Chapter Thirty-Nine: The Third Wave of the Undead Tide

After the four zombies rushed to the edge of the deep pit, one of them plunged in headfirst. Under Qin Fei's relentless barrage with the iron crossbow, and aided by the barricades within the pit, they perished quickly. When the obese zombie died, a strange sound emanated from its belly—then, with a thunderous boom, it exploded inside the pit.

Blood splattered everywhere.

The self-destruction of the fat zombie had a relatively limited range. It caused little harm to Qin Fei’s shelter, but the explosion and that of the second zombie caused the ground near the pit to collapse. The earth at the edge fell in, burying the bodies of the fat zombies and filling the pit completely.

A road now stretched across the pit.

Zombies truly lacked intelligence. When they reached the pit, they would mindlessly jump in. But with a road now formed, the situation changed.

Zombies, by nature, always attack survivors via the shortest route. So, as the next wave arrived, nearly all of them took the newly formed path over the pit.

The deep pit could no longer stop them.

When the zombies reached the base of the platform where Qin Fei stood, they began to recklessly assault the concrete pillars supporting it.

Qin Fei wanted to dig out the road over the pit, but it was far too late. Removing it with a shovel would take several minutes, and he’d have to ensure no zombies interfered during that time.

Under the blood moon, this was utterly unrealistic.

The battlefront shifted from the pit to beneath the platform.

Although Qin Fei had also set up many barricades below the platform, their effectiveness paled in comparison to those within the pit.

Once the zombies surged beneath the platform, their main focus became the concrete pillars; most gathered around them.

Thus, only the barricades near the pillars had any real effect.

When the zombies, by sheer numbers, wore down these barricades, Qin Fei’s defenses were virtually gone.

With the barricades destroyed, more and more zombies amassed below.

Qin Fei ignited an iron pipe bomb and hurled it into the horde below.

Iron pipe bombs were different from C4 or blasting caps—they were fragmentation bombs.

Their power lay in the iron pipes shattered by the explosive. When the gunpowder inside detonated, iron fragments flew outward, instantly piercing the surrounding zombies.

It was the shrapnel, scattered in all directions, that caused the real damage.

The shockwave from the explosion wasn’t particularly strong.

So, while the pipe bomb was highly effective against the zombies, it did little harm to the structure.

Zombies struck by the iron fragments fell to the ground. Those hit in the head died instantly. Others wounded in the legs could no longer run; those struck in the arms could not attack.

Zombies rendered powerless posed no threat. Qin Fei crouched on the platform, picking them off one by one with his iron crossbow.

[Your experience has reached the requirements for leveling up. Your level has increased!]

[Skill acquired: Advanced Engineer – Beginner!]

[Advanced Engineer: You are now an electrician. You have learned to build generators, electric fences, and blade trap systems—advanced base defenses.]

A new skill?

Seeing the system’s prompt, Qin Fei was overjoyed.

In an instant, countless bits of knowledge about electrical engineering flooded his mind.

Constantly slaying zombies had elevated Qin Fei’s level.

In the game Seven Days to Die, as the player’s level rises, their character gains new abilities.

Of course, crafting such complex electrical devices required vast amounts of materials.

So, for now, Qin Fei’s new skill was temporarily useless.

Alongside his level-up, Qin Fei’s pipe bombs were entirely depleted by the zombie onslaught.

A heavy thud echoed from beneath the platform—the sound of stone breaking.

What?

Qin Fei felt a surge of dread...

Did the zombies collapse a support pillar?

It was four o’clock in the morning. The blood moon would last another two hours.

But at this rate, with the zombies’ relentless attacks, his shelter would not hold much longer.

He couldn’t remain on the platform any longer...

It wasn’t especially high—just over three meters.

Qin Fei jumped down, crossed the pit in two strides, and reached the outer perimeter of the shelter.

The zombies, frenziedly attacking the base, immediately shifted direction and chased after Qin Fei when he landed.

Since the shelter could no longer withstand the onslaught, Qin Fei had to use himself as bait to lure the zombies away.

Zombies had no intelligence, and wouldn’t split up to flank him.

So Qin Fei led the zombies in circles around the pit he’d dug himself.

After about ten minutes of this, a zombie dog suddenly burst out of the darkness, snarling.

Tonight’s horde included zombie dogs!

Qin Fei shuddered at the sight.

In a flash, he donned a foul-smelling suit of iron armor. The zombie dog lunged at him, biting down viciously on his leg armor.

Damn!

The timing of these zombie dogs was uncanny... exactly what he feared.

Their terror lay in the deadly virus they carried. In truth, their decayed bodies meant their bite was weaker than a normal dog’s.

The zombie dog’s jaws clamped onto the scrap iron leg armor, doing little harm to Qin Fei.

He pulled a metal baseball bat from his pack and swung it hard at the dog’s head.

The zombie dog howled in agony and collapsed.

It seemed merely stunned, not dead.

With the other zombies closing in fast, Qin Fei had no time to finish it off. He leaped over the pit and climbed back onto the platform.

Once safe, Qin Fei grabbed his iron crossbow and shot the zombie dog below. Then he jumped down again, leading the zombies in circles around the pit...

In this way, as Qin Fei repeatedly stalled for time, dawn finally arrived at six o’clock.

At six sharp, the zombies abruptly slowed from running to walking.

Daytime zombies posed no threat to Qin Fei. He took out his metal bat and swiftly finished off every last one.

After that night’s horde, and the zombie dog’s attack, Qin Fei’s homemade leg armor was completely ruined.

His legs, too, bore several fresh bite wounds.

Yet fortune favored him—he had not been infected by the zombie virus.

He poured disinfectant from his supplies onto the wounds, bandaged them lightly, and left it at that.

Two of the six concrete pillars supporting his shelter had been destroyed by the zombies.

The remaining four now stood precariously.

Qin Fei reckoned that if his shelter suffered another attack, the entire wooden platform might collapse.