RIACMET chapter 134

 

Dogs are humanity’s most loyal companions. For soldiers, they are trusted partners in life and death.

The German shepherd before them did not leave its master even after the man became a zombie, incapable of proper communication.

In fact, it seemed as if the corpse and the dog had formed a new kind of unspoken understanding.

Cheng Jing raised and lowered his hand, calmly issuing instructions to the team:

“Liao Yu, freeze the zombie when there’s an opening. Don’t engage right away… and don’t harm the dog. Zhou Rongbin, try communicating with it. Everyone else, stay alert and act accordingly.”

Although military dogs usually only obey their original handler, they can understand basic commands.

The team had interacted with many retired military dogs before due to the nature of their work and had undergone basic training in how to handle them.

“Okay.”

“Got it.”

Zhou Rongbin and Liao Yu responded right away, and the others nodded in agreement.

A meeting like this was fate. If they couldn’t save the handler, they could at least bring the dog back. They couldn’t keep a panda, but they could try with a military dog.

“Woof, woof, woof!”

Soon, the German shepherd came bounding up to them. Worried the vines might lash out, Huang Qian was ready to control them in case the dog needed to be caught quickly.

Zhou Rongbin gauged the distance, then suddenly whistled.

Fwee—

The dog skidded slightly, then stopped. Its bright, intelligent eyes stared at them warily, and its body was tense and alert.

Cheng Jing signaled to everyone to relax.

Zhou Rongbin stepped forward, bent his knees slightly, and crouched in a friendly, nonthreatening posture.

The dog whimpered softly, circling them cautiously while sniffing. Clearly, it could distinguish between humans and zombies.

Every so often, the dog would scratch at the purifying circle on the ground with its paw, making a sound like a sneeze.

Although Jiang Nian hadn’t intentionally purified the earth when he used his power, the surrounding area was affected, and the residual smell must have been unpleasant to the dog.

Zhou Rongbin gave a few more basic commands. The dog perked up its ears, obviously understanding, but only barked twice and didn’t obey.

After circling them twice, it turned and ran back toward its zombie master.

“…”

“Tsk, the loyalty is too high.”

Zhou Rongbin shrugged helplessly.

“We can communicate, but not much.”

“It’s pretty good that it’s not attacking us. That’s one smart dog.”

Cheng Jing motioned for them to look ahead.

The German shepherd ran back and stopped in front of its zombie master, barking nonstop.

‘Woof! Woof! Woof!’

‘Woof…’

‘Raaaargh!’

Its master replied with an angry roar.

The dog and the corpse seemed to be arguing.

Jian Cheng blinked in disbelief.

“Wait… are they actually communicating?”

Zhou Rongbin nodded slightly.

“That’s animal instinct. It understands human speech, so maybe to it, its master just ‘changed the way he speaks.’”

“Brother Zhou is probably right…”

Liao Yu agreed, and everyone found the explanation surprisingly convincing.

But clearly, the conversation wasn’t going well. The zombie continued walking toward them without stopping.

Seeing this, the German shepherd leapt at its master, trying to block him.

Boom!

A second later, the dog was thrown aside with a yelp.

Just as everyone thought it was hurt, they saw it scramble back up and run again.

This time, it didn’t pounce, but kept barking from the side, giving the distinct impression that it was cursing out the zombie. And not just any cursing—this was top-tier.

Clearly, this kind of conflict had happened more than once.

“Do you think it’s protecting its master or us?”

Huang Qian wiped her eyes, caught between heartbreak and an odd urge to laugh.

Jiang Nian let out a sigh.

“Both. It probably knows that we’re not like its master and that we shouldn’t be fighting each other.”

Even though they couldn’t understand what it was saying, they could feel it. There was deep sorrow behind its loyalty—it cut to the heart.

As he spoke, a flash of blue fire appeared in the zombie’s hand.

“Damn! That’s a mutated fire type!”

Tang Yi blurted out.

Jiang Nian used his senses to detect the energy fluctuations and reported,

“That’s the same energy fluctuation I detected throughout the entire logistics park.”

Lu Ningzhou swallowed hard.

“No wonder it was cleaned up so thoroughly. Turns out, the guy actually had a mutated fire ability like Brother Jing.”

Blue fire is one of the hottest flames known.

Seeing the zombie conjure it made everyone worry instinctively for the dog, afraid that it might be killed in a single strike. But before they could act, they saw the dog sprint back toward them.

It barked and ran wildly, clearly warning them of the coming danger.

The military dog circled the group in a panic. Zhou Rongbin whistled and pulled the dog behind the team to calm it down.

‘Woof! Woof! Woof!’

When they didn’t move, however, the dog kept barking and even started tugging at their pants with its teeth.

Now they were the ones getting scolded.

Raaagh!

Roar!

The zombies didn’t use any ranged attacks; they just kept approaching step by step. The blue fire spread only through their fists, not their whole bodies. Apparently, close combat was necessary for it to be effective.

If the situation could be kept under control, it would be a good opportunity to observe another type of superpower—valuable data to use as a reference.

Lu Ningzhou and Zhao Lei took turns raising barriers to test their strength.

Bang!

Thud!

Boom!

Every time a blue-flame punch hit the wall, intense heat and energy vibrations were released. Huge holes were blasted through the defenses. Metal melted and cracked after just a few hits.

A punch like that wouldn’t leave anything behind—human or zombie.

The frontline zombie soldiers formed a wall of destruction with their punches. The German shepherd trailed behind Zhou Rongbin, still angrily “cursing,” while the others watched on high alert.

It was a strange scene—not thrilling, but vivid nonetheless.

Until Cheng Jing said,

“Go ahead, Liao Yu.”

Water and fire are naturally opposing elements. The same was true for mutated water and fire powers.

Although the zombie’s blue flame was powerful, its reach was limited to his fists, and it hadn’t reached the advanced level. So Liao Yu had no problem neutralizing it, especially with Jiang Nian’s support.

Since the apocalypse, they hadn’t encountered many challenging situations. Still, the team’s combat strength had always been solid.

However, Cheng Jing never let them become arrogant. Whenever they encountered new zombies or strange situations, they instinctively felt that their power might not be enough.

Perhaps that fear was a survival instinct of its own.

Boom!

“The last earth wall’s down,” Liao Yu murmured, and his ice ability exploded forth.

Crystals shot up from the ground and, with a series of crackling sounds, completely encased the attacking zombie in the blink of an eye.

The roar stopped abruptly. The blue flames struggled for a few seconds before extinguishing.

The threatening zombie was now a frozen statue, its face twisted in a fierce snarl.

The temperature around them dropped slightly.