Third watch! Just a bit more, and I can push for the next chapter. Old Gu will go code the fourth, and perhaps there will even be a fifth later—I’m definitely pushing for six chapters today!!!

...

The desolate night passed quickly. At dawn, the first rays of sunlight spread across the earth.

Ye Chen and Huang Ya packed up their things and left the building. As they walked out, they saw a corpse lying in the corridor, only the lower half remaining. Judging by the style of the trousers, it must have been Roger...

He was dead...

He wasn't a bad person; at least, after being discovered turning into a zombie, he hadn't attempted to kill Ye Chen and the others to drag them down with him.

A good person rarely lives long...

The two left the building and walked along the street.

Huang Ya gripped her handgun, her expression grave. For her, having lost five team members now significantly increased the danger level, demanding even greater caution and vigilance. Ye Chen walked beside her, carrying Roger's firearms and steel saber, moving with casual ease.

"Walking like this is too slow," Ye Chen watched Huang Ya stop and start constantly, always scouting the environment ahead before proceeding. He couldn't help but shake his head. "I'll carry you. Where is the main force headed?"

Huang Ya paused, giving Ye Chen a strange look. "You'll carry me?" Carrying someone consumes a lot of stamina.

Ye Chen casually tossed his backpack and weapons to her, gripping his steel saber in one hand. He sank his stance, lowered his center of gravity, and stated coldly, "Hurry up. I don't have time to stroll around with you."

Stroll? Huang Ya was speechless. But seeing Ye Chen wasn't joking, she considered it for a moment, then walked over. She wrapped her arms around Ye Chen's neck and settled onto his back, a faint blush crossing her face before quickly returning to normal. She whispered, "Be careful."

Ye Chen ignored her. Once she was settled, he supported her wide thigh with one hand while holding the saber in the other, then sprinted toward the distance. Given Huang Ya's weight, she felt like a tiny blade of grass to Ye Chen; carrying her was effortless.

The speed of his run startled Huang Ya. She felt the scenery blur backward as they rushed. A street a thousand meters long was traversed in the blink of an eye. As they passed two zombies crawling on the ground, without Ye Chen even seeming to exert himself, the zombies’ heads went bang, exploding like watermelons.

"Which way?" Ye Chen's breath was steady, his voice calm.

Huang Ya's heart skipped a beat. She quickly directed, "Left, then right! Head toward Nancheji Village!" As she clung to Ye Chen's back, she felt the fierce wind whip her hair backward. She secretly glanced at Ye Chen’s profile but was met only by the cold mask. She quickly averted her gaze, feeling her heart pound wildly, her pretty face flushing red.

Bang!

Suddenly, a dark shadow shot out from a narrow alley nearby, charging rapidly.

Huang Ya gasped in alarm, about to warn Ye Chen, but before she could speak, Ye Chen’s saber-wielding arm twitched slightly, slicing the shadow in half. It fell to the ground, writhing—a bizarrely shaped insect.

Ye Chen did not stop; his figure continued its rapid flight.

After nearly two hours of continuous running, and by inquiring along the way, Ye Chen brought Huang Ya to the location of the main force. Near Xiaoguo Village, there were many figures by the roadside, along with large trucks, amidst the sounds of roars and machine-gun fire, clearly engaged in a fierce battle.

"That's the Pioneer Team," Huang Ya’s eyes lit up when she saw the large truck. "We finally found them. The Hall Master said he would develop along this route."

Ye Chen nodded, put her down, and they walked over.

The large truck was stopped at the crossroads, mounted with several heavy machine guns on its roof, constantly sweeping the distance. Many soldiers stood beside the truck, holding submachine guns and sniper rifles, targeting the distant swarm...

"East! Quick! Where are your eyes, you bastards? The zombies are about to break through there!" A sturdy man stood on the truck, shouting orders for the people below to fight. Ye Chen’s ears twitched; he realized there wasn't just one truck on this street, but many. This area had clearly been surrounded by the entire Pioneer team.

Pioneers usually sent their strongest members to eliminate the powerful monsters inside before deploying the soldiers to shoot the smaller threats like zombies and insects. That’s why these people dared to yell so loudly, unafraid of attracting powerful monsters.

"Who are you?" A low-ranking man in animal skin armor near the truck immediately aimed his gun at Ye Chen and Huang Ya as they approached.

Huang Ya quickly raised her hands and shouted, "We're friendly!" She then held up her insignia.

The man squinted, confirming there was no mistake, then lowered his pistol. "Come over and help kill the monsters." He then turned his gun back toward the distance and continued firing.

Ye Chen walked to the side of the truck and looked over. He saw dozens of people gathered there, holding various firearms, as well as bombs and grenades. Opposite them, a large horde of zombies charged forward with bared teeth and ferocious expressions. Under the hail of bullets, the zombies’ bodies were rapidly torn apart; some had their heads blown off, others fell after being hit in the chest, yet they kept crawling forward.

A massacre!

