PTYS Chapter 147

The mutated zombie behind them was locked in a room by Shen Qingqiu, and the group moved stealthily along narrow paths between buildings, slowly approaching the besieged base.

Gunfire could still be heard intermittently, but it was much sparser than the night before. Besides the lack of ammunition, they probably realized that killing zombies with guns was difficult; hitting the head might not even work unless the nerves were destroyed.

Of course, some powerful guns were effective; a hit could almost explode the target, even if it didn’t kill the zombie, it slowed them down considerably.

Shen Qingqiu took the binoculars and frowned at the scene. The perimeter was piled high with dismembered or dead zombies, layering up around the base like sandbags used in flood defense.

The sight was horrifying, even Shen Qingqiu found it hard to look at, imagining how the people inside must be feeling.

The base didn’t look large enough to hold so many people, suggesting there might be extensive underground facilities.

Suppressing her physical discomfort, Shen Qingqiu continued to observe through the window. Zombies had breached the base, and people inside were fighting them. Unfortunately, once a breach occurred, countless zombies swarmed in, quickly overwhelming the defenders.

“The situation inside isn’t good. Lin Jian, going in might be pointless,” Shen Qingqiu said, making Lin Jian’s face turn ashen.

He looked at the three vials of reagent in his hand, dejected, “Is there really no way?”

Shen Qingqiu turned to leave, intending to settle Xiao Muyu. She addressed Chen Kaijie, Su Jin, and Zuo Tiantian, “We’re about to act. I’ll go over the details again. Remember, our goal is to pass, not to fight to the death. Prioritize your own and your teammates’ safety, understood?”

“Su Jin, you have few protective cards left, only one for ‘drawing a circle with bare hands.’ I’ll give you this mask, which can replicate someone’s appearance and abilities for 30 minutes. Protect Xiao Zuo and cooperate with her card usage.”

Most of the zombies were attacking the base due to a summoning, so she planned to start from the rear, slowly taking them down.

“Lin Jian, they’re not fools. They won’t stay hidden inside; even if they survive, they can’t escape and will be trapped. They will try to move. Don’t think about going in unless they come out. You should return to your hiding place. We left some supplies, enough to last you a while. We can’t look after you anymore, take care of yourself.”

With that, Shen Qingqiu waved her hand, and the four quickly disappeared down the empty street.

Xiao Muyu’s room had all its windows sealed by Shen Qingqiu, and the door was locked, ensuring no one could enter.

Thinking of Xiao Muyu, Shen Qingqiu felt a pang in her heart. Looking at the distant zombies, her eyes filled with killing intent.

Before acting, she siphoned gas from several cars, selecting a suitable street.

After filling the cars at the street entrance with gasoline, Shen Qingqiu began her preparations.

The ‘Show Love, Die Fast’ skill had a range of 100 meters. Shen Qingqiu estimated the distance and asked, “Ready?”

Her dagger was too short; a longer weapon was needed for strength, so she held an iron rod in her left hand to fend off zombies and avoid getting scratched.

Zuo Tiantian and Su Jin held long watermelon knives, while Chen Kaijie had his Tang sword. The three looked serious, “Ready.”

Shen Qingqiu smiled wickedly, “Then let’s go.”

She spun the iron rod in her left hand, gripping it tightly, and brandished the dagger in her right, caressing it with her index finger, “Su Jin, try not to get hurt.”

When it came to using the mask, everyone instinctively thought of the strongest combatant, but against zombies, strength was secondary to resilience.

Su Jin held the card and said softly, “Alright, find me the strongest, looks don’t matter.” Shen Qingqiu chuckled, “No problem.”

As her words fell, Shen Qingqiu dashed to the pre-determined street corner, securing the iron rod and leaping onto a car, then grabbing an awning and climbing to a second-floor window.

Looking down, she continued to climb into the balcony of the building.

Chen Kaijie gave a thumbs-up, admiring, “Vice-captain’s skills are amazing.” Her movements were swift and graceful.

Shen Qingqiu glanced at the three, then activated a card.

The zombies outside, initially charging, abruptly stopped. They turned awkwardly, heading towards Shen Qingqiu’s location.

The chosen spot was neither too open nor too cramped, providing enough room to maneuver. Her summon attracted over 200 zombies, making Su Jin and Zuo Tiantian nervous despite their preparations, feeling like they were part of Shen Qingqiu’s madness.

“If Captain Xiao wakes up, Vice-captain will be in trouble,” Zuo Tiantian said, determined.

Su Jin couldn’t help but laugh, easing the tense atmosphere.

The horde rushed forward, climbing over each other. A mutated zombie leaped to the second-floor balcony but was immediately struck by Shen Qingqiu’s rod, breaking its neck. Before it could recover, her dagger finished it off, the head falling into the zombie crowd.

Shen Qingqiu smiled, pouring gasoline from a bucket onto the horde below, the smell filling the air.

A zombie tried to climb up, but she swung the rod, breaking its hands and slitting its throat.

One particularly fast zombie seemed to understand her plan, sticking close to the wall, watching her.

Shen Qingqiu noticed it, leaping from the balcony to another window, hanging from one hand, seemingly vulnerable.

The zombie lunged, but Shen Qingqiu used her legs to stabilize, thrusting the rod through its mouth, severing its spine. Its claws, inches from her, went limp.

“See that? This will do,” Shen Qingqiu said to Su Jin.

She let the corpse fall, retrieved the rod, and continued climbing.

Su Jin, donning the mask, scanned the scene. Soon, a zombie with half its head appeared beside Zuo Tiantian and Chen Kaijie.

Both recoiled, exclaiming, “Yikes!”

