Chapter 123: The Hunter

Page (1/3)

“Jun…” the bearded man yelled loudly, “I swear…” He grabbed the pistol from the control panel, extending his other hand out the window to flip the rearview mirror on the loader, aiming it at the loader’s rear frame. Pulling his hand back to hold the steering wheel, he then wildly swung his gun-hand backward, firing the weapon with a frenzy.

“Bang… bang… bang…”

A rapid succession of gunshots rang out, bullets striking precisely at the head of one of the hunters. Xie Han’s eyes narrowed slightly in surprise. The bearded man didn’t even need to turn his head; relying solely on the rearview mirror, every shot hit its target. Such skill surely surpassed even Xu Qiang’s, and Xie Han himself lacked the confidence to reach that level.

Ordinary bullets could never harm the hunters. Even heavy machine guns were futile; a mere pistol was laughable. Though seven or eight bullets struck successfully, they caused no damage to the hunter, but they did provoke it into a furious rage. With a powerful thrust of its two hind legs, the metallic rear frame was deeply clawed, leaving several deep scratches.

The hunter sprang forward like lightning, landing right in front of another machine gunner.

The terrified gunner’s eyes held no sway over the hunter’s momentum. Its wide, blood-red maw snapped toward the gunner’s head. Effortlessly, it tore the head clean off the neck, blood spraying across its face and dripping down, making its visage all the more grotesque.

The hunter’s jaws closed tightly, its sharp teeth crushing the skull. The sound of bone shattering was clear even atop the speeding loader. Blood mixed with fragments of brain matter oozed from its mouth, droplets flung into the air, carried away by the gusts of wind.

“Ah… ah…” The panicked screams from those on the loader’s rear frame were triggered by the gruesome scene. Frantically, they aimed their guns at the hunter, repeatedly pulling the trigger. Bullets struck the hunter’s body but seemed to have no effect. It raised its forelimbs and slammed the machine gun flat. With a vicious strike, it knocked the machine gun and its mount flying into the air.

The terrified group only remembered the hunter devouring the gunner’s head, oblivious to another hunter deftly climbing the loader’s rear frame like a nimble monkey. It grabbed the foot of a shooter standing on the fixed mount and yanked him down hard.

The narrow gaps in the mount acted like razors. The shooter was forcibly pulled through, blood spraying out. Both arms were torn and broken from being caught in the gap. A brief scream gave way to unconsciousness from the intense pain. But his fate was worse: the hunter’s powerful claws crushed his skull, splattering brain and blood, staining the loader’s rear frame crimson.

Despite being riddled with bullets, the hunter finally moved. It spun and leapt among the shooters. Raising its claws like paddles in mud, within seconds, seven or eight shooters were smashed into pulp, violently thrown onto the loader’s rear frame and the highway surface.

“No…” The bearded man driving the loader was caught between fear and fury. His face twisted instantly. Trembling, he abandoned the steering wheel, swapping out the empty magazine and reloading bullets one by one into the clip.

But before he could finish, the two blood-dripping hunters had climbed atop the cabin roof.

The bearded man never imagined his hearing to be so sharp—he distinctly heard the sound of blood dripping from the hunters’ mouths onto the steel roof. Alongside sharp metal scraping, he knew the hunters were tearing through the roof.

“Damn it!” he cursed fiercely, hurriedly slamming the reloaded clip back into the pistol, firing bursts at the roof.

Bullets pierced the steel roof, striking one hunter’s abdomen precisely. Yet, the shots inflicted no harm. Amid the hunters’ howls and metal tearing, a sudden burst of light filled the cabin and a deafening screech stunned him momentarily. The hunters had ripped open the cabin.

Without hesitation, the bearded man’s heart sank. He floored the accelerator, boosting the loader’s speed from fifty to seventy kilometers per hour, using the sudden surge to break the hunters’ grip as they tried to force their way inside.

Seizing this chance, he spun the steering wheel sharply. The loader, swaying like a drunken man, careened wildly along the highway, crashing into several cars piled along the roadside before plummeting down a seven or eight-meter steep slope.

“Even if I die, I’ll make damn sure no one can catch up to them again…” As the loader tumbled down, the bearded man roared triumphantly, filled with reckless resolve.

Page (2/3)

The loader burst out from the slope, time seeming to slow to a crawl. The bearded man’s mouth gaped open, the two panicked hunters atop the roof moved as if in slow motion. As the loader’s momentum faded, the scene suddenly sped up, crashing headlong into the rocky ground below.

“Boom…” Flames surged into the sky, thick black smoke billowing.

This small convoy’s speed had been comparable to the hunters’. The bearded man’s sacrifice bought the convoy precious time. Likely, he never expected to kill the two hunters with this final strike, only hoping to delay them and give the convoy a chance to escape.

And he succeeded. His reckless attack pulled the convoy far ahead. The loader’s violent explosion was no match for bullets, and the hunters’ howls suggested they had been wounded.

Xie Han’s eyes narrowed again, not because the hunters were unexpectedly formidable or due to the bearded man’s self-sacrifice, but because not far away on the highway, dozens of cars had collided and piled up. Such a barricade was too massive for a single loader to break through.

As he suspected, the woman driving the loader had spotted the blockade. Her eyes narrowed, and with a fierce determination, she pushed the loader’s speed to its limit, smashing into the cars.

The metallic screeching and violent collisions produced a cacophony of sounds, especially vivid so close by. The loader failed to break through, wedged tightly amidst the cars. Though reinforced with a steel helmet, the woman’s head was cut and bleeding from the jolts. Possibly dazed from the impact, she sat dazed in the cabin, helpless.

