Invincible through Touching Corpses

Chapter 269 - 268: Abnormal Situation

The First Major Detachment wasn’t the only one to improve over the past seven days. The strength of almost every Mercenary Corps was advancing by leaps and bounds.

After all, the Mercenary Guild had spared no expense for this mission. As long as the Mercenary Corps didn’t court death and advanced steadily, they were guaranteed to earn a ton of Points.

Thus, over these seven days, almost every Mercenary Corps had acquired new weapons, to one degree or another.

Overall, the combat strength of the various Mercenary Corps had increased by at least 30 percent, with some even reaching 50 percent.

This was even more true for the First Major Detachment. It would be no exaggeration to say that the combat strength of those First Level Mercenary Corps had doubled.

After all, other Mercenary Corps had only upgraded their weapons, but the corps in the First Major Detachment had also improved their Gun Technique.

Meanwhile, after a week of pushing forward, they had advanced a full 13 kilometers and were no longer far from the Industrial Park.

This pace was even a little faster than the Military Department had anticipated. If they maintained this speed, they could likely clear a safe route to the Industrial Park in just two more days.

Of course, this was all good news, but there was bad news as well.

First, there were the casualties. Over the past seven days, even the First Major Detachment had suffered over 100 casualties, to say nothing of the other detachments—some of which had more than 800.

This might sound terrifying—after all, a detachment of 1,000 people suffering 800 casualties sounds like it would be crippled—but that wasn’t actually the case.

The Military Department had made thorough preparations at the main base camp.

Anyone who made it back alive would immediately receive the best medical treatment. Those with minor injuries could even recover within a day.

Therefore, among these casualty figures, injuries were a secondary concern. The important number was the death toll.

In the First Major Detachment, the death toll had surpassed 20 as of today. In contrast, most of the other detachments had death tolls exceeding 200.

A twenty-percent mortality rate was considerably high, but the Mercenary Corps participating in this operation were mentally prepared. Coupled with the incredibly generous rewards, the various corps had no complaints.

Besides the casualties, another issue concerned Lin Xinghai even more: the Mutated Zombies.

It wasn’t that the Mutated Zombies were becoming more numerous. On the contrary, starting from the third day, he noticed that the number of Mutated Zombies they encountered had begun to decrease.

By the fifth day, they hadn’t seen a single Mutated Zombie.

Evidently, the Mutated Zombies had caught on.

After all, Mutated Zombies possessed rudimentary intelligence, and they weren’t incapable of communication. With so many of their kind dying here, it would be strange if they hadn’t noticed.

If these Mutated Zombies had disappeared simply out of fear, then there was no problem.

But if that wasn’t the case, then there could be big trouble ahead.

And today, on the seventh day of the Zombie-clearing operation, Lin Xinghai noticed something unusual.

The Mutated Zombies, unseen for two days, had appeared once again.

This time, they didn’t appear individually, but in groups of at least three to five.

Moreover, they didn’t approach, merely observing from a distance.

Everyone understood that the situation was all the more unsettling because of it.

"That’s it for today. Let’s head back!" Lin Xinghai said, checking the time and issuing the order over the comms channel.

As Lin Xinghai gave the order, the convoy quickly turned and headed back. The Mercenary Corps Leaders seemed to relax, beginning to chat and laugh as they tallied the day’s earnings.

Lin Xinghai extended his Perception Power. Seeing this, he hesitated for a moment before speaking up. "One more thing. As I said before, something is off with the Mutated Zombies."

"I have a feeling something bad is about to happen, likely within the next day or two. So, you’d better not hang on to the Points you’ve accumulated. Go exchange them for weapons and turn them into combat strength as soon as possible."

"This... Captain Lin, is it really that serious?" one of the Mercenary Corps Leaders asked reluctantly.

He had a decent sum of Points, but he was planning to use them to recruit new members after they returned to the Shelter.

Besides, for First Level Mercenary Corps like his, high-end weapons weren’t very cost-effective. It was better to spend the Points on recruiting new talent.

"Either nothing will happen, or if something does, it won’t be a question of ’how serious,’ but a question of whether we’ll be wiped out."

"Of course, this is all just my speculation. Whether you believe me is up to you. But if something overwhelming really does happen, those who are too weak might not even be able to escape. You should upgrade things like your Armored Vehicle engines. If you have the means, get some better external armor plating too," Lin Xinghai added as a reminder.

He never dared to underestimate Guanghan City. The Zombies here were too numerous and densely packed. If something were to happen, it would be anything but a small incident.

Lin Xinghai’s words were like a bucket of cold water dumped on the heads of the Mercenary Corps Leaders.

In the days they had spent together, Lin Xinghai had always given them the impression that he was calm and composed, as if nothing could ever faze him.

For Lin Xinghai to speak so gravely this time—even if it was just speculation—no one dared to ignore his warning.

Following Lin Xinghai’s warning, a stir went through the various Mercenary Corps, and the Heaven-Sundering Mercenary Corps was no exception.

"Ah Xing, will it really be that serious?" Fang Tianhe asked.

"I don’t know. It might be nothing, or it might be even worse than I’m describing. We need to make preparations on our end, too. Old Fang, when we get back, buy ten man-portable missiles and fifty hives of Bee Bombs from the Military Department."

"If something major really happens, I might have to act alone. You all need to be capable of facing Mutated Zombies by yourselves," Lin Xinghai said.

"Alright, I understand," Fang Tianhe said with a nod.

"By the way, when will the new Mecha and Armored Vehicle be delivered?" Lin Xinghai asked.

Just yesterday, Liu Miaomiao’s Genetic Optimization Level had reached 60%, and she officially broke her second Genetic Lock. Lin Xinghai had let her pilot his Mecha for a while, and the results had exceeded his expectations.

After being amplified by the Mecha, Liu Miaomiao’s Life Control Superpower had unleashed a terrifying reaping ability.

Within a 50-meter radius of the Mecha, the Intermediate and Ordinary Zombies had no way to resist at all. In less than a second, their Life Force was completely drained.

Even a High Level Zombie could only survive for three seconds within the range of Liu Miaomiao’s Superpower.

What was even more terrifying was that as their Life Force was being drained, the target’s combat strength was also severely impacted, decreasing the longer they were exposed.

One could easily imagine that even if Liu Miaomiao could only bring out 50 percent of the Mecha’s combat power, when combined with her Life Control Superpower, she wouldn’t have the slightest fear even when facing Mutated Zombies.

In particular, if she used this Superpower in a support role to tie down enemies from the sidelines, the impact she could have would be no less than Fang Tianhe’s.