After Van Thieu transmitted the full status to headquarters along with the coordinates of the discovered scouting vehicle, the other end fell silent for several seconds before issuing a brief directive:
Continue advancing along the previously designated route. Reinforcements will depart and follow the path of the teams.
The sun was now dipping toward the horizon, its sunset glow staining the ruined buildings a deep red and stretching the long shadows of both humans and zombies across the ground.
In a sector not far away, a group was struggling against the monsters before them.
The creatures surged forward incessantly. Though they fell one by one under the barrage of elemental abilities and cold weapons, their numbers were overwhelming. As one layer fell, the next immediately pushed through, granting the survivors not a single second to breathe.
"What do we do now, Captain?" a young man asked, fire blooming from his hands, his voice thick with anxiety as he spoke to the man with the large saber and black cloak. "We've already lost hai people. We can't die in this place."
The middle-aged man tightened his grip on the hilt of his massive blade. His gaze swept over the formation, taking in faces marked by exhaustion—eyes filled with both fierce determination and terror. He didn't shout or show panic.
"Maintain the formation. Do not break," he said, his voice deep and heavy. "There's an empty convenience store on the left. I will clear a path for you to run inside."
The moment the words left his lips, he moved. The great saber in his hand swung, cutting straight through the zombies blocking the path, while behind them, a horde of zombies pursued like moths to a flame.
The group fought as they retreated, finally lunging inside the convenience store.
"Close the door!" a member in the back screamed, putting all his strength into pulling down the iron shutter. Just as the thin metal door hit the ground, dozens of zombies thrust their filthy hands against it, pounding relentlessly from the outside.
The sound was thunderous, vibrating the entire door frame. The four remaining survivors immediately braced against the shutter, using their bodies and weapons to hold it shut. But the sheer number of zombies was too great; the pressure increased constantly, and the iron frames began to give way.
Outside, the zombies swarmed, almost completely obscuring the store's entrance.
Right at that moment, a figure appeared out of nowhere, gliding through the zombies. Every time he blurred past, heads were severed instantly. He moved so fast he left only a faint afterimage in their vision. There were no shrieks, no flashes of elemental powers; in just a few short beats, the number of zombies outside plummeted as they collapsed before they could even react.
Inside, however, the situation was grim.
Human strength had its limits. In the chaos, a piercing scream rang out. A man trying to block the door had been grabbed by the head by a zombie and bitten squarely on the shoulder, fresh blood spraying across the floor. Another person frantically tried to pull him back, but it was too late. The barricades began to buckle, and several undead heads lunged in, biting the man before he could defend himself.
The atmosphere in the store instantly became heavier than ever. They knew exactly what this meant.
Outside.
Thuong Sinh did not stop.
The sword in his hand had almost lost its distinct shape, leaving only flashes of light that tore through the air as he glided through the zombie horde. With every step he took, the ground seemed to erupt with blood. Each time his blade moved, it pierced through necks and skulls with surgical precision.
The noise also attracted other zombies, who lunged at Thuong Sinh as if he were a fresh piece of meat. Little did they know they were facing a man who had slain creatures far more terrifying than them.
There was no hesitation, no frantic shouting, only a single intent in Thuong Sinh's mind: Kill. Kill them all.
Zombies in front were decapitated before they could turn their heads. Those behind were felled in the blood of their own kind before they could push forward. He continuously employed Sword Kinesis at short range; the blade circled back and changed directions repeatedly, preventing any creature from getting close to him.
The wind swept past, blood splattered against the walls, and corpses piled upon corpses.
In just a matter of seconds, the area in front of the convenience store transformed into a slaughterhouse. Blood overflowed onto the road, pooling into dark red streams, forming a small river of gore.
The air grew thick and putrid with the stench of blood—a sight that would make anyone else retch.
Behind him, Van Thieu's group arrived and immediately joined the fray, but by the time they raised their weapons, there were hardly any zombies left to kill.
Van Thieu cut down the last few stragglers at the edge of the bloody battlefield and stood frozen for a beat. His gaze swept over the surroundings, eventually resting on the figure standing before the mountain of corpses. Thuong Sinh was soaked in red.
From head to toe, he was nearly unrecognizable. Zombie blood coated his Gale Leather Armor, making him look like a god of slaughter descended to earth to sow hell among the living.
The sight left Van Thieu's entire team stunned.
Van Binh swallowed hard, his weapon halting mid-air. He was used to seeing Thuong Sinh risk his life and kill, but the scene before him still made his scalp tingle.
So Sinh retracted his claws, his eyes falling silent. Thanh Dao stood still, her brow furrowed as she turned her head away, unable to look at the horrific carnage.
