Doomsday police, please show your god/demon ID card.

The next day, in the morning.

Thick fog billowed.

Tang Long, Wang Hu, and Su Yan stood at the half-open alloy gate.

The equipment has been checked. Tang Long is carrying the drone case on his back, while Wang Hu is holding a fire axe and has a pistol at his waist.

Su Yan followed behind the two, her eyes no longer showing the fear of the past few days, but only a solemn focus.

Tang Long looked at the blurry silhouettes of the buildings across the street and took a deep breath.

"Set off."

The three filed out, their figures quickly swallowed up by the surging gray mist.

...

After half an hour.

bang bang~

Two gunshots rang out.

Three footsteps, each heavier than the last, echoed through the empty street.

"Wow! Dr. Su, your abilities are amazing!" Wang Hu exclaimed, looking at the zombies at his feet.

Su Yan smiled, her face still somewhat pale: "I'm glad I could help."

Tang Long didn't reply, but nodded in agreement.

This trip was indeed much smoother than the previous ones.

Thanks to Su Yan's early warning, they were able to avoid many dangers in advance.

If you encounter one or two lone zombies, just take care of them.

In short, fight if you can win, run if you can't.

Time passed by, second by second.

The three of them were getting closer and closer to the supermarket.

However...

Just a few hundred meters away from the supermarket.

Su Yan suddenly stopped, leaning against the wall, her breathing becoming rapid.

"What's wrong?" Tang Long immediately became alert.

"The oppressive feeling... is getting stronger." Su Yan's forehead was covered in a fine sweat. She closed her eyes, as if trying to discern the situation carefully: "It... seems to be more intense than before."

Upon hearing this, Tang Long couldn't help but frown slightly.

He had actually noticed something was wrong a long time ago.

The closer you get to the supermarket, the higher the zombie density!

On the way here, five or six zombies were considered a lot, but here, there are often groups of a dozen or twenty zombies, several times more than the last time we came.

The team did not rush forward.

As planned, they set up a temporary observation point on the roof of a five-story residential building diagonally opposite the supermarket.

The view from here is expansive, overlooking the supermarket entrance. More importantly, there's a small alley behind the building, which serves as a pre-planned evacuation route.

"Safe." Wang Hu walked around the rooftop, setting up several makeshift alarms made of rope and empty cans, and then gestured to Tang Long.

Tang Long opened the black engineering plastic box and began assembling the drone.

"Buzz—"

With a soft buzzing sound, the drone ascended vertically and quickly disappeared into the mist on the rooftop.

Tang Long piloted the drone and flew over the supermarket.

The image displayed on the screen made all three of them gasp simultaneously.

All that could be seen on the street surrounding the supermarket was a dense mass of zombies.

A dense, dark mass, like a swarm of wriggling ants, far exceeding expectations, estimated to be at least a thousand.

"Damn it..." Wang Hu cursed under his breath, gripping the fire axe tightly in his hand.

Su Yan's face turned pale, her eyes filled with fear, and her voice trembled.

"How...how can there be so many?"

Tang Long didn't speak, but slid his finger across the screen to zoom in.

He quickly discovered several problems.

First of all, the distribution of these zombies on the street is not random, but follows a certain pattern.

The zombies on the outer perimeter wandered aimlessly, while those in the inner circle near the supermarket building stood still, like sentries.

Tang Long even noticed that several zombies were "patrolling" back and forth along a fixed route.

These zombies were also generally taller than the surrounding zombies.

Tang Long frowned slightly, controlled the drone, and began to descend, flying towards the supermarket's main entrance.

The buzzing of bees echoed in the air.

This attracted the attention of several wandering zombies near the entrance.

Fortunately, the zombies only glanced at it and then ignored it.

Tang Long breathed a slight sigh of relief; his worst fears hadn't come true.

Although these zombies behave strangely, they still follow their instincts and are only interested in the scent of humans.

The drone, this lump of metal, is not within the scope of these monsters' attention.

The drone flew into the supermarket, and the signal was momentarily interfered with, but then returned to stability.

The live feed appears on the screen.

Everywhere there were collapsed shelves, twisted and deformed, mixed with congealed black blood clots and various kinds of commodity garbage.

The ground was covered with a sticky, slippery, translucent film of organic matter, and countless skeletons, both human and animal, were scattered everywhere, having been completely devoured.

Most importantly, the zombie density here is extremely high, almost filling all the passageways.

