The putrid stench hit his nostrils. Even diluted by the rain, it still carried the thick smell of rotting flesh.

Thud.

Thud!

The tentacle slammed viciously against the building's surface, the sound like beating a massive drum, shaking the walls so hard that dust fell in cascades.

As an inspector, from the first day of his training courses, Cheng Ye had harbored intense curiosity about fusion bodies.

Because these creatures had completely transcended the limitations of carbon-based life forms, like alien constructs.

He just never imagined that his first encounter with a fusion body would be a life-or-death struggle.

"Stay hidden! Don't expose your backs!" Cheng Ye gripped the Thunder 1 tightly and shouted in a low voice. The four of them held their breath in the stairwell.

If this were a Corrupt Vine fusion body, he would definitely turn and run immediately.

But in the footage from the drone, hundreds of similar tentacle monsters were crawling on the high walls. The surge in numbers would inevitably lead to diluted individual combat power.

This was an iron law of infection sources. Even Stand-In Starfish couldn't avoid it.

"Here it comes!"

Before his words finished, a twisted humanoid silhouette suddenly emerged from the entrance of the tube building.

Without hesitation, Cheng Ye pulled the trigger, his fingertip pressed down to the bottom.

Boom.

Boom boom boom.

The Thunder 1 earned its name precisely because its firing sound was like thunderclaps.

Buckshot sprayed from the muzzle like scattered flowers from a celestial maiden.

Even with single-person shooting, the 32-round capacity could form a fan-shaped fire net. Continuously pulling the trigger, the lead rain covered the entire entrance!

The humanoid figure that had just emerged was almost instantly shredded by the violent firepower.

"Not a fusion body?"

Cheng Ye was stunned, suddenly realizing this. Instinctively, he activated his equipment and dodged to the side.

Sure enough, a thunderous crash suddenly erupted behind the four of them. A thick tentacle had brutally smashed through the outer wall, landing exactly where he had been standing!

"Holy shit!"

Cheng Ye's pupils contracted sharply.

The outer wall of the electronics factory tube building wasn't the later concrete blocks with cement mortar and hollow blocks, but the old-style standard red bricks from before.

As a vertical load-bearing wall, its thickness was at least 240mm. This thing could smash through that?

"Run!"

Without needing his reminder, Huang Sheng and the other two were already scrambling up the stairs.

Cheng Ye hesitated slightly, rolled on the spot to dodge the tentacle, and leaped directly from the stairway toward the courtyard.

This was the greatest difference between ordinary people and warriors.

Ordinary people, when encountering danger, would instinctively flee to their "psychological safety zone." For Huang Sheng and the others, their home on the fifth floor was a safe harbor in desperation.

But a warrior's retreat route, according to Brother B's words, must follow one iron law: it must create conditions for subsequent combat!

Since entering the building would only trap him in a narrow space, unable to block the fusion body's attacks, it was better to think in reverse, actively drawing the opponent out, extracting himself from passivity.

As long as he had enough shooting space, this Thunder 1 might not be unable to tear through the fusion body's defenses!

Going down the stairs, Cheng Ye glanced back. The fusion body's tentacle was already withdrawing, not choosing to continue whipping the outer wall or smashing the tube building's exterior wall.

Obviously, this type of attack wasn't a normal attack. It likely required charging before it could explode.

Good news!

"Son of a bitch, come chase me!"

He roared, inserted the Thunder 1 with its remaining dozen or so bullets back onto his back, and gripped the Buffalo combat pistol and defense pistol in both hands, firing simultaneously.

After the delay just now, the infected from the other buildings had already chased to the stairway entrances.

The previously easy targets had become troublesome with the fusion body chasing from behind.

But Cheng Ye didn't panic. The Iron Body's amplification of bodily control was at its strongest state, allowing his shooting accuracy at close range to barely match marksmen like Liu Bi.

Combined with the bonus from mobile shooting, even while rolling and jumping, his accuracy wasn't affected at all.

When the fusion body climbed over the tube building and appeared head-on, he suddenly stopped, a smile spreading across his lips:

"Stupid dog, do you understand what kiting means!"

Not caring whether the fusion body could understand these words, he cursed freely while striding back toward the stairwell.

This tactic worked!

