Free Web NovelChapter 190: Show Off (1)
"Here we are," John commented, pointing towards a massive building before them.
From the sheer size of the building, Shinon guessed the building had to be a community hall or a crematorium, with the possibility of the latter being higher.
Shinon immediately scanned the area using his retinal map and found John’s words to be true. There was a cluster of zombies waiting for them inside the building. It was a nest, but it wasn’t the only one.
’It seems the zombies have developed a second nest around the first one,’ Shinon thought. ’Their growth rate is abnormal because the last scout report only shared the possibility of one nest, not two.’
While Shinon was busy deciphering the situation, Nix went to her knees, with her palms facing the ground. Shinon was confused about what was going on there, but John gestured Shinon to wait as if he was saving, ’Just wait and watch’.
Soon, Nix closed her eyes and began mumbling something. The next moment a Shinon felt a silent tremor underneath their feet, and Nix opened her eyes.
"It seems the report was somewhat off," she informed John while pointing toward where Shinon had found the second nest. "Those pests seemed to have formed a secondary nest around there."
"And their numbers?" John inquired.
"Around seventy-three, give or take five more."
"Good, we can work with that," John excitedly replied, rubbing his hands together.
’She’s pretty good,’ Shinon smiled.
Although he didn’t know what kind of skill Nix had employed, her prediction was impeccable. There were seventy-six zombies inside the building, according to Shinon’s map, and for Nix to guess it using vibrations was impressive, to say the least.
John saw Shinon’s smile and mistook it as him being surprised at Nix’s ability.
"Now you know why we’re called the nest dispatch group~," he said, and everyone else rolled their eyes. "We’re the best at what we do!"
"No one but you call us that..." Lina commented. "Now, if you’re done chatting, let’s go and deal with those undead."
As the group inched closer to the building, Nix kept using her earth manipulation ability to try detecting and evading the undead. Soon enough, the group found themselves standing before the massive entrance of the building.
However, the group soon encountered an obstacle that forced them to halt their advance. The area ahead was teeming with zombies, packed tightly together, making it nearly impossible to move forward.
Shinon had the option to use his shadowmancy to either conceal them or take down the zombies in their path, but he was more intrigued to see how John and his team would handle this situation without his input.
Without wasting a moment, John gave Alex a signal, and she sprang into action... or rather, slumped away. John swiftly caught her before her body could hit the ground.
Shinon was a bit taken aback, wanting to know whether Alex was alright. But John beat him to it.
"Don’t worry," John informed Shinon while pointing at the nearest zombie. "It is all a part of her abilities."
Shinon looked at where John was pointing and saw the most bizarre thing. A walker stood out in the most unlikely way among the sea of zombies as it was waving at them.
To Shinon’s surprise, it even used sign language to convey a message, indicating that it was going inside and for the rest of them to wait there.
"Is that-" Shinon wanted to say something, but even then, he thought it was absurd.
"Yes, that’s Alex inside that zombie’s body," John confirmed, gently laying Alex’s original body on the ground. "Though she can only control Walkers and Sprinters, she does it exceptionally well. Sometimes, even we get confused about whether she’s really controlling the zombie." ƒгeewebnovёl.com
Shinon couldn’t believe it, even if the evidence was proper before his eyes. Alex’s ability seemed absurd, but even more than that was how well she acted her part. It wasn’t surprising that John said they often mistook her for a real zombie.
"Amazing," Shinon finally managed to say, genuinely impressed by Alex’s talent.
"I know, right!" Lina exclaimed. "If Nix is our eyes, Alex is the team’s nose and ears. Without them, navigating through zombie territory would be a real challenge. Heck, I don’t think we’ll even be able to take down a single nest in that case."
"Yeah? And what’s your role, Lina?" Shinon playfully asked.
With a playful glint in her eye, Lina replied, "It’s simple. I’m the boo-"
"That’ll be enough from you," John said, covering her mouth. "Let’s get in position before Alex arrives with the horde. Ouch- don’t bite me!"