But strangely, the vast majority of them were in a near-static "standby" state, heads drooping, motionless, like terrifying sculptures.

"Holy crap! How did there become so many zombies? How much time has passed?" Wang Hu's eyes widened in disbelief.

Last time I came, although the supermarket was also eerie and strange, there weren't actually many zombies inside.

But now, less than a week later, the supermarket is almost packed with people.

If you include the zombies outside the supermarket, this number is already comparable to a small zombie horde.

This is truly terrifying.

Su Yan nodded as well: "Something's not right, be careful."

Tang Long did not reply, but simply operated the drone to continue moving deeper into the supermarket.

suddenly...

The image was slightly shaky.

The drone's camera captured the scene, causing everyone's pupils to shrink.

A "throne" made of rotting corpses, twisted shelves, and solidified organic matter.

On the throne sat a monster as fat as a mountain.

It stands over three meters tall, its bulky body covered with bluish-gray, rough skin like rhinoceros hide, thick layers of fat and keratin.

Its left hand was a huge, rusted metal hook with bits of unknown flesh hanging from it.

At this moment, it was holding the ripped remains of a mutated dog in its right hand, tearing at the flesh with large bites, thick black blood dripping down its chin.

"Holy crap! Is this still a zombie?" Wang Hu couldn't help but swallow hard.

Su Yan also came over, frowning as she said, "Unlike ordinary zombies, there are no signs of decay on his body."

"His muscles look very solid, and he's over 3 meters tall, so his strength is definitely not to be underestimated."

"The stratum corneum on its body is very thick, somewhat like the cement layer on a wild boar's body, which should give it considerable defensive capabilities."

"I suspect..." she paused, "that the pistol might not be able to do much damage to him."

"We need more powerful weapons."

Upon hearing this, Tang Long and Wang Hu's expressions turned slightly unpleasant.

It should be noted that the most powerful weapon currently in everyone's possession is the Type 92 rifle.

If a pistol can't solve the problem, then the danger is much greater.

Wang Hu frowned and said, "However, I'm more curious about why this zombie has changed so much. It's a completely different species from the zombies we encountered before."

The group looked at each other, all somewhat puzzled.

At this time.

Su Yan suddenly spoke up: "Could it be evolution?"

The two looked over.

Su Yan thought for a moment: "Take me as an example. Since I can gain superpowers, could zombies also undergo some kind of mutation that we don't understand?"

"The post-apocalyptic environment is always the same; it doesn't make sense that humans mutate while zombies remain the same."

"That's very possible," Tang Long nodded in agreement.

"From a biological point of view, the more powerful an individual is, the less likely it is to share a territory."

"As the saying goes, two tigers cannot share one mountain. There is already a strange entity in the supermarket that can control other zombies."

"Why has another powerful zombie appeared?"

Wang Hu, speechless, retorted, "Seriously, you two, it's the end of the world, why are you still talking about science?"

Su Yan glanced at him sideways: "Science has always existed; it doesn't mean it will be useless when the end of the world comes."

She thought for a moment, then hesitated before speaking.

"Is it possible that this zombie is protecting the cocoon?"

"Or rather, they were always in cahoots."

Tang Long frowned slightly: "What do you mean?"

Su Yan took a deep breath.

"As I said before, that meat cocoon transformed the innermost part of the supermarket into a nest, like a giant beehive."

"The hive itself does not move; it can only control ordinary zombies through mycelium, making them work for it and absorb nutrients, just like ordinary worker bees."

"But what else is in a beehive besides worker bees?"

"Guardian bee!" Wang Hu blurted out, "You mean, this zombie is the guard bee of this hive?"

"That's right." Su Yan nodded.

Tang Long took a deep breath, controlled the drone, and continued to delve deeper.

The further in you go, the lower the temperature gets, and the walls are covered with frost and constantly wriggling mycelium.

When the drone flew to the innermost part, the scene before them completely overturned everyone's understanding.

A giant cocoon of flesh, about three meters in diameter, made of flesh, twisted metal pipes, and broken freezing equipment, floated silently in mid-air.

Countless thick blood vessels extend from the surface of the fleshy cocoon, piercing into the ground and ceiling like tree roots, forming a massive circulatory system.

The fleshy cocoon itself was pulsating slowly, like a heart.

With each pulsation, the tangled veins on the surface glow with an eerie dark red light, turning the surrounding frost a blood red.

