Steampunk Era: Mad Abield
Chapter 932: Section 613: Desolate City (Part 1)

Chapter 932: Section 613: Desolate City (Part 1)

Meng Quyi was awakened by the noise of the mechanical vessel flying over her head; the girl rolled over and crawled up from the floor, shivering slightly as she approached the window to see a mechanical vessel descending beside the Bell Tower.

People had arrived, which was good news, but the bad news was that they had misjudged her location. When Meng Quyi saw the mechanical vessel making a second descent in the southern part of the city, she knew she had to move—she needed to head towards the Bell Tower or to the south to find someone, depending on what paths Chaos and the zombies left open for her.

If Chaos and the zombies were fighting fiercely in the north, then Meng Quyi could only continue to wait.

The truth was, before Meng Quyi could flee, fighting had already broken out here. Chaos’s troops had entered the city from the north, battling the northward-moving zombies. Her neighborhood had become a battlefield.

To avoid exposing herself, Meng Quyi had no choice but to apply a Breath-Concealing Spell on herself, and then she used a spell to completely destroy the staircase leading to the second floor.

Before Meng Quyi could catch her breath, Chaos forces had stormed into the first floor of her building. These Chaos soldiers, armed with antique firearms, howled as they attempted to utilize this strategic high point to combat the zombies. They noticed the destroyed staircase and, in desperation, tried to climb up, but the zombies had already surged forward; thus, Meng Quyi could only curl up tightly while listening to the screams, gunshots, chewing sounds, and the noise of knives sinking into flesh below.

During this chaos, a hand had reached over the edge of the second floor, and a soldier from Chaos, who locked eyes with Meng Quyi, was about to shout, but suddenly he fell, his shout turning into a terrified scream. Meng Quyi’s Mage Hand failed to grasp the throat of Fate, and the soldier from Chaos could not complete his shout of Fate, instead being dragged down by the zombies.

Life was completing a cycle between them.

Meng Quyi then made a decision to let her Activating Vine pull down furniture next to her, blocking her direct line of sight to the edge.

Then she applied a Grease Spell at the edge.

Soon after, she heard curses, the sound of heavy objects falling, some arguing voices below, but quickly the howls of the zombies once again resounded continuously.

Thus, Meng Quyi heard the sounds of retreating footsteps growing distant, and the cursing subdued after the zombies broke through the walls of the first floor with their hands and feet.

After a while, the chewing sounds also gradually ceased, and the four-legged zombies began to move forward again following distant howls.

Meng Quyi summoned a reconnaissance orb to glance at the first floor, then had to close her eyes; even though she had seen many scenes of zombies feeding, this time the scene was too vast and spread out, repelling the girl in her.

As for the smell of blood, Meng Quyi had already grown accustomed to it—after so many days on a battlefield, not to mention the smell of blood, even the scent of roasted meat had taken her from enjoyment to revulsion and back to enjoyment, knowing that this smell came from Dwarves’ flamethrowers used in conjunction with the claws of Chaos made her very experienced.

So, looking outside the window, observing Chaos and zombies entangled in a fierce battle across the entire north of the city, Meng Quyi could only resign herself to wait for this chaotic battle to end.

She hoped this end would come within her lifetime.

.........

"The north city is fighting fiercely. Zombies and Chaos are battling right under our nose." Halsan, who was dismantling the staircase leading from the Bell Tower rooftop, glanced at the north— he didn’t even need a telescope to see both sides clashing in the streets and on rooftops.

Zombies are highly capable climbers. Although the Chaos soldiers also had firearms, these antique guns were no match against the swiftly moving zombies, who could still function after several shots. When firepower and numbers were insufficient during chaotic battles, losing formation, the losses of Chaos were visibly mounting.

"Let’s set up a camouflage board behind us. Zombies don’t have long-range infrared vision, but they are very accurate with moving objects; I don’t fancy being surrounded by them."

Rhodes said while watching his cousin and others crawl into another building: "I hope our guest is in the south. If she’s in the north, I think we should consider how we can retrieve her from the zombies’ stomachs."

"Maybe some fragments will be left behind, like a skull. The zombies in the North lack creativity, while those in the South have long mastered the technique of smashing skulls with stones," said Miss Nuo from the Mage Tower, speaking highly specialized zombie academic language.

"That’s terrifying, they can already use tools?" Rhodes felt a bit nauseous at the thought of zombies acting this way.

