IABI -Chapter 112 Humanity’s Counterattack (13)

The masterpieces of these cocoons were not the giant spiders Chi Xin had previously guessed.

The thing crawling toward Chi Xin moved exactly like a spider, yet it had a human—no, a zombie’s—face.

The flesh on its face had already rotted away and fallen off. One of its eyeballs was barely hanging in the socket, held only by sticky mucus. From its body extended eight limbs—four on each side.

It clung to the web it had spun itself, crawling toward Chi Xin. The eye that was about to fall out twitched, while the other stared at her with vicious malice.

Since it had already been discovered, it no longer bothered being cautious. A hissing sound came from its throat, and it opened its mouth, spraying a mass of sticky fluid straight at Chi Xin!

Chi Xin grabbed a tree branch with one hand. She tilted her head back and let herself fall downward. Amid the startled cries from below, she not only didn’t fall, but used the branch to spin once, then leaped back up violently from beneath!

At the same time, she raised her long blade and chopped fiercely toward the monster’s head!

Gulu gulu.

Her movements were extremely light and fast. Before the monster could even react, its head had already been severed, tumbling down through layers of branches and falling to the ground.

The soldiers below revealed looks of awe.

“Chi Xin, are you okay?!”

Xiao Li’s voice came from below. Chi Xin half-kneeled on the sticky web, raised her hand to check herself, then gagged in disgust.

“Other than feeling gross, I’m fine.” She shouted down, then seized the time to cut down several more cocoons.

Bang, bang, thud—sounds rang out continuously as the people below held their breath and, at top speed, freed all those who had been rescued.

“They’re still alive!”

“This one’s alive too!”

“This person’s still breathing!”

Xiao Li frowned. After a few seconds, as if he had made up his mind, a flash of resolve passed through his eyes. He lifted his head and shouted loudly, “Chi Xin, that’s enough. Let’s go back.”

Chi Xin leaned her back against the tree trunk, stepped onto a branch on the other side, spun lightly, and slashed with her blade. “There are still many people here.”

“I know, but—” Xiao Li gritted his teeth. “Judging by the scale of these webs, there must be more than one monster. We’ve already alerted them. We should leave immediately!”

Chi Xin’s movements slowed. She looked out across the forest—there were still many people hanging upside down, wrapped in webs. No one knew whether they were still alive.

Should she gamble?

Chi Xin tightened her grip on the blade.

At that moment, a delighted shout came from below: “They woke up!”

Chi Xin looked down and saw that the group they had rescued earlier, after being freed from the spider silk, were actually waking up one after another. They sat on the ground, expressions dazed and weak.

Chi Xin paused briefly, then resolute determination appeared on her face. She continued moving to another branch, swung her blade horizontally, and a whole row of cocoons fell down in succession.

The people who had just woken up saw her dashing figure the moment they opened their eyes. They froze in place, thinking they were still dreaming.

“Xiao Li, take the wounded and retreat first.” Chi Xin spoke while cutting, seizing moments to talk to Xiao Li. Her voice wasn’t loud, yet it rang clearly in everyone’s ears. “I can’t abandon them. Even if only one person can survive, I’ll save that person.”

Xiao Li craned his neck, gazing at Chi Xin’s figure for a long time.

“You… are Major General Xiao from Base A, right?”

A weak greeting reached his ears. Xiao Li turned his head and saw a man being supported by a soldier walking toward him. Though there were dark circles under his eyes, his spirit seemed relatively clear.

“You know me?” Xiao Li asked.

“I’m the person in charge of Base H. My name is Qiu Zhu.” The man extended a still-trembling hand. “Major General Xiao’s name has long been known in our base.”

Xiao Li quickly shook his hand. “Hello. Are all these people trapped here yours?”

“Yes. We encountered those monsters on the way.” Terror that couldn’t be concealed surfaced in Qiu Zhu’s eyes. “We have wind-type ability users among us. Normally, they can sense even the slightest disturbance. But when those things approached, there was absolutely no warning. Otherwise, it wouldn’t have come to this…”

He trailed off, then looked up. Chi Xin’s leaping figure was clearly reflected in his pupils.

Although Chi Xin was positioned high up, her hearing far exceeded that of ordinary people, and the conversation below reached her ears as well.

After hearing Qiu Zhu’s words, she began to piece things together.

