Chapter 139 - 136: The Apocalyptic Overlord Arrives 13

Chapter 139: Chapter 136: The Apocalyptic Overlord Arrives 13

Ji Xiaosong handed out dinner to everyone. Although they all had supplies stockpiled in their vehicles—a precaution in case of an accident or if someone got separated—the meals Ji Xiaosong produced from her dimensional space had been prepared ahead of time at the base’s cafeteria. They were still steaming hot when she brought them out, the temperature perfect.

With a hot, ready-made meal right in front of them, who would want to go to the trouble of cooking for themselves?

Everyone accepted the food with looks of pure satisfaction, eagerly digging in.

Ji Xiaosong and Gu Lin returned to their RV. They were sitting at the table eating when Gu Lin suddenly heard the snarling of zombies.

"Xiaosong, there might be zombies nearby. We’ll need to be on our guard."

"Don’t worry, I know where they are. We’ll deal with them after we’ve eaten and gotten a night’s rest."

’The zombies in that village seem to have been there for a long time anyway, and they aren’t very high-level,’ Ji Xiaosong thought. ’No need to worry.’

"I’ll put a Barrier around all of our RVs. As long as none of us go outside, nothing will be able to get in."

After dinner, Ji Xiaosong brought out a plate of vibrant red strawberries and pulled Gu Lin down onto the sofa with her.

The glass bowl was heaped with luscious red strawberries. Ji Xiaosong had deliberately left the water droplets on them, and their skins glistened with tiny points of light.

She placed a bare foot on Gu Lin’s knee, her toenails painted the same shade of red as the strawberries. With a soft CLINK, she set the fruit bowl on the coffee table.

"Guess," she said, curling her toes to poke his thigh, "which is sweeter? The strawberries, or me?"

Gu Lin caught her restless ankle, the web between his thumb and forefinger cradling her prominent ankle bone as he gently caressed it.

The strawberry-scented air from the AC drifted past his nose. He suddenly leaned forward and bit into the largest berry. As the juice burst between his teeth, the cool flesh of the fruit brushed against her fingertips.

"Well? Is it sweet?"

Ji Xiaosong snatched her hand back, wiping her fingers on the hem of her skirt. The strawberry juice bled into the cotton, leaving a dark red stain like a blossoming flower.

She suddenly flipped over to straddle his waist, the ends of her hair brushing against his bobbing Adam’s apple. "Want another taste...?"

The last word was swallowed by the sudden glare of the overhead lights.

Outside the all-glass dome, a sudden torrential downpour lashed against the panes, curtains of water winding like rivers over their heads.

Ji Xiaosong yelped and shrank into his embrace. Her lower back bumped a button on a remote, and a simulated starry sky suddenly blazed to life against the backdrop of the rain.

The man-made river of stars swirled, reflected in Gu Lin’s eyes. He gripped her waist and pressed her deeper into the sofa.

Strawberries tumbled onto the carpet, their sweet juice bleeding into the fibers in the dim light.

His warm breath ghosted over her earlobe. "I’ve tasted it now. You’re peach-flavored."

Ji Xiaosong suddenly brought her knee up, digging it into his stomach. "Pervert!"

But he just grabbed her ankle and dragged her back.

He pressed a chilled strawberry to her collarbone. Maintaining the position, he bent his head to take a bite, the pulp mashing against her skin and leaving a rosy mark.

"Where are you running?"

He chuckled, the half-melted fruit still in his mouth. Strawberry juice trickled from his jaw, dripping onto her chest. "Didn’t you want to see who was sweeter?"

The sound of the rain suddenly became deafening.

*

The overnight downpour washed away nearly all trace of the group’s scent, which had the added benefit of keeping the zombies in the village quiet.

The next morning, Ji Xiaosong handed out breakfast.

After breakfast was finished, Ji Xiaosong finally spoke up. "There are a few adjacent villages about four or five kilometers from here. They’re infested with four or five hundred zombies. To keep them from wandering off and hurting more people, I say we go and take care of them today."

The words had barely left her mouth when Li Yang, standing to the side, was the first to nod, his expression resolute. "I agree. Those zombies on the loose are a constant threat. The sooner we deal with them, the sooner we can rest easy. Besides, everyone on our team is skilled. Four or five kilometers isn’t that far. Since everyone’s in good shape, today is the perfect time to strike."

Li Yang was one of the first special forces soldiers to undergo Body Refining. As a master among Thunder Ability Users, he had never been afraid of zombies.

Right after, Zhang Yu also stood up, patting the long blade at his waist. "Xiaosong’s right. We can’t let these things harm anyone else. We’ve handled plenty of zombies before, this time will be no problem. I won’t brag, but I can take out fifty myself!"

Zhang Yu was Ji Youshu’s college classmate and also an Earth Ability User. Ji Youshu had specifically sent him to join the team, mainly to protect Ji Xiaosong in his stead.

The normally taciturn Zhao Gang also spoke up, his voice low but filled with unquestionable strength. "I’ll go with you all. An extra person means extra strength. The sooner we get rid of these zombies, the sooner we can find a safe place to properly rest."

Zhao Gang was a Gold Ability User sent by Gu Changqing.

"Since everyone agrees, Gu Lin will lead the team this time," Ji Xiaosong said, glancing at him.

"All units, open the combat channel."

Gu Lin’s fingertips traced a ghostly blue arc across a tactical tablet. "Drone feed shows three villages in a triangular formation. The main battlefield will be the central threshing ground."

Ji Xiaosong handed out twenty jade pendants to the group. "These are Amulets I refined from the Crystal Cores we’ve collected from zombies. They can block any Spiritual Attack below Level 3."

