As Fang Hui recoiled in fear, Qin Shilei had already reached the rear of their team.
He looked down to see two to three hundred zombies chasing the tail end of Fang Hui's group.
However, it was only two to three hundred zombies; there were no more numerous zombies behind them.
It was a case of being spooked by a shadow.
These zombies were likely just a pack from nearby, attracted by Fang Hui and his group, and had followed them.
Qin Shilei continued to fly forward, discovering that the main zombie horde was still further away and would not reach Luyang Bridge for at least an hour.
An hour was enough time for the legions that had fled Heshan District to return.
Once they crossed the Chi Yuan River, they would be in a position to advance or retreat.
When Qin Shilei returned to the team, the 007 and 018 Corps had already passed through Luyang Bridge and returned to Heshan District.
Qin Shilei instructed the corps members to return home, while he himself flew to other districts of Nanzhuang City.
This time, he planned to thoroughly investigate the specific situation of the zombies.
Xiao Qiang, flying high in the sky, occasionally caused some commotion among the zombies below.
The zombies looked up, waved their claws a few times, but were utterly powerless against the fleeting Xiao Qiang and Qin Shilei.
During this time, Qin Shilei also encountered armed helicopters that were out on patrol.
Upon spotting the massive Xiao Qiang, they were so frightened that they immediately turned and flew away.
Qin Shilei muttered, "They have poor eyesight. Can't they see me?"
Just as he was about to turn and fly elsewhere, he suddenly noticed an armed helicopter being swarmed by a flock of small birds.
It was unclear if the armed helicopter had fired first, enraging the flock of birds.
The astonishingly fast birds launched a suicidal attack on the helicopter.
They repeatedly and swiftly crashed into the aircraft.
The helicopter frantically ascended while simultaneously activating its machine guns, firing wildly at the birds.
"Not good, Xiao Qiang, let's go quickly."
Qin Shilei suddenly saw the armed helicopter shake, then emit a plume of thick smoke.
By the time he reached within a hundred meters of the helicopter, it could no longer hold on, and with a fiery glow, it plummeted to the ground.
"Boom!"
With an explosion, the helicopter, already shattered into pieces, was engulfed in flames.
It was likely that the soldiers inside were either killed by the explosion or burned to death.
No wonder there had been no armed helicopters patrolling this area recently, checking on the zombie situation.
It seemed the sky was not much safer than the ground.
Once something went wrong, the fate was utter annihilation.
At this moment, the flock of birds also noticed Qin Shilei and Xiao Qiang.
"Screech!"
After a cry, Xiao Qiang actively flew towards the flock of birds.
"Chirp chirp."
The birds chirped in panic, then scattered and fled.
Qin Shilei and Xiao Qiang, man and eagle, chased the flock of birds for over ten kilometers, bringing down about eighty percent of them, before continuing to investigate the zombie movements.
After more than two hours, he finally had a clear picture of the majority of the zombie situation.
The situation was dire!
Most of the zombies in Nanzhuang City had been summoned by the zombie king, who was hidden somewhere, and were rapidly heading towards Heshan District.
Nanzhuang City, as the provincial capital of Laishan Province, had a population of over six million before the apocalypse.
With the arrival of the apocalypse, about seventy percent of the population had turned into zombies, which amounted to over four million.
The zombies in Heshan District had been eliminated, so there were currently about three million zombies in Nanzhuang City.
This number was almost double the number of zombies surrounding Ning'an City.
Of course, those zombies were currently being held back on the other side of the Chi Yuan River.
As long as the few bridges over the Chi Yuan River were secured, the zombies could largely be defended against.
At the very least, if those bridges were destroyed, ninety-nine percent of the zombies would be unable to cross the Chi Yuan River and threaten the humans on this side.
Returning to Villa Number Five, Qin Shilei detailed the zombie situation.
"That's the general situation. Does anyone have any suggestions?"
An Qian was the first to voice her opinion, "I think there's no need to rush to retreat for now, as we still have the Chi Yuan River to help with defense."
Zhang Qiang added, "An Qian is right, but just in case, we should still find an escape route."
Mu Ziping also chimed in, "Commander, the current situation is completely different from when you were in Anning City."
"Our military has over a hundred thousand people, and your four major civilian legions have nearly two hundred thousand.
"Compared to the over three million zombies in Nanzhuang City, our numbers are indeed at a disadvantage. However, as Commander An said, we have an absolute geographical advantage."
"Furthermore, we are in a position to advance or retreat, so there's no need to worry about retreating."
Qin Shilei glanced at Mu Ziping and said with a smile, "Deputy Commander Mu, you don't need to try so hard to persuade us. We haven't said we're leaving yet."
Mu Ziping chuckled sheepishly.
He genuinely did not want Qin Shilei and his group to leave Nanzhuang City.
Through his observations over the past few days, he had greatly elevated his assessment of Qin Shilei and his group.
Qin Shilei was an incredibly powerful man capable of directly confronting a Tyrant.
Mu Ziping had also seen elite soldiers in action before.
Although elite soldiers were at the Black Iron level, they were not necessarily stronger than Qin Shilei.
Not only that, but An Qian, Zhang Qiang, and even Zhang Xiaoli were excessively strong.
Such a group of incredibly powerful individuals would be an indispensable asset for defense and even for retaking Nanzhuang City if they could remain.
This was why Mu Ziping desperately wanted Qin Shilei and his group to stay.
He had even reported this situation to the military, hoping they could recruit Qin Shilei and his group.
Qin Shilei ignored Mu Ziping's ulterior motives and continued discussing the zombie counterattack with An Qian and the others.
Ultimately, they decided to stay in Nanzhuang City for the time being but also to identify one or even several escape routes.
If the situation became untenable, they would retreat promptly.
After making the final decision, Qin Shilei turned to Mu Ziping and said, "Deputy Commander Mu, regarding this zombie counteroffensive, I hope to receive the military's latest and most authentic decisions."
"Can you manage that?"
Mu Ziping said solemnly, "I will do my best. I am also a member of the 007 Corps."
Not long after.
The sound of artillery fire echoed from the direction of Luyang Bridge.
The war had officially begun.
Qin Shilei mounted Xiao Qiang and flew towards Luyang Bridge.
He saw dense crowds of zombies fearlessly charging onto the bridge below.
On the bridge, machine guns and rocket launchers were continuously firing.
Soon, not far from the bridgehead, a zombie corpse wall three to four meters high had accumulated.
These were all ordinary zombies; no mutated zombies had been spotted yet.
Under the furious barrage at the bridgehead, the zombies could not even set foot on Luyang Bridge.
Soon, the machine guns at the bridgehead became red-hot and fell silent due to excessive firing.
The zombies took advantage of the lull, advancing a meter, only to be repelled by another wave of machine guns and artillery fire.
When this batch of machine guns also fell silent, dozens of incredibly fast mutated zombies suddenly rushed out from behind the horde.