So Qiu Zhu’s group had been walking ahead, drawing the monsters’ attention. With enough food stored, the creatures hadn’t bothered with Fan Fu and the others who were lagging behind.

Fan Fu was truly lucky.

Qiu Zhu lowered his head and looked at Xiao Li. “That is… Miss Chi Xin?”

Xiao Li nodded silently. Apart from the initial polite exchange, his gaze never left Chi Xin. “Mr. Qiu, you can now take your awakened subordinates and leave this place with my people.”

“What about you?” Qiu Zhu asked instinctively.

“She wants to save everyone, and I believe she can do it.” Xiao Li turned to him, his eyes holding an unquestionable firmness, along with a trace of fearless gentleness. “Too many people here would only distract her.”

Qiu Zhu opened his mouth, then looked up at Chi Xin again. “I admit Miss Chi’s combat power is the strongest I’ve ever seen, but this place…” He gave a bitter smile. “I also want to save my people, but given the current situation, retreating in time is the best option. Call Miss Chi down. You’ve already done your best.”

Xiao Li didn’t move an inch. A faint smile appeared on his face. “She won’t agree.”

Indeed, Chi Xin wouldn’t agree. She proved it with her actions—she could do more.

One cocoon after another was cut down. More and more people regained consciousness. Soldiers who now had their hands free didn’t just stand by—they raised their guns and rescued as many people as possible.

“They really will come very soon.” Qiu Zhu’s already pale face turned even whiter. “Those things… they move without a sound and are extremely sinister. By the time you can see them, it’s already too late!”

As Qiu Zhu spoke, Chi Xin happened to leap onto another web. Just as she was about to swing her blade, a shudder spread through her entire body in an instant. Years of combat experience made her immediately realize danger was approaching. Her first reaction was to shout down below:

“Leave! Now!”

At the same time, a monster’s hand suddenly thrust out from the dense web, lunging straight for Chi Xin’s face!

Chi Xin raised her blade in front of her body. The blow slammed heavily into the blade.

Even with the blade absorbing part of the force, Chi Xin was still struck by the tremendous impact. As she was about to be knocked out of the web’s range and fall, she reacted instantly, grabbing a branch. Her body swung in a huge arc, then she violently flung herself back onto the monster!

She landed right on the monster’s neck. Twisting her wrist, blade tip downward, she thrust hard—the long blade viciously stabbed into the back of the monster’s head.

She then flipped lightly, leaped off the falling corpse, and turned to meet another monster head-on.

Xiao Li was right. There was indeed more than one monster here.

A massive rustling sound rose as monsters came from all directions, completely surrounding the prey that dared to escape.

Aside from Xiao Li’s people, most of those from Base H were physically weak and unarmed. The terror of being attacked surged instantly. Encircled in the middle, despair showed clearly on their faces.

At that moment—

Clatter, crash!

A rain of falling objects—a large pile of guns and weapons—dropped from above, nearly knocking them senseless.

Chi Xin shook her spatial storage again, and another large batch of guns fell down.

“Pick up your weapons!” Chi Xin shouted. “You’ve already escaped—do you really want to go back to those disgusting spider webs again?!”

Those people stared at her in a daze as she decisively finished off another monster with a single strike. Brilliant light erupted in their eyes.

“That’s right! We’ve already escaped death once—are we afraid of a second time?!”

“Kill them—!”

Their will to survive successfully ignited. Chi Xin’s expression turned grave. After realizing that the long blade actually hindered her when dealing with these spider zombies, she decisively put it away and switched to the twin curved blades she had used before.

They seemed to be forged from a metal like silver—smooth and cool to the touch, their sheen more concentrated and dazzling than that of the long blade.

With the right weapon in hand, Chi Xin was like a tiger with wings. She leaped up on the spot, landed on the back of a spider zombie, killed it with one thrust, then swung back with a horizontal slash, sending the second lunging monster to its death as well.

Countless spider zombies rushed to surround her. She danced and leaped among them, beautiful yet lethally dangerous—the only bright light in the forest.

Everyone who witnessed this scene felt a raging fire of hope ignite in their hearts. No matter how many spider zombies closed in, as long as that bright light above continued to flicker, they could summon endless courage.

Under Xiao Li’s direction, the people below took up their positions. Even the spider zombies couldn’t break through their formation for the moment. Chi Xin fought freely above, while doing her best to cut down the remaining cocoons.

