Chen Xiaolian dashed into an alleyway, keeping a close eye on the radar in his personal system. The green blips representing those pursuers had not caught up yet, and he breathed a sigh of relief. He knew he had won this gamble.
The final strike that wounded the unicorn was meant to slow down their pursuit. Such unique mounts must be precious to them, and they wouldn't abandon them easily when they saw them injured.
Spotting a door on his left, Chen Xiaolian broke in and immediately suppressed his aura, transitioning out of combat mode.
Inside was an empty house. Chen Xiaolian traversed it, exiting through the building's corridor on the other side, into a different street.
There was an auto shop by the roadside. Chen Xiaolian rushed in, quickly scanning the place. He saw a row of modified road racing motorcycles. He grinned and went for a fiery red one, found the key, and put on a helmet. Within seconds, a motorcycle roared out onto the street, heading full speed towards the north of the city.
...
A highway outside Jerusalem, about nine kilometers from the city center.
The bus of the Meteor Rock Guild continued along the highway.
The story about Chen Xiaolian that Roddy had shared left several team members lost in thought. Qiao Qiao, in particular, sat there gazing out the window, lost in deep contemplation after hearing it.
Lun Tai glanced at his watch and frowned, saying, "Shouldn't we slow down a bit and wait for Little Face?"
Qiao Qiao gave Lun Tai a brief glance before furrowing her brows and suggesting, "I think we should stop and wait for him. After all, we still have plenty of time to reach Tel Aviv as per the schedule." She then asked, "Roddy, how far are we from our destination?"
"We should be there in about an hour at most," Roddy replied without turning around. He then shouted, "We're approaching Stonemason Mountain up ahead. It's an industrial park on the outskirts of Jerusalem. We can stop there for a while and refuel."
"I agree," Lun Tai pondered for a moment. "Let's stop for about twenty minutes."
Qiao Qiao added, "I tried calling Chen Xiaolian on the team channel, but there was no response. Could he be in trouble?"
Just as Lun Tai looked concerned and was deep in thought, suddenly, Roddy, who was driving ahead, shouted, "There's a situation up ahead!"
Lun Tai immediately rushed to Roddy's side, picked up a pair of night vision binoculars, and looked ahead. With a single sweep of his gaze, Lun Tai gasped in shock.
On the road ahead, seven or eight cars were sprawled haphazardly across the middle of the highway. Some cars had crashed directly into the roadside trees, while others had collided with each other. A few had even overturned.
Seven or eight cars were scattered over a stretch of road spanning more than two hundred meters, occupying most of the road's width.
Roddy had instinctively started to slow down, and Lun Tai squinted his eyes as he stared ahead, an unsettling feeling washing over him.
The road had been empty all along, and suddenly so many cars appeared, all involved in accidents?
What was even more crucial was that there were only cars, no people!
In the case of a chain of accidents, there should be drivers or passengers by the roadside.
However, on the road ahead, these seven or eight cars lay lifeless, but not a single soul was in sight.
Lun Tai sensed that Roddy had already started to slow down, and at this moment, his extensive experience came into play. A sense of unease crept over him, and he shouted, "Roddy! Accelerate! Charge through! Quickly!"
Upon hearing Lun Tai's shout and trusting their vice-leader, Roddy didn't hesitate. He immediately slammed the gas pedal, and the bus's engine roared, causing the vehicle to shake as it accelerated forcefully towards the front!
Crash!
The bus, with its substantial weight, collided head-on with the rear of a flipped-over car, shoving it aside and plowing through!
As the bus shook, Lun Tai yelled, "Hold on, everyone! Be vigilant on both sides!"
Crash!
The bus pushed another car aside that was blocking the road, but its front was now deformed, and the speed dropped sharply!
At that moment, Lun Tai's face turned fearful, and he shouted, "Roddy! Don't slow down! Keep accelerating and crash through!!!"
Roddy let out a loud shout and pressed the accelerator to the floor!
The bus violently bumped on the road, and the young team members inside the bus let out a series of exclamations. Qiao Qiao had already pulled Soo Soo close, holding her tightly.
"Did we just run over something?" Roddy glanced at the rearview mirror and was suddenly horrified.
Behind the bus, on the ground, a bloody figure struggled to get up after being flattened by the bus!
It was unmistakably... a person!
"We ran over someone?!"
Lun Tai anxiously shouted, "Don't stop! Keep driving!"
At this moment, Roddy glanced back a few more times and was suddenly shocked to the core.
He had just seen the appearance of the person on the ground!
