Kingdom of Corrosion
Chapter 60 - 59: Blood Plague Train

Chapter 60: Chapter 59: Blood Plague Train

The trade team arrived at the tunnel entrance smoothly, and Maya instructed Snow Egg to drive the car to the side, place the motorcycle in the truck bed, drain the gasoline into the reserve gasoline cans, and then hide the two gasoline cans. Finally, the group worked together to find branches and other materials to camouflage.

After concealing the vehicles, Lin Wu was the first to enter the tunnel, followed by Shana, with Maya in the middle. The rear team followed ten meters behind.

They had only walked about ten meters when they saw six zombies blocking the way some ten meters ahead. Lin Wu, with the Silencer in hand, knelt on one knee and killed the six zombies with six bullets. With Lin Wu clearing the way, the team moved quickly, and it only took 10 minutes to cover five hundred meters.

A train with 15 carriages was stopped on the tracks. Maya gathered Lin Wu and Shana and said, "There’s only a seventy centimeter gap on either side of the train, barely enough for a person to pass through. I’m worried that moving forward might alert the zombies inside the carriages to jump out and attack us."

Shana said, "It’s best not to take the sides, and also be careful of the refuge holes every 100 meters." These refuge holes were ten meters deep and two meters wide, enough to stuff a lot of zombies in.

The rear team arrived, and Horse Soul suggested, "Should we go over the top of the carriages?"

Maya said, "There’s only fifty centimeters of clearance."

Snow Egg said, "We can crawl over."

Maya explained, "There’s a sixty-centimeter gap between each carriage, and crossing it might make noise. Once we alarm Screeching Zombies inside the carriage, it could easily trigger a zombie tide, which would most likely leave us trapped on top of the carriages, caught in a dilemma."

Little Knife said, "Then we fight our way through the passenger carriages."

Maya replied, "That’s even more dangerous. Zombies can hide under the seats, there are overhead luggage compartments, and visibility inside the carriages is very poor. It would be very easy to get caught in a tough fight, unable to extricate ourselves. The safest way is still to take the sides, with crossbowmen leading the way, keeping absolutely quiet as we go, and doing our best not to alarm the zombies. If we do alarm them, we’ll immediately retreat into the refuge holes, using the advantage of crossbow arrows and the Silencer to shoot down any zombies chasing us into the holes at the entrance."

Lin Wu added, "I can scout the refuge holes."

"Okay, Lin Wu number one, Shana number two, I’m number three. The rear team will follow," Maya instructed.

...

Lin Wu took the lead in stealthy progress. Whenever he spotted a zombie, he would stand still, shine his flashlight on the zombie’s head, and Shana and Maya following behind would take care of the zombies with crossbow arrows. Lin Wu used the Wind Stinger to get over the refuge holes, then used hand signals to report the situation to the crossbowmen. If zombies were found inside a refuge hole, two crossbowmen would lie at the mouth of the hole, Lin Wu would provide the light, and the crossbowmen would snipe. As long as they took out the zombies facing the players immediately, they wouldn’t cause a stir.

In theory, it was entirely feasible; several details in practice were required. The first requirement was that the crossbowmen had to be highly accurate. The crossbow was a weapon that was very demanding in operation, a Divine Artifact if used well, infuriating if not, and the system could not provide any correction. The second was silence. The third was to pray that no Frenzy Zombies would appear.

The members of Shadow Base were of higher quality, followed orders, were extra careful, and moved ahead without a sound. After passing four carriages, Blood Mist began to appear in the air. Lin Wu immediately gestured for everyone to follow him into the refuge hole.

Before this, problems could still be remedied. According to Maya’s plan, if zombies discovered them, they could flee to the refuge holes and eliminate any pursuing zombies. However, in the Blood Plague zone, it was a different matter. Were there Blind Bats? Night Demons? Even if they didn’t appear during the day, would alarming the zombies trigger a Blood Plague reaction? According to Lin Wu’s experience, the first response of the Blood Plague was to spawn Blood Frenzy Ma.

Maya was somewhat hesitant internally. Going forward was risky, and so was going back. Was it worth it? Thus, she openly asked everyone’s opinion; she would not use her companions as a price to complete the work.

Shana was the first to speak up, "I don’t like to give up halfway. We knew the risks before coming here. Since we’ve already come this far, if we give up now, when will we have the courage to try again? Besides, the danger we face is under our control, not the system’s. I have confidence in myself and everyone else."

