Apocalypse Survival Guide for a Beta [GB] - Chapter 21

“It’s a third-tier zombie!”

“There are five of them!”

In the darkness, everyone quickly scouted the situation and exchanged information.

Just as zombie crystal cores could help ability users enhance their powers, it seemed that ability users also had a special allure for zombies.

The five zombies attacked the four people on top of the vehicle.

Lou Tiannan’s flames surged and his iron fist, enveloped in fire, struck the zombie in front of him with tremendous force. Earlier that afternoon, lower-level zombies lost their ability to attack almost instantly upon touching his flames. But third-tier zombies were different. His black flame punch only knocked it down.

Unfazed by pain, the zombie got back up, more frenzied than before. Its pupils glowed red in the darkness, its bloodthirsty nature unmistakable.

“Ahhh!!” The survivors inside the transport truck screamed in fear as other zombies managed to reach the cargo area.

One of the zombies had its sights set on Xi Ya, a young and inexperienced ability user.

Team members inside the truck quickly fired their guns, while Xi Ya raised her hand, unleashing a burst of fire toward the approaching zombie.

The intense firepower temporarily forced the zombie out of the truck.

“Brother Liang, drive! Get the survivors out of here.” Lou Tiannan realized that the third-tier zombies were all targeting the ability users. He couldn’t let the survivors become collateral damage.

Lin Bai glanced outside the truck. As the driver switched seats, she swiftly jumped down from the vehicle.

Without hesitation, Xi Ya followed Lin Bai and jumped down as well.

Peter noticed their actions and hesitated for a moment, but in that brief pause, the transport truck, now driven by Zhu Liang, sped away from the battlefield.

In the darkness, almost no one noticed Lin Bai jumping off the truck.

It wasn’t until Lou Tiannan saw zombies attacking another area that he spotted Lin Bai and her daughter. He leaped toward them, his tone urgent and angry, “Why didn’t you leave with the truck?!”

“Xi Ya has an ability,” Lin Bai casually gave an excuse.

The third-tier zombies pursued ability users.

Lou Tiannan paused, instantly understanding the implication behind Lin Bai’s words. He used a burst of flames to repel a zombie in front of him, then turned slightly to say, “Stay behind me, both of you. Be careful.”

Wen Xiaxia also chose to stay behind. Usually, she handled medical support and logistics, and her combat skills were rarely seen. But now, with Lu Jia by her side, combining their water and wood abilities, they managed to hold their own against the third-tier zombies without falling behind.

Lin Bai followed closely behind Lou Tiannan, glancing at Song Yan, who was coordinating attacks with Zhou Yu. Seeing that the zombies attacked indiscriminately, her brows raised slightly. Did Song Yan have an ability too?

Out of everyone in the battle, Lin Bai was arguably the safest. To the third-tier zombies, she was almost nonexistent.

They bared their fangs and claws, lunging at the other ability users present.

The agile-based zombies were incredibly fast.

The attack-based zombies had sharp fangs and claws.

The power-based zombies possessed immense strength.

The resilience-based zombies had thick and durable skin…

“The variety of zombies in Western District One is quite something,” Lin Bai remarked.

Zhou Yu, exhausted from fighting: “…”

Zhou Yu had overused his ability that afternoon and hadn’t fully recovered yet. Fighting a third-tier zombie alongside Song Yan was already difficult, not to mention having to guard against sneak attacks from other zombies.

Lou Tiannan glanced at Lin Bai, who looked as if she was out for a casual stroll. Thinking of the third-tier zombie crystal core she had asked for earlier, he suddenly said, “Let’s work together and split the cores evenly.”

As soon as Lin Bai heard that, her hand rested on the hilt of the black blade at her side, but she soon let go. “There are five zombies.”

How would they divide five cores?

Lou Tiannan responded quickly, “Whoever does more work gets three.”

In that case, she wouldn’t hold back. She turned to Xi Ya and said, “Hide well and don’t get scratched.”

