Chapter 17.1: Territory +1
Pan Tuan and more than a dozen other Velvet Star people were assigned to the same team.
Along with them were staff members from Agriculture College, groups 143–149, Zone B.
On both sides of their group were two squads of white-robed priests.
Although Pan Tuan hadn’t spent long interacting with the Blue Sea people, she had already learned that the priests of the temple were essentially doctors.
These white-robed priests were military medics who accompanied the troops.
At first, she felt a bit dispirited.
“I thought joining up meant we’d be participating in combat,” she said.
But in the end, they were treated the same as military medics and non-combat personnel.
A Velvet Star person beside her said, “No, that’s not it. Didn’t it say on the list? Our role is as translators.”
Pan Tuan replied, “But the requirement said we needed combat experience.”
The Velvet Star person said, “That’s because ordinary people without combat experience simply can’t keep up with the Blue Sea people’s speed. They also tend to panic extremely during Blue Sea combat operations, which affects everyone else.”
Pan Tuan: “?”
She couldn’t quite accept it. She could understand the part about not keeping up with their speed—after all, Blue Sea warriors all had long strides and even when walking they moved extremely fast, and in battle they were probably even faster.
But “extreme panic during combat”? What was that supposed to mean? The apocalypse had already been going on for half a year—survivors this inexperienced were practically nonexistent.
At this point, even two-year-old children knew to stay quiet outside.
She turned her head to look at the Velvet Star person speaking beside her. He looked about forty, had a blade of grass in his mouth, and his eyes kept scanning left, right, up, and down—he was clearly overly alert.
Was he that “one in ten thousand”?
Pan Tuan instantly tensed up and subtly put some distance between them.
In the apocalypse, having a rookie on your team could genuinely get you killed.
Seeing her reaction, the man smiled around the blade of grass and said:
“Don’t worry. I’m not a newbie.”
“I’m a scavenger. Back when I was out scavenging, I traveled pretty far and saw how the Blue Sea military clears out zombies. I just have a bit more experience than most.”
He looked at Pan Tuan.
“Have you ever seen how the Blue Sea military opens a route?”
As it happened, Pan Tuan really hadn’t.
She had only seen the Blue Sea military fighting the Klan people, and at the time she hadn’t had the luxury of studying their tactics—after all, she had been on the side getting beaten.
Fortunately, they had surrendered quickly. Otherwise, how could she be enjoying such a good life now?
Seeing the man wearing an expression that practically said you’re about to witness something incredible, Pan Tuan couldn’t help asking:
“So how exactly do the Blue Sea people clear a path?”
…
“How are they able to advance like that?”
The survivors at Zilan University pressed themselves against the windows, staring wide-eyed at the approaching army and the zombie horde.
Tanks led the way, crushing the zombies directly in front of them.
Behind them stood rows of raised shields. A line of soldiers advanced steadily with shields on their shoulders, while the soldiers behind them launched fierce attacks against the zombies in front of the shield wall.
In their wake stretched a red road paved with zombie flesh and blood. Severed limbs and torn body parts lay everywhere.
There were simply too many zombies.
After all, this was a medium-sized city. Although the helicopters had lured away a large portion of the horde, the zombies that remained still formed a sea of corpses.
The army marched forward along this crimson path.
On both sides, grotesque zombies piled on top of one another. Their numbers were so great that they formed living ladders of bodies, allowing the zombies behind them to climb upward.
Most of the zombies that made it up were dealt with by the soldiers on the outer edges.
A very small number fell directly into the formation.
But before they could even get to their feet, the soldiers inside swiftly killed them.
Combat.
Combat.
Nothing but combat.
There were tall buildings lining both sides of the street. The zombies inside spotted the advancing force and began leaping down from above. However, since the helicopters had already drawn away one wave of them, only two or three zombies at most would jump from a building along any given stretch of road.
Most of the zombies were shot multiple times while still in midair. At the same time, the soldiers protected within the shield formation had to quickly dodge the falling corpses.
As a result, the battle looked like this:
The soldiers on the outside fired without pause.
The soldiers carrying the shields kept advancing.
The soldiers in the center had to deal with the piles of zombies pressing in from both sides, while also keeping an eye on the corpses underfoot to make sure none of them were only half-dead. They constantly fired additional shots to finish off any lingering threats.
At the same time, they had to watch for zombies dropping from above and, amid the tangled mass of corpses covering the road, quickly and carefully find their next foothold so they could continue moving forward.
Whenever they reached an area where the zombie density became too great, the flamethrowers would come out.
The army would then emerge from a sea of flames, marching onward with silent, unwavering determination.
In a remarkably short time, the force had advanced dozens of meters.
Behind them, the crimson road of blood and flesh stretched ever farther.
Pan Tuan had by now been completely drenched in zombie blood.
Up! Down! Left! Right!
Now she finally understood why ordinary people became overwhelmed with panic when accompanying the Blue Sea military.
What kind of insane bulldozer-style combat tactic was this?!
At that moment, Pan Tuan wished she had eyes in every direction and ears everywhere at once. Very few zombies managed to break through the formation, but nobody could predict where one might suddenly appear from.
Take just now, for example.
She had shot a half-bodied zombie lying on the ground.
Who knew why the thing was still able to struggle out from beneath a pile of corpses and try to bite someone when all it had left was half a torso, one arm, and a head?
She fired a shot at close range.
The zombie’s brains and blood splattered all over her face.
Moments like this made her particularly resent the fact that zombies apparently didn’t count as living people anymore, yet their blood still hadn’t coagulated.
Now she finally understood why everyone on this mission had been issued transparent goggles and metal face masks.
Pan Tuan shouted: “Wipe my face!”
