Chapter 144

Everyone had eaten their fill and was dozing in the vehicles.

The middle school students slept with their heads leaning against one another’s shoulders.

There were plenty of zombies on the Second Ring Road too. Not a single living person could be seen outdoors.

Cui Haiyang occasionally opened his eyes to take a look. After all, the zombies chasing the vehicles would throw themselves onto the blades.

Only the driver had it hard, since he couldn’t sleep at all.

When the television station’s antenna came into view in the distance, the driver shouted at the top of his lungs, “Wake up! Wake up, everyone! We’re almost there!”

Everyone sat up, bleary-eyed.

Some hurriedly wiped the drool from their mouths.

The moment Jiang Cheng opened her eyes, she saw the television station in the distance.

This television station had a long history, and its design looked quite old-fashioned.

In fact, a new television station was already under construction on the East Fourth Ring Road. According to the schedule, the station would be able to move into the new building next year.

But now, all of that had come to a halt.

Compared with the massive steel gates of the municipal government compound, the television station’s gates were wide open. Only the barrier arm meant to stop vehicles had been lowered.

The truck smashed through the barrier and charged inside.

Little Huang furrowed his brow and gazed up slightly at the old-fashioned television station building.

After thinking for a moment, he still issued a warning. “Everyone, be careful. I don’t feel good.”

The people in the vehicle were all rather surprised.

Jiang Cheng asked, “Do you sense danger?”

Little Huang nodded.

This wasn’t Little Huang’s first time going out to kill zombies. He was practically a veteran by now. He hadn’t said anything when they went to the school, the district government, the urban area, or the municipal government.

This was the first time he had warned everyone.

The two new middle school students were one boy and one girl.

The boy was named Li Guxing, and the girl was named Chang Jiaxin.

Chang Jiaxin asked in a low voice, “What’s wrong with him?”

Wang Yunya answered quietly, “His superpower is danger prediction.”

The newcomers suddenly understood.

Li Guxing whispered, “Seeing how amazing his footwork is, I thought he was a wind-type user.”

“Wind-type users just run fast,” Wang Yunya said.

Jiang Cheng immediately notified the other vehicles over the radio. “Everyone, be careful. Little Huang senses danger! Stay alert and don’t let your guard down!”

All three vehicles replied over the radio: “Understood!”

“Why aren’t there any zombies in this courtyard?” Zhao Yi asked.

It was true. There had been so many zombies in the government compound, so why couldn’t they see any in the television station’s courtyard?

Of course, they couldn’t see any living people either.

Someone guessed, “Did they all run outside? The main gate isn’t closed either.”

With only a vehicle barrier arm in place, it seemed like it would be easy for zombies to leave.

“No.” Zhao Yi pressed against the window and looked outside. “If they could get out, then the zombies outside should also be able to get in. The odds should be even.”

Everyone instinctively looked toward the gate. Only then did they realize, “The zombies outside have scattered!”

The vehicles were huge and thundered loudly as they drove. Zombies were highly sensitive to sound, especially when there was so much fresh flesh and blood on board. They had all been chasing the vehicles.

That was why, at the municipal government compound, they had needed Mo Li to hold back the zombies outside. Once the convoy entered the compound, Cui Haiyang restored the steel gates to keep the zombies outside from coming in and causing trouble.

But now, the zombies that had gathered together in pursuit of the convoy had scattered.

They hadn’t followed the vehicles inside, nor had they clustered around the entrance. They had simply dispersed.

Everyone exchanged glances and reminded one another, “Be careful.”

Since there were no zombies, they could get out of the vehicles directly. But Jiang Cheng still had Mo Li go down first.

Mo Li leaped out of the vehicle and transformed upon landing into a leopard the size of a large dog.

This change in size meant that there was at least no special danger nearby that differed from what they had encountered before. From that perspective, Mo Li’s perception and Little Huang’s were still distinct.

