Apocalypse: I'm Bound to a Mobile Lottery Shop

Chapter 28: Chapter 28: Vanguard Squad

They swarmed around Lily Hart, boxing her in. Anyone selected for the Vanguard Squad was no pushover.

Their height, physique, and abilities were all top-tier at Hope Base. An overwhelming aura of testosterone enveloped Lily Hart.

She found it hard to breathe for a moment and quickly changed the subject. "Look at this."

Lily Hart pointed to the bottom-right corner of the screen. Several green dots of light were blinking incessantly, moving steadily toward Hope Base.

The captain of the Vanguard Squad, Zachary Ward, frowned and asked, "Are these zombies?"

"Yes," Lily Hart explained. "And they’re zombies of the Fifth Rank or higher."

The others gasped. It was rare enough to see a zombie above the Third Rank, which was the only reason people dared to leave the base to kill zombies for Crystal Cores.

But now there were zombies of the Fifth Rank and above. One, two, three... seven of them?

What a terrifying number. It would take at least ten superpower users of the Fifth Rank or higher to even stand a chance.

Zachary Ward silently glanced at his teammates. He was the highest-ranked at Fifth Rank; the rest were all Third or Fourth Rank.

’How are we supposed to fight this? There’s no chance of victory...’

And this very squad was Hope Base’s strongest fighting force.

If even they had no chance of victory, then the entire base was doomed.

The Fifth Rank was a major threshold. Every rank beyond it was incredibly difficult to achieve. You either had to be exceptionally talented, like Frost Shaw, who could level up with ease without even trying hard...

...or you had to be extremely hardworking, making up for a lack of talent with sheer effort. If you had neither, you might as well go back to the base and give up.

Lily Hart didn’t grasp the significance of the Fifth Rank, but the heavy silence from the men around her spoke volumes.

So she skipped the pointless questions and got straight to the heart of the matter. "Can you fight them?"

Zachary Ward gave a slight shake of his head. The other men lowered their heads completely.

Lily Hart understood immediately. ’Sometimes the gap between people is just this wide.’ "Then let’s head back to the base," she said, turning to leave.

"Go back to the base for what?" The squad leader grabbed her arm, asking anxiously.

"You can’t fight them, so are you just going to go up there to die?" Lily Hart retorted, as if the answer were obvious.

The light in the squad leader’s eyes died. Zachary Ward and the others hung their heads, unable to say a word.

They didn’t want to throw their lives away, but their families and friends were in the base. If even they were too afraid to face this threat...

Zachary Ward said resolutely, "We can’t go back. Even if there’s only a sliver of a chance, we have to fight!"

’I just want to go home and sleep...’ Lily Hart thought.

Time stopped rewinding.

Having failed to get back to the base for a good night’s sleep, Lily Hart had no choice but to lead the Vanguard Squad toward the seven zombie bosses.

When they were still a good distance away, Zachary Ward told the squad leader to protect Lily Hart while the rest of them went ahead to scout.

The two of them found a hidden corner and lay prone, pulling a pile of hay over themselves in a comically conspicuous attempt at camouflage.

Lily Hart lay on the ground, the dry grass pricking at her skin. It was itchy, but she didn’t dare make any large movements to scratch.

She could only wriggle slightly, rubbing against the ground to relieve the itch with her clothes.

The squad leader tilted his head. "What are you doing?"

"The hay is too prickly," Lily Hart said, her voice muffled.

The squad leader sounded confused. "It’s not prickly. Your skin must be too delicate."

"..." ’Fine, I’ll shut up.’

Suddenly, another person dropped to the ground beside her. Thinking it was one of the Vanguard Squad members returning, she started to ask about the situation.

She turned her head and met a pair of cool, exquisite eyes. She was so startled she almost screamed.

Once she recovered, she demanded, "Frost Shaw? What are you doing here?" ’And right next to me, of all places.’

The squad leader turned his head to look as well. The night was too dark, and they didn’t dare turn on a light. He could only strain his eyes and whisper, "What’s wrong?"

"It’s nothing," Lily Hart answered offhandedly. "Frost Shaw is here."

"Frost Shaw?!" the squad leader exclaimed, his voice cracking with surprise.

Lily Hart was in the middle, with Frost Shaw on her left and the squad leader on her right.

Hearing this, Frost Shaw propped himself up to greet the squad leader, though it was really just a single glance before he lay back down.

"Hello, hello," the squad leader whispered back, both surprised and flattered.

He had heard of Frost Shaw: immensely powerful, yet incredibly aloof. A man who always worked alone.

’Why show up at such a critical moment? Surely he’s not here to help Hope Base, right?’

While the squad leader’s mind was racing, Frost Shaw obediently answered Boss Hart’s earlier question.

"I was killing zombies. I saw you, so I followed." He spoke at a normal volume, which startled Lily Hart.

She scrambled to cover Frost Shaw’s mouth, leaning in close. "Quieter! There are High-level Zombies nearby!"

Frost Shaw’s breath caught in his throat. He didn’t wear his cloak when hunting zombies at night, so her hand landed directly on his mouth.

He secretly relaxed. His senses were filled with the fragrance of her body wash—a clean, pleasant scent he had never encountered in this hellish apocalypse.

An inexplicable greed stirred in him; he wanted to savor the scent for a moment longer, but...

...but Frost Shaw still reached up and pulled her hand away from his mouth. Her hand, just like her, was warm and full of life.

Unlike his, which was chilly all year round.

Lily Hart jolted at the touch. "Why are your hands so cold?" she asked instinctively, before steering the conversation back. "You were killing zombies nearby? Wait, where do you even live?"

As if on some strange impulse, Frost Shaw said, "I don’t have a place to live." He sounded inexplicably pitiful.

Before she could ask more, the squad leader cried out anxiously, "Captain King and the others can’t hold on any longer!"

Lily Hart looked at the Light Brain. Of the seven flashing green dots, only four remained. At the same time, good news came from Hope Base.

The number of zombies had plummeted. The endless, painless tide that had been surging forward was finally receding.

It seemed the low-level zombies were being controlled by the High-level Zombies, used as puppets and cannon fodder. They were being forced to charge mindlessly, overwhelming the base with sheer numbers.

Meanwhile, the High-level Zombies sat back and reaped the rewards.

Lily Hart scrambled to her feet. "Then let’s get over there! What are you standing around for?"

The squad leader hesitated, then asked a question he clearly found awkward. "What rank are you? Can you handle it? Maybe you should stay here and let Frost Shaw protect you."

He vaguely remembered Boss Hart saying she was just an ordinary person. ’But could an ordinary person own a brand-new RV, or a lottery shop that hadn’t been looted?’

A dark look crossed Lily Hart’s face. "Then what’s a Fourth Rank like you going to do over there? Go die?"

"Alright, alright, stop dawdling," she urged. "Let’s go together. If you waste any more time, you’ll just be collecting Captain King’s corpse."

The squad leader shut his mouth. Frost Shaw hadn’t said a word the entire time, simply standing quietly just behind and to the side of Lily Hart.

The trio hurried toward the Vanguard Squad’s position. Along the way, another green dot vanished from the screen. The squad leader’s face was wracked with anxiety. "They’re fighting to the death!"

Lily Hart said nothing, silently pumping her legs faster. But she was, after all, an ordinary person; her stamina was no match for that of a superpower user.

Before they were even halfway there, she was exhausted and out of breath. Leaning over with her hands on her knees, she waved them on. "You two go ahead. I need to catch my breath."