Snow Egg and Horse Soul nodded together, "Agreed." They looked at each other and fist-bumped, in tacit agreement.

Little Knife naturally had no objections, and everyone looked at Lin Wu, who answered, "I won’t hold anyone back, nor will I die, so I obviously have no objections."

Little Knife asked, "You won’t die? With only one Eagle Sand bullet, how will you deal with the Blood Frenzy Ma?"

Lin Wu countered, "I run faster than you all, why do you think the Blood Frenzy would chase after me?"

The scene fell into silence: it made sense.

By the time the Blood Dogs would have killed the other five, Lin Wu might have already escaped out of the tunnel. What? Lin Wu stay behind? If the Frenzy, which even Eagle Sand couldn’t kill without three shots, pursues, why should Lin Wu, who couldn’t kill the Blood Dogs, have to risk his life?

...

The Blood Mist grew thicker, and with the help of a flashlight, Lin Wu could see the Blood Zombies wandering inside the carriage. The two crossbowmen were incredibly strong, their aim true, a headshot with every arrow, and they opened up a safe passage on the left side of the train. Successfully reaching carriage number 7, Lin Wu tiptoed to look inside and found no zombies. In the middle of the carriage’s ceiling was the Blood Plague’s giant heart, with tentacles covering the entire carriage from all sides.

At that moment, a low growl of Frenzy came from the right side of the train. This sound indicated that the Frenzy hadn’t discovered the players yet, and also that it was less than ten meters away from them.

Lin Wu moved slowly forward, picking up all small stones and dry twigs from the ground and throwing them into his backpack. The front team dared not even breathe heavily, following Lin Wu’s lead with crossbows in hand, inching forward. The rear team, due to the lack of light, adopted a crawling posture, using their hands to move forward in an effort to minimize noise.

Lin Wu turned and held up two fingers, pointing at the top side of the train about ten meters away, signaling there was another Frenzy above. If that Frenzy peeked over to the left while the team was passing, a great battle would be unavoidable, and the outcome would hold no surprises—the trading team would be annihilated. Cross or not cross?

Maya stepped past Shana, walked up to Lin Wu, pointing at her crossbow, Shana’s crossbow, and Lin Wu’s Silencer with a makeshift suppressor, showing three fingers. It meant three headshots could take down the Frenzy. Although it was difficult, this was the only effective countermeasure to continue moving forward.

Lin Wu nodded, and the three stood up, only able to see part of the top side. They aimed their weapons at the side and moved slowly forward. Suddenly, a Frenzy jumped onto the left side of the train’s top, spotting the three players about three meters away in an instant.

The three, as if by instinct, pulled their triggers. Two crossbow arrows and a bullet hit the Frenzy’s head almost simultaneously—the Frenzy’s legs kicked up once in the air before it stopped moving.

Lin Wu tried to reach for the Frenzy’s body on the train roof by tiptoeing. Maya pinched Lin Wu’s forearm and pulled him back, pointing forward, signaling to keep moving. The group finally reached carriage number 11. According to the plan, Maya and Shana crouched down while Lin Wu turned to provide light for the rear team with his flashlight. At that moment, Horse Soul repeatedly gestured that he couldn’t handle it, so everyone decided to take a temporary rest in a sheltered spot.

Sitting at the far end of the shelter, everyone dared to finally take a deep breath. The battle wasn’t fierce, but everyone was extremely tense, fearing that a single careless sound might doom the whole team.

Snow Egg said, "I suggest we return over the mountain range, it’s just an altitude of four hundred meters, right?"

Maya said, "Crossing the forest and mountain range back to base would take at least 10 hours."

Little Knife said, "I agree to take the mountain range, at least we can breathe."

The majority decided on the mountain range, and Lin Wu was okay with either choice. Finally speaking, Shana said, "Compared to unknown dangers, known dangers are easier to control. I do not agree with abandoning the terrain and environment we are familiar with to spend 10 hours entering the primitive forest. But I respect everyone’s decision and will keep my own opinion."

Lin Wu said, "That works too."

Maya asked, "Those in favor of taking the mountain range, raise your hands."

Only Little Knife raised his hand, looking around, then nudged Lin Wu with his shoulder and sent him a fierce glare. Lin Wu immediately raised his hand, and Little Knife smiled in satisfaction.

Maya then said, "Those in favor of taking the tunnel, raise your hands."

Shana, Snow Egg, and Horse Soul raised their hands together.

Maya announced, "The decision is to take the tunnel. Rest here for five minutes before we set off."