Chương 175: Chapter 174: I'm Coming With You

"The photos are in my case. I can show you when we get back..." Evelyn said. Seeing Vince space out for a moment, she assumed her description was lacking and elaborated.

"We later theorized it was undergoing some kind of incubation or feeding process. After the Mount Ji Quarantine Zone was suddenly attacked, our group reviewed the events. We believe those powerful mutated zombies that appeared out of nowhere were inextricably linked to that 'Tree'..."

"I heard on the radio broadcast that the monsters possessed organization and intelligence. What exactly did that mean?" Vince asked. Having confirmed that Evelyn's "Corrupted Giant Tree" was indeed the thing in the park, hearing her mention the fall of the Quarantine Zone naturally reminded him of the sparse intel from the radio. He decided to just ask the source directly.

"When the Quarantine Zone cleared the barracks and nearby buildings, we did encounter mutated zombies. But they weren't invincible. Unless we were dealing with monsters possessing bizarre abilities or ranged attacks, the ones that were just large and strong could generally be killed without any casualties.

"We almost never saw mutated zombies outside the quarantine walls. It was to the point where we initially thought they could only spawn indoors. But on that day..." Evelyn showed total sincerity toward Vince. She answered almost every question, meticulously filling in the gaps of a world he hadn't seen.

"Dozens of mutated zombies and a tide of thousands of regular zombies suddenly appeared outside the walls.

"If it had just been a zombie tide, we could have used heavy weapons to pick off the mutants while suppressing the horde with machine guns and incendiary rounds. The Quarantine Zone still had ample ammunition then, so we might have been able to hold them off.

"But the tide that day was completely different from the smaller ones we'd faced before. The mutants weren't just randomly mixed into the horde. It only took them a little over ten minutes to breach the first perimeter wall.

"The footage from our drones showed that the horde's movement was just a smokescreen. Their primary objective was to use the fast or incredibly strong mutated zombies to rapidly eliminate our firing positions... Holden, what was your assessment at the time?" Evelyn suddenly called out to Holden, who was driving. He had clearly been listening to their conversation in the back and chimed in immediately.

"It didn't look like instinctual behavior. We sent a wave of reinforcements after the defense line was breached. But the moment our infantry fighting vehicle reached the front, the enemy immediately adjusted their forces. Even a mutated zombie loitering at the very edge of our drone's surveillance range responded instantly, heading straight for the reinforcements. It was fucking absurd. The command center concluded that the enemy had a command node capable of micro-managing the frontline."

"Didn't you guys have drones? You couldn't find this 'command node'?" Vince asked.

"We couldn't use them. The tethered drones can only fly over empty areas and buildings. If the fiber-optic cable drops into a zombie horde, any movement easily snaps the line. We lost two drones because of that." The topic had shifted to combat tactics, which was Holden's area of expertise, so he explained it to Vince seriously. Stolen story; please report.

"It wasn't just drones. Even helicopters couldn't fly. The higher you went, the worse the interference got. It was so bad the aircraft's flight control systems would completely fail. But flying low was too dangerous. Even ignoring the inherent risks of low-altitude flight, there were mutants that could jump incredibly high or use ranged attacks. They could swat an aircraft right out of the sky."

"Then why could the drones fly? Wouldn't their internal electronics suffer from the same interference?" Vince sharply caught the loophole in Holden's logic. He had been wondering about this for a while. Ever since he woke up, he hadn't seen a single aircraft. Fighter jets were one thing, but why were there no helicopters? It didn't make sense. There was no way a military garrison didn't have a single aircraft. Holden's words gave him the answer.

If a helicopter took off, its flight controls would be scrambled, and long-distance low-altitude flight through a city was virtually impossible. But Vince immediately realized the issue. If the heavy-duty flight controls of a large helicopter were affected, the much more fragile systems of a drone should have been grounded too. If a tethered drone could take off, a human pilot flying under visual flight rules shouldn't lose complete control either. The two scenarios contradicted each other.

So, he posed his question.

"We noticed the discrepancy, but we couldn't explain it." Whenever the conversation turned technical, Evelyn took over. She didn't hesitate at Vince's question, clearly having considered it herself.

"We have a few hypotheses. We just don't have the equipment or conditions to test them right now. But I have a feeling that Raven's ability might be one of the key factors in solving this..." The moment she said this, both Vince and Holden turned to look at Raven in the passenger seat. It seemed Holden was hearing this theory for the first time as well.

"..." Seeing the two men staring at her, Raven awkwardly turned her head and stared out the window without saying a word. Being treated like some kind of master key made her feel irritable and uneasy. The two vehicles advanced slowly to minimize noise. They kept driving until faint layers of dark grey ash began appearing on the shattered storefront windows and steps around them. Screech. The vehicles braked in the middle of the road. Shambling silhouettes of zombies were already visible in the distance.

To avoid alerting them, Holden parked a safe distance away. The second vehicle pulled up and stopped right next to them.

"This is as far as we go. The engines are too loud if we get any closer, and we don't know how many zombies are clustered up ahead," Holden told the two in the back. Raven immediately opened the passenger door and hopped out. Seeing this, Vince and Evelyn paused their conversation. They stepped out of the vehicle and looked out into the distance.

"Dage, what were you guys talking about?" Zoe trotted over the moment the three of them exited the other vehicle.

"Just things about the Quarantine Zone. I'll tell you guys when we get back..." Vince addressed the group. Even though the other two hadn't asked, the sheer curiosity written across their faces gave them away.

"So how are we getting over there? The usual route?" Zoe asked. She skillfully controlled the spears in the vehicle, floating them into everyone's hands while glancing up at the rooftops on their right. It was obvious that ever since they returned last night, she had rehearsed going back to the park countless times in her head.

"What do you mean 'we'? It's just me." Vince lightly tapped Zoe on the head, correcting her.

"I'm going to take the rooftops. We'll keep in touch via walkie-talkie. The three of you go grind some levels in the adjacent residential complex. You can pick locks anyway. If you run into a mutated zombie you can't beat, just grab the other two and fly away."

"But I want to go with you..." Zoe pouted, sounding a bit wronged upon hearing Vince was leaving them behind again.

"Zoe, there are way too many zombies over there. Besides, your Dage definitely has a reason for making you stay behind. Our primary goal right now is to raise our strength. It's the only way we'll actually be able to help him out later..." Claire stepped over and comforted her.

"Fine..." Zoe still seemed a bit reluctant. But knowing Claire was right, she started aimlessly poking a small roadside tree with her spear. Seeing her settle down, Vince turned to the Ye sisters.

"If you guys are heading back, leave one of the cars for us."

"Our mission is to observe the horde from here," Raven said, pulling out a pair of binoculars and aiming them at the distant zombie figures.

"Can you take me with you?" Evelyn interrupted before Raven could even finish her sentence.