The mutated zombie infant monkey detected someone approaching and let out a sharp, piercing screech, its hands still tightly gripping the giant beast's scales with no sign of letting go.

Huo Lingling descended, forcefully swinging her dagger as a cold glint flashed.

One of the mutated zombie infant monkey's arms was severed!

In the next instant, Huo Lingling's gaze sharpened as she noticed something wrong. The mutated zombie infant monkey's body was merging with the scales! It wasn't relying on its hands to cling to the scales—that was just a disguise!

Yun Xiuzhi finished counting down to one. Li Xuan turned around and grabbed Huo Lingling.

"What is it?"

"A mutated zombie infant monkey! Its ability is very strange—it's merging with the scales on your back! I only managed to cut off its arm!" Huo Lingling immediately shouted.

Li Xuan's mind raced as he tried to figure out when the mutated zombie infant monkey had climbed onto his back.

After a moment, he had the answer.

It was when he killed the mutated big-headed zombie!

Only when he was stunned by the mutated big-headed zombie's sonic attack could the mutated zombie infant monkey have silently approached him!

The mutated zombie infant monkey had actually learned to use other mutated zombies!

This zombie horde was almost certainly caused by the mutated zombie infant monkey!

Li Xuan suddenly threw himself backward, pressing his back tightly against the ground, causing the earth to tremble slightly.

BOOM~

The giant beast rolled on the ground, crushing countless zombies to death.

The people at the Black Bear Survivor Base watched the giant beast on the ground, thinking the Prehistoric Colossus had been defeated by the mutated zombies, their hearts filled with terror.

Scar Tiger began to consider retreat. Even the Prehistoric Colossus had been defeated—they definitely couldn't hold back the zombie horde. It would be better to run now, preserve their strength, and rebuild a survivor base elsewhere.

But what if the Prehistoric Colossus won?

If he fled the battlefield, he would surely face the Prehistoric Colossus's retaliation.

Just as Scar Tiger hesitated, a soldier approached him and whispered, "Boss, let's run. The situation doesn't look good."

Scar Tiger glanced at him. "Coward. The giant beast isn't dead yet, and you already want to flee."

The soldier secretly pointed at the pigeon circling above the giant beast. "Big brother, look—even that pigeon has been mobilized. She just threw Huo Lingling out. The giant beast must have encountered trouble, unable to defeat the mutated zombies. That's why they're acting so urgently."

"Big brother, think about it carefully. Wasn't Huo Lingling well-protected by the giant beast before? The pigeon goes out from time to time to find mutated zombies and handle tasks for the giant beast, but Huo Lingling hasn't left the base since she arrived. The giant beast obviously treats Huo Lingling like a decorative vase. Now even the vase has been sent to the battlefield."

Scar Tiger nodded thoughtfully. "That makes sense. What you say really makes sense. The giant beast must be on its last legs for Huo Lingling to be deployed."

Seeing Scar Tiger was persuaded, the soldier added more fuel. "The pigeon could have asked us for help, but instead sent a vase into battle. She definitely doesn't want us to know the giant beast is about to be defeated. The giant beast might already be infected with the zombie virus. If we don't run now, we won't be able to escape once the giant beast turns into a zombie!"

Scar Tiger looked around. Half the soldiers had hand injuries and definitely wouldn't run.

He was reluctant to leave half his soldiers behind.

They were his foundation for dominating the survivor base!

The key point was that the injured soldiers were all his loyal followers who had cut their wrists following his orders.

The uninjured soldiers were those who hadn't obeyed immediately, their loyalty not as strong as the other half.

The soldier seemed to guess what Scar Tiger was thinking. "Big brother, if you lead the brothers to safety, they'll trust you even more. Then we don't necessarily need to build a new survivor base—we can find an existing one, and the brothers will help you become the boss of another base!"

"Then we won't have to live under the giant beast's oppression anymore!"

Scar Tiger gritted his teeth and made his decision. "Brothers! Everyone willing to follow me, come along! The giant beast has been defeated! I'll lead you to safety!"

Xia Xuebing turned her head sharply and shouted, "Scar Tiger! Are you crazy? The boss hasn't lost yet!"

"No, the boss is about to lose! Have you ever seen the boss look so disheveled before? Staying here means certain death! I know a path that leads around to the back of the mountain. There are wild fruits along the way—we won't starve or thirst!"

Scar Tiger retorted, raising his arm and rallying them. He shouldered his large blade, turned, and ran away.

The soldier who had persuaded Scar Tiger followed closely behind, along with several others who had long wanted to flee.

Seeing others running, the remaining soldiers' resolve wavered. Many broke from the ranks and ran in the direction Scar Tiger had gone.

More and more people fled. In the blink of an eye, over half the soldiers had run away, including a few with hand injuries.

Xia Xuebing repeatedly tried to persuade the soldiers mid-way, but with little effect. The terrified soldiers completely ignored her.

'Miscalculation! The soldiers in the base aren't real soldiers!'

Real soldiers would have firm willpower and wouldn't be easily influenced by Scar Tiger. Before the apocalypse, the base soldiers had been salesmen, construction workers, or street loafers—their qualities and willpower varied. After the apocalypse, they became base soldiers relying on their normal adult male physiques.

"Brothers! Hold on! The boss definitely hasn't lost!" Xia Xuebing shouted loudly, trying to boost morale.

At that moment, Green Little Grass approached Xia Xuebing with a worried expression. He had a hand injury too, which was why he hadn't run.

"Can we really withstand the zombie horde? Is the boss really not defeated?"

Xia Xuebing cursed inwardly. Why did Green Little Grass have to ask such a question at this moment? She herself wasn't sure about Li Xuan's situation.

"The boss is very strong. He's absorbed many supernatural characteristics. He can't possibly lose to a mutated zombie with only one supernatural characteristic! Haven't you played games? If you have six divine items and fight a newbie with only one piece of equipment, there's no way you'd lose!"

Suddenly, someone shouted, "The boss is standing up!"

On the battlefield, the Prehistoric Colossus rose to its feet. "Is the mutated zombie infant monkey still there?"

Yun Xiuzhi flew to the back and carefully observed.

The Prehistoric Colossus's back was now covered with rotten bone and flesh, making it impossible to spot the mutated zombie infant monkey at a glance.

"It's still there! It's not dead! It's almost completely merged with your scales!" Yun Xiuzhi cried out in alarm.

Most of the mutated zombie infant monkey's body had already merged with the scales. The remaining smaller portion had been reduced to a pulp by the massive impact when the giant beast fell down. Yun Xiuzhi had observed the pulp gradually squirming and merging with the scales, leading her to conclude the mutated zombie infant monkey wasn't dead.

Li Xuan was astonished. What kind of bizarre ability was this? It still hadn't died after all that, and it was ignoring his reinforced scales.

What would happen if the mutated zombie infant monkey completely merged with his scales?

Would he become infected with the zombie virus?

If he transformed back into human form, could he shake off the mutated zombie infant monkey?

No, that wouldn't work. The mutated zombie infant monkey had already merged with his scales. If he turned back human, he might instantly become infected with the zombie virus and turn into a mindless zombie.

The Adapt supernatural characteristic allowed him to resist small amounts of zombie virus, but the virus carried by the mutated zombie monkey was definitely not comparable to ordinary zombies. The Adapt supernatural characteristic might not be enough to block it.

"Huo Lingling, help me cut off the scale!" Li Xuan decisively made his choice.

Since the mutated zombie infant monkey wanted to merge with his scale, he would give that one scale to it!

Although this would leave his back missing a scale for some time, making him vulnerable to zombie infection, it was much better than being directly infected.