"Ha, it's a huge supermarket! If we can get in there, it'll be a bst!" Boss Hu stood on a colpsed wall, his eyes gleaming as he looked at the rge warehouse-style supermarket ahead. The faded sign on the building still faintly read "Walmart."

  "It's a great spot, but the question is how do we get in? There are at least seven or eight hundred zombies out there. How are we supposed to get past them?" Lin Tao turned to Boss Hu and asked.

  "Huh?" Boss Hu was momentarily stunned, then chuckled. "Well, brother, what do you suggest? We'll follow your lead. You must have a pn, right?"

  "I do have a pn, but it's as simple as charging straight through!" Lin Tao put down the binocurs he had been using to observe the area and spoke calmly.

  "Charge straight through?" Cao Mei and the others were taken aback.

  Boss Hu, however, ughed. "Brother, you can't be serious. Even though this is the outskirts and the popution isn't as dense, those thousand zombies up ahead could easily kill us. And if we make too much noise, zombies from the surrounding area will come running. Then we'll really be in trouble!"

  "I've told you the pn. Whether you dare to follow is up to you!" With that, Lin Tao put away his monocur telescope and started walking forward. Boss Hu hesitated for a moment, then spat on the ground and muttered, "Screw it, what's there to be afraid of? Let's go!" He quickly caught up with the others.

  As they got closer to the supermarket, about five or six hundred meters away, they could no longer move forward. The area was teeming with zombies. If even one spotted them, it would trigger a chain reaction. The thought of being swarmed by a thousand zombies was enough to make anyone's scalp crawl.

  "What now? We can't go any further. If we do, we'll be in big trouble. You're not really pnning to charge through, are you?" Boss Hu leaned against a flipped Jeep Commander next to Lin Tao. His once fierce face was now pale, and his tone was filled with anxiety and helplessness.

  Lin Tao didn't look at Boss Hu. Instead, he nudged the zy-looking Michael at his feet and said, "Go on, get moving."

  Michael rolled his eyes and reluctantly walked forward, muttering under his breath, "Always ordering me around. I'm still a virgin, you know! Haven't even had my first time yet!"

  Although Michael's voice was low, Boss Hu heard it clearly. His eyes widened in shock as he pointed at Michael and excimed, "It talked! The dog just talked!"

  Boss Hu turned to the others, gesturing wildly to express his astonishment. But when he saw Cao Mei looking at him with disdain, he defted and muttered, "Alright, I must be hearing things because I'm too stressed."

  A Xue and Lin Tao exchanged a knowing smile but didn't expin. They watched as Michael, looking utterly disinterested, walked onto the square ahead. A few of the more alert zombies had already noticed him and were growling as they lunged toward the seemingly zy dog. Michael's lips curled into what looked like a sneer, and he let out a couple of barks. Instantly, most of the zombies on the square turned their attention to him.

  There were at least four or five hundred zombies on the square. After a year of exposure to the elements, most of them were naked, their bodies dried up and bckened, resembling walking mummies. The term "zombie" was fitting indeed.

  For the first time in what felt like forever, the zombies had spotted something alive and bleeding. They were like a pack of drugged-up maniacs, roaring and charging toward Michael in the center of the square. They craved blood and fresh meat, and Michael was a prime target.

  But Michael was no ordinary dog. He wasn't some common mutt you'd find in the countryside. He was a hellhound, a proud three-headed dog—well, two-headed in his case, but his noble bloodline was undeniable. In his own words, while his body might be that of a dog, his soul was far superior, even surpassing that of humans.

  At that moment, the noble hellhound Michael zily jumped onto a colpsed billboard. He couldn't be bothered to engage with the mindless zombies. From his perch, he watched the zombies below, who were jumping and snapping at him but couldn't reach him. He scratched his neck with a hind paw, looking down at the zombies as if they were idiots. He couldn't help but wonder how his heartless owner could send him on such a dirty and exhausting mission. Sure, his owner's soul was as noble as his, but the man was downright cruel!

  Unaware of his dog's internal monologue, Lin Tao saw that most of the zombies on the square were now focused on Michael. He waved to A Xue and the others and whispered, "Stay close!"

  Boss Hu had never imagined that entering a rge supermarket could be so easy. Why hadn't he thought of this method before? Sure, he didn't have a dog, but he had people. Sacrificing one or two to secure a supermarket full of supplies was a bargain. The thought of possibly using this method to rebuild his power in the future filled him with excitement.

  *Bang!*

  Lin Tao fired a shot, blowing the lock off a fire escape door. He pulled the handle, and the door swung open. Although the gunshot attracted the attention of some stray zombies, Lin Tao and the others quickly slipped inside and closed the heavy steel fire door behind them.

  They followed the emergency exit corridor deeper into the building. The dim environment suddenly brightened as Lin Tao opened another door. Although there was no electricity, sunlight poured in through the gss roof, illuminating the supermarket's interior.

  It seemed that when the virus first broke out, the supermarket had activated an emergency protocol, treating the outbreak like a fire. Not only had the rolling shutters at the entrance been lowered, but internal fire shutters had also been deployed, dividing the supermarket into several smaller sections. Even if there were zombies inside, as long as the heavy shutters remained closed, they couldn't move between sections.

  "Luck's on our side. Not many zombies inside," Lin Tao said, holstering his gun and whistling cheerfully as he looked around.

  Hearing this, Boss Hu, who had been about to lunge toward a liquor counter, abruptly stopped. He turned to Lin Tao and asked, "What do you mean 'not many zombies'? I don't see any!"

  "Ugh, what's wrong with your brain?" Cao Mei picked up a wine bottle and smashed it against a gss counter in a nearby shop. Several axes of different colors cttered to the floor. This was an outdoor equipment store, filled with all kinds of climbing gear. Cao Mei picked up a short-handled axe, tested its weight, and then turned to Boss Hu, who was gring at her. "You think a supermarket this big wouldn't have any zombies inside?"

  "Maybe they evacuated everyone when the virus hit!" Boss Hu argued, his eyes wide.

  "What about the security guards? The staff? The virus broke out in the afternoon. Even if the customers were evacuated, there were still plenty of workers inside. Don't say I didn't warn you—there might be a couple of female zombies hiding behind a counter, just waiting to grab you. One touch, and you're done for!" Cao Mei casually slung the axe over her shoulder and smirked.

  "You..." Boss Hu was left speechless, unsure how to respond.

  "Cao Mei's right. There are at least a hundred zombies in here. Everyone, stay alert," Lin Tao said as he stepped into the outdoor equipment store. He picked up a bck short-handled axe with a "JEEP" logo and handed it to Cao Mei. "That axe is too heavy for you. Use this smaller one."

  "Got it!" Cao Mei immediately tossed the rger axe aside and happily took the one Lin Tao offered.

  "A Xue, you should also pick up some weapons for self-defense. You're not as strong, so an axe would be best for you too," Lin Tao said, turning to A Xue, who was following him like a shadow.

  "Okay!" A Xue nodded obediently and began searching the store for weapons.