The individual was wearing protective gear, clearly an Awakened, but...
His vest-like protective gear appeared intact, except for the exposed arms, which were torn, and the exposed skin was rotting and oozing a strange substance. Most horrifyingly, his face... his entire face had completely rotted away. One eyeball had even fallen out, leaving a bloody cavity, while the other eye was fixed firmly on the back of the bus!
"What the hell is this?!" Roddy exclaimed.
At that moment, Lun Tai shouted, "Watch out ahead!!"
Roddy looked up and saw a figure suddenly lunging towards the front windshield from outside.
This figure leaped high into the air, spreading their arms wide, forming a crucifix shape in mid-air!
As the bus raced forward, there was a loud "thud," and this person directly slammed onto the front windshield of the bus!
Fortunately, the distance was short, and the impact was not strong enough to shatter the windshield immediately. However, the glass had developed large cracks, and the person who had landed on the windshield...
Her upper body was clad in protective gear, clearly a woman with golden hair, but her face was also rotten, and her body seemed to be falling apart in places.
She looked like a decaying zombie!
What was most terrifying was that this female zombie was sprawled on the front windshield. Her two hands, like sharp eagle claws, had pierced through the glass, gripping it tightly. Then, she tilted her head...
Thud!
Her forehead slammed heavily into the windshield!
At this moment, she was almost face to face with Roddy, with only the windshield separating them. Roddy could clearly see the horrifying face of this woman!
"FUCK!!!" Roddy let out a strange cry.
Because his view was completely blocked, Roddy's reaction was almost instinctual. He quickly turned the steering wheel slightly, causing the bus to abruptly change direction and collide with a parked car on the side of the road.
The weight of the bus, combined with its speed, sent the smaller car flying for more than twenty meters before it was pushed aside. However, the bus had already lost control and crashed into a large tree on the side of the road!
There was a deafening crash, and the bus shook violently several times.
The impact caused the female zombie, who had been pressed against the tree trunk, to disintegrate instantly!
Roddy could clearly see that one of her arms had been severed and had flown off, and the broken part of her shoulder sprayed out a large amount of green, sticky blood-like fluid!
The front windshield finally shattered in this impact!
Simultaneously shattered were two or three windows on both sides of the bus compartment!
The people inside the bus were thrown around, but fortunately, after the bus stopped shaking, Lun Tai had managed to stand up.
Qimu Xi suffered the most. She was at the rear of the bus, and her head hit something during the impact, causing her forehead to bleed. The others were relatively unharmed, especially Xia Xiaolei, who immediately hugged his head and crouched down when the collision occurred.
"Fuck!"
Roddy suddenly cursed in anger!
After the front windshield shattered, some of the sticky fluid from the female zombie splattered on Roddy's face. He felt extremely disgusted and immediately used his sleeve to vigorously wipe it off. A foul odor assailed his nose!
Just as he was about to utter a curse, the scattered female zombie had not died yet! She struggled, with half of her body hanging on the front of the bus. Astonishingly, she reached out a broken right hand and firmly gripped the bus's dashboard. Her eyes were fixed on Roddy, and she tried to crawl inside!
Roddy jumped up, left the driver's seat, took a few steps back, and pulled out his pistol. He fired two shots at the female zombie's head.
Bang! Bang!
Two shots later, the female zombie's head was blown apart, and she finally collapsed onto the dashboard, motionless.
"What the fuck is this thing!" Roddy angrily held his gun and vigorously wiped his face with his sleeve once more.
"Everyone, stay in the bus for now!" Lun Tai shouted in a deep voice, "Stay in your positions! Qiqi, watch the rear, Qiao Qiao and Xia Xiaolei, watch both sides! Soo Soo, Will, find cover!"
However, at that moment, Roddy let out a horrifying scream, swayed, and his face turned pale.
"What's wrong, Roddy?!"
"I, I've been poisoned!" Roddy turned to look at Lun Tai. Most of the greenish fluid had been wiped off his face, but some remained, giving his complexion a sickly greenish hue.
"Poisoned?" Lun Tai and the others' faces changed.
Roddy silently read aloud a message he had received in his personal system.
"System Prompt: You have been poisoned by an unknown force. Based on your comprehensive resistance rating, the system has detected that you've used a powerful stimulant, resulting in an [A+] class resistance level. You are expected to enter a zombification state in 45 minutes."
Hearing these words, everyone's faces turned pale.
"Zombification? Poisoned?!"
Thinking back to the bizarre and decayed zombies they had just encountered, everyone's expressions changed dramatically!