C78 They Flew over the Roofs and Walked on the Walls to Attract the Zombies, and the Gasoline Bombs
As he touched down, another zombie burst from the shadows.
His makeshift scrap iron armor had fended off previous assaults, but luck wasn't on his side this time. Despite his sensory abilities pinpointing the threat and his swift response upon landing, his supposedly impenetrable armor betrayed him. The zombie's bloodied claw found a chink, slicing through his skin.
The searing pain sharpened Tang Bing's focus. He swung his Wolf Fang club with ferocity, obliterating the zombie's head in one fell swoop.
Before more zombies could converge, Tang Bing hastily retrieved an antibiotic from his virtual pack, swallowed it along with a painkiller, and, club in hand, resumed his desperate sprint.
The road ahead, sparsely populated with zombies, allowed him to surge forward unimpeded.
But at the intersection, a fresh horde of zombies emerged. Pushing his limits, he sprinted, dodging the undead with his speed, then swiftly scaled a large tree and leaped onto the adjacent wall.
He paused briefly atop the wall, gulping down water, and once revitalized, continued his run along the wall's edge, outpacing the ghastly horde. He leaped down into a safer zone ahead, finding refuge on a less infested path.
Behind him, a relentless zombie brigade gave chase. Tang Bing didn't dare look back, running and pausing intermittently to keep a safe distance, exploiting his superior agility to stay ahead.
Exhaustion set in quickly under the immense pressure; after all, zombies don't tire, relentless to the world's end.
Tang Bing's stamina was draining, his breaths growing labored.
But surrender wasn't an option; to stop would be to become a feast for the undead.
He pressed on, selecting paths with fewer zombies, though his pursuers swelled in number with each new addition to their ranks.
He contemplated outrunning them once and for all, but dismissed the thought. If he could eliminate this swarm with a single explosive, he'd significantly reduce the local zombie population, enhancing his safety in the long run. Plus, he needed to find the perfect spot to deploy the bomb, drawing in more zombies to alleviate the pressure on the factory.
Tang Bing clenched his jaw and persevered, sprinting forward with an ever-growing horde of zombies in hot pursuit.
He ran until his legs turned to jelly, sweat pouring from his body like rain, soaking his clothes through. Finally, he managed to lead them several kilometers away from the factory to an optimal spot.
The area was dotted with apartment buildings at least three stories high, nestled just beyond the roadside barrier, which appeared to have few zombies in its vicinity.
Spotting an open gate in the fence, Tang Bing dashed through it, swiftly locking it behind him. He wielded his spiked club to take down several zombies that emerged from the apartment garden, then bolted into the nearest building and up the stairs before the zombie legion could catch up.
Along the way, he encountered a few more zombies but dispatched each one with ease. Despite a few close calls where he nearly succumbed to exhaustion and was almost overwhelmed, he managed to eliminate the threats and made his way to the rooftop.
Securing the rooftop door behind him, he caught his breath while surveying the area. The neighboring apartments were close enough to offer viable escape routes.
Once he had assessed his surroundings, he quickly drank some water to steady himself and approached the edge to overlook the road below.
The zombie army had reached the apartment complex, violently shoving against the robust metal fence, which wobbled under their fearsome force.
At this rate, it wouldn't be long before they broke through!
Tang Bing didn't lure them here just to be trapped. After a brief rest to regain his strength, he wiped the sweat from his brow, retrieved an iron pipe bomb from his virtual backpack, lit it with a lighter, and heaved it with all his might toward the mass of zombies on the street.
The bomb sailed from the rooftop, tracing an elegant arc through the air before landing precisely in the midst of the horde.
One zombie lunged for it, clamping it in its jaws.
"Boom!" Five or six seconds later, the bomb detonated within the zombie's maw, obliterating it completely. The blast sent dozens of nearby zombies soaring through the air in a spectacular display.
The bomb took out nearly fifty zombies, yet Tang Bing was far from content.
In his view, the bomb's potency was underwhelming. Such a device was nowhere near powerful enough to wipe out the entire swarm below!
Additionally, there was a snag: zombies killed by the pipe bombs didn't yield any experience points. Despite the high body count, his experience meter hadn't budged an inch.
It became clear that only through hand-to-hand combat or using firearms to dispatch zombies or enemies could he earn experience points!
Luckily, the bomb's blast was thunderous. From his rooftop vantage point, Tang Bing could see an astonishing number of zombies converging from afar. Even the zombies inside nearby apartment buildings, lured by the blast, spilled out and swarmed toward the street.
Tang Bing crouched down, gasping for air, then ignited another pipe bomb and hurled it below.
"Boom!" The throw was off, only taking out a handful of zombies.
Without a moment's delay, Tang Bing started tossing down pipe bombs in rapid succession. The explosions were relentless, as were the falling zombies, yet their numbers only swelled.
It turned out the deafening blasts had summoned every zombie in the vicinity, with even distant ones desperately making their way toward the commotion.
The one consolation for Tang Bing was that the zombies were fixated on the noise, milling about on the highway, oblivious to his presence.
When he was down to his last three pipe bombs, he noticed the crowd of zombies below had grown even larger than before! Tossing these last few seemed futile, unlikely to make a dent.
Should he just throw them and then seize the chance to scale the wall and flee?
As Tang Bing's thoughts raced, a brilliant strategy struck him!
He retrieved a hefty stash of small gasoline canisters from his virtual pack—dozens of them—and mustered all his strength to throw them down.
The canisters crashed among the zombies on the road, bursting upon impact from the fall, and gasoline sprayed out like geysers.
This caught Tang Bing off guard; he had expected the canisters to explode upon hitting the ground from such a height!
But no matter. He continued to throw the gasoline canisters, aiming to distribute them evenly across the horde.
By the time he had thrown all the canisters, exhaustion nearly overtook him.
But there was no time for rest. Clenching his teeth, he lit one last pipe bomb and hurled it with all his might into the throng of zombies.
"Boom!" A violent explosion erupted as sparks ignited the gasoline, rapidly spreading into an inferno. Several gas tanks, not too heavily leaking, detonated in the intense heat, creating a scene of awe-inspiring shock and thunderous noise.
The flames and the subsequent explosions wreaked havoc on the dense zombie horde, inflicting terrifying carnage!
The devastation was at least tenfold compared to the rudimentary iron pipe bombs.
Watching the staggering number of zombies being shredded by the blasts and engulfed in flames, Tang Bing experienced an uncanny sense of unreality, as if he were immersed in a virtual 3D game. Yet, it also brought him an exhilarating rush of excitement.
In just a few moments, thousands of zombies perished in the explosive firestorm, a scenario beyond his wildest imaginings before!
Tang Bing hurled the last two iron pipe bombs, reaping a staggering toll among the undead. The sight of the highway below, ablaze with zombies charred yet still clamoring against the barriers, was truly chilling. The sight of the even more terrifying hordes emerging from all directions brought back vivid memories of the military sanctuary.
But he was confident in his ability to make another escape!
Confronted with the ever-encroaching swarm entangled with the fierce flames, Tang Bing took a moment on the rooftop to drink deeply, regaining his strength with urgency.
Time was on his side; he could make it back to the factory before nightfall. If not, he could find a secure spot to rest for the night and make his return at daybreak.
Once his strength was sufficiently restored, Tang Bing stood and surveyed the tens of thousands of zombies clogging the roads, as well as the relentless tide still bearing down on him. He figured the factory's defenses must have been bolstered by now. Seizing the moment, he planned to scour the area for the heavy vehicle he needed, clear out the adjacent supermarket, and then lead everyone in a grand relocation.
