Breaking Through the Pass

Ahead lay a piled-up wall of zombies; attempting to drive straight through was almost impossible. Even with an SUV, it would be difficult to overcome such a massive obstacle formed by the stacked zombies. What worried her even more was the current state of Liang Tian Yong and his teammates.

Jiang Chu abruptly braked. On her face, which had remained calm and unruffled since her rebirth, a crack of emotion appeared for the first time. Forcing her way through was impossible. She quickly turned her head; behind them, large rocks were already attacking the zombies. Liang Tian Yong and his teammates had caught up, but the most crucial question was how to break through.

"Zi Cheng truly lives up to its reputation." Jiang Chu dared not delay. Although the zombies here were terrifyingly dense, it wasn't yet a life-or-death situation, so she couldn't waste a Devouring Card here. Therefore, she pulled out a pre-prepared bomb from under the car, lowered the car window halfway, and used her ability to push away a few zombies near the window. Pulling the pin, she threw the bomb with all her might towards the surging horde of zombies.

"Get down!"

The bomb landed 60 meters ahead. The moment it hit the ground, a sky-shattering explosion echoed, and fire waves brightly illuminated all four directions. Hundreds of zombies in front were instantly reduced to ashes. The terrifying destructive power of the explosion reached them; even inside the SUV, they could feel the heat wave from the blast. The car's rearview mirror was almost blown off, and the houses closest to the epicenter of the explosion had half-collapsed.

"Damn it!" Zhang Hu's vision was filled with a flash of fire. The sudden explosion startled him, and he couldn't help but curse, "What's going on?"

Lu Jia Zhai reluctantly opened his eyes and said, "There are too many zombies ahead; it's hard to get through without clearing a path."

Zhang Hu said thankfully, "Luckily our car is of good quality, otherwise it would surely be scrap metal."

He said so, but the cold sweat pouring from him was enough to soak a towel. He had never seen so many zombies. This short stretch of road alone was more terrifying than when the previous base was besieged by zombies. Fortunately, Liang Tian Yong and Lu Jia Zhai occasionally used their abilities to help block attacks for the three cars behind; otherwise, they would surely have become part of the zombie army. All the cars tried their best to maintain stability.

After the explosion, Jiang Chu immediately closed the car window. Having lost hundreds of zombies, she charged forward without hesitation; stopping now was absolutely not an option. Using a bomb was not a wise tactic, and it was even very likely to attract all the zombies from the surrounding streets, but she had her own calculations. Assuming an unimaginably large number of zombies arrived, she could seize the opportunity to throw out a Devouring Card, devouring all zombies within a 50-meter radius. In that case... Core Crystals would not be an issue.

Jiang Chu drove forward vigorously. A zombie with slime-covered hands jumped onto the car roof from somewhere, reaching out and smearing a patch of the windshield. Chen Qing Qing immediately looked at the sides; on the second floor of the adjacent shop, five or six strange zombies were practicing jumping. She said with a complex expression, "There's a two-story shop next door; this one jumped from the second floor of the shop onto our car." Even though Jiang Chu couldn't see above, she could still act, piercing the zombie's brain with an Ice Spike. It toppled off the car, and the weight on the roof finally disappeared. Using the wipers to clean the slime, she had now followed the route to the intersection. From all directions, countless zombies were advancing towards their cars, including from behind. The road, once clear on all sides, now pushed them to a dead end.

The three cars behind also stopped with her. The situation for all three cars was not good; many zombies were trying to get inside. Even if they couldn't get in, they crowded under the cars, climbed onto the roofs, and the gaps between the cars were filled with many zombies. Jiang Chu heard gunshots and zombie noises, but at this moment, shooting was basically useless. Chen Qing Qing's heart suddenly grew cold; it seemed they might die here. On the road, there was no space for even one person to escape; it was all zombies.

Shen Yin Qiu drove the RV behind the SUV. It had been safe along the way, but now it was a life-or-death moment. At this point, she was surprisingly not nervous. Captain Jiang Chu had barely acted until now, and the situation of being surrounded by zombies remained the same, as if she was brewing a big move. "I hope there's a solution," she muttered.

As the two rear guards, Ning Ting and Liang Tian Yong had not had a peaceful journey. Both were terrified, finally catching up with the main group, only to encounter an unexpected turn of events. Liang Tian Yong swallowed, unable to even see the truck ahead, only a dense mass of zombies blocking the front. "So many zombies," Ning Ting said softly, his hands gripping the steering wheel, trembling. Suddenly looking up, he glanced forward and affirmed to Liang Tian Yong, "Just stay calm and observe the changes. When she threw the bomb, she must have anticipated the consequences. She has a solution; you temporarily don't use your ability." Although Liang Tian Yong didn't know why Ning Ting said that, he still agreed.

Jiang Chu spoke in a low voice, "The explosion attracted them. I will eliminate the zombies next to our car. You take the opportunity to open the car window and loudly tell them to close their car windows, close their eyes, and not move. Whether they hear you or not, just shout loudly." Now was the time to use the Devouring Card.

As Chen Qing Qing nodded repeatedly, Jiang Chu found an opportunity to act. The zombie horde on both sides was pierced by hundreds of Ice Spikes. Chen Qing Qing opened the car window, put on the sound amplifier Jiang Chu threw to her, stuck her head out, and yelled loudly towards the back, "Close your car windows, absolutely don't move, close your eyes!" Fearing they wouldn't hear clearly, Chen Qing Qing yelled a second time, then quickly pulled her head back in and closed the car window. "You close your eyes too."

Jiang Chu seized this opportunity to throw out the Devouring Card. The mysterious patterns on the card immediately glowed brightly. The Ice Spikes had not yet been retracted; at this moment, the Ice Spikes hovering in the air seemed to hum. Following this, the zombie horde surrounding them instantly collapsed to the ground, leaving only an empty space in their sight. Zombies within a 50-meter radius were completely annihilated, and Jiang Chu received a notification from the system.

[Host detected using one Devouring Card, devouring a total of 2516 zombies. 1258 Core Crystals have been collected into the host's inventory. Please check.]

[Activating aftermath processing function.]

As soon as the system's voice faded, a large fire suddenly erupted on a certain zombie's body. Jiang Chu's eyes lit up. She nudged Chen Qing Qing, "You can open the door and tell them they can go." Chen Qing Qing's eyes widened, astonished and dumbfounded by the empty scene before her. Was all this done by Jiang Chu? She looked over with an expression of adoration, her conviction growing stronger, and followed her instructions.

Jiang Chu wondered if the system's aftermath processing function was to burn all 2516 zombies. However, this only dealt with the zombies in this area; there was still a stretch of road ahead, and over two thousand zombies were still countless.