Shen Feng had the heads of the treemen chopped off and then transported to the road, loaded into trucks. The most important part was the plant heart, which Shen Feng placed in a metal box and had heavily guarded. Over seventy treemen had their tree nodes removed. Those that couldn't be opened for the time being were stored. As for the red gelatinous substance scattered on the ground, Shen Feng had people collect it and put it into metal barrels.
Shen Feng estimated that a chainsaw would be needed to open the tree nodes; hacking and chopping were still too inefficient.
What surprised Shen Feng the most was that Wang Yue Sheng and Guo Pin Ming were still alive, and Guo Pin Ming's survival was entirely thanks to Wang Yue Sheng!
It turned out that when Shen Feng started bombing the cave, Wang Yue Sheng had led the survivors to escape amidst the chaos. On the road, they encountered Guo Pin Ming, who was unconscious in his full armor. So, Wang Yue Sheng took Guo Pin Ming with him and hid in a cave. After the rocks collapsed, everyone was trapped in the cave, in a dilemma. Fortunately, Yang Chang later led people to search and rescue, and they found the survivors.
"City Lord, I'm sorry. I caused the deaths of our brothers. I didn't obey your orders. I am truly ashamed of you!" Guo Pin Ming cried out when he saw Shen Feng. He himself was not seriously injured, but he had led a thousand people into battle, and now, besides him, only a handful of people were still alive. He felt terrible about this, believing he had led his brothers to their doom.
Shen Feng also wanted to severely reprimand Guo Pin Ming, but many people were watching him. Therefore, Shen Feng could only comfort him, "We'll discuss other matters after you've recovered. There will be consequences for disobeying orders, but for now, we still need to rescue Rong City!"
Shen Feng wanted to punish Guo Pin Ming, but the current atmosphere did not permit it, especially with Wang Yue Sheng watching. Yu Ren Shu had already been poached, and if he and Guo Pin Ming fell out now, someone might take the opportunity to poach Guo Pin Ming, and Guo Pin Ming might even leave him in anger.
Afterward, Shen Feng saw people collecting the gelatinous substance on the ground in the distance and walked over. He picked up a piece of the substance and went to Guo Pin Ming, saying, "Here, open your mouth, I have something good for you to eat!"
At this moment, Shen Feng intended to use Guo Pin Ming as an experiment, which also served as a punishment. Guo Pin Ming was a second-tier ability user. Generally, it would take a hundred bottles of evolution potion for him to evolve successfully. Shen Feng did not have that many evolution potions to spare for his evolution, so Shen Feng wanted to test if this gelatinous substance could help evolutionaries below the third tier to evolve.
Seeing the red jelly in Shen Feng's hand, Guo Pin Ming opened his mouth without hesitation. He was filled with guilt towards Shen Feng, so even if Shen Feng fed him poison, he would have eaten it, considering it a form of atonement by death.
However, after consuming the gelatinous substance, Guo Pin Ming immediately fainted, and his body became hot, clearly indicating that he had entered a stage of evolution.
"As expected, these gelatinous substances are the key to evolution." Shen Feng became excited instantly. With so much of this substance in his hands, he could cultivate many evolutionaries. It seemed that the battle with the mutated plants this time was not a waste of time. He had found a new way to evolve.
"Liang Bing Wen, take your men and collect all the gelatinous substances, leaving none behind. After the war, I will make all of you evolutionaries!" Shen Feng said to Liang Bing Wen. Upon hearing this order, Liang Bing Wen immediately nodded in agreement and, with over a dozen men, armed with guns, stood guard by the trucks loaded with these supplies.
At this moment, Shen Feng used a satellite phone to contact headquarters, inquiring about the battle situation in Rong City and stating that they were ready to provide support at any time.
The headquarters' reply was simple: "The last three defense lines have not been breached yet, but after a night of rest, the zombies have resumed their attack."
