"Hold steady, we can win!"
On the watchtower of a Level 2 Mobile City, a lookout shouted urgently.
He was not blindly confident.
Thanks to the defensive arrangements on the front lines and the firepower coordination from the rear positions, the million-strong Zombie Swarm had already dwindled significantly.
The only task left for the human side was to focus on dealing with those Zombie Mobile Cities.
Overall, the odds of victory for the human side were overwhelmingly favorable.
They had far more Mobile Cities, and they relied on their fortifications for defense.
Accompanied by a series of cannon blasts, the Zombie Mobile Cities launched hundreds, if not thousands, of Smoke Shells.
Unlike regular white smoke, the smoke emitted upon the explosion of their shells was blood-red and extremely thick.
This blood-like smoke gradually enveloped the stronghold,George clenched the stock of his gun tightly, his lips moving silently, his knuckles turning pale from tension. He wanted to gag, but nothing came out. The eyelashes of this young Combat Deacon trembled like startled moth wings, and his breathing turned into short, shallow gasps.
At this very moment, he was more nervous than ever before.
Twelve Zombie Mobile Cities were now shrouded in the thick, rolling smoke.
More than the battle itself, it was the oppressive sense of impending conflict that was truly lethal.
The enemy could launch an attack at any moment, from any direction.
Just then, his shoulder was suddenly slapped hard by someone.
"If you want to live and see your family again, then snap out of it!" A middle-aged Deacon roared hoarsely.
George seemed to awaken from a dream and nodded slowly.
Seeing his expression, the middle-aged Deacon regained a bit of composure and even sighed with melancholy.
"Such a sin... This damned Church actually sent a kid this young to the battlefield."
"S...Sir!"
George returned to his senses and stammered out.
"If I want to survive, what should I do?"
"On the battlefield, what you need to do is just like those big guys."
The middle-aged Deacon casually lit a cigarette and looked up toward the Mobile Cities not far away.
"Move, then open fire."
Time ticked by, and everyone's nerves grew increasingly tense.
The rumble coming from within the smoke became louder and closer.
The next moment, the thick fog was broken open, and countless figures charged out simultaneously!
These were various vehicles deployed by the assault-type Zombie Cities within the smoke.
Off-road vehicles, motorcycles, airships, jet planes, helicopters, even infantry combat vehicles...
Hundreds of vehicles charged forward densely packed, like a black tide!
From the off-road vehicles, Zombies holding rifles and rocket launchers stuck their heads out and howled wildly.
Zombies riding motorcycles waved Molotov cocktails and laughed maniacally.
Most eye-catching of all were the jet planes.
Inside the cockpits, Zombies’ grayish-blue, decayed hands gripped the control sticks tightly, and behind their goggles, their bloodshot, murky eyes stared fixedly at the instrument panels.
During the rapid dive of the jets, many Zombies’ lower jaws suddenly detached, and they impatiently pressed them back in place with their palms.
Not only that, but three defensive-type Zombie Cities also burst through the smoke.
Their exteriors were covered with thick white bones, and plumes of thick smoke billowed from their steam chimneys.
Following them were the assault-type Mobile Cities advancing in a scattered formation.
"Open fire! Open fire!" a Lord shouted hoarsely.
Behind the stronghold, the fire-support Mobile Cities unleashed a full volley of cannon fire.
The assault-type Cities dispatched the convoys, helicopters, and small airships that had been deployed earlier outside.
Before the City Battle officially began, both sides' convoys and flying vehicles engaged first.
The clash between the living and the decayed erupted across the stronghold, with roaring engines and the screeches of Zombies merging into a vortex of death.
The human side’s off-road vehicles raced forward, the heavy machine guns mounted on the roofs spitting flames, with spent shells raining onto the asphalt like a storm.
The Zombie convoys’ firepower was just as fierce—if not more so.
At the very front were the Zombie motorcycles.
The Zombie riders on them laughed wildly, casually tossing Molotovs at the human vehicles.
Some Zombie riders, hunched like bows, twisted their throttles to the maximum, evaded human gunfire,
and leapt through the air to crash into the vehicles.
Because they were at the front line, most of them were shot dead by concentrated firepower.
The Zombies didn’t care about such casualties.
They were already dead to begin with—return tickets didn’t matter.
In the skies, the firefight was just as intense.
Human jet squadrons tore through the clouds like Peregrine Falcons, their machine guns roaring, weaving death in their trails of fire.
Charging at them was a hellish Zombie aerial formation.
