Chapter Twenty-Six: The Chaotic Battle

Imagine, if you will, the sheer spectacle of over a hundred people firing light and heavy weapons without pause. Piles of brass shell casings grew into hundreds of small mounds, while numb gunmen repeated the mechanical cycle of firing, reloading, and firing again. Women and children scurried back and forth, hauling crates of ammunition from the factory floor to the shooters. The thick, acrid smoke of gunpowder was so dense it stung the eyes, yet in the distance, the sea of zombies remained endless, a shifting mass with no visible end.

This was the first zombie assault the base had faced since relocating to the Jianglu Machinery Plant, and by far the largest in its history. Countless zombies surged forward, wave after wave. To prevent a single creature from reaching the relatively vulnerable main gate, every able-bodied person in the base capable of handling a firearm had been pushed to the front lines.

"Prepare to retreat!" Meng Longwei roared at the top of his lungs. His weapon had already jammed for the second time due to an overheated barrel. Saber was nowhere to be found, the Tiger Squad was still on its way back, and many weapons were suffering various malfunctions from the high-intensity combat. It was clear the first line of defense was about to collapse.

"Old Meng, take the others and fall back first!" Wei Tao did not look back. He and the professionally trained soldiers were already overwhelmed, scrambling to repair the jammed weapons of their comrades, which had caused the defensive firepower to dwindle significantly.

The retreat continued. All civilians had already been moved into the air-raid shelter, while the workers of Jianglu were frantically salvaging the light weapons production line and essential supplies. The shelter was the base’s final line of defense; if they could not secure a steady supply of ammunition, it would become their tomb.

Saber’s situation was dire. Hidden deep within a ventilation shaft, his path forward was completely blocked by the corpses of zombies. While this meant he didn’t have to worry about the zombies outside sneaking up behind him, he was now effectively trapped. The zombies outside showed no signs of leaving; they paced around the perimeter of the building, waiting for him to emerge.

Saber felt as though at least one pair of eyes was watching him from behind. It made his skin crawl. He shifted his position continuously, making not a sound, telling himself it was merely a hallucination brought on by the confined space. There was no one watching him in these airtight vents, yet the sensation clung to him like a maggot.

"Damn it!" Saber cursed under his breath. Though he was confident he hadn't made a sound, for some unknown reason, the zombies nearby began to focus their attention on the ceiling—directly where he was hiding. Their intent was clear: the Crushers would smash through the fragile ceiling, and the zombie hounds would then swarm into the ventilation system.

Saber began to regret his choice of hiding spot. The piercing attacks of the Crushers were drawing closer, and the zombie hounds were causing him immense trouble. In such a cramped space, even the deafening report of a pistol shot would be enough to rupture his eardrums.

...

When the Tiger Squad was still two or three kilometers from the base, they saw the countless zombies, though there was no sign of Team B yet.

"Old Meng, what's the situation?" Seeing the dark, overwhelming sea of undead, everyone’s heart sank to the bottom.

"We are moving toward the air-raid shelter. The gate is about to fall! Where are you?" Meng Longwei’s anxious voice crackled over the radio.

"We've reached the base perimeter. There are too many of them; we can't get through quickly!" Zhao Qiang replied honestly. Even with the formidable combat power of the *Thorn*, he felt uncertain facing such numbers.

"Saber is out there hunting the Intellects, but there’s been no result so far. It’s not going well. Wei Tao planted a row of landmines at the entrance—damn! They’re inside!" Meng Longwei’s voice cut off abruptly, replaced by the sound of intense gunfire and chaotic shouting.

"Ergou, I’ll drive. You take the robot. Everyone else, fire at will!" Zhao Qiang took the wheel of the *Thorn*, while Chen Ergou sat at the console, nimbly operating the 12.7mm machine gun turret on the roof. The other team members spread out to the windows, using precise, targeted shots to eliminate every Crusher that appeared in their field of vision.

This was the experience they had gained along the way: ordinary zombies posed no threat to the *Thorn*. The tri-edged spikes on the tires and the hydraulic chainsaws on the chassis were literal zombie-shredders. Anything that got too close was instantly pulped into harmless meat, so the team didn't need to waste precious ammunition on the common undead.

Zhao Qiang carefully felt the feedback from the tires, trying to keep the *Thorn* as steady as possible as it plowed through the horde. The two-kilometer journey was agonizingly slow; the *Thorn* was like a small boat navigating a storm, the trail it carved instantly swallowed up by the zombie army.

"BOOM!" A series of explosions echoed, and the base erupted in flames, with thick black smoke billowing into the sky.

"What’s going on?" Zhao Qiang asked anxiously.

"The zombies detonated our first fire wall. You guys go get Saber; we can hold on a little longer here!" Meng Longwei’s voice sounded exhausted, but less frantic than before.

This was Wei Tao’s handiwork. As his apprentice, Zhao Qiang immediately recognized the signature of this trap. He and Saber were always capable of pulling off such unexpected tricks: a few improvised landmines and a trench filled with gasoline. Once the zombie horde crossed, they would trigger the mines and ignite the fuel. The raging inferno released temperatures of nearly 1,000 degrees Celsius, and any zombie that charged through was reduced to charcoal within steps.

There was no time left. Zhao Qiang knew these measures could only be deployed inside the base, which meant the zombies had already breached the outer perimeter. Once the gasoline burned out, it was unclear what other defenses remained. Now, he had to find Saber.

"Tiger calling Saber, Tiger calling Saber. Please report your current location!" Zhao Qiang drove the *Thorn* forward with difficulty while trying to establish contact over the radio.

"This is Saber. I’m in the tallest office building in Sector 4." Zhao Qiang’s call finally received a reply. Saber’s voice sounded stifled, as if he were in a very tight space. "You’d better hurry. I’m surrounded."

"Hold on, we’re almost there. Out."

"Hold on tight!" Zhao Qiang yanked the steering wheel, the *Thorn* carving a path through the horde, driving brazenly toward Sector 4.