Chapter 249 Level-Four Throat Seizer!
Meanwhile, the road leading to Cloud Peak Manor was already filled with zombies. Due to the slope, many defenders at the main gate witnessed a terrifying scene.
The intelligence reported that a zombie horder, numbering over twenty thousand, was moving towards them.
But that was just intelligence; they hadn't seen it with their own eyes. Now, suddenly discovering these life-threatening zombies appearing in droves was a feeling beyond description.
"There are more of them than people at a packed Oakland Arena game," a survivor mumbled as he looked at the road below, filled with zombies.
Edna, still wearing her white lab coat, which was much cleaner this time, corrected, "Oakland Arena can hold nineteen thousand people, so the zombie horde is still a bit larger." Her face and hair were also cleaned up, looking fresh and neat. Her hands were still in her pockets.
However, her habit of being pedantic hadn't changed. Hearing someone in the defense line discussing, she had to voice her rebuttal.
The survivor turned around and saw it was the doctor William had brought back. He opened his mouth but didn't say anything, thinking to himself, 'Does it really matter if it's a few thousand more?'
"But now the number has decreased to just over ten thousand," Edna informed.
Hearing this, the people around her perked up. They were all terrified; in past hunts, they had only faced a few hundred or, at most, a thousand zombies, which was enough to send them fleeing in panic. Now, facing this overwhelming number of zombies head-on, any normal person would feel anxious and fearful.
"So, does this mean we can definitely win?" the previous survivor asked, his eyes shining.
Edna nodded and then shook her head. "Under normal circumstances, yes. But I need to take a look."
"Ms. Garcia, William is calling you," Michelle said.
Michelle, who had rushed over, grabbed Edna and headed towards William, not caring about formalities in this moment of crisis.
When they got near William, Edna heard the casualty numbers. Over a hundred ordinary people had already died, and more than thirty Evolving persons had perished, mainly due to the zombie attacks at the third defense line.
William suddenly turned and asked Edna, "According to your timing, it should be about now, right?"
"Indeed," Edna confirmed.
"Then let's begin," William said.
Many people didn't understand their conversation, but they didn't ask. They then saw Edna close her eyes, spread her hands, and slightly tilt her head up.
The next moment, a faint, head-sized eye shadow appeared above her head. It was closed first, then opened slightly, emitting a gaze in the direction of the approaching zombie horde.
Edna was a Second Sight professional, and the skill she activated was called Super Vision, a visual ability that could open up long-distance sight and was not hindered by obstacles. Perhaps even Edna herself hadn't realized how good her profession was, but William knew. The subsequent professional skills of this profession were very powerful. While only one or two of these skills were combat-related, most were auxiliary, which might be useless for others but were invaluable for a scientist.
However, the cooldown time for any skill in this profession was quite long. The first Super Vision skill was no exception. After observing the armory occupied by the Demonic Monster, it had just now finished its cooldown.
The zombie horde had already started to slowly push the heavy trucks blocking their way to the sides of the road, gradually revealing the path to the manor's main gate.
Some peculiar zombies appeared in the horde—some very large, some very small, some brightly colored, and some oddly shaped. Each one was a dangerous killer.
"White, three hundred sixty-seven," Edna said.
Her voice was soft but clear enough for everyone to hear, making their hearts sink.
White represented level-two evolution, and under Super Vision, the exact number was calculated.
They had killed quite a few before, yet there were still over three hundred left?!
The only one mentally prepared for this number was William. He knew they were in the early stages of the evolution wave, and the number of level-two mutated creatures was increasing significantly. Having around four hundred level-two mutated beings in a horde of over twenty thousand zombies was already quite "merciful."
"Black, forty-two," Edna reported.
This time, even William was shocked.
Previously, they had only seen less than ten level-three mutated zombies and thought the number wouldn't exceed twenty. But now, there were forty-two!
The core members around him all looked grim.
"Green, one," Edna said, opening
her eyes and seeing everyone's pale faces.
A level-four zombie had appeared!
And it was hidden within the horde, unnoticed by any survivor. If not for Edna's Super Vision skill, they might not have seen this insidious level-four zombie until the most critical moment of the battle.
"I've seen your zombie catalog. I'm curious how you know so many types of zombies, but we can discuss that later. According to your catalog, this level-four zombie is a Throat Seizer," Edna informed.
Throat Seizer was a short mutated zombie with two long, whip-like tentacles growing from its head. These tentacles were extremely flexible and strong, constantly swirling above their heads during combat. When the opportunity came, they instantly wrapped around the enemy's neck, snapping it if the enemy was weak or causing suffocation if the enemy was stronger.
In addition to this ability, it had a powerful innate skill called "Gilded Form," which could turn its entire body golden, dramatically increasing its defense to an exaggerated level, almost reaching that of a fifth-level evolved creature.
Moreover, it might have other potential innate skills as it evolves further.
So, Throat Seizer was not only a level-four mutated zombie but also one of the most powerful among level-four zombies.
David remarked, "No wonder this horde could wander all the way from Accraville City to here. Their core strength is so formidable, centered around a level-four zombie!"
When the zombie horde appeared, he was very interested in it. Although he wasn't an expert in this field, he had collected information on it, and William shared useful insights with him. So, for now, he was the most knowledgeable about the horde. In the future, this position would be handed over to Edna.
"Nothing more to say, let's fight. I'll handle this level-four zombie. Follow my orders when the time comes," William said with a smile, patting the Edge of the Moon.
The battle erupted as the first zombie in the horde crossed the boundary line, quickly escalating into a fierce confrontation.
These zombies no longer sent ordinary zombies to charge but instead deployed level-two zombies with excellent defense as the vanguard. The stronger ones even threw agile level-two mutated zombies towards the defense line. Meanwhile, stones, scrap cars, and large trees became weapons for strength-type zombies like the Corpse Ape. Zombies with long-range abilities, such as the Thorn Demon, also launched attacks from a distance under the cover of other zombies.
The survivors completely abandoned any thoughts of conserving ammunition, creating a metal storm on the wide road in front of Cloud Peak Manor.
The level-two zombies charging at the front might not die from a few bullets, or even an entire magazine, but the firepower was now almost fully covering them. Each step these zombies took was met with dozens or hundreds of bullets, with occasional armor-piercing rounds fired by the core members of Cloud Peak Manor. Although not every shot hit the head, they still inflicted significant damage on these zombies.
Barely 30 feet into their charge, the foremost level-two zombies were torn to pieces in the hail of bullets.
A slight cheer erupted from the crowd, but it lasted only a second before the continued attack of other level-two zombies came.
These evolved level-two zombies, now possessing considerable intelligence, seemed to forget the fear of death, relentlessly charging towards the human defenses.
"If we keep fighting like this, we'll run out of bullets soon," Michelle said, frowning, her body jerking rhythmically with each armor-piercing round she fired.
This was a privilege for her, Jack, Candice, and William. Only they had the right to fire armor-piercing rounds, as their marksmanship was on a completely different level compared to the others.
"Don't worry about that now!" William shouted in response, taking down a Black Ape zombie with his sniper rifle. Although this creature was only 6 feet tall, its long, powerful arms had already thrown two large rocks and a level-two zombie into the defense line, causing significant casualties.
As its black head exploded in his scope, William quickly searched for his next target.
Meanwhile, the firepower on one side suddenly intensified. He glanced over and saw Sasha's warband arriving. The firepower of dozens of Evolving persons instantly pushed back the unprepared horde on that side, easing the pressure.
But William didn't feel relieved; instead, his face changed slightly. He saw Gemma struggling to carry Pill, who was immobile, towards him.
"What happened?!" William took Pill, trying to check for injuries. However, before he could do anything, and before Gemma could explain, a commotion erupted within the defense line.
William looked over and saw the horde suddenly parting to the sides. A robust level-three zombie appeared on the road. Its appearance was almost the same as ordinary human, except for the typical gray-white skin and blood-red eyes of a zombie. Only the Magic Crystal on its forehead identified it as a level-three zombie.
But such a zombie had no hands. Instead, two thick iron chains extended from each wrist, with the other ends of the chains attached to four blood-red level-two Skin-free Mutant Dogs!
