Pang Ke sighed with emotion.

"Observe those soldiers, did you notice that each of them has different combat roles?" Yin Yinan pointed at the soldiers below and said, "That melee soldier was injured, but the one who rescued him wasn’t the nearest soldier; it was the one with the rifle at the back, who must be their medic."

"That’s not right. That one is clearly the commander, so why did he rush to the front with two pistols?"

Old Yang pointed at Lu Xiao, who was venturing deep into enemy lines with dual pistols.

"Because he is fulfilling both command and firepower roles."

A woman with cat ears and golden eyes suddenly hung upside down from a window, her feet touching the upper edge of the window frame, "Make way, please."

Li Xinlong and the others saw the gray-green coat on her and didn’t attack rashly, just took a cautious step back.

The mongoose’s ears twitched slightly, she turned to look at a woman approaching from the other side of the corridor, then flipped and jumped down, a furry tail retracting under the coat as her eyebrows relaxed, "Long time no see, Sister Rong!"

’So she was hanging by her tail.’

The thought occurred to Li Xinlong and the others in unison.

Jiang Rong’s face showed a gentle smile of reunion after a long time, "The cat has become quite impressive."

Faced with the praise, the mongoose maintained a composed expression, clapping her hands, "Just a tiny, insignificant progress, still far from becoming a general."

But the wagging tail under her coat betrayed her exhilarated mood.

Jiang Rong smiled but didn’t expose her.

The mongoose’s golden eyes swept the crowd and finally settled on Li Xinlong’s face, with a hint of curiosity, "Sister Rong, this is your son? What’s it like having such a grown son?"

Jiang Rong realized she couldn’t keep it hidden any longer, reluctantly introducing, "Yes, Long Long, this is my former colleague... Mongoose."

Li Xinlong’s mouth twitched, and he reluctantly called out, "Aunt Mongoose..."

The surrounding people had peculiar expressions, their eyes moving between the three.

To ease his good brother’s embarrassment, Pang Ke called out cheerfully, "Hello, Aunt Mongoose!"

Master Rong and Pang Ke both called her that, so regardless of their age, the underlings had no choice but to echo with a "Hello, Aunt Mongoose."

The embarrassed mongoose’s tail bristled, suppressing her reflexive response, awkwardly saying, "No, no, no, let’s all stick to our own terms!"

"Reunion time is over, Mongoose."

Qu Hang’s calm voice suddenly echoed in everyone’s ears, followed by the metallic sound of a gun being cocked, and with a bang, the head of a Tier Two Night Demon outside exploded.

The mongoose’s pupils narrowed, "Yes!"

She turned her head and flipped down, leaving Jiang Rong wanting to say more but stopping herself.

But soon everyone’s attention was drawn to an off-road vehicle, which disregarded the surrounding tide of corpses, cutting diagonally across the battlefield straight towards the hotel’s location, with fierce and menacing armored vehicles escorting it from the sides, forcefully carving a bloody path.

The off-road vehicle rolled over the half-dead piles of corpses, driving up to the height of the hotel’s second floor.

The car door opened, and a leg wrapped in black silk left everyone stunned.

A figure starkly contrasting with the grisly battlefield emerged from the vehicle, her sharply tailored business suit skirt draping along her waistline, with a rear slit no wider than three fingers on her knee-length pencil skirt, holding a tactical tablet and carrying a stack of documents under her arm, her calm eyes searching each window of the hotel.

It was as if the mountain of corpses beneath her feet was not a pile of zombies, but the shining floors of an office building!

This incongruous scene left everyone bewildered.

As if she found her target, the woman leapt directly up to the floor where Li Xinlong and the others were, bounding several times to stand on the windowsill just where the mongoose had stepped, only now stepping on a different height.

"Secretary Shu..."

Jiang Rong felt anxious, as Shu Wei frequently relayed the train conductor’s orders, so to some extent, her presence represented the conductor.

Shu Wei’s icy expression softened slightly when looking at Jiang Rong, as she jumped off the windowsill, the faint scent of pine and bitter orange even masking the stench of corpses below.

