Chapter 76: Chapter 75: The Team is Attacked
Ye Zian turned to the eager Zhou Ruyan and Ouyang Xue beside him and instructed:
"You two support the other captains for now. Zhou Ruyan, follow Chen Ruoxue today and learn about the responsibilities of a search team captain. Ouyang Xue, stay by Lin Qianqian's side and assist her."
"Yes, Lord."
The two stepped out from the ranks of new recruits. Zhou Ruyan joined Chen Ruoxue, with whom she had been acquainting and learning over the past few days. They were already familiar, having even teamed up to resist Ye Zian's surprise attack, albeit unsuccessfully, forming a bond in the process.
As for Lin Qianqian and Ouyang Xue, they shared a mentor-student relationship from Xiacheng University, well-acquainted and highly coordinated.
Following predetermined group arrangements, the two thousand people quickly divided into four groups. Each group's captain stood at the front of their line, awaiting Ye Zian's command to set off.
Ye Zian looked at the spirited team in the plaza. For many, it was their first time venturing into the outside world after the apocalypse.
Most of the new members had been trapped in the dormitories and, after being rescued by Ye Zian, brought directly to the stronghold by bus. Their memories of the apocalypse were limited to wandering zombies at a distance and the group of boys under Su Chen.
"Each member must carry a zombie antidote, a day's worth of food, and team leaders should hold 30 antidotes in reserve. I will patrol the perimeter. If you encounter danger or run out of antidotes, call me on channel 1 of the walkie-talkie."
Recently, Ye Zian had cleared the nearby mutated zombies, but caution was still necessary. Zombies mutated daily, and new mutated variants could appear at any time. However, unless an S-class or higher mutated zombie appeared, each team should be capable of handling the threats.
The four teams set off in their respective directions, clearing zombies from each building and retrieving cerebrospinal fluid and crystal nuclei from the zombies' heads.
Ye Zian sat in an RV with Su Wei. As the leader of the medical team, Su Wei had awakened to a rare healing ability, "Holy Healing," as depicted in books. Through constant use of her ability, she could heal teammates' injuries with emitted white light. As long as a person was alive, even mortal wounds could gradually heal.
Additionally, what Ye Zian once thought useless, his daily sign-in, surprisingly offered a 15-day reward.
"Mental Scanning"; expanding his mental power around, he could detect nearby life forms and their statuses. Enemies would be marked as red dots in Ye Zian's mind, while allies appeared as green. The stronger the individual, the larger the dot. With his current mental strength, the scouting range was about a hundred meters, extending to two hundred when focused in one direction.
Enjoying Su Wei's company in the RV, Ye Zian couldn't help but notice Su Wei's figure was more appealing than Lin Qianqian's. As a pre-apocalypse doctor, she was self-taught and uninhibited compared to Lin Qianqian's shyness.
Suddenly, an urgent call crackled over the radio:
"Lord, a large number of intruders have appeared to the north, at least three thousand strong, initiating an attack on us."
"Three thousand?"
Ye Zian stopped what he was doing, stunned by the number. This wasn't supposed to happen according to the book, causing furrowed brows.
Xiacheng was said to have two main factions: Su Chen's self-help group at Xiacheng University and the Xiacheng base established by the city's ruler in the center. Later, Su Chen absorbed the Xiacheng base, perpetuating its name. But that's all a month later in the apocalypse. The current Xiacheng base should still be gathering survivors and stockpiling supplies.
Ye Zian had a hunch that this situation might be tied to Su Chen's antics before the apocalypse.
Cursing internally, he thought, "Even in death, you can't let me rest."
Several more urgent calls on the channel spurred Ye Zian to make a decision.
Ye Zian shouted into the channel:
"Northern team, consolidate your advantageous positions and organize a defense. Teams from the other three directions, halt zombie hunting and move north for reinforcement. Leave no intruders alive."