Of course, no one was actually going to come wipe her face for her.
When she shouted that, it was simply a signal to her teammates that she needed a few seconds to clean off her visor.
During those few seconds, the people around her would keep an eye on her situation and make sure she didn’t get attacked by a zombie while temporarily unable to see.
In fact, as one of the protected personnel positioned in the very center of the formation, even if Pan Tuan did nothing at all, the soldiers on the outer perimeter would still ensure her safety and deal with any threats near her.
At the beginning, when she hadn’t yet adapted to the pace of combat, that was exactly what had happened.
And when the helicopters flew overhead, they hadn’t only been luring away zombies.
Along the route, they had also dropped more than a dozen snipers onto suitable rooftops.
The snipers lay prone on the rooftops, firing continuously and picking off any zombies that might pose a danger to the advancing soldiers.
As the army moved forward, some of the snipers remained where they were due to the terrain, waiting for helicopters to return and extract them.
Others slung their weapons onto their backs, fired grappling hooks toward nearby buildings, and relocated to new positions.
Theoretically, even if Pan Tuan did absolutely nothing, she would never get bitten by a zombie.
But when it comes to your life—
Can you really trust theoretically?!
When your life is on the line, the only protection that truly feels reliable is your own.
So all of the Velvet Star people, including Pan Tuan, quickly joined the fight.
Technically, translators were non-combat personnel and weren’t required to participate in battle.
But the Blue Sea soldiers didn’t stop them.
Just as they hadn’t stopped the Agricultural College staff when those people rushed into the fight.
If they wanted to fight, then fight.
As long as they didn’t become a burden.
Pan Tuan vigorously wiped her goggles with the sleeve of her combat uniform.
The world instantly became clear again.
This combat uniform is amazing for wiping off blood.
No wonder Blue Sea had specifically required them to wear the uniforms they issued.
Not only did the material make it easy to wipe away blood, but it also prevented zombie blood from soaking through to the clothes underneath, making it much safer.
After quickly cleaning her face, Pan Tuan immediately plunged back into combat mode.
Pan Tuan was no rookie.
Before the Blue Sea people appeared, she had been quite proud of the combat experience she had accumulated over six months.
Every bit of that experience had been earned the hard way, forged through countless life-and-death situations.
But now, Pan Tuan realized—
What had those so-called life-and-death crises even been compared to this?
Six hours.
She had been fighting nonstop for six straight hours.
Her mind remained in a state of extreme concentration. Her head never stopped turning. Zombies could appear from any direction, so she had to keep watch in every direction at once.
Since she didn’t have eyes on the back of her head, the only solution was to turn her head faster.
By now, she had reached the point where, whenever she saw a moving zombie, her brain hadn’t even finished processing it before her hand was already raising the gun and pulling the trigger.
Just moments ago, a zombie had flipped into the formation from her rear left side.
She hadn’t even turned around.
Relying purely on instinct, she spun and dropped it with a single shot.
Previously, Pan Tuan had assumed that the Blue Sea people were such formidable fighters because of their superior physical abilities and natural advantages.
Now she understood.
Not a single bit of the Blue Sea people’s combat experience had come for free.
With this kind of combat style, anyone who survived a full day of it would inevitably become a battle-hardened veteran.
If Pan Tuan had an experience bar floating above her head, it would probably be exploding with:
+100
+200
+100
+200
every second.
Three hours earlier, she had seen a staff member from Blue Sea Agricultural College smoothly gun down two zombies clinging to a shield, sidestep another zombie falling from above, and then excitedly raise his left arm and shout:
“Woohoo!!!”
The fluid combo had left Pan Tuan utterly stunned.
First, she was shocked that even people from the Agricultural College were this strong.
Then she was shocked by the man’s mental state.
She simply couldn’t imagine what kind of person could be covered in blood from head to toe and still be excited enough to look like a complete battle maniac.
Pan Tuan now:
She swiftly sidestepped a zombie falling from above.
Then immediately fired a finishing shot.
Blood splattered all over her head again.
But this time, because she had deliberately chosen her angle before firing, it barely affected her vision.
Pan Tuan was extremely pleased with herself for finally learning how to position herself when shooting. She no longer had to worry about blood spraying all over her goggles.
Filled with excitement and exhilaration, she instinctively raised her left arm.
“Woohoo!!!”
Huh? Why did I “woohoo” too?
Whatever.
Fighting is awesome!!!
The survivors at Zilan University stared at the scene in shock.
“Those people… are human, right?”
“I… think so?”
Because they were looking down from a high building, the survivors had a broader, more panoramic view of the battlefield.
They could see the entire army advancing below.
Everyone was wrapped up so thoroughly that their faces were impossible to make out. All they could distinguish was that every soldier wore the same combat uniform and military boots.
Each person was coated in layer upon layer of zombie blood.
The tanks had become blood-red machines.
Behind them stretched a landscape nearly dyed crimson by the living sea of zombies.
The army marched forward in perfect formation, stepping across a scarlet “carpet” of blood and corpses.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
Forward.
Fearless.
The synchronized footsteps of thousands of people drowned out the zombies’ howls.
Combined with the thunder of gunfire and artillery, they formed a stirring symphony that was impossible to ignore.
The sheer sense of pressure was overwhelming.
Even from this distance, people found themselves holding their breath unconsciously.
They should have been eagerly awaiting the army’s arrival.
Instead, many of the survivors felt fear.
Even the elderly academician—the oldest person present and someone who had seen more than his share of the world—felt his heart pounding as he watched.
Elite.
Every single person in this army had to be an elite among elites.
But how was it possible that he had never heard of such a terrifying military force existing in the country?
Thanks for the chapter!