Aaron Palmer couldn’t help but mutter, “We’re doomed. Is the whole squad really wiped out?”

Blake Blue frowned slightly. “It’s highly likely. The situation doesn’t look too optimistic.”

Dylan DuPont’s voice came through the walkie-talkie immediately, his tone crisp and decisive. “We’ve completely lost contact with the vanguard. Let’s head to Vorlag to rest for the night and continue our journey tomorrow morning.”

“Copy that!”

The team members in each vehicle echoed their agreement.

The light, drizzling rain continued to fall, leaving the road slick and treacherous. The convoy navigated a series of winding turns for another ten minutes. This area was remote, and the flora had grown at an insane rate, resulting in an absurdly high coverage. Only a few tall buildings and wide lanes hadn’t been completely swallowed by the greenery.

The windows were rolled down, allowing the fine mist of rain to drift inside and dampen their clothes, but no one paid it any mind. They casually unleashed their superpowers to dispatch the scattered zombies that wandered too close along the way. Before long, they arrived at a high-rise building situated on elevated ground.

Vorlag was an office building located next to a plaza in the old district. Since the apocalypse broke out in the middle of the night, there weren’t many zombies around the building—only about a thousand of them wandering aimlessly at the base. They didn’t seem like much of a threat.

Leaning against the car window and shifting forward slightly, Luna Dawson’s crisp voice rang out. “How many zombies are there in this old district altogether?”

Kevin Keane answered slowly, “Dylan DuPont said that when the reconnaissance drone came to scout earlier, it found at least over a hundred thousand zombies surrounding the signal source.”

A speck of metal dust condensed on the tip of Blake Blue’s finger as he spoke in a calm tone. “The mutated flora and fauna around here are also hidden dangers. They guard their territories like fiercely protective parents. The low-order ones don’t even dare to approach the high-order ones, and those of the same order will cannibalize each other. They’re much trickier than zombies, so everyone needs to stay alert.”

Aaron Palmer groaned. “Doesn’t that mean we’ll be fighting a two-front war? Bashing zombies on one hand and defending against those mutated things on the other? That’s way too exhausting!”

The teams quickly exchanged a few words over the walkie-talkies and finalized their plan. The convoy charged straight toward the base of the office building.

As soon as the vehicles approached, the zombies below caught the scent of the living. Amidst the drizzling rain, they bared their fangs and opened their gaping maws, lunging forward like drenched madmen and splashing the puddles beneath their feet.

Aaron Palmer let out a low roar. “Bring it on! You’re just serving yourselves up!”

The dozen or so cars floored their accelerators. The zombies blocking their path were sent flying like paper dolls before the vehicles came to a uniform halt in front of the building.

The very next second, several earthen walls abruptly shot up from the ground, shielding everyone in the center.

The Wind Ability Users raised their hands and unleashed Wind Blades. The heads of the zombies lunging at the walls were instantly shredded into minced meat, absurdly fragile.

The Space Superpower Users in the squad moved nimbly, storing the dozen vehicles into their spatial dimensions in the blink of an eye.

His expression calm and unhurried, Blake Blue raised his hand and began channeling his superpower to alter the metal framework of the main entrance.

The crowd filed inside. Little Sweet Potato’s vines coiled and writhed nimbly, darting rapidly among the people and swiftly reaping zombie heads.

Once the last person rushed into the office building, Blake Blue backhandedly added another layer of metal plating, sealing the door tight without a hint of panic.

The moment the doors were shut, the outside erupted with a barrage of sounds: BANG BANG BANG from the continuous ramming, the ear-piercing screech of claws scraping against glass, all intertwined with the patter of the falling rain. It was enough to make anyone’s scalp tingle.

Everyone pulled out their flashlights, searching for the emergency stairwell.

Luna Dawson extended her senses throughout the entire building. The twenty-nine floors were devoid of humans. There were just a few low-order mutated plants on the twenty-first and twenty-sixth floors, along with a Third-tier Zombie on the top floor.

Sebastian Spencer leaned close to Dylan DuPont and muttered a few words before Dylan announced, “There is a Third-tier Zombie on the top floor. There are no other dangers.”

Clayton Churchill was also whispering something to Kyle Keith. Knowing there was no immediate threat, Luna Dawson began wandering around with Rollo, checking to see if there was anything worth collecting.

