Faced with the endless wave of bullets, the zombies were slowly beginning to fall. However, it was simply impossible for thirty inexperienced people to annihilate more than four hundred enemies who felt no pain and did not fear death when the distance separating them was only about a hundred meters.
"Cease fire! Retreat one hundred meters!" Bai Zemin commanded deeply as the zombies approached fifty meters in front of them.
The militants turned pale as a sheet when they saw for the first time in a long time so many zombies from such a close distance. Upon receiving Bai Zemin's direct order, those who could barely contain the urge to flee as they remembered the consequences immediately turned around and began to run in disorderly fashion toward the second line of defense marked in advance.
Seeing how disorderly the retreat was, Bai Zemin sighed secretly and also retreated after making sure that all the men had reached a safe point.
"On my signal!" Bai Zemin shouted and while looking behind him ordered, "Fire in bursts! Don't leave the trigger pulled like idiots and aim for the head!"
As the now just over two hundred zombies approached, Bai Zemin ordered and the militants began to shoot in bursts. This caused the zombie kill rate to drop but the accuracy increased dramatically as the vibration of the guns was far less.
The ammunition savings also became noticeable and gradually the zombies began to fall.
After retreating a total of two hundred meters more than the initial one hundred meters, the group led by Bai Zemin had consumed 70% of the ammunition they had brought for this assault.
"Cease fire!" Bai Zemin shouted again as the number of zombies amounted to just over sixty and the militants gradually stopped firing.
The fearful look in everyone's eyes had long since been nowhere to be seen and as they looked at the less than one hundred zombies approaching at a snail's pace a bit of self-confidence began to be born naturally.
This confidence came from the victory they had built together with their own hands!
"Luo Ning, are you sure you're alright? "Bai Zemin approached the girl standing next to Lilith and asked carefully.
"It's okay, big brother Bai!" Luo Ning nodded with determination and looked at the zombies more than a hundred meters away without fear. Then, she looked at Bai Zemin and smiled in a cute manner as she said, "Besides, little Ning knows that you will protect her!"
"Little girl, you..." Bai Zemin didn't know whether to laugh or cry at the confidence this little girl had in him even though he had barely known her for three days.
What the hell man? After all you can act like that too. Chen He sighed secretly and a smile formed on his face as he watched the little interaction between the two.
Bai Zemin took off his Full Coat and helped Luo Ning equip it. The treasure glowed and adjusted to the girl's stature automatically, showing just how powerful the Soul Record really was.
With all of her natural stats gaining a +5 boost, the nine-year-old girl had no problem lifting Bai Zemin's Xuanyuan Sword and slashed a couple of times with relative ease.
"Follow me and don't be afraid." Bai Zemin took the girl's hand and advanced to meet the zombies slowly.
As he saw them walking away, Luo Cheng opened his mouth to say something but in the end, shook his head and sighed. His eyes filled with worry stared at the back of his only family as he silently prayed for her safety.
"Don't worry." Kang Lan stepped closer and pointed out the undeniable truth: "There's no way a few level 5 zombies can hurt someone he wishes to protect."
"Although I have my differences with him, I must say that at least he's a man who keeps his word and so far hasn't tried to bite off more than he can handle." Chen He reached over and lightly patted him on the shoulder.
The two's words calmed Luo Cheng a little, but it was simply impossible for the worry to disappear completely. However, soon all that worry disappeared almost 100% within seconds when he witnessed the scene before him.
...
Bai Zemin waited for the zombies to approach and as he felt the small hand he held squeezing tightly with his own he looked at the girl beside him.
"You stay behind me, I'll take care of those zombies first and then you can level up just by giving the final hit. Okay?"
"Mmh!" Luo Ning nodded with bright eyes and her eyebrows curved like a crescent moon.
When the zombies were twenty meters away, Bai Zemin seemed to disappear from his previous position and the ground under his feet cracked slightly due to the strength of his legs.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Luo Ning could not follow his movements but she could hear the constant bangs and for each bang, a zombie fell to the ground with its four broken limbs.
Of course, each bang she heard was actually at least four explosions but due to Bai Zemin's speed, the time between each one wasn't too long so they seemed like one.
Although he had lost his Full Coat momentarily, with one hand covered by his Piercing Glove and with his feet protected by the Velocity Boots, Bai Zemin was not afraid of zombies. Besides, with his overwhelmingly superior Agility compared to the slow zombies, there was no way he would be in danger unless he was surrounded on all sides.
After a minute, the seventy or so zombies lay on the ground growling furiously. However, although their appearances were still as horrifying as before, the danger they posed had practically dropped to the lowest possible level.
Luo Ning carefully approached under Bai Zemin's guidance and noticed how each zombie had the bones of both arms and legs completely destroyed beyond recognition.
The girl's face turned pale at the bloody scene but she gritted her teeth and endured. Although she was a child, she was actually not as naive as she looked. Luo Ning was aware that the world she knew would never return; precisely because of this she desperately wanted strength not only for herself, but also to protect her loved ones.
"Just take three small steps forward and cut off the head. You don't need to get any closer than that." Bai Zemin pointed at the first zombie and instructed.
Following his words, Luo Ning took three small steps forward and raised the Xuanyuan Sword high into the sky before slashing downwards as a faint battle cry came out of her mouth.
With a blade over a meter in length, the sword's edge easily severed the zombie's head. Although it failed to hit the neck, the brain turned to mush and the life of the human who failed to adapt to the world's mana was finally over.
[You have acquired the Soul Power of Normal Zombie level 5. Stamina +3]
As time passed, the level of the zombies also slowly ascended. At the beginning of the apocalypse, most of the zombies were level 2 or level 3 while level 4 zombies were relatively rarer. However, now all of these zombies were level 4 or level 5.
This meant that mankind had to hurry up and become stronger if they did not want to be devoured by the other beings wandering the Earth.