Infinite Ebullience
Chapter 1170 - 49 Solo Kill

Chapter 1170: Chapter 49 Solo Kill

The Licker died, its fresh blood splattered all over Tang Zheng, who now faced the monster head-on, less than three meters away from each other. Tang Zheng’s internal organs were injured from the fall, but fortunately, his limbs were unharmed. The monster, having been repeatedly hit by the Mark III hand grenades and biochemical bullets, was also injured, and its speed had diminished, though its attack power was not lessened in the slightest.

Bearing the pain from his body, Tang Zheng propped himself up on both hands and quickly scrambled to his feet, zigzagging as he fled.

Boom, the monster took a step forward, its left arm swinging strike just missed Tang Zheng’s ribs and smashed into the ground, cracking the stone floor and sending fragments flying. If Tang Zheng had been any slower, he would have been pounded into mush.

The monster continually spat acid from its right shoulder mouth, quickly filling the air with a thick, stinging stench.

Tang Zheng had discarded his backpack to flee lightly; he grabbed a hand grenade with his right hand, bit off the insurance pin with his teeth, glanced back to judge the timing, and tossed it behind him.

Boom, the pursuing monster took a direct hit, and the biochemical smoke, at least, delayed its onslaught for a moment.

Yuliya and the other two fired their guns and threw several hand grenades, the blast waves and flames surging, damaging some of the electrical equipment, which sparked with blue electric arcs, fizzing as they short-circuited.

Several thick electrical cables also snapped, their sparking ends falling to the ground. Thankfully, the stone floor posed no risk of conducting electricity, but one large piece of equipment, upon making contact with a broken wire, became electrified due to the high voltage. It exploded with a bang, emitting black smoke and bursting into flames.

Tang Zheng fired his gun, shooting three single shots as fast as he could, pouring out bullets not to hit the head with each shot but to buy time. Relying on the terrain he had quickly memorized earlier, he sprinted towards the hydrogen production room.

The monster’s supply of acid wasn’t endless—after spewing for so long, it finally ran out, which was somewhat of a relief. However, it began to use short bursts of speed more frequently.

Tang Zheng dove toward the right front, then rolled. The monster, upon its arrival, was sure to swing its left arm—having been chased for nearly twenty minutes, Tang Zheng had almost figured out its attack pattern.

"About once every ten seconds," Tang Zheng muttered, his mouth slightly open, his tongue resting against his upper palate as he took deep breaths. Regrettably, due to the combustion, the dim power zone began to fill with a thick burnt smell, the oxygen was not pure enough, and he even started to feel as if he might suffocate.

Whoosh, the monster charged again with a whooshing sound, and Tang Zheng dodged successfully, bending over as its right arm brushed past his forehead.

"Hm, actually avoidable!" Tang Zheng no longer ran along the safe route but began weaving through the equipment. Although it was dangerous, the monster could no longer charge recklessly.

Boom, the monster crashed into a piece of equipment. It was too foolish and persistent, but with numerous pieces of equipment and its large size, its movements were restricted.

Seeing the signs that indicated extreme danger, Tang Zheng’s heart was under immense pressure. Cold sweat broke out on his forehead, and every time he ran past large equipment and thick cables, he felt as if he would be pulled in.

The radiating electromagnetic field made him extremely uncomfortable, causing a sense of dizziness and nausea.

"Be careful," Yuliya shouted in alarm.

Tang Zheng was changing his ammo clip and was distracted. Hearing the warning, without thinking, he lunged diagonally forward, then rolled repeatedly, before springing up like an arrow-struck rabbit to continue his flight.

The weapons were too poor; even if Tang Zheng attacked, they would not be effective. It was better to focus on fleeing.

"This way!" the policeman, looking at Tang Zheng, marveled again; if it had been an ordinary person, they would have died four or five times over in such perilous circumstances, yet this guy was still standing strong, struggling on.

Susan’s heart nearly leapt out of her throat. Several times she thought Tang Zheng was a goner, and now she didn’t dare attack—the monster was too close to Tang Zheng, and with her unrefined shooting skills, she might accidentally wound him.

Tang Zheng spotted the hydrogen production room, a large workspace, fifty meters away, marked with signs warning that entry was extremely dangerous and prohibited to unauthorized personnel.

"Why aren’t you leaving?" The white lab coat, following the policeman, got close to the hydrogen production room and saw him suddenly stop. Puzzled, he urged him on.

"Waiting for Tang Zheng," the policeman didn’t tell the truth. Keeping the white lab coat with them was using him as bait; otherwise, it would be very difficult for Tang Zheng alone to shake off the monster.

"Waiting for him for what?" The white lab coat cursed internally but didn’t dare speak out. He wasn’t foolish; he could see that these people had a good relationship with the young man from the East.

Eventually, Tang Zheng’s back was grazed, and he tumbled away. There was no other choice; when dodging, he had to prioritize protecting other parts of his body, otherwise, a hit to those parts could lead to infection through direct contact with flesh and blood.

"Bulletproof vests are a great thing," Tang Zheng gritted his teeth, enduring the severe pain in his back and even discarded his M4A1 to lighten his load and sprinted. Having fled till now, he truly had no extra strength left.

"Hurry up, he’s coming," the white lab coat saw Tang Zheng leading the monster in their direction, his legs shaking in fear. He repeatedly urged the policeman above him, but to no avail. Just when he decided to abandon the bodyguard and run for it himself, it was too late; the monster was less than twenty meters away.

