With the tank full, Yang Bin and the others drove off without looking back.
Nothing left here worth taking. No more wool to shear.
As for the remaining people, Yang Bin couldn't be bothered. Whether they survived or not was their own problem now.
The car crawled along the highway. Still no zombies in sight, though plenty of abandoned vehicles littered the road. Yang Bin resumed his routine of clearing cars out of the way.
Two hours later, they arrived at the mouth of a tunnel.
Nearly ten kilometers long.
Just as the car was about to enter, Yang Bin activated his True Vision Eye out of habit and glanced inside. His brow furrowed instantly.
"Stop!"
The car screeched to a halt.
"Everyone out. Prepare for combat. Yifei, back the car up-far. Keep it out of the crossfire."
"Got it."
Everyone piled out and gathered beside Yang Bin. They were about to ask what was wrong when they saw it-a massive black tide of zombies surging toward them from the tunnel's depths.
"That many!?" Chen Hao's eyes went wide.
"No wonder we haven't seen a single zombie on the road. They've all congregated in here."
"Yeah." Yang Bin's voice was steady. "Fall back. We fight outside the tunnel. This is the only route through-we want to pass, we clear every last one of them."
"Right."
They retreated several dozen meters. Moments later, the first wave of zombies burst from the tunnel mouth and threw themselves forward.
The battle erupted instantly.
Most were Third and Tier 4, with a handful of Tier 5 scattered among them. A lot of bodies, but not much of a threat.
This kind of fight was routine by now.
Yaoguang-realm strength plus their abilities meant the zombies couldn't even get close.
Yang Bin, Zhong Yuansen, Zhao Kun, and Chen Hao held the outer perimeter.
Old Hei, Hu Wenliang, Skinny Monkey, and Fang Sijie worked the inner ring with ranged attacks, picking off zombies in methodical rhythm.
Little Orange weaved through the horde like a blur, ambushing anything below its order. One swipe of its claws and a neck snapped clean.
Lin Yifei finished backing the car several hundred meters away, then jogged over to join them.
The Star Fall Squad's roster was complete.
Tanks. DPS. Control. Healing. Cleanup.
Even ten thousand zombies couldn't break this formation.
The undead swarmed in waves. The squad held a tight circle, unmoved-a rock in a hurricane.
Ten-plus minutes into the fight, Little Orange suddenly bolted out of the zombie mass and darted behind Yang Bin. Its back arched high, every strand of fur bristling upright.
Yang Bin's eyes narrowed.
He'd never seen Little Orange like this before. But he knew exactly what it meant.
Fear.
What the hell could scare Little Orange this badly?
Puzzled, Yang Bin activated his True Vision Eye and swept the tunnel interior again. Nothing unusual.
He shifted his gaze upward-to the mountain above the tunnel.
He scanned the ridgeline. Then, in a patch of tall grass, he found them.
A pair of bloodthirsty eyes staring back.
A chill shot through his chest.
His vision pierced the undergrowth, revealing the owner of those eyes, and his heart sank like a stone.
No wonder Little Orange was terrified.
A South China tiger. Enormous. Its sheer mass radiated oppressive force even at this distance.
And its strength-
"Tier 7!"
Tigers were apex predators before the apocalypse. After mutation, their power was beyond imagination. A Tier-7 mutant tiger? That was a nightmare given flesh.
"Brother Bin, what'd you see?"
Chen Hao caught the shift in Yang Bin's expression immediately.
"We've got a problem." Yang Bin's voice dropped low.
"Everyone-heads up. There's a Tier-7 Mutant Tiger on the mountain above us."
"Tier-7 Mutant Tiger!?"
Shock rippled through the group.
"A mutant tiger-and Tier 7? How strong is that thing?" Old Hei swallowed hard.
"I don't know. What I do know is that if I fought it alone, it'd tear me apart." Yang Bin's tone left no room for doubt.
"......"
Silence.
If even the boss said that, there was nothing else to discuss. The thing was an absolute monster.
"Mrow..."
Little Orange let out a thin, trembling cry-a warning. This thing is strong.
Yang Bin looked at its still-arched body and patted its head gently.
"Go back to the car."
Little Orange was in no state to fight.
"Mrow..."
It mewed once, then bolted toward the rear, disappearing into the vehicle.
"Boss, what do we do? Pull back?" Zhao Kun kept his voice low.
"Can't." Yang Bin shook his head. "A tiger's speed isn't something we can outrun."
"Our only shot is to stay together. Nine of us, combined-maybe we can take it."
"But first, we need these zombies gone."
"Good news is, that thing isn't working with the horde. From the way it's sitting up there, it's waiting for us to wear each other down. Wants to swoop in and collect the scraps."
"Holy shit-that sneaky?"
"Makes sense." Fang Sijie's voice was calm. "A Tier-7 Mutant Tiger's intelligence is probably on par with a human's."
"Exactly." Yang Bin's gaze swept the group. "Don't tip it off. Keep killing zombies. Use your abilities sparingly-conserve as much energy as you can."
"Got it."
The battle continued.
With the squad's raw combat power, zombies dropped fast. But high-intensity fighting burned through stamina just as quickly.
Yang Bin's frown deepened.
If it were just the zombies, fine. Even a few thousand more-they could grit their teeth and push through.
But that massive threat lurking on the mountainside changed everything. Burning too much stamina here was a death sentence.
The problem was, zombies kept pouring out of the tunnel. He had no idea how many were still inside.
If these were the weak First or Tier 2 trash from before, they could've just dammed the tunnel entrance with corpses.
But Tier 3 minimum, with plenty of Tier 5 mixed in-these zombies were smart enough to clear obstacles. The old trick wouldn't work.
"Brother Bin, this isn't sustainable. Why don't we just run? These zombies can't keep up with us. If the tiger chases, we deal with it together-one target instead of a thousand." Chen Hao's suggestion was practical.
Yang Bin shook his head.
"No good. That tiger is fast-guaranteed. We won't make it far before it cuts us off. If we can't put it down quickly, we'll be sandwiched. Tiger in front, horde behind. That's a death trap."
"Right now, it's content to watch. We only have to handle zombies. The danger's manageable."
"But isn't this just boiling the frog? Once our stamina's gone, we're sitting ducks."
"Exactly. So we rotate. Keep a few people fresh and rested-specifically to deal with that tiger when it makes its move."