"The train is still on its way, we came as soon as we got the message. Hopefully, it’s in time."

Jiang Rong nodded gratefully, then hesitantly asked, "What did the conductor say?"

Shu Wei’s gaze was calm as she recited, "Her military rank is one I assigned, Captain."

A phrase so succinct it almost concealed any emotion, paired with the battlefield’s booming artillery below, carried an oppressive force that was stiflingly strong.

Though merely reciting, Jiang Rong seemed to see the conductor sitting opposite her, ridge of her nose carved like a blade, eyes fierce and stern.

No need for shouts or emotions, as the sound of flesh being ripped apart by steel served as the best emphasis.

Shu Wei glanced at the time on her tablet, turned to gaze at the man biting a cigar on the Iron Wall, and said calmly, "According to train detections, there’s a larger Pan Energy fluctuation at Zhijin City’s center. The train will arrive in half an hour."

"And the orders?"

He Jie’s voice seemed to be right beside them.

"Once the support is successful, seal off the battlefield and reap Zhijin, whether it’s the Four Big Clans or zombies, not one will be spared."

Upon hearing this command, Li Xinlong and the others gasped.

Such arrogance!

Such dominance!

It’s simply... yet when placed on the conductor who dared to halt the Four Big Clans’ deal, it seemed fitting.

"Not one will be spared?"

He Jie looked at the circle he had drawn around Chenxi Square, realizing his scope was a bit small, suddenly grinning viciously, "If there’s still one left breathing in this circle in fifteen minutes, I’ll give you extra training myself, got it!"

Mountain Goat, who had been leisurely observing the battlefield, upon hearing this roar, pulled out a gun and charged out with bloodshot eyes.

Even if there were tens of thousands of zombies, they’d clench their butt cheeks and kill them all!

...

On the other side, the armed train was struggling with a turtle-like speed, still slowly crawling towards the outskirts of Zhijin City.

News of the zombie tide’s outbreak had spread, but nearly two hundred thousand Scavengers had gathered at Zhijin’s outskirts, not something that could be evacuated at a moment’s notice.

Moreover, everyone had different pieces of information, and with Black Kite sowing discord, the news became chaotic as it spread.

Before they could make a decision, the surging tide of corpses had them screaming to the heavens.

Their equipment wasn’t even on par with the Four Big Clans’, with many carrying makeshift melee weapons to make a living in Zhijin City, hoping to pick up scraps behind the Four Big Clans. But before they could gather any, they heard the Four Big Clans had fallen, and they had to feed the zombies before even having a meal.

With major forces like Jinfeng Peak, Black Star, and Tiejian City bearing the brunt, at the first confrontation, these smaller forces and Scavengers lost tens of thousands of people.

The most unfortunate were the survivors already living in the Weinan District.

Existing in a city thickly populated with zombies was already difficult, and now the tide of corpses driven by Black Kite forced them out.

For example, those hiding in the universities within the Weinan District or entrenched in Tiejian City found themselves fleeing from the zombie tide, with Scavengers cursing the Four Big Clans while running, and the Four Big Clans cursing Black Kite.

Some stubbornly believed in their hiding skills and stayed put, only to be dug out by High-tier Zombies.

Six months later, the entire Zhijin turned into Purgatory again, making everyone feel as if they’ve returned to the first day of the apocalypse.

Natural disasters and human-made catastrophes played out one after another in tragic cycles.

The sturdy men ran at the front, with kids crying as they ran behind, while the soft-hearted women, turning back just once, got pushed into the zombie tide by children.

In a collapsing era, it’s not the weakest who are eliminated first, but those with the most blood, the most compassion, and the most emotion.

Scarlet blood was tinged with a golden-orange glow by the setting sun, with the cacophony of fleeing cries providing the most vivid music to this scene, even giving desperation a palpable texture.

"Would such a beautiful sunset paired with such a tragic escape dilute the terror or deepen the despair?"

A giant iron beast breathing in the stench of blood advanced stably against the human tide towards the city bathed in the sunset’s golden glow, with a figure draped in intertwined gold and silver light suddenly asking.