Industrial Cthulhu doesn't believe in the end times.

Chapter 71 But you haven't defeated me yet.
Flower City.

Sun Long survived by sheer luck. The first thing he saw after recovering from the dizziness was a flurry of leaflets falling from the sky.

Subconsciously looking up, Sun Long saw a scene he would never forget: a brilliant blue light was sweeping across the entire sky, as if the piled-up clouds had been erased by an eraser, and in just a moment, the world seemed to be covered by a giant net.

The magnificent sight gave Sun Long a disorienting feeling, as if he were about to fall into that abyss-like sky.

Sun Long, who had read the document, knew that the gale had appeared.

Perhaps it should be called a Great Spiritual Energy Ring, a massive spiritual energy layer taking shape and operating according to its own laws high above the heavens.

If wind is the movement of air, then gale is the movement of spiritual energy.

Everything that dared to venture into it—whether airplanes, balloons, birds, or meteorites—vanished in an instant. They were crushed and dissolved by the movement of this spiritual power, turning into dust and then being burned away by the energy into nothingness.

In just a few breaths, the enormous cage closed completely. It slowly rose until it disappeared into the unseen sky, leaving only a clear blue expanse above, as if nothing had ever happened.

But Sun Long knew that everything was different now, and the great disaster had truly begun.

His head was buzzing. Whether it was due to the influence of spiritual energy or the strong mental shock brought about by this expected upheaval, Sun Long felt his vision go black and his ears were filled with tinnitus.

He stumbled, the feeling of being bound between his feet pulling him back to reality. He gasped for breath, trying to recover a little. Several of his comrades beside him had become zombies and were climbing toward him, but the chains beneath their feet held them in place.

Sun Long was incredibly grateful to his superior for coming up with this solution; if it weren't for these handcuffs, he would probably be dead here right now.

Gunshots seemed to ring out in the distance. Without looking closely, Sun Long shakily inserted the key into the handcuffs, taking a long time to succeed.

He picked up the gun beside him and aimed it at the zombies, but Sun Long hesitated to pull the trigger. Although they hadn't spent much time together, these zombies had all smiled kindly at him, eaten with him, trained with him, and helped each other back to the dormitory after a long day of exhaustion.

How could he possibly be so heartless?

But soon, Sun Long heard screams, and even the zombies in front of him looked in that direction. There, a surviving militiaman was pinned to the ground by a zombie that suddenly appeared out of nowhere, and blood stained the road in the blink of an eye.

Sun Long was jolted awake, and suddenly understood.

These are the enemies! They are the enemies!

The enemy possessed the body of their comrade, and they defeated their comrade.

But you haven't defeated me yet!

"boom!"

A 5.8mm rifle bullet pierced the head of the first zombie, then the second, and the third.

The situation was far more chaotic than Sun Long had anticipated, and something unexpected happened—many zombies in the neighborhood smashed windows and jumped from the buildings.

They did not strictly follow the requirements to lock themselves in place. After falling from such a high building, some of them stopped moving, but most of them were able to stand up, albeit shakily.

Sun Long immediately realized that he could not use the gun indiscriminately. He took out his entrenching tool and approached a military vehicle, a Mengshi, which was equipped with a heavy machine gun.

He gritted his teeth and chopped off the arms of the zombie tied to the car, then its head. He then grabbed a flyer that had fallen from the sky from the hood and quickly climbed into the car.

The front of the flyer shows the locations of several shelters around Huacheng, while the back contains basic survival tips and various information about the post-apocalyptic world.

Seeing this, Sun Long felt a little relieved. His own phone was no longer working, so he could only rely on this map to find his way.

Zombies were already surrounding them. Sun Long gritted his teeth, started the tank, and rammed into them. Even though he knew they were zombies, he still needed great willpower to actually crush these humanoid monsters.

Moreover, at this moment, not only was the present situation causing him pain, but there were also many other things on his mind.

How are my brothers in the same boat doing? How are my family members doing?

How is the child?

Sun Long was in a state of turmoil. On his last shift before the apocalypse, his superiors hadn't assigned his old comrades to the same group. Thinking about it, it was understandable. If those zombies had been his crew members, his first mate and chief engineer, he probably wouldn't have been able to bring himself to kill them until the very last moment.

The wheels continued to crush bodies, and more and more zombies jumped down from the building. Some comrades seemed to have moved away from the street and were looking for safer cover. The gunshots that used to occasionally ring out on the street became increasingly rare.

For a moment, it seemed as if he was the only living person left on the road.

Moreover, Sun Long noticed that as time went on, fewer and fewer zombies were falling and killing themselves. The zombies on the high floors no longer jumped down; they just stood behind the windows, their empty, red-glowing eyes staring emotionlessly at the street.

Or is he gazing at himself?

Sun Long gripped the steering wheel tightly, a metallic taste seeping through his clenched teeth, his eyes already reddening.

"Damn it, come on!!"

With the accelerator floored, the engine roared, and the car accelerated once more. With a bang, one zombie after another was sent flying, their crimson blood and pinkish-white brain tissue spraying out and smearing onto the hood and windshield.

His vision began to blur, and suddenly a gunshot rang out, and large spiderweb-like cracks spread across the windshield in front of Sun Long.

He suddenly switched feet and slammed on the brakes, leaving long skid marks on the road from the several-ton tank.

The car door was opened, and a figure also dressed in military uniform grabbed Sun Long's sleeve.

"Are you trying to run me over?"

Sun Long was panting heavily, his lungs felt like they were on fire; the windshield of the military vehicle had just saved his life.

But he didn't argue with the person who came; he just squeezed out two words.

"boarding."

The newcomer paused for a moment, then released his grip without saying anything more. Instead, he climbed onto the weapons station, somewhat clumsily disengaged the safety of the 12.7mm vehicle-mounted heavy machine gun, and loaded the ammunition belt into the chamber.

"Where are you going?"

As the zombies approached once again, the man pulled the trigger. With a slight shudder, the bullets, trailing light, tore the oncoming zombies to shreds.

"...Go to the shelter first, my child is in the shelter."

"Let's go, my family is here too..."

Although they knew that the children's chances of survival were slim, the two still held onto a sliver of hope.

Seeing that the zombies were having difficulty breaking through the machine gun fire, Sun Long got out of the car, took off his short-sleeved shirt, and wiped the bloodstains on the windshield that the wipers couldn't remove. Although he had been shot in the glass, he could still barely see.

Before I could get back on the bus, I saw several ordinary people peeking out from the nearby residential area. Seeing that there was not much danger, they ran over with their bags on their backs.

The soldier on the roof instinctively pointed the machine gun in that direction, startling the group into stopping immediately.

"Don't shoot, bro! Don't shoot, bro!"

As soon as they stopped, more zombies stirred and approached from afar. Sun Long called out urgently, "Don't just stand there, come over here quickly!"

The warrior vehicle could easily carry ten people. Sun Long glanced back and, seeing that no one else was coming, started the vehicle and headed towards the shelter.

(End of this chapter)