The fusion body no longer took detours. Using its tentacles to violently sweep aside the ordinary infected blocking its way, it pursued directly.

"Is this thing fixated on me?"

Cheng Ye's heart tightened. With so much meat at the entrance, the fusion body ignored everything else, stubbornly chasing only him.

Could it be that I'm more attractive than those people?

"Come, little glutton, let you taste my flavor."

The rotting stench was almost nauseating. Cheng Ye held his breath and poured out all the remaining bullets from the Thunder 1 in one go.

Boom, boom boom!

Never before had the sensation of pulling the trigger felt so exhilarating.

The projectiles blasted visible holes in the fusion body. Some passed through its body creating penetrating wounds, causing the fusion body to emit a sharp, piercing shriek.

It had the same taste as the Mother Source, but that was all!

Cheng Ye's head only felt slightly dizzy. He quickly switched to the Ranger rifle and continued firing.

However, what utterly surprised him was that this monster ran away?

Grabbing two ordinary infected from the entrance, the fusion body disappeared into the rain curtain at an exaggerated speed.

Cheng Ye was stunned. After determining this wasn't the fusion body luring him into pursuit, he gritted his teeth and chased after it.

At this moment, every household in the tube building was pitch black.

By the weak light of the street lamps, he suddenly witnessed a horrifying scene: the fusion body was actually devouring the infected!

Its head's massive starfish tissue suddenly expanded, swallowing an entire human body whole.

In an instant, those deep craters and holes blasted by the Thunder 1 were healing at a visible rate.

"This?"

Cheng Ye instinctively reached for the high-explosive grenade hanging at his waist. The hot sweat from his palm was trapped inside the rubber glove, feeling like rainwater had dripped in.

The fusion body's performance completely overturned his understanding and thoroughly shredded the pale descriptions in the data manual.

This was a monster!

A monster that had completely exceeded human comprehension!

No wonder humans needed to establish sanctuary cities one after another on the wasteland. If they encountered this thing in the wild, it would absolutely be certain death!

And just now, unless there were four or five people, no, unless there was a squad of eight people who could shoot with Thunder 1s alongside him, with their firepower forming a blockade, only then might they possibly cause seven fatal wounds for an instant kill.

Otherwise, it would be like now, letting it escape and recover by devouring other infected.

But the question was, how many people in the entire buffer zone could afford a Thunder 1?

Bang.

Bang bang bang bang bang.

Just as Cheng Ye was gripping the high-explosive grenade in a daze, gunshots suddenly erupted from the fifth floor.

Was it Huang Sheng and the others?

No!

Before he could react, those few gunshots were like a trigger. In just an instant, pistol fire from the entire building suddenly merged into a continuous roar!

What happened?

He looked up in bewilderment and saw: hundreds of muzzle flashes wildly spitting in the rain, the piercing gunfire like dozens of firecrackers igniting simultaneously, making the air buzz and ring.

But even more astonishing was that besides the building behind him, the other two tube buildings facing the fusion body also suddenly threw open their windows.

Dark gun barrels protruded from behind curtains and through security grate gaps. Blazing firelight wove together in the rainy night into an impenetrable net of fire!

Bullets swarmed like locusts toward the twisted fusion body, sending wall debris flying and creating showers of sparks on the fusion body's surface.

This was what firepower suppression meant!

Cheng Ye had never seen it before, but in this moment, he understood: this was real firepower suppression!

From ordinary people, from the electronics factory residential area, firepower suppression from every single survivor!

Ahhhh!!!

A shriek far sharper than before rang out. Cheng Ye couldn't help but hold his head and drop to one knee.

But, but, but the next second, an even more shocking wave of sound swept over. The tube building erupted with incredibly unified shouting:

"Kill!"

"Kill!!"

"Kill!!!"

Those were roars mixed with fear, rage, and resolve.

Those came from elderly people whose killing intent hadn't diminished from their younger days, middle-aged people with boiling blood in their chests, women screaming hoarsely from behind windows, half-grown children roaring and swinging their fists.

Those were countless ordinary wasteland people who lacked the courage to stand up and actively face the infected when the infection tide struck, yet didn't hesitate to burst with bravery at the crucial moment!

