In an abandoned farmland on the outskirts of Hailar, wild grass grew everywhere, thick and lush. Because of the radiation, it was at least half a person tall.
A military helicopter slowly descended into the center of the farmland. The cabin door opened, and about a dozen people got out. Aside from one elderly man around sixty wearing a gray coat, all the others were young men.
Judging from their tidy clothing, they clearly belonged to two different teams. One team wore all-black outfits, though the styles varied, giving off a lazy, casual vibe. The other team was the exact opposite, dressed in neat military uniforms, their formation orderly and disciplined.
The two teams were each led by young men with different temperaments. Although they belonged to different groups, they were all fully armed, clearly well-trained. Their equipment was excellent, each person had a walkie-talkie on their waist and a military backpack on their back.
They had departed from Base B four hours earlier. There were fifteen people on this mission, fourteen team members plus Professor Wu. The operation was organized by the military, jointly carried out by the military and the ability-user squad.
Tang Ke, as the captain, was the overall commander of the mission. Lin Yuze was the vice-captain. The task of his squad was to assist and coordinate with the military to successfully retrieve the virus specimen so that new medicines to stop the zombie virus could be developed smoothly.
Their aircraft passed over and saw large numbers of zombies below the research institute, so the previous plan was changed. Two team members stayed behind in the helicopter to provide support, while the others began walking toward the Hailar Research Institute one kilometer away.
The full name of the Hailar Research Institute was “Hailar International Joint Medical Research Institute,” located on the outskirts of Hailar City. This place was remote, far from the city, close to the mountains.
Logically, zombies here should have been relatively few. But for some unknown reason, a large number of zombies had gathered in front of the institute’s entrance, no one knew where they had come from.
Looking at the zombie horde ahead, Qi Yue took a moment to check the watch on his wrist. Eleven o’clock. They had already been here for more than three hours, continuously leading the zombies away from the entrance to other places.
After a series of difficult dispersal, luring, and circling operations, only a small group of loyal zombies refused to leave the entrance. The rest had basically all been drawn several miles away.
They drove the car to a relatively hidden spot. Qi Yue and the other two got out and used their energy guns to finish off the remaining zombies outside the gate.
The institute’s outer wall was very tall, at least over three meters. Qi Yue pulled an iron anchor from his backpack and threw it up, tugged to confirm it was secure, and the three of them climbed up using it. There weren’t many zombies outside the building. Standing on the wall, they shot down the ones nearby, then smoothly entered the main building.
The building was large and looked spacious, but it felt unusually eerie and terrifying. According to the map, they only encountered a small number of zombies along the way, probably former staff. After dealing with them, the three reached the fourth floor and entered a room labeled “Blood Laboratory.”
They turned on the room’s light, it lit up. Even though five years had passed, the institute’s backup generator was still running. Oak walked to the blood cell counter, took out the glass vial containing Sun Yang’s blood, and began testing.
Qi Yue pulled some food out from his spatial ability, tossed some to Da Zhuang, who was sitting nearest the door resting, then placed a tray of stuffed pies on the table beside Oak. Qi Yue himself held a piece in his hand, eating while walking toward the window. He lifted the white curtain and looked outside. They had cleared everything before entering, but now scattered zombies were crawling out from corners again, wandering around.
His gaze swept across all directions and corners below. For a moment, Qi Yue thought he was seeing things. He narrowed his eyes and looked again carefully. No mistake, there was a small team heading their way.
There were about a dozen people, moving fast. In a short moment, they reached the wall outside the institute. Seeing them climb over the wall, Qi Yue said, “Are you done yet? Hurry, someone’s coming.”
Oak replied, “Almost, just about done.”
Da Zhuang couldn’t sit still. He walked to the window, stretching his head out to look. “D*mn it, who are these people? Why are they here?”
Qi Yue also couldn’t understand. How could it be such a coincidence? Were these people enemies or friends? His eyes stayed fixed outside. “Who cares. Once we get the stuff, we leave.”
The figure walking at the very front of that group looked familiar to him. Why were they here? What were they trying to do?
“Let’s go.”
Oak saw the other two looking at him, and silently nodded.
“D*mn.” Da Zhuang cursed.
“Go.” Qi Yue grabbed the backpack he had tossed on the table and put it on again.
The building’s floor area was huge, with many rooms and all kinds of research and testing labs. Qi Yue and the others followed the labels hanging on the doors and searched room by room.
Tang Ke’s group sensed more and more that something was wrong the closer they got. From the helicopter earlier, the zombies they saw around the building had now disappeared. The scattered corpses lying on the ground showed that someone had arrived before them and cleared the area. The zombies they saw earlier had been led away or dealt with. What exactly had the other party come here for?
While walking, he took out a miniature telescope and looked at the building. One of the fourth-floor rooms had its light turn on briefly, then go off.
Then a figure appeared at the window of that room, lifting the curtain and looking out. Another figure soon joined. In a moment, both figures left. The people inside must have noticed their presence.
Tang Ke reminded everyone, “Be careful. They’re still inside. At least two people.” He paused and asked Lin Yuze beside him. They had worked together for several years and were close. From the moment they approached the institute, something had felt off about his reaction. “What’s going on?”
One of Lin Yuze’s abilities was sensing. He was now at level seven. He could sense the number and positions of zombies nearby.
The moment they stepped into the area, he sensed a high-level zombie inside the institute, one that controlled the zombies in the surrounding region.
What made him excited, however, was that he sensed a familiar electric fluctuation from earlier. It made his blood heat up subtly.
