Industrial Cthulhu doesn't believe in the end times.

Chapter 155 The battlefield now belongs to us.

“Retreat, retreat, retreat!”

"Move quickly!"

As time went on, the pressure on the transportation lines increased. After the last group of survivors successfully evacuated, the distant firing positions were abandoned and left behind, which would mean being overwhelmed by endless zombies.

Sun Qi and others also boarded the vehicle and fought and retreated with the armored forces. Advancing required a lot of time and effort for every meter they moved, but retreating was incredibly fast. Fortunately, they were not in a rout, but were actively retreating while maintaining control of the battlefield rhythm. Otherwise, such an extremely chaotic battlefield situation would have inevitably led to the collapse of their organization.

In less than two hours, the team, composed entirely of superhumans and highly mechanized, withdrew to their starting point.

This was the place where Xiao Zhenru had once provided support. Here, they saw the third-tier powerhouse, whom everyone privately called an angel. They wondered what kind of battle she had gone through, as she had wounds on her body. Of the 'floating cannons' that she had taken with her when she set off, only two remained.

However, she still participated in the defense here, using machine guns and cannons to maintain a powerful firepower output, and even tearing zombies apart with her strong psychic power.

"We can't retreat any further! Cover the survivors as they get onto the vehicle!!"

During their journey over the past few days, two railway lines have been connected here, one for each direction, leading directly to Hailing County Railway Station and connecting to the railway network beyond. Previously used for transporting supplies, these lines are now used to bring survivors back to the safe zone. Many survivors have directly entered these better-protected and more efficient carriages.

Humanity's systematic logistical capabilities for warfare are far too efficient compared to the zombies. The mindless zombies neither bomb transportation lines nor sabotage railways, allowing military units to deal with hordes of zombies that outnumber them by dozens of times with considerable ease.

Several armed helicopters hovered in mid-air, spitting fire towards the zombie horde. However, their takeoff was also very risky, as zombie birds could be seen lingering in the distance, but they could not get close due to the ground fire.

Nowadays, those who dare to pilot these planes are generally quite powerful superhumans, and it can be said that taking off is a meritorious act.

In this context, these aerial forces naturally have their due value, elevating the battlefield from a two-dimensional to a three-dimensional plane, significantly enhancing intelligence gathering, frontline command, and emergency support.

As the troops regrouped and the battle line gradually stabilized, new soldiers entered the position after the survivors boarded the vehicles, shouting loudly at them amidst the deafening gunfire.

"You guys should go back and rest! We'll take over the defense!"

This was part of the plan, since their orders were to continue back to their base in Hailing, not to stay there.

"What section are you in?"

"The Master of Langya!"

"Leave it to you!"

Sun Qi's squad was lucky and didn't suffer any losses along the way, but when the battle spread to Haiqu Division, many members of the team actually died in the fighting. Moreover, after several days of intense fighting, they definitely needed a longer period of rest.

"I have a feeling that something's not right over there?"

A soldier with good eyesight suddenly raised a question, and the soldiers who were changing shifts all looked ahead.

"Look at the city!"

A crimson halo, like the tide, gradually appeared at the edge of the field of vision, as if a giant wave was surging in this direction.

"Are the zombies from the occupied area coming out?"

Is the Zombie King coming?!

The group exchanged glances, and many stopped in their tracks as they were about to board the bus.

"Alright, go back. Your mission is over. Now it's our turn to fight!"

The platoon leader also called out, "Let's go. Without orders, we shouldn't get in the way!"

More people on a front are not necessarily better. Without allocated firepower, planned combat positions, and adequate logistical support, a large number of soldiers piled up on the front lines beyond the plan may not bring an increase in combat effectiveness, but more likely to cause chaos.

The train carrying the survivors had already gone far away, so the group didn't linger and boarded the train to head back.

"So we're going back already?" "After playing for so many days, I'm still getting used to it."

The road ahead became truly safe, and the soldiers in the vehicle relaxed considerably, chatting and laughing.

"So much trouble." The veteran shook his head. "You guys aren't happy about taking a break? You should be grateful to have survived the battlefield. Half of the sixth squad died during the advance, and the entire second squad of the third company was wiped out when we entered the shelter. We're considered very lucky."

“Old Meng is right.” The squad leader also spoke up: “It is a remarkable achievement to come back without a single one missing. It is good that you are willing to fight, but don’t forget the cruelty of the battlefield. This is not a good place.”

He sighed: "It's not really appropriate for me to say this, but you're all young people, most of you joined the army after the Battle of Haiqu, a bunch of greenhorns. I don't want to see you die here."

"Let's complete our own tasks well, and then we can rest properly when the rest is up to us."

After deliberating for a long time, he finally spoke up: "Life is your own, once it's gone, it's gone. A hero is one who dares to sacrifice himself when there's no other way, but a fool is one who still rushes into danger when there's a way."

These were truly candid words, though perhaps not entirely accurate. The soldiers in the vehicle exchanged glances, their minds wandering.

Seeing their expressions, the squad leader suddenly grinned and said, "You guys, don't tell the instructor I said that, I won't admit it!"

"Okay, okay, hahaha!"

"You don't have to tell us, but shouldn't you, class monitor, treat us to a meal?"

"You brat, you've gone too far!"

Everyone was laughing and joking, but halfway there, something unexpected happened.

"Watch out for zombies!!!"

Several figures with bloodshot eyes suddenly appeared in the area behind the defensive line. Although their bodies had abnormal ulcers, they were clearly high-level mutated individuals. Caught off guard, a nearby troop transport vehicle was overturned and rolled to the side of the road.

No, it wasn't just those few zombies; looking back, the entire convoy had been attacked to varying degrees!
"Disembark! Deploy into battle formation!!"

The squad leader roared, and the machine gunner frantically fired the heavy machine gun from the weapon station to support the friendly forces. Fortunately, the comrades in the vehicle were also superhumans. Even though they were suddenly caught in such an accident, they quickly entered combat mode and crawled out of the vehicle to fight the zombies.

It's normal for zombies to occasionally appear behind the defensive line, since there are just too many to guard against. The area they're in isn't exactly a safe zone anyway, so there will always be zombies wandering over from who-knows-where.

But the sudden appearance of so many extraordinary mutated zombies is clearly abnormal, and their condition is obviously strange as well.

"Zombies have infiltrated the defenses! Zombies have infiltrated the defenses! A large number of mutated zombies have been discovered five kilometers west of Baita Town!!"

The communications soldier had already started shouting into the communication equipment, while the rest of the men managed to form a formation, backing onto the armored vehicle and engaging the zombies in battle.

The extraordinary mutated zombies are not easy to deal with. They are faster and more resilient. Machine gun bullets that can shatter a living person on the spot can only leave a hole in these zombies at most. And a hole is not a fatal injury to a zombie.

"Hold on! Reinforcements are on their way!"

The advantage was that the soldiers were all superhumans, and they were not defeated immediately. Several zombies that rushed towards them were quickly dealt with, and Sun Qi turned his gun around to provide support to his comrades on the other side.

However, at that moment, the veteran next to him suddenly pounced on him and pinned him to the ground.

His mind went blank for a moment, and before he could understand what was happening, a loud bang suddenly rang in his ears.

"Damn, what is that?"

"Thanks, Lao Meng."

Sun Qi tried to push the old soldier who was holding him down, but he couldn't budge him. He only felt his hands covered in sticky liquid.

"Old Meng?"

(End of this chapter)