Chapter 89: Xiao Lian

Chapter 89: Chapter 89: Xiao Lian Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, a miracle unfolded. A miracle that was Blaze’s nightmare. The last zombie fell to the ground with a thud, joining the rest of its kin. In a crater filled with zombie corpses, a girl stood tall. Much like her sword, she too was covered in zombie blood. As for the corpses, most of them were cleanly cut in half, while the rest were blown into smithereens. Their rotten organs mashed together to create an unbearable stench. Yet the girl remained there, as if none of it bothered her. Around the crater, several Chosen and soldiers stood, weapons in hand. Unlike the naval base in San Diego, the Chinese military had crucial weapons intact. They had lost most of their arsenal following the flare, but being secretive and paranoid worked in their favor. They had long since established multiple underground repositories that protected their most important tech. Such facilities were established in the event of EMPs and nuclear attacks. However, they worked just as well against strong flares. Several such sites were established along the USA as well, but their fate remained unknown following the dawn of zombies. RPGs, anti-tank launchers, grenade launchers—these were just the tip of the weaponry the military retained. These weapons came in handy while dealing with the Headless and its horde of sprinters. Unlike Neha’s way of sacrificing people, they blew through the zombies with ease. Despite all that, the waist-length brunette, Xiao Lian, dealt the most damage with her sword. The half-chopped zombies were her doing. Lian swung her straight, double-edged longsword, splattering the zombie blood in a clean arc. Clean of zombie blood marring its surface, the sword’s shiny green interior revealed itself. At a glance, one could say it wasn’t something that belonged to their world. They would be correct. Lian found the sword inside the portal. Back when the outbreak happened, she had jumped inside the portal to hide. Inside, she found the blade and took it. Despite not having any knowledge of sword-wielding, the moment she touched the blade, it became a part of her. No zombie could stand in her way, as they were slashed in half. Lian sighed as she remembered slashing through the twisted versions of her friends. It was a difficult thing to do, but she did it for her survival. The military moved in to scavenge what they could. In such times, everyone was mindful of resource wastage. "Xiao Lian, you can leave the cleaning to us!" Lian turned around, saw the soldier, and nodded. She was about to step away when a golden light burst through the clouds, surrounding her. Everyone froze where they were. They didn’t know what that light was, but they felt a strange warmth coming from it. "Look!" one soldier yelled, pointing at the zombie corpses. Everyone was in awe as the light burned through the zombies. Some soldiers fell to their knees, bowing and praying to their gods. They thought the light was a gift from the heavens. However, some were jealous as the light enveloped Lian. How could a barely adult girl get so lucky? Not only did she have the sword they envied, but now she was receiving another blessing? How was it fair? Despite their discontent, they didn’t dare voice their opinions out loud. After all, Lian was known not to shy away from confrontation. Everyone knew that Lian’s sword had tasted more than just rotten blood. "Is that... another sword?" A second, shorter sword appeared before her. Unlike her first blade, this one was curved and looked as if it was carved inside the sun’s core. A sword made to cut through the undead like a knife through butter. *** Back in San Diego... Blaze sat cross-legged in the middle of the crater. No, he wasn’t thinking of his next plan to torment the humans, or evolve his horde. He was just sitting there, waiting for his hand to finish eating. His fingers had transformed into long spikes, which dug into the zombie corpses and fed like a hummingbird sucking on plant sap. Aren’t you too hungry just after killing one zombie? Blaze complained, but didn’t move from his spot. He didn’t want the hungry hand to go anywhere near his nucleus to siphon nutrients. He’d rather wait in silence. However, it wasn’t silent for long. Zombie ants began appearing inside the crater soon enough. They were there to haul the dead sprinters and humans back to the lair. So it’s done. The ants being there meant the naval base was destroyed. Blaze smiled at that thought. Now that the humans were without a base, Blaze could start cultivating them. Unlike most zombies that feasted on humans without a care, Blaze cared a lot about them. After all, the humans were a source of entertainment and nourishment. Killing all humans would be a waste. Instead, he wanted to turn them into livestock. In a similar way as he did to the frogkins. However, there was a slight problem. Unlike the frogkins, the humans didn’t obey a centralized figure whom Blaze could control. Even if they did, humans were known to revolt and fight back. He didn’t want any of that headache. Instead, he wanted something like a nuke to threaten them. A weapon that would force the humans into submission. The fear of death wouldn’t hold them back for long. Since Blaze was raising them to kill them eventually, the humans would lose that fear and fight back. That’s why he needed something that would scare them more than death. Something that would make them depend on him. Careful now. I don’t want to get a God complex. Just thinking about it made him cringe. So much so that his hand stopped feeding and returned to its normal, blackened self. Alright, I’m done here. He stood up, dusting off his tattered suit before pointing at the heap of corpses. A dozen auto-assembled corpses rose from it. Blaze felt uncomfortable leaving the ants to work alone, so he created some sprinters and maulers for security. Obviously, he couldn’t control them, since he would not stay there. So, he did the next best thing. He grabbed them with the Necrophage and threw them out of the crater. Now, they’d protect the crater from the outside while the ants work. With that done, he turned and left for the lair. He had a lot to do and had too little time to do it.