In the midst of battle, the spiders had no time to worry about their stored food.

These creatures, like spiders, were numerous—seemingly endless. When Chi Xin saw that most of the cocoons had been rescued, she planned to find a way to send the others out and then slip away herself.

“I told you they were here, didn’t I? Charge—!”

“Enough nonsense—even if you guessed right once!”

“Miss Chi, we’re here!”

Chi Xin froze for a split second, then lowered her head in disbelief.

It wasn’t an auditory hallucination after all. Yu Xiang was the first to charge out, followed closely by Han Zimo, who revealed the curved hook on his right hand, and then Zheng Junzhi’s squad behind them.

“I say, Sister Chi, you’re doing something this thrilling without calling us—don’t you think that’s a bit unfair?” Yu Xiang’s familiar, grinning voice rang out.

“Master, how can you go out to save people without bringing your disciple?”

“Miss Chi, I have to make sure you’re safe before Boss Rong gets here!”

A jumble of voices came at once. Chi Xin pressed her lips together, her eyes inexplicably warming.

“A bunch of idiots,” she muttered, answering those greetings with even fiercer slaughter.

“Don’t get bogged down in a fight—rescue comes first!” Chi Xin ordered. “Anyone who can move, carry those who can’t. Find a way out first. I’ll follow shortly!”

With Yu Xiang and the others joining in, the pressure below eased sharply. After all, the people under Qiu Zhu had only just woken up and were still suffering from poison debuffs; even with weapons in hand, they couldn’t unleash their best combat power.

“Roger that,” Yu Xiang replied, shooting frantic looks at Xiao Li. “Hurry up and pull back, Deputy Commander. Relax—Sister Chi said she’ll be right behind us, and she always means it!”

“Understood.” Xiao Li gave a hand signal. “Prepare to withdraw—”

Just as Chi Xin thought it was all about to end, a powerful sense of danger surged up again. Her pupils constricted as she looked at the crowd gathering toward the center below. She didn’t even have time to care about the spider zombies attacking her—her body tilted and she fell straight down.

Several soldiers who saw her drop shouted in alarm.

Midair, Chi Xin adjusted her posture. A height of over ten meters posed no threat to her. She landed steadily on one knee in front of everyone.

She immediately sprang up, twin blades guarding her body, eyes sharp as she stared into the woods.

At the same time, all the scattered spider zombies around them stopped attacking. They ringed the area, as if waiting for something to descend.

The eerie atmosphere made everyone exchange glances and fall silent.

“Fall back,” Chi Xin said quietly.

No one ignored her warning. Everyone retreated together.

Chi Xin took a deep breath.

Being passively beaten had never been her style. If the enemy refused to come out, then she would force it out.

Under the many stunned gazes behind her, Chi Xin flung the curved blade in her right hand toward that direction.

Accompanied by a shrill cry of pain, the underbrush rustled. A monster far larger than any other spider zombie burst out in a frenzy—its body seemingly covered in metallic exoskeleton—and charged straight toward the densest group of people!

Many there still had no mobility. If it reached them, the casualties would be catastrophic.

Bullets struck the monster’s body in an unbroken stream, but the damage they left was pitifully small. Instead, they only heightened its rage. Its eight limbs moved rapidly as it barreled forward, about to crush everything in its path!

At that moment, someone stepped out from the crowd—advancing instead of retreating—to face the terrifying monster head-on.

It was Chi Xin.

Before everyone’s eyes, she leapt high, grabbed the curved blade she had embedded earlier, used it to flip herself up, and landed on the creature’s back.

With both blades in hand, she quickly scanned its rapidly moving eight limbs. Locking onto the joint of the foremost limb, she slashed down!

“Hiss—”

As the monster shrieked, Chi Xin moved with lightning speed and severed the second limb as well.

Losing two limbs on the same side shattered the monster’s balance. Chi Xin felt her footing tilt and rolled off its back.

“Attack the severed joints!” Xiao Li’s order followed immediately.

T he crackling gunfire wove into a storm of battle. Chi Xin blocked the giant spider zombie, then flicked a glance around. She pulled out a grenade, yanked the pin out with her teeth.

“Get down—”

“Boom—!”

The earth shook.