Hearing this answer, Shen Feng felt relieved. As long as Rong City was not in immediate danger, it was enough. With their support, they could also seize the opportunity to attack the zombies.
...
Meanwhile, within Rong City, the atmosphere was tense. Everyone spent every minute in fear, as they constantly heard the sounds of gunfire and artillery from outside the city, worrying that the zombies would break through. If the zombies broke in, the five million people in Rong City would likely all perish without a burial place.
At this moment, He Li Ping and her daughter Shen Yu were at home, watching the news with concern. The television was broadcasting the battle outside the city. To boost the residents' confidence, the government allowed the television stations to broadcast the external battles. As long as there were no problems within the city, the defense lines outside would definitely not be broken. Three and a half million zombies had been attacking for an entire day, and not a single defense line had been breached yet!
In their eyes, the zombies outside the city were swarming like a tide, stretching as far as the eye could see. The soldiers were firing their rifles, their bodies covered in dust, many with bloodshot eyes. After prolonged combat, they were on the verge of mental collapse.
The soldiers were firing from behind cover, and the zombies could not get within fifty meters of the defense lines. As soon as the zombies entered a certain range, they would be shot dead. Even if some zombies used corpses as shields, bullets were not so weak; they would still kill these zombies after passing through the corpses. It could be said that as long as it wasn't a mutated zombie charging, the zombies could not approach the defense lines at all.
Inside the third defense line, there were many high towers, temporarily constructed. From small openings in these towers, machine gun barrels extended. The machine guns were also sweeping the zombies. Even tank-like zombies would be turned into a sieve of bullet holes in an instant when encountering machine guns. With a firing rate of hundreds of rounds per minute, no matter what kind of zombie it was, it couldn't withstand it. Even a dinosaur would have to flee in panic.
He Li Ping watched the scenes on television and said nervously, "The number of these zombies is just too large. What if they can't hold the defense line?"
Shen Yu, however, was not particularly worried. In her opinion, these zombies could not break through the defense line. She explained, "Mom, don't worry. These zombies can't charge over at all. As long as there's enough ammunition, the defense line cannot be broken."
He Li Ping felt a little more at ease. She didn't care about her daughter's analysis at the moment; she just wanted some concrete reassurance.
At this moment, He Li Ping thought of her husband and son fighting outside and felt very worried. The enemy was millions of zombies. Ordinary cities didn't have so many people. And now, this horde of millions of zombies seemed to have targeted Rong City, which was very dangerous.
At this moment, the scene on television shifted. A male reporter, wearing a helmet, was interviewing a soldier in his forties, asking, "Please tell us, how long can the defense line hold? The previous four defense lines were breached consecutively within three days. How long can the remaining three defense lines hold? Will the army use nuclear bombs to kill the zombies?"
The soldier said seriously, "Nuclear bombs are always the last resort. Once used, they can even affect Rong City, making areas within tens of kilometers uninhabitable. Therefore, nuclear bombs will not be used casually! As for the last three defense lines, we are confident that we can hold them forever! The previous defense lines were breached because mutated zombies learned to dig and attacked us from behind. Now, we are constantly monitoring underground movements, and the zombies cannot continue to dig tunnels!"
The reporter was satisfied with this answer and asked, "Then, how should the crisis in Rong City be resolved? How long will it take to resolve it?"
The soldier replied seriously, "The battle with zombies is different from all previous combat methods! Previous battles were about forcing the enemy to surrender, not necessarily annihilating them all. But now, there is only one way to deal with zombies: killing them. According to our estimates, the battle will last for more than a month. During this period, headquarters will continuously dispatch troops until the Zombie King is killed and the enemy's command capability is eliminated! At that time, it will be our victory!"
He Li Ping and Shen Yu had been watching television. After hearing the interview, they felt much more at ease. The city was now under martial law, and no one was allowed to go out freely. If food was needed, someone would deliver it to their door, but they were absolutely not allowed to leave their doorstep. Water and electricity were kept sufficient. This was to prevent anyone from causing trouble within the city, so martial law had to be implemented. After the war ended, movement would naturally not be restricted.