Beneath the fleshy cocoon lay a mountain of debris.

There are zombies whose life energy has been drained and turned into mummies, as well as the skeletons of various animals.

This is the heart of the nest.

"Ugh...it's disgusting." Wang Hu squinted, bared his teeth, and looked somewhat uncomfortable.

Tang Long looked at Su Yan and asked, "This, should be the fleshy ball you sensed earlier?"

Su Yan nodded. She didn't speak, but stared intently at the images transmitted by the drone, as if trying to sense something.

After a long while, she suddenly spoke.

There was a hint of uncertainty in his voice.

"That cocoon... is absorbing energy. I can feel something hatching."

"Hatching?" Tang Long frowned slightly. As he spoke, he controlled the drone to fly around the cocoon, recording everything, and then prepared to return the way he came.

Now that we have the intelligence, we should not linger.

Just then.

The zombie sitting on the "throne," feasting, suddenly stopped eating.

Its massive head snapped up, staring intently in the direction of the drone.

His eyes were bloodshot.

at the same time.

"ah--!"

A piercing scream echoed from the rooftop.

Not from the screen, but from right beside us.

Su Yan instantly curled up on the ground, clutching her head, letting out a painful scream as her body convulsed violently.

"Run! We've been spotted!"

Tang Long was stunned by the sudden turn of events. Before he could even ask what had happened, he was completely bewildered.

"roar--!!!"

Almost at the same time as Su Yan screamed, a deafening roar came from inside the supermarket. The terrifying sound even made Tang Long and Wang Hu on the roof feel a stinging pain in their eardrums.

The entire supermarket, and even all the zombies within several kilometers, seemed to be injected with a violent stimulant in an instant.

The zombies that were originally in "standby" mode suddenly raised their heads and roared in unison, turning the once silent supermarket into a boiling hell.

On the screen, the enormous zombie grabbed half of a truck driver's body and slammed it toward the drone!

"Damn it!"

Tang Long was so anxious that he was covered in sweat, and his fingers were dancing on the controller so fast they were almost blurry.

A drone costs 200 points, not to mention that he has finally managed to collect information about the inside of the supermarket, and he plans to watch it several times when he gets back.

If it breaks down here, he'll really be devastated.

The drone pulled up to its maximum altitude, barely dodging the corpse that flew towards it like a cannonball.

The body slammed against the wall behind it with a dull thud, turning into a pile of minced meat.

But the crisis is not over.

From the shadows of the ceiling, several dark figures darted out like lightning!

They lurked in the darkness, like bats hanging upside down on the wall.

Tang Long hadn't noticed it before and could only try his best to control the drone to dodge.

But there are too many of these things, and they are coming too fast.

The image freezes at the end.

A gaping maw dripping with sticky saliva filled the entire screen.

scoff!

The signal was interrupted.

The tablet screen turned into a blinding display of static.

"puff--"

at the same time.

Su Yan, curled up on the ground, was struck as if by a heavy blow. She coughed up a small mouthful of blood and instantly lost consciousness.

"Withdraw! Immediately!"

Tang Long made a decisive decision, no longer caring about the drone, and turned around to carry Su Yan on his back.

"Tiger, cover the rear!"

"Understood!" Wang Hu didn't hesitate at all, grabbed the fire axe, and stood guard at the iron gate leading downstairs.

Downstairs, on the street, things have completely gone mad.

Countless zombies surged out of the supermarket like a tidal wave, roaring and running wildly.

Interspersed among them were a dozen or so incredibly fast zombies that climbed and leaped across the walls.

It must be the guy who destroyed the drone before.

Their target was clear—this residential building!

"Walk!"

Tang Long carried Su Yan on his back and ran downstairs along the planned route.

Wang Hu followed closely behind. When he reached the second floor, he took out two beer bottles filled with gasoline from his backpack, lit the strip of cloth with a lighter, and threw it down the stairs.

Boom! Boom!

Two makeshift Molotov cocktails exploded, flames instantly engulfing the entire stairwell. The scorching heat ignited the first few zombies that rushed up, turning them into screaming torches and temporarily halting the pursuers' advance.

"You have this treasure?" Tang Long looked back in shock as he ran.

"My drill instructor taught me how to make it when I was in the army! It's not difficult!" Wang Hu shouted. "Wait, is this the time to be thinking about that? Let's run!"