The passengers in the vehicle, along with Zheng Zha and Zhao Yingkong, were thrown about violently, with several people hitting their heads hard enough to draw blood. In comparison, Zheng Zha and the more veteran members recovered consciousness fastest, their physical conditioning being far superior to ordinary people. Zero Point and Zhang Jie recovered the quickest; they snatched up their weapons and bolted out of the small bus.

Zhang Jie hauled Zhao Yingkong and Zheng Zha upright. These two had slammed directly into the rear of the minibus, the impact far more severe than for those inside. Fortunately, both possessed exceptionally strong physiques, especially Zheng Zha, who instinctively shielded Zhao Yingkong with his back the instant the collision occurred. Since his physical condition was significantly better, after the impact, they both looked far less injured than the ordinary people inside the vehicle.

Zhang Jie silently helped the two sit up, then grabbed his rifle and charged toward the freighter's control room. Zero Point was even more direct: he set aside his pistol and then mounted his Gauss sniper rifle on the ship's railing. He pulled out a long-cased Gauss energy sniper round, loaded it into the rifle, aimed the muzzle toward the port, where countless living corpses were relentlessly surging toward the water. The Mummy Guards, however, appeared unusually wary of the water, seemingly hesitant to touch the river.

Compared to the "eagerly" leaping living corpses, the Mummy Guards, which had previously posed a massive threat to the group, were now completely neutralized.

Zheng Zha managed to force his eyes open, struggling to stand. But as soon as he moved his body, a sharp, agonizing pain shot through his spine. This terrified him, as they were on the cusp of the final confrontation in the City of the Dead.

If his spine was broken, he would essentially be useless for the remainder of this horror movie. Moreover, as the team leader and their absolute strongest melee combatant, if he were rendered ineffective, it was certain death for them in this film.

The realization hit him hard, making Zheng Zha instantly break out in a cold sweat. His body convulsed in an attempt to rise. "Don't move! Your spine is slightly misaligned! Do you want to end up paralyzed?" Zhao Yingkong gasped weakly, though her tone was remarkably sharp.

She struggled to extend her hand and press down on Zheng Zha's back. Zheng Zha felt a small snap as the bone settled. The intense throbbing pain quickly vanished, replaced by a sudden, smooth sensation of freedom in his movement.

Zheng Zha looked gratefully at Zhao Yingkong. Only then did he notice that her shoulder was completely torn open. She had been using that injured shoulder to support him moments before, which allowed her good arm to deploy the grappling hook; otherwise, they would have been left stranded at the port.

Certain death awaited them there.

At this moment, Zhan Gang and the others had also stumbled out of the small bus. Jonathan and the American looked particularly battered, both sporting large gashes on their heads. The others had also sustained injuries to varying degrees. They had only just managed to exit the bus when everyone heard a long whooshing sound from somewhere on the freighter—the speed of the massive vessel began to increase.

It seemed Zhang Jie’s efforts had succeeded.

Everyone let out a sigh of relief, but Zero Point suddenly shouted, "Watch out! Zheng Zha, if the sniping fails, the rest is up to you all!" Everyone quickly looked toward the port. Besides the dense mass of countless living corpses and thousands of Mummy Guards, a swirling column of sand and phantom wind rushed toward them from the distant harbor. The sandstorm transformed into a human face when it was still a hundred meters from the freighter.

The enormous face opened its mouth and lunged toward the ship to swallow it.

BOOM! A deafening report echoed. The massive recoil from the Gauss sniper rifle nearly bent the railing where it was mounted—no wonder Zero Point had set up the rifle on the railing before firing. As the shot rang out, a section of the giant face instantly caved in. Slowly, the collapsed area grew larger, and the face’s expression twisted into agony and grimace. Eventually, the huge face completely vanished.

A figure engulfed in flames plummeted from mid-air toward the river.

It wasn't until the freighter sailed downstream and Cairo was no longer visible that everyone truly relaxed. All at once, they collapsed onto the deck—veterans and newcomers, members of the Reincarnation Squad and ordinary plot characters alike. Everyone felt as if they had just cycled through life and death, and no one had the energy to speak another word.

Zheng Zha's physical and mental reserves had been severely depleted throughout the ordeal. His Vampire energy had been drained twice, and his internal force was exhausted from fighting the Mummy Guards. After being knocked out of the vehicle by the giant wolf-man, his stamina was completely spent. If Zhao Yingkong hadn't risked her life to save him, he might very well have died at the Cairo port. As the tension finally eased, he could hold on no longer. His vision went black, and he passed out completely.

