"This operation is at night. It probably won’t be so easy," Lin Xinghai muttered to himself as he stepped out of the tent and glanced at the sky.

At night, human vision was limited, which directly led to a decrease in the accuracy of their Gun Technique.

The Zombies, on the other hand, were just the opposite. They became especially active at night; even their Speed, Attack Power, and danger-sensing abilities would increase to some extent.

Although the increase wasn’t much, with the humans’ disadvantage and the Zombies’ advantage, the difficulty of killing them would rise by at least thirty to forty percent.

Although Lin Xinghai had spoken quietly, Fang Tianhe, who was beside him, still heard. His heart skipped a beat, and he quickly asked, "Should I make any extra arrangements, then?"

"That won’t be necessary. Just tell everyone to be careful," Lin Xinghai said. He then fell silent, quietly releasing his Perception Power.

He had rested for nearly eight hours, and his Perception Power had not only fully recovered but had also grown stronger.

Although his Perception Power was in a constant state of growth after breaking the third Genetic Lock, this cycle of depleting and then recovering it seemed to make it grow especially fast.

This was undoubtedly good news. Once his Perception Power finished growing, he could also push his Genetic Optimization Level to its limit. Though he would have to suppress it to avoid breaking through, his strength would definitely see a significant boost.

Soon, the two of them arrived at the assembly point for the First Grand Company. By now, all the Mercenary Corps had gathered.

Everyone was in high spirits and eager for battle. With the various Mercenary Corps not lacking in Points, even those who were previously injured had fully recovered after soaking in High Level Repair Liquid for a few hours—all except for the few who had been severely wounded.

Lin Xinghai gave the crowd a satisfied look and immediately ordered them to move out.

Under the cover of night, the convoy once again drove toward Guanghan City.

In truth, out of all these Mercenary Corps, at most a third had any experience fighting Zombies at night. And even for those who did, it was limited to just one or two occasions.

After all, even when these Mercenary Corps were out on missions, they would try to return to the Shelter before nightfall. If they couldn’t make it back, they would rarely stay in a city, opting instead to hide in the wilderness where Zombies were scarcer.

But this time, not only did they have to enter the city, but their main objective was to clear out Zombies. It would be an absolute lie to say the First Level Mercenary Corps weren’t nervous.

However, when they saw the Heaven-Sundering Mercenary Corps at the head of the convoy and recalled Lin Xinghai’s god-like Gun Technique, most of their worries dissipated.

Soon, the convoy entered the bounds of Guanghan City. On Lin Xinghai’s command, the convoy began to change formation, and he dispatched some of his members to join the other Mercenary Corps.

It had to be said, there were truly a lot of Zombies in Guanghan City. This route had already been cleared three times, back and forth. But even so, they had traveled less than 100 meters before a horde rushed toward the convoy.

It was a horde of 30 Zombies. Given the size of the First Grand Company, they were all swiftly gunned down.

However, everyone could now clearly feel the difference between night and day.

The Zombies’ increased Speed and Attack Power were secondary. The main issue was the limited visibility. Zombies they could have killed from 50 meters away now had to get within 30 or even 25 meters before they could be confidently taken down.

Of course, it wasn’t all bad news. At least the number and density of Zombies had dropped significantly.

A horde of 30 Zombies was truly nothing in the face of their thousand-man company.

And compared to the first time they entered, not only were there fewer Zombies, but the density of the hordes had also greatly decreased.

Previously, hordes had charged them one after another. But now, even after they killed a horde and finished collecting the Elemental Crystals, there was no sign of a second one.

"Tell the members below to let loose and attack. Once they get used to it, clearing out Zombies at night is no big deal," Lin Xinghai said over the communication channel as they set off again after cleaning up the battlefield.

"Yes, sir!" the other Mercenary Corps Leaders replied in unison.

Lin Xinghai couldn’t help but smile at this. He could feel that the attitudes of these Mercenary Corps Leaders toward him had improved, to the point where they would follow his every command.

This change was likely a result of them returning to the main camp and comparing their situation to that of the other grand companies.

The First Grand Company was now, without a doubt, a highly sought-after position. If anyone disobeyed and got kicked out, they wouldn’t even have a shoulder to cry on. Other Mercenary Corps were trying every trick in the book to get in!

The team soon set off again, successively taking down a few more waves of Zombies, but the frequency of battles wasn’t high.

And with each battle, the Mercenaries gradually adapted to fighting at night, and their attacks became more efficient.

It didn’t matter that they couldn’t attack distant Zombies; they just adjusted the range of their fire net, shrinking it from 50 meters down to 30.

Although this shortened the buffer distance, their firepower became much more intense. Even though their overall combat effectiveness was still somewhat reduced, it was now within an acceptable range for everyone.

Seeing the Mercenary Corps gradually adapt, Lin Xinghai ordered them to increase their speed, and the team quickly passed the first three outposts.

As they pushed deeper, the number of Zombies began to increase, but the First Grand Company still handled them with ease.

They didn’t stop to rest until they reached the fifth outpost.

The area beyond had not yet been cleared of Zombies. Compounded by the fact that it was night, the Zombie density would only be higher than during the day, so even Lin Xinghai had to take it seriously.

After a half-hour rest, the convoy set off again. Not long after leaving the outpost, a huge battle erupted.

ROAR! ROAR! ROAR!

The dense roars of Zombies filled the air. Lin Xinghai glanced at the Zombie Detector beside him; the number displayed was 529.

That’s right, they had encountered a horde of over 500 Zombies.

"The difference between day and night really is huge," Lin Xinghai couldn’t help but remark.

Of course, besides sighing, he also ordered a halt, telling everyone to hold their ground and defend with all their might.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

A dense barrage of roars thundered as Hand Cannon Bullets were continuously fired, forming a fire net at the perimeter.

Any Zombies that managed to break through the fire net were immediately met with a dense hail of bullets.

This two-layered barrage could intercept at least 90% of the Zombies, but even so, 10% still managed to charge up to the Armored Vehicles—and all of them were High Level Zombies.

Some of these High Level Zombies attacked the outer armor directly, a casual swipe leaving a half-meter-long, one-centimeter-deep gash. But more of them tried to attack the Mercenaries inside through the firing ports.

Whenever this happened, it was time for the Mechas to be deployed. Even though the leaders of these First Level Mercenary Corps had yet to break all three Genetic Locks and could only bring out 50% of their Mecha’s performance, they could still completely overwhelm these High Level Zombies in terms of Speed and Power.

However, the expressions on the faces of those leaders were anything but relaxed. Piloting a Mecha placed a huge strain on the brain—or rather, on their Perception Power.

Deploying a Mecha was necessary for emergencies, like a zombie tide.

But if they had to deploy a Mecha for every single horde they encountered, these Mercenary Corps Leaders wouldn’t be able to endure such prolonged combat.