Xi Ya nodded. Lin Bai then drew her twin blades, lightly tapped the ground with her toes, and swiftly leaped behind the zombie attacking Lou Tiannan.

It was an attack-based zombie, highly aggressive and extremely fast to react.

Lin Bai’s black blade slashed toward the back of its head, but the zombie blocked it. Its arm twisted unnaturally to shield its head and even managed to swipe its claws toward Lin Bai’s face.

“Watch out!” Lou Tiannan warned.

At the same time, Lin Bai stepped back. The zombie’s blackened claws grazed her eyelashes but struck nothing.

She never stopped at a single strike. With Lou Tiannan’s black flames surrounding her, she had an endless supply of light and heat energy to fuel her attacks.

Holding nothing back, Lin Bai swung her short blades and charged at the zombie.

With her assistance, Lou Tiannan’s burden was greatly reduced. One of them distracted the zombie from the front, while the other struck from behind. Just as Lin Bai’s blade tip was about to pierce the back of the zombie’s head, her body’s instinctive sense warned her to stop. She quickly stepped back and raised her left blade to guard.

Clang!

Her blade clashed against a red-black claw.

Another zombie had appeared.

Its arrival visibly excited the other five zombies.

What it did next shocked everyone. It raised its hand toward Lin Bai and unleashed a blast of orange-yellow flames.

The firelight reflected off the stunned faces of everyone present.

“Sh*t!” Zhou Yu shouted, his voice cracking from shock. “A zombie with abilities?!”

There was no time to process the revelation.

With the appearance of an ability-wielding zombie, the battle had just become even more difficult.

Lou Tiannan was the first to attack, drawing the mutant zombie’s attention.

Lin Bai’s expression also turned serious.

Gripping her black blade tightly, she lowered her stance, locked onto her target, and dashed forward.

As she reached the zombie, she leaped into the air and threw her blade. In her eyes, every movement of the zombie slowed. The moment it raised its hand to catch the blade, she pulled a handgun from her lower back.

Bang! Bang!

The first shot hit the knife’s handle, shifting the zombie’s hand off course. The second shot grazed its claw and pierced its pupil. A split second later, the bullet exploded inside its eye.

“Ahhh—!”

The zombie threw its head back and howled, dropping to its knees. Yet, even in that state, its body refused to give up, still crawling toward the ability users.

On the other side, Zhou Yu and Song Yan managed to take down a zombie together with great effort. Without wasting time, they hurried to assist Lu Jia and Wen Xiaxia.

After the mutant zombie appeared, for some reason, two other zombies began targeting Lu Jia and Wen Xiaxia’s group, making their fight even more difficult.

Meanwhile, Lou Tiannan was single-handedly fending off two zombies, neither side gaining the upper hand.

Lin Bai watched as Lou Tiannan exchanged blows with the mutant zombie, frowning. Her scans couldn’t detect any weak points on it.

Not only did it have abilities, but its body seemed like an enhanced version of a third-tier zombie.

Its eyes were abnormally large, yet unlike ordinary third-tier zombies, they weren’t a weak spot.

Lin Bai retrieved her blade and shifted her focus to the regular third-tier zombie beside the mutant zombie.

If she couldn’t find the mutant zombie’s weakness, she would eliminate the ones that had weaknesses first.

Her eyes unexpectedly met Lou Tiannan’s. With just one glance, they both knew they had the same plan.

Lou Tiannan raised his hand and conjured fireballs. It looked like he was aiming at both zombies, but in reality, the fireballs curved midair, targeting the third-tier zombie beside the mutant zombie instead.

His black flames dealt reduced damage to third-tier zombies, but they were still effective.

The zombie tried to leap away, but suddenly, a kick from behind sent it straight into the fireballs, leaving it with no way to dodge.

Surrounded by black flames, the zombie let out an enraged roar. The fire gradually dimmed, leaving its body charred black, yet it remained mobile.

So Lin Bai repeated the process.

The good thing about zombies was that they weren’t very smart.

Wherever Lou Tiannan cast his abilities, she kicked the zombie in that direction, ensuring it got scorched by the flames each time.

