"Sure!"
The three of them felt especially confident after all that strength training. As soon as they saw the zombies, they leapt up from the ground with an explosive burst of energy and raised their fire axes with both hands. They were practically pouncing on the zombies.
The zombies who didn't manage to evade their blows in time slumped to the ground with a loud "poof," viscous dark red blood and cerebral fluid oozing out of them.
Zhao Ze and Li Qi could hardly believe their eyes. How did these average Joes become so powerful overnight?
But these guys got better and better at what they were doing. It only took them a few minutes to wipe out the seven or eight zombies in the lobby. Shen Chen didn't even have the chance to help.
"Boss! Boss! Boss!" the three of them shouted in unison as they stood in front of Shen Chen like middle schoolers waiting for their teacher to finish grading their papers.
"Not bad…" Shen Chen nodded with a smile. "Although Zhao Zhen had the least strength, he was very precise in application. Guo Yuan, you were more of an all-rounder. And as for Pan Di, you had the most strength, but you were also the least accurate. Look at the last zombie. It took you three blows to kill it, so you need to work harder!"
"Got it!" the three of them roared. Shen Chen gave them a brief smile.
In the control room, on the CCTV footage, they could see that a dozen zombies were scattered on the second and third floors. At least they were all spread out and not coming in waves. The hotel was huge, so there were many passageways. Just the evacuation routes alone amounted to six.
What was weird, though, was that there were only two passageways leading to the fourth floor, and the CCTV only had the view of a long, long hallway, so the situation was unclear. What was even more bizarre was that no traces of the zombies could be seen from the CCTV. Had they managed to lure out all the zombies from the fourth floor two days ago?
Seeing that there weren't many zombies, Zhao Zhen said, "Boss, there aren't that many zombies. I think having all six of us move around in such a small area at the same time would slow down our operation."
"Bro, are you suggesting that we split up?" Guo Yuan asked.
From the CCTV footage, it did appear that there wasn't any imminent danger, so after pondering for a while, Shen Chen said, "Let's split into two teams. Guo Yuan, Pan Di, Li Qi, the three of you go up via the east passageway. Me, Zhao Zhen, and Zhao Ze will head up from the west."
He was still a little worried, so he reminded them again, "Remember, let's meet at the third floor. You're not to go up to the fourth floor on your own!"
"Got it, boss!"
"Don't worry, boss!"
Shen Chen nodded. "Let's go!"
Under Shen Chen's command, the six of them immediately split into teams and went upstairs separately. Shen Chen led his team to the west side. Zhao Zhen was last, and the panicky Zhao Ze was in the middle.
There weren't many zombies on the second floor; those wandering around on their own posed no threat to Shen Chen. They didn't even have the opportunity to attack, as Shen Chen took them out with no difficulty. This made Zhao Ze even more fearful.
An hour later, the six of them reunited on the second floor. The second floor was now clear of zombies!
"Let's continue on to the third floor. Be alert!" Shen Chen then said solemnly, "Remember not to get caught by the zombies."
Shen Chen's words did not fall on deaf ears. "Yes, boss. We'll be careful."
There were more zombies on the third floor. Zombies lunged at them the moment they walked up the stairs, prompting a loud scream from Zhao Ze. P*ssed off at Zhao Ze, Zhao Zhen muffled his screams by putting his hand over his mouth. Shen Chen moved swiftly with Black Blade, killing all three zombies instantly.
"We already went through so many zombies yesterday. There were only three just now. Why did you have to make a big fuss?"
Shen Chen's brows furrowed as he glanced at Zhao Ze's fearful expression. Zhao Ze's fear appeared to be genuine. He didn't appear to be faking it. He said coldly to him, "Shut your mouth!"
Zhao Ze immediately shut up and didn't dare make a single sound.
There were a lot more zombies on the third floor than there were on the second. As the three of them walked down the hallway, zombies would lunge at them every now and then! Although Zhao Ze wasn't of much use, Shen Chen and Zhao Zhen managed between the two of them. After about two hours, the zombies on the third floor were eradicated.
"Boss, there aren't any left on the third floor. What should we do now?" After slaying so many zombies, Zhao Zhen was feeling really pumped. His clothes and face were covered with blood stains, and he wiped away the blood coolly as he asked Shen Chen what to do next.
"Let's wait and see."
"We might as well go up to the fourth floor to have a look," Zhao Zhen responded. "Third and Fourth are too slow. They haven't caught up with us yet. There shouldn't be that many zombies on the fourth floor anyway, since a dozen of them already died a few days ago. It shouldn't be too dangerous up there."
Although that might well be true, Shen Chen felt wary for some reason. After contemplating for a while, he finally said cautiously, "You guys wait here. I'll go up and have a look on my own."
"Let's go up together, boss," said Zhao Zhen. "We could look out for each other in case it gets really dangerous up there."
Looking at Zhao Zhen's enthusiastic expression, Shen Chen had no choice but to agree. However, being his usual cautious self, he minced up some zombie flesh and smeared it on the three of them.
Zhao Zhen asked in mild bewilderment, "What are you doing, boss?"
"The zombie blood ensures that the other zombies won't pick up on our odor. But stay quiet. Otherwise, we'll blow our cover really soon."
Watching Shen Chen's every move, Zhao Ze did the same, only faster. He covered all the exposed parts of his body with the zombie blood. Zhao Zhen glanced at him in surprise.
"All right!" Shen Chen stood up. At that moment, both his face and body were covered in filthy blood, but his eyes glittered. "C'mon. Let's go see what it's like."
Zhao Ze shuffled after the two of them, a strange expression on his face. The three of them tiptoed up the stairs. The unassuming fire door was like the bloody jaws of a scary monster, and there appeared to be nothing but darkness beyond the door. After they passed through the fire door, there was an extremely long hallway. The eerie music they heard from a distance made the entire hallway even creepier. After a few moments, a couple of zombies appeared within sight, probably having heard their footsteps. The zombies' eyes were staring fixedly in their direction.
Zhao Zhen's heart leapt into his throat. He walked forward gingerly, worried that the three zombies would pounce on him. He stared at the three zombies staggering toward them, but these zombies soon turned around and walked in the opposite direction. Realizing that the zombies hadn't paid them any attention, Zhao Ze finally heaved a sigh of relief.
Zhao Zhen then gestured, asking, "Shall we kill them?"