The four zombies had already approached the tank, but the machine gunner on the tank seemed oblivious, not firing at them.
The tank had also stopped, its turret rotating in place.
"Not good, this must be a psychic-type mutated zombie with control skills. The soldier inside the tank has likely been controlled by them."
Qin Shi Lei instantly understood the mutated zombies' plan.
They intended to control the four tanks at the front, forcing them to attack the eight tanks behind.
If they succeeded, humanity would not only lose these twelve tanks but also have their hard-won breakthrough tunnel recaptured by the zombie-controlled tanks, posing a greater threat to the humans behind.
There wasn't enough time to use arrows. With a thought, Qin Shi Lei took out a rocket launcher.
He fired a rocket into the open space between two of the tanks.
Without waiting for the rocket launcher to reload automatically, he took out one of the two remaining rockets from his spatial ring, loaded it, and fired another rocket into the space between the other two tanks.
"Boom, boom!"
Two rockets exploded in succession, creating two large craters on the asphalt road beside the tanks.
The four mutated zombies, though not killed, were disoriented and suffered over a dozen wounds oozing viscous blood.
This also broke their control over the soldiers inside the tanks.
"Strike while the iron is hot."
Qin Shi Lei drew his short bow again, unleashing a volley of arrows that enveloped the mutated zombies.
Having advanced to the Black Iron realm, his archery speed had increased to eight arrows per second.
"Boss, should we loot the mobs?"
Cun Tou asked Tang Hao Tian, drawing a pistol from his ring and aiming it at the mutated zombies.
"We are killing zombies to help everyone break through, so how can that be called 'looting mobs'?"
Tang Hao Tian's expression turned serious as he replied.
Upon hearing this, the elites from Tian Qi Zhi Jia all drew their ranged weapons and began attacking while charging towards the mutated zombies.
Meanwhile, Qin Shi Lei had already shot and killed two of the dazed mutated zombies and was now firing at the third.
Seeing that the situation was dire, the remaining two mutated zombies turned and fled into the distance.
However, before they could run ten meters, one of them stumbled and fell to the ground with a thud, unable to move again.
Qin Shi Lei bent down, preparing to collect the bodies of the two mutated zombies near the tanks and their bronze treasure chests into his spatial ring.
"Where do you think you're going?" Tang Hao Tian, accompanied by a gust of wind, flashed past Qin Shi Lei and instantly arrived beside the third mutated zombie that had just been shot. He bent down, preparing to pick up the bronze treasure chest.
"Whoosh!" The sound of an arrow whistling through the air suddenly came from behind him.
Tang Hao Tian had no choice but to stand up and deflect the rapidly approaching arrow with a spinning slash of his sword.
"How dare you shoot at our master!"
"Kill him!"
"Put down our treasure chest!"
As Qin Shi Lei bent over and swiftly took the body and bronze treasure chest of the third mutated zombie, shouts of anger erupted from the members of Tian Qi Zhi Jia behind him.
The rocket launcher reappeared in Qin Shi Lei's hand, and he turned, aiming it at the group of Tian Qi Zhi Jia elites.
If it weren't for the need to save face for the powerful figures in the army behind them, he would have blasted them with a rocket.
Being targeted by a rocket launcher, the elites' hair stood on end, and they forcefully stopped their charge.
"Put down the rocket launcher, or the moment you pull the trigger will be the moment you die," Tang Hao Tian said coldly, his eyes filled with killing intent.
He was now less than three meters from Qin Shi Lei and didn't believe the archer could dodge his sword at such close range.
Qin Shi Lei smiled faintly and replied, "Why don't we try?"
"Two masters, could you please move aside? The zombies are coming."
Just then, a soldier emerged from a nearby tank and shouted loudly to Qin Shi Lei and the others.
Qin Shi Lei nodded to the soldier, stepped back, and drifted towards the rear.
"Give us back our mutated zombies."
"Shameless bandits, stealing our spoils of war."
"We'll fight him!"
The angry shouts of the Tian Qi Zhi Jia members continued to echo from behind.
Qin Shi Lei ignored the voices behind him and leaped onto the roof of a bulldozer.
The view from here was wide, allowing him to react promptly to any unexpected situations. The only drawbacks were the noise and the bumpy ride.
The tanks continued their charge forward. The bulldozer briefly repaired the craters caused by the rockets and then began pushing zombies.
As for the last mutated zombie that had escaped, it never reappeared. However, the zombie horde ahead became more frenzied and organized, slowing the tanks' progress.
There were occasional casualties among the soldiers on both flanks.
Two elites from Tian Qi Zhi Jia also died.
Perhaps due to the death of their teammates, they directed their resentment towards Qin Shi Lei, frequently casting hostile glances at him on top of the bulldozer.
Suddenly, Qin Shi Lei felt a chill spread from his tailbone to the back of his head.
A bullet flew from a distance, rapidly approaching his head.
With an almost telepathic instinct, Qin Shi Lei slightly turned his head, narrowly avoiding a fatal shot.
He pushed off with his foot, leaping from the bulldozer's roof and quickly firing an arrow in mid-air.
"Ah!" A Tian Qi Zhi Jia elite, holding a rifle, let out a scream in the distance and fell to the ground, clutching an arrow lodged in his chest, filled with unwillingness.
"Bastard, how dare you kill our people!"
"Kill him!"
"Everyone, use your guns!"
The members of Tian Qi Zhi Jia drew their firearms if they had them, while those who didn't moved in a zig-zag pattern, closing in on Qin Shi Lei.
"Shoom, shoom, shoom."
Qin Shi Lei fired eight arrows in a second, killing eight individuals who had already drawn their firearms, then dodged to the other side of the bulldozer.
"Da da da!"
A military officer, accompanied by dozens of soldiers, fired warning shots into the sky from not far away. "Stop! Anyone who moves again will be shot."
Faced with rows of dark muzzles, the Tian Qi Zhi Jia elites were forced to halt.
Looking back, they saw that eight of their teammates had been shot and killed in the past moment.
Panic set in immediately, and they were thankful they weren't the unlucky ones targeted.
What good were zig-zag movements or coordinated rifle fire? In the face of such a divine archer, all of it was useless.
The only chance was to sneak up on him before he noticed.
"Tian Qi Zhi Jia members, fall back to within five hundred meters of the tunnel entrance and assist in the defense."
The officer, pointing his gun at the Tian Qi Zhi Jia members, gave the order.
"Good, very good."
Tang Hao Tian's eyes blazed as he glared at the officer and said coldly, "You are protecting a murderer who killed nine of our people. I hope you don't stray far from the main force."
Qin Shi Lei emerged from behind the bulldozer and chuckled, "He saved your lives, yet you still wrongly accuse an officer. It's like a dog biting Lu Dongbin, unappreciative of kindness."
Seeing Tang Hao Tian about to rush towards Qin Shi Lei again, the officer shouted, "Stop!"
He paused, then added, "My eyes aren't blind. I saw clearly that your people fired at him first."
"Want to try? I bet you can't reach me," Qin Shi Lei said, his bow drawn and aimed at Tang Hao Tian.