Chapter 102: The Emergence of the Fifth-Stage Zombie

After a brief rest, Liu Rui led over a hundred young women away.

The first line of defense could be managed by just one commander, as the entrance was narrow and could only accommodate a limited number of people.

However, the second line of defense stretched two thousand meters outward; if drawn as a circle, it would span five to six kilometers, with over ten thousand people stationed along the first perimeter.

Every five meters, a third-tier fighter was assigned to guard against any third-tier zombies breaking through.

The number of fourth-tier fighters was exceedingly scarce—only a dozen or so when including those from the Lone Wolf Squad.

Now, they could only pray that not too many fourth-tier zombies appeared.

If, like at the beginning, eight fourth-tier zombies appeared at once and all charged a single point, unless someone of Fang Xia’s caliber was present, even fourth-tier fighters would be utterly unable to hold them back.

Bai Xing was no exception—given time, she could kill them all, but she could not prevent fourth-tier zombies from slaughtering others.

“Brother Fang, some are beginning to falter over there. The Swift Wind Squad and Tiger Leopard Squad are still a bit underpowered,” a young woman reported as she dashed over.

“Send the Lone Wolf Squad. With their strength, they’ll surely give it their all,” Fang Xia ordered.

With nearly a hundred second-tier fighters and dozens of third-tier fighters, their strength far surpassed that of the Swift Wind and Tiger Leopard squads; holding one line of defense would definitely be manageable.

With every passing second, lives were lost within Dawn City, and even more zombies fell.

Fang Xia’s brow furrowed deeper—no fifth-tier zombies had appeared yet.

This was the thorn in his heart. If the fifth-tier zombies were eliminated, Dawn City could certainly withstand the tide of a million zombies.

Two days ago, Chen Gang, Bai Yi, and Fang Xia had met again—this time excluding the Lone Wolves.

No matter where the fifth-tier zombies appeared, someone would immediately be dispatched to alert the other two factions.

That guy was very patient indeed.

The good news was the second line of defense had gradually stabilized. Although people continued to die, it seemed they could hold on for a while longer.

Zombies weren’t truly endless; the longer the fight continued, the fewer would remain. Besides, the initial fire attacks and projectiles had killed at least a hundred thousand zombies.

“Brother Fang, the rear is struggling. The first batch on the outskirts is already wiped out.”

“Send Li Xiaochun with some people. We must hold this line.”

Now was not the time for chaos, and they could not allow zombies to break through.

If one point collapsed, the entire defense would soon follow.

Meanwhile,

Chen Gang was stationed at the city lord’s mansion, the center of the defense. Hundreds of thousands of people were scattered around, led by various squad leaders, fighting zombies fiercely using the buildings and newly constructed fortifications.

Large numbers of fourth-tier fighters under his command were also dispersed to eliminate high-tier zombies.

Though the situation seemed stable, Chen Gang’s brow was tightly furrowed. Beside him stood two other fourth-tier fighters.

Fifth-tier zombies remained the greatest unknown.

The night’s battle had already lasted two hours.

---

On Fang Xia’s side, multiple emergencies had already occurred; even he had intervened several times.

“Brother Fang, should we retreat to the third line of defense?” Liu Rui asked for the third time.

With increasing deaths, defense was becoming more difficult.

At this rate, unless everyone was thrown into the fight, they might not hold for another hour.

“No…” Fang Xia had just said no when his expression suddenly changed.

“Quick, prepare for immediate retreat.”

“And extinguish the highest lamp. Inform Chen Gang and Bai Yi.”

This was a prearranged signal: whose lamp went out meant fifth-tier zombies had appeared.

Liu Rui’s face changed; she knew the gravity of this and quickly began making arrangements.

Several fire-elemental ability users were already in position.

Li Xiaochun led over twenty resilient ability users to the front line.

Bai Xing returned to Fang Xia’s side, her eyes sweeping relentlessly through the zombie horde.

“Brother Fang, have you found it?”

Fang Xia shook his head, his gaze still scanning.

But he trusted his instincts.

In that instant, the same feeling he had experienced atop the tall building—a chilling sensation of being watched—was unmistakable.

Suddenly, a fragmented voice echoed in Fang Xia’s mind.

“Humans… food… delicious…”

“He… food… evolve…”

Fang Xia felt as if struck by lightning.

This did not sound like a human’s thoughts.

The broken speech resembled that of a child just learning to talk.

A fifth-tier zombie—it had to be.

Fifth-tier zombies possessed intelligence comparable to a young child.

Humans were food? Evolution?

Countless thoughts flashed through Fang Xia’s mind.

Could zombies evolve by consuming humans? Weren’t they all supposed to fall from the sky?

---

In his previous life, he had never heard of zombies evolving.

Was it because such cases were rare? Or simply unseen?

Wait!

His own thoughts only triggered when the other party thought of him.

Then, was the second “food” referring to himself?

Perhaps it was not possible to evolve by consuming just anyone. Like himself, first- and second-tier upgrade crystals had already lost effect on him.

The food that could trigger evolution was himself? Or rather, fighters above fourth-tier.

With this realization, Fang Xia understood why the fifth-tier zombie had not yet appeared.

Lower-tier fighters held no appeal; what it sought was not merely the human body but the energy contained within.

As for why lower-tier zombies could not evolve, it might be due to insufficient intelligence—they simply did not know how to absorb the energy within humans.

They were driven purely by instinct to attack.

The situation had arrived suddenly, and an emergency retreat was bound to cause some chaos.

“Liu Rui, activate your skill. Clear out the zombies.”

Liu Rui’s ability was a devastating weapon for clearing the field.

With a pair of battle knives in hand, she swept through swiftly without needing to exert much force.

Once activated, her speed doubled, making it impossible for fourth-tier zombies to evade.

Under Liu Rui’s fierce onslaught, zombies on both sides were rapidly cleared, and everyone began to fall back in an orderly fashion.

The front line was now the rear.

Taking advantage of the remaining time, Liu Rui dashed forward once more, slaughtering relentlessly.

“Fall back.”

Seeing Liu Rui attempt to push forward, Fang Xia hurriedly called her back.

At the moment Liu Rui turned, a zombie suddenly lunged out from the horde.

In one leap, it landed behind her, reaching out with both hands.

“Watch out!”

Many who saw this shouted.

Liu Rui sensed the danger. Fortunately, she had been cautious; her skill still had one minute remaining.