The shouts from ordinary people actually drowned out the fusion body's screech, crushing that inhuman shriek to pieces, punching through that transcendent oppression with a single blow.

This?!

Under Cheng Ye's dumbfounded gaze, the fusion body that could easily claim dozens of lives escaped again.

Its posture was so pathetic it was almost comical.

Nearly half its body had been torn to shreds by bullets. Dark green fluid mixed with rainwater, dragging out long trails. If it hadn't just grabbed two infected bodies, this barrage from countless guns might have truly pinned this monster to the building!

"Too bad. The emergency drills for dealing with monsters only taught up to this point. Everyone did very well, but it was only coordinated defense, no active pursuit."

Windows in every household had already closed, so quickly it seemed like an illusion. Huang Sheng and the other two rushed out from the stairway, watching the direction the fusion body fled and shaking their heads in lament.

To deal with this kind of monster, one had to find that clever coordination point to allow everyone to open fire simultaneously without command, forming a blockade to kill the monster.

Now that the fusion body had escaped, the higher-ups never expected ordinary residents to pursue. It was almost impossible to achieve.

"No regrets. I'll find it. I'll kill it, definitely will!"

Cheng Ye slowly stood up. A trace of unfathomable shock flashed in his eyes.

Elder Song's words echoed repeatedly in his mind.

So it wasn't just Tianyuan Mall that needed a leader?

Perhaps, the wasteland people here truly didn't lack fighting power. What they lacked was someone to gather the scattered sand into a fortress!

What they lacked was that little spark in the endless wilderness that could ignite a prairie fire!

"Continue sweeping each building. After clearing them, go to Tianyuan Mall."

"Tianyuan Mall?"

Huang Sheng was stunned, then nodded without questioning Cheng Ye's choice.

Having experienced the life-and-death struggle with the fusion body, those ordinary infected in their outbreak phase no longer posed a threat.

Cheng Ye removed his equipment and strolled leisurely. Each precise thrust of his triangular spear was accompanied by an infected's wail as it collapsed.

At the same time, prompts flashed before his eyes.

[Detecting dissipating biological consciousness, automatically absorbing]

[Successfully supplemented information degrees this time: 0.1, 0.04, 0.07, 0.05, 0.21, 0.16]

Each consciousness collapse lasted ten minutes.

Infection sources past this time would no longer provide information degree bonuses, presumably having completely dissipated.

By the time the entire electronics factory residential area was completely cleared of infected, Cheng Ye opened his panel.

[Collector: Cheng Ye]

[Current Rank: lv.1 Trainee (16.7/100)]

Almost 10 points gained!

And the time was only 00:17, just 36 minutes since the infection source outbreak.

The rain was already slightly weakening.

This sudden downpour couldn't last until dawn. At this rate, it would gradually stop in at most another hour or two.

Humanity's home field advantage was returning, but the prerequisite was eliminating that fusion body.

"Wonder how the high walls are doing. There are hundreds of fusion bodies there."

Cheng Ye wiped the triangular spear clean on an infected body, his gaze piercing through the rain toward the high walls.

Gunfire and artillery sounds still showed no sign of stopping. Unfortunately, all nearby drones had been destroyed, so he couldn't see much of the situation.

He could only switch to A-7 district, which had drone coverage.

The flickering image was heart-stopping.

On the not-very-wide street, starfish infected surged forward like a black tide.

If he had to find an appropriate comparison, it was probably like those concerts with tens of thousands of people he'd seen before transmigrating, when everyone was leaving.

Except the surging mass in the current footage wasn't human heads, but densely packed, writhing starfish-shaped mutated bodies.

Piled up, pushing against each other as they rolled forward, tentacles dragging trails of dark green mucus on the ground, weaving the entire street into a twisted, undulating biological carpet.

The firepower defense line formed by the Blood Dragon Corps was frantically spitting from heavy machine guns at the end of the street.

However, the effect was minimal, because whenever fusion bodies swept past from the flanks, they would instantly attract the attention of the entire fire line.

After just a few delays, the infection tide pushed forward more than ten meters, and the defense line pressure increased geometrically.

Unless...

Boom.

Seeing the tide couldn't be stopped, more than ten rocket rounds shot up from behind the defense line, crashing into the infection tide's core like meteors.

