Chapter 247: No, You Can't Leave the Base
"Captain Lu, must we kill them?"
A soldier, without thinking, stepped in front of the zombified comrade as soon as he saw Lu Chen's movements.
They had fought side by side with this comrade. How could they let Lu Chen hurt him now?
Lu Chen had actually prepared himself for this moment long ago. If his comrade turned into a zombie, he would have to kill him and extract the crystal from the back of his head.
This was what he, as a leader, should do, but it was also an incredibly cruel task.
To avoid becoming a zombie himself, Lu Chen had already told his guards to act without hesitation.
If he were to become infected, they were to kill him without mercy and extract the crystal from the back of his head, lest he become a mindless monster.
However, when the moment truly arrived, Lu Chen found himself unable to go through with it.
He stared at the comrade who had once fought by his side, his heart heavy with pain and regret.
But reality was cruel.
The zombies standing before him were no longer the comrades he once knew.
Their faces were blank, their eyes hollow and cold, as if their souls had been stripped away.
Worse still, they bared their sharp teeth, ready to lunge at anyone still alive.
Lu Chen closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and then opened them, steeling himself for what had to be done.
He knew that if they didn't deal with these zombies quickly, they would pose an even greater threat to everyone.
So, despite the pain, he knew he had to make a decision.
"Move aside!"
"They have turned into zombies. If we don't stop them, more of our comrades will follow."
"What!"
"They've become zombies?"
The soldiers still couldn't comprehend that their comrades had turned into zombies.
"That's right!"
"So we have to... kill them."
The word "kill" felt like a heavy burden on Lu Chen's heart.
"Then we go outside and save the others."
The soldier hesitated, his face showing reluctance, but finally stepped aside.
Lu Chen looked at the soldier for a long time before finally throwing his wind blade.
The wind blade was sharp and swift, severing the neck of the zombified soldier.
Strangely, the body didn't collapse. Instead, its hands flailed about, blindly searching for a target.
"Cut into the back of his head; there's a crystal shard inside. Take it out and crush it to truly eliminate the zombie."
A soldier heard this and immediately took out a short knife. Sure enough, he found a thin, crystal-like shard embedded in the back of the skull before long.
Though he was surprised by how this thing had gotten there, he followed orders and crushed it.
As the crystal shard was crushed, the headless soldier who had been restlessly moving finally fell to the ground.
The other dozen or so zombies were quickly dispatched.
Afterward, Lu Chen dispatched all the soldiers from the military district to eliminate all the zombies among the residents.
Since many residents were unprepared at the beginning, by the time Lu Chen and his team arrived, one-third of the residents had already turned into zombies.
These soldiers had gained experience and, while killing zombies, taught other psionics how to deal with them.
After eliminating all the zombies that could be seen with the naked eye, the base, which had originally housed 100,000 residents, now had only a little over 70,000 left.
To ensure no one hesitated to eliminate their zombified loved ones, Lu Chen had his team search the base thoroughly again.
Sure enough, they found more than a thousand zombies that had been hidden in homes.
After ensuring the safety of the personnel in the base, Lu Chen began sending people outside to kill zombies.
The situation outside the base was even more severe.
The authorities had instructed residents to burn the bodies of those who had died earlier.
However, many still believed that the dead should be laid to rest in peace, so they secretly buried them underground.
While some were dug up and eaten by wild animals, the rest, buried deeper, remained undisturbed.
Now, these previously buried humans began to emerge from the ground.
Buried underground, their flesh had rotted away, leaving some skeletons partially exposed.
But under the control of the crystal shard at the back of their heads, they began to wander aimlessly. They gathered in groups whenever they encountered others like themselves.
Drawn by strange noises, they moved toward the source.
These zombies emerging from the ground moved much faster than those who had turned from humans.
Soon, these zombies reached the urban area, joined the zombies that had turned from humans, and began attacking people.
Many psionics lived outside the base as well.
However, they didn't know that after killing zombies, they needed to dig out the crystal shard from the back of their heads.
They watched helplessly as headless, limbless zombies continued to lurch forward, attacking anyone in their path.
Lu Chen not only led the army in zombie hunts but also issued a notice. Those who went out to kill zombies could exchange the crystal shards they dug out for supplies.
After seeing the notice, the psionics eagerly volunteered for the mission.
After all, with their newfound abilities, killing zombies was much easier than working in the fields.
Meng Ci and Shen Que, upon learning that zombies had emerged, also planned to go out and deal with them.
After all, eliminating the zombies was the final step in ending the apocalypse and restoring normalcy to their lives.
They haven't gone yet because they're arguing about whether Meng Ci can go out.
"You can't go out and kill zombies without any powers," Shen Que said.
Meng Ci bristled at that.
"Why not? You said zombies aren't much of a threat early on. With my skills, I should be able to take down a few easy targets."
In the early stages, zombies barely think, making them easy to deal with. Even later on, they're still pretty dumb, so strong humans can take them down without powers.
In my past life, the zombie apocalypse dragged on for over two years because there were too many of them, and no one knew how to finish them off properly at first.
This time, with Shen Que's intel, we should wrap things up fast.
Meng Ci wanted to help speed things along so they could get back to a normal life sooner.
"No way, no matter how good you are!" Shen Que refused.
He was worried that Meng Ci, without any powers, might not be able to dodge and could get bitten.
"Then I'm staying too!" Shen Que tightened his grip on Meng Ci's hand, deciding to stay home and watch over him.
Eggplant and Eagle crouched on the ground, holding their breath, afraid to get caught in the middle of the argument.
Meng Ci was so frustrated with Shen Que that his right index finger itched even more. Loop