At the border between the Field Town and Eternal Night Zone, at the human resistance outpost,
George held a firearm, standing nervously on the city’s armor plating, gazing into the distance.
Within his line of sight was a darkness so intense it seemed capable of devouring everything.
The Eternal Night Zone—home of that terrifying Monstrous Civilization.
The longer he stared, the more anxious George became, a few drops of sweat slipping down his cheeks.
He was 21 years old this year, hailing from the Field Town.
The Field Town was vast, rich in primitive and natural landscapes.
Lush grasslands, deep forests, rolling hills, and winding rivers.
Even in the wilds, herds of deer, wild rabbits, and foxes still roamed.
George came from a Survivor Town in the southern part of the Field Town.That town had a population of around five hundred, equipped with a convoy, heavy machine guns, cannons, and multiple defensive lines, and there was even a small lake nearby—its setup was fairly decent.
Even so, George and his parents never truly felt secure.
Although the town had stood in the Field Town for several years and hadn’t suffered much from monster attacks.
“No matter how sturdy this town is, no matter how strong its firepower, it’s ultimately just a dead thing,” his father once told him. “On the Wasteland, only movement ensures survival.”
And the best home was undoubtedly the Mobile City, which combined survival, migration, and combat in one.
Because of this, George’s parents had always been seeking an opportunity.
Mobile Cities weren’t uncommon in the Field Town; they regularly passed through towns and recruited members.
But George’s parents were very cautious in their selection.
Different Mobile Cities had vastly different living standards.
Some would enslave you upon entry, some had poor food and freshwater supplies, and some had inadequate or even nonexistent convoys...
After many setbacks, the family was fortunate enough to join the Apocalypse Sect.
According to the Apocalypse Sect’s arrangement, George’s parents were assigned to live on a Level 1 Mobile City that preached across regions. George, on the other hand, was assigned to a Level 2 Mobile City as a Combat Deacon.
After over a year of training, George passed his qualifications.
He wasn’t sure whether to be happy or sad, because as soon as he qualified, he had to join the resistance frontlines to battle the approaching Zombie Swarm.
He quickly shook his head. After organizing his thoughts, George looked around the outpost.
Under the arrangement of High-ranking Bishop Heath, the construction progress of the human northern outpost had already reached 70%.
In addition to the 13 Mobile Cities under the Apocalypse Sect, another 18 Mobile Cities had joined the formation.
Some of these Mobile Cities came from the Eternal Night Zone, others from the Field Town. Among them were also a few Level 1 Mobile Cities.
The Mobile City George was assigned to was named “Holy Sword K32,” a Level 2 assault-type Mobile City.
He was actually curious about how the Apocalypse Sect named its Mobile Cities.
A middle-aged Disciplinary Deacon once told him that the Apocalypse Sect typically named its Mobile Cities using a combination of swords/firearms and alphanumeric codes.
But there were two exceptions.
The first was the flagship command Mobile Cities, which usually began with “Holy.”
The second was the Mobile Cities used for preaching across regions, whose names were usually more elegant and pleasant.
At this moment, 31 Mobile Cities were following Bishop Heath’s instructions, each taking its position.
Defense-type Mobile Cities held the frontline.
Assault-type Mobile Cities were tasked with mobile annihilation.
Firepower support-type Mobile Cities stayed in the rear as city bunkers, providing large-scale bombardment.
What most caught George’s attention were two Level 2 engineer-type Mobile Cities.
They were named “Holy Mechanism N19” and “Holy Mechanism Y81.”
These were the ones responsible for constructing the human outpost.
At the forefront of the outpost, Holy Mechanism N19 had activated its crane loaded with shoveling claws and started excavating the ground. Its mechanical arm was systematically installing Level 2 City Landmines.
As a Level 2 engineer-type Mobile City, its work efficiency was extremely high, laying mines in neat, uniform rows.
To facilitate detonation, the City Landmines were configured for remote-controlled detonation.
But not just City Landmines—Holy Mechanism N19 deployed plenty of deadly traps.
At the forefront of the outpost lay a field of steel thorn brambles in various sizes.
Half-buried in the ground were spinning jagged steel drills that would burst out upon activation, shredding charging zombies into minced flesh.
There were fire trenches filled with napalm and controlled by automatic ignition devices.
Hydraulic barricades equipped with rapidly rotating alloy saw blades and steel gates, functioning like meat grinders.
And dispersed across the forward outpost, remotely triggered “Heavenbreaker” fuel-air bombs.
