When the other members saw the Life Passage Fang Tianhe had opened, they quickly stepped onto the footholds and leaped up.
By the time they reached the first floor, the Mutated Zombie had entered the 100-meter range of Lin Xinghaiâs Perception.
âSo fast!â Lin Xinghai was horrified.
However, his attention was quickly diverted by the sound of continuous explosions coming from up ahead to the right.
The explosions grew closer and closer, their power becoming more and more terrifying.
It sounded as if the entire research institute was about to be blown to rubble.
âWhatâs happening now?â
The thought had barely crossed Lin Xinghaiâs mind when he saw Fang Tianhe break into a run, heading toward the sound of the explosions.
Lin Xinghai didnât have time to think and simply charged forward with the team.
Fang Tianhe was now moving in a perfectly straight line. But there was no corridor in his path; he could only continue smashing through walls to get into the rooms ahead.
SHIIING!
He unleashed his Heaven-Splitting Superpower once more. The construction standards for the instituteâs surface buildings werenât as strict as those underground; the walls werenât reinforced with any Alloy, just high-strength concrete and rebar.
So this time, smashing through wasnât as difficult for Fang Tianhe. Nevertheless, his aura still weakened considerably, a clear sign that the effort took a heavy toll.
ROAR! ROAR! ROAR!
The Zombies in the room immediately pounced on Fang Tianhe, but his reaction was faster. He raised his Hand Cannon and fired three consecutive shots, blowing away all twenty-plus Zombies that charged at him.
Using a Hand Cannon at such close range was certainly the fastest way to clear out Zombies, but Fang Tianhe himself had to endure the resulting shockwave.
He only dared to do so because of his formidable Physique.
Lin Xinghai was the second one into the room. It was still thick with gunpowder smoke, and visibility was extremely low.
Aiming and firing was nearly impossible under such conditions.
But that was for ordinary people. Lin Xinghai was different. At this close range, his Perception Power allowed him to pinpoint the Zombiesâ locations.
Relying on this, he opened fire instantly, finishing off the five remaining Zombies that had survived the initial blast.
A look of surprise flashed across Fang Tianheâs face. Ordinarily, he would have stopped to ask how Lin Xinghai managed that.
But at this moment, the Mutated Zombie was only 60 meters away.
With his sharp hearing, he could even make out a strange sloshing sound, like some kind of fluid in motion.
Fang Tianhe didnât dare hesitate for a second and immediately smashed through the wall into the next room.
At the same time, a violent BOOM echoed from the room next to them.
When Lin Xinghai charged through the hole Fang Tianhe had created, he found him plastered against the far wall, a trickle of blood leaking from the corner of his mouth.
He had been thrown back by the aftershock of an explosion.
"Captain, are you okay?!" Lin Xinghai asked frantically.
"Iâm fine. Letâs get out of here!" Fang Tianhe pushed himself off the wall and kept running. Though his injuries werenât light, he could still endure.
Lin Xinghai looked ahead. All the walls in front of them had been breached.
Or rather, blasted through.
Following this blasted-out passage, they only had to run another 100 meters to get outside.
At the end of the passage stood the snow-white Celestial Frost Mecha. The missile pod covers on its legs were open, and more than half of the Micro Missiles inside were gone.
Clearly, the passage had been blasted open with Micro Missiles.
âSo simple and brutal,â Lin Xinghai couldnât help but think. âBut incredibly effective.â
With the path cleared, the groupâs pace quickened. Just as they were about to reach the exit, the Mutated Zombie caught up, reaching the entrance to the newly created passage.
Lin Xinghai glanced back and saw the wall bulging inward before a humanoid monster squeezed through the opening.
This Mutated Zombie was bizarre. Its body had no Sharp Claws or horns of any kind. Instead, its surface was smooth and seemingly elastic, as if it were molded from soft plastic.
Lin Xinghaiâs first impression was that, aside from its size, the creature looked almost harmless.
Yet, the moment the others saw it, the color drained from their faces.
"Damn it! How could we be so unlucky? We ran into *this* thing," Roger cursed.
"What is that? Is it that dangerous?" Lin Xinghai pressed.
"Itâs called a Blood Demon. When the Cataclysm began, these things suddenly appeared and spread the virus on a massive scale. Theyâre the reason so many people turned into Zombies," Roger explained.
The Blood Demon let out a roar, but the sound was odd, as if muffled by a layer of water.
Of course, nobody was focused on that, because the Blood Demon was charging at them. It was incredibly fast, covering over ten meters in a single bound.
"Get clear!" Shen Hanâs cool voice boomed through her mechaâs external speakers.
She had already maneuvered her mecha, raising its Electromagnetic Railgun and activating her Celestial Frost Superpower.
Lin Xinghai and the other Mercenaries immediately dove to the side.
In the next instant, a white streak condensed in the air before them.
THWUMP!
The round struck the Blood Demon with pinpoint accuracy. A layer of frost instantly spread across its blood-like body, impeding its movement.
WHOOSH! WHOOSH!
Two Micro Missiles followed right behind, striking the Blood Demonâs body directly.
BOOM! BOOM!
The two massive explosions unexpectedly blew the Blood Demonâs huge body to pieces.
Lin Xinghai was dumbfounded. "That... was way too easy!"
He shot a questioning glance at Roger, but Roger simply grabbed him and sprinted, pulling him all the way out of the research institute without stopping.
Only then did Lin Xinghai have a moment to glance back, but what he saw made him freeze.
The pieces of the shattered Blood Demon had reformed into individual globules of blood. These globules were now bouncing forward, still chasing after them.
As they moved, the globules drew closer to one another, rapidly fusing together.
By the time the globules chased them out of the Shelter, they had completely fused back into a single entityâthe Blood Demon, without a scratch on it.
The sight made Lin Xinghaiâs scalp tingle. Fortunately, they were already outside, and Fang Tianhe was approaching, having activated his Heaven-Sundering Mecha.
"Letâs go! Back to the vehicle! Weâll just be in the way here," Roger said.
Soon, they regrouped with the team waiting outside. The Energy Crystal Stone was loaded onto the all-terrain vehicle.
When fighting a monster on the level of that Mutated Zombie, you couldnât even hope to get involved without a Mecha.
So, the group escorted the all-terrain vehicle, speeding away from the battlefield as fast as they could.
With the Heaven-Sundering and Celestial Frost Mechas providing cover, it wasnât difficult for the group to withdraw from the battlefield.
But if they couldnât kill or cripple the Blood Demon, its constant harassment would make it impossible for them to escape the city center safely.
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