The weakest point of the spider zombies’ encirclement was blown into a massive crater—along with a gaping breach.

“Move!”

This time Xiao Li didn’t hesitate. He decisively organized the remaining people, regrouped them, and, carrying the wounded, charged through the opening.

Chi Xin stepped forward, blocking the giant spider zombie that tried to follow. She sneered. “Your opponent is right here. Where do you think you’re going?”

In the giant spider zombie’s hollow eyes, a trace of fear surfaced.

“Come on!”

By the time Xiao Li and the others drove back, brutally crushing everything in their path, Chi Xin was tying the already-dead giant spider zombie to a tree branch with a steel cable.

The surrounding spider zombies didn’t scatter and flee; instead, they trembled as they gathered nearby, not daring to protest anything Chi Xin was doing.

The people who had rushed in ready to fight to the death fell silent.

They lowered their guns, watching Chi Xin bind the giant zombie’s corpse and hang it upside down from the branch—just like it had done to other humans before.

“You’re here?” Chi Xin glanced down.

“Let’s go, Sister Chi. Don’t tell me you’re planning to hang all of them up,” Yu Xiang said, his voice brimming with helplessness.

And for some reason—illusion or not—after he said that, the other spider zombies actually retreated half a step.

…Was that half-step back for real?

The people of H Base stared at the spider zombies that had nearly buried them all here, speechless.

“No way. Waste of steel cable.”

Chi Xin smiled. When a vehicle pulled up below, she jumped straight down, landing in the truck bed.

“Let’s go. With this thing’s corpse here, nothing else should be moving into this forest anytime soon.”

Under the gazes of reverence bordering on worship, Chi Xin said calmly.

Their drive was quick. With everyone they had rescued, they returned to the walls of A Base. From the watchtower, they saw all the on-duty soldiers had gathered at the open gate, cheering them enthusiastically.

“Testing first, then we go in,” Xiao Li said.

No one objected. Everyone obediently accepted the detector scan to their foreheads. Then, with Chi Xin’s advance notice, Jiang Congyun arrived with a team of medical staff.

“You didn’t tell me a single thing—not a single thing!” Jiang Congyun muttered angrily while treating Qiu Zhu. “Am I that much of a burden? Fine if Chi Xin went out alone, but Yu Xiang didn’t even call me!”

…She was really furious.

Chi Xin shrank her neck and turned to hide behind Yu Xiang.

Yu Xiang swallowed, his emotions seesawing wildly between “The goddess Chi is relying on me!” and “I’m doomed—how do I explain this to an angry girl?”

“Well, um…” Yu Xiang forced a smile and went up to Jiang Congyun—only for her to turn around and present him with the back of her head.

Yu Xiang: …

Facing his pitiful look, Chi Xin scratched her cheek and had no choice but to step forward herself.

Looking at the girl’s icy profile, Chi Xin hesitated before speaking. “Ahem… Yun-Yun…”

The holy white light in Jiang Congyun’s hands abruptly halted. “What did you call me?”

“Yun-Yun.” Once the first time was out, the rest came easily. Chi Xin smiled apologetically. “It was just that the mission was too urgent. I didn’t plan to call anyone at all. Don’t be mad, okay?”

Yu Xiang watched Jiang Congyun’s expression visibly brighten—from stormy to sunny, practically blooming.

“Mm.” Jiang Congyun responded sweetly, all anger gone. “Call me that from now on, and I won’t be mad.”

Chi Xin blinked, puffed her cheeks, and nodded.

In a very good mood, Jiang Congyun finished treating this one and moved on to the next poisoned patient, her back practically radiating joy.

“What kind of nonsense is this…” Yu Xiang muttered. “If I call her Yun-Yun, will she forgive me too?”

Chi Xin: “You can try.”

“Pfft.”

Both of them turned at the same time to see Qiu Zhu—already healed—sitting on the ground, looking amused.

“I never thought that the famous female war god of the apocalypse would be like this in private.”

Famous?

Chi Xin figured he was flattering her and replied modestly, “Not at all, not at all. You’re too kind.”

Qiu Zhu kept his gaze fixed on her. There was a trace of fanatic light in his eyes, though his smile was gentle and refined—it was hard to tell what he was thinking.

Just as the atmosphere awkwardly stalled, Xiao Li strode over, breaking the tension. “Yu Chengji and the others should be waiting for us.”

