Chapter 26: Exploring the Ruins, S-Class Zombie

By the time it was a little past 2:00, Liang Yu’s squad had successfully completed the first phase of their mission, arriving in Donghai City before 2:30.

As mentioned before, Donghai City was now a wasteland, with only a few sturdy buildings still standing.

Seeing the destruction, Liang Yu felt a pang of sadness. This was the city where he had lived for three years, and now it was gone.

Although Liang Yu was often a homebody, rarely leaving the dorm, he had a deep emotional attachment to places and things.

He could hold onto a small item for years, so losing an entire city was hard to accept.

But now wasn’t the time for sorrow. He needed to lead his team to the agricultural market on the west side of the city to see if they could find the seeds they were looking for.

Turning to his team, Liang Yu said, “If you see a zombie, shoot it immediately. Watch your step—anything could crawl out of the rubble.”

“Got it?”

“Got it!”

“Let’s move!”

With Liang Yu’s command, the nine-person squad, guns in hand, headed deeper into Donghai City.

There were still zombies around, but not as many as when Liang Yu and his group had first left the university.

Every corner held the potential for danger, and Liang Yu couldn’t help but remember their encounters in the department store, the meeting with Li Cheng’s family, and Li Cheng’s tragic death…

Despite being rookies, the team performed well. Under Liang Yu’s guidance, their attacks were coordinated and efficient.

Liang Yu looked every bit the seasoned general, though he was still quite young.

As they cleared zombies, they also searched for resources, marking the locations for future expeditions. There was no point in carrying too much now—eight people couldn’t haul it all anyway.

Liang Yu, using his arm as a steadying support, efficiently took down B-level zombies with precise headshots, never wasting a bullet.

Their progress was halted by a large building. Liang Yu took a moment to assess the situation.

Going around the building would waste a lot of time.

But going through it would be faster, though it came with risks—zombies inside, or the building collapsing unexpectedly. These were all factors Liang Yu had to consider.

This was his first time leading a team, and he didn’t want to make any mistakes. His goal was to complete the mission and get everyone back safely.

Even if they didn’t complete the mission, as long as they returned safely, that would be enough.

After some thought, Liang Yu made his decision: they would go through the building.

“To save time, we’re going through this building. It’s dangerous inside, so stay alert!” Liang Yu warned.

“Understood!”

“Stick together and don’t get separated!”

“Understood!”

“Let’s go!”

With that, the nine of them entered the building.

The building didn’t have a straight path through on the ground floor. They had to go up to the fifth floor, where there was a passage connecting both sides.

Liang Yu quickly glanced at the map and led the team forward.

Before long, they had their first encounter—seven or eight zombies rushed out from the stairwell.

But the zombies quickly met their end, courtesy of the team’s bullets.

As they continued to advance, just as they were nearing the fifth floor, the lower floors suddenly shifted, as if something was attacking the building from nearby.

Liang Yu didn’t think much of it. Once things stabilized, the team continued moving.

When they reached the fifth floor, Liang Yu smelled something—blood, thick and fresh.

Following the scent, he stopped in front of a room, staring at the door with a thoughtful expression.

Zhang Tie Zhu came over and stood beside Liang Yu, looking at the door as well. “Instructor, did you used to work here?”

Liang Yu shook his head.

“Then why are you staring at this room?” Zhang Tie Zhu asked.

“The smell of blood here is overwhelming. This isn’t normal,” Liang Yu said seriously, his eyes fixed on the door.

Zhang Tie Zhu, however, didn’t seem to notice anything unusual. He looked around casually and said, “Really? I don’t smell anything.”

Liang Yu called the rest of the team over and carefully opened the door.

Even though Liang Yu had mentally prepared himself, the sight inside still made his stomach churn.

The room was filled with zombie remains and human body parts, strewn everywhere. Even the ceiling was covered with hanging corpses, swaying in the wind, dripping blood.

On the floor, the blood had pooled into a large, bubbling puddle.

Some of the team members couldn’t handle it and vomited on the spot.

Suddenly, a massive figure burst into the room from the side. It had a fierce expression and was wielding a giant axe. It scanned the room and quickly spotted Liang Yu’s team.

Without hesitation, it charged at them, smashing the door to pieces with a single swing of its axe.

“Mutated zombie! Run!” Liang Yu shouted.

The eight recruits immediately began to flee. Liang Yu, staying behind, quickly activated his level detector. When he saw the result, he was stunned—an S-class zombie.

No wonder the room was filled with dismembered bodies. S-class zombies were bloodthirsty and indiscriminate killers. They attacked anything in their path, friend or foe.

Once you were in their sights, escape was nearly impossible. Their only weakness was their massive size, which made them slow. For now, Liang Yu’s team had a chance to outrun it.

After escaping through the other side of the building, the team kept running. Liang Yu, using his superior speed, fired back at the zombie as they fled.

As expected, his bullets couldn’t penetrate the S-class zombie’s skin.

Liang Yu quickly realized that this zombie had likely mutated with an indestructible trait, just like the A-class zombie he had faced before. This was bad news.

Yesterday, an A-class indestructible zombie had nearly killed him in Donghai City. Now, there was an S-class one.

Liang Yu couldn’t help but wonder, ‘Where did this S-class zombie come from?’

When they had been in Donghai City before, they hadn’t encountered anything like this. How had it appeared now?

There was only one explanation: the tornado must have brought it from somewhere else.

That was the only theory that made sense.

Fortunately, Donghai City was now a wasteland, full of places to hide. Liang Yu used the debris to lead his team in dodging the S-class zombie’s attacks.

At one point, Liang Yu even swapped weapons with Zhang Tie Zhu, using the AK-47 to spray bullets, hoping to find the zombie’s weak spot.

Zhang Tie Zhu, glancing at the zombie behind them, asked, “Instructor, what kind of zombie is that?”

“A high-level mutated zombie. It’s even stronger than the one we faced yesterday,” Liang Yu explained.

“Dammit, Instructor, can’t we just fight it head-on?” Wen Xing Chi asked, clearly frustrated.

He hadn’t seen the power of the A-class indestructible zombie, but it had chased Liang Yu’s team for several blocks. Now, they were facing an S-class zombie. *How could they possibly fight it head-on?*