After an unknown amount of time, he finally blinked open his eyes when he felt a sweet liquid in his mouth. The first thing he saw was Zhan Gang gently feeding him water from a canteen. Seeing his eyes open, a look of startled joy spread across her face. Her hands moved as if she were about to rush into his embrace, but after a few seconds, she restrained herself, sitting back down but smiling as she said, "You're finally awake? How do you feel? Do your wounds still hurt?" Zheng Zha nodded with a faint smile. He felt a slight, subtle disappointment, but this feeling was quickly replaced by a sense of calm assurance. He glanced around the environment: it was not a spacious room; judging by the fittings and the surrounding steel walls, this must be some interior compartment of the freighter. Outside the window, the sunlight was brilliant, suggesting he had likely slept through the night.

"What time is it?" Zheng Zha touched his chest. The wounds on his chest and abdomen had been tightly bandaged, causing a ticklish sensation. He casually asked, "When is it?" Zhan Gang smiled brightly. "It's morning now. O'Connell said we should reach the coast before noon. How about we grab some breakfast first?" Zheng Zha nodded as he slowly sat up. He suddenly noticed a wooden basin near Zhan Gang, with several damp towels placed on the table. He asked curiously, "What happened to me last night? You were taking care of me the whole time, weren't you?" Zhan Gang’s eyes were indeed shadowed with fatigue. She smiled faintly. "You had a high fever all night, and we didn't have any fever reducers in our medkits. So, several of us took turns wiping your body with cool water until about three in the morning when your temperature finally normalized, and you drifted into a deep sleep. Are you feeling any better?" Zheng Zha looked at the dark circles under Zhan Gang's eyes and sighed. "Thank you... I feel much better, but my chest and stomach are a bit itchy. Haha, you didn't happen to rub some sort of ointment on me, did you? I can't even feel any pain. This medicine seems quite effective."

Zhan Gang stretched luxuriously inside his sightline and said with a light laugh, "It’s your own recovery ability that’s too strong; you didn't even realize it yourself? When we were wiping you down last night, the cuts on your abdomen and chest were already starting to heal on their own. Some of the lacerated intestines were mending incredibly fast. Yingkong used a needle and thread to give you a few simple stitches. Given the rate of healing we saw then, perhaps your wounds have already completely closed."

As Zheng Zha pushed open the door, he turned back abruptly upon hearing this, and Zhan Lan nodded with absolute seriousness. He then recalled that during the battle at the museum, the giant wolf-man’s scalpel had passed completely through his back, but the situation had been too urgent for him to realize if the wound had healed. Thinking back now, the wounds on his back seemed to have healed automatically as well.

Lost in thought, Zheng Zha reached back to touch his spine. Sure enough, he only felt a patch of scabbed scar tissue. As he rubbed it with his hand, the scars flaked right off, revealing tender, new flesh beneath. In just one day, a deep, bone-visible injury had completely healed. Such speed was clearly beyond human capability.

Zheng Zha pondered this in a daze for a long time. The only explanation he could think of was the combination of the Vampire enhancement and the result of unlocking the second stage of the Gene Lock—the ability to freely control bodily functions. If this included regenerative ability, then such rapid healing wasn't entirely exaggerated.

In any case, gaining this regenerative power out of nowhere was certainly not a bad thing, yet he felt increasingly less human... In fact, after spending so much time in the horror movie cycles, he had grown numb to slaughter and gore; perhaps even his thoughts were no longer entirely human. "Damn it, whatever. Stronger regeneration is always good," Zheng Zha muttered a rough curse, then smiled at Zhan Gang. "I’m starving. You haven't had breakfast either, right? Come on, let’s go eat."

Zhan Gang also smiled slightly and silently followed Zheng Zha out of the cabin. In the deck passageway of the freighter, the two walked one behind the other toward the ship's superstructure.

At that moment, golden sunlight began to rise over the distant wasteland. The reflection of the light off the water created a shimmering golden interaction, filling the freighter's deck with radiance. The two walked forward in this golden light, and inexplicably, a profound peace settled in both their hearts. Directly ahead of them, Zero Point, Zhang Jie, and the others stood bathed in the golden glow. In that moment, all that remained in everyone's hearts was tranquility...

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