“Mo Li’s perception is closer to something biological. Or we could call it physical perception—like radar,” Zhao Yi summarized simply. “Little Huang’s is... more metaphysical.”

“More or less,” Jiang Cheng said with a nod.

Cats and dogs could sense movement or smells from a certain distance away. They could detect things before humans could hear or see them.

After Mo Li mutated, that ability had been strengthened.

Little Huang’s danger perception belonged to an entirely different system.

It was very metaphysical, almost like fortune-telling—but it was accurate.

“Mo Li.”

Mo Li let out a “Meow~” and dashed into the television station.

A living reconnaissance unit.

“I’ll go take a look,” Zhou Wang said.

He darted inside, then darted back out a moment later, his face filled with astonishment. “There are no zombies in the lobby. Not a single one!”

Everyone looked at one another. Jiang Cheng was the first to walk toward the entrance, and the others followed one after another.

The first-floor lobby had an extremely high ceiling and was lavishly decorated.

Facing the entrance was a spacious, imposing reception desk. Corridors and security gates leading farther inside stood on either side.

There was no one behind the reception desk. The entire first-floor lobby was empty—not a single zombie, and naturally, not a single living person either.

But the floor was covered in patches of different-colored stains.

Some were dark brown, some light brown.

They were probably a mixture of zombie blood and human blood. Zombie blood was thick and sticky, like paste, and darker in color. Even after both kinds had dried, zombie blood remained darker than human blood.

There were large swaths of discoloration, drag marks, and handprints.

It was easy to imagine the chaotic scene that had taken place here.

People screaming. Zombies tearing into them.

But where had both the people and the zombies gone?

Suddenly, loud panting came from behind them!

The people walking in front turned around one after another in astonishment.

Little Huang was panting heavily!

He sounded as if he had just finished a long-distance run—or as if he had suddenly been frightened and was suffering from an extreme stress response.

His breathing was rapid and panicked.

Jiang Cheng asked in a low voice, “Little Huang?”

Little Huang struggled to close his open mouth and tried to breathe through his nose, but his breathing remained harsh and heavy.

After forcing himself to calm down, he said, “Wait.”

He turned and walked outside. The people behind him hurriedly moved aside to let him pass.

Little Huang took one step through the entrance and reached the open space outside.

That feeling disappeared in an instant.

Little Huang steadied his breathing, then stepped back inside.

The suffocating, oppressive sense of danger instantly wrapped around him again!

Little Huang sharply inhaled.

Jiang Cheng did not urge him on, and no one else dared to make a sound.

Little Huang took two deep breaths and said, “The moment I come in, the sense of danger increases dramatically. As soon as I go out, it gets much better—within a range I can tolerate.”

Yet he was standing just inside the entrance. Going in or out was only a single step.

Zhao Yi pondered for a moment, then looked up. “The terrain and environment.”

Everyone turned to look at him.

Gao Yuxuan let out an “Ah,” clearly understanding.

Several others in the group also gradually realized what he meant. They were all young people.

Someone like Zhou Wang, a middle-aged man, was left completely baffled.

Gao Yuxuan explained to Jiang Cheng, “It’s like fighting monsters in a game. Depending on the monster’s attack attributes, a particular area might be extremely unfavorable for the player. Usually, you’d find a way to lure the monster out into another area. Once the terrain and environment changed, they’d favor the player instead of the monster.”

Everyone understood.

They couldn’t help looking up and examining their surroundings.

Gao Yuxuan thought for a moment. “It’s probably because it’s easier to run outside, and there are vehicles. The chances of survival are higher, so the difference in perception between inside and outside is so extreme.”

That explained the huge disparity Little Huang sensed despite moving only one step.

Little Huang had calmed down by now. “Sister Jiang Cheng, let’s go.”

Jiang Cheng nodded.

The group walked to the reception desk and saw the floor directory posted on the wall.

There were eleven floors in all. The very top was the equipment level, with antennas and the like.

The middle floors were office space.

The broadcasting halls and similar facilities were on the lower floors.

