We Become One

Fortune Tower, 23rd floor, strong winds blowing.

"Clark! I'm damn scared of heights!"

Arnold's face turned pale as he clung to the steel wire rope, swaying in the strong wind. In front of him was Clark, and behind him was Lynn.

The three of them held onto the steel wire rope and moved forward. Below them lay a massive horde of over three hundred thousand zombies, appearing like a dense ant colony from this height.

Without a doubt, falling from this height would result in certain death, or at the very least, being devoured by the bloodthirsty horde of zombies. 

The steel wire rope in their hands was composed of two long steel cables tightly twisted together, with one end secured to the rooftop of Fortune Tower and the other end tied to a bundle of steel bars on the top floor of WD Shopping Center.

The height of Fortune Tower was significantly greater than that of the shopping center, with a distance of around forty meters separating the two buildings. Therefore, ten minutes ago, Clark made several attempts and, with Arnold's assistance, successfully established a "sky bridge" between the two buildings.

The original plan was to forcefully traverse the open ground square at the fastest possible speed and then enter the interior of the mall through the underground parking lot. This plan was not only dangerous but also easily detectable by the mutant zombies within the horde. Fortunately, Lynn's newly awakened talent provided Clark with the "sky bridge" option, which turned out to be an unexpected blessing.

Clark reluctantly glanced behind him at Arnold, even though he couldn't see anything. The three of them were shielded by Lynn's psychic barrier to prevent being detected by the mutant zombies below their feet.

"Climb faster; the weather is a bit unusual today. There's a good chance of a storm," Clark urged as Arnold's legs began to weaken. He found it hard to criticize the 6'3" bald giant.

With a bitter expression, Arnold could only pick up the pace and follow closely behind.

"After reaching the top floor of the mall, don't engage; let's get inside first!" Clark activated his Judgment Eye, enhanced by his tremendous power, allowing him to clearly see the densely packed horde of zombies on the mall's top floor.

At a glance, there were no fewer than three to four thousand zombies, crowding the relatively small rooftop platform. For this trip to the mall, he had not brought Sandra along. All three of them had psychic barriers, so there was no longer a need for Sandra to venture inside as originally planned.

After all, in the unfortunate event that Sandra encountered [The Stitcher], as a mutant zombie, it was very likely that she would attack her, even with her human scent. The presence of a symbiote would be mistaken for a fellow zombie by regular zombies, but mutants wouldn't be fooled. At most, they wouldn't stand out as much as players.

Take The Licker, for example; this type of mutant would even eat other zombies, let alone Sandra, who carried a human scent.

"Got it, Clark!"

Arnold muttered in the team's voice channel, and behind him, Lynn watched him with some amusement, showing no signs of fear herself.

All three of them were awakened individuals with superhuman physical abilities, and they crawled up the vertical distance at incredible speeds. In just a couple of minutes, they approached the top floor of the mall. The steel bars on the top floor were densely surrounded by zombies, attracted by the earlier commotion.

The horde suddenly roared, clearly detecting the presence of living humans approaching. However, their specific location was obscured by the psychic barriers, making it impossible for the zombies to pinpoint them. It was as if they could smell the scent of the air but couldn't locate its source.

Clark held his breath and gracefully landed on the platform first, his expression alert as he looked at the zombies just inches away from him. The zombie in front of him howled in a frenzy, its face, devoid of flesh, resembling a malevolent spirit. Its crimson eyes were filled with desire.

Like a bloodhound, the zombie was frenziedly bobbing its head up and down, constantly sniffing the air in front of Clark. Despite the clear scent of humans, it couldn't locate them.

"Damn it, this bloody zombie is groping me!" Arnold complained. Everything was going exceptionally smoothly, and all three of them had successfully reached the platform. However, as soon as they touched the ground, Arnold was immediately surrounded by zombies that had caught his scent. If Clark hadn't forewarned him to exercise restraint, he might have lost his temper.

"Clark, this thing won't let go!" The rotten and mutilated hands of the zombie were continuously groping him, with one female zombie directly grabbing at his pocket.

