Chapter 83: After Three Days of Confinement, a Turn of Fortune Appears

Day blended into night and night into day, and before they knew it, three days had passed. During these three days, Du Yun and her companions spent nearly every waking moment desperately slaughtering zombies to avoid being overwhelmed, snatching brief moments to eat and rest, only to plunge back into the ceaseless cycle of slaughter.

When Du Yun finally descended from the rooftop firing point, she felt as if her body weighed a thousand pounds. The relentless tension, the ever-present threat of death, and the immense psychological burden had sapped her strength with alarming speed. If not for the abundance of food and her nerves, tough as reinforced steel, she doubted she could have endured much longer.

"Phew, another day survived," Du Yun muttered, crouched in the room of their leader, gnawing on a piece of bread. The air was thick with an unpleasant stench that made her feel sick, but she pressed on, knowing she wouldn’t last long without food.

Outside the window, the sun blazed down on the port district; the black asphalt seemed almost to melt under the searing heat, the temperature soaring to fifty or sixty degrees.

Their leader’s eyes were fixed on the window, staring intently at the encircling wall of zombie corpses, now piled more than two meters high. Even he, a man hardened by countless battles, felt his scalp prickle at the sight of the corpses—human in appearance—and the bright crimson blood snaking across the ground.

“It’s been three days. How much longer do you think it’ll take to clear out all the zombies that have gathered around us?” Du Yun finished her bread, thought for a moment, then took out two nutrient sticks, handing one to their leader before opening another for herself.

He was silent for so long that Du Yun thought he might not answer, but finally he replied in a low voice, “I don’t know.”

Indeed, they knew well the size of the port district, but no one could say how many logistics staff or stationed troops it once held.

The port had one approach from their direction; the other three sides each had a causeway. Though Skinny Monkey and his group had blown up one, two roads remained.

With all the explosions, gunfire, the mountain of zombie corpses, and the pervasive scent of blood, it was likely that zombies from several kilometers away had been drawn by the noise and smell. In other words, every zombie in the district might be converging on their position—if they hadn’t already.

And those two remaining causeways, who could say how vast an area they connected to, or how many more zombies might be lured here? That, too, remained an ominous unknown.

“What’s it like out there?” Du Yun finally finished her meal, took a drink from her flask, and exhaled slowly, feeling as though she’d only just come back to life.

“There are fewer zombies coming from the southeast,” the leader said, narrowing his eyes and gazing thoughtfully in that direction.

“Really?” Thanks to her psychic abilities, Du Yun found it much easier than others to observe the zombies’ distribution. She carefully counted the red dots moving from the outskirts inward and saw that, indeed, fewer zombies were approaching from the southeast. Sometimes, a minute or two would pass without a single new arrival.

The southeast—that was the direction they’d come from. Just a warehouse away stood their previous outpost. It seemed the zombies from around the warehouse, and those outside the port, had nearly all arrived.

“Could that be our chance?” They’d been trapped for three days already, and if they didn’t break out soon, Du Yun doubted they’d survive until the smaller starship came for them. Now, with a glimmer of hope, her eyes shone as she looked eagerly at the leader.

“It’s worth a try.” He, too, was a little excited, striding quickly to a small blackboard displaying a map of the surrounding buildings, his mind working rapidly.

Although the southeast flow of zombies had lessened, the other directions remained heavily beset. To break out, they would need to lure those zombies away, or else even if they escaped, they’d only face worse odds beyond.

How could they draw all the zombies away? Du Yun pondered as she looked out the window, and suddenly her eyes lit up.

“What if we throw explosives into the building opposite? Would the zombies be drawn there?” A plan, much like the one they’d used in Dense Forest Town, took shape in her mind.

Right now, their small building was ringed by a wall of zombie corpses, which both surrounded and shielded them, blocking the view of zombies arriving later.

The horde was driven to charge at them partly by the heap of corpses, but also by the constant rattle of machine-gun fire from the rooftop.

These zombies were the main reason Du Yun’s group couldn’t break out—their relentless pursuit was like a curse, impossible to kill off or shake free.

But what if a louder noise drew them away? What if the zombies besieged another building instead? Would that give them a chance to escape?

“Maybe it could work!” The leader’s eyes brightened at her suggestion. If they could somehow get explosives into the other building and detonate them, the onrushing zombies would certainly be lured away.

Then, if they could scale the nauseating wall of corpses and slip away southeast, they might only have to deal with a handful of zombies before reaching their old encampment.

“Will it work?” Du Yun’s idea was daring, but she couldn’t help feeling uncertain. She pressed her lips together, her confidence wavering.

“We won’t know until we try!” The leader grinned, took two steps forward, and pulled her into his arms, kissing her fiercely, lingering for a long moment before striding out of the room.

Surrounded by his masculine energy, Du Yun felt her mind go utterly blank. She stood dazed in the room for a long while, until Douzhi’s voice called her back to herself.

“Douzhi, what were you saying just now?” she asked, patting her flushed face.

“I said, there are quite a few second-tier zombies among these corpses—shouldn’t we dig out their energy crystals while things are in chaos?” Douzhi replied, sounding like a little miser; if he had a physical form, his eyes would be shaped like gold ingots.

“There are so many corpses—how long would it take me to search them all?” Du Yun’s first reaction was excitement, but her second was doubt; what was the use of hoarding crystals if she couldn’t survive to use them?

“You don’t need to search them—don’t forget, everything within your sensing range can be stored directly in your storage grid!” Douzhi spoke in a tone that suggested she was a fool.

“Really? That’s possible?” Instantly, Du Yun’s eyes filled with delight, and she had no time to mind Douzhi’s insult. If she could gather second-tier energy crystals now, it would be another layer of protection for her and her companions.