At the mention of business, Chi Xin immediately returned to normal. She said to Qiu Zhu, “Commander Qiu, I know you need rest right now, but there are some matters that can’t be delayed…”

“I understand,” Qiu Zhu replied. “I’ll go with you. As for my people, I’ll trouble you to look after them.”

“Not a problem,” Chi Xin said. “Yu Xiang, stay here and take care of the wounded. After Congyun’s done, take them to the prepared rooms to rest.”

“Don’t worry,” Yu Xiang nodded.

Chi Xin, Xiao Li, and Qiu Zhu took a separate vehicle and soon arrived at the administrative building.

It was nearly dawn of the next day, yet the entire building was brightly lit, clearly having stayed awake all night.

After getting out of the car, Qiu Zhu looked up at the building. “A Base truly deserves its reputation as the largest survivor base in the world. Even at a time like this, it still has such an impressive administrative center.”

Chi Xin and Xiao Li said nothing. Xiao Li gestured politely, letting the guest go first.

In the conference room, Yu Shizhao and the others were indeed still waiting. When they saw them return, delight spread across their faces.

“So it’s Commander Qiu.” Yu Shizhao strode forward and clasped Qiu Zhu’s hand tightly. “You’ve had a hard journey.”

Qiu Zhu shook his head and looked at Chi Xin. “If not for Miss Chi, I doubt I’d be standing here at all.”

When the matter of spider zombies hunting in the nearby woods was revealed, Mr. Yu showed a trace of guilt. “We really didn’t have the energy to clear the surroundings recently, and that put you in danger. Truly—”

“You’re too kind, Mr. Yu. This isn’t your fault,” Qiu Zhu said. “If not for you holding back the zombie king with everything you had, we would have been wiped out one by one. Given the circumstances, this outcome is already the best we could have hoped for.”

“Were you also persuaded by Boss Rong?” Fan Fu asked. “That man is impressive. I remember H Base is quite far from here—he got there fast.”

“Boss Rong?” Qiu Zhu looked puzzled. “That Boss Rong from Houyi? What was he persuading people about? I haven’t seen him.”

As soon as he said that, everyone else looked at him in surprise.

“He didn’t persuade you?” Fan Fu was stunned. “Then how did you… make the journey all this way?”

“Wasn’t there a call for assembly earlier?” Qiu Zhu looked at Chi Xin again. “Miss Chi said she’d be waiting at A Base, so we came.”

Chi Xin opened her mouth, disbelief written all over her face. “You… came because of me?”

“Yes.” Qiu Zhu nodded matter-of-factly. “The reputation of the female war god of the apocalypse is well known on our side. I’d wager that besides our H Base, many other base representatives are already heading this way.”

Chi Xin was still lost in astonishment, while the others all showed expressions of sudden understanding.

“H Base is located near the border,” Xiao Li said. “Because of the destruction of the ‘market,’ the survivors there are probably more familiar with Chi Xin’s name.”

“That’s not just familiar,” Qiu Zhu said, reverence flooding his face like a fervent believer finally meeting a true god. “Miss Chi’s name can be spoken even by toddlers just learning to talk. I always thought the rumors were exaggerated, but today I saw it with my own eyes. That unparalleled strength and elegance perfectly match the legends of the apocalypse war god. No—in fact, I think those legends actually diminish Miss Chi’s power. She deserves even higher praise!”

At the height of his excitement, Qiu Zhu slapped his palm against the hard tabletop.

Chi Xin subtly leaned back to avoid the unidentified liquid flying across.

…Who would have thought that the refined-looking Qiu Zhu, supposedly a rational type, was actually a rabid fanboy?

“Thank you for your affirmation,” Chi Xin said, her smile flawless. “I hope we can join forces and fight the final enemy together.”

She’d meant it as a polite remark, but Qiu Zhu immediately stood up and bowed deeply to her.

“I will follow Miss Chi to the end,” he said solemnly, like a knight swearing fealty to his queen.

Chi Xin… Chi Xin was about to lose control of her expression.

Fortunately, hurried knocking sounded at the door, saving her from further embarrassment.

“Come in,” Chi Xin called out, adding, “It should be something urgent.”

The door opened. A-Qing stood respectfully at the entrance—but the words he spoke were nothing short of earth-shattering.