"You deserve it for ruining my punch line!" Lina pouted but then quickly turned and hurried towards the entrance.
"This girl..." John mumbled while shaking his head. "Eh, whatever, let’s prepare to squash those undead."
Shinon was intrigued about what John meant until he noticed a massive activity on his map. It seemed all of the zombies inside were heading outside simultaneously.
It was weird because Zombies were not used to leaving their nest unattended like that. After all, Shinon had learned that while facing the Screamer-Bloater duo all those time ago.
As if on point, the zombie under Alex’s influence emerged from the room, followed by the horde of zombies. Shinon was about to act when John stopped him.
"This is Lina’s favourite part of the mission," he said. "Let her get the first hit."
Shinon was unsure about following John’s plan as the Zombies were heading straight towards Lina. But since John seemed confident, Shinon decided to proceed with his request.
They waited and waited when suddenly Alex woke up and proceeded to spill her guts out. With her consciousness back into her body, John gave Lina the signal, and Lina and Nix simultaneously went into action.
Just as the zombies were about to reach Lina, Nix slammed her fist into the ground with tremendous force, causing the earth to crack open, creating a massive fissure between the relentless undead and Lina.
"Watch this," Lina yelled while staring at Shinon as if she was trying to impress him like Alex and Nix had.
Lina took this opportunity and raised her fists in the air, and something extraordinary happened. It was as if the air around her embraced her fists, forming two colossal arms of swirling energy waiting to be used as Lina wished them to.
With newfound power, she brought down her fists on the trapped zombies inside the fissure and began throwing punches at them. Her attacks were relentless as the groans of the zombies slowly began to fade away. ƒree𝑤ebnσvel.com
Each punch connected with bone-crushing force, turning the fissure filled with zombies into a mixture of rotten flesh, blood and bones. But the expression on Lina’s face was even more unsettling than the piece of art she was creating.
It wasn’t the first time Shinon had seen someone enjoy killing the undead, but Lina’s flushed cheeks and horrifying smile took the thrill of annihilating the zombies to a whole another level. Shinon didn’t know if he was scared of her or worried about her well-being.
"Is she always like this?" Shinon asked Alex, his eyes still fixated on Lina.
"Most of the time," John replied. "I know it’s a bit weird, but Lina is obsessed with killing the undead, and if not for us, she often gets carried away. Which is one reason why the Phoenixes once wanted to throw her out of the settlement... well, Marcus did."
"That guy always has problems with individuals like us," Shinon scoffed, remembering how Marcus had exiled him from the settlement once.
"Indeed. Marcus has strict ideas about how we should handle the undead and the risks we should take." Alex nodded in agreement as she pushed herself back to her feet.
She continued, "But in the end, Phoenixes value every skilled fighter, including Lina. We just have to make sure she stays in line during missions."
Shinon nodded before looking at John, "So, that leaves us with your ability, captain. Care to demonstrate it?"
"Of course," John smiled before turning to Nix. "Stop Lina. She had had enough fun by now."
"Roger," Nix replied and slammed her palms together and in an instant, the fissure in the ground disappeared, along with the zombie remains.
Lina’s excitement came to an abrupt end as her fist met the now closed ground. She scowled at Nix, feeling disappointed that her fun had been cut short.
However, Nix simply raised her hands and nodded towards John, signalling she was merely following his orders.
John nodded as if backing Nix’s claim, and Lina could only pout and nothing else. Since Lina had just turned eighteen, she often acted like a brat, and this was one such instance.
"Let’s head inside now, shall we?" John smiled as he brought out a lighter. As soon as the lighter sparked, fire enveloped John’s arms. "Time to turn up the heat."
"Of course, he’s a pyromancer," Shinon sighed, remembering that Sable, too, was a pyromancer. "I guess pyromancy runs in the family."
