439: Chapter 436 Starved to Death

"Don't overthink it."

Lu Jianchuan forced the zombie back with a punch and leaned sideways to dodge a claw strike. His voice came from behind his mask, slightly breathless but still steady.

"Your shots are definitely effective. Its charred parts fall off directly, which greatly consumes its energy. As long as we keep it from eating for a short while, I have a feeling we can definitely deal with it. Keep shooting, don't stop."

Shen Mingyuan raised his twin guns, and black-red bullets poured out once again.

"OK!"

Lu Jianchuan charged forward again, while Wei Ziqing cut in from the other side with his Long Spear. One on the left and one on the right, they blocked the zombie's path of retreat.

Ye Ouyang stood where he was, unmoving.

"I'm not going in."

He took a step back and bent down to pick up a palm-sized stone from the ground. "I'm afraid that if I land a claw, I'll just give it some more healing. I'll help you guys from the back by throwing some stones."

He aimed at the zombie's head and threw the stone. Smack. It hit the shoulder.

He picked up another one and threw it again. Smack. This time it hit the back.

"It's useless!" he shouted.

On the other side, Lu Jianchuan had already smashed a punch into the zombie's chin, making its head snap back. Shen Mingyuan's bullets chased its body, shot after shot, as charred flesh continuously fell off. Taking advantage of its loss of balance, Wei Ziqing thrust his Long Spear, stabbing it directly into its ribs from the side, the spear tip emerging from the other side.

Exerting strength in both arms, he hoisted the entire zombie up and swung the spear shaft, pinning it to the trunk of a nearby old tree.

The zombie hung in mid-air, its limbs struggling frantically. It opened its mouth to bite the spear shaft but couldn't reach; it stretched its claws to grab Wei Ziqing, but also couldn't reach. It could only twist its body in vain, trying to break free from the Long Spear that had pierced through it.

Wei Ziqing held the spear shaft, remaining motionless.

"Hold it tight!" Lu Jianchuan shouted, already gathering power to charge forward.

In the next second, the zombie gave a violent wrench—it forcefully slid its body off the Long Spear, the sound of tearing flesh as muffled as tearing a wet cloth.

Wei Ziqing's hands felt empty; only a pool of black-red blood remained on the spear shaft.

But he didn't panic. Reversing his grip on the spear shaft and exerting force through his feet, he thrust the spear out once more.

This strike stabbed into the zombie's thigh as it just hit the ground, pinning it back to the tree.

"There's a change."

Shen Mingyuan's muzzle hadn't stopped, but he sensed something. As those black-red bullets hit the zombie, the speed at which the charred flesh fell off seemed a bit slower than before.

"It's starting to get irritable."

It had indeed changed.

Earlier, although this zombie was frantic, it still possessed some combat instincts—it would dodge, find angles, and try to counterattack. But now it was different. It no longer cared about the Long Spear Wei Ziqing thrust, nor the fists Lu Jianchuan smashed; it only wanted to run away.

Run deep into the forest.

Run toward where there was flesh and blood.

It even started gnawing on the nearby trees, hugging the trunks and biting desperately, its mouth full of chewed bark and wood chips. But those things were useless to it—what it needed was flesh and blood, something that could replenish its energy. Gnawing on trees could only delay things for a few seconds.

Wei Ziqing swept his spear at its legs, knocking it down. It scrambled up and continued to run. Lu Jianchuan collided into it from the side, knocking it over. It flipped over and ran again. Shen Mingyuan's bullets chased it, shot after shot, as charred flesh continuously fell off.

Its movements became slower and slower, more and more stiff.

Strange changes began to appear in its body—it would bulge one moment and deflate the next, as if something were scurrying around inside. The wounds that should have healed were clearly healing at a slower pace.

"Almost there." Lu Jianchuan punched it back and said breathlessly, "It's about to starve itself to death."

The zombie let out a shrill howl and charged outward with all its might.

A figure rushed out from the side.

Ye Ouyang.

