Chapter 78: Chapter 67: Arrogant Koreans Flee Mid-Battle

A strange scene was unfolding on the other side of the Highway 320 guardrail.

A man and a woman were locked in combat with a Second Level zombie. Behind them, several men in military uniforms and a fat man were tangled up with a dozen or so other zombies.

"Hey, hey, hey, little lady! Hurry up and hold this zombie back! Your grandpa Ethan is about to get caught!"

Cynthia Grant casually summoned a slender vine, restraining the zombie that was about to bite Ethan Monroe, then finished it off with a single strike of her blade.

"Hey, you big oaf! Can you please get a grip? Cooperate! Do you know what cooperation means?" Cynthia Grant snapped, her tone sharp as she felt her superpower draining rapidly.

"The hell? Do you get it or not?! If your grandpa Ethan wasn’t acting as a meat shield for you all, you think you’d have it this easy?"

Meanwhile, a little girl, hiding behind two adults, was intermittently launching flames at the Second Level zombie.

The Second Level zombie, facing these intermittent fiery sneak attacks, grew agitated and wanted to tear apart the little girl hiding behind the others. But the man and woman in front of it were incredibly difficult to deal with. Although the man’s Fireballs weren’t as powerful as the little girl’s, they still burned its body and had a significant effect.

The most detestable one was the human girl. Every time it was about to scratch or lunge at the man, a tough, resilient film of water would appear on his body, preventing its attacks from landing with any force.

And the axe in the girl’s hands was especially sharp, every swing aimed at its weak point—the head. It dodged again and again, feeling utterly suppressed and frustrated by the pair.

"ROAR!"

Following the Second Level zombie’s roar, the First Level zombies that had been entangled with Evan and his group suddenly started ignoring their attacks and swarmed toward Flora Bloom and Neal Wallace.

"Flora, be careful!"

Caleb Bloom stood guard in front of Jade and Caleb, his heart nearly leaping out of his throat as he watched his daughter narrowly dodge a strike from the Second Level zombie.

"This is bad. The Second Level zombie is calling the First Level ones back."

Flora Bloom wasn’t concerned about a dozen First Level zombies. But now, the Second Level zombie had actually erected a hard earthen wall in front of itself, blocking her and Neal Wallace’s attacks and making it impossible to get close.

Seeing the dozen or so zombies moving farther away, Sienna Kensington and her two companions quickly returned to Evan’s group.

"Colonel Evan, while, these zombies, go, attack those people, we, should hurry and retreat!"

Sienna Kensington’s words, spoken in broken, halting Chinese, stirred different thoughts among the members of Evan’s team.

"No, we can’t just abandon Flora and the others." Cynthia Grant flatly rejected Sienna Kensington’s proposal, then looked at Evan. "Captain, Flora is holding back that Second Level zombie, which is the only reason we have this breathing room. We should be going over to help them, not running away!"

Evan nodded and was just about to lead a few people over to help when Holly, another member of the team, spoke up.

"Isn’t that Flora Bloom supposed to be so tough? Does she really need our help? Captain, I think if it weren’t for her, we wouldn’t have run into so much danger in the first place."

"Yes, Colonel Evan. You accepted, mission, to protect us. If mission fails, your superiors, and you, will all be, punished."

Sienna Kensington’s words successfully halted Evan in his tracks. He frowned, a struggle raging within him. The situation in Azuregard City was tense right now. If something happened to him, the fact that General Lynch had personally vouched for him to take this mission would be used as ammunition against the general by his rivals.

But...

"Captain, you’re not actually thinking of leaving at a time like this, are you?" Charles Sawyer’s expression suddenly changed as he looked at Evan in disbelief. But his sister, Sandra, tugged on his sleeve, signaling for him to keep quiet.

"Brother, this is the best chance to leave. Once Flora Bloom and that other guy are killed by the zombies, it will be much harder for us to get away."

"That’s right, Captain. General Lynch is still waiting for us," Lily added in a low voice, her brow furrowed.

