Meishan Town’s two overlords—the slain berserker and the wild boar horde led by a boar king—had been in a stalemate until the zombies’ fall tempted the boars’ greed. They want the crystals and our blood, Chen Liu thought, eyeing the 500-strong horde from a local pig farm, now mutated and hierarchically organized under the boar king and ten sows.[^1] “Don’t worry, we have a plan,” Zhao Tinglong said confidently, his soldiers unfazed despite the boars’ menace. What’s he got up his sleeve? Chen Liu wondered, Zhong Shan muttering about the boars’ threat. “Fall back to the second floor,” Zhao ordered. He’s got a strategy, Chen Liu thought, trusting Zhao’s decisiveness and leading Jinghu Squad upstairs. Uuungh~~~ The boar king’s roar unleashed the horde, shattering barricades and flooding the schoolyard. Like a stampede, Chen Liu thought, as survivors fled. RAT-TAT-TAT! Soldiers on the second floor unleashed full-auto gunfire, mowing down flesh-and-blood boars unlike zombies. Bullets work here, Chen Liu noted, his team forming a stairwell defense.[^2]
In ten minutes, the schoolyard became a chaotic pig pen. Zhao hurled a grenade, its explosion at the gate cloaking the yard in smoke. He’s targeting the stronger boars hiding behind, Chen Liu realized, noting their meat-shield tactic. BOOM! Grenades blanketed the yard, shredding the clustered, less agile boars. Zhao’s rocket launcher fired twice at the boar king, wounding it despite its awakened armor ability, shattered by the second blast. Smart use of terrain, Chen Liu thought, as the panicked king tried to flee but was trapped by more grenades at the gate. Uuungh~~~ The horde charged the building, met by relentless gunfire. Gao Xiaomei’s gravity field slowed boars at the stairwell, where Chen Liu’s team slaughtered them, clogging the passage. Cornered and done, Chen Liu thought, the boar king’s greed costing its horde.[^3] The schoolyard turned slaughterhouse, the soldiers’ firepower and Zhao’s tactics overwhelming. Modern weapons still rule, Chen Liu thought, awed, suspecting they were bait to lure the horde. Zhao, unfazed, radioed Command for meat collection—over 10,000 pounds of pork. “Take the meat or get vouchers?” he asked Chen Liu. “Let Command handle it,” Chen Liu replied, avoiding the hassle. Fu Guo’an agreed. “Clean up, we move to Xincheng Power Plant,” Zhao ordered, wasting no time.[^4]