Chapter 168: Convoy Blocked
The dust cleared.
A massive cow came into view.
Standing nearly three meters tall, with thick limbs and bulging muscles, its eyes were the size of fists, bloodshot and glowing red. Its enormous horns, as thick as a forearm, were embedded into the side of the truck.
The reinforced steel plates of the truck were dented, and the cow had managed to push the vehicle sideways with its immense strength.
Wu Heng stared in shock at the sudden appearance of the cow.
His eyes widened in surprise.
This thing had mutated too, and its size now rivaled that of an elephant.
Cows were already powerful animals by nature.
Now, with its size dramatically increased, the force behind its charge was clearly terrifying.
The truck hadn't been flipped over yet only because of the heavy reinforced steel plates. Otherwise, it would have been completely destroyed, killing everyone inside.
Over the walkie-talkie.
The driver was shouting for help, saying the vehicle was shaking violently and might be overturned.
"What should we do?" Li Yanhong asked.
Wu Heng was about to speak.
Moo! Moo! Moo!
The sound of more cows mooing and hooves pounding the ground came from the side of the factory.
Even from inside the vehicle, the tremors were palpable, like an earthquake.
Alarmed, Wu Heng quickly said, "Get down!"
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Five more massive cows charged into the convoy from the side.
Instantly, the entire area shook violently as if the world had been turned upside down.
Wu Heng's van tilted to the side, and the SUV in front spun three or four times before coming to a stop.
"Damn it!"
The heavily modified vehicles had been flipped by the cows.
Wu Heng unbuckled his seatbelt and checked on Li Yanhong and Wang Ke. Seeing that they were unharmed, he grabbed the walkie-talkie and said, "Stay in the vehicles."
Then, he turned to the big skeleton and gave the order, "All skeletons, attack and kill these creatures."
Clang~!
The skeletons climbed out of the truck beds and charged directly at the mutated cows.
The mutated cows, which had been ramming the convoy with their horns.
Turned their bloodshot eyes toward the charging skeletons.
With a couple of thunderous moos, they charged back at them.
The force of the cows' charge was like a moving vehicle.
They plowed through a large group of skeletons, sending bones flying through the air like debris scattered by a storm.
The destructive power of the charge reminded Wu Heng of cavalry units.
One pass, and the enemies were left in pieces.
As Wu Heng unbuckled Li Yanhong's seatbelt, he called to the large skeletons, Bagdong, Second Big Guy, Hunter One, and the others, "Go help. Kill all the cows."
The skeletons obeyed, climbing out of the overturned vehicles.
Each found a target and moved to engage the mutated cows.
Hunter One scanned the area quickly and climbed onto a nearby two-story concrete building.
He set up his sniper rifle.
After a quick aim, he pulled the trigger.
Bang~!
The loud gunshot echoed, and a cow covered in skeletons had its forehead blown open. Its massive body froze mid-run.
With a thud, it collapsed to the ground.
The nearby skeletons immediately swarmed over it.
Their cleavers repeatedly hacked into the fallen mutated cow's body.
But after just a couple of twitches, the cow stood back up.
Blood continued to ooze from the wound on its forehead as it shook off the skeletons clinging to it. Its huge eyes locked onto Hunter One atop the building and charged straight at him.
Bang~!
Another gunshot rang out.
This time, the bullet hit the cow's eye, piercing its skull and exploding out the back of its head.
The cow managed a few more steps before its front legs gave out, and it collapsed.
Soon, its whole body followed.
The skeletons on its back gave it a couple more strikes before scattering to attack the other mutated cows.
Meanwhile, the Big Guy had locked both arms around the neck of one mutated cow, sweeping its legs and slamming it to the ground.
He then raised his massive fists and repeatedly pounded the cow's head.
While the cows had tremendous power when charging.
Their overall stats weren't as high as the Second-Tier Mutated Zombie's stats, like those of Big Guy.
After a series of heavy blows.
The cow's eyes burst, and its skull caved in.
Second Big Guy, Bagdong, and the others were also locked in similar battles.
The mutated cows were fierce, but not as terrifying in close combat as expected.
Their real danger lay in the devastating force of their charges.
Across the battlefield, the skeleton army swarmed the few remaining mutated cows.
Under the combined firepower of firearms and high-level skeletons, the cows began to fall one by one.
When the last mutated cow had its skull shattered by Bagdong.
The chaotic scene finally quieted down.
Wu Heng sent Xiaoxiao to scout the blue-roofed factory, and after confirming there were no more threats inside, he helped Li Yanhong and Wang Ke climb out of the van.
"Set the vehicles upright."
Li Yanhong nodded and ordered the others, who were equally disheveled, to use the forklift to right the overturned vehicles.
The auto shop crew was also fuming.
Those trucks and vans were their pride and joy.
They had poured countless hours into modifying them, gathering materials and working through the night.
Despite keeping them in pristine condition, today, these cows had wrecked them.
Especially Qiangzi and his team.
As they worked, they grumbled under their breath.
......
Meanwhile.
Wu Heng led several skeletons into the blue-roofed factory.
There was no need to guess what the place was for.
