Chapter 17

'Who else dares to talk nonsense? Step forward and let me see," Henry waved his gun. When no one spoke up, he sneered, 'I'll say it again: if you want to eat well, go kill monsters. If you want to rob food from my people, that's fine too; it just depends on whether your lives are tougher than my bullets. — Marcus!"

Marcus hurried over, 'Boss."

'Keep an eye on your people and your food. Anyone who dares to steal, kill them on the spot. I've got your back."

'Got it! What are you staring at? Get lost!" Marcus shouted, raising his rifle at the survivors.

Seeing this, the survivors quietly retreated.

'Sorry, man, I got a bit impulsive," Henry said as he put away his gun and waved cheerfully at Tristan.

Tristan's mouth twitched. What a load of nonsense about being a sunny, cheerful boy; he was clearly a murderer…

'This is all my fault for not managing things well; I apologize for the trouble," Tristan sighed.

'It turns out our teams are hard to blend together. I plan to rest a bit more and then leave."

'Understood." Tristan nodded.

'Boss, boss…!"

At that moment, a man walked out from inside the door. He had dark skin, a strong build, and was wrapped in blood-soaked bandages.

'WILSON, you're awake! Why aren't you resting properly? Why are you up?" Tristan rushed over to support him.

This man was the camp's second strongest fighter, Nathaniel.

Nathaniel, looking agitated, said, 'I have important news for you… we need to leave quickly; it's not safe."

Henry had been preparing to enter the RV, but upon hearing this, he paused.

'Are you delirious? How could it not be safe here?" Tristan was puzzled; over the past few days, they had easily fended off several waves of small zombie hordes thanks to the camp's defensive systems.

Nathaniel sat breathlessly on the steps, his eyes filled with fear. 'I'm not lying; it's really not safe. Our team was scavenging for resources when we were attacked by a horde of zombies. You know our strength; even a dozen blood zombies would be easy to handle. But today, we encountered something different—those blood zombies are as tough as stone; bullets can't penetrate them!"

'How is this possible?!" Tristan exclaimed.

'It's true. We emptied our magazines and couldn't take down a single one. By the time I realized something was wrong and called the others to run, it was too late," Nathaniel said, tears in his eyes. 'If it weren't for my ‘Athletic' talent, I would have gone down with my brothers. Boss, I'm not afraid of dying; I just had to tell you this news."

'I'm not blaming you, but… what exactly are those blood zombies? Why can't bullets kill them?" Tristan was puzzled.

'If that's the case, we really need to abandon this camp," Henry's voice came from behind.

'Do you know what's going on, brother?" Tristan turned to him.

Henry nodded and explained, 'People can enhance their abilities through cards, which is well-known. But if someone has learned a talent like ‘Stone Skin' or ‘Bullet Resistance' and then gets eaten by a blood zombie, that zombie has a chance of acquiring that talent. Based on Nathaniel's description, I suspect it's the ‘Bullet Resistance' aura; ordinary firearms have minimal effectiveness against them."

Sweat dripped down Tristan's forehead. 'So if we encounter these blood zombies, how do we deal with them…?"

'Quite simple: use melee weapons or bows and crossbows." Henry turned to Nathaniel, 'Where did you encounter that group of blood zombies?"

'To the west, about ten kilometers away…" Nathaniel was severely injured and could only say a few words before gasping for breath, with William urging him back inside to rest.

'Uncle, I need to discuss something with you."

Henry pulled Tristan aside. 'I want to borrow your truck for a bit."

Tristan looked at him strangely. 'You know those blood zombies have talents, and you still want to take the risk?"

'Fortune favors the bold. Besides, ten kilometers isn't too far or too close. Can you really be at ease knowing a group of bullet-resistant blood zombies is roaming nearby? Or are you actually planning to give up on this camp?"

'Well…"

Tristan thought for a moment and nodded, 'Borrowing the truck is fine, but I have one condition."

'What is it?"

'I'll drive, and I'll bring William with us."

'Huh?" Henry's expression was strange. He had expected Tristan to ask for collateral; he could offer him the ghost fire, but instead, he wanted to join the group to hunt blood zombies.

