Apocalypse Chapter 81: Mountain of Corpses

Chapter 81: Mountain of Corpses

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Karai

The industrial park was shaped like an irregular pentagon, with two main entrances on the southeast side. The larger entrance was assigned to the Peace Base, while the smaller one belonged to the Spark Base. As night fell, the hunt began.

According to the espers’ observations, zombies were less active at night and were sensitive to light and sound. Each team searched along their paths for advantageous terrain to set traps that could attract zombies, and Jiang Rong’s group was no exception.

Their assigned area had many pharmaceutical factories, so the team set traps in a large square in front of one of the factories. The espers in the squad drove a vehicle slowly along the road beside the factory, playing loudspeakers mounted on the roof. This method worked well. Before long, zombies that heard the horn staggered out, drawn toward the sound.

Chu Qiang, driving a small pickup, frowned as he watched zombies struggling to keep up behind them in the rearview mirror. When he saw their grotesque faces clearly, his expression turned pale. “Oh my god…”

Thankfully, the zombies were confined to the industrial park for now. If these things were everywhere in the world, ordinary people wouldn’t stand a chance. Thinking about how these zombies had all been ordinary people before dying made Chu Qiang’s face darken even more. “I’d rather be burned after I die than become like this.”

Jiang Rong’s voice came through the earpiece. “Stop wasting time. Drive the zombies toward the trap.”

Perhaps because their entrance was too far from the residential area, explosions could already be heard from other teams’ directions, but their trap had yet to catch a single zombie.

Soon enough, the first wave of zombies appeared in everyone’s night vision goggles. When they had previously seen zombies on the big screen, it felt unreal, like watching a sci-fi movie.

But facing the zombie horde in person, their hideous faces and the foul stench hit everyone’s senses hard. For a moment, several espers in the squad turned pale and looked away. Even though they were used to seeing the dead, zombies made them feel seriously uneasy.

The zombies staggered forward, making meaningless noises with their mouths, following the loudspeaker closer to the trap.

About five or six hundred zombies came in the first wave. When most of the horde entered the enclosure, Guan Shao triggered the explosives buried under the trap. After several loud blasts, bright flames erupted in front of the pharmaceutical factory. Most zombies stepping into the trap were caught in the explosion. When the blasts ended, only burning wreckage remained on the ground.

Zombies didn’t feel pain or fear. Seeing the flames, they didn’t retreat but instead moved toward the fire. That was when the espers struck.

Elemental espers didn’t need to face zombies directly. Standing on rooftops, they released powers that severed zombie heads one by one.

In contrast, reinforced espers were at a disadvantage. Guns didn’t work on zombies, so they had to switch to melee weapons and charge into the horde to personally harvest zombies. Big swords and iron hammers were especially popular. Chu Qiang and his team gripped their weapons and rushed into the zombies, knocking down several with each swing.

To protect the reinforced espers from injury, logistics espers constantly monitored their movements. If anything went wrong, teammates would immediately assist.

Most members of Jiang Rong’s squad were professional soldiers, working together with impressive coordination and speed. With a heavy hitter like Little Guaiguai on their side, it didn’t take long before the first wave of zombies was wiped out.

Following their usual procedure, the team cleaned the battlefield. Little Guaiguai gathered the remaining zombies, fire espers burned the corpses, and earth espers buried the ashes. Everyone was familiar with this routine, and soon the area around the trap was spotless.

Chiang Jinhu frowned. “This is weird. Why do I feel like these zombies aren’t very strong?”

Weng Chenggang, sharpening a slightly chipped blade on a whetstone, grunted. “Maybe it’s because we have fewer zombies here? If there were tens of thousands, we wouldn’t handle it this easily. Besides, if zombies were really this weak, how could they trap so many espers?”

Jiang Rong agreed. “The New Humans and Sovereign share most of the pressure. They face far more zombies than we do. Let’s speed up and clear out the zombies nearby so we can head to the residential area and support other bases.”

At midnight, according to the previous battle plan, the espers from each base were supposed to meet at the large square in the residential area. However, the New Humans espers were trapped in an office building four kilometers outside the square. As time passed, the espers’ faces grew grimmer.

As the two largest bases in the operation, the New Humans and Sovereign faced huge pressure. They confronted hundreds of thousands of zombies in the residential district. Though a single esper wasn’t afraid of zombies, no esper could take down hundreds or thousands alone.

After several hours of heavy fighting, most were exhausted. Their crystal cores were all used up. Listening to zombies roaring outside, the espers harbored a terrifying thought: would they be torn apart by zombies?

They had come to exterminate zombies. How did it come to this? They were supposed to be the chosen ones — espers who could control elemental powers and reinforced abilities. Why, then, were so many espers no match for instinct-driven zombies?

The entire team fell into despair. An Ran lifted the curtain and glanced outside. The firelight illuminated her pale face. Countless zombies kept gathering. Judging by their momentum, it wouldn’t be long before the barriers they set downstairs were overrun. After lowering the curtain, An Ran’s gaze dimmed as she looked around. “Any news from other bases or squads?”

The esper guarding the radio shook their head helplessly. “No.” Since entering the residential area, their radios hadn’t received any outside signals. Naturally, contact with other bases was lost.

