Chapter 48: Choice

After the explosion, the transport team gradually slowed down—but they didn’t dare to stop.

There might still be armed mobs giving chase from behind.

At the same time, no one dared to advance much farther forward.

No one knew what terrifying things lay hidden in the unknown ahead.

Lin Yuanyao gasped. “What happened up there?”

Zhou Jianzhong gripped his weapon tightly. A flicker of something dark lit his cloudy eyes.

He spoke slowly. “It’s Corpse Hounds…”

Though many in the vehicle had suspected as much from the thick stench of decay, they had subconsciously rejected the possibility.

But now, hearing Zhou Jianzhong say it aloud—

It hit differently.

An emotion surged within the group—one they hadn’t felt in a long time.

Not even when facing armed mobs.

True, overwhelming fear.

Someone muttered in disbelief, “That’s impossible… where would Corpse Hounds even come from…?”

“No… it’s real…”

As soon as the high-temperature shockwave hit them, Hansen had already raised his binoculars, trying to get a clear view of what had happened ahead.

But the explosion had kicked up too much sand and smoke.

Only now, as the dust began to settle, could he finally see.

And what he saw froze him to the core.

It looked like hell.

His hands trembled uncontrollably. The binoculars shook.

Lin Yuanyao barked sharply, “What is it? Speak! What do you see?”

“The factory buildings up ahead are burning… and… and… terrifying Corpse Hounds are pouring out of them… an endless stream… hundreds… no, thousands—Captain, I… I’m sorry… I can’t count anymore…” Hansen’s voice shook with barely contained fear.

“How could it… be like this?”

Lin Yuanyao’s always-calm tone finally cracked.

She was still trying to restrain her emotions, but the upward lilt at the end of her sentence exposed the panic beneath.

Since becoming captain of the transport team, she had handled over a dozen accidents.

But never had she encountered such a coordinated, interlocking, and well-planned assault.

The pressure was unlike anything before—crushing and unprecedented.

But she couldn’t hesitate.

She had to decide. Now.

She drew a deep breath, clenched the walkie-talkie in her hand, and issued the order Luo Yan had advised earlier.

“All units, listen to my command. Turn around and retreat at full speed. Do not get caught by the Corpse Hounds.”

“Understood!”

The same response echoed across different comms channels. Not one person hesitated.

Next, Lin Yuanyao quickly adjusted the frequency of the vehicle-mounted communication device.

After switching to a special military band, she made contact.

“This is Transport Team 23 of the Neo Aonan Energy Group. Requesting emergency support.”

The reply came swiftly.

“Is this Captain Lin Yuanyao?”

Her heart lifted. “Yes, it’s me.”

“The Defense Department has detected an alarming concentration of abnormal signals in the wasteland. Troops have already been dispatched. Please hold your position. Can you report your current situation?”

“We suspect an armed terrorist organization has been raising stray Corpse Hounds on the wasteland. They were caged inside abandoned factory buildings on the northwest plains of the Aros mining area.

“They lured us near the site, then detonated pre-buried explosives at the entrance.

“Now, thousands of Corpse Hounds have escaped their cages and are charging toward the transport convoy, attracted by the Odegaard ore we’re carrying.

“That’s the full situation for Transport Team 23.”

“Understood. I’ll immediately relay this to the Defense Department. Is there anything else?”

“We’re transporting two hundred tons of raw ore and twenty-three outstanding employees. Please—send support as soon as possible. That’s all.”

“Copy that. Relaying now.”

After the communication ended, a heavy silence fell inside the armored vehicle.

In the quiet, everyone’s breathing sounded loud. Shaky. Unsteady.

Lin Yuanyao looked at the rearview mirror, then exhaled slowly.

Her voice was soft, filled with guilt.

“Consultant Luo… I should’ve trusted you from the start.”

Luo Yan shook her head.

“That’s not important. At that moment, no matter what you decided, it wouldn’t have changed much. Compared to dwelling on this, we have more important things to do now.”

…

The afterglow of the setting sun bled across the wasteland, bathing it in crimson light—awaiting the arrival of darkness.

From above, the retreating transport team looked like a few fragile boats adrift in a stormy sea, struggling to outpace the crashing tide of darkness behind them.

A tide made of monsters.

They looked like some grotesque hybrid between wolves and dogs, covered in brownish-black fur, eyes glowing red, and four fearsome fangs protruding from their twisted jaws.

They burst through the blaze—charging straight at the convoy.

Some of the Corpse Hounds had already been half-destroyed by the earlier explosion, yet they still dragged their mutilated, blood-soaked bodies forward, charging toward the vehicles with relentless, mindless fury.

What met them was gunfire.

Endless gunfire.

In the era of firearms, mutated beasts alone were not enough to shake the foundation of human civilization.

After all, they were still flesh and blood—still bound by biological limitations.

And against advanced weaponry, flesh and blood could be torn apart.

But that was only true—if the numbers were manageable.

When the mutated beasts arrived in thousands, overwhelming in scale…

Everything changed.

No matter how well-armed or well-trained they were, a transport team of just over twenty people could never stand against a wave of Corpse Hounds so vast it blurred into the horizon.

“Captain, we’re nearly surrounded!”

In less than fifteen minutes, Lin Yuanyao heard the one report she never wanted.

These monsters weren’t just terrifying—they were fast.

At the convoy’s current speed, not only could they not outrun them—the gap was shrinking.

The beast tide would catch them. It would surround them. And eventually, it would consume them.

Zhou Jianzhong broke the silence.

“Captain Lin,” he said calmly, “to gain something, you have to give something up. Based on our current situation—we have to make a choice.”

Lin Yuanyao’s heart sank. She already knew what he was about to suggest.

“You mean…”

Zhou Jianzhong looked her in the eye. “Abandon the transport vehicles. Abandon the two hundred tons of Odegaard ore. Only by letting go of the load can we push our speed to the limit—and earn even the slightest chance of survival.”

The moment he spoke, the atmosphere inside the vehicle shifted.

Some team members shot up from their seats, vehemently opposed.

Others nodded grimly, already bracing for the worst.

And some… just stared in silence.

Lin Yuanyao’s eyes flickered. Her hand clenched around the walkie-talkie.

She hesitated for a long moment.

Then finally, she opened her mouth, voice low and strained:

“Now, listen to my command—”

“Wait.”

It was Luo Yan.

She had been silent until now, listening, watching.

But her voice cut in like a blade.

“I don’t think… it’s time for that yet.”