With his eyes glazed over, Zhang Heng felt no fear toward the scene of carnage before him after activating his Mind Concentration. Furthermore, Zhan Lan had connected a slot to him via the Mental Chain; the other two slots belonged to Zheng Zha and Zhao Yingkong. Consequently, Zhang Heng’s aim was nearly one hundred percent precise. As the first spiked Creeper lunged forward, Zhang Heng pivoted, drawing his bow into a full moon shape. In an instant, a cold spark flashed; the Creeper landed atop the bus roof only to disintegrate into a pile of ash and dust.

Alice and several of the supporting characters watched the arrow’s power with wide eyes. They stared in disbelief as Zhang Heng loosed another arrow—they couldn't even track its trajectory—followed immediately by another Creeper dissolving into ash. It was as if he were firing a laser beam. The sheer power, the speed, the accuracy left the few characters present momentarily stunned.

Many had previously noticed Zhang Heng carrying the ancient wooden longbow, never suspecting the true extent of its might. Only now did these characters look toward Zhang Heng with expressions bordering on reverence.

"Everyone, hold your positions!" Zheng Zha was utterly unconcerned with the battle raging behind them between the others and the Crawlers or Zombies. He stared fixedly ahead where countless Zombies were slowly reappearing. This massive city must house hundreds of thousands; even if half had turned, there would surely be over a hundred thousand Zombies. The number currently surrounding them was definitely in the tens of thousands, the vicinity a dense mass of the undead, not just standard Zombies, but Crawlers and Zombie Dogs too.

There were even one or two mutated Zombies entirely covered in tentacles. All of this assured a certain, gruesome death for the group if the bus stopped here.

Zheng Zha gritted his teeth, pulled the pin on another Ultra-High Explosive charge, and hurled it viciously. This stretch of road was only a few kilometers long, but the exterior of the bus was already draped in rotting flesh, and the group was nearly exhausted. Only then did the massive horde of surrounding Zombies finally begin to thin out.

Zheng Zha let out a breath and quickly shouted, "Everyone check your ammo and weapons! I still have plenty of firearm ammunition. Zhang Heng, how many arrows do you have left? Has anyone been injured?" Everyone reported their ammunition status. Zheng Zha's extra bullets were only usable by Alice and the few others carrying sidearms. Carlos had two magazines left, but thankfully, his close-quarters combat skills were sharp enough that even without ammo, he retained basic fighting capability.

Zhang Heng still had sixty-four arrows, and Xiao Honglu’s magic staff had consumed one focus item.

In summary, the group had expended well over half their ammunition and energy. The two newcomers, the woman with the DV camera, and Jason—those four looked particularly pale from the terror of the morning.

In contrast, Angie proved far sturdier than the four of them. At least the little girl sat quietly on her seat, seemingly unfazed by the threat of the dense Zombie horde they had just passed.

During a brief respite, Jill pulled out the cigarettes Zheng Zha had given her and passed them around. After lighting hers, she immediately took a long drag, inhaling nearly a quarter of the cigarette before letting out a deep sigh. "That was terrifying. If this virus spreads outside the city, humanity is doomed. It's just too horrifying."

Alice also took a drag. "It’s beyond terrifying now. The T-Virus, for some reason, has started evolving. I don’t know if you noticed, but in that horde, I actually saw predatory Zombies. They were covered in tentacles as thick as arms, constantly sucking the life out of other Zombies, and their own bodies grew larger with each feeding. In that massive group just now, I clearly saw these variants. I wonder what the T-Virus will eventually become. I truly hope we don't end up as mere gravy inside those tentacles." Zheng Zha took several deep drags himself before saying, "Regardless, survival is the most critical thing. Have they reached the central part of the city yet? I wonder if they're encountering attacks from these countless Zombies."

To the northwest, inside an underground parking garage, the headlights of a long-distance bus illuminated, and it promptly smashed through the iron gate, bursting out. The man driving shouted a few words loudly until a few people behind him cursed him, and the man slowly stopped shouting. However, judging by his constant tremors, he seemed to be shaking to an invisible rhythm.

"Everyone's consciousness was linked to the two telepaths, so when the mental scan detected a large number of Zombies and one bizarrely massive Zombie ahead, everyone muttered a surprised 'Yi?' in unison.