Within the hybrid bodies of flesh and machine, the Zombies’ withered fingers gripped control sticks, their hollow, rotting eyes locked onto the crosshairs.
As the two squadrons collided, the clouds became a grinder of steel and decay.
Zombies knew no fear, would not retreat.
They only charged toward the world of the living with rotting obsession.
Above the stronghold, the Mobile Cities of humanity and the Zombies formally clashed.
Rapid charges, Mobile Evasion, cannon fire, convoy maneuvers.
The stronghold burned, and the ground trembled.
On the Armor Deck, George gripped the railing tightly. At this moment, Holy Sword K32 was executing Mobile Evasion.
Engaging it was an Assault-type Zombie Mobile City.
"Boom!"
The Cannons on the Armor Deck of Holy Sword K32 roared thunderously, the shells tearing through the air and slamming directly into the enemy’s flank.
That rusted flesh-and-mechanical Armor Deck was instantly ripped open, triggering a billowing explosion.
But soon, it began slowly repairing itself.
"We must increase the firepower!" a Deacon shouted hoarsely.
Soon after, that Zombie Mobile City returned fire as well.
The most numerous weapons were the large-caliber Cannons loaded with Zombies.
In an instant, countless Living Corpse Shells rained down.
The Zombie forces landed on the Armor Deck one after another.
Stuffed forcibly into the barrels and accelerated to the extreme by the cannon blasts, these Zombies were no longer recognizable upon landing, with more than half dead or severely wounded.
Yet they still lunged at humans under the drive of pure instinct, shrieking all the while.
For a moment, gunfire erupted across the entire Mobile City.
George leaned beside the middle-aged Deacon, firing desperately.
The Level 2 Firearms and Level 2 Heavy Machine Guns unleashed extraordinary power at this moment, cutting down the Zombie Swarm like harvesting wheat.
Just then, multiple figures appeared in the sky.
The Zombies’ light airships slowly pressed down from the pale gray clouds, their rotting flesh bladders crawling with black vein-like patterns, and their hulls hanging with decayed gondolas.
Inside, they were packed full of shrieking, thrashing Zombies.
Awaiting them were the Level 2 Anti-Air Autocannons aboard Holy Sword K32.
"Open fire, shoot them down!" a Combat Deacon roared.
The multiple Anti-Air Autocannons on the Armor Deck suddenly roared to life. The 20mm incendiary rounds turned into blazing red whips, lashing violently at the sky.
This volley struck the bladders of all the Zombie airships. The warheads tore through the rotting skin, and flames instantly spread along the vein-like lines, turning the bladders into a massive, twisted fire curtain.
The Zombies inside the gondolas thrashed madly in the flames, their burning bodies plummeting like raindrops.
Before anyone could catch their breath, a new wave of Zombie light airships arrived.
Their gondolas opened, unleashing hundreds and thousands of Zombies upon Holy Sword K32.
The first wave of Zombies shattered upon impact, their limbs splitting open like overripe fruit. But more of them twisted and rose again. Though their bones were broken, they still managed to move. Some dragged exposed skeletal limbs as they began their charge.
Holy Sword K32 was instantly engulfed in a dense black tide.
"Aaaaahhhhhh!" George pulled the trigger, firing wildly at the incoming Zombies.
The scene before him was too intense. Only screaming wildly could suppress the fear in his heart.
Firing, moving, reloading, firing again.
These were the only thoughts left in his mind now.
In the young Deacon’s pupils burned the reflection of battle, each breath thick with the stench of gunpowder. His fingers clutched the trigger tightly, his knuckles whitening from force, and his shoulder hollow had gone numb and dull from bracing the gunstock for so long — he was so focused he felt none of it.
No one knew how much time had passed before everything finally quieted down again.
Returning to his senses, George slowly lowered his gun.
The Armor Deck was now covered in dried blood, bullet holes, and countless Zombie corpses.
The barrel of the Heavy Machine Gun was warped from overheating, like a withered metallic vine. Spent shells were piled into small mountains nearby.
The invading Zombies on the Armor Deck had all been wiped out. The survivors began quickly clearing the deck.
"We... survived?" he asked hesitantly.
Turning his head, he saw that the Zombie Mobile Cities had already been mostly cleared out. Humanity’s convoys and aircraft had seized control of both ground and sky.
"Ha... hahaha!"
Before he realized it, George began to laugh.
At that moment, the blood-red smoke that had shrouded the battlefield finally dispersed.