Lin Yuze’s features had long lost their youthful softness; his face was cold and handsome. “Nothing. Just be careful. There’s a high-level zombie inside, should be above level seven.”
The other team members did not panic. Missions often involved such dangers. In the apocalypse, survival depended not only on courage but also luck, though most importantly, individual ability.
They fired nail guns. Professor Wu was protected in the center. With everyone’s help, the group climbed over the wall and approached the building.
They entered the building smoothly. Professor Wu guided them toward the underground research room entrance, where viruses had been studied before the apocalypse. His new anti-zombie vaccine required that data.
Meanwhile, the other group, Qi Yue’s team, had already reached the fifth floor and successfully found the blood dialysis machine they needed. Thankfully the institute’s equipment was advanced, and the machine was only the size of a small upright refrigerator; otherwise, they would never have been able to move it.
Using the steel wire rope they brought, they secured the machine tightly and lowered it from the window down to the first floor. Once they saw it land safely, they let out a sigh of relief.
“Captain, look, what’s that?” A team member beside Tang Ke nudged him, signaling toward the window.
The others looked in the same direction. A thick steel wire rope was hanging from the upper floors, lowering something that looked like a piece of equipment past their window.
Tang Ke frowned and motioned for the team ahead to continue. “Careful. 0536 and 0538 stay. The rest act according to plan.”
They split into two teams to enter the underground labs. Lin Yuze’s team went down the right-side passage. Tang Ke, his team, and Professor Wu took the elevator down the middle and would gather in the hall below.
Qi Yue took out the invisible beef and the water that could hide human scent, prepared earlier in the kitchen, and handed them to the other two.
These things worked well, but only against low-level zombies. They did nothing against zombies stronger than themselves. Especially the invisible beef, if exposed midway, the effect would disappear for the whole day until the next.
After eating the invisible beef, the three walked openly past zombies, only three floating guns could be seen.
When they reached the second floor, they suddenly felt their scalps tingle. Ability-users’ natural instincts told them that this was the spiritual pressure from a high-level zombie.
Their eyes scanned around, trying to find its trace. They held their guns tightly and carefully moved toward the stairs.
“Run.” Qi Yue growled. He saw it, that thin zombie was crouched on the crystal chandelier ten meters away, staring at them with blood-red eyes.
The three sprinted down the stairs. They no longer cared about making noise. Their pounding footsteps echoed loudly in the quiet building.
The skinny zombie, seeing its prey flee, lunged after them and began chasing, letting out a roar to summon the others.
Seeing that they were exposed, Qi Yue suddenly stopped. “Go. I’ll block it.”
The other two also stopped. “Sh*t, we go together, we leave together!” Da Zhuang yelled, frantic.
Oak also disagreed and immediately fired at the zombie. They had already reached the first floor, the exit was just a few meters ahead.
But the high-level zombie was unnaturally agile. Using the walls, chandeliers, and the tops of cabinets, it leapt past them in a few bounds and landed in front of the exit, blocking the door. It emitted low snarls, summoning more zombies. More and more zombies approached. They couldn’t see the invisible three, but they followed the skinny zombie’s orders and gathered.
“Sh*t, level eight.” Oak, who was level-seven beginner stage, said, “I’ll handle it. You two go. Take care of Yang for me.”
Qi Yue cut him off. “Enough. Listen to me. I’ll block it. Trust me. I have space ability, I’ll be fine.” His eyes locked on Oak, determined like Oak had once been when saving him. He was confident he could escape.
After speaking, Qi Yue quickly took out a small steamed bun and stuffed it into his mouth, then charged at the skinny zombie with his sharp dagger in hand.
Da Zhuang grabbed Oak, who wanted to rush forward. Oak shouted angrily, “F*ck! Qi Yue, be careful! We’ll wait for you outside!”
Qi Yue tangled with the leader zombie, giving the other two a chance to escape. The steamed bun’s tracking effect had already kicked in.
This level-eight zombie had mutated for speed. When it attacked, Qi Yue dodged. When it tried to dodge, Qi Yue shot at it. Seeing the other two escape, the zombie growled angrily.
Qi Yue saw Oak and Da Zhuang get out. He grabbed a chair beside him and hurled it at the zombie, then turned and sprinted in the opposite direction. While running, he tossed a grenade behind him.
The skinny zombie dodged. With a boom, several nearby zombies were blown apart. Now it was fully enraged, charging after Qi Yue.
A zombie accidentally bumped into Qi Yue, exposing his body. Qi Yue ran with everything he had, drawing the zombie away to buy time for the others. They still needed to retrieve the machine. With his space ability, he had no problem surviving in an emergency.
Zig-zagging and dodging, without noticing, he ran into the shadowed area on the map he had drawn earlier, the passage leading to the underground elevator.
“Sh*t, a dead end.” Qi Yue cursed softly. He turned to retreat but it was too late. The skinny zombie had already caught up. He considered entering his space when—
Ding.
The elevator door behind him opened.
Qi Yue slipped inside and quickly hit the button. Just as the zombie lunged, the doors shut.
Bang!
The zombie crashed into the elevator door.
Qi Yue was panting hard. Just as he was about to turn around and see who was inside, he had realized at the moment the doors opened that it was a person inside, not a zombie, which was why he dared to jump in—
Before he could turn, a pair of arms reached from behind, wrapped around his waist, shocking him so hard he trembled. The person behind him pressed close, resting their head against his shoulder.
Thump thump thump.
Inside the elevator, Qi Yue could only hear his own heartbeat pounding like a drum, his breathing rough. He hadn’t even figured out who the person behind him was.