The blast waves from the explosions turned the entire mass of starfish infected into minced meat, with dark green tissue fragments raining down everywhere.

Under Cheng Ye's gaze, those blood and flesh pieces that splattered onto other infected were instantly devoured.

Several ordinary infected bodies visibly swelled, their backs suddenly tearing open to reveal four slimy tentacles!

This... devouring evolution?

He shivered, immediately realizing why this infection tide could be classified as Disaster-, not Plague level.

Plague was pestilence, eroding bones and destroying souls, the result of human disaster.

Disaster was calamitous fire, turning everything to ruins, the sorrow of civilization.

Once reaching Disaster level, an infection tide would bring not just population decline, but would completely bury the civilization of this land.

And Disaster- left a thread of hope.

Whether it would rise to Disaster, completely destroying the buffer zone, or fall to Plague, taking away some portion of humanity.

It all depended on everyone's efforts this night!

"Drag these infected into empty rooms on the first floor. Can't let other infected eat them."

"Yes."

Huang Sheng nodded in response, turned and ran back to the stairway to shout a few times.

In moments, door after door opened. The first-floor residents were even more active than Cheng Ye had imagined.

Everyone practically sprinted out, dragging infected bodies toward empty rooms.

"Captain, if we leave, they'll come out to clean up too. Now with us protecting them, how could they not be active!"

"True."

The residential area's infected had been cleared, but B-7 district definitely still had many infected roaming around.

He had just glanced and seen that one-third of the red areas were starting to turn black, and even the chemical factory residential area had turned red.

If they didn't take the initiative to attack, this infection tide would only become more and more terrifying, until it turned transparent and the garrison troops stationed at the Happiness Defense Line would carpet bomb it with missiles.

"Let's go!"

The heavy rain would naturally wash away all the blood.

Just as they walked out of the residential area gate, Cheng Ye's sharp eyes spotted five infected frantically clawing at the iron door of Big Meat Restaurant.

The middle-aged shop owner was hiding inside. Seeing the four of them appear through the window, he immediately shouted in panic:

"Brothers, save me! Next time you come to eat big meat, I'll give you seven, no, five percent off!"

"Go help him take out those few."

"Got it."

Not knowing why following Cheng Ye suddenly made him so bold, Huang Sheng and Wu Zhihong simply drew their waist knives and charged forward, chopping down the infected in no time.

Zhu Xiang immediately stepped forward to harvest the infection sources. Pleasant notification sounds rang in Cheng Ye's ears.

Without him even lifting a finger, his information degrees were rising!

One of them actually gave 0.3, and his total information degrees were about to break 20.

"Brother, next time we come, remember to pick the big, fat ones to serve us."

"Definitely, definitely!"

Huang Sheng chatted through the window for a bit. The shop owner hesitated, then immediately came out to drag the infected inside, planning to hide them in the basement.

This wasteland never lacked ruthless people. Those who were wishy-washy had all died before the New Era.

On the way to Tianyuan Mall, infected constantly emerged from the darkness.

Cheng Ye was quick with his hands and eyes, barely leaving Huang Sheng and the other two any chance to act. The sound of information degree increases rang out frequently.

But he felt increasingly unsatisfied.

"Killing like this is still too inefficient!"

Thinking of the three hundred people still waiting for him at Tianyuan Mall, Cheng Ye's heart felt like it was set ablaze.

But this time, it wasn't the fire of unwillingness from craving power, nor the fire of ambition from wanting to climb higher.

It was an indescribable fire that only Easterners could understand, a collective fire!

Finally, after crossing two street blocks, when he could see the mall appearing in the distance.

The ground was already littered with infected corpses. Obviously, more than one round of fighting had erupted here before his arrival.

Rumble.

The metal rolling door was pulled open thunderously from inside. Behind the door, a crowd surged like a tide, with densely packed figures. Everyone had red cloth bands tied around their foreheads, their eyes burning with blazing light no less intense than his own.

The three district leaders stood in the front row. Big Dragon and Second Dragon held broad sabers, standing solemnly behind them.

Seeing his footsteps stop and his gaze turn toward them.

A gratified smile appeared on Elder Song's face. He stepped forward half a pace and bowed respectfully, his voice carrying barely contained excitement:

"Sir, we've been waiting for you for a long time!"