Throughout their journey, they had seen too much indifference and too many corpses. The idea that human life was worthless had been taking root in their hearts over the past few days.

Evan glanced at Flora Bloom and Neal Wallace, who were surrounded by zombies. He pinched the bridge of his nose, his thoughts a tangled mess. Finally, he sighed.

"This is the apocalypse. We can’t just throw our lives away for nothing. Let’s save ourselves so we can help more civilians in the future." As Evan spoke, he didn’t dare look at Caleb Bloom and the others.

"Sienna Kensington, remember this. I’m not abandoning my compatriots for you."

"Let’s move out." At Evan’s command, everyone in the group except for Cynthia Grant began to retreat with him to the other side. From there, they could circle around to the other side of Highway 320 and begin their journey back to Azuregard City.

"You... you sons of bitches! If Flora wasn’t holding back that Second Level zombie, would you even be alive right now? And you’re just going to leave them to die?"

Ethan Monroe had been helping them hold back the dozen-plus zombies, only to overhear their cowardly discussion.

"Who are you calling a son of a bitch, you fat bastard!" Frederick Lyon snarled, shoving his gun into Ethan Monroe’s portly stomach and glaring fiercely.

Ethan Monroe’s eyes widened and he puffed out his stomach. When it came to being a thuggish brute, how could a mere soldier compare to a street-smart civilian like him?

"Oh, you think I don’t know your guns ran out of bullets a long time ago? Go on, shoot! You think I, Ethan Monroe, am afraid of a bunch of cowardly little bastards like you?!"

With that, Ethan Monroe returned to Caleb Bloom and the others. They, too, had naturally overheard the conversation. With their daughter and Neal Wallace surrounded by zombies, they couldn’t see what was happening.

"Captain Lawson, as a soldier, I am truly ashamed of the decision you’ve made." Caleb Bloom’s words made Evan’s pace falter for a moment, but in the next second, he continued onward.

"You—how can you just leave? My daughter is holding back the zombies for you! How could you!"

No matter how they shouted from behind, Evan and his group never broke stride. They walked on until Caleb Bloom and the others could no longer see them.

Meanwhile, although Flora Bloom and Neal Wallace were struggling against the combined assault of the Second and First Level zombies, their lives weren’t in danger yet. Flora had noticed what was happening with Evan’s group long ago, and a contemptuous smile touched her lips.

’In the apocalypse, the scariest thing isn’t the zombies; it’s the human heart.’ If she wasn’t confident in her ability to handle these zombies, she might have actually fallen here today.

"Xiao Bai, come on out and stretch your legs!"

With a flash of thought from Flora Bloom, a small, pure-white tiger suddenly appeared amidst the zombie horde.

"Vert, you don’t need to come down. Just keep an eye on where that group is headed."

The moment the little white tiger appeared, it used its innate senses to identify the leader of the zombie pack. Instantly, crackling bolts of lightning wove around its body, charging the air in a half-meter radius with potent electrical energy.

Any First Level zombie that touched the lightning was instantly paralyzed by the outer arcs of electricity. A moment later, several more bolts descended from the sky, splitting their heads open with deep cracks.

Within seconds, not a single one of the dozen-plus zombies was left standing. Seeing things go south, the Second Level zombie tried to flee, but the little white tiger called down a bolt of lightning that struck it square in the head, stunning it for a second.

But that one second was all it took. The little white tiger appeared before it as if teleporting and, with a light tap of its thick front paw, splattered the zombie’s brains all over the ground in a truly disgusting mess.

When Flora Bloom walked over, she saw the little white tiger sitting on the ground, scratching its neck and licking its paws.

The sight provoked her stomach, which promptly started churning again.

"Xiao Bai! You got that disgusting stuff all over your fur, and you’re licking it?!" Flora Bloom picked up the little white tiger by the scruff of its neck like a kitten and disgustedly used her superpower to clean its fur.

But the wave of nausea was uncontrollable. She tossed the little tiger aside and started vomiting again.

"CHIRP CHIRP CHIRP."

It was a signal from the Golden Cicada and Vert.

’Someone from that group is coming back?’