Apocalyptic Crazy Kitty

Chapter 21: Cat Kite

Zuo Chen led the way, heading toward the guard room on the second floor of the research institute. He was already extremely familiar with the layout of this biological research institute. To the eyes of the thirty-odd humans, the tail of this Orange Cat-beast king had stretched to five meters, twisting and dancing through the air like a terrifying serpent. The zombies in their path didn’t even have time to react before their skulls were pierced by the tail—or their heads severed with a single swipe! They had never before entered a building swarming with zombies so effortlessly. Although some zombies lunged at them from the surrounding corridors and from behind, they posed no real threat under the assault of these thirty-odd bandits. After all, this group could be considered the strongest band of human survivors in Yancheng’s downtown area; though they seemed like docile lambs in front of Zuo Chen, at their core, they were all ruthless, desperate outlaws. Soon, Zuo Chen had led them to the vicinity of the research institute’s security detail’s armory. This had been the site of the fiercest fighting earlier; the ground was littered with firearms and ammunition—all standard-issue weapons equipped with silencers. Upon seeing these weapons, all the Wasteland Bandits present were overjoyed. Pistols! Submachine guns! Assault rifles! And even five hand grenades! Just grabbing any silenced pistol would make this trip worth it! Zuo Chen nodded, and the group immediately began picking up the weapons and ammunition scattered on the ground. Although many of them had never used an automatic rifle before, Bai Biao—a former soldier himself—gave them a quick lesson, and they all caught on right away. In no time at all, they were all fully armed—trading their old, crude weapons for modern automatic firearms. With these new weapons, the bandits’ morale soared, and smiles appeared on their faces. Zuo Chen, however, didn’t let his guard down. He wasn’t worried about the ordinary zombies in the research facility; the real terror was that powerful mutated zombie. Back then, the research institute’s security team—well-trained and well-equipped as they were—had still been wiped out, primarily because of that mutated zombie. Having cleared all the zombies on this floor, Zuo Chen led the group to the elevator. The solar-powered system was still operating on its own, so the elevator was still functional. Zuo Chen jumped onto Erzi’s head once more and ordered, “Freight elevator, Level B5 (Level B5).” This time, he didn’t have to press the button himself. Since supplies frequently needed to be transported, the research institute’s freight elevator was very spacious and had a high load capacity; more than thirty people all squeezed inside. Sensing Zuo Chen’s caution, the bandits all wiped the smiles off their faces and raised their guns, aiming them at the door. They already knew they were about to face a mutated zombie, but in their eyes, with His Majesty the Beast King present, they naturally had no reason to worry about anything like a mutated zombie. Earlier, Erzi had made it clear to the bandits that their mission as humans was to wipe out the ordinary zombies and ensure the Beast King’s battle remained undisturbed. “Ding…” The elevator doors opened, and the stench of blood and decay hit them in the face. A massive underground laboratory appeared before them—though perhaps it would be more accurate to call it an underground plaza! A solar-powered lighting system illuminated the space with rows of spotlights, making it as bright as day. Hundreds of bloodstained test beds bore witness to the large-scale human experiments that had once taken place here. Yet now, nearly all the beds were empty; some still held the gnawed remains of human bodies, while most stood completely vacant. The people who had once lain on those beds had now all turned into zombies! Hundreds of zombies simultaneously turned their heads toward the elevator. Many of them were missing an arm or bore massive lacerations across their bodies, yet they looked even more ferocious! The sound of swallowing filled the air, and the bandits all froze in shock. “How many zombies are there? A hundred? Two hundred? No, at least three hundred!” Bai Biao said slowly. No wonder the Beast King needed their support—with so many zombies, no matter how skilled they were, they’d be exhausted by the time they’d killed them all. How could they possibly fight that mutated zombie then? The bandits all gripped their guns tightly. Zuo Chen’s pupils contracted slightly as he looked at the zombies before him; the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. Just as he’d suspected, most of the test subjects here had turned into zombies after being bitten—which was precisely why he’d brought these bandits along. “Grrrr—” A piercing roar rang out, like nails scraping against sheet metal. A zombie, gaunt as a skeleton, leaped onto an experimental bed. The surrounding zombies responded with low growls from their throats, like a group of soldiers flanking a general. “Meow-woo—” Zuo Chen, standing on Erzi’s head, responded with a piercing shriek. His long, sharp bone claws had all snapped out, his tail stretched to its fullest length, and the bone spines at its tip spun ceaselessly, emitting a “woo-woo” sound as they cut through the air. Under Bai Biao’s guidance, the bandits had already aimed their guns at the zombies. Ten lay prone, ten crouched, and ten stood, forming a fan-shaped, three-tiered fire network. The skeletal zombie slowly raised its skin-and-bone arm, pointed at the humans before it, and let out another piercing screech. The humans all felt as if the sound were a needle piercing their brains, and they all furrowed their brows. The blood-soaked, mangled