As Qin Shilei and his group reached the city wall, they found the area outside the city gate packed with people.
A dense crowd, at least tens of thousands strong.
Gazing into the distance, they saw even more zombies hurtling towards them from afar.
The zombies at the front had already caught up to the people fleeing, and were now engaged in a chaotic battle.
"Lord Qin, please open the gates and let us in."
The people outside the city, seeing Qin Shilei appear on the wall, pleaded with him.
Zhang Qiang frowned and said, "City Lord, if we open the gates now, the pursuing zombies might charge into the city, and the consequences are unpredictable."
Qin Shilei's hesitation to immediately order the gates opened was precisely for this reason.
Kong Zhendong, standing nearby, anxiously said, "Lord Qin, please open the gates. I can have the soldiers below cover the rear, and I assure you, no zombies will be able to storm the city."
Hearing such a noble proposition, Qin Shilei suddenly felt angry and sneered, "You are quite noble indeed, sacrificing a large group of soldiers with just a few words."
To cover the rear meant for those soldiers to continuously defend outside the city gate. Once the gate was closed, those soldiers would surely perish.
"I..." Kong Zhendong argued, "As soldiers, we should be prepared to sacrifice ourselves to protect the populace."
Seeing Qin Shilei's continued delay in opening the gates, the crowd outside grew even more panicked.
Someone urgently said, "Lord Qin, I wish to purchase the qualification to reside in Hope City. Please let us in quickly."
Qin Shilei pondered for a moment, then turned and said, "He Kaige, you are responsible for opening the gates and maintaining order."
"Zhang Qiang, take a squad and eliminate any zombies that get inside."
"Xiaoli, seize the opportunity and seal the gates with your willow trees."
"An Qian, I will go with you to cover the rear."
"As you command!" He Kaige immediately led his men to open the city gates and organized the inbound citizens to disperse.
As the gates opened, the people outside surged in, on the verge of causing a stampede.
"No pushing, those who harm others will die!"
He Kaige, standing at a higher vantage point behind the gate, shouted loudly.
However, the crowd completely ignored his commands, fearing they would be caught and killed by the zombies if they were any slower.
Qin Shilei teleported to He Kaige's side and swiftly fired several arrows with his short bow.
Several individuals who had been pushing their way through due to their perceived strength were instantly shot to the ground, then trampled into a bloody mess by the people behind them.
"Take this short bow. Shoot anyone who dares to charge recklessly."
Qin Shilei handed the short bow to He Kaige and then teleported back to the city wall.
After He Kaige shot and killed over a dozen more individuals attempting to force their way through, the crowd at the gate finally began to exhibit some order.
Seeing the zombies nearing within a hundred meters of the city gate.
Qin Shilei teleported down: "An Qian, let's go."
The last one to two thousand survivors were already fully engaged in a pitched battle with the zombies.
They were surrounded by zombies on all sides, with even more pouring in from the distance.
Li Muzi was among those running at the very rear.
Despite killing over a dozen zombies, the number of surrounding zombies showed no sign of diminishing.
As he once again cut down a zombie in front of him, a Lurker to his right suddenly shot out its long tongue.
"My life is over!" Li Muzi could only let out a desperate cry in his heart, seeing his head about to be blown apart.
At that moment, his vision blurred, and he felt a figure flash past in front of him.
The powerfully shot tongue, less than two centimeters from his head, fell limply to the ground.
"Retreat quickly!"
A deep, resonant voice suddenly echoed in his ears, and Li Muzi involuntarily retreated.
He then realized that the zombies that had been blocking his retreat to the city gate had, at some unknown time, all collapsed to the ground, motionless.
As Qin Shilei in his black armor and An Qian in her red armor constantly moved through the battlefield, more and more survivors broke free from the zombies and retreated towards the city gates.
Now, on the city wall, not only were Zhang Xiaoli and her people present, but also many survivors who had already joined Hope City.
They were all staring dumbfounded at the figures clad in black and red.
They could not even discern the specific movements of Qin Shilei and An Qian.
They only saw a black figure and a fiery red figure weaving through the zombie horde, causing the zombies that were harassing the survivors to collapse powerlessly.
Whether they were common zombies or powerful mutated ones like Tyrants, none could withstand a single move from them.
Soon, all the survivors outside the city had broken free from the zombie encirclement and entered the city through the gates.
A small number of zombies also managed to slip in.
Zhang Qiang, who was on standby, immediately led his men forward, engaging the zombies while advancing towards the city gates.
With a wave of her hand, Zhang Xiaoli summoned a tall willow tree onto the green belt beside the city gate.
The willow branches then swayed, sealing the city entrance tightly.
Zhang Qiang, who had reached the city gate, also took the opportunity to close and lock it securely.
An Qian glanced back at the many members of Hope City standing on the wall, then turned to Qin Shilei and said, "Shilei, look after me for a moment."
With that, she waved her hand and unleashed her ultimate technique.
Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix!
The ethereal image of a Qingluan reappeared, leading a hundred types of fiery red birds, charging towards the zombies with a world-shattering aura.
The people on the city wall could not help but sigh.
"Incredible, unbelievably strong!"
"Is this truly the power of humans?"
"This move must have killed two to three thousand zombies, right?"
"If the City Lord's wife is already this powerful, how formidable must our City Lord be?"
"I feel so fortunate and proud to be a citizen of Hope City!"
After An Qian completed her ultimate technique, Qin Shilei immediately teleported to her side, embraced her, and teleported away again.
This prevented anyone from noticing her entering a weakened state after using her skill.
"You truly went to great lengths to establish the reputation of our Rock Battalion. Rest here well, I will go down and make some arrangements."
Qin Shilei arranged for An Qian to stay in a room in a tall building, then returned to the city wall.
Although his strength surpassed An Qian's, his skills did not possess the same breathtaking impact as Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix.
Having An Qian unleash this ultimate move was indeed more effective in intimidating the masses.
"City Lord, there are now roughly seven to eight hundred thousand zombies outside the city. It seems all the zombies from Nanzhuang City have converged here," Zhang Qiang said, surveying the scene and roughly estimating the number of zombies.
"Mm!" Qin Shilei nodded and instructed, "Arrange for the people of Hope City to defend the city wall and kill zombies. We aim to eliminate all the zombies in Nanzhuang City today."
Zhang Qiang nodded and turned to organize everyone for the zombie extermination.
Protected by the high city walls, the act of killing zombies became safe and swift.
Instantly, special abilities, arrows, and even bricks and stones flew towards the city's exterior, claiming the lives of countless zombies.
The zombies outside, however, knew no fear. Smelling the scent of the living, they swarmed towards the city walls with their arms flailing.