Lam Thanh Moc stared at Thuong Sinh for a long time.
He stood there, back straight, sword held low, blood dripping from the blade into the crimson stream. It was his eerie calmness that made it difficult for everyone to breathe. She clenched her fingers so hard her nails nearly pierced her palms, yet she said nothing.
It was Van Binh who finally broke the silence.
He took a deep breath, smirked, and took a few steps forward, his boots making a soft "splat" as he stepped through the blood.
"I have to say, if you keep killing like this..."
His voice carried a hint of his usual playfulness, but it was clearly forced much lower than usual. He glanced at the field of corpses, then back at Thuong Sinh, the corner of his mouth twitching.
"Are you planning on leaving us with no work to do at all?"
Just as he finished, a heavy, grinding creak echoed from behind.
The iron shutter of the convenience store was slowly pushed up from the inside.
The hinges shrieked softly as three people stepped out one by one. The man in the lead was Phan Tan Trung, the middle-aged man the group had met earlier that morning. He still held his large saber, the tip dripping with blood that had yet to dry. His sleeve was torn, and his breathing was heavy, yet his back remained straight.
Behind him was a short-haired youth, his right arm still emitting faint smoke—the trace of a recently extinguished fire ability. His face was pale from overexertion.
The last was a female Ability user, a trail of blood running from her calf down to her shoe. She walked with a limp, clearly injured, yet she remained silent.
The three of them stopped dead. Not from exhaustion, but because of the sight before them.
Zombie corpses were piled haphazardly, blood mixed with old rainwater forming pools that stretched to the end of the street. No more roaring, no more movement; only the suffocating stench of rot hung heavy in the air.
The fire-wielding youth instinctively swallowed. He looked at the carnage, then at Thuong Sinh, his eyes wide with shock.
Phan Tan Trung took a deep breath and stepped forward, his voice lowering.
"Was it you... who did this?"
Thuong Sinh turned around, his gaze sweeping over the three of them. He paused on the captain for a beat, then nodded.
"Yes."
No explanation, only a simple confirmation.
Phan Tan Trung looked at him for several seconds. He suddenly recalled the descriptions his colleagues had given of the youth before him—the half-joking rumors about a man called "The Madman." A rookie who went out alone for three days, returned with a scar across his eye, and achieved violent feats. At the time, he had heard the rumors but hadn't truly believed them.
Now, he did.
Phan Tan Trung slowly bowed his head.
"This debt of gratitude... our team will remember it."
The two behind him hesitated for half a beat before following suit. The fire-wielding youth bowed a bit deeper, his eyes no longer just full of fear, but mixed with deep respect.
Thuong Sinh said nothing. The wind blew past, thinning the scent of blood, but the pressure he exerted on the three did not diminish.
Van Binh glanced at the three of them, then back at Thuong Sinh. He exhaled softly, stepped forward, and scratched the back of his neck. His voice regained its usual casualness, but without the teasing.
"Alright, stop bowing."
"It's just killing zombies, not some grand life-saving miracle."
He said that, but his gaze quickly flickered toward the female Ability user limping in the back.
"Injured people shouldn't be left alone for long. It won't end well."
Phan Tan Trung looked up, his eyes flickering. He didn't say thank you again; he simply nodded firmly.
"I appreciate it."
Van Thieu finally stepped forward. He quickly assessed the battlefield, glanced at the partially destroyed convenience store, and then looked at the three survivors. His voice was steady, carrying the familiar rhythm of a team leader.
"We are on an outer perimeter scouting mission. Abnormalities have appeared in this area, and headquarters has been informed."
He paused.
"Where were you being chased from?"
Phan Tan Trung lightly gripped the hilt of his blade, his eyes darkening.
"From the southeast. At first, it was just a common horde, but halfway here, the numbers began to increase unnaturally. It was as if something was herding them together."
As soon as he said that, the atmosphere grew cold. Thanh Dao frowned, and Lam Thanh Moc looked up, her eyes flashing.
"Led?" she whispered.
"Or driven," So Sinh added, his voice raspy.
Phan Tan Trung didn't answer immediately. He turned to look at Thuong Sinh.
Thuong Sinh wiped a smear of blood from his cheek with the back of his hand, his eyes unnaturally calm.
"It's not just one group."
"Along the way here, all the zombies have been moving in the same direction."
He looked up toward the horizon, where the sunset was slowly fading into darkness.
"There is something up ahead."
A short sentence, but it made everyone's heart heavy.
The evening wind blew through the blood-stained street, carrying the lingering scent of rot. In the distance, within the dark red ruined buildings, something seemed to be moving silently—unheard, but enough to make one deeply uneasy.