"Spit it out already!" Qian Yu was teetering on the edge of an emotional explosion.

"That old bastard! What does he gain by getting us all killed?"

Qian Yu froze momentarily, clutching the walkie-talkie tightly. His first thought was that Tang Hai was employing a "drive tigers to devour wolves" strategy—triggering the air raid alarm to lure survivors to their deaths, leaving him to claim the abandoned equipment and supplies.

But as he thought more, Qian Yu realized: if everyone died outside, there'd be no need for Tang Hai to gather survivors at his shelter. He could simply wait for everyone to die in the fog and then scavenge at leisure. There'd be no escape from the fog anyway.

A more horrifying thought suddenly struck Qian Yu.

Click!

His body trembled, his eyes glazed over, and he shouted into the walkie-talkie, "St! That b**** wants to use us all as bait to distract the monsters so he can make a run for it!"

Everyone in the convoy froze, their hearts sinking.

Gathering all the survivors to draw the fog's creatures while he escaped—such a ruthless plan! The barricades and blockades at the entrance were just a ruse to force them to flee!

Though his words were harsh, Qian Yu was exceptionally cunning. He knew that fleeing further would only aid Tang Hai's escape plan. With nightfall and the thick fog, their survival odds were slim. But a counterattack might catch Tang Hai off guard, and the ensuing chaos could provide an opening to escape.

They wouldn't let Tang Hai and his people lure the monsters away for their benefit.

Screech! Screech!

At his command, all vehicles began turning at the crossroads. Chaos erupted among the other convoys following behind;
some scrambled to follow, while others scattered into the streets, adopting an "every man for himself" mentality.

Meanwhile, the zombie horde surged toward the town, leaving the outpost a blood-soaked slaughterhouse. Suddenly, a freight electric locomotive emerged from the fog, slowly pulling into the station. Its cars were loaded with supplies. As its doors opened, over a dozen armed gunmen disembarked, eliminating any remaining zombies with precision.

Bang! Bang-bang!

From another direction, several military jeeps arrived. Their occupants, evidently prepared, began clearing the battlefield. Tang Hai and Feng Yuming emerged via a small elevator from an underground facility, surveying the carnage with grim expressions.

"Grab anything useful, load the cars—hurry!" Tang Hai barked orders.

Freight cars with flatbed platforms, equipped with tow hooks for loading vehicles, were quickly mobilized. Tang Hai, a former stationmaster at Beiwang Station, orchestrated the operation with expertise, turning the chaos into a well-oiled process.

"Where are those two?" Feng Yuming asked.

"They're gone," replied one of the gunmen sweeping the air-raid bunker. "Boss, we cleared out the useless ones inside."

To sell his ruse, Tang Hai had intentionally stationed some of his team's elderly and women in the bunker to quell suspicions. Meanwhile, he and Feng Yuming had hidden in another underground depot, planning to ambush the survivors amidst the fog while discreetly escaping.

"They're gone? Maybe they fled with the others," Feng Yuming mused, eyeing the bunker's open door. "I'll check."

"Go!" Tang Hai nodded.

But just as they prepared for their grand escape, a roaring engine echoed from the distance. Tang Hai's face paled.

"No! Yuming! They're coming back!" he shouted. His men quickly raised their weapons.

A massive truck, its orange headlights cutting through the fog, burst into the outpost. Its windshield and plow were caked with zombie remains as it barreled through. Gunfire erupted from both sides.

"Leave none alive! Kill them all!" Qian Yu roared over the walkie-talkie.

"Yuming, watch out!" Tang Hai shouted, urging his men to return fire.

The scattered survivors also charged into the melee. Luo Ye and Luo Shasha maneuvered their pickup truck down the slope, dodging gunfire and zombies.

"They have a train!" Shasha exclaimed, pointing. Luo Ye swerved to avoid bullets, redirecting toward the yard. Zombies and corpse dogs attacked relentlessly, but Shasha activated a modified mechanism on their truck, extending spikes to clear the creatures off.

"Drive! I'll look for Kiki and the others!" she yelled.

The battlefield became utter chaos as both sides exchanged fire while hordes of zombies poured in. The Black Jiao Convoy's superior numbers soon overwhelmed Tang Hai's men. Feng Yuming fell under a hail of bullets.

"You thought you could fool me? I knew you were up to something!" Qian Yu snarled, stomping on Feng's chest before coldly executing him with a shot to the head.

Qian Yu turned to see Tang Hai loading vehicles onto the train, understanding his intent immediately.

"Trying to escape?! Not happening! Eagle, take him out!" he ordered.

As Qian Yu prepared to pursue, a chilling sound froze him. He turned to see Eagle impaled by a black claw, blood bubbling from his mouth. Behind Eagle stood a grotesque figure—Feng Yuming, now part-insect, grinning wickedly.

"You?!"

Feng, presumed dead, was an Ability User. His claw deflected bullets effortlessly.

"Kill him!" Qian Yu shouted, but his men were betrayed by one of the convoy leaders, who gunned down Qian Yu.

The remaining convoy members fell quickly under the combined assault of Feng Yuming and their supposed allies. The traitorous leader divided the spoils, but with the ever-present threat of the zombie horde, he knew survival was slim. Still, he gambled on the deal he'd made with Feng.

And the fog consumed the night.