Chapter 38.1 Code G（2）
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The armored vehicle drove for a little over an hour before finally coming to a stop. People began to hop out of the vehicle, one after another.
Zhaohe also got off and looked around at the surroundings. He spotted a heavily guarded building nearby, along with a large bridge made of concrete and steel. The passage on the bridge had been sealed, and there were soldiers stationed all around.
“Madam Yan, please come this way,” a person who looked like a military officer welcomed them.
Madam Yan, the woman leading this rescue operation, nodded slightly and said, “Our team is all here now, we can go inside immediately.”
The officer glanced at the people standing behind Madam Yan and seemed a bit surprised. “Are they… enough?”
Madam Yan shrugged casually and responded, “These are my people. If you’re unsure, feel free to send your own.” Clearly, she was wary of this character from the movie, and their conversation showed her cautiousness and detachment. “There isn’t just one method to prevent the world’s destruction.”
The officer’s smile faded upon hearing those words, and he replied, “So that’s how it is.”
He remained silent and led Lin Zhaohe and the others forward, making their way through the building’s interior until they reached the front of the bridge.
On the other side of the bridge lay the sealed-off C City, ravaged by a horrifying biohazard virus. The entire city was in ruins, transformed into a hellish nightmare in just a few days. If this place fell, the consequences for the three-dimensional world would be unimaginable. Lost in his thoughts, Lin Zhaohe’s concentration wavered until Yu Zhuqi nudged him with an elbow.
“Look over there,” Yu Zhuqi whispered quietly.
Lin Zhaohe looked up and noticed several helicopters hovering above, crossing the bridge and heading toward City C. Somehow, these helicopters made no noise at all, their method of operation shrouded in mystery.
“These are our latest helicopters,” the officer proudly explained. “The previous models were too loud and attracted the attention of zombies. But these ones won’t. Once they’re piloted to the laboratory and landed on the rooftop, we can swiftly retrieve the vaccine.” He smirked, “Even though we’re just characters in a movie, we have our own methods that work…”
Suddenly, a thunderous explosion interrupted the officer’s words.
They watched in disbelief as one of the helicopters that had just crossed the bridge crashed to the ground, erupting in a massive blast of flames.
“What’s going on?” Lin Zhaohe exclaimed, bewildered. “Did it malfunction?”
“No,” Zhuang Lao replied. “Something pulled them down.”
Lin Zhaohe focused his gaze and indeed, on the ground of the opposite bridge, something resembling vines emerged, forcefully yanking the helicopters from the air.
None of the three helicopters managed to escape. Soon after crossing the bridge, they were forcefully pulled down, crashing to the ground in a devastating spectacle.
“Tsk.” Someone couldn’t resist mocking and let out a scornful laugh. “Looks like their technology isn’t up to par. What if they fly higher? Hahaha.”
“Shut up,” Madam Yan warned coldly. “Don’t ridicule the bravery of your fellow countrymen.”
Lin Zhaohe, standing beside the person, overheard their muttered comment. In a hushed voice, the person said, “I don’t have fellow countrymen like in the movies.” It was a sentiment shared by many. Even with the fusion of dimensions, they didn’t consider the lives of fictional characters as their own.
The officer’s face turned pale, clearly caught off guard by this turn of events. The team he had sent out encountered such a situation soon after crossing the bridge…
“This isn’t good,” Lin Zhaohe rubbed his chin and remarked.
“What’s the matter?” Qin Xu asked.
“Those creatures didn’t appear in the first movie, did they?” Lin Zhaohe said. During the preparations, he had familiarized himself with the movie’s content and remembered the origin of the creature before them.
“That’s right, they only had a role in the second movie. They’re called Devourers,” Yu Zhuqi, a devoted fan of the “Code” series, recited the information. “They shouldn’t appear in the first movie… unless…”
“Unless the fusion process accelerated, leading to mutations,” Lin Zhaohe marveled. “This is troublesome.”
Upon hearing the conversation between the two, the expressions of the others began to darken. They had assumed that they would only be facing ordinary zombies on this mission. They hadn’t anticipated that due to the immense popularity of the “Code” series, rapid mutations occurred after the fusion, resulting in the appearance of creatures only seen in the later films.
Several people suppressed their playful and smiling demeanor, and the atmosphere became much more serious.
Madam Yan spoke coldly, “In this operation, you must follow Mr. Zhuang’s arrangements. He is your commanding officer.”
