Although Du Chang and his partner managed to hold their window firmly, the other window was a scene of chaos. Dong Tian swung his Ghost Head Blade fiercely, slaughtering the swift zombies leaping in through the opening. His blood-soaked figure looked like a demon that had just crawled out of hell, so much so that it was hard to distinguish who was the real zombie.
Since there was only one Ghost Head Blade, the other dozen members of the guard team had to rely on hastily crafted U-shaped forks as weapons. While these tools couldn't deliver fatal blows, once they caught a zombie, the creatures—whose strength wasn't much greater than that of an ordinary person—struggled to break free. Using these makeshift weapons, the guards barely managed to contain the relentless tide of swift zombies.
However, compared to the endless stream of swift zombies pouring into the corridor, these dozen U-shaped forks were far too few. Soon, the guards found themselves facing two swift zombies at once, an overwhelming challenge. As the saying goes, two fists are no match for four hands—casualties quickly mounted, and their already fragile defensive line once again showed signs of collapse.
"Dong Tian, have the others fall back! Leave this to me!"
At this critical moment, Xu Mo finally arrived in time. Summoning his Spartan Shortsword, he charged into the frenzied battle beneath the window. Silver flashes of his blade carved arcs of death through the air, and within moments, dozens of swift zombies were slain by his hand alone.
Among all zombie variants, the swift zombies were a unique type, positioned between regular zombies and Lickers. Their numbers could never reach the overwhelming scale of ordinary zombies. The sixty to seventy that had appeared in this wave were already at their limit. Although more swift zombies were sure to follow, navigating through such a dense corpse tide to reach the front of the cinema wouldn't be an easy feat in the short term.
"Hurry! Board up this window with planks immediately! Get the wounded down for treatment! Also, identify and document the deceased—compile a list and report it!" Dong Tian grabbed a damp towel handed over by a guard and wiped the blood off his face, not even sparing a thought for his own injuries before throwing himself into the urgent task of reorganizing the defenses.
Xu Mo sat quietly on a bench in the corridor, waiting until Dong Tian had finished giving orders before waving him over and asking with concern, "How are your injuries? How bad are the casualties among the guards?"
"My injuries are just surface wounds, nothing serious... But the losses in the guard team are too great. So far, forty-two have died, and thirteen are severely wounded. I had no choice but to recruit dozens of new members from the civilian survivors."
Dong Tian, exhausted, sat beside Xu Mo, his breath heavy. His face showed undisguised fatigue as he let a nurse tend to his wounds with his eyes closed.
"How are the civilians holding up?"
"Barely within control, but the families of the fallen guards are extremely unstable. This has also affected our ability to recruit more people—after all, who would want to send their loved ones into such danger? If it weren't for Minister Wang and the others doing everything they could to reassure them, even promising government compensation once we get out, we might already be out of manpower..."
"Sigh... This damned place..." Xu Mo sighed deeply. Even though everyone understood the principle of mutual survival, how many would willingly sacrifice their own family members to protect others? This wasn't a matter of "awareness"—it was human nature, and no one could escape it.
"Six more hours. Just hold on... Think of it as a nightmare that will soon pass." Xu Mo patted Dong Tian on the shoulder in comfort. Suddenly remembering something, he asked in confusion, "By the way, why is the Ghost Head Blade the only weapon left? What happened to the cleaver?"
"According to reports, a new guard recruit lost it while hacking at zombies climbing the security fence. The zombies somehow managed to snatch it away..." Dong Tian replied with a hint of regret. "A shame. Even though that cleaver wasn't the best weapon, if we still had it, we might have lost fewer people in this wave."
Watching the guards' bodies being carried away one by one and hearing the anguished cries of families identifying the dead, Xu Mo—despite having grown accustomed to death—couldn't help but feel a deep sorrow. He had personally experienced the pain of losing loved ones and could truly empathize with the grief of these families.
Had he been too selfish? If he had openly shared the secret of the Apocalyptic Shards, perhaps fewer innocent people would have died...
Xu Mo's lips moved slightly, but for some reason, the words never left his mouth.
After a moment of silence, he slowly stood up. "I'll figure out something for the weapons. The zombies likely won't launch a fourth wave of attacks anytime soon. You should get some rest."
—
Back in the designated resting area, Du Zhizhang and Chang Zitong were already waiting. Though the table before them held a small pile of Apocalyptic Shards collected from the three waves of battles, neither of them seemed as excited as before. Instead, a heavy mood hung over them.
Du Zhizhang pulled out a cigarette from who knows where, lighting it as his gaze fell to the ground. His tone was somber. "I just saw one of my old clients among the dead. I remember he had a beautiful wife and an adorable daughter—they were a happy little family. But now... I can't even imagine how they'll survive without him."
"I was thinking the same thing..." Chang Zitong hesitated before speaking. "If we revealed the truth about the Apocalyptic Shards, would fewer innocent people have to die?"
So, it wasn't just him feeling this way...
"For us, the Apocalyptic Mirage might just be a dangerous place to harvest shards. But for the ordinary people who got caught up in this, it's nothing short of a hopeless death trap. And the only lifeline they have is something we deliberately kept hidden out of our own self-interest... That's truly unfair to them." Xu Mo picked up a shard and stared at it in silence. After a long pause, he sighed. "Six hours left until the space resets... How about this: we'll activate all the yellow shards we got and distribute them as weapons to the guards—just in case. And if another large-scale zombie attack occurs before then, we'll reveal the truth about the shards and let these people take their fates into their own hands!"
"Agreed."
"No objections."
This was the most reasonable solution given the circumstances. Both Du Zhizhang and Chang Zitong, being inherently good people, fully supported it. Xu Mo, feeling a little less burdened by his inner conflict, finally found some comfort.
"Alright then, same as before—activate the yellow shards, and split the rest evenly." Xu Mo picked out four yellow shards and set them aside.
Unexpectedly, Chang Zitong shook his head. "I don't think we should split them evenly. Xu Mo, I know you might not care much about the shards, but you killed all three Lickers yourself. Those creatures are guaranteed to drop shards, and you faced far greater danger than us. It's only fair that you take three extra shards. We can't just divide everything equally like a communal pot—this is better for both sides."
Xu Mo smiled. He knew Chang Zitong was worried that unfair distributions might one day make him unwilling to put in extra effort. So, without argument, he picked out the only blue shard from the pile.
With the two shards from the Lickers earlier, that made exactly three.
After setting aside three yellow weapon-type shards, four red enhancement shards, and two green artifact-type shards remained. Du Zhizhang and Chang Zitong took three of the red shards and one green shard, leaving the rest for Xu Mo.
The two red enhancement shards were of no use to him. Keeping an orange shard for healing, he used the newly obtained green and blue shards to upgrade his Kevlar Bulletproof Vest and Demon's Hand.