Tristan said helplessly, 'The camp is running low on supplies. Don't worry, I'll only take my fair share."

Henry chuckled, 'It's a deal then. No time to waste; let's take care of those blood zombies before dark."

'Let's go!"

A few minutes later, Henry's small RV led the way, followed by a military truck filled with thirty people. Matthew and two other non-combatant children were left at the camp, and neither Marcus nor their parents said anything about it.

'If we had this military truck, Brother Wang and the others wouldn't have to ride their bikes to keep up with us," Annie, who had been listening to Henry and staying close to the vehicle, glanced back and said.

'Are you suggesting we take the opportunity to get rid of Tristan and steal this truck?" Henry said casually.

'I'm not!" Annie exclaimed in a panic, 'That's not what I meant!"

Henry laughed it off, 'I was just joking; you took it too seriously. I'm not a psychopath; at least I wouldn't kill for just a gold-level vehicle."

If I were to kill, it would be for a color card or higher.

However, there are no dark gold cards in the first phase of the apocalypse, Henry thought to himself.

Soon, the two vehicles arrived at the scene of the incident. Henry looked through the military binoculars and couldn't help but smirk.

'Wilson's description was half-baked; he didn't say all of this…" Tristan, who also had military binoculars, jumped out of the car and came over to Henry to complain.

Hundreds of meters away were swarms of blood zombies, densely packed, with no fewer than three hundred of them.

'Let's use Molotov cocktails or explosives," someone suggested.

'It's best not to use them if we can avoid it," Henry shook his head.

Molotov cocktails, explosives, and grenades could indeed effectively kill blood zombies, but they would also destroy the cards inside the zombies to the greatest extent, which essentially affects the drop rate of the cards.

Henry was taking the initiative this time with the goal of personally eliminating one of the aura blood zombies to see if he could obtain the 'Bullet Resistance Aura." This was a colored legendary card, and with it, he would never have to fear being attacked by firearms again.

'Not using explosives… with so many blood zombies, it'll be a bit tough to kill them," Tristan muttered. This was his first encounter with such a large horde of zombies.

In contrast, Marcus's team, who had just fought against a zombie tide the night before, was much calmer. The women had taken out their mechanical bows, while the men held shields, electric batons, and short knives, ready to fight at any moment.

'This is the difference," Tristan sincerely admired. Henry was a far more competent leader than he was.

'Do you see that bridge? We can lure the blood zombies onto the bridge to kill them," Henry pointed to a bridge spanning the lake not far away. The bridge was over ten meters wide and more than a hundred meters long, and it was piled with corpses, both human and blood zombies. Several privately owned cars, which had lost their mobility after the apocalypse, were abandoned on either side of the bridge.

After relocating their position to the bridge, Henry pushed his ghost fire motorcycle out of the RV. Aside from Annie and Marcus, no one knew about his space ring, and he certainly wouldn't expose it in front of outsiders.

'Who can ride this thing to lure the blood zombies over?" Henry asked, looking at the crowd.

Marcus stepped forward, 'Boss, I'll go. I've ridden before."

'I'll do it," Tristan waved his hand. 'You guys will be doing most of the heavy lifting later; at least let me contribute a little."

William stepped in front of him, 'Boss, your talent is more suited for close combat. If you get surrounded, it would be disastrous. I should go; if things go wrong, I at least have a way to escape."

Tristan frowned slightly, 'That's a valid point, but are you sure? It's quite dangerous."

'I'm fine," William smiled as he handed the gun to Tristan. 'You know my survival skills are a bit better than Shan Ge's."

With that, William hopped on the ghost fire motorcycle. After Henry gave him a few reminders, he sped off toward the other side of the bridge.

'Everyone, get ready for battle. Whether we can have a feast tonight depends on this fight," Henry shouted, drawing his black knife.

The two sides were already not far apart, and the ghost fire motorcycle was not only fast but also loud. It was hard not to attract the attention of the zombie horde. They let out terrifying roars and charged toward William.

With Henry's signal, William deliberately slowed down, maintaining a safe distance of about twenty meters from the blood zombies. He leisurely led the horde onto the bridge, and the entire process went incredibly smoothly.