Sharon Sloan couldn’t stand seeing Luna Dawson acting so leisurely and directly snapped at her. “Hey! Tell your stupid dog to go find the stairwell and scout the way! What is it sniffing around blindly for?”

The moment Sharon Sloan’s words fell, several lightning-fast vines shot through the members of Omni Squad. Suddenly feeling her feet leave the ground, she was hoisted high into the air, a vine wrapped tightly around her neck.

Luna Dawson inspected a folding screen cabinet in the reception area, thought it looked quite nice, and stored it away with a mere thought. Only then did she speak in a lazy drawl. “Who did you call a stupid dog?”

“Urgh… urk… ack…”

Sharon Sloan instantly looked like a chicken waiting for the slaughter. Her hands desperately clawed at the vine as she struggled violently, her eyes filled with terror as she stared at the woman whose face still bore a pleasant smile.

Rollo and Little Tiger also grew in size in an instant. The current Rollo stood at a shoulder height of over three meters, while Little Tiger had expanded to twice the size of a fully grown tiger, immediately making the spacious first-floor lobby feel incredibly cramped.

A ring of silver-white electrical arcs gathered around Pinky’s mouth. CROAK, CROAK. The deep, rumbling frog calls hammered against the nerves of everyone in Omni Squad.

The several Aberrant Beasts collectively bared their fangs and growled low at Omni Squad. Confronted by the intense fluctuations of high-order energy right before their eyes, the dozens of people were startled. Some of the more timid ones instantly went weak in the knees and slumped to the floor.

Everyone present felt their breathing tighten. Even the low-order zombies that had been banging against the doors and windows outside inexplicably stopped what they were doing and wandered aimlessly back into the veil of rain.

William Walsh had been standing right next to Sharon Sloan. When the whistling sound of the incredibly fast vines tearing through the air reached him, he didn’t even have time to react. He turned his head only to see his sister suspended in mid-air. Subconsciously, sparks flew from his hands as he slashed several flaming blades at the vine binding her.

However, the attack didn’t faze the vine in the slightest. Instead, it ignited the hem of Sharon Sloan’s pants. The tongues of fire quickly licked their way up her leg, instantly burning her calf until charred and red flesh was exposed.

“Quick! Water Ability Users! Put out the fire!” William Walsh’s panicked voice abruptly exploded across the room.

“Ah!”

“Ah…”

Sharon Sloan frantically conjured streams of water over herself to douse the flames. The other two Water Ability Users in Omni Squad snapped out of their daze and rapidly sprayed water all over her.

Luna Dawson crossed her arms and watched this farcical display. She thought these people really didn’t know the meaning of death. She had always been tender toward women, but who told this stupid woman to insult her little dog?

Dylan DuPont hurriedly stepped in to plead for mercy. These siblings were still useful; they couldn’t just die here. “Captain Dawson, the retrieval mission requires these two to lead the way. Please, spare her life!”

Luna Dawson curled her lip. Catching her drift, Little Sweet Potato swung Sharon Sloan around in several full 360-degree circles like a pendulum ride, before tossing her with a loud THUD onto the floor in front of the reception desk. Her charred leg was bent at a grotesque angle.

Sharon Sloan spewed out a mouthful of fresh blood. Her chest and respiratory tract desperately gasped for air, letting out a muffled, wheezing HISS like a broken bellows.

The sound of her struggling breaths echoed through the empty first-floor lobby, making everyone’s scalp tingle.

The personnel from the Special Operations Department were absolutely dumbfounded. They muttered amongst themselves, “Holy crap, the coercion of a Fourth Order is insane! Even the zombies chickened out!”

Clayton Churchill stealthily glanced at Kyle Keith, shooting him a series of pointed looks that clearly said: She brought it upon herself.

Kyle Keith shone his flashlight around. When he saw Luna Dawson walking back over, he finally turned his gaze toward the other squad members who had been eagerly watching the show.

William Walsh rushed over and gathered Sharon Sloan into his arms, roaring, “Lucas Scott! Get over here and heal her!”

A teenage boy hurried over in a panic, immediately channeling his Healing Ability.

The other members of Omni Squad, meanwhile, drew their guns and aimed them uniformly at Sunset Squad. In an instant, the atmosphere grew tense once more.

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