Industrial Cthulhu doesn't believe in the end times.

Chapter 142 The Gate to the New World
Xiao Zhenru's arrival solidified this bridgehead. The strange weapons floating in mid-air behind her, though they only exerted their power at crucial moments, were originally allocated to this firing point with the requirement of surviving with limited assistance.

As everyone relaxed, they couldn't help but look in the direction where Xiao Zhenru was.

Of course, it wasn't entirely because of her good looks; everyone was also curious about her fighting style and abilities.

The number of people with superpowers is relatively small overall, and those like Xiao Zhenru, who already possess top-level superpowers and have reached a high level, are even rarer.

Upon arriving at the bridgehead, she demonstrated formidable combat power even without employing those incredibly powerful weapons. She simply stood there, and several machine guns around her automatically loaded and opened fire, as if an invisible hand were simultaneously manipulating them.

Once a zombie breaks through the firepower blockade and gets even slightly close, it is instantly blasted away by an invisible force.

This is the application of telekinesis in combat. For Xiao Zhenru, she can use this invisible power manipulated by her consciousness to move objects out of thin air. Of course, it's not entirely out of thin air; there is also the operation of spiritual power behind it.

In the period immediately after awakening her superpower, her ideal combat mode was nothing more than directly attacking zombies with this power, breaking their necks, or lifting them up and throwing them to their deaths. However, after reaching the third level and communicating with Su Xun at the Taimon Base, she realized that she was completely wrong.

Superpowers are an extension of the hands, which is even more evident in the field of telekinesis. While people can certainly practice how to punch faster and more powerfully, from the perspective of improving combat efficiency, what should be done is to use hands to pick up knives and guns.

From that moment on, Xiao Zhenru seemed to have been suddenly unlocked, and she began to study how to combine her superpowers with various tools. Controlling firearms was just the basics, but the few things that looked and functioned like floating cannons and were actually unnamed were weapons tailor-made for her by the research zone.

Saying it was custom-made is a bit of an exaggeration. To be precise, only the outer shell was custom-made. The streamlined appearance reduces wind resistance and is more suitable for her usage. These weapons themselves cannot actually fly; they are simply manipulated by her supernatural abilities.

Its core is a miniaturized experimental version of the jet cannon on the Spirit Power Destroyer. In the future, it is planned to be transformed into a handheld individual weapon, which is no easy task. This thing is powerful, but it also has many problems.

She was essentially an experimenter for this weapon, and at least with her operating method, she wasn't too worried about the 'barrel explosion' caused by the core lens melting.

With Xiao Zhenru in charge, the several high-level zombies that appeared did not cause any further damage to the bridgehead. Even when fighting against zombies of the same level, she, who was more skilled at using tools, achieved a comprehensive suppression of the zombies.

As a result, several soldiers were able to free up their hands to perform more tasks.

The veteran looked at Sun Qi, who was carrying such a heavy automatic grenade that should have been on a vehicle, and said with a smile, "Congratulations."

"Congratulations for what?"

Sun Qi was taken aback at first, then looked down at the weapon in his hand and immediately realized something. He couldn't help but feel a surge of joy: "So I'm a superhuman now?"

"You should meet the requirements. I'll have the class monitor report it to you and register it. There will be extra allowances and benefits in the future."

Sun Qi didn't really feel the benefits. Compared to most people, especially the disaster victims outside the safe zone, he felt that his family was already very happy. What made him even happier was entering the extraordinary realm itself, which meant that the door to a new world had opened for him.

Just then, a sharp-eyed soldier pointed into the distance.

"Look, they've made contact!"

"Wow!!! That's great!!"

Their battle was not yet over, but the soldiers on the rooftop cheered as if they had won. "Quickly, let's clear the area and welcome them!"

"Old Liu, prepare the explosives and blow up the ruins on the east side."

"Xiao He, where are the incendiary bombs?"

The squad leader gave the order and called out to everyone. When he turned around, he saw Sun Qi, whose face was still covered in blood.

"You didn't even realize your face was injured? Go see a sanitation worker to get it treated first, so it doesn't get infected... What do you mean it won't get infected? Isn't a bacterial infection an infection?"

"It's just a scratch, I probably won't need it."

The squad leader walked over and patted his arm, saying to him, "Hurry up and deal with it. One more person won't make a difference. You were fine when you came. What's the harm if you go back disfigured?"

"Such a handsome young man, if he gets a scar on his face, won't his wife come after me?"

Sun Qi initially wanted to decline, since it was just a minor scratch, hardly even worthy of being called an injury on the battlefield. However, upon hearing the other party mention the word "wife," he grinned and stopped insisting, nodding and saying, "Okay, I'll be back as soon as possible."

"Whether it's fast or not is not up to you to decide, listen to the veterinarian... but it usually won't be slow."

Explosions echoed around the battlefield, obstacles that might have hindered vehicle passage were cleared away as much as possible, and flames raged over the mountains of zombie corpses.

Although Xiao Zhenru's floating cannons were more efficient at clearing things, they were experimental and could only be fired a limited number of times. They also used very precious spiritual energy crystals as their energy source, so each use had to be cost-effective. In less urgent situations, they still chose to solve the problem through normal means.

Soon, new vehicles and personnel arrived with supplies and repair equipment to support the convoy returning from the battlefield. Their arrival signified the complete formation of this bridgehead.

"Hey, why did they move to the side?"

Amidst everyone's attention, the tanks that had gathered together turned around and instead of heading directly towards this place, they charged into a horde of zombies deep within the battlefield.

The convoy was now much closer, and everyone present could clearly see the tank destroyers unleashing a torrent of flames as they swept across the battlefield, clearing out large numbers of zombies. However, given the sheer number of hundreds of thousands of zombies, the zombies that were wiped out were quickly replenished and swarmed towards the convoy.

"Oh dear, what are they doing?"

One soldier slapped his thigh in frustration, but being so far away, he could only watch helplessly.

Under the tense gazes of everyone, the convoy that was rampaging through the horde of zombies sprayed light towards a woodland. The artificial forest vanished in the stream of spiritual energy, and instantly, the zombies on the entire battlefield underwent a noticeable change.

"It's the zombie lord! They killed the zombie lord!"

The soldiers at the bridgehead cheered once again, and now, under the expectant gaze of many, the convoy finally began its return journey.

(End of this chapter)