An Ran pressed her lips together. “Everyone, take this time to rest. I’ll try to lure the zombies away, and you break out when you can. Remember, don’t get attached to the fight. If you see espers from other bases, tell them to retreat immediately.”

She had miscalculated. She had thought over a thousand espers could easily handle two hundred thousand zombies. But after trying, they realized even espers struggled against such overwhelming numbers.

The New Humans espers’ faces changed drastically upon hearing An Ran’s words. “Team leader An, we can’t do that! We’re a team. We leave together!” “Right! Let’s rest a bit more and break out as one!”

An Ran took a deep breath and raised her hand to calm them. “I’m sure you’ve noticed how fast our energy has drained since entering the residential area. Now isn’t the time to show off. We have to save strength to survive.”

Outside, the zombies’ howls grew louder. At the same time, a rumbling sound approached. The building trembled faintly.

An Ran’s expression changed sharply as she hurried to the window and lifted the curtain. At first glance, she looked puzzled. “What is that…?”

Across the street from the office building, two huge shadows rolled forward. In the faint firelight, An Ran barely made out that they were two spheres, each nearly four meters in diameter. The spheres were covered with zombies. As they rolled side by side, zombies on the street were crushed underfoot.

The sound of breaking bones was crisp. In seconds, hundreds of zombies were flattened like pancakes. The zombies swarmed toward the spheres, rotten hands reaching out to them. But waiting for them was no tasty meal — only merciless crushing.

When the spheres reached near the office, they shook off the clinging zombies, revealing their true forms in the firelight. The left sphere measured nearly three meters in diameter, covered in red vines bristling with thorns. The right one was the black-and-yellow Eyries cactus — clearly not to be trifled with.

An Ran’s pupils contracted sharply. Bloodthirsty vines and Eyries cactus? How could such terrifying mutated plants exist inside the residential area?

In the firelight, the blood-red Bloodthirsty Vines and the black-and-yellow Eyries cactus stood out vividly. Every thorn on them had once pierced through a zombie. As they shook off the clinging bodies, the Bloodthirsty Vines’ tendrils unfurled.

With the vines stretching out, the zombies’ heads near the office building were ripped clean off. The fierce zombies had no resistance against the Bloodthirsty Vines.

In the blink of an eye, a thick layer of zombie corpses carpeted the ground. The Bloodthirsty Vines gathered the headless bodies together. Thousands of zombies filled the entire street, and before long, the pile of corpses grew into a mountain nearly as tall as the office building.

Then the Eyries cactus finally moved. It wobbled as it rolled toward the top of the corpse mound. Because the zombie bodies were uneven, it rolled slowly. Whenever it nearly fell off, a tendril would reach out with pinpoint accuracy and hook it back.

The espers inside the office building paled. “Team leader An, are these two mutated plants treating this place like their nest? Are they using the zombie bodies as nutrients?”

It wasn’t surprising the espers said that. Plants loved fertilizer. Although no one knew where these mutated plants had come from, it was clear they had claimed this territory. If they didn’t leave soon, they probably never would.

An Ran said nothing. She wanted to leave too. But how? Three sides of the building were swarming with zombies, and on the only side without zombies, those two mutated plants stood guard. No wonder so many espers had died here. Even if they dodged the zombies, they couldn’t escape these plants…

Just as An Ran and the others looked utterly defeated, the two mutated plants that had slaughtered the entire street stopped atop the corpse mountain. They rested against each other like two giant eggs. As the Bloodthirsty Vines trembled once, everyone’s shock deepened. “What are they going to do?!”

After shaking twice more, the Bloodthirsty Vines somehow produced a tablet. When it opened the device, cheerful music echoed outside the office building.

“Meow meow meow meow~”

The New Humans espers stared in disbelief. “What… is this?” “Looks like a cartoon theme song? My son loves watching that show.” “Wait, are you saying the mutated plants are watching cartoons?”

While the espers whispered among themselves, a few small red dots flickered outside the window. Focusing closely, they realized it was a drone. Seeing the drone, An Ran pulled back the curtain and opened the window.

The drone flew inside the office building. On its small display appeared Jiang Rong’s handsome face.

“Hello, Team leader An. This is Jiang Rong from the Spark Base. We have arrived at the southeast side of the residential area as agreed.”

An Ran felt a wave of relief wash over her. “Hello, Team leader Jiang. How is your squad? Any casualties? Did you encounter any other bases on the way?”

Jiang Rong’s voice was calm and warm. “Our team is fine, no casualties. We’ve joined forces with the Peace Base espers, and we’re preparing to enter the residential area together.”

After hesitating for a moment, An Ran said frankly, “Team leader Jiang, you don’t need to come in. There are too many zombies inside the residential area. We’re already trapped here. We’ve also discovered two terrifying mutated plants. Coming in will only get you killed.”

Although she desperately hoped someone would save them, their situation was hopeless. Even if the King of Heaven came, they couldn’t get out. There was no reason to let innocent people die with them.

Jiang Rong smiled faintly. “Team leader An, are you talking about the Bloodthirsty Vines and the Eyries cactus? Don’t worry about them. They’re the mascots of the Spark Base. If necessary, they can help everyone escape.”

An Ran was stunned. She turned to look out the window at the two spheres happily watching cartoons. Such terrifying mutated plants, and they were mascots?

 

 

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