CHAPTER 1638: CHAPTER 1632: THE FINAL TIME

The square-faced soldier turned his head toward the direction Ghost Head had indicated. The building was immensely tall, seemingly thirty or so stories high—much taller than the defense wall. Dangerous Sanctuary City was built upon the remnants of the original city, so most of the structures here were constructions from before the Apocalypse, simply enclosed by the defense wall to demarcate this area as humanity’s territory.

Yet these towering buildings, several times the height of the defense wall, seemed to render the wall’s presence almost awkward. However, during the usual zombie tide attacks, these skyscrapers mostly served as observation posts—after all, there’s a saying: "The higher you stand, the farther you see."

"What’s up?" The square-faced soldier only saw a few figures standing at the top of the building, nothing particularly noteworthy.

"Who are those people? They don’t seem ordinary..." Ghost Head squinted, his Level 2 New Human eyesight vaguely catching sight of a few individuals standing at the rooftop, gazing northwest. Some of them wore suits, while others were outright clad head-to-toe in exoskeleton suits!

Upon hearing Ghost Head’s words, the square-faced soldier turned back for a glance—but only for a moment before turning away again.

"Don’t bother yourself with who they are. Take this moment to relax while you still can. Soon, there won’t be any chance left."

"Uh..."

Ghost Head froze briefly and could only nod in the end. Instinctively, he reached for his thigh, but all his fingers found was the icy steel armor of his exoskeleton suit. He could only withdraw his hand. Around him, some soldiers lay down, some bantered, and others fiddled on their phones, seemingly oblivious to the mounting tension of the approaching zombie tide of death.

Ghost Head’s reflexive motion toward his thigh was initially to grab his phone, but alas, his phone had long been lost to some unknown ruin. Any hope of killing time with it had to be abandoned. Looking toward Brother Shi beside him, that guy rummaged through a pile of boxes, picking up objects here and dropping them there; many items Ghost Head didn’t recognize. He knew they included zombie lures and charged ammo cartridges, though he couldn’t guess the purpose of the rest. However, they were surely devastating weapons.

After a while, Brother Shi, too, made an almost subconscious gesture, reaching for his pants pocket; yet when his fingers touched the cold exoskeleton plating, Ghost Head noticed Brother Shi pause briefly in silence before eventually walking over toward him.

Perhaps Brother Shi was regretting tossing his phone out the window earlier.

Brother Shi sat beside Ghost Head without saying anything.

The two remained silent. The surroundings were bustling yet eerily quiet. The defense wall was crowded with the remnants of Dangerous Sanctuary City’s three major military units. At first glance, the scene looked like ants swarming over a chunk of candy, dense beyond counting—likely numbering over ten thousand.

As the northwest wind thickened in its purplish hue, the psychological pressure it exuded multiplied. It didn’t seem to be gas but rather a sort of robe-like substance, floating in the air, clinging to the buildings in the distance. After following their squad here and looking again, one could notice that the shapes of those buildings had subtly changed at some unknown time.

"Kinda nervous now." Ghost Head spoke up suddenly, though it was unclear to whom he directed his words. Beside him, Brother Shi turned to glance at him, chuckled softly, and replied, "What’s wrong? Regretting it? Honestly... you didn’t need to come along with me."

"Not exactly regret..."

"Then what is it?"

A flicker of confusion crossed Ghost Head’s eyes as he recalled the flower he’d seen two days ago. At that time, he hadn’t anticipated what would lead to this moment, nor had he imagined he’d be standing atop the defense wall now.

"Maybe a bit of regret..."

"Everyone has regrets, but it’s too late for turning back now... Ah, the first time I’ve courted death. When I think about it, how should I put this? It’s kind of nerve-wracking, you know. But maybe this moment is the most glorious one of my life."

As Brother Shi spoke, a smile played across his face. One couldn’t quite tell if the smile stemmed from pride in his actions or resignation toward the fate awaiting him. But Ghost Head was more inclined to believe it was the former.

Before Ghost Head could respond, the square-faced soldier not far away suddenly chimed in, "You two better savor the moment while you can. There’s not much time left after this."

"Heh... Thanks for the reminder." Brother Shi smiled back at the square-faced soldier, though there was no reply in return.

"Seriously, this is it—the last bit of time we’ve got left. Better take it easy now; there won’t be any chances later." Ghost Head joked lightheartedly to Brother Shi, then let his whole body relax. Leaning his back fully against the cement wall behind him, he propped his feet up over a nearby crate and stared out at the purple-drenched skyline to the northwest, falling silent.

It was hard to describe the emotions swelling within them now. This was their very first military operation against a zombie tide. Based on other bases’ historical records, humanity had many cases of successfully repelling zombie tide attacks—a much higher percentage compared to the losses, about fifteen or sixteen percent more victories overall.

Ultimately, humanity had a track record of winning more often than losing when it came to defenses against zombie tides. Of course, this only applied to China since there hadn’t been documented cases of a Zombie King targeting survivor strongholds, allowing human civilization to eke out a fragile existence here to this day.

Dangerous Sanctuary City, having endured until now, boasted a 100% success rate in repelling zombie tides. Most of the soldiers now stationed on the defense wall had participated in numerous similar operations before. Countless victories had built a certain level of confidence in the city’s strength. As for the emergence of the Zombie King... perhaps they hadn’t yet fully grasped the gravity of the situation. The looming shadow of the Zombie King was like a colossal mountaintop of terror shrouding them, blocking their vision entirely. To them, such an occurrence should have been an impossibly rare event. But now, it had undeniably come to pass.

They couldn’t believe it—a Zombie King had appeared, lurking just beyond the borders of this Sanctuary City. It had truly emerged!

Though they hadn’t witnessed it with their own eyes, the news had struck like thunder in a clear sky—illusory yet overwhelming.

A Zombie King... Could the news be real? Was it possible the upper echelon was deceiving them?

Were they afraid? Of course they were. But this wasn’t the usual terror of a massive zombie tide’s might or the fear of an abnormally powerful individual undead. No, this fear was calm—like the tranquil surface of an ocean, beneath which a titanic menace lurked unseen.

Were they numbing themselves?

Ghost Head pondered as much, seeing none of the nervousness one might expect when confronting something so formidable. The soldiers’ relaxed and easygoing demeanor seemed to suggest they were merely facing an inconsequential problem.