Lin Zhaohe and their group were relatively easy to deal with, but the other mercenaries seemed somewhat unconvinced and didn’t take Madam Yan’s words to heart.
“Catherine,” Madam Yan said, “We don’t intend to send you on this mission.”
“Why?” Catherine frowned, deeply puzzled by Madam Yan’s decision. As the protagonist of the movie, she believed she had a rightful place in this operation.
Madam Yan explained, “Because we can’t be sure of the intensity of the plot within the fusion zone.”
Catherine was taken aback.
Madam Yan continued, “If it’s the second movie, or even the third… Have you watched the plot?”
Catherine had indeed watched it. In the second movie, the protagonist was changed, and the first movie’s female lead, which was herself, died at the beginning of the second movie. She seemed to have realized something, and her expression became extremely unpleasant.
Seeing that Catherine didn’t raise any further objections, Madam Yan shifted her gaze away from her and turned to Zhuang Lao and the others. “We will also deploy other soldiers to assist your operation… For the survival of humanity, please do your best!”
Over there, the officer who witnessed their own helicopter exploding took a while to recover. He whispered that they had prepared vehicles and were ready to depart at any time.
However, Madam Yan politely declined the officer’s offer, stating that they had two armored vehicles of their own. Once they opened the gate on the bridge, they could leave directly.
The officer didn’t say much more, simply nodded, and issued the command.
With a thunderous roar, the heavy iron gate on the bridge slowly lifted. Lin Zhaohe and their group split into two and entered the armored vehicles, driving slowly across the bridge.
Madam Yan didn’t get in the vehicle, but watched them leave.
“I hope they succeed,” she murmured. “No one wants to resort to the last resort.”
The armored vehicles moved forward, and everyone held their weapons in a highly vigilant state. Only Qin Xu had his eyes closed, holding a pen and paper, seemingly sensing something.
“We have about a hundred kilometers to our destination,” Zhuang Lao said calmly. “With the speed of the armored vehicles traveling through the city, we can cover about forty kilometers per hour. If nothing unexpected happens along the way, it will take us about three hours to get there.” He held the map given to them by Madam Yan and continued, “The map may undergo some changes, Qin Xu…”
Qin Xu’s closed eyes rapidly moved, and the pen in his hand swiftly drew and scribbled on the paper. In just two or three minutes, a detailed map appeared in his hands.
The map was meticulously drawn, with every building and every road accounted for, without any omissions, even down to every inch of scale.
“There are significant changes,” Lin Zhaohe glanced at the map in Zhuang Lao’s hand and then at Qin Xu’s drawing. “How can this be…” Apart from a few main roads, the remaining routes were different. If one didn’t know in advance, no one would think these two maps depict the same place.
Qin Xu’s drawing movements became slower and slower. When he reached the position of the laboratory, the tip of his pen started trembling incessantly, as if encountering tremendous resistance. His face showed signs of pain, and he suddenly opened his eyes, speaking hoarsely, “No, there’s something… obstructing my vision!”
“What?” Lin Zhaohe asked, astonished.
“A huge, indistinct black mist,” Qin Xu said. “I did my best, but I can’t see the rest…” He gasped for breath, his face covered in cold sweat.
“It’s alright,” Zhuang Lao said. “These maps are enough for us to reach the laboratory.” He snapped a photo of the map and distributed copies to everyone.
As Lin Zhaohe lowered his head to study the map, the armored vehicle suddenly jolted violently.
“What’s happening?” Everyone grew tense. “What’s there?”
“Something is entangled in the wheels,” Yu Zhuqi, the driver, said. “I’ll have to get off and take a look.”
“I’ll go,” the man who had been silent since getting in the vehicle, his face partially obscured, suddenly spoke up.
Lin Zhaohe was startled by his voice, realizing he had forgotten about the presence of this person. Only when he spoke did he remember the masked man from before.
“You go,” Zhuang Lao seemed familiar with him. “Stay safe.”
The man nodded and grabbed his gun before heading out.
The present-day armored vehicle was highly advanced, equipped with holographic exterior cameras that could practically capture every corner of the vehicle. Yu Zhuqi switched camera views and indeed saw two Devourers in the front right of the armored vehicle. They were clinging to the wall, resembling mutated frogs, with long tongues protruding from their mouths, forcefully entangling the wheels of the armored vehicle.
As soon as the man got out of the vehicle, he raised his hand and fired several shots, hitting the tongues of the Devourers and causing foul-smelling green blood to spurt out. However, the Devourers didn’t feel pain and showed