Although the skin and flesh on their faces had completely rotted away, you could still tell from their attire that these zombies were young in age. The female zombie, in particular, wore a hot white miniskirt with a cool camisole on top. Their clothing was covered in bloodstains and torn holes, but you could vaguely see the curvaceous figure they had in life. These zombies were blinded by Clark's psychic barrier and could only sense their prey through touch, but they couldn't be sure what it was.

Arnold looked embarrassed, unable to use force, so he could only awkwardly drag this female zombie along behind him as he followed Clark.

With utmost caution, the three of them moved through the horde, and what lay before them was a broken metal door on the rooftop. Even though they knew that they wouldn't be attacked as long as they didn't make a move, being in such close proximity to the horde made them all nervous. If the barrier were to fail at this moment, they would be surrounded by the horde, and only Clark would have a chance of survival. The other two would likely not last more than a few seconds.

"How long can you maintain the psychic barrier?" Clark inquired as they carefully entered the metal door, feeling a sense of relief wash over them. The number of zombies on the rooftop had drastically reduced, and there were scattered bones in the corners.

Lynn paused for a moment, then closed her eyes to carefully sense her psychic energy consumption.

"I can maintain it continuously for about 20 minutes. Although the consumption isn't significant, maintaining psychic barriers for three people simultaneously strains my psychic energy recovery," Lynn replied. Her eyes occasionally flashed with a silver hue as she continued, "If it's just the two of us, we can last for about 45 minutes. If it's just me, I should be able to maintain it for over half a day."

Clark briefly pondered the situation. It seemed that they were limited by Lynn's psychic energy, and time wasn't on their side.

"Alright, let's split up. You and I will team up, while Arnold goes alone," Clark suggested. Arnold had his bear transformation and survival-enhancing drugs, so even if he encountered [The Stitcher], he could hold on for a few seconds. Lynn's physique attribute of 10 points would make her instantly killed when facing a Tier 2 top-tier mutant. The air was thick with the stench of death and the smell of blood.

The three of them had already reached the top floor of the mall, and the scene before them was horrifying. The once pristine white walls were covered in dark red handprints, and human bones picked clean were scattered all over the floor. One could only imagine the desperation of the people who had sought refuge in the mall in the face of the zombies.

With a casual step, they would crush skulls and fingers beneath their feet. Groups of zombies shuffled and roamed around, occasionally making noise when they stepped on metal, which would draw nearby zombies into a frenzy.

"Roger!" Arnold responded with a serious expression as he examined the interior. He held the snake spine from the corpse snake wrapped around his waist.

... 

The heavy footsteps of a colossal creature resounded on the second floor, each step shaking the decomposed corpses that littered the ground. Low, mournful, and pained murmurs, both male and female, mixed together and spread around.

The thick, green metal door, labeled as "Fresh Cold Storage," remained tightly shut. The paint on it was chipped and worn, and the small glass window above it was covered in thick gray stains.

"Is that monster coming again...?" A woman with knotted hair, her voice hoarse, cautiously asked the man who was crouched in front of the glass. The man removed the cotton from his ears, listened carefully, and then quickly put it back in.

"Shh, keep it down," he whispered, sounding like a mosquito or a fly. The man nervously glanced at the woman, his eyes filled with fear. His body couldn't stop trembling. Even though it wasn't their first time seeing this creature, every encounter filled him with immense dread and pressure.

The people inside the cold storage room tightly covered their mouths and noses, while makeshift earplugs filled their ears. 

"Thump! Thump!" The heavy footsteps gradually faded away, and the man finally collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath as if he were completely drained. 

The woman with knotted hair, in a daze, walked past him toward a corner, unnoticed by anyone. Her parched lips moved silently, opening and closing like a dehydrated fish. The dirty, black cotton from her ears had fallen to the ground, stained with pus and blood. The air was murky, and the refrigerated room was oppressively hot. It fell into an eerie silence. With her back against the wall, the woman smiled without a sound, whispering, "WE ARE ONE...We Become One..."