The Ultimate War Of The Apocalypse
Chapter 563 - 556: The Yellow Sparrow

Chapter 563: Chapter 556: The Yellow Sparrow

Monsters may be mindless, but they still instinctively formed a three-dimensional defense perimeter.

Enter swiftly, then descend quickly—that was the basic requirement. You Zixing and his team couldn’t possibly fly over the city at heights of several to tens of kilometers and then leisurely descend.

This was not a typical rescue operation. With communications cut off, their location unclear, their status unknown, and even whether they were alive or dead uncertain, how could it be considered a rescue? It was more akin to a reconnaissance mission.

The powered parachutes ascended, and immediately beneath them were hordes of zombies crowding together in masses, swiftly passing beneath You Zixing at a speed he dared not imagine. Then, guided by instinct, they split into three groups, chasing after the cars that were rapidly retreating.

This was a gamble, and essentially one with the odds stacked against them. If they lost, everyone would perish. If they won, they would likely only learn of Gao Yuan’s fate and whereabouts.

The stakes and rewards were utterly disproportionate. Under normal circumstances, You Zixing would never have taken such a risk because it was not his style to use brute force. Nor would he embark on a hopeless mission, knowing it would result in significant casualties.

You Zixing preferred to use cunning, to use tactics. He claimed to be tactical, but his comrades derisively called his methods underhanded, shameless, and dishonest in pursuit of victory.

What You Zixing was most proud of was that in all the missions he had completed, there had not been a single casualty—not even one.

A miraculous record, but now, years of experience were lost in a single moment.

You Zixing had no expectation of returning alive, nor did he expect any of his men to survive.

In a mission certain to fail, certain to result in total annihilation, You Zixing hesitated not at all to commit to the action. Even he found it unbelievable upon reflection.

Flames soared into the sky, even affecting the nearby airflow. To the right, a large tank was on fire about three hundred meters away, and to the left, an exploding refinery building about a kilometer away.

But where was Gao Yuan?

You Zixing looked down through his night-vision goggles to see dense swarms of zombies and various monsters, just beneath his feet at a height of less than a hundred meters.

The fear inside him was indescribable, but the greatest terror came from the unknown and the uncertainty.

Where exactly was Gao Yuan? You Zixing had no way of searching for him at the moment. If Gao Yuan was still alive, if he had escaped unharmed from the enemy’s attacks, it would be perfectly normal for him to have already safely evacuated.

Conversely, if Gao Yuan was already dead, with not even a body left, You Zixing wouldn’t be surprised either.

Hence, what You Zixing anticipated most was encountering traces of the enemy, the living Sanitation Workers.

Only by first spotting the Sanitation Workers and seeing what they were up to, could he possibly infer Gao Yuan’s current situation and whereabouts from their reactions.

But as far as the eye could see, where were the enemies? There were only zombies and monsters below, drawn by the noise and the flames, with no sign of any living person in sight.

Suspended in mid-air, he knew not where to descend.

The observation revealed that the area near the fire had the most zombies and monsters.

Zombies aren’t afraid of fire; they are attracted to it, an instinct that humans retain after turning into zombies. And those monsters, too, are drawn to fire, because if zombies were afraid of fire, humanity could simply use flames to drive them away, which would be laughable.

Even the bats, creatures originally active at night, had been modified by the Serpent People to function in daylight. Since they were designed as biological weapons, they could not afford to have evident weaknesses.

However, zombies and monsters would still stay beyond a safe distance due to the high temperatures, not foolishly rushing into the fire to be burned to death.

Now, You Zixing had crossed the burning oil tanks, soaring towards the refinery complex. Because when the communications were still up, Gao Yuan had said that he had completed planting the explosives. Additionally, You Zixing knew from Gao Yuan and Rabbit’s conversation that the Atmospheric Distillation Tower was a refinery’s most vital infrastructure.

Since Gao Yuan had blown up the distillation tower, then he must be not far from the tower.

The distillation tower had been shut down under abnormal circumstances, and residual crude oil inside had also caught fire after the explosion, but compared to the oil storage tank, the fire was much smaller.

But there was a problem, now there were two distillation towers. Which one was blown up first, and which was second?

Moreover, in places like refineries, once a large fire starts, there are far too many combustible materials. Although the flames were not as intense, there were too many locations on fire to determine where exactly the distillation tower was. You Zixing, suspended mid-air, was also unable to discern it.

In short, finding Gao Yuan was extremely difficult.

You Zixing had never encountered such a troublesome situation. Since driving into Malakal and taking off with the powered paraglider, it had been three minutes, and not once did You Zixing’s brain get a moment’s rest. Yet, no matter how fast his mind worked, he was at a loss for ideas.

Just then, You Zixing suddenly heard a shout from a teammate.

Without walkie-talkies, they could only yell. Even though the three paragliders weren’t far apart, there was a distance of several dozen meters. You Zixing couldn’t make out what his teammate was shouting. He turned his head to look and saw his teammate rapidly making hand signals.

Since both hands were needed to control the powered paraglider, complex sign language was not possible. But You Zixing only needed a glance to immediately turn his head in the direction his comrade was pointing to.

The helicopter’s heat source was so obvious in thermal imaging; although You Zixing was well aware it was an enemy’s helicopter, the moment he saw it, it felt like he was seeing a life-saving star and a beacon showing the way.

To lower altitude or raise it, to close the distance or to quickly duck far away?

The helicopter came charging straight forward with great momentum, and its distance was now very close, already beginning to descend.

The helicopter’s intention was very clear; they had a specific target.

You Zixing was greatly energized. In competition, he never minded being the last to enter the fray. The proverbial ’praying mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind.’ He always preferred to be that oriole.

But as You Zixing watched the helicopter for slightly too long, he noticed a swarm of tiny dots trailing behind it. They were densely packed, resembling a cluster of stars.

You Zixing’s expression froze.

No wonder there was no sign of the worry-free bats, no wonder the skies were so calm. Those bats had been drawn to the helicopter.

Helicopters in flight aren’t bothered by the tiny bats, and the bats couldn’t affect the helicopter because they wouldn’t intentionally crash into it, and couldn’t catch up if they chased from behind.

But for You Zixing and his team, without any protection and moving slowly, they were like a delectable meal flying through the night sky, compared to that helicopter.