There will be higher-level zombies and mutated creatures, which has become an accepted fact among all survivors.
However, they didn't expect this day to come so quickly, catching them off guard. Just a while ago, Sheriff's team made an announcement in a public chat channel.
Number 12315: Greetings, survivors. I am Sheriff. I am extremely excited and cannot contain my joy, so I want to share this moment of happiness with all of you. Our team has just hunted down a mutated zombie boar. This should be the first time a survivor has successfully killed a mutated creature, a moment that truly deserves to be recorded in history. I believe it is necessary to share it with all of you.
Number 352525: Mutated creatures? Are they appearing already? I can't even handle small zombie groups anymore, I can't keep up with the zombies' progress. This is going to get me killed!
Number 465435: Oh my God, I think I've encountered a mutated creature too. What is this, a dog? It's almost the size of a cow! Mutated creatures are beyond ridiculous. It spotted me, but luckily I'm in a high position where it can't reach me. It scared the hell out of me.
Number 353436: Damn it, there's no way to beat them. Supplies are running low, I'm ready to dig my own grave and wait for death.
Waldo looked at the messages with a serious expression. So far, he hadn't encountered any mutated zombie creatures, so he didn't know their exact combat abilities.
However, Sheriff's team was able to hunt down the first mutated zombie creature, indicating their considerable strength. Waldo stroked his chin and thought to himself that Sheriff would probably use this grand event to recruit more people.
If things continued to develop like this, a reckoning would come one day. Waldo didn't believe that Sheriff was the kind of person who would coexist peacefully. After all, Waldo's power was immeasurable, and he posed a significant threat.
When Sheriff believed his strength had reached a certain level, Waldo was certain that would be the time Sheriff would come looking for trouble. However, Waldo was actually looking forward to that day. He also wanted to see what extraordinary abilities the other party possessed.
Sheriff quickly sent another message to the chat channel. It was a short video showing a huge wild boar in front of all the survivors. The mutated zombie boar had a massive wound on its abdomen, deep enough to reveal the bone, and it was covered in numerous bullet wounds.
If it weren't for the fact that it became inedible after being infected by the zombie virus, this enormous boar could have provided meat for several days.
Number 436745: Oh my God!
Number 78567: Is that still a pig? I thought it was a slightly larger mutated zombie boar, but it's beyond imagination. It's like they changed species or something!
Number 457346: Wow, Sheriff's team is so powerful, and they have guns too. Impressive!
Sheriff then sent another message.
Survivors, what are you waiting for? Join the sheriff's office now! Our formidable strength is evident, and in this apocalyptic world, only by uniting can we have a chance to survive. I sincerely invite survivors and small groups who have not yet joined a team to join us!
Just as Waldo expected, Sheriff indeed intensified his publicity efforts at this point. Taking advantage of the shock caused by hunting down the first mutated zombie boar, he showcased his team's formidable strength to attract survivors.
However, killing such a massive mutated boar did give him the capital to promote himself.
Waldo remained silent and continued lurking
in the chat channel, looking at the image of the mutated zombie boar. He immediately recognized the long wound on its abdomen as the result of a critical strike from a samurai sword.
It didn't surprise him that Sheriff had a samurai sword since there were ten of them available on the trading platform, and Sheriff's team could definitely afford to buy them. He even suspected that Sheriff's team had bought more than one.
What caught Waldo's attention even more were the bullet wounds on the mutated boar's body. Although he had a hunch that Sheriff might have firearms, having his speculation confirmed made him uneasy. After all, having firearms was incomparable to only having cold weapons.
Waldo breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, the ammunition on the trading platform was scarce, and coupled with the fact that Sheriff's team would inevitably have consumption, it eased his worries.
They wouldn't be able to replicate the unlimited firepower Waldo displayed with his P92 pistol. Moreover, Waldo had the ultimate card up his sleeve, and that was his ability to turn invisible.
On a more cautious note, if Sheriff truly possessed powerful firearms that even Waldo needed to avoid, then he could resort to assassination tactics.
Of course, all these speculations were based on the assumption that Sheriff would eventually take a hardline approach against Waldo. Only then would Waldo unleash all his means to protect himself.
In the chat channel, many survivors had already made up their minds to join Sheriff's team. The previous promotions were simply incentives for food and supplies, but many people didn't really care about that. Some even believed that small teams had their advantages, offering more freedom.
However, after witnessing the appearance of the mutated zombie boar, many began to question their own ability to survive the ever-increasing tide of zombies.
Number 356547: Our small team discussed it, and we're ready to join Sheriff or another large team. Otherwise, we won't be able to survive. Seeing the zombies getting stronger and the appearance of mutated creatures, we need to plan ahead.
Number 867896: It's not too bad, actually. Large teams provide security, and it should be fine if I bring my teammates to join Sheriff's office. I'll ask for their opinions and then we'll set off.
Number 457543: Although small teams can gather resources and have more allocation, if you're not a survivor of the 10086 caliber, you'd better join a large team honestly.
Number 958333: In a post-apocalyptic world, don't harbor grand ambitions. Being able to survive is the greatest luck.
While Sheriff's leadership and the public killing of the first mutated zombie creature did attract many survivors to join, it also cast a shadow over their minds.
Would the Sheriff's office be able to withstand more mutated creatures and higher-level zombies in the future? Who knew? No one knew! If they ended up dead in the end, what was the point of being inexplicably pulled into this zombie world?
But Waldo didn't think that way. He had Alanna by his side. Although he didn't know how long he would survive, whether he would encounter a high-level zombie and get killed tomorrow, or survive until the very end, he didn't want to be pessimistic.
He wanted to keep going with Alanna.