Everyone took the stairs up.

The stairwell doors should all have been fire doors, but now both halves of each pair lay toppled on the floor.

As they entered the stairwell, someone remarked, “It’s really wide.”

The staircase was enormous—twice as wide as the stairwell in a youth apartment building, at least. The space was much more open as well.

When they reached the second floor, they found that the fire doors there had also all been knocked down.

Jiang Cheng frowned and paused for a moment.

Someone else noticed it too. “Was it the zombies?”

Second-generation zombies possessed tremendous strength. If these were the work of second-generation zombies, they could probably have knocked the doors down by charging into them.

But where were the zombies?

The second floor was deathly silent.

During the first zombie disaster, everyone had basically cleared out office buildings and mixed-use residential towers like this one. Back then, there had been relatively few zombies in office buildings, just as there had been few in residential buildings this time.

But this time, there was no way the office-building zombies could be so sparse.

People had been at work when the disaster struck.

A building this large should have been like the municipal or district government offices, with hordes of zombies wandering through the corridors.

Gao Yuxuan and Guo Jun were at the very front. They had shifted from the main attacking force to support roles, focusing on crowd control and slowing groups of enemies. It worked extremely well.

Once the two of them restrained the zombies, the people behind them could charge forward and coordinate their attacks.

The moment Little Huang stepped into the second-floor corridor, his breathing grew ragged. His face went pale, and sweat appeared on his forehead.

Wang Yunya was beside him and noticed that he seemed ready to collapse. She quickly grabbed his arm. “Are you all right?”

Little Huang breathed heavily. “It’s here!”

Jiang Cheng turned to look at him.

Little Huang said, “It’s on this floor!”

But no one saw anything. The corridor was completely empty.

Everyone grew suspicious and uneasy. Although they often joked that third-generation zombies were the sort that “knew to run home when it rained,” the truth was that their intelligence was somewhat greater than that.

Third-generation zombies could not only preserve their lives and escape danger—they could also lie in ambush and launch sneak attacks.

Deqing had been thrown into chaos by two third-generation zombies alone.

Little Huang had no way to describe what he was sensing.

Before, it had always been a sense of “danger.” This time, it was a pure feeling of “death.”

Influenced by Old Huang, Little Huang had read some books on feng shui and the occult. He had a basic understanding of concepts such as life gates and death gates.

After reviewing his experiences, he had concluded that his ability to sense danger and position himself accordingly meant that every step he took landed on a life gate.

But now, he felt suffocated.

Every path ahead was a death gate.

There wasn’t a single life gate.

Even if he wanted to dodge, there was nowhere to go.

But the others could not possibly turn back simply because Little Huang’s premonition was so strong.

They had come out to kill zombies in the first place knowing that they were risking their lives.

Jiang Cheng could only say, “Everyone in front, be careful.”

Gao Yuxuan said, “I’ll use maximum output in a moment! Highest voltage! Strongest current!”

He was no longer concerned with efficiency. Staying alive came first.

They continued advancing while talking.

The corridor was empty, and the rooms on either side stood open and vacant as well.

It was deeply unsettling.

Those rooms were all functional spaces. Each one was enormous, with sets and equipment visible inside.

Naturally, the doors were wide too—double doors in every case. Now they had all torn free of their frames and fallen to the floor.

They were nearly at the end of the corridor. A turn waited ahead, and beyond it should have been another stretch of hallway.

The farther forward they went, the harder it became for Little Huang to breathe.

“Don’t go any farther!” he finally shouted. “Stop! It’s right ahead!”

The floor suddenly began to tremble.

A massive creature poked its head around the corner.

It had a hideous, enormous face.

Its gigantic body pressed against the ceiling, forcing its huge head forward. Its proportions were not remotely human; it looked more like a cat or a dog.

Its enormous body formed a wall of flesh, filling the entire corridor as it scraped against the ceiling and walls.

It moved like a baboon or gorilla, planting two massive fists on the ground to help propel itself forward.

