The Heavensnare Saintess looked up and saw that the road ahead was packed with human corpses—so densely that she couldn't see the end.
"Turn around, quickly." The Heavensnare Saintess ordered softly, a vague sense of unease rising in her heart.
"It's bad, Saintess! We've been surrounded by human corpses!"
Suddenly, Bella Bi cried out in terror. The Heavensnare Saintess swept her gaze around and realized that they were hemmed in by human corpses on all sides.
"Why are there so many human corpses?"
The Heavensnare Saintess felt her unease intensify.
"Just charge straight ahead!"
"Yes, Saintess!"
"Vroom! Vroom!"
The modified armored car had tremendous power; roaring like a crazed bull, it charged forward at full speed.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
Zombies were flung aside by the armored car, but there were simply too many of them. No matter how powerful the car was, after plowing five or six meters into the horde, it couldn't go any farther.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
Scratch! Scratch! Scratch!
A mass of zombies began slamming against and clawing at the car, producing shrill, grating sounds.
"Saintess, what should we do?"
Bella Bi asked in a trembling voice. At this moment, she was so frightened that her face was ghostly pale and her body was shaking uncontrollably.
Suddenly, a giant zombie over five meters tall appeared ahead.
"Bang!"
The giant zombie swung its fist and smashed it into the windshield.
Although the windshield was specially reinforced, the power of that zombie was monstrous. With a single punch, tiny cracks began to appear.
Bang!
The giant zombie slammed its fist down again, and the cracks in the windshield spread wider. At this rate, a few more blows would shatter it completely.
"Saintess, let's get out of the car! The four of us will hold off the zombies—run while you can!"
The driver turned to look at the Heavensnare Saintess, his expression filled with tragic resolve.
"Yes, Saintess, let's go!" Bella Bi nodded emphatically, agreeing wholeheartedly.
"Alright, out of the car!"
The Heavensnare Saintess nodded. Brilliant as she was, even she couldn't think of a better plan at this moment.
Bang! Bang!
Both car doors swung open. Two guards leapt out first, their swords flashing from their sheaths as they slashed outward.
Their swords flashed, and dozens of zombies were sliced in half by the pair.
Slash! Slash! Slash! Slash!
The two guards unleashed their Transforming-Gang qi, slashing again and again, cutting down over a hundred zombies and clearing a patch of open ground.
"I'll open the way with Snare Six—Snare Seven and Snare Eight, you cover the Saintess's rear!" Snare Five barked out.
Snare Five was the strongest of the four guards, and the other three deferred to him.
Within Heavensnare Palace, there are three secret guard divisions: the Heavensnare Guard, the Heaven Guard, and the Snare Guard.
The Heavensnare Guard's main duty is to protect the Order Master, and each member has reached the eighth tier of Transforming-Gang.
The Heaven Guard is responsible for protecting the Divine Son, and their cultivation has reached the seventh tier of Transforming-Gang.
The Snare Guard's main duty is to protect the Saintess. Likewise, their cultivation is at the seventh tier of Transforming-Gang.
The Heavensnare Saintess commands twelve Snare Guards in total. This time, she thought the trip to the Yanhuang Survivor Base would be safe, so she only brought the second squad. She never expected to be trapped in a sea of zombies. Regret flashed through her mind—if only she'd brought all three squads.
Though she regretted her decision, she knew now wasn't the time to dwell on it. With Bella Bi, she got out of the car and charged forward behind Snare Five and Snare Six.
Snare Seven and Snare Eight flanked her, slashing down zombies that lunged from the sides.
Among the Seventy-Two Orders, zombies are referred to as 'human corpses.'
Slash! Slash! Slash! Slash!
With every flash of sword light, ten or more zombies fell. In mere seconds, over a thousand zombies had died at the hands of the four Snare Guards.
But a thousand zombies was just a drop in the ocean. As soon as they were cut down, even more surged forward.
Because of this, their progress was painfully slow.
On the edge of a nearby nine-story building, Ian Song stood alone, coldly observing everything below. The zombies blocking the Saintess's group were minions of Corpse One and Corpse Two.
There were too many eyes in the survivor base, so he couldn't make a move there. But outside the base, he had no such concerns.
Now, he was weighing his options: should he use Puppet Mastery to enslave the Saintess, or simply let the zombies kill her?
During their earlier conversation, he had seemed to be playing dumb, but much of what he said was sincere.
To this world, he was just a passing visitor.
He had a feeling that once he completed his third mission, he'd return to his original reality.
So he had no ambition to conquer the world.
But now, Heavensnare had set its sights on him. From his conversation with the Saintess, he had deduced their goal: to unify Centralia and rebuild the government.
Rebuilding the government would be good for humanity—he wasn't going to stand in the way.
But his own goal was to build a survivor base with a million people.
If he stopped at just tens of thousands, Heavensnare probably wouldn't care much about him.
But if he really managed to gather a million survivors, Heavensnare would no longer ignore him.
He didn't know Heavensnare's exact strength, but judging by the Myriad Beasts Order, they likely had plenty of ninth-tier Transforming-Gang experts, maybe even hidden Foundation Establishment cultivators.
At his current level, he could handle three or five ninth-tier experts.
But if more than ten ninth-tier experts joined forces, or if a Foundation Establishment cultivator appeared, his only option would be to run.
Down below, the battle raged on.
Over five thousand zombies had already fallen to the Snare Guards, but they'd only advanced three meters.
And after killing so many zombies, the four Snare Guards were badly depleted.
Earlier, each sword strike could cut down seventeen or eighteen, even twenty zombies. Now, each blow only felled eleven or twelve.
Ian figured the four Snare Guards could hold out for at most two more minutes before they collapsed.
In the center, shielded by the four Snare Guards, the Heavensnare Saintess's face was cold as frost. Clearly, she could see they wouldn't last much longer.
Her eyes landed on a building more than ten meters away.
The street was packed with countless human corpses. If she wanted to escape, she'd have to make it into one of the buildings along the street—only there was a sliver of hope.
With that thought, she glanced at Bella Bi, who was clutching her arm in terror. Guilt and helplessness flickered in the Saintess's eyes as she said softly, "Bella, let go of me."
"Yes, Saintess!"
Bella Bi instinctively let go of the Saintess, but then she seemed to realize something. Her face instantly went pale, and her eyes filled with unspeakable terror.
Whoosh!
A flash of white—suddenly, the Heavensnare Saintess leapt into the air, flying toward the building over ten meters away.
Seeing the Saintess abandon her, Bella Bi gave a bitter, desolate smile. She had always been the Saintess's closest maid, but in the face of life and death, the Saintess had still chosen to leave her behind.
The four Snare Guards had been ready to die protecting the Saintess, but seeing her flee without a word, they couldn't help but feel the bitter sting of abandonment—even as they kept fighting desperately against the sea of zombies.