It was a cattle farm.
The compound was large, and inside the factory were massive cow pens.
Wu Heng ordered the skeletons to open the doors.
A wave of stench hit him, almost knocking him out.
The factory was no longer dangerous, with each pen filled with the corpses of dead cows.
There were at least a few dozen cows inside, most of which hadn't mutated and remained their original size.
The few mutated cows outside must have come from this factory.
After taking a quick look around, Wu Heng stepped outside.
He gave the order, "Move all the bodies outside."
The skeletons began hauling the cow corpses out of the blue-roofed factory.
There were six mutated cow corpses, each the size of an elephant, and over thirty regular cow corpses, all rotten and infested with maggots.
Wu Heng had the skeletons guard the entrance to the factory.
Then he cast [Raise Skeleton] on one of the mutated cows.
Necromantic magic enveloped the corpse.
Flesh sloughed off as the enormous bones slowly stood up.
The skeletal cow, with its massive, sturdy horns.
Had thick bones that exuded raw power.
[Skeletal Giant-Horned Cow (Level 8)]
[Level: 8]
[Attributes: Constitution 15, Strength 21, Agility 12, Perception 5, Intelligence 5, Charisma 2.]
[Traits: Hollow Skeleton, Basic Soulfire.]
[Abilities: Charge, Ram.]
[Charge: In this state, Agility +7, Strength +5. The effects of debuffs that impair movement are reduced during a charge.]
[Ram: Deals impact damage to the target, with knockback and knockdown effects during a charge.]
An 8th-level mutated zombie.
This meant the mutated cows here could evolve into Second-Tier Mutated Zombies over time.
Not only human zombies were evolving, but even animal zombies were showing progression.
If all of these had reached the second tier and attacked the convoy, they would have likely pierced the steel plates and flipped the vehicles entirely.
Wu Heng searched the head of the cow.
Amid the shredded flesh, he found a corpse core.
Although it was still a Tier-1 core, it was noticeably larger and almost a Tier-2 core.
Wu Heng cast [Raise Skeleton] on each mutated cow, raising them all as skeletal warriors.
He collected six corpse cores in total.
Even without scavenging other loot, these corpse cores alone were a huge gain.
They made up for the lack of Tier-1 cores he hadn't been able to obtain for a while.
After returning, he could have the alchemical skeletons increase their production of corpse core potions.
Storing the cores away.
He drank two bottles of mental potions to restore some energy, then cast [Battlefield of the Dead] again.
All the cows stood up.
Aside from the mutated cows, the regular cows were smaller and lacked soul fire, appearing dumb and sluggish.
At this moment, Li Yanhong walked in.
She glanced at the field full of skeletal cows and said, "The overturned vehicles have been set upright. Some are damaged, but they can still drive."
"Let's go. We need to reach the village before dark."
"Okay."
The two of them led the skeletons out.
They had the truck ramps set up, and the skeletal cows walked up into the truck beds.
Once everything was ready.
The convoy set off again.
......
They passed through the factory area and entered the village.
Along the way, more zombies appeared intermittently, but only a few.
They lunged at the convoy, only to be crushed into pieces under the vehicles.
The village was not as organized as a town with grid-like streets.
Large open spaces separated the houses, and along the way, they could see some single-story shops, restaurants, supermarkets, and even an internet café!
But something was off about the number of zombies.
This village seemed fairly developed, and there should have been at least a few hundred households, but they had only encountered a few zombies on the way in.
Fewer zombies was a good sign.
Maybe Wang Ke's grandmother really had a decent chance of surviving.
Screech~!
The convoy slowed down again, avoiding a pile of dirt ahead.
"My house is just up ahead."
Wang Ke said nervously.
Now that she was close to confirming whether her relative was still alive, her anxiety spiked.
Sssshhh~!
The lead vehicle's voice came over the walkie-talkie again.
"Sister Hong, which way do we go?"
Li Yanhong picked up the walkie-talkie and said, "Go straight, then take the fourth turn."
"Got it!"
The convoy moved forward slowly, remaining alert to their surroundings.
......
Meanwhile.
In a distant building.
Several men were gathered, one of them using a flashlight to peer into the distance.
"Holy crap, Brother Zhang, we've hit the jackpot." A skinny man in a leather jacket exclaimed, "There are several trucks, and they must be loaded with supplies."
"Huh? Who would come to this little place?" A burly man snatched the binoculars and looked ahead.
Sure enough, a convoy was moving through, with trucks and SUVs loaded with goods.
"Could it be a rescue team?" Brother Zhang wondered aloud, slightly confused.
The skinny man immediately replied, "Brother Zhang, why would a rescue team come here? They can't even save all the people in the city. I bet these are from some base. I heard on the radio that the 'Flame God Refuge' took over a village to set up a base. Maybe these guys are thinking the same. They must have a ton of supplies."
Brother Zhang continued watching through the binoculars, thinking for a moment before saying, "Monkey, go tell the boss. See what he thinks. The rest of you, come with me. Let's go check them out."
"On it!"
The skinny man ran off.
The others grabbed steel pipes and machetes and followed Brother Zhang toward the convoy.