone to Commander Wen Pi's office? I'm not sure if they had gotten our signal.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Affirmative.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>All of the soldiers immediately turned their attention at the young soldier in unison, staring at him in silence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Okay okay. I'll go.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing the young soldier's face full of grievance, the older soldiers couldn't help but let out a small chuckle.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You better hurry.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>---\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Back to the present...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As Kate and Xiaoyun turned their attention to the table, they saw two different maps. On the left was a detailed map of Changsha.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As Lingang previously described, most of the city was zoned out in blue, seemingly to indicate safe areas.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The only parts of the city painted in red were the very northern part and the roads connecting to the southern and western parts of Hunan.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Meanwhile, on the right was a map of Hunan itself, with various matching colors that had no labels at all.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But from the context clue, the blue dots scattered throughout the rural area of Hunan clearly implied as Zhongxiong's base of operation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the very middle, there was also a green square thirty miles south of Changsha, or a estimated thirty-minute drive.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"That's probably their base, right?\" Kate murmured.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Yeah...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xiaoyun quickly took out his phone, took a picture of the two maps, and put it back into his pocket.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Let's get going.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Kate nodded as they both turned on their invisible cloak at the same time, slowly walking over to the door before putting their ear to it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After hearing only gunshots in the distance, the two of them finally headed out of the room before arriving back to the staircase.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Walking down the hall, they could both hear gunshots right outside the windows getting louder and louders.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With the constant explosions and tank mutant's growling sounds, the battle outside was only getting more intense.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"What should we do now?\" Kate quietly asked as the two of them arrived at the staircase.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xiaoyun didn't say anything back as he took out his phone again, only to see the time was already past six.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Outside, the sunlight was starting to be replaced by the moon as the sun finally vanished from the horizon.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Let's get back to the army first... I have a bad feeling.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>---\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When the two of them exited the building through the northern entrances, they quickly noticed how many soldiers were surrounding it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>All of them were Xiaoyun's troops, breaking down into smaller groups to lure zombies away from the other three entrances.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After walking past several groups of them, the two of them quickly headed towards a nearby hotel to have a better view.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Running through the staircases, the two of them barely broke a sweat as they arrive at the roof entrances.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With a simple kick, the lock holding the door in place was snapped into two as they ran over to the edge of the building.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As they looked down to the city hall, both of them were a little shocked by what they saw down below.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Oh my god...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The two of them were shocked by how jammed packed the zombies were, as the entire road was painted black, overriding the sidewalks and street lines.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At the same time, they could see more and more smoke coming out of the southern part of the city hall, seemingly to have caught on fire at some point.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Xiaoyun, are you sure we have enough ammo against this?\" Kate worryingly asked.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Lingang knows what he is doing.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The two stood in silence as they watched groups of soldiers begin entering through the western and northern entrance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After a while, Xiaoyun started to notice how number of soldiers on the battlefield seemed much lower than what he had originally brought.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There were only roughly ten thousand people around the city hall, and another thousand were entering the building.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Looking around the various streets, there was no sighs of soldiers anywhere to be seen. Kate even started to notice that the number seemed a little off.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Where is everyone?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Kate worriedly asked as the zombies started to force the outside soldiers to enter the building.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After a short thought, Xiaoyun finally came up with an answer that connected various dots inside his theory.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"They are probably waiting somewhere... The building itself can't handle that much soldiers anyway.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Couldn't they at least fight outside to help the soldiers inside?\" Kate questioned.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Just be patient... Lingang is trying to catch the big fish behind all this.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The answer didn't really address her concern, but seeing how confident Xiaoyun looked, she didn't question it again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Hey Kate, do you think there's any survivors inside the city?\" Xiaoyun suddenly asked.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Of course there are survivors. There are always survivors in every city...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Kate paused for a second, then continued.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Isn't there a saying in your language that compares cockroaches' tenaciousness to human's ability to survive?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Yeah... I guess you're right——\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just before Xiaoyun could finish talking, a certain indivdual's stomach started growling.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"That's not me!\" Kate shyly whispered, her face blushing red as she tried to deny that it was her stomach going on hungry strikes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Then it must have been me... Let's go get some food before we do anything else.\"\u003C\u002Fp>",1571,"2026-06-10T06:59:51.848Z",1,"novelbin.me","7e1a1319dabfed858584d6a6ccd945a177c24b9d942d1910d5ae835fe26acf41","zombie-apocalypse-creation-chapter-772","zombie-apocalypse-creation-chapter-771",829,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fzombie-apocalypse-creation-cover.jpg"]