Once the frontline fell, these devastating weapons would be remotely activated, unleashing an overpressure shockwave and 3000-degree high-temperature blast to purify the entire area.
Seeing these installations, George couldn’t help but be stunned.
If the zombies wanted to cross the frontline, it would be even harder than climbing a mountain of blades or crossing a sea of fire!
He didn’t even dare to look at these defenses too much—if someone accidentally triggered one, it’d be a fate worse than death.
Snapping out of it, he turned his head to the other engineer-type Mobile City.
Holy Mechanism Y81 was shuttling back and forth through the rear of the outpost, systematically building Level 2 Defensive Fortresses.
In addition to solid defenses, these fortresses were equipped with Level 2 Heavy Machine Guns, Level 2 Flamethrowers, and other powerful weapons.
To prevent zombies from crawling in, the firing ports were designed to be small, so small they made it hard to even aim the barrels.
Though the fortresses were extremely sturdy and heavily armed, few people were actually willing to enter them.
The reason was simple—when the zombie swarm struck, the fortresses could easily be overrun.
Besides these fortresses, Holy Mechanism Y81 also deployed the following defensive structures.
Throughout the central and rear areas were remotely triggered high-pressure acidic fog sprayers.
A hive-structured three-dimensional firepower network composed of numerous shotgun turrets equipped with slug shells and incendiary rounds.
Over a thousand meters long, the S-shaped corridor on the outpost was lined with high-pressure flamethrowers, forming a corridor of fire.
A mechanical cutting web constructed of rapidly spinning alloy saw stakes, capable of shredding charging zombie swarms into pulp.
In addition to these scalp-numbing defenses on the outpost, the Apocalypse Sect's Mobile City firepower was also quite substantial.
Level 2 Cannons, Level 2 Heavy Machine Guns, Level 2 Convoy...
Even the firearms, grenades, melee weapons, and bulletproof vests allocated to the combat personnel were all Level 2.
Seeing all this, George couldn't help but relax his brows.
“With this setup, we can definitely hold them off!”
Just then, a "pa" sound came from beside him.
George turned his head and saw a middle-aged Combat Deacon lighting a cigarette.
Snapping out of it, he immediately reached out toward the man.
“No smoking! Put it out now!”
The Apocalypse Sect’s decrees were strict, strictly regulating both believers and residents.
Alcohol and tobacco were banned, and chaotic private lives were prohibited.
Upon joining the Apocalypse Sect, George’s entire family underwent intense doctrinal training.
Dodging George’s grab, the middle-aged deacon leisurely took a puff and exhaled a smoke ring.
“Young one, let me smoke this last cigarette in peace,” he said. “We're all going to die anyway, so what does it matter if I break the rules?”
George was stunned.
“You mean... we can’t hold the line?”
“Pft, you look like a rookie,” the middle-aged deacon shook his head. “You clearly don’t understand the combat strength of a Level 2 Monstrous Civilization—especially the unique monsters like Zombies.”
“I—”
Under George’s gaze, the middle-aged deacon took a long drag, then stubbed the mostly burned cigarette on the armor plating and ground it out firmly.
He stared into the dense, unending darkness of the Eternal Night Zone, his eyes filled with an unprecedented gravity.
“No doubt about it—our luck really sucks, being sent to fight here.”
Before George could respond, the middle-aged deacon pulled another cigarette and lighter from his pocket and lit it again.
Seeing someone approaching in the distance, George’s expression immediately changed. He quickly whispered,
“Put it out now! If you get caught, you’re finished!”
The approaching figure was a Disciplinary Deacon.
On an Apocalypse Sect Mobile City, Disciplinary Deacons were the ones nobody dared provoke.
Their primary role was to identify and suppress heretics within the Apocalypse Sect, maintain absolute rule, uphold Mobile City order, and execute violators of the doctrines without mercy.
Yet to George’s surprise, the Disciplinary Deacon who saw the lit cigarette didn’t react.
“At this point, smoke if you want,” he shrugged. “If you survive, just report yourself for a week’s confinement.”
Then he accepted the cigarette handed to him, lit it, and turned to George.
“Don’t worry. If I survive too, I’ll go serve my week.”
—
George was just about to speak when he noticed a disturbance in the distance.
He turned his head and saw tremors rippling through the darkness of the Eternal Night Zone.
At first, he was confused—but the answer quickly revealed itself.
It wasn’t explosions or Mobile Cities moving, but the synchronized impacts of thousands upon thousands of rotting feet hitting the ground.