Blood flowed like a river down the street, and piles of zombie corpses rose high. As zombies rushed closer, the frontline personnel would draw the steel sabers and spears strapped to their backs and swiftly dispatch them.

More and more zombies poured out from the surrounding buildings, charging forward wave after wave, constantly closing the distance.

"Quick, shoot! What are you two doing?!" The sturdy man on the truck, seemingly the team leader, roared when he saw Ye Chen and Huang Ya standing still.

Huang Ya snapped back to alertness and quickly grabbed her firearm to join the shooting. She was cautious, not firing continuously, but only taking a shot every now and then, though she tried to look as if she were working extremely hard.

Ye Chen paid no mind. He glanced casually at the horde of zombies and raised his rifle.

Bang!

The bullet pierced a zombie’s skull. The zombie’s knees buckled, and it collapsed onto the ground.

Ye Chen’s finger did not stop; he continued to pull the trigger.

Pfft!

Another zombie was decapitated.

Ye Chen fired seven or eight shots in quick succession, each one hitting a zombie squarely in the head. Huang Ya, standing next to him, initially thought Ye Chen was just lucky, but soon realized something was wrong. She turned to look at Ye Chen, her lips slightly parted, her pretty face covered in shock.

Just then, Ye Chen fired one more shot without checking the result, then turned to Huang Ya. "Where is the Hall Master? I need to see him."

Huang Ya almost spat blood. Is this guy serious? With such precise shooting happening, does he have time to think about other things?

"The Hall Master should be in the next village ahead, leading the Super-Class experts and numerous strong fighters as the vanguard to clear out the powerful monsters there," Huang Ya glanced at Ye Chen. "Are you friends with the Hall Master?"

"Close enough," Ye Chen looked down the distant street. "The village ahead..." He turned and tossed the weapon back to Huang Ya. "Live well. I’m leaving first."

Immediately, while Huang Ya was stunned, he gripped his battle saber and strode toward the end of the street. As he passed the group by the truck, those squatting down to shoot shouted warnings when they saw Ye Chen advancing alone with just his saber.

"What are you doing! Get back here!"

"Don't be rash, those monsters are dangerous!"

"Don't give up on life..."

Before the words even finished, Ye Chen suddenly charged out, his figure like the wind, causing the ground to crack beneath his feet. He rushed toward the oncoming zombies, his internal energy surging, blowing apart any zombie that came within three feet of his body!

Boom, boom, boom...

The zombies' heads seemed to shatter from bomb impacts. One zombie lunged at Ye Chen; the eyes beneath his mask were cold and merciless. He reached out, gripped the zombie’s shoulder, and flung it aside!

Crash!

The zombie’s body struck a nearby building like a stone, flattening like a pancake.

The men holding pistols by the truck were all petrified, watching the majestic figure in stunned silence.

In mere seconds, Ye Chen’s figure flashed to the end of the street and vanished from their sight. In his wake, blood flowed freely; the countless swarming zombies could not stop him for a single step, all dying with exploded heads. Some monsters rushing head-on were slapped away by him, mashed into paste.

After a long pause, the sturdy man on the truck finally turned to Huang Ya, staring blankly. "Is that your friend?"

Huang Ya stared at Ye Chen’s receding back. After a moment of shock, she bit her lip, an indescribable light flickering in her eyes. Hearing the sturdy man’s question, she shook her head. "No. He is someone sent by Headquarters for support."

The sturdy man froze for a moment, then his eyes widened in pleasant surprise. "Someone sent by Headquarters? Really? Damn, he’s awesome! With strength like that, pioneering won't be any trouble at all!"

The others became excited. The scene they just witnessed was too shocking. With every step Ye Chen took, a large swath of zombies died, and they hadn't even clearly seen how they were killed.

"What is his name?" The sturdy man suddenly thought of the crucial detail and quickly asked.

Everyone else looked at Huang Ya.

Facing their gazes, Huang Ya recalled how she first met Ye Chen and slowly said, "His name is 'Wolf'!"

Soon, the news of the expert "Wolf" spread like a hurricane among the various Pioneer teams. In the retelling, "Wolf's" power was exaggerated and embellished, described in near-mythical terms, injecting new fervor into teams that had grown numb from killing zombies.

...

Ye Chen arrived at Majia Village. Along the way, he saw many monster corpses littering the streets—dog monsters, three-tailed cats, mastiff beasts, and other zombie creatures, all around level seventy or eighty. Their abdomens had been sliced open, and their internal core matter had been scavenged.

Ye Chen encountered many smaller monsters along the route, killing them as he went and extracting the special light matter from their bodies, causing his light armor to constantly expand until it reached the size of a palm.

After running for a short while, he suddenly spotted several figures on the side of a street: three men and one woman. The woman was clad in brown leather armor, possessing a graceful figure and a heart-shaped face. A cool detachment shone in her eyes. She was slowly pulling a crescent-shaped long saber from the body of a stout mastiff beast, the blade stained with black blood.