From within the thick, inescapable darkness of the Eternal Night Zone, another disturbance emerged.
Under everyone’s gaze, dozens of gigantic figures slowly emerged from the shadows.
They were Level 2 Zombies, each standing over a hundred meters tall.
Giant Tyrants, Giant Screeching Banshees, Giant Webweavers, Giant Corroders...
These massive Zombies stepped forward heavily, slowly advancing toward the stronghold.
Most striking among them were the Giant Tyrants.
They resembled towering mountains of Zombie remains, and their very presence exerted immense pressure.
Every one of their muscles bulged like aged steel cables, their surfaces coated with asphalt-like hardened corpses.
Stunned for a moment, George felt someone grab his collar tightly.
He turned and saw it was the middle-aged Deacon.
"This is probably the final wave," he said urgently. "If we can hold through this, we’ll live!"
Leading the charge were the Giant Screeching Banshees.
Their chests distorted and expanded like accordions, then they unleashed deafening screams.
The high-frequency, vibrating shrieks ruptured everyone’s eardrums, drawing blood.
But soon, they fell silent.
Because the fire-support Mobile Cities in the rear launched a round of bombardment.
At the same time, the Giant Webweavers curled up and suddenly leapt into the air.
These massive Zombies launched hundreds of meters forward, landing near several Mobile Cities.
Among them was Holy Sword K32.
At this moment, George was extremely close to it on the Armor Deck.
Four-lobed mandibles split open at the neck, multiple thick limbs resembling spider legs, and huge, pulsating compound eyes.
The next second, the Webweaver sprayed a large amount of spider silk toward Holy Sword K32.
All Cannons on Holy Sword K32 then opened fire upon it.
Struck at close range, the Webweaver immediately let out a series of mournful howls, turning into a massive ball of roaring flames.
Letting out a breath of relief, George couldn’t help but glance toward the direction of the Eternal Night Zone.
Once again, movement came from the darkness. An Assault-type Zombie Mobile City slowly emerged.
Its flag, city paint, and Zombies on the Armor Deck were all dressed in black Goblin Uniforms.
Leading them was a female Zombie commander.
She wore a classical black gauze dress, an elegant hat on her head, and a light veil covering her face.
A bead of sweat involuntarily slid down George’s forehead.
Although only one Zombie Mobile City had returned, he had a bad feeling about it.
And the performance of this Zombie City in the following moments undoubtedly confirmed his unease.
It suddenly burst out with unprecedented speed, wantonly destroying and reaping through the human Mobile Cities on the stronghold.
Experienced and ruthless tactical evasion, precise timing in engagement...
Externally deployed Zombie convoys and Zombie aerial formations, Zombie Lookouts on the Armor Deck, Zombie Gunners, Zombie Combat Captains.
Whether in tactics or personnel quality, this Zombie Mobile City was top-tier.
In just over ten minutes, multiple Mobile Cities had been destroyed.
The human side, once holding the advantage, suddenly found itself in grave danger.
Just as George felt a jolt of dread, a Mobile City unexpectedly stepped forward.
Upon seeing it clearly, he was momentarily stunned.
It was the flagship of the human side—Saint.
And its Lord was the human supreme commander, Bishop Heath.
This Mobile City continued to charge forward, engaging the Zombie City in combat.
The two sides exchanged fire at extremely close range, executed Mobile Evasion, and the scene was intensely thrilling.
George couldn’t help but widen his eyes.
He hadn’t expected this High-ranking Bishop to be so brave in combat!
Saint ultimately destroyed the enemy’s flank, forcing them to fire Smoke Shells and retreat.
Then, this Mobile City, like a banner on the battlefield, led the troops to sweep through the remaining enemies.
This time, the human side claimed victory.
Once the Armor Deck was confirmed safe, George slowly sat down against the railing.
Only now did he feel the sharp pain in the web of his hand and shoulder.
As a relieved smile appeared on the corner of his lips, he also wiped the sweat from his forehead.
This time, he had finally survived.
Looking out, the stronghold was already in shambles—practically reduced to ruin.
Saint then led the garrison in retreat.
Now, the stronghold needed to be redeployed from the beginning.
At that moment, someone gently patted his shoulder.
Turning his head, he found it was the middle-aged Deacon.
He surveyed the Armor Deck and battlefield, nodded lightly, and lit a cigarette.
"How does it feel to survive, kid?"
George nodded and smiled.
"Sir, please give me a cigarette."