"Don’t come over here, you bastard, don’t come over here!" The white lab coat’s face twisted in terror; he shouted for Tang Zheng to go away and even raised his handgun to shoot at him.

Rat-a-tat, Yuliya was startled and immediately opened fire toward the white lab coat.

"Stop, are you insane?" Susan also cursed loudly.

Tang Zheng glared fiercely at the man in the white lab coat, who felt as if he was being targeted by a ferocious bear, and instantly got a jolt of fear, lowering the muzzle of his gun.

"Run, you idiot, hide in that room!" Tang Zheng shouted, and the man snapped out of it and turned to run.

The man in the white coat was too slow, and Tang Zheng worried that if he passed him, the guy wouldn’t even make it into the Hydrogen Production Room and would get killed by the monster, wasting all their efforts and plunging himself into danger, so he had no choice but to remind him.

"He’s a good man!" the man in the white lab coat thought, not realizing Tang Zheng’s scheme. He felt incredibly ashamed of his actions for having shot at him moments before.

Thankfully, the door to the Hydrogen Production Room was not closed, but the problem was that the workers inside had turned into zombies. Hearing the commotion, they came out, blocking the entrance.

"Don’t shoot," Tang Zheng shouted, pulling out his handgun and firing a single shot to explode the zombie’s head. The place was too dangerous—even the workers were not allowed to wear shoes with metal nails because a single spark could cause an explosion.

"Don’t shoot," the policeman also yelled out. It was clear that this place was extremely hazardous. He was confident in his shooting skills but didn’t trust others. If the explosion was triggered prematurely, everything would be ruined.

Both of them were overly cautious; the man with short hair was attacking the monsters and didn’t notice the zombie in front of the door. Yuliya saw it, but Tang Zheng’s timely warning kept her from firing.

"Divine Providence favors me," the man in the white coat said, his face full of relief as he stepped over the corpse’s body and ran into the Hydrogen Production Room. Inside were two more zombies, frightening him into quickly hiding to one side.

Tang Zheng also entered, immediately greeted by the sight of two grotesque zombies lunging at him, as well as rows of large equipment he couldn’t name, and hydrogen pipelines densely packed overhead. Valves and some gauges were fitted above, exuding an air of the industrial age.

Some metal containers possibly storing hydrogen gas were placed not far away, with no fire symbols hanging on the walls.

Tang Zheng didn’t dare shoot; he darted behind the equipment, using them to conceal his tracks as he moved swiftly, his gaze roaming about in search of an exit route.

The white coat’s mind was already in disarray, capable only of the instinct to hide and utterly lacking any further response or strategy.

"Tang, where are you?" the white lab coat tried to find Tang Zheng in hopes of employing his martial strength for protection but couldn’t see him at all.

Boom—the monster broke through the main entrance and charged in. With a quick listen, it located the man in the white coat. Even a low shout, in the ears of a monster with superior hearing, was like a thunderbolt, not to mention the uncontrollably rapid panting in tension that all pointed the monster in the right direction.

Tang Zheng, with a calm face hidden behind a piece of equipment, kept quiet. Seeing the monster couldn’t find him and was chasing after the man in the white coat, he pounced and dashed toward the open window. Approaching it, he pushed off the window frame with his arm and jumped out.

Tang Zheng, without slowing, sprinted and pulled out a hand grenade. After pulling the insurance pin, he threw it forcefully inside, aiming at the row of hydrogen tanks.

"What do we do now?" the man with short hair ran over to regroup, unable to find Tang Zheng, and asked the policeman.

Yuliya aimed at the entrance to the Hydrogen Production Room, ready to shoot at any moment. As for Susan, she had no idea what to do.

"You all stay here and wait for Tang Zheng to come out, then throw all the hand grenades down there," the policeman moved quickly, looking for the best position to strike the Hydrogen Production Room, setting off an explosion. He looked toward the window, feeling quite certain Tang Zheng would emerge from there.

"What if the explosion doesn’t ignite? I’m going down," Yuliya wouldn’t abandon them after Tang Zheng risked himself for everyone. She reached for the man’s belt, tied it to the railing, and swung down. With her height, she was no more than three meters above the ground, and it was safe even if she jumped down.

"No need, he’s coming out. Let’s evacuate," the policeman stopped her, confident in Tang Zheng’s ability to blow up the Hydrogen Production Room.

Indeed, following the grenade explosion, flames roiled and shockwaves blasted, igniting the hydrogen storage tanks, and a series of intense chain explosions swept through the entire row of houses, then enveloped the nearby area.

The moment the first explosion occurred, Tang Zheng had crawled behind a piece of equipment, laying flat on the ground, desperately climbing as the shockwave passed by, blocked by the machinery, which short-circuited and emitted snapping electric sparks.

Such a fierce explosion meant the monster was certainly finished. Tang Zheng could have escaped, but remembering the two miniature refrigerated containers captured from Ada, he turned back to find the backpack he had dropped before.

After the five people regrouped, Susan’s eyes overflowed with admiration for Tang Zheng. Both the man with short hair and Yuliya also had immense respect for him.

"That was amazing. How did you manage it?" the man with short hair whistled and playfully punched Tang Zheng in the chest, obviously warming up to him considerably.

...

PS: Time to grab some food and take a break before I continue writing! (To be continued. If you like this work, please support it with recommendation tickets and monthly votes at Qidian.com. Your support is my greatest motivation.)