Wu Ze, hiding in the ruins, stared fixedly through a gap in a crumbling wall at the scene outside that looked like something out of a war movie. The sight of that giant beast struggling and roaring within the steel storm was like a potent shot of adrenaline being slammed into his heart.
Since the end of the world, he had been hiding and running, living in the shadows like a rat. Hunger, fear, and despair—these negative emotions had tormented him day and night like maggots gnawing at his bones. He was fed up with this stifling existence; he missed his former life of extravagance and debauchery, and he yearned even more to fight and conquer like a real man!
Everything before his eyes completely ignited the flames he had suppressed for so long. Watching those soldiers, some his age and some even younger, charging fearlessly toward a monster capable of making gods and Buddhas tremble, a surge of primal, masculine blood rushed to his head.
He wanted to fight too! He didn't want to hide in the back like a coward anymore! He wanted to pick up a gun, stand with these people, and pump bullets into that monster's body!
Once this thought emerged, it was like a prairie fire that could no longer be extinguished. Wu Ze's breathing became rapid, his eyes turned bloodshot, and he clenched his fists, leaning forward as if he truly intended to charge out from the ruins!
"What are you doing?!"
His girlfriend, who had been gripping his arm tightly, keenly sensed his abnormality. She let out a scream and hugged Wu Ze's waist with all her might.
"Let go of me! I'm going to help! I'm going to fight!" Wu Ze struggled like a bull in heat, trying to break free from his girlfriend's restraint.
"Are you crazy?! Do you want to go out there and die?!" The girl was on the verge of tears from anxiety. She used all her strength to hold Wu Ze back while reaching out and slapping him hard across the face, left and right.
"Slap! Slap!"
The crisp sound of slaps echoed in the narrow space.
"Snap out of it! Look outside! Is that a fight you can join? You haven't even touched a gun! Going out there is just suicide! What am I supposed to do if you die?!"
The burning pain on his face and his girlfriend's tearful roar finally cooled Wu Ze's blood-frenzied mind a little. Panting heavily, he looked at the battlefield again and realized how naive and ridiculous his thoughts were.
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On the battlefield, conventional firearm attacks were almost no different from an itch to the Giant Zombie. Bullets could only produce insignificant sparks on its "skin" made of corpses and concrete. What truly dealt damage were the anti-tank missiles trailing plumes of fire and the armor-piercing rounds fired from tank main guns!
Every missile hit would blast a massive hole in the giant beast, sending countless twisted remains and debris flying. The depleted uranium armor-piercing shells fired by the tanks were even more terrifying; they could easily tear through the beast's "muscle," boring bottomless tunnels through its body and bringing out large sprays of foul-smelling black blood and tissue.
Despite this, the giant beast's vitality remained frighteningly tenacious. Braving the dense artillery fire, it swung its massive arms made of rebar and corpses; every swing could smash a small building, kicking up clouds of dust.
Just then, the voice of the Black Watch Commander rang out through the loudspeakers once more.
"All ground units! Withdraw immediately! Repeat, all ground units, withdraw immediately to a safe distance of 800 meters! Prepare for artillery support! We're going to blow it to smithereens! 'God's Rod', execute Artillery Strike Plan A-3!"
As the order was given, the besieging soldiers, tanks, and armored vehicles retreated rapidly like a receding tide.
Meanwhile, at the F University Command Center over ten kilometers away from the battlefield, Lin Xuan stood before a massive holographic sand table, watching the battle coldly.
On the sand table, a large red light representing the Giant Zombie flickered frantically, surrounded by countless blue lights representing the troops, forming a perfect encirclement.
"Target locked. Rocket barrage ready," an operator reported.
Lin Xuan nodded and gave a concise command: "Fire."
Deep within the base behind him, the ten Remote Multi-barrel Rocket Launcher Vehicles just exchanged for with Biomass were parked quietly at the launch site. Their honeycomb-like launchers slowly rose, aiming at the sky.
"Swoosh swoosh swoosh swoosh swoosh—!!!"
Accompanied by a series of air-tearing shrieks, over a hundred 400mm rockets—like an angry swarm of hornets emerging from a disturbed nest—soared into the sky, trailing long tongues of fire!
These rockets traced deadly parabolas in the air, crossing the distance of over ten kilometers in seconds, accurately saturating the entire block where the Giant Zombie was located.
Henry's camera lens faithfully recorded this apocalyptic scene.
The sky seemed to be lit up by a meteor shower.
Countless points of light descended from the heavens, carrying an aura of total destruction as they slammed into the still-roaring giant beast.
"Boom—Boom boom boom boom boom—!!!"
A violent explosion occurred that defied description.
The moment the first rocket landed, the entire world seemed to lose all sound. This was immediately followed by an earth-shattering roar and a blindingly bright light.
With the Giant Zombie at the center, an area hundreds of meters wide was instantly swallowed by a sea of fire. Mushroom clouds of fire, smoke, and dust rose one after another from the explosions, merging together as if to burn a hole in the sky.
The earth trembled and wailed violently, as if a magnitude ten earthquake had struck. Before this terrifying shockwave, the surrounding skyscrapers were like paper; glass curtain walls shattered instantly, and reinforced concrete structures were twisted, torn, and then collapsed with a crash.
Wu Ze and the other three hiding in the ruins felt like a small boat in a storm. The terrifying shockwave, carrying debris and heat, swept over them, completely leveling the shop ruins where they were hiding. The four were tossed by the air blast, rolling several times on the ground before stopping, covered in dust and abrasions, their ears ringing so loudly they could hear nothing.
Wu Ze struggled to lift his head and look toward the center of the explosion. The color had completely drained from his face, replaced by a deathly pallor. The hot-blooded impulse from before had long since vanished, frightened away by this terrifying sight akin to divine wrath.
The artillery saturation lasted for a full minute.
When the aftershocks of the final rocket's explosion faded, peace finally returned to the world.
The once-bustling commercial district had been completely transformed into scorched earth. Collapsed buildings, burning wreckage, and molten metal were everywhere. The air was thick with the pungent smell of gunpowder and burnt protein.
And in the center of that scorched earth, the once-unbeatable Giant Zombie had vanished.
No, it hadn't vanished.
Its massive body had been completely blown apart, leaving only a mangled, black-smoke-emitting skeleton slumped on the melted asphalt road. The countless corpses that made up its body had long been vaporized by the high temperatures and explosions, leaving not a trace behind.
This terrifying beast, capable of destroying a small city, had been completely erased from this world in just a few short minutes by absolute, overwhelming firepower.