Countless Zombies surged out from the darkness, flooding toward the outpost!
“Zombie Swarm incoming! Everyone to your positions, prepare for battle!” came the urgent shout of the Lookout from the Watchtower.
The two deacons who had been smoking quickly snapped into action, rushing to their designated posts.
George stood rooted in place, a few drops of sweat sliding down his face.
This Zombie Swarm—its scale was of the hundred-square-level!
This massive tide of the undead surged forth like a black ocean!
The first to block them was the outpost’s frontline layer of steel thorn brambles. At the moment of impact, the zombies’ rotting bodies burst apart like overripe fruit.
Shattered flesh and white bones sprayed in a fan shape, forming a several-meter-wide buffer zone of flesh and blood at the front of the defensive line.
These steel thorn brambles were indeed devastating, but as more and more zombies threw themselves forward, the brambles were buried and turned into a small hill.
As the steel thorn brambles failed, the next line of defense activated.
Half-buried spinning jagged steel drills now spun at high speed, grinding the charging zombies into meat paste. But they soon jammed, clogged with too much flesh and bone debris.
Next came the City Landmines, multiple fire trenches, and the hydraulic barricades of the meat grinders...
These defenses had terrifying lethality, but they simply couldn’t hold against the sheer number of the Zombie Swarm!
In under five minutes, the frontline outpost was breached.
At that moment, the firepower support-type Mobile Cities in the rear opened fire simultaneously.
Two to three hundred cannons spewed flames, their recoil forcing them half a meter backward.
Countless shells traced dark red arcs across the sky.
The Zombie Swarm was instantly engulfed in a storm of explosions, even causing soil geysers to erupt.
In addition to conventional shells, the Apocalypse Sect had specially provided Fragmentation Bombs.
These shells were packed with nails and iron shards, exploding with the power of a massively magnified shotgun.
Though not effective against Mobile City armor, they were incredibly efficient—and brutally so—against humans and monsters.
As one Fragmentation Bomb after another hit and exploded, zombies within dozens of meters were instantly shredded to pieces.
Meanwhile, the other Mobile Cities were also firing madly.
Under the barrage of dense firepower networks, the advance of the Zombie Swarm slowed.
Before anyone could breathe a sigh of relief, another wave of enemies emerged from the darkness of the Eternal Night Zone.
They were unmistakably six Level 2 Zombie Mobile Cities and ten Level 1 Zombie Mobile Cities.
Assault-type, Firepower Support-type, Defense-type... they had the same configurations as the human side.
Assault-type and Defense-type Zombie Cities charged forward, while Firepower Support-type Zombie Cities took aim and opened fire.
These cities had just as many cannons as the human side.
Unexpectedly, the most numerous cannons mounted on their armor plating were large-caliber ones.
And those cannons had already been loaded with hordes of writhing, howling Zombies.
The Zombie Gunners let out a roar and pressed their hands into the Flesh Sockets.
With the firing of the cannons, a downpour of Living Corpse Shells rained upon the human outpost.
George watched in stunned silence as over a hundred Zombies fell toward the armor plating where he stood.
More than half of the Zombies were already dead; the surviving ones twisted and rose after impact,
launching themselves at the nearby humans.
Before George could recover from the shock, gunfire erupted nearby.
A Zombie lunging at him was instantly shot down.
He turned and saw it was that same middle-aged deacon he’d spoken with earlier.
“You dumb kid! If you don’t wanna die, start shooting!” the deacon shouted.
As waves of Zombie Mobile Cities surged into the forward outpost, the embedded “Heavenbreaker” fuel-air bombs were triggered.
The entire frontline trembled violently, and the ensuing overpressure shockwave and searing heat swept out in an instant.
The Zombie Swarm was vaporized in a flash, and those Zombie Mobile Cities turned into blazing fireballs.
George clutched the nearby railing tightly, bracing against the roaring wind, his eyes nearly shut.
“What tremendous power!” he exclaimed. “Surely we can hold the line now.”
But the middle-aged deacon lit another cigarette in the storm and spoke calmly.
“It’s not over yet.”
That round of explosions had been highly effective, wiping out a large number of Zombie Swarm units and Zombie Mobile Cities.
But just minutes later, a new wave of the Zombie Army arrived.
This time, it was twelve Level 2 Zombie Mobile Cities.
They spread out, treading over the ruined defenses drenched in the blood and flesh of the Zombie Swarm, breaking through and invading the human formation.