Chapter 718: Comings and Goings
"Attention, citizens of the Seris Empire! The Third Imperial Guard Legion has now begun entering New York City and is gradually clearing out the monsters within the city. Please remain calm, do not violate Imperial laws, and refrain from any extreme behavior..."
On top of the fully armed armored vehicle convoy, several large loudspeakers were deafeningly repeating the same message ceaselessly.
A large number of citizens who had survived the catastrophe were, in that moment, moved to tears.
Meanwhile, soldiers gripping automatic rifles were peering cautiously at every corner where zombies might be lurking, as if, in their eyes, every single spot could be a monster's hiding place.
This pervasive sense of alarm was naturally due to the sudden attack yesterday, which had also inflicted heavy casualties on the Third Legion, long stationed near New York City.
Many soldiers hadn't even had time to pick up their weapons to resist before they were killed by monsters that appeared behind them without warning.
The first batch of slain soldiers were then transformed into zombies, their numbers rapidly snowballing within the densely populated military camp.
In the end, the Third Legion's commander, who had miraculously survived, made a decisive call, using the still-intact broadcasting equipment to order all soldiers to abandon the camp and use their heavy firepower to wipe out the camp along with all the monsters.
Of course, this process inevitably led to the accidental killing of some of their own who couldn't escape in time, including one of the Legion Marshal's sons, who perished in the friendly forces' sea of fire.
...
"Should I go with the army?" Yu Nan stepped out of his safe house, coldly observing the soldiers below who were attempting to restore order.
In times of chaos, the military was the most powerful armed institution, yet it also had to face the most immense dangers.
After a brief moment of thought, he quickly discarded the idea, because having been ensnared by the Main God Temple far too many times, most Reincarnators were extremely averse to following anyone else's mandatory orders.
In a military operating during special times, unpleasant orders would certainly be plentiful.
Moreover, with the A-grade artifact in his hand and the vast amount of supplies in his safe house, he could survive perfectly well on his own.
As for things like relieving himself, he could just head out in his battle armor, do his business at someone else's place, and be done with it. After all, apart from him, the entire building was basically empty; those who weren't dead had fled.
With dozens of toilets in one building, even if none of them had flushing water, it would be enough for Yu Nan to use for a very long time.
At this moment, he still retained many characteristics of a person from a civilized era.
Still within the safe zone, Yu Nan, feeling somewhat restless from idleness, considering others' plight, began to ponder the handling of the enormous daily waste produced by the million-level surviving population after the entire city lost its running water...
"When people are alive, they have to poop."
This was a problem every survivor of the first tribulation had to consider.
Of course, a more pressing matter, was actually the disposal of corpses, or rather, dismembered remains.
Aside from the dead who had turned into zombies, the city also contained a vast amount of unrecognizable, pulverized flesh and blood—the power unleashed by humanity in desperation had even made many zombies feel ashamed.
Crushed by cars.
Chopped into minced meat.
Flattened by heavy objects.
Impaled and shattered by more than ten steel pipes.
Zombies, whose actual combat strength wasn't particularly high, had encountered all sorts of bizarre ways to die.
And after they "died" once again, not to mention the foul stench they brought, their utterly decomposed bodies also became breeding grounds for viruses and bacteria.
After the collapse of order, corpse collection and such naturally ceased to exist. Life-and-death struggles were happening everywhere in New York City, and corpses lay everywhere, making it a veritable living hell.
...
"Zom... Zombies!!! Everyone, be on alert!"
The vanguard soldiers, who had been on the armored vehicles, enjoying the grateful and envious gazes of the crowds below, suddenly screamed frantically.
The unmanned vehicle sent ahead to scout, was crushed by the horde of corpses after transmitting its final signal.
"There are at least a hundred thousand zombies ahead."
"Heavy machine gunners, prepare."
"Mortar teams, prepare."
"Order all civilians to evacuate immediately."
In a cramped urban environment like this, and facing soldiers with heavy firepower, the numerical advantage of the zombies wasn't as pronounced.
The Third Legion, swaggering into the city, attempting to restore order, attracted the attention of hundreds of thousands of zombies from nearly half the city.
"Conserve your ammunition," an officer quietly reminded them, walking to the front line as the zombies were about to enter the machine gunners' firing range.
Modern weaponry was indeed powerful; killing these unarmed, slow-moving zombies was no different from mowing grass, but the drain on supplies was unprecedented.
On the very day the disaster struck, the Third Legion had already lost contact with their rear, and could only send out scouts in vehicles to survey the roads themselves.
Without resupply from the rear, they wouldn't be able to sustain such high-intensity combat for many days.
Once bullets and shells ran out, firearms and cannons would be nothing but scrap metal.
Without aviation fuel, bombers would also be confined to the airfield, serving as mere decorations.
"The objective from above is merely to hold back the zombie tide and allow as many civilians as possible to escape. Headquarters estimates the total number of monsters in New York City exceeds a million, and we can't expend all our ammunition here."
"Are we abandoning New York City?"
"Extract the critical supplies from the city's east, and ensure as many people as possible escape from there. That's all we can do."
"What about the west side?"
"It's too late. The zombie numbers are still growing rapidly. If we really try to wipe out all the monsters in the city, we won't have any supplies left. Remember, Headquarters' goal is only to buy half an hour for evacuation."
"Understood!"
...
Meanwhile, in the west side of the city.
New York City was a metropolis with a population approaching ten million. The incessant artillery fire in the east of the city had barely elicited any reaction from the west.
Meanwhile, Lun Qin and Lun Heping, the siblings wearing masks, were heading towards a nearby supermarket.
They weren't doing so to prevent viruses, but because an pervasive, inescapable stench hung everywhere.
It was a mix of corpse odor and the smell of various bodily wastes.
New York City was located in a tropical region; its usual temperatures were quite high, making it easy for bacteria to breed. If the people who died yesterday weren't dealt with, by today the smell would already be unbearable.
However, Lun Qin was helpless.
Although her physical strength was immense, she couldn't possibly clear out this boundless hell of flesh and blood.
What's more, she felt disgusted too!
"Sis, there are people guarding the supermarket entrance." As an archer, after Lun Heping obtained the artifact 'Moon-Drawing Bow,' his eyesight had greatly improved. Thus, from a great distance, Lun Heping could already make out the situation at their destination.
"They don't seem like good people."
The two guards at the entrance each held a knife in their hand, and faintly appeared to have a crossbow slung across their backs. Their thick, muscular arms were covered in tattoos.
"I smoke, I drink, I'm promiscuous, I'm a druggie, but I'm a good person." Lun Heping recalled a meme he'd seen online before.
...
"Stop! Girls, one fuck for a piece of bread. Guys... you're so soft-skinned and tender, you can also fuck for a piece of bread."
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