A small group hidden in the thick fog, illuminated by a dim light, watched the vehicle in front of them. After it slowly stopped by the roadside, it remained motionless.
A man with a triangle bandage covering his face, his features obscured, spoke in a low voice.
"Boss, should we go take a look? The people in that car haven't moved at all."
"Yeah, boss, do these people suspect an ambush and are preparing to flee?"
The man narrowed his eyes, peering intently towards the faint light ahead.
"Did you hear any doors opening or closing?"
"No." The subordinates shook their heads.
"Then they're still in the car, probably discussing their next move. Go, bring out our little pets." A ruthless smile spread across the man's face. "Let these people witness this. The dark, sunless days are about to change."
After hearing the man's words, the subordinates beside him showed hesitation, unsure if they should follow his instructions.
"Why are you still standing there?" The man's voice held a hint of displeasure.
The subordinates then, with flickering expressions, walked towards several thick trees behind them.
Thick trees were wrapped with heavy chains, and at the other end of the chains were tied several zombies, of varying ages, both male and female.
However, these zombies were different from any zombies encountered before.
Although their bodies were still covered in decaying flesh, their eyes were not the usual grayish-blue, but had rare black and white pupils.
It was as if they possessed consciousness.
And these zombies also seemed to have awareness; they did not struggle or roar. Even with chains around their necks, they stood obediently by the trees, making no noise.
If one ignored the stench of decay and rotten flesh emanating from them, they were almost indistinguishable from ordinary humans.
A subordinate cautiously approached, fearful of alarming these deadly creatures.
He silently cursed his boss, Liu Chen, for his foolishness in playing with fire, raising zombies for no reason.
It could be said that these few zombies ate better than they themselves did, which was why these zombies were willing to obey their boss.
But the subordinate still couldn't understand why these zombies listened to Liu Chen.
The subordinate, reluctant, gripped his large saber tightly, fearing any unforeseen events.
Then, he circled behind the trees and, using freshly prepared bloody meat skewers, threaded onto a bamboo stick, he dangled it before the zombies' eyes.
Afterward, he used a key to unlock the chains binding them to the trees.
Having completed all the preparations, the subordinate then carefully removed the cloths covering the eyes of these zombies and cautiously tucked them into his pocket.
As soon as the cloths covering their faces were removed, these zombies were on the verge of an outburst. It was as if a strange switch had been flipped, causing them to emit heart-wrenching howls, moving on all fours and spinning in place, flailing their limbs incessantly.
Their strange black and white pupils gradually turned red, and their eyes became filled with eerie red veins.
The subordinate's hands trembled, but he still forced himself to pick up the chains, guiding the zombies' movements with a rope nearly two meters long, from which dangled the bloody meat chunks. The zombies kept walking in the direction indicated by the rope.
However, it was strange that even though the subordinate stood behind these zombies, they did not attack him proactively, only chasing the bloody meat.
The subordinate looked on in surprise but made no superfluous movements.
By the time the subordinate led the zombies to the vicinity of the fence, Liu Chen, watching the zombies with their eyes flashing with hunger, wore a playful smile.
"Go, splash the blood we brought towards that car."
Several people did not dare to delay and began to act according to Liu Chen's words.
The subordinate remembered when he first joined this 'Dead Men's Gang,' he didn't understand the meaning of the name.
But when he personally witnessed the zombies being raised in the base, he finally understood the true meaning of the Dead Men's Gang.
These were all lunatics, colluding with zombies, people who lived on the edge of a knife.
It wasn't that he hadn't thought of escaping, but when he personally saw his companions being fed to the zombies as extra meals, the string of fear within him snapped.
From then on, he took over the task of feeding the zombies from the companion who was eaten.
And the origin of those meat chunks and blood, one didn't need to ask, it was exactly what you would imagine.
However, fortunately, these zombies, although seemingly intelligent, were not many.
In the months of feeding them, no accidents had ever occurred. In fact, as long as these zombies were fed and watered, they would obey their commands and actively attack others.
This was also why the Dead Men's Gang could be so arrogant here.
As the blood was splashed, the zombies rushed out uncontrollably as if driven mad.
Xu An, sitting in the car, suddenly felt something being splashed onto the ground.
Immediately after, the ground began to tremble. Xu An thought, 'Not good!'
"Get out of the car quickly!"
Lin Zhuoran and Zhou Haimei also got out of the car without waiting for Xu An's further reminder.
As soon as they got out of the car and closed the doors and windows, the next second, several ferocious zombies surrounded the entire vehicle.
Just as Xu An felt relieved, he saw the group of zombies forcefully smash the car windows with a punch, as if possessing endless power, capable of turning the entire car into dust.
"Damn it, what are these things?" Zhou Haimei's face was full of lingering fear, her gun clutched tightly to her chest.
"They should be mutated zombies."
Due to the thick fog, Xu An couldn't clearly see what liquid was being splashed towards them, but the dense smell of blood in the air all confirmed what these mysterious liquids were.
"They actually used blood to splash us?" Lin Zhuoran looked astonished. She seemed unable to believe that someone could actually use zombies for evil deeds.
"How do they control these zombies?"
Xu An looked at Zhou Haimei, but even she didn't know the answer.
She could only shake her head helplessly.
But one thing was certain: the mastermind behind these zombies was definitely human.
"Let's first see if these zombies are intelligent. Later, Sister Mei and I will confront the zombies here. Zhuoran, you find a way to get closer to that group of people and see what's happening. Once we've dealt with these zombies, we'll find you."
"Okay."
Lin Zhuoran didn't refuse. She knew in her heart that the current decision was the best strategy.
The entire area was shrouded in dense fog, and both sides were playing the game of information asymmetry.
Just as Xu An and the others didn't know the situation on the other side, the other side also didn't know their situation.
They certainly didn't know that there were only three girls on their side.
With that said, Xu An and Zhou Haimei rushed towards the zombies. To conceal their numbers, their movements were swift, and their gunshots became increasingly dense, momentarily intimidating the people on the other side.