The hem of her skirt stirred without a breeze as sixteen Ice Prisms materialized in mid-air, refracting rainbow-hued light.

Li Yang crouched in the mud, tuning an Electromagnetic Pulse Generator. "The biogas digester in the southeast corner is a natural bomb. We’ll lure the zombies over there."

The Thunder Falcon on his shoulder crackled, blue-violet arcs of electricity dancing between its feathers.

In the morning mist that followed the downpour, the Earth Ability Users began to reshape the battlefield.

Zhang Yu slammed his palms on the ground. The bluestone road writhed like a living creature, forcing the traditional horse-head walls of the surrounding buildings to merge into a circular, fortified enclosure.

Zhao Gang whipped out the tungsten steel whip at his waist. A dark gold light snaked along its length, carving intricate Sanskrit runes into the stone walls.

"They’re here!"

The sniper in the watchtower squeezed the trigger. A ghostly blue flame spat from the silencer.

Five hundred meters away, a rotten, cyan-colored head exploded. Fragments of a Crystal Core traced a parabolic arc in the morning light.

The zombie horde swarmed forward like a disturbed anthill, a putrid stench rolling ahead of them.

The mutant at the head of the pack scrambled on all fours. Its vertebrae had erupted through its skin, forming sharp bone blades that scraped sparks against the stone road.

"Activating the electric grid!" Li Yang pressed the remote.

The electromagnetic coils buried around the perimeter of the enclosure flared to life, blue-white arcs of electricity weaving a web of death in the mist.

The stench of scorched flesh filled the air instantly. Over thirty carbonized corpses, frozen in charging poses, toppled into the mud.

Ji Xiaosong ascended into the air on a staircase of ice. The jade hairpin in her hair flared with an azure light. "Wind, rise!"

A gale swept up the chaff from the threshing ground, whipping it into a golden tornado within the zombie horde.

Zhao Gang seized the opportunity, lashing out with his long whip. The moment the tungsten steel weapon entered the eye of the tornado, tens of thousands of pieces of chaff were instantly coated with a metallic sheen, becoming as sharp as razors.

The sounds of tearing flesh and clashing metal wove a symphony of death.

Gu Lin’s figure flickered among the ruins. Each time he drew his Tang Blade, a head went flying.

The seventh time he reappeared at Ji Xiaosong’s side, an unnatural vibration came from his scabbard.

"Underground!" they shouted in unison.

Zhang Yu stomped his foot, and the ground fractured into a spiderweb of cracks.

More than twenty zombies covered in fungal hyphae burst from the earth. Their abdomens split open, spewing clouds of dark green spores.

The closest fighters had no time to dodge, but their Amulets suddenly erupted in a shield of jade light, blocking the toxic mist.

Gu Lin reacted in a flash. He plunged his Tang Blade into the ground and used the recoil to launch himself high into the air, escaping the range of the dark green spore cloud.

At the same time, he roared, "Everyone, be careful! Don’t inhale the spores!"

Ji Xiaosong’s hands flew through a series of hand seals. The sixteen Ice Prisms flared with brilliant light, and an aura of extreme cold instantly permeated the area.

The surging cloud of dark green spores was instantly frozen solid by the intense cold. The gushing spores were flash-frozen before they could fully disperse, suspended in the air as if time itself had stopped.

A vicious glint flashed in Li Yang’s eyes. The Thunder Falcon on his shoulder took flight with a sharp cry. Countless bolts of blue-violet lightning erupted from between its feathers, raining down upon the zombies that had emerged from the earth.

Under the lightning assault, the fungal filaments on the zombies instantly ignited with a crackling sound. The creatures writhed in agony, quickly turning into piles of charred remains.

Zhang Yu unleashed his power again. The bluestone path beneath him trembled violently as countless sharp stone spikes erupted from the ground, impaling the fungus-covered zombies.

The stone spikes were incredibly fast, instantly piercing the zombies and pinning them firmly to the ground.

Zhao Gang brandished his tungsten steel whip, the dark gold light at its tip growing ever more brilliant.

With a great roar, he lashed out with the whip. It struck like a dragon emerging from the sea, viciously flaying the zombies pinned by the stone spikes.

Each crack of the whip was met with the sound of shattering bodies and a metallic clang. Under the relentless assault, the zombies were torn to pieces.

Under the team’s combined assault, the twenty-odd fungus-covered zombies were quickly annihilated.

Meanwhile, the zombie horde outside had been all but wiped out by the electric grid, the gale, and the team’s various superpower attacks.

Gu Lin surveyed the scene and shouted, "Everyone, one last push! Let’s finish them off for good!"

Hearing his words, the team’s morale soared, and they launched a final assault on the few remaining zombies.

After a final, fierce struggle, the last zombie fell.

Silence fell over the battlefield. Only a light breeze stirred, kicking up dust and the wreckage of the dead.

Ji Xiaosong let out a long sigh, slowly descending to the ground. "It’s finally over."

Li Yang put away his Electromagnetic Pulse Generator and said with a grin, "Now that was satisfying. These things won’t be hurting anyone ever again."

Zhang Yu wiped the sweat from his brow and patted the long blade at his hip. "Yeah, but we only pulled it off because we all worked together."

Zhao Gang silently retracted his tungsten steel whip. He didn’t say a word, but a look of relief crossed his face.

Gu Lin looked at the team, his eyes full of approval. "Good work, everyone. The mission was a complete success. Now, let’s burn the bodies, collect the Crystal Cores, and head back to camp."

But when they returned to the RV camp, they found a group of uninvited guests waiting for them.