Chapter Twenty-Eight: I Have Done My Best

The horde of zombies seemed to respond to my silent call, shaking off their lethargy and growing increasingly frenzied. Their roars rose and fell, weaving a heart-stopping symphony of death.

Then, as if drawn by an invisible force, these undead creatures surged from all directions, coalescing into a torrential flood. They rushed forward in a single, unstoppable wave.

I followed close behind the surging tide of corpses, heading straight for the position of Jiang Yunjie’s troops. The air around us was thick with the stench of decay and death.

"Young Master, the zombies ahead are charging at us!" a mercenary beside him shouted, his voice laced with unconcealed terror, his eyes wide as saucers.

"Damn it! It must be that man—he’s brought the zombies to attack us! When did he manage to escape?" The voice of the butler, Chen Jing, was sharp and frantic, like a duck being throttled. He stared ahead, his face as pale as parchment.

Upon hearing this, Jiang Yunjie turned and glared ahead, his eyes burning with a tangible fire. "Damn it! Blast them all to pieces!" His voice was firm, powerful, and brooked no argument.

The light tanks at the front inched forward, their heavy iron armor like beasts of the earth, trembling as they prepared for battle. The cannons swiveled, aiming directly at the oncoming wave of corpses.

"Boom!"

"Boom!"

...

A series of shells roared out like the wrath of Thor, tearing through the air. The zombies were blasted into a bloody mess, limbs flying in a scene of absolute carnage.

Yet, these zombies were mindless monsters. Receiving my command, they charged forward without fear, as if death were merely another way of existing for them.

"This is no good—there are too many of them, at least ten thousand! Young Master, we should retreat," Chen Jing’s voice rose again, now trembling. He seemed completely shaken by the scene, his face the color of dust.

"Retreat, your grandmother's leg!" Jiang Yunjie barked, his voice thunderous. "Damn it, keep firing!" He was clearly dissatisfied with the butler's suggestion, his gaze sharp enough to kill.

The second light tank quickly adjusted its barrel, both cannons firing in unison like twin dragons emerging from the sea, their power staggering.

Shell after shell exploded around me with breathtaking force. My eardrums rang, and my heart hammered against my ribs like a war drum. Every blast obliterated hundreds of zombies, the carnage akin to an autumn wind sweeping away fallen leaves.

"Faster! Go faster!" I urged them on in my mind.

I drove the horde forward, feeling as though I, too, had become part of this dance of death, my gaze resolute and wild.

Standing on the edge of this battlefield woven from death and chaos, I felt a surge of unprecedented tension and excitement.

Driven by my will, the army of zombies surged like a tide toward the light tanks. The tanks continued to roar, their shells streaking across the sky like meteors, but in this ocean of flesh, their efforts felt futile. Each blast was accompanied by a deafening roar, yet it was nothing more than a final flicker before extinction.

The zombies, as if summoned from hell, swarmed toward the steel beasts. They clambered and crashed against them like a swarm of bloodthirsty ants, surrounding the tanks in an attempt to tear them apart and feast.

Inside the tanks, the soldiers fought stubbornly, the sounds of reloading echoing in the confined space. But just then, a deafening "Boom!"—like a clap of thunder from a clear sky—rang out; the barrel of one of the light tanks had exploded! Fire erupted like a dragon, instantly swallowing the muzzle in billowing, sky-darkening smoke.

The zombies had swarmed the barrel so densely that they clogged the muzzle, causing the shell to detonate the moment it fired, right inside the narrow tube.

The zombies were torn to pieces by the force, but more followed, seemingly unafraid of the threat of death.

Before I could recover from this sudden turn of events, another deafening blast shook the ground. I whipped my head around to see a shell strike a tank with pinpoint accuracy. The moment it exploded, the world itself seemed to tremble. A massive shockwave rippled outward like a hurricane, tearing everything in its path to shreds and sending me stumbling, nearly falling over.

I froze, stunned. "Jiang Yunjie, you? The methods of the Jiang family are truly ruthless—you don't even spare your own 'pawns'." The congestion of the zombies had become the very thing he used to clear his path.

The zombies ahead were instantly engulfed in a sea of flames. Chunks of flesh flew everywhere, and the stench of burning meat was nauseating—a scene as horrific as hell itself. My heart jumped to my throat, and the thrill of the danger made my whole body tremble.

"I... I underestimated him," I muttered, my eyes darkening with unprecedented gravity. "This Jiang Yunjie is even more ruthless than I imagined. These men, these tanks—in his eyes, they are likely nothing more than toys."

He viewed human life as mere grass, willing to pay any price to achieve his ends.

Behind Jiang Yunjie, rows of mercenaries stood like iron towers, while I remained in the midst of the zombies, like a lonely boat adrift in a turbid current.

At this moment, Jiang Yunjie and I finally stood face to face.

A cold smirk curled his lips as he spoke first: "So, you're the one controlling the zombies to hurt Jiang Li?" His eyes were overflowing with contempt.

I did not flinch. Pointing a thumb at myself, I declared loudly, "That’s right, it’s me!" At these words, Jiang Yunjie’s rage ignited. When had he ever been subjected to such arrogance?

The atmosphere grew heavy as lead. The gunfire from the building above ceased abruptly, leaving only echoes hanging in the air.

A cold voice crackled over the walkie-talkie: "Young Master, the defectors upstairs are out of ammo and have surrendered. Shall we execute them all?"

Jiang Yunjie laughed heartily, his voice filled with insolence. "Don't be hasty, don't be hasty. Bring them down to me first." Before the words had even left his lips, the mercenaries were already dragging Xu Hanfeng, Luo Yucheng, Jiang Huanchuan, and the others down.

Jiang Huanchuan struggled, cursing incessantly: "Damn it! If not for the fact that I'm out of bullets, you mongrels... let me go!"

Once Xu Hanfeng reached the ground, he saw me amidst the horde and shouted urgently: "Linyu, forget about us! Run!"

I scanned the front; there were few survivors left behind me. Of the twenty or so who had started, fewer than ten remained. They knelt in a line, waiting for their final execution.

Jiang Yunjie slowly drew a gleaming silver pistol, his fingertip tracing the barrel before he pointed it at the head of one of the kneeling captives. He looked at me with an evil, charming smile: "The advantage is on my side now. I suggest you lift the control over these zombies and come over here obediently."

My fury boiled over. I clenched my fists so tightly that I felt as if I might crush my own finger bones. I was trapped in an unprecedented dilemma.

If I surrendered, would Xu Hanfeng, Luo Yucheng, and the others truly be safe? Or should I go all-in, unleash the entire zombie army, and fight to the death?

Yet, no sooner had the thought surfaced than I ruthlessly strangled it.

Zombies—"Heh!"—they were mindless killing machines. They could not distinguish friend from foe; they would blindly tear into any living thing. And my own mental strength was stretched to its absolute breaking point; I had no capacity left to guide them away from my companions.

In the end, the result would be nothing more than mutual destruction, leaving behind a scene of absolute ruin.