Defending the city wall at Auto City with a small number of zombies is feasible.
However, against a sprawling horde of zombies, this defense is negligible.
It could at best delay the horde for ten seconds.
Zhang Chen checked the map.
Jiangbei District is the old city, with a complex, interconnected network of roads like a grid.
Although the roads are narrower and the buildings lower and older than in Jiangnan,
there are many small alleys and streets, densely packed.
It is difficult to completely block the zombie horde at any single point.
The abundance of small paths means that even if major intersections are blocked,
zombies can still bypass defenses and appear behind the front lines through other routes.
Zhang Chen reviewed the map of Jiangbei several times.
He simply couldn't find a suitable defensive location.
Since Jiangbei could not be defended...
The battlefield had to be shifted to the Jiangnan District!
Originally, there were four cross-river bridges connecting Jiangbei and Jiangnan.
Now, two are gone, leaving two.
The Glorious Bridge and Yongyu Bridge.
The Glorious Bridge is a new bridge, with a wide, ten-lane dual carriageway.
Below it, there are also railway tracks for trains.
Defending here would require blocking both the bridge above and the tracks below.
It is too difficult.
Relatively speaking, the narrower Yongyu Bridge is the optimal defensive location!
Zombies fear water and will only charge across the bridge.
The narrow road ensures that the number of charging zombies is relatively small.
A few automatic sentry turrets would be sufficient for excellent defense.
Furthermore, the northern end of the Yongyu Bridge is a scenic area with wide visibility,
suitable for mechs to engage in combat.
The streets north of the scenic area connect to narrower alleys.
Placing traps here would yield twice the results with half the effort!
This is practically a natural, ideal defensive point!
As long as the Glorious Bridge is blown up,
Yongyu Bridge will become the zombies' only passage!
Zhang Chen designated the scenic area as the main battlefield.
Mechs would engage in direct combat with the zombies here.
Automatic sentry turrets would be placed at the other end of Yongyu Bridge.
This is to prevent zombies from crossing the bridge if the mechs are cornered.
The reason Zhang Chen did not want any zombies to escape
was not out of consideration for protecting the survivors in Jiangnan.
He didn't consider himself that great.
Nor did he have the ability, nor the obligation!
It is the apocalypse now; even without a horde, zombies are everywhere.
Survivors die in battles with zombies every day.
Combat survival is a necessary skill for survivors.
Those lacking ability and not striving to improve are bound to be eliminated by the environment.
It is merely the law of the jungle!
Zhang Chen's reason for doing this was to devour this entire chunk of prime meat himself!
Not wanting to waste a single bit!
If thousands of zombies managed to escape...
That would be thousands of crystal cores!
The thought alone was agonizing!
Begin setting up traps!
The scenic area is the mechs' main battlefield, so no traps will be placed there for now.
To avoid friendly fire!
The focus of the traps will be entirely on the crisscrossing alleyways.
Oil drums, empty water cooler barrels, large plastic bottles.
All available empty containers were filled with gasoline from the gas station.
Then, he began checking the fuel tanks of cars one by one.
With Zhang Chen's current strength, opening a fuel tank does not require unlocking the car door first and then opening the fuel tank.
He could directly slash with his Tang blade, tear open the sheet metal with his hand, and unscrew the fuel tank cap.
Simple and brutal, but efficient!
These gasoline-filled cars are like small firebombs!
Zhang Chen placed the cars in the middle of the road, one every twenty meters.
Then, he installed [Laser Tripwire Mines] on the fuel tanks!
Between two cars, he placed a bucket or large bottle filled with gasoline.
Afterwards, he drove his SUV back to the gas station near Tianyang University.
He summoned his armed mechs, stored the SUV in his ring,
and then used the armed mechs to transport a nearby fuel tanker filled with gasoline to the north of Yongyu Bridge.
He placed the fuel tanker on top of a building overlooking Yongyu Bridge.
Next, Zhang Chen went to the rooftop of another building far from the battlefield.
The buildings near Yongyu Bridge were mostly around ten stories high.
This building was of similar height.
It would serve as a reference for an experiment!
Zhang Chen took out a [Fragmentation Grenade], pulled the pin, and threw it down.
1...
2...
3...
4...
5...
When he counted to five seconds, the grenade exploded.
It blew a large pit in the asphalt road, and debris struck nearby cars,
triggering a series of piercing alarm sounds.
Groan...
Ugh...
The surrounding groups of zombies were attracted by the deafening sound and charged forward frantically.
There were over twenty of them.
They were banging frantically on the car windows.
Zhang Chen took out another [Fragmentation Grenade] and activated his energy armor simultaneously.
He pulled the pin!
1...
2...
3...
He released it!
The grenade began to fall.
Just as it was about to reach the heads of the zombies,
it exploded with a boom!
It directly blew apart the heads of two zombies nearby.
Countless sharp metal fragments shot out in all directions!
Whoosh!
Five more zombies nearby had their heads struck by fragments and fell instantly.
They all dissolved into a cloud of white mist and dissipated into the air.
Ding! Congratulations, you automatically collected [Energy Crystal Core] * 4 + 3 (80% talent bonus), [Mutated Fertilizer] * 22...
Hmm, if I throw the grenade down after the third second,
the explosion will be timed perfectly!
Buzz! Buzz!
Zhang Chen's watch vibrated.
It was lunchtime!
Zhang Chen simply sat down on the rooftop.
He dangled his legs outside the building.
Feeling the breeze and looking at the river view, he felt an indescribable sense of contentment.
The view here was truly expansive, no wonder many people in peacetime liked to buy river-view apartments.
Now, there were houses everywhere, but sadly, not many people lived in them!
Zhang Chen muttered to himself, filled with emotion.
He took out a box of self-heating rice from his spatial ring.
He also took out two pieces of steaming pan-fried beef and began eating heartily.
So delicious!
In peacetime, he used to enjoy watching dramas, short videos, or novels while eating.
But now it was the apocalypse, and he didn't have those conditions.
So, Zhang Chen developed the habit of checking the regional chat channel.
Watching people chat there made him feel less alone.
He felt that the apocalypse wasn't that despairing.
He opened the chat channel.
There was not a single message, just a dead silence.
It was frighteningly quiet.
Zhang Chen then remembered that he was currently in Jiangbei.
Perhaps...
He should return to Jiangnan to eat!
Zhang Chen put away the self-heating rice and pan-fried beef he had only half eaten.
He wiped his mouth with a tissue.
He casually threw the trash onto the rooftop.
He walked to the back of the building, into an alley with no zombies, and leaped down.
A height of ten stories was manageable for Zhang Chen now.
Whoosh!
He landed steadily.
A huge gust of air stirred up the fallen leaves on the ground.
They danced in the air for a while before slowly settling down.
Then, he drove his car across Yongyu Bridge and returned to Jiangnan District.