The chain reaction forced the off-road military vehicles and freight trucks behind to slam their brakes. The sharp screech of brakes against concrete and the panicked screams inside created a scene of utter chaos.

The burning loader exploded again, reduced to a pile of smoldering wreckage. The two hunters shook their heads and charged out of the flames, howling furiously as they scrambled from the rocky ground back onto the highway.

The explosions had injured the hunters somewhat. Their heads and bodies bore gashes oozing black blood. Yet these wounds were superficial; as level three zombies, they could self-heal within minutes to hours.

The two roaring hunters appeared on the highway, their terrifying visages causing the already chaotic crowd to panic further. People scrambled wildly off the vehicles, scattering in all directions, forgetting that unarmed, they stood no chance against the encircling zombies.

At that moment, Xie Han’s breathing quickened. His humanity wavered, his mind racing: save them or not? If he didn’t, these seventy or eighty people were doomed to be slaughtered by the hunters; if he did, he would face enormous danger. One hunter was already a nightmare—two were unthinkable.

The situation allowed no hesitation. “Snipers, aim for the hunters. Machine gunners, clear the zombies on the highway, then immediately escort these people back to the forest,” Xie Han commanded. His goal was not personal glory but to learn where these people came from and what their situation was.

Following his order, the prepared beam rifle snipers quickly locked onto the two sprinting hunters’ heads. For an expert sniper, a target moving at fifty to sixty kilometers per hour was within range. For newly trained soldiers, this was tough, but the beam rifles’ precision compensated for their inexperience.

Six beam rifle snipers split into groups of three swiftly targeted the hunters. Beams shot out, striking the hunters’ heads with heavy blows mid-run. The hunters toppled fiercely, as if tripped by an invisible force, crashing onto the concrete.

Flying debris from the concrete cracked the pavement, the hunters rolling like overturned cars until they collided with nearby vehicles and stopped.

Their howls changed from “woo-woo” to a different tone, clearly confused. As they tried to rise, more beam shots struck, tearing flesh and causing dark fluids to pour from their faces.

Though beam rifles looked powerful, their damage to hunters was limited. Xie Han didn’t expect them to kill the hunters, only to slow their astounding speed. While the snipers fired, Xie Han silently retreated into a low bush, quickly retrieving his miniature power armor.

He regretted not taking more sets of power armor from the Wangtian Base earlier. His current suit was worn from continuous combat. Against hunters, without such resistant armor, he felt uneasy.

Page (3/3)

Soon after the beam rifle fire, fierce machine gunfire erupted, bullets slicing through the air sharply. The sweeping rounds struck cars, blowing large holes and even igniting engines, causing vehicles to explode.

The panicked crowd froze at the sudden gunfire but, seeing the bullets target approaching zombies, they rallied like grasping at a lifeline, shouting as they rushed toward the small hill where Xie Han and his team were positioned.

“Hurry, this way!” shouted Xie Han, snapping the dazed people back to reality. For them, in the face of zombies, fellow survivors were trustworthy; caution toward their own kind had no place now.

Weighing over a hundred kilograms in armor, Xie Han’s boots sank slightly into the soft earth. He hooked his Tiger Fang knife at his waist, hoisted a miniature grenade launcher onto his arm, and loaded it with blue-glowing GGT bio-grenades. From the hill where the beam snipers stood, he dashed quickly toward the highway.

Though these events seemed prolonged, they occurred in the blink of an eye.

As Xie Han reached the highway, the two hunters finally realized the threat. They abandoned their previous prey and roared as they charged toward the snipers’ position. Xie Han stood before the snipers, blocking the hunters’ path. The snipers’ firepower meant that if the hunters got close, death was certain.

“To hell with you…” Xie Han shouted, pressing the trigger on his grenade launcher. The modified GGT bio-grenade trailed a long tail, landing precisely before the two hunters. Instead of a massive explosion, a faint cracking sound followed as the grenade sprayed a chemical mist, enveloping the hunters.

“Roar…” The hunters’ howls changed, indicating the GGT bio-agent’s severe impact.

Even intact skin endured great suffering from the GGT bio-agent. These hunters were already covered in wounds, especially their exposed skulls, so the agent’s effect was intensified.

Within half a second, the two heavily injured hunters burst out of the mist. Their wounds slowly dissolved. Despite their powerful healing, the GGT bio-agent suppressed it.

Melting flesh dripped away, revealing bare white bones. Xie Han knew the agent only inflicted temporary damage. Once it wore off, their formidable healing would restore them fully within hours, making them unstoppable again.

Xie Han stowed the grenade launcher back in his armor’s holster and drew his Tiger Fang. He didn’t expect the bio-grenades to kill or critically injure them, only to widen their wounds and delay their movements. Slowing them down gave him a fighting chance.

He wasn’t sure if zombies felt hatred, but from the blood-red eyes of the two hunters escaping the GGT agent’s range, Xie Han sensed an extraordinary fury and murderous intent. Perhaps the XR virus damaged their brains but also evolved them, perfecting their minds. Otherwise, how could he feel such a presence?

These thoughts flashed briefly. The hunters gave no time for reflection. Like predators stalking prey, their powerful limbs were like taut, flying arrows.

Xie Han brandished his Tiger Fang horizontally, facing the snarling hunters, and charged forward, roaring “Ah… ah…” He knew that if he didn’t give his all today, he would die. To survive and lead these people out, the two hunters had to die.

(P.S.: The book’s group number is 24o6616o. Friends who are interested, feel free to join. Thank you!!)