Ryan Bennett looked completely calm, showing no psychological burden at all.

Determined to be a salted fish.

Claire Harris: "......"

Forget it, everyone has their own ambitions.

Not wanting to say more, Claire Harris glanced around, picked up a broom from the park management office, and went outside.

The black wall was right in front of them. Claire Harris poked it with the broom, and surprisingly, the broom could go through—it seemed the wall wasn’t solid. But the broom suddenly felt much lighter in her hand, and when she pulled it out, the part that had gone into the black wall had vanished without a trace. The break was perfectly neat, as if the black wall had "eaten" it.

This terrifying scene made everyone break out in a cold sweat.

They couldn’t help but imagine what would happen if they accidentally touched the black wall—at best, they’d lose a limb; at worst, they’d be sliced in half in a bloody mess.

As seen earlier, the black wall could move.

Although it was still now, no one knew if it would start advancing again. Clearly, they needed to leave the park management office as soon as possible.

Claire Harris tossed aside the broom with the missing end. "What did the mission rules say just now?"

"Dea—death elimination," someone answered.

"As long as you know." Claire Harris's face was cold as she addressed the group, "Hold on to your gear, and it’s best if none of you die. We can’t go back anyway, so whatever this PU-31 is, we’ll face it."

*

The team left the park and arrived at a rather narrow intersection.

In Star Era 1470, the building density was much higher than in the time and space they’d lived in a decade or so ago. Leaving a plot of land in the city center for a park was already a huge luxury, so the streets near the park were relatively cramped.

The city was desolate, even emptier than they’d imagined, with no living people in sight.

Crashed cars were parked haphazardly by the roadside. Various shops looked as if they’d been looted and burned. Bloodstains everywhere and the occasional decaying corpse made it feel like the end of the world—ruin as far as the eye could see.

The deeper they went into the city, the more silent it became. All that came through the communicators was everyone’s heavy breathing; no one spoke.

The team moved along the walls, advancing from cover to cover.

No one knew if the black wall had moved again. Every so often, they’d look back in doubt, but the black wall still stood far away, perfectly still, erasing half the world behind it.

"Wait."

Claire Harris's voice sounded on the public channel, and she made a fist gesture.

Everyone stopped in their tracks.

It was already 6 a.m.

The late summer sunlight streamed through the gaps between skyscrapers, casting a golden beam across the scorched black asphalt.

In that blinding light stood a group of people.

To be precise, a group of zombies.

In the middle of the road lay a pool of flesh and blood—clearly a fresh corpse with its belly ripped open and intestines spilling out—surrounded by zombies feasting on it. They scrambled to tear at the skin, limbs, and organs, gnawing and swallowing hungrily.

The sounds of chewing, mixed with hoarse, raspy growls, came from just seven or eight meters away—so clear.

Even though they’d mentally prepared themselves, witnessing humans eating humans was still utterly shocking.

Before anyone could process the scene, a terrified scream rang out from behind.

"Ah!!!"

From the shadows not touched by sunlight, a woman covered in blood burst out of a building. Hot on her heels, twenty or thirty zombies poured out of the dark doorway, frantically chasing her, wanting to tear her apart.

Meanwhile, the woman’s scream startled the group of zombies feasting in the sunlight.

They jerked their heads up, gray-white pupils and blood-red mouths like demons from hell, and charged at the team!

"Damn!"

Someone cursed, and then another shouted, "Save her!"

"Bang bang bang"—several gunshots rang out. Claire Harris shot and killed three or four zombies behind the woman. At the same time, another teammate fired several shots, blasting the brains of the charging zombies all over the ground.

The city’s silence was shattered by gunfire.

"Groooar—"

It was like poking a hornet’s nest. In just a few seconds, zombies swarmed from all directions. They poured out of shadows, buildings, and unseen corners of the street like a tidal wave, moving at terrifying speed.

"Go, go, go!!"

"Quick!!"

Gunfire erupted one after another, echoing down the street.

The woman had already rushed up to them. Ryan Bennett was about to grab her when his expression changed dramatically!

In just a dozen meters, the woman transformed from a living human—her face now covered in bluish veins, her pupils gray-white—she had become one of the monsters!

"Shoot!!! She’s not human anymore!!"

Someone shouted behind him.

Ryan Bennett snapped out of it, pulled the trigger, and with a shot from the Diamond Bird, blew her head apart—the zombie’s brains burst out with a "pop"!

The woman instantly collapsed, trampled and swallowed up by the onrushing zombies.

"Behind you!!"

Someone shoved Ryan Bennett hard. A gunshot exploded by his ear, and he felt a sudden heat on his neck—Claire Harris had just blown apart the head of a zombie behind him. Blood mist splattered his face, his vision blurred, his ears rang violently, and Claire Harris was frowning and saying something to him, but he couldn’t hear a thing.