However, just then, shouts were heard from the streets and corridors, followed by a large crowd rushing into the streets, shouting as they ran everywhere: "The zombies are coming! The zombies are coming!"
Shen Yu, who was at home, heard the shouts and curiously walked to the window, muttering to herself, "The defense line hasn't even been breached yet, where would the zombies come from?"
He Li Ping casually replied, "It's probably some people in the city talking nonsense. Maybe someone wants to take advantage of the chaos to loot and is deliberately shouting to create confusion, which would facilitate looting."
However, Shen Yu looked out the window for a few moments and immediately became flustered because she actually saw many zombies appearing on the street. She quickly shouted, "Mom, there are really zombies rushing into the city! Come and see!"
He Li Ping was startled. She had felt confident just moments ago after watching the news, believing the zombies couldn't break through the defense line. But now, zombies had entered the city, how was that possible? She quickly walked to the window and looked out at the street. At this moment, she was astonished to see many small zombies appearing on the street. These were exactly the Type S zombies described in the news. Although small in stature, they were extremely fast.
Shen Yu also began to panic. With so many mutated zombies on the street, there was no way to deal with them, and there were no soldiers to protect the residents. The soldiers were all on the front lines and couldn't return, so for now, they could only protect themselves.
"Crash..." Shen Yu quickly pulled the curtains shut and turned off the television, then said to her mother, "Let's hide quickly and don't make a sound! We can only protect ourselves now!"
After speaking, Shen Yu found two kitchen knives in the kitchen, handed one to her mother, and held one herself. Both of them were evolutionaries with better physical fitness, but they had no combat experience before. Therefore, at this moment, Shen Yu and her mother could only hide and prepare to act when an opportunity arose.
He Li Ping and Shen Yu hid in the bedroom, both holding kitchen knives. If they heard any unusual sounds from outside, they would act immediately.
At this time, the news of zombies appearing in the city quickly reached the command center. General Wei's face changed drastically when he heard this news. He asked incredulously, "How is this possible? All the defense lines are holding, and there are no signs of a breach. How can there be zombies in the city?"
The analyst thought carefully for a moment and learned from the report the location where the zombies appeared, and then realized with a sudden enlightenment, "These zombies must have entered the city through the original sewage pipes of Rong City. Other than that, these zombies cannot have entered Rong City!"
General Wei took a deep breath and then shouted, "I don't care how these zombies appeared. The most important thing now is to kill the zombies in the city! We cannot let these zombies hinder the soldiers fighting outside the city. Also, quickly contact Shen Feng and tell them to come and support as quickly as possible. We must relieve the pressure on Rong City!"
Now, the battle situation had suddenly reversed. Many zombies emerged from the sewers, immediately disrupting order within Rong City. Countless people were fleeing in all directions due to the appearance of the zombies. The streets were filled with people running away. In their eyes, the city was now full of zombies, and they only wanted to find a safe place to hide. So, they headed wherever there were no zombies. However, the city's sewage system was very developed, so zombies could appear from anywhere!
Under these circumstances, five young people entered the command room. They were the key talents cultivated by the Ability Administration, and they were now third-tier evolutionaries. They could no longer sit idle and stepped forward. They also undertook missions in their daily lives, but these missions were simple, either as bodyguards or to gather information, and they had never been able to fully utilize their abilities. Now that Rong City was in crisis, it was the perfect opportunity to show their prowess!
The leading young man said sternly, "General Wei, the situation is dangerous now. We cannot stand idly by. Please allow us to go and fight."
The timing chosen by the Ability Administration personnel was excellent. It was precisely a time of crisis and survival. If they didn't go to the battlefield now, it would be truly inexcusable.
General Wei looked at the five people and finally nodded, saying, "Alright, the five of you will act with the guard team. Your mission is to kill all the zombies that appear in the city, and you must prevent the chaos from escalating!"