Zheng Zha, his face etched with scars, sneered, "This is the damn trickery of the 'Main God,' using these Zombies to halt our advance and introduce more danger. A tedious setup. Everyone wait here for a moment." With that, he kicked out the side window glass, grabbed the roof, and vaulted out, landing atop the moving bus.

The scarred Zheng Zha beckoned with both hands. Indeed, bones slowly protruded from his shoulders, becoming slender and elongated until, with a sudden thrust, they sprang out, transforming into a pair of black, fleshy wings. The skin of these wings was pure black, with veins and bone visible beneath the membrane. They were essentially bone structures wrapped in flesh membrane, forming a pair of dark, fleshy pinions.

Zheng Zha laughed coldly, pushed off forcefully with his feet, and sped toward the street corner ahead. When the tour bus arrived, Zheng Zha stood there holding a massive, black-flaming greatsword. All around him were traces of burning flames, and fragments of innumerable Zombies continued to smolder on the ground. Not only that, but many Crawlers and some of the gigantic tentacled Zombies had been cleaved into several segments. Aside from Zheng Zha, who was relatively intact, the scene was a mess of shredded flesh, corpses, and lingering fire—there wasn't a single mobile Zombie left.

"We didn't encounter a large number of standard Zombies, but there were several mutated variants. The 'Main God' must be increasing the intensity of the attack to limit our power," Zheng Zha said, slowly flapping his black wings as he flew back down to land on the roof. The hideous scar on his face looked particularly menacing. He sat down and commanded, "Move forward. Catch up to them all and kill them!" Simultaneously, dozens of kilometers away, Zheng Zha's group was ambushed by a massive, tentacled Zombie. This creature resembled an octopus monster, its entire body covered in tentacles that absorbed life force. Once snagged, the flesh and bone of the afflicted area would be drawn into its body. The group watched, helpless, as one Zombie was completely absorbed and vanished, and with every feeding, the giant octopus monster grew larger. Judging by its current size, it was already over three meters tall.

This octopus creature had dropped directly from a rooftop. By the time Zhang Heng spotted the monster preparing to snipe, it had already landed above the bus, making a ranged shot impossible. Alice and the others frantically pulled their triggers. As they attacked desperately, a tentacle pierced through the window, forcefully latching onto Jiang Zhe's arm. Before the man could even scream, he was violently pulled toward the window, his arm already half-sunk into the tentacle's grasp.

Fortunately, Zheng Zha had been monitoring the status of everyone else inside the vehicle via his mental scan. The moment Jiang Zhe was pulled toward the window, Zheng Zha lunged forward and brought his blade down fiercely. However, he didn't strike the tentacle that was already outside; instead, he cleanly severed Jiang Zhe’s arm. Blood sprayed out as Jiang Zhe finally collapsed backward.

"Zhang Heng, aim via scan, shoot quickly!" Zheng Zha roared, distinctly noticing tentacles writhing all around the vehicle, ready to strike at anyone inside at any moment.

Zhang Heng reacted with equal speed. The instant Zheng Zha shouted, he drew his bow and loosed an arrow that pierced directly through the bus roof. The tentacles that had halfway extended toward the interior slowly withered away. Then, as the octopus body collapsed, those tentacles fell to the ground.

"Be careful! Zhang Heng, shoot wildly! Stop worrying about your arrows; just keep twenty—no, ten arrows in reserve is enough! Fire!" Zheng Zha shouted, simultaneously reaching up to grip the roof of the bus and pulling himself up. To his surprise, Zhao Yingkong also vaulted onto the roof beside him.

Tentacled Zombies were continuously dropping from the buildings lining the street, many of them landing on the sides of the bus or even the roof. Zhao Yingkong’s attack power, utilizing her metal wires, was terrifyingly potent. With a whip-like flick in mid-air, one tentacled Zombie was violently sliced into several pieces before she swiftly retracted the wire to lash out at another.

Zheng Zha watched with approval, not to be outdone. Besides gripping his saber in his right hand, he pulled out the Necronomicon with his left. He began chanting arcane and obscure Ancient Egyptian phrases. As the next wave of tentacled Zombies dropped down to attack, several enormous stone spikes suddenly erupted from the ground, impaling the creatures on their tips. The bus seized the opportunity and accelerated away, leaping past the scene.