Three thousand were plenty, but his team could take on three for each of their own, holding until reinforcements arrived. Yet each member was a valuable asset, and even one loss meant significant training time lost.
Beside him, Su Wei immediately helped Ye Zian don his tactical armor.
Ye Zian drove the RV north.
An Ziyu was leading the northern team. She and a dozen members were evading pursuit. Her 500-member team had scattered, but An Ziyu diverted much of the enemy's elite forces toward herself.
"Where did these people come from?"
Racing down the street with her team, An Ziyu was fortunate that the road had been cleared earlier, leaving no zombie encirclement. However, over a thousand armed survivors chased them, hurling taunts:
"Pretty girl, don't run! Come give us pleasure!"
"Damn it."
If it were just these small fries, An Ziyu could easily handle them. The gap between ability users and ordinary people wasn't bridgable merely by numbers.
But among them lurked at least seven ability users, especially a young man with a knife who could hold his own against the mutated dog, Xiao Wu.
That youth was Takeshi Yoshinobu.
Their hastily arranged defense line was quickly broken by those ability users.
Ahead lay a narrow three-meter-wide alley. Upon reaching it, An Ziyu gritted her teeth and shouted to her teammates:
"You go ahead, Xiao Wu and I will hold them off."
The mutated dog, Xiao Wu, assigned to An Ziyu, bore a deep knife wound on its back, flesh exposed and bleeding; the young man's handiwork.
"Captain."
One member began to protest but was cut off by An Ziyu.
"That's an order. Find the Lord; otherwise, we'll all die here."
She had resolved to sacrifice herself, being the new recruit team captain, a role demanding her to protect these members not yet graduated from the newbie team.
With those final words, An Ziyu stood valiantly at the alley entrance with her broadsword, while Xiao Wu blocked the advance. Her daunting presence, reminiscent of a lone warrior guarding the pass, led her to slay a dozen assailants mid-chase, momentarily stunning the ordinary foes.
A voice cursed from the crowd:
"Damn it, this woman's an ability user. Looks like she's a tough one."
From behind them, two enemy ability users covertly activated their powers, and suddenly, two fireballs materialized in the air, hurtling straight at An Ziyu.
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𝙄 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙖 𝙢𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙢𝙮 𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙩𝙪𝙙𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙨𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙨𝙪𝙥𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙩 𝙢𝙚 𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙟𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙣𝙚𝙮. 𝙔𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙗𝙪𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙖 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙡 𝙙𝙞𝙛𝙛𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚!
𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗸𝘀 𝘁𝗼:
• 𝘽𝙤𝙜𝙙𝙖𝙣 𝙋𝙤𝙥𝙚𝙨𝙘𝙪
• 𝙅𝙘𝟭𝟮𝟬𝟮
• 𝘼𝙝𝙢𝙖𝙧𝙞𝙟𝙖𝙝
𝗔𝘀 𝗮 𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗻, 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘂𝗻𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗸:
• 𝗘𝘅𝗰𝗹𝘂𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗔𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀: 𝙂𝙚𝙩 𝟯𝟱+ 𝙖𝙙𝙫𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙙 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙖𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙤𝙛 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙚𝙡𝙨𝙚.
• 𝗘𝘅𝗰𝗹𝘂𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗦𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘁-𝗢𝘂𝘁: 𝙍𝙚𝙘𝙚𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙖 𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙞𝙖𝙡 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙖𝙨 𝙖 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙠 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙨𝙪𝙥𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙩!
𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗳𝘂𝗲𝗹𝘀 𝗺𝘆 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗮𝗹𝘀𝗼 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽𝘀 𝗺𝗲 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆. 𝗜𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂'𝗿𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗮 𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗻 𝘆𝗲𝘁, 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗷𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘂𝘀!
👉 𝙅𝙤𝙞𝙣 𝙣𝙤𝙬: 𝙋𝙖𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙤𝙣.𝙘𝙤𝙢/𝙂𝙤𝙙𝙊𝙛𝙍𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙚𝙧