The jackals circled around the building, with Li Yu staring intently at the surroundings.

The helicopter’s noise was loud, the whirring sound made one’s teeth ache.

After circling once, there was still no discovery.

Seeing this, Li Yu was just about to instruct the jackals to maneuver the helicopter away and return to Big Camphor Tree Base.

Suddenly, Li Yu seemed to remember something and shouted to the jackals, "Wait, fly back to the previous position."

Hearing this, the jackals promptly turned the helicopter around, returning to the airspace where they had just taken off.

Thud!

The door that had previously been closed by Dapao seemed to have been slammed open by some force, the iron door fell to the ground.

Immediately after, from the door emerged a burly, muscular zombie.

The zombie did not look much different from ordinary zombies, except for its larger size.

Roar!

The zombie growled, charging directly towards Li Yu and the others.

Everyone in the helicopter was aghast at the sight.

"What kind of zombie is this, with such great strength," Dapao said incredulously, staring at the fallen door.

At this moment he understood why Li Yu asked him that question earlier.

Woosh woosh—

The helicopter was lifted ten-plus meters higher by the jackals.

The zombie ran at an ordinary speed, but its power was unusually great, it ran beneath the helicopter and roared with force, seemingly very discontent.

"Has this zombie mutated?" Li Tie, sitting beside Li Yu, spoke up.

Li Yu was silent for a moment, feeling somewhat heavy-hearted, not answering Li Tie’s question.

Having witnessed the zombie slam open the iron door, Li Tie’s query already had an answer in his mind.

Li Yu scrutinized the zombie, aside from the overwhelming power displayed while breaking the door, it didn’t seem particularly distinctive otherwise.

Its running speed was ordinary.

It appears this was just a mutated zombie with enhanced strength.

Confirming his suspicion, Li Yu raised the gun in his hand and aimed at the zombie’s head.

Bang!

The gunshot rang out, and the bullet went straight into the zombie’s skull.

Thud!

As the zombie fell, other zombies around surged forward to feast on it.

Seeing this, Li Yu breathed a slight sigh of relief.

"Uncle Jackal, let’s head back to Big Camphor Tree Base," Li Yu shouted to the jackals.

The Jackal didn’t waste words, immediately maneuvering the helicopter upward and flying toward Big Camphor Tree Base.

Sitting in the helicopter, everyone felt a complex mix of emotions.

Though the zombie was quickly dispatched by Li Yu with a bullet, the sight of it brought an uneasy sense of foreboding.

Li Yu was equally surprised, in his previous life, he first encountered such mutated zombies three years after the apocalypse erupted.

Upon reflection, it made sense; in his past life, he always stayed hidden in secluded spots, never venturing out as long as he had food.

Now, visiting more places, encountering more zombies naturally increased the likelihood of discovering mutated ones.

Calculating time, the apocalypse had been ongoing for over two years, nearly three now.

These zombies, at the beginning, saw rapid virus transmission, humans transforming into zombies at swift speeds.

But what followed was these zombies beginning to adapt more quickly to the current world than humans.

These zombies inherently don’t fear water, even enjoy it, during heavy rain their agility and sense greatly improve.

Note that the previous year, during blizzards these zombies would freeze into ice.

Yet, last year saw prolonged high temperatures, mutating the skin of zombies to white, surviving under extreme heat.

Even in the following cold weather, they remained unafraid by storms, traversing icy snowy environments freely.

Discovering a zombie with mutated strength now wasn’t a good omen.

After they left, similarly in this city, atop a building in the west.

Ai Shan stared at the distant helicopter, lost in thoughts, shivered slightly as something came to mind.

He immediately ran back into the room, "Brother Lu Feng..."

...

However, Li Yu and the others did not notice them.

Flying in the air, a feeling of insecurity lingered.

As the sun set in the west, Li Yu squinted, lost in thought.

The journey was silent.

An hour later.

The sun had already set, leaving only dusk’s glow coloring the sky.

After the sun’s descent, the visibility was still manageable.

But within half an hour, darkness would soon engulf.

Fortunately, they had reached Xin City, merely ten minutes from Big Camphor Tree Base.

Upon arriving in Xin City, Li Yu felt an inexplicable sense of closeness.

A few minutes later, Li Yu believed the radio communication distance should be reachable.

So he took out the radio and contacted Second Uncle’s group.

Second Uncle didn’t reply immediately, rather it was Uncle who responded to Li Yu’s message.

Excitedly, Uncle inquired, "Xiao Yu, where are you now? There’s a lot of noise there, can you close the car window?"

Li Yu covered the microphone, succinctly explaining.

"Uncle, we found a helicopter over there, we’re flying back now, we’ll arrive in about six minutes, please notify everyone so there’s no friendly fire."