At that moment, several survivors charged straight toward the distant zombies.
They were utterly fearless, their eyes burning with intense battle intent.
It was clear they had long-standing grievances with those two Tier 3 zombies. Right now, it was a clash of bitter enemies, eyes red with hatred.
Those two Tier 3 zombies were remarkably clever. Taking advantage of the base's main combat forces leaving to raid the supermarket, they had launched a surprise attack on the headquarters, aiming to pull the rug out from under them and wipe out their home base.
They hadn't expected Liu Yang to clean out the supermarket ahead of schedule and bring the survivors back early.
It was a stroke of pure coincidence, but it relieved the base's desperate crisis.
Even with their return, however, the base's combat power was hardly enough to contend with this horde.
Tier 3 zombies could go head-to-head with standard Tier 3 ability users.
Tier 2 ability users stood little chance against a Tier 3 zombie unless they were top-tier combatants ranked on the leaderboards.
To make matters worse, there were over a hundred Moulters.
Every single Moulter possessed strength equivalent to an ordinary Tier 2 ability user.
Ability users like Scarface Mouse and Old Wang, even at Tier 2, would likely be outmatched by a Moulter in a direct fight.
Even if someone managed to kill a Moulter, there was no guarantee they would escape unscathed.
A single scratch was all it took to contract the virus.
At that point, victory meant nothing more than mutual destruction.
Ability users were invaluable to human survival, whereas Moulters were a dime a dozen among the undead.
Even in a one-for-one trade, humanity suffered the heavier loss.
Because of this, Liu Yang remained skeptical of Xuantie Base's chances against the undead army.
This was his first time witnessing a true zombie tide, and he was curious to see how a horde conducted a full-scale siege against an ability user base.
This base was significantly stronger than his own Base No. 1 and Base No. 2.
Base No. 1 originally had a respectable number of ability users, but Black Tiger had been eliminated by Liu Yang, and the rest were wiped out by White Fox.
That left Base No. 1 severely crippled, with Scarface Mouse struggling alone as a single pillar holding up a falling roof.
Only recently, with the addition of Old Wang and Ma Feiyun, had things begun to stabilize.
Base No. 2 had fared even worse.
The Japanese imperial ability users led by Taozi had slaughtered their core combatants, leaving Lin Dong entirely on his own.
Forget surviving a zombie tide-Lin Dong wouldn't even be able to defend against a single invading Moulter.
Both bases had been crippled by circumstance, leaving them far behind a properly developed survivor base. Xuantie Base was the first fully intact, flourishing base Liu Yang had encountered.
Naturally, he wanted to see the final outcome.
Could a fully developed survivor base actually hold out against a massive zombie army?
Liu Yang bounded across several roofs, leaping high until he landed at the peak of a high-rise building. From his vantage point, he observed every detail of the unfolding battlefield.
The two Tier 3 zombies were cunning. They stayed far back from the front line, showing no intention of personally joining the fray for now.
The Moulters had the lowest intelligence, but they were by far the most violent.
Spearheading the assault, they lunged at the perimeter walls. The walls stood over ten meters high, yet the Moulters needed only three or four leaps to scale their way to the top.
On the ramparts, survivors swung their weapons furiously, trying to knock the Moulters off before they could gain a foothold.
Others hurled stones and heavy objects downward to break their momentum.
The scene closely resembled an ancient siege defense.
At the foot of the wall, countless ordinary zombies battered against the main entrance, attempting to ram through the massive steel gates.
Defenders on the other side held their ground, launching counterattacks through the gaps to keep the gates from buckling.
Taking in the scene, Liu Yang reached a grim conclusion.
"Inside a base protected by high walls, even ordinary survivors can contribute. They can handle regular zombies easily enough, and with a bit of luck, they might even take down a Tier 2 zombie."
"Against Moulters, though, ordinary humans are completely helpless. Moulters are pure muscle-their speed, strength, and durability far exceed Tier 2 zombies. Standard weapons can't even breach their hide."
Liu Yang watched as an ordinary survivor shot an arrow squarely into a Moulter's head.
The arrow lodged into the skull without penetrating the brain.
In response, the Moulter leaped over the ledge and flattened the man's chest with a single blow.
It then tore through the defenders like a monster unleashed, slaughtering over a dozen people before two Tier 2 ability users rushed in and killed it after a brutal struggle.
Liu Yang shook his head.
"Once a Moulter gets over the wall, it's a wolf among sheep. The base's only real hope is keeping them off those ten-meter walls. If the perimeter is breached, everyone inside is dead."
"And with only a dozen or so ability users in the entire base, they don't have enough manpower to hold off a hundred Moulters. Breach is only a matter of time."
Having assessed the battlefield, Liu Yang shook his head again.
Was evolutionary advantage always going to favor the zombies?
A army led by just two Tier 3 zombies was already enough to crush a fully developed survivor base.
If this trend continued, humanity's prospects were looking bleak...
...
On the other side of the battlefield.
The survivors defending the walls had been struggling under the relentless assault, despair etched across their faces.
Then, they spotted Lin Wan'er leading a team of survivors onto the field.
A spark of hope ignited in their eyes.
"Isn't that Sister Wan'er?!"
"It's Sister Wan'er and Third Brother! They're back!"
"The supermarket is ten kilometers away and crawling with zombies, including Tier 3s. How could they gather resources and return so fast? Did she get word of the siege and hurry back with reinforcements?"
"Who cares! Sister Wan'er is back-our chances just doubled!"
"Those bastards tried to hit us while our main force was away! They didn't count on Sister Wan'er returning early. Look at them now!"
"Sister Wan'er really foresees everything!"
"That's right! We're saved!"
Wu Jingying, the base's leader, brightened up as a surge of relief washed over her. She called out to her troops:
"Brothers and sisters! Wan'er and the team are back! We have a fighting chance now, so pull yourselves together! We kill every last one of these monsters!!!"
"If we fall, they'll slaughter our families! Our entire base will be wiped out!"
Reinvigorated by Wu Jingying's rally and the arrival of Lin Wan'er's team, the defenders roared in defiance.
"Kill them all!"
"Damn monsters, you're the ones surrounded now!!!"