zombies instantly swarmed forward, and hundreds of them charged at the humans with a deafening roar! “Open fire!” Bai Biao roared, pulling the trigger of his gun. Gunfire erupted! Zuo Chen guided Erzi to stand at the very front of the crowd, his tail whipping around his body to form an impenetrable circle. The powerful impact of the bullets knocked one zombie after another to the ground, but aside from a few that had been shot in the head, most of the fallen zombies were still able to crawl back up. The zombies at the very front closed in to within five meters! Zuo Chen’s tail moved! With a sharp “thud,” the bone spike pierced the zombie’s eye socket; after a slight twist, it was immediately pulled out. Before this zombie could even hit the ground, the bone spike shot into another zombie’s eye socket, then another… “Thud, thud, thud, thud…” The sound of eyeballs bursting rang out in rapid succession as Zuo Chen’s tail struck out relentlessly, taking down one zombie with every strike! Erzi, too, clutched an assault rifle tightly in his hands, standing firm as he fired relentlessly, fulfilling his role as a capable mount. Seeing this, the bandits’ morale soared immediately; as long as the zombies didn’t charge right at them, they could focus on unleashing their firepower with confidence. The sounds of long and short guns blended into a cacophony, like firecrackers. Yet the skeletal zombie remained motionless, standing high above and coldly watching everything unfolding at the elevator entrance. Zuo Chen grew wary once more; this skeletal zombie clearly possessed a high level of intelligence and knew how to control its cannon fodder to weaken the enemy’s strength. Moreover, it seemed to possess some kind of peculiar brainwave that allowed it to control the surrounding zombies as its minions. In the blink of an eye, more than half of the hundreds of zombies had been wiped out. Their mangled corpses piled up in a semicircle at the outer edge of the crossfire, resembling the entrance to hell. Within the five-meter radius covered by Zuo Chen’s tail, the area remained completely empty, while beyond that semicircle lay a sea of blood and corpses. The bandits had already fired through several magazines, and most of them had begun reloading. “Ssss—gurgle—” The skeleton zombie gave the order once more, and the remaining zombies roared in unison as they charged forward again! “Meow—” Zuo Chen leaped straight off Erzi’s head, his rear paws—each wielding a one-meter-long bone blade—slashing past the necks of one zombie after another. In the blink of an eye, he had circled the front row of zombies, decapitating seven or eight of them, then leaped headfirst into the horde! The cat’s advantage became immediately apparent: the zombies were all drawn to the humans, and hardly any of them noticed a cat darting back and forth right under their feet. The bandits had already reloaded their ammunition one after another, and the powerful barrage of fire resumed, shredding any zombies that ventured into the fray. But there were simply too many zombies. Unless they were shot directly in the head, they would keep crawling forward even with their limbs severed. Without Zuo Chen to hold them back, the zombies at the very front were now less than two meters away from the bandits! Just then, Zuo Chen pulled several hand grenades from his storage space, pulled the pins out with his teeth, ran right through the zombies’ feet, and dropped the grenades as if laying eggs, all while letting out three short warning cries: “Meow, meow, meow!” “Everyone, hit the deck!” Erzi shouted, diving to the ground first. The bandits hit the ground as well. A series of thunderous “boom, boom” explosions followed, blowing several massive gaps in the dense horde of zombies before them, leaving the ground littered with fragments of flesh and blood. “Click, click…” The sound of empty chambers rang out; the guns in several of their hands were out of ammunition. “Meow, meow, woof!” the Orange Cat ordered again. Erzi immediately raised his gun and blew a zombie’s head off, charging through the gap in the horde to the other side: “Charge through and hit them from behind!” While the surrounding zombies were knocked to the ground by several waves of explosions, shooting them in the head was the best option! Everyone immediately charged forward, seizing the moment to fire frantically at the zombies’ heads. Strike while the iron is hot—if they get back up, it’ll be trouble! But ammunition was limited, after all. Soon, nearly half the group had run out of bullets. They immediately drew the clubs and long knives strapped to their backs and engaged the zombies in close combat. By now, fewer than a hundred zombies remained. The bandits had completely run out of ammunition and were locked in a chaotic melee with the zombies. Casualties began to mount! Every injury was fatal—even a minor wound could cause them to quickly turn into zombies! Seeing this, the skeleton zombie’s mouth curled slightly, revealing a sinister grin! Its intelligence had reached a level where it could actually make facial expressions! Hidden beneath a test bed, Zuo Chen licked his claws, a smile also spreading across his chubby face. Just as the skeleton zombie intended to use the horde to deplete the humans’ ammunition, he, too, intended to use the bandits to hold off those zombies! Zuo Chen’s tail, like a snake, slowly slithered up the bed leg, quietly coiling around the skeleton zombie’s ankle, ready to strike. “Roar!” The skeleton zombie suddenly let out a loud roar, noticing the cat’s tail wrapped around its leg. It then pushed off with both legs and leaped forward like a gazelle! With a “whoosh,” the Orange Cat was instantly pulled into the air by its long tail. Looking completely bewildered, it said, “Excuse me-meow?”