Chapter 62: The Gun-Wielding Zombie Legion
"Understood."
The original plan for Special Division 3 was to set their formation and storm the estate directly. Since Vice-Captain Otonashi's plan didn't conflict with their original objective, Captain Furuta nodded without objection.
Hayakawa Aki and Himeno could tell that the "basement" Chiya mentioned would likely be the more dangerous zone, but they weren't worried about him at all. They only needed to focus on their own tasks.
Immediately afterward, the members of Division 3 officially launched their assault on the villa.
Otonashi Chiya, meanwhile, activated his "Intangibility" on the spot. His body sank directly into the ground; no matter or substance could obstruct him in this state. He quickly infiltrated the subterranean bunker.
Now, Chiya exerted the power of both eyes simultaneously. He opened two spatial vortices—one near and one far—to transfer the zombies out of the Kamui dimension. He only brought out about a dozen for now; it was enough for the task and would conserve his vitality and eye power.
As for Susanoo, he wouldn't be using it again for a while, or his life force and ocular strength would reach their breaking point. Currently, his body was at roughly half of its peak capacity.
After releasing the zombies, Chiya phased into the walls to hide. By moving through the structure itself, he could monitor the entire bunker without being detected by anyone. The Zombie Devil had long since transferred control of these creatures to him; he commanded them to hunt down every living soul in the underground fortress.
Unlike the slow-moving creatures in the movies of his past life, these zombies could run and even wield blades. Their running speed was the limit of their physical capacity when they were alive, and they were tireless.
The underground bunker was already on high alert. The yakuza combatants were staring fixedly at the entrance, knowing that once the villa above fell, this bunker would be discovered shortly.
However, they had no idea that zombies had already appeared behind them.
At that moment, a gunman felt footsteps approaching from behind. He happened to need a bathroom break, so he intended to hand his weapon to the person coming up. "Cover for me a second, I need to hit the head. I'll be right back."
It was only after he had actually placed the gun into the other man's hands that he noticed the person's complexion was disturbingly abnormal. He couldn't help but ask, "What's wrong with you?"
Because this was a world plagued by real devils, horror movies had long been banned in major cinemas—including zombie films. Consequently, while many people knew such a concept once existed, they had long forgotten what a zombie actually looked like.
This yakuza member was no exception; he didn't connect the dots to "zombies" at all. This was also why the Zombie Devil, which should have been powerful, was actually quite weak: people no longer feared what they couldn't see in media.
The zombie stood there dazed for a moment after taking the gun. Under Chiya's mental command, it immediately pulled the trigger.
Rat-tat!
Two shots pierced the man's forehead. His vision went black, and he collapsed. The zombie instantly pounced, biting into the man's neck to infect him before moving on with the gun to kill more yakuza.
"Huh? Where did those shots come from?!"
"Probably someone jumping the gun. The police and Public Safety haven't found this place yet."
"Which idiot's gun went off? Don't go scaring me like that!"
"..."
Although the other yakuza members were startled by those two gunshots, they didn't pay it much mind at first. However, a moment later, more shots rang out intermittently from various directions. They finally realized something was wrong; it was impossible for this many people to have accidental misfires at the same time.
In reality, Otonashi Chiya was manipulating the zombies to specifically target isolated yakuza members. Taken completely by surprise, even those who managed to fire back couldn't kill the zombies unless they hit the head. Since they didn't recognize these creatures as zombies, they had no idea about their weakness; in the panic of the moment, they just fired wildly without aiming for the brain.
As a result, every zombie released by Chiya was now equipped with a firearm, and they had already infected the yakuza they'd gunned down. Any yakuza who came to investigate the noise was picked off one by one and turned.
The number of zombies grew steadily, forming a tightening circle around the remaining survivors in the bunker. At the final line of defense, the newly formed zombie legion exchanged heavy fire with the yakuza! The zombies required no cover; they simply marched forward, relentlessly firing their weapons.
"What the hell are these things? Why won't they die after so many hits?!"
"This has to be devil power! Damn those Public Safety hunters!!"
"Wait... these things look like zombies? Regardless, aim for their heads! It might be the only way to kill them!"
By the time someone finally realized they were dealing with zombies, over half their members were already dead. Even with this realization, the tide could not be turned. The number of living yakuza dwindled while the zombie count only increased. Within ten minutes, the final defensive line collapsed.
Though some zombies were lost in the fray, Chiya didn't care. He had originally borrowed only forty or fifty from the Zombie Devil; through infection and assimilation, that number had surged to nearly two hundred.
Next, Chiya commanded the gun-wielding horde to storm the hideout of the Yakuza Boss and the "Young Head." Even though he was four years younger than his appearance in the original storyline, Chiya recognized the Young Head—"Katana Man"—at a glance. In the original manga, even after being gifted the Katana Devil's heart by Makima, he was criticized as a "trash sword" due to his arrogant personality and garbage combat skills. Without that heart, his current human form was pure, unadulterated trash.
Surrounded by a crowd of "personnel" with distorted features and hideous complexions, the Boss, the Young Head, and everyone else hiding there fell to their knees, begging for mercy.
However, zombies do not react to pleas. Chiya's command was simple: kill everyone in this bunker. The zombie legion opened fire without hesitation, ignoring the screams of their victims. In the blink of an eye, the group was riddled with bullets like a pack of human sieves.
Since Chiya was directly controlling the legion, the "kills" made by the zombies were recognized by the system.
[Ding! Host has activated the achievement "Thousand-Man Slayer." Reward: 30 Attribute Points!]