"Yes, tools are not exclusive to humans. Even monkeys in the South are already using stones, so why wouldn’t zombies, semblant to humans, be able to use tools?" Nuo questioned, and suddenly let out a soft gasp: "Stop."

In Rhodes’ view, his cousin who had just slightly opened the door appeared in the crack, turning his head towards the room’s interior, clearly waiting for an answer.

"In the blind spot of Rhodes’ view, on the first floor across the street, two zombies can see our position," Nuo swiftly detected the issue, facing the wall where the door was, without any traces of windows, causing Rhodes to frown: "What should we do?"

"I’ll share my visual markers with you. Sudel, Carmen, shoot through this door with Armor-Piercing Bullets and kill them from behind it."

"No problem."

The response came through the earphones, and Rhodes anxiously awaited until he heard the faint sound of gunfire and saw two holes appear in the somewhat decayed wooden door.

"Targets eliminated. Let my Magic Pet lead the way, let’s move," ordered Miss Nuo, and Rhodes saw a small cat crawl out of the door, cautiously looking around before Nuo followed suit.

At this moment, she had already put away the device in her hand and held a short barrel semi-automatic firearm. She glanced over at Rhodes, then slowly walked down the steps with her cat.

"Wait a moment, Nuo, there’s a zombie inside the archway on your left, I don’t have a clear view."

"I know, Carmen, check the house on my right, Sudel, keep an eye on our back." While saying this, Nuo stepped over to the archway, leaning against the wall, while her cat reached the opposite side of the street. Rhodes couldn’t see it from the Bell Tower, but it must let Nuo have a clear view of the scene behind the archway since they shared visual connection.

"Three zombies, two facing away from us, one facing us, Rhodes, you take out the one facing us," Nuo said, turning her gaze towards Rhodes’s side.

Rhodes raised his gun, counted to three, and as he pulled the trigger, he saw Nuo squatting down, leaning sideways with her gun aimed.

The zombie facing this side saw her, but before it could scream, it caught Rhodes’s bullet with its head.

As it fell, Nuo shot the two zombies, the bullets penetrating from their backs and splattering a large pool of blood on the wall.

"We need to move quickly from here, Rhodes, help us confirm the path to the North, we need a safer passage."

"From your position, you can head North through the house, I can see an exit from here," Rhodes confirmed after checking that there were no enemies on his side, "But as usual, I can’t see the other side of the street, you need to manage on your own."

"No problem." Sudel was the first to move, running across the street.

Carmen patted Nuo’s head, the half-elf hurriedly sprinted across the street.

Carmen then disappeared from Rhodes’s sight following her.

"We’re entering the brick building; there are zombies on the second floor, we plan not to disturb them," Sudel spoke quietly.

"I see them." Heeding the warning, Rhodes looked in through a second-floor window, noticing several zombies sitting there, apparently not participating in the fight for unknown reasons.

"Strange, why aren’t they joining the fight?" Rhodes voiced his confusion.

At that moment, Halsan had finished setting everything up and stood in front of a large telescope: "I think I see a nursing zombie... Damn, they really do resemble humans."

"This suggests that the zombies from the North might have developed a social division of labor before those in the South, it’s quite intriguing. Even though they haven’t learned to use tools yet, they have developed this lifestyle, it’s really interesting," Miss Nuo began using her professional jargon again.

"Wait, I see zombies outside your door, one... five... get out fast! I see zombies with spoils heading towards your building!" Rhodes whispered urgently, "They want to resupply those nursing zombies!"

"A clear social division of labor, truly a breathtaking maneuver," Halsan frowned.

"We’ve come out; will the zombies be able to smell us?" Sudel asked.

"Maybe, maybe not, they carry food, the smell of blood should cover our scent," Carmen offered his view.

But Nuo interrupted their conversation: "We need to run, the zombie crew delivering the food surely has their leader among them, these zombies will be stronger and more robust, they might detect our traces."

As soon as she finished speaking, Rhodes saw a zombie at the back of the group suddenly stand up, beginning to walk on two feet.

"I have a question, Miss Nuo," Halsan said softly, "when you say stronger and more robust, does that mean they can walk upright on two legs?"

"Did you see it?" Panic crept into Nuo’s voice.

"Yes, it’s walking, it’s going up the stairs now."

"We need to run! This is a special individual with awakened Spiritual Energy! Run!"

As Nuo shouted, both Halsan and Rhodes saw the zombie that just reached the door suddenly stop.

It sniffed the air, then suddenly let out a loud cry.

"It’s found you! We’re shooting!" Rhodes shouted the warning, simultaneously pulling the trigger.

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