Eventually, the third-tier zombie collapsed in the fire, its entire body burnt to charcoal.

But in doing so, Lin Bai put herself in danger.

Her actions had drawn the mutant zombie’s attention and it launched a fire attack at her.

Lin Bai rolled aside, narrowly dodging the flames.

Lou Tiannan seized the opportunity to strike from behind.

This was the first time Lin Bai and Lou Tiannan had worked together, yet they had remarkable coordination. Without needing to speak, one would retreat while the other stepped in immediately. If Lou Tiannan attacked from the right, Lin Bai would strike from the left, forcing the zombie to reposition.

Lin Bai swung her blade at the zombie’s front while Lou Tiannan’s flames pressured it from behind.

Under their coordinated assault, they managed to fight evenly against the mutant zombie.

The mutant zombie was not only powerful but also seemed to have higher intelligence than other zombies. After a few failed attempts, it stopped attacking the two of them directly. Instead, it stood still, clenched its claws into fists, and let out a loud roar. A ring of fire erupted from its body.

Lin Bai, who was closest due to her melee attacks, had almost no time to react. The fire ring spread rapidly, closing in on her in the blink of an eye. She was about to use the bounce settings in her body to leap away when suddenly, an extremely hot chest appeared before her. A scorching iron-like arm wrapped around her waist.

The next moment, she was tackled to the ground.

Lin Bai felt like the impact had knocked her internal components out of place.

Looking up, she saw Lou Tiannan with blood seeping from the corner of his lips.

He was playing the victim.

Lin Bai quickly came to that conclusion.

But Lou Tiannan wasn’t paying attention to her expression. When he saw that she was about to be hit by the fire ring, he knew that an ordinary person getting struck by an ability, especially a zombie’s ability, would likely be fatal or at least cause serious harm. There was no telling what might happen. So, he used his own body to shield her from the attack.

The zombie’s ability had hit him directly, causing a searing pain across his back, but he showed no sign of it. He quickly pulled Lin Bai up and retreated a few steps, moving out of the mutant zombie’s attack range. Lin Bai could feel the terrifying heat radiating from Lou Tiannan’s body.

Meanwhile, Song Yan and the others, including Xi Ya, had just finished taking down a third-tier zombie. Before they could catch their breath, the fire ring swept over them, knocking them to the ground.

It took them a long moment to get back up. Song Yan, who was closest to Xi Ya, helped her up and pushed the child behind her for protection.

“Damn it!!! That hurts like hell!” Zhou Yu gasped, supporting himself as he struggled to his feet.

They helped each other up, all looking solemnly at the towering mutant zombie before them.

“Screw it! Let’s go all out!” Lu Jia gritted his teeth.

Regrouping, they launched another assault on the mutant zombie.

A barrage of abilities rained down on it.

The mutant zombie released another fire ring. This time, Lou Tiannan stood in front of everyone, clapping his hands together to unleash black flames.

Orange and black flames collided. Neither side was willing to give in. The two opposing flames refused to mix. Lou Tiannan pushed his black flames to the limit, feeling like his chest and abdomen were burning from the inside out. His energy surged through his veins, threatening to make them burst. At the same time, the mutant zombie’s orange flames grew even stronger.

The temperature skyrocketed. The two opposing forces clashed violently. Then, at a critical moment—

Boom!

The flames exploded.

Zhou Yu and the others were blasted back by the shockwave, coughing up blood as they collapsed.

Lou Tiannan barely managed to stay upright by bracing himself against the ground.

Lin Bai, gripping her blade, was half-kneeling, her gaze locked onto the mutant zombie.

“Ah—!”

The mutant zombie suddenly reached down and grabbed Song Yan, who was the closest to it. Its sharp claws tore through her combat uniform, revealing the fabric of the tight vest beneath.

“Sister Yan!”

“Song Yan!!!”

The team’s eyes widened in horror.

Without hesitation, the zombie plunged its claws into Song Yan’s abdomen.