C40 He Thought of a Way to Retreat. He Blew up the Restaurant and Risked His Life.

You've acquired a Mutant Skull (Superior)!

You've acquired a sharpening stone!

You've acquired an incomplete skill book!

You've acquired an iron dagger (Fine)!

You've acquired 30 pieces of leather!

You've acquired 10 handgun bullets!

You've acquired 15 shotgun shells!

You've acquired 11 iron arrows!

You've acquired 5 steel arrows!

You've acquired a throwing knife (Superior)!

Tang Bing found an abundance of loot on the corpse of the mutant zombie dog. With no time to examine each item, he quickly stashed everything into his backpack and set to work with his fire axe, harvesting the massive remains of the mutant zombie dog.

You've obtained 150 large bones!

You've obtained 175 pieces of rotten flesh!

You've obtained 50 pieces of mutant beast hide!

You've obtained 30 mutant beast teeth!

Just as he finished collecting the loot, hordes of zombies emerged on both sides of the road, charging towards Tang Bing's position.

There were at least a hundred zombies on each side, left and right!

Directly ahead was the factory, and behind him, a dead end.

Inside the factory, Zhao Dagang, Qin Mengli, and Sun Meng shook off their shock and frantically gestured for Tang Bing to come back quickly.

Facing the oncoming swarms of zombies and glancing at the factory, Tang Bing knew he could outrun the zombies and make it back easily. But that would lead all the zombies to the factory, potentially sealing the entrance shut!

The zombies' howls could draw even more of their kind, risking a total encirclement of the factory.

Considering the prospect of scavenging the supermarket or even just leaving the factory was daunting, especially after encountering such a formidable mutant zombie dog. He feared attracting other mutant zombies, and if the factory were breached, they'd all be doomed.

In a split second, Tang Bing made a decision. Ignoring Zhao Dagang, Qin Mengli, and Sun Meng's desperate signaling, he spun around and charged headlong into the zombie horde on the left.

"Tang..." Qin Mengli, seeing Tang Bing not heading towards the safety of the factory but instead into the jaws of danger, opened her mouth to scream a warning, but Sun Meng quickly clamped a hand over her mouth.

"Shh, Mengli, keep quiet!" Sun Meng whispered urgently into her ear, "You'll draw the zombies to us. Bing's got a sharper mind than we do; he knows what to do. Let's just stay put and wait for him—he'll make it back for sure!"

"I'm with you; I trust Bing too!" Zhao Dagang agreed, nodding. "Let's take cover in the security room and keep an eye on things through the window."

Qin Mengli was puzzled. Sun Meng and Zhao Dagang had only recently met Tang Bing—why did they trust him so implicitly? Or was it because they weren't close to Tang Bing that they weren't as concerned for his well-being?

Confused as she was, Qin Mengli allowed Sun Meng to lead her into the security room, where they joined Zhao Dagang. Together, they cautiously lifted the curtain to peer out at the tense scene unfolding outside.

Meanwhile, Tang Bing was sprinting towards the horde of zombies to his left. Hundreds of them, both ahead and behind, were converging, threatening to trap him in the middle of the street.

Despite the dire circumstances, Tang Bing charged ahead with all his speed. But before colliding with the oncoming zombies, he leapt onto a large truck parked by the roadside and quickly scaled to the cab.

The truck was soon swarmed by hundreds of zombies, who clawed and scratched at it, trying to drag Tang Bing down. Several zombies, pushed by their peers, even managed to climb into the truck and began to pursue him.

Tang Bing glanced back and, without hesitation, took a running leap from the cab to another vehicle nearby. Once he steadied himself, he saw the zombies following and leapt again to the roof of another truck.

In this way, he hopped from one truck to another across the parking lot until he reached a restaurant building.

The relentless horde of zombies pursued him, swarming below.

Determined not to be caught, Tang Bing made another leap, grasping the edge of a second-floor window of the restaurant. With some effort, he pulled himself up to the windowsill and looked down at the mass of zombies crowding the restaurant's entrance, clawing wildly in an attempt to ascend. Without a moment's hesitation, he turned, took a deep breath, and jumped, landing safely on the restaurant's second-floor balcony.

The scratching of zombies against the floor intensified, and Tang Bing wasn't sure if the wooden door would hold. With no time to spare, he hefted his fire axe and forcefully broke the lock on the balcony door of the second floor, bursting into the dining room.

The moment he entered, two zombies lunged at him from different directions. They seemed to be the restaurant's staff, still clad in their white chef's uniforms, likely having hidden there and mutated after drinking contaminated water.

