Chapter 267: Chapter 178: First Battle
The team advanced, soon arriving near The Foundry.
Ahead was the main gate.
The dense horde of zombies seemed even larger than yesterday!
A quick glance revealed at least a hundred of them.
And that was only because of the limited space. Otherwise, there might have been over two hundred.
The zombies were a grotesque sight. Bulging eyeballs, deformed faces... Tattered scraps of what might have once been work uniforms or military fatigues clung to their bodies, revealing pieces of rotting flesh dangling precariously beneath. They wandered in packs around The Foundry’s main gate. The sheer number and ghastly scene made even the scalps of seasoned Superpower Users tingle.
These zombies were highly sensitive to human presence, so Claire Chapman couldn’t let the team get too close. Once they were at a suitable distance, she waved her hand, signaling for the squads to lie in wait.
Meanwhile, Paige Summers and Ben had already finished sprinkling the adhesive into the pit and were covertly approaching the zombies.
For the mission of luring the enemy into the trap, Paige Summers had requested no other help besides Ben.
The previous night, while digging the pit, she had explained the plan to Ben through a combination of gestures and words. They had been together for a while now, and he could grasp most of what she meant.
His progress delighted Paige Summers. ’If this keeps up,’ she thought, ’Ben might just become a normal person again one day!’
Despite this thought, as they drew closer to the zombies, a sliver of worry still crept into Paige Summers’s mind.
Fortunately, there was no repeat of yesterday’s incident.
Perhaps having grown accustomed to such a large number of zombies, Ben seemed much calmer today.
Since she was baiting them, Paige Summers drew her three-shot Crossbow. She chose her position, and with a swift TWANG of the string, three Crossbow Arrows whistled through the air, flying straight toward the zombie horde!
Her aim was excellent. Three zombies were struck, and the poison took effect immediately, causing them to collapse.
The horde fell into disarray. Roars erupted as they all turned and headed in Paige Summers’s direction.
More Crossbow Arrows shot out, this time aimed at the speed-type zombies at the front. They were incredibly fast and adept at leaping, closing the distance in just a few bounds.
But the Rainbow Water on the Crossbow Arrows was incredibly potent; none that were hit survived.
Paige Summers fired her Crossbow Arrows while retreating to maintain a safe distance. Ben also suppressed some of his intimidating aura to ensure the zombies weren’t too scared to advance, helping the luring plan proceed smoothly.
Before long, they had created quite a "spectacular" scene.
The two of them were like parade leaders, followed by an unending stream of zombies. The line stretched long, with some zombies moving quickly and eagerly, others slowly and listlessly. In short, their numbers grew and grew, creating an immense, surging procession.
A High-level Superpower User like Paige Summers was the best kind of food for them to enhance their strength. Unable to resist the temptation of a ravenous appetite, most of the zombies fell for the trap!
This scene was nothing out of the ordinary for the members of Bloodfall. Vice-Captain Sterling had always been daring and had done even more dangerous things. But for May Joyce and her subordinates, it was absolutely terrifying! On one hand, they were shocked that Paige Summers would use herself as bait. On the other, they found her Crossbow Arrows unbelievable.
It was common knowledge that zombies had extremely strong life force; besides a headshot, there was no other way to kill them. But the Paige Summers before them was clearly subverting their understanding. It turned out a single, small Crossbow Arrow could bring them down for good! The gazes of some grew fervent. If not for Claire Chapman’s order to remain silent, they probably would have immediately tried to inquire about the origin of the Crossbow in Paige Summers’s hands.
Just as these thoughts began to stir, Paige Summers and Ben had already lured the first wave of pursuing zombies to the top of the slope.
Just as the zombies were about to pounce, Paige Summers threw her Hook Claw toward a nearby tree. Her body shot into the air. As she swung around the tree like a pendulum, Ben had already begun his dirty work behind the zombies!
With their forward momentum combined with the impact of rocks from behind, the zombies plunged headlong and unhesitatingly into the pit awaiting them—a pit a full ten meters deep and "spiked" with extra materials!
After struggling, the zombies toppling over each other at the bottom of the pit discovered they couldn’t break free from the ground and began to let out furious roars.
The zombies following behind sensed that something was wrong.
But at that moment, the vanished Paige Summers reappeared on the ground.
The allure of the "food" right before them was simply too great. There were always some that would charge forward recklessly, dragging the other zombies along with them.
Having steadied her footing, Paige Summers didn’t flee this time. She began to face the enemy head-on!
Of course, this didn’t mean laboriously hacking and slashing them, but directly knocking any approaching zombies into the pit!
’So satisfying!’
Paige Summers dodged a speed zombie, letting it fall into the pit on its own, and couldn’t help but smile. ’Honestly, compared to scheming against people, I much prefer this kind of unrestrained combat!’
The number of zombies in the pit grew, while the number outside dwindled.
"It’s almost full..."
Paige Summers muttered, then beckoned Ben over.
Once the end of the zombie procession was in sight, she flipped her hand and produced a small cylinder from her dimensional space. It was something she had fashioned based on a Hidden Weapon Box. Its flat front end was covered in dozens of tiny holes, and pressing the cap on the back would spray out Rainbow Water.
To conserve her stamina, now was the perfect time to use it.
Using the Hook Claw again, the very next moment she was airborne, dozens of drops of Rainbow Water shot toward the zombies!
A whole swath of them fell in a single go. The results were spectacular.
Only a dozen or so zombies remained. Unwilling to waste any more Rainbow Water, Paige Summers drew her blade and charged...
At her signal, Ben went to deal with the zombies still roaring chaotically in the pit. Since he couldn’t kill them all at once, he simply buried them all with the excavated dirt.
Ben had little interest in their Crystal Cores.
He would usually crush the heads of any slightly higher-Level ones to take out their Crystal Cores. As for these, he truly looked down on them.
Paige Summers’s Rainbow Water had definitely spoiled him!
By the time he was done, Paige Summers was also nearly finished.
"Done! Let’s go!"
The two of them quickly left the area, leaving behind only a large, raised mound of earth and the ground littered with zombie corpses.
At that moment, Claire Chapman was just leading her people into The Foundry.
Their operation hadn’t gone as smoothly as Paige Summers’s.
The low-level zombies were easily lured away, so the vast majority of those drawn off were minions. The remaining, more powerful ones were what Claire Chapman’s team encountered.
With the combat squad providing cover, they first sent the reconnaissance team in. After that, they began their first battle of the day!
All in all, the situation was pretty good. They took down nine zombies with the loss of only one team member. Their Crystal Cores were all between Level 5 and Level 6, proving their formidable strength!
The area around The Foundry’s main gate was now mostly clear.
Paige Summers and Ben made their way inside, regrouping with the others behind a patch of ruins. Just then, the reconnaissance team also returned and began to report.
"It’s strange. In the direction the captain mentioned, there wasn’t a single zombie outside!"