He didn't transform; he just charged straight ahead and, with arms wide open, delivered a desperate flying kick.

Bang—!

The zombie was kicked flying backward, and Ye Ouyang himself fell to the ground, rolling twice before stopping. He climbed up, rubbed his shoulder, and grinned.

Wei Ziqing had already caught up.

The Long Spear swept across, smashing into the zombie's legs; it lost its balance and tumbled forward. Wei Ziqing followed up with a spinning kick, sending it toward Lu Jianchuan.

Lu Jianchuan grabbed the hair on the back of its head and slammed it hard into the ground.

Bang!

The zombie's face smashed into the dirt.

Shen Mingyuan's gunshots were still ringing, bullets hitting from all angles as charred flesh continuously fell off. The speed at which those wounds healed grew slower and slower, so slow that fresh flesh could be seen struggling to grow out, only to stop halfway.

The zombie lay on the ground, the magnitude of its struggles growing smaller and smaller.

Its body was still bulging and contracting, like a piece of machinery about to be scrapped making its final struggle. But everyone could see—it wouldn't last much longer.

Lu Jianchuan gave it no more chances.

One punch. Two punches. Three punches. Four punches.

The silver-white fists smashed down like a pile driver, each punch carrying the residual heat of Explosive Combustion Form. The zombie's head had long since lost its shape, its chest was caved in, its limbs were twisted, and its entire body was forcefully smashed into a pile of mangled flesh.

Yet that pile of mangled flesh was still moving.

The edges were wriggling, as if countless tiny insects were burrowing around inside. The flesh and blood tried to gather, tried to regenerate, tried to reassemble into a human form.

Ye Ouyang leaned in to take a look and couldn't help but shrink back.

"No way?" He stared at that pile of struggling meat paste. "Is my cell vitality really this strong? Even like this, it can still—"

Before he could finish, the pile of meat paste suddenly expanded.

Then, with a "poof," it exploded.

As if burst from the inside by something, the remaining flesh shattered all over the ground, completely losing all movement. A strange smell, a mix of charred stench and blood, permeated the air.

Ye Ouyang stood there, stunned for a few seconds.

"...Is my cell vitality really this strong?"

Wei Ziqing flicked the blood off his Long Spear and also glanced at the pile of remains.

"It is a bit too strong."

Lu Jianchuan stood up, flexed his wrists, and let out a long breath.

"Finally solved."

Shen Mingyuan put away his twin guns and walked over, standing beside Ye Ouyang. He didn't look at the meat paste; he just stared at Ye Ouyang.

Ye Ouyang felt a bit uneasy being stared at.

"Wha... what's wrong?"

Shen Mingyuan was silent for two seconds before speaking.

"Get ready,"

he said, his tone unusually serious. "I have a feeling that many of the enemies we encounter next will be related to these cells of yours."

Ye Ouyang was stunned. "No way? It can't be, right?"

Shen Mingyuan shook his head.

"Who told you to have such strong healing abilities?" He turned and walked back in the direction they came from. "For certain life forms, this is a fatal temptation."

Shen Mingyuan walked to the front of the ruins.

The explosion had blown the house to bits; broken wooden boards, glass shards, and twisted metal were scattered everywhere. He bypassed a pile of wreckage and saw the monkey wearing a lab coat—or at least, part of it.

The upper body was still relatively intact, but the head was gone. Scattered on the ground nearby were limbs that had been gnawed into a mess; blood and dirt were mixed together, making it impossible to tell what was what.

Shen Mingyuan stood there for a few seconds and sighed softly.

"Sigh, poor monkey," he whispered. "It was gnawed on by that thing, and no data was left behind."

He crouched down and used his gun barrel to poke through the surrounding debris. A few charred papers, a broken test tube, and some unidentifiable instrument parts. He flipped through them, but there was nothing useful.

He flipped through again. Still nothing.

He stood up, brushed the dust off his hands, and took one last look at the mess.

This was all he could do.