According to Zhang Yanhang’s own cleaning experience, even if the underground structure was really convoluted, it would take at most less than an hour to complete the clearing. The main reason was that there weren’t many zombies inside to begin with, and they were all the weakest ordinary zombies, with even Zombie Dogs being rare.
As for Lickers and such, they simply did not exist, and the total number of zombies inside was probably only around two hundred or so, pitifully few. It was for this reason that Zhang Yanhang was confident he could completely clear them out within an hour.
This meant that Zhang Yanhang would have at least six more hours to take out the Tracker, more than enough time by any measure.
He could even take a short rest after clearing the Umbrella company’s Raccoon City branch and then go on to battle the Tracker.
Zhang Yanhang had just entered the sewer when he encountered a limping mother zombie, her clothes covered in black mud and trash. Her facial skin was largely decayed, exposing dark red gums and a tongue that was only halfway intact—who knew where the other half of her tongue had gone.
Despite her ruined and wilted appearance, this limping mother zombie still had no sense of self-awareness and attempted to rush over for an "enthusiastic hug" with Zhang Yanhang.
Based on Zhang Yanhang’s past experiences with hunting zombies, once embraced by a shorter mother zombie, they would typically try to frantically kiss his chest.
Well, it might not really be a kiss, more like a bite.
But Zhang Yanhang’s body was covered in an Energy Shield, and since the mother zombie’s teeth couldn’t break through, they would slip when biting. This meant that when the mother zombie instinctively tried to bite at Zhang Yanhang’s chest, it was more like she was furiously rubbing her face and mouth against it.
How to put it—if the mother zombies in Raccoon City were even slightly prettier, this scene might actually look somewhat bizarrely clingy.
But because the mother zombies in Raccoon City were generally quite ugly, any notion of being clingy was just an illusion.
A Lady Zombie as beautiful as those Zhang Yanhang had only ever seen in slot machines, and that too, just once, was an SSR-ranked special zombie limited edition—uncertain if it was even possible to replicate.
Other mother zombies in Raccoon City typically showed clear zombie characteristics, such as gray-white skin, bulging blue veins, abnormally colored blood vessels, and randomly placed rotting wounds, as well as unbearable sanitary conditions.
If these traits were present in small quantities, the mother zombie’s looks might be slightly improved, but unfortunately, these traits were practically standard for mother zombies, with every one of them displaying the above features.
It was precisely because every mother zombie had all these features that they appeared quite disgusting and ugly.
Well, not every mother zombie could boast pale skin, after all, there were also black mother zombies in Raccoon City, whose skin remained dark even after becoming zombies.
But though their color didn’t fade, they weren’t any more attractive. Due to the intrinsic features of zombies, they still looked very ugly.
When the mother zombie took on that "little bird relying on others" posture, if Zhang Yanhang hadn’t stopped her in time, he himself wouldn’t have had much trouble, but the zombie would have ended up grinding its own facial skin and muscles into a bloody, indistinct mess.
Although he knew she couldn’t kill him, she still came over to gross him out forcibly. Fortunately, Zhang Yanhang, after hunting thousands of zombies, had become immune to such levels of mental pollution, or perhaps he had been rather unfazed by these matters right from the start.
Even when he killed his first monster, blasting out the Goblin Merchant’s brains didn’t elicit much of a reaction from him; he maintained a calm demeanour throughout, only showing a look of disgust when splashed with the Goblin Merchant’s foul-smelling blood.
And this was just the initial Zhang Yanhang, who had only just entered Ashen World. Now, having hunted thousands of zombies, a considerable number of which were killed by headshots, he wouldn’t react much.
Or rather, when faced with the zombies surrounding him, Zhang Yanhang often did just that, crushing their skulls with his hands as easily as popping balloons with his Strength.
[Successfully killed a First Tier Zero Star Miscellaneous Monster ’Teacher Zombie (Ordinary)’ ×1, Soul points +1.]
And that’s exactly what he was doing now. After casually crushing the skull of the mother zombie rubbing her jaw against his chest, Zhang Yanhang stood still for a few seconds, yet no Treasure box appeared.
"Back in the dreadful sewers again. Thankfully, I had already activated the olfactory shield. But this time, perhaps I should switch the Energy Shield to its visible state, like I did before."
While speaking, Zhang Yanhang activated the visual state of his Energy Shield and shifted it to its initial eggshell shape, which was the only form that allowed him to avoid being troubled by various forms of solid waste in the sewers. This update is available on novｅlfire.net
While activating the visible state, Zhang Yanhang also pulled out an M4A1 rifle from his Waist Bag. He really would like to replace it if he had the chance, unfortunately, there was no suitable substitute available.
After briefly scanning the surroundings with his Seeking Fortune and Avoiding Evil ability, Zhang Yanhang immediately started running quickly toward a fork in the road in the distance.
Previously, he had been advancing in reverse, first clearing the Core Area and Middle Layer of the sewers before starting on the Outer Zone.
This time, he adopted a normal progression, starting with the sewers in the Outer Zone. By the time he reached the part of the sewers he had already cleared, it would mean the entire sewer system had been cleaned.
The reason he headed toward that fork was that Zhang Yanhang had spotted three Gamma Type Hunters huddled together at the end of it.
This was a pleasant surprise to him; the Gamma Type Hunters he had encountered before were usually alone, each dominating a hunting territory. This was the first time he’d seen several Gamma Type Hunters together.