Every time one of its fists struck the floor, the entire building shook.

Little Huang finally understood the suffocating sense of death that had rushed toward him.

He had survived among the zombies by moving with pinpoint precision. But this giant zombie had sealed off the entire corridor with its body. There was nowhere to move.

There was no life gate, so naturally every path was a death gate.

Once his movement skills became useless, Little Huang was nothing more than a lean, somewhat frail middle-school student.

The Giant Zombie clearly possessed intelligence as well. It had been lying in wait around the corner.

If Little Huang had not stopped Gao Yuxuan from advancing, Gao Yuxuan might already have been inside the monster’s mouth!

It had revealed itself only after hearing everyone stop.

That enormous, ugly face actually twisted into a smile, grotesque and terrifying.

The wall of flesh pounded the floor and charged toward them.

“Holy crap, fall back! Fall back—!”

Gao Yuxuan shouted frantically while unleashing a wild burst of electricity.

But even the combined maximum-output attacks of Gao Yuxuan and Guo Jun, the two strongest electricity users, could not stop the wall of flesh from charging forward.

Aunt Pan reacted just as quickly. In an instant, she raised a wall to seal off the corridor.

The next moment, the monster smashed it to pieces.

Jiang Cheng shouted, “Su Yu!”

Su Yu stepped forward, crossed her hands, and thrust them out. White light gathered, and a white shield—or rather, a wall of light—shot forward.

The giant monster roared as it collided with the wall of light.

Jiang Cheng’s voice rang out, calm and commanding. “Fall back in formation! Don’t run!”

With so many people packed into the corridor, panic would immediately lead to a stampede.

They had to retreat.

A monster like this could no longer be dealt with through sheer numbers. As Zhao Yi had pointed out, the terrain was completely unfavorable to the humans.

In a corridor like this, only the people at the front could engage the monster directly. Everyone behind them was blocked.

Fortunately, the past few days had truly hardened everyone’s nerves. They had also grown somewhat numb to the prospect of death, and no one panicked or fled blindly.

Even ordinary civilians had begun to display something of a soldier’s discipline.

Everyone remained calm and retreated quickly and in orderly fashion.

Gao Yuxuan and Guo Jun also stopped using their abilities. Since their attacks were ineffective, there was no point wasting their energy. They too were able to retreat rapidly.

But Su Yu had difficulty moving backward.

Her wall of light was braced against the giant monster, and she could not turn around to retreat.

Li Jiangbing roared, “Su Yu, hold it steady!”

He rushed over. Knowing that Su Yu could not turn around, he twisted his body, crouched in front of her, and hoisted her onto his shoulder in one swift motion.

“Keep it steady! We’ll cover the rear together!”

Su Yu felt Li Jiangbing’s powerful arms supporting her. Sitting on his arm, she wrapped one arm around his neck to steady herself, while the other remained extended forward, continuously controlling the wall of light.

Carrying Su Yu, Li Jiangbing began to run. Only then did Jiang Cheng turn and start retreating himself.

But as the three of them withdrew, Su Yu’s wall of light moved with them. This was the farthest distance Su Yu could control it from.

The giant monster could not break through the wall of light. It pounded against it furiously while pursuing them without pause.

Every time it struck, a dull pain throbbed in Su Yu’s chest.

When the barrier is operating at full power, it can automatically negate attacks and impacts. But clearly, the giant monster was simply too strong. The barrier couldn’t cancel everything out in a single blow, and the residual force still rebounded onto Su Yu.

As everyone retreated, they kept looking back. The giant monster was being held back entirely by Su Yu’s wall of light, but it just wouldn’t shake loose!

How much longer could Su Yu hold on?

What would happen if she couldn’t?

Just then, many people felt as though someone had stepped on the tops of their heads.

When they looked up, there was already no sign of the figure—it had been far too fast.

Mo Li was incredibly fast!

She had charged past by stepping on everyone’s heads—