Su Jin looked at her exposed bones and gagged, “This is too much.”

Zuo Tiantian blushed, stepping back, “You’re too scary. We’ll make it up to you later. Go help.”

Su Jin, feeling both amused and annoyed, wielded her knife, slicing through zombies, moving towards Shen Qingqiu’s street.

Seeing Su Jin, Shen Qingqiu assessed her and laughed, “Very unique.”

Su Jin snarled at the zombies, muttering, “Don’t mock me.”

Watching her weave through the zombies, Shen Qingqiu saw they didn’t attack Su Jin, unaware she was disguised.

Su Jin carved through them effortlessly.

“Su Jin, keep your distance.”

Shen Qingqiu, from her perch, lit a cigarette. Su Jin, understanding, retreated quickly.

Shen Qingqiu, calm amidst the chaos, exhaled smoke, dropping a lit cigarette into the zombie horde.

Instantly, flames erupted, engulfing the zombies. Those climbing the balcony were unfazed by the fire, still trying to reach her.

Shen Qingqiu struck them with her rod, then smashed the balcony glass, moving through the building and out the other side.

As soon as her feet hit the ground, several cars on the street exploded violently, sending a massive shockwave that tore nearby zombies to pieces, scattering their flaming remains everywhere.

Shen Qingqiu stood up, dusted herself off, and quickly moved down the street with her iron rod. The explosion had clearly alarmed the zombies, which had been planning to attack the base. Amidst the howls, some of them turned and started rushing towards her.

Shen Qingqiu struck the zombies with forceful blows, each hit powerful enough to make them sluggish, preventing them from getting back up before being finished off by the knives that followed her strikes, ending their miserable existence.

Under Su Jin’s cover, Chen Kaijie and Zuo Tiantian were decapitating zombies with each swing of their blades.

In the final days of the apocalypse, Shen Qingqiu had trained them well, ensuring none of them were left out.

The crash course didn’t bring a substantial improvement, but it was better than their previous chaotic fighting.

As for Shen Qingqiu, she seemed to have three heads and six arms, blocking with one hand and stabbing with the other, moving swiftly and alertly. Wherever she went, Zuo Tiantian only saw zombies falling one after another.

However, as the zombie wave surged back, the situation became dangerous. The sheer number of zombies was overwhelming, enough to crush anyone beneath them, not to mention the need to avoid getting injured.

“Vice-captain, we can’t hold on! Retreat now!” Shen Qingqiu glanced at the points tally, which was changing but had only increased by just over fifty points—not nearly enough.

Seeing the zombies continually rushing in, she threw a card behind her. The card was “Chasing the Murderer to the Crematorium,” an S-card obtained in Sub-copy 004, Death Squad. Instantly, a six-meter-long and three-meter-wide fire field appeared behind them, trapping a large number of zombies who were burned to charcoal.

The street was already narrow, and with the fire field, the zombies had no choice but to go around. Shen Qingqiu guarded the only passage, taking down one zombie at a time.

After four minutes, Su Jin and Zuo Tiantian managed to clear out a chunk of zombies, as if they were fishing.

Qi Hongyue and her team watched from a distance, utterly stunned. They never imagined that they could fight so fiercely. The terrifying zombie tide had turned into their ATM.

What shocked them even more was that a zombie was protecting Shen Qingqiu and her group.

“Let’s go, follow them. We also need points. Stay safe and gather points quickly!” Qi Hongyue instructed, looking at their team, which now had only three people and one zombie. Xiao Muyu was missing.

“Could he have been eliminated?” She shook her head, having heard no announcements.

Qi Hongyue and her three teammates joined the fight, and Jiang Wei’s remaining two team members rushed over too. Shen Qingqiu glanced at them and smiled slightly.

After four minutes, the charred zombies were mostly dead. But more zombies were pouring in faster, and the base seemed to be just watching without intervening. If they joined in, they would not only fail to gain points but also draw more fire.

Qi Hongyue realized something was wrong after killing a few zombies, so they all ran for their lives.

“Xiao Zuo, your wall can be built horizontally too!” Shen Qingqiu shouted. Then she turned to Su Jin, “Su Jin, enlarge yourself tenfold!”

Su Jin was stunned. Shen Qingqiu had never mentioned this before, nor had she thought of it.

After a moment of hesitation, Su Jin really did enlarge herself. A massive zombie, over ten meters tall, appeared on the street like a skyscraper. The people below were so terrified they almost couldn’t move, and those in the base watching outside were paralyzed with fear. Sun Qinian muttered, “It’s over.”

Shen Qingqiu looked at the Buddha-like Su Jin and shook her head, “Amazing.”

Su Jin felt dizzy herself. Not only were people scared stiff, but the zombie tide seemed to be on pause, all staring blankly at the gigantic Su Jin.

Without question, a small group of zombies was flattened by a horizontal wall built by Zuo Tiantian.

“Vice-captain, stay clear, don’t get stepped on.” Su Jin warned. Her enormous foot, already mostly devoid of flesh, stomped down and kicked fiercely, sending zombies flying.

Su Jin crushed the zombies like a millstone, who shivered helplessly, watching as they were annihilated. Su Jin, fighting her fear, grabbed the zombies one by one and threw them in front of Shen Qingqiu and the others to finish them off.

“Su Jin! Watch the time!” The enlargement lasted only three minutes, and this one-sided massacre earned only 0.2 points each.

Then the system’s red light flashed, warning, “Detected malicious point farming. From now on, all points for player Su Jin will be reset to zero!”

Su Jin: Go to hell.

Author’s note: This big bug – before, Muyu didn’t duplicate zombies because they were too slow to be useful. Also, duplication requires facing the physical entity, not just seeing it.