With his considerable combat experience, Tang Bing acted swiftly, kicking one zombie aside and cleaving the head of the other with his fire axe. Without giving the fallen zombie a chance to rise, he delivered another decisive blow.

After swiftly dispatching the two zombies, he gripped his axe and cautiously checked the other second-floor windows. The sounds of zombies growling, clawing, and pounding filled his ears, punctuated by the crisp shattering of glass.

His eyes quickly scanned the area and spotted several gas cylinders in a small room on the corner of the second floor, all seemingly full. An idea struck him, and without hesitation, he ripped off the cylinders' packaging and turned them all the way up.

A pungent gas odor burst forth, rapidly spreading throughout the space.

Below, the sound of zombies breaking through the windows and storming the restaurant grew louder—they'd likely ascend any moment.

Time was of the essence!

Tang Bing donned a medical mask, grabbed a can of gasoline, and doused the second-floor flooring before rushing to a window. With his fire axe, he shattered the glass and the wooden frame.

The staircase echoed with the thuds of numerous zombies. They had likely forced their way through the restaurant's fragile first-floor windows and were swarming towards him.

Not waiting for the horde to reach him, Tang Bing climbed onto the window ledge and leaped out.

He had already scoped out a large pond below this window, teeming with big fish—a sign the water was uncontaminated. At least two meters deep, the pond would cushion his fall.

Although the restaurant's second floor wasn't too high, and he might not get hurt without the pond's buffer, Tang Bing prioritized safety, aiming to protect himself at all costs. An injury could mean death, even if he managed to escape, should he encounter zombies again outside.

With a splash, he landed precisely in the pond. Looking up through the window, he saw hundreds of zombies swarming into the restaurant, frantically making their way to the second floor. Some, in their frenzied dash, noticed Tang Bing in the pond and began to desperately pound on the glass.

Tang Bing was aware that the first-floor windows would easily succumb to the zombies' assault, so he quickly swept the water off his head and retrieved a silenced handgun from his virtual backpack. In a flash, he loaded a fresh magazine, took aim at the second-floor window he had just leaped from, and squeezed the trigger.

The bullet flew out with a muted "thwip," striking the wall with precision. A shower of sparks met gasoline, and the resulting heat spread in an instant.

After firing, Tang Bing stowed the handgun back into his virtual pack and dove underwater, holding his breath.

Above, the gasoline and gas on the restaurant's second floor ignited into a massive inferno, flames violently consuming the structure.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!" The gas tanks on the second floor detonated first, sending a horrific shockwave that shattered every window, with flames leaping out into the open air.

The fire spread to the ground level, engulfing the first-floor kitchen. One by one, the gas tanks there exploded, sending vibrations through the water that Tang Bing could feel even in his submerged state.

The restaurant was rocked by continuous blasts, sending the pond's large fish into a frenzy. They thrashed about, their tails striking Tang Bing repeatedly.

Despite the sharp pain from debris raining down into the water, hitting his body, Tang Bing remained motionless, resolutely holding his breath and waiting in silence.

The relentless explosions turned the restaurant into an inferno, a truly horrifying spectacle.

Chunks of brick and stone plummeted like rain, bombarding the area around and into the pond for several long minutes.

Tang Bing surfaced briefly to draw breath, miraculously avoiding a blow to the head from the falling rubble.

When the cacophony of explosions finally ceased, Tang Bing noticed the previously icy water had warmed to the feel of a hot spring. Many fish lay dead, struck by the stones, yet, fortunately, several still swam about.

Peering out, Tang Bing surveyed the scene: the entire restaurant building was engulfed in flames. What was once an elegant interior had been reduced to a charred wasteland. Every pane of glass had been shattered, and even the robust stone walls had been blasted open with gaping holes.

The fire raged on, climbing to the third and fourth floors.

The zombies that had been in hot pursuit of Tang Bing didn't fare any better—those that had stormed the restaurant and the ones clawing at the entrance outside were all reduced to burnt husks. Unlike Tang Bing, they hadn't thought to seek shelter from the blast.

Hundreds of zombies were wiped out in an instant, yet Tang Bing earned no experience from it. Apparently, zombies killed indirectly by explosions didn't count towards his experience points. Only those he dispatched personally would boost his tally.

With the restaurant building's fire still spreading and its structure threatening to give way, Tang Bing didn't hesitate to leave the pool area. Remarkably, he still remembered to collect all the large fish from the pool into his virtual backpack—a prudent conservation of scarce resources.

He quickly popped a painkiller to restore the health he'd lost to the brick that had struck him while he was concealed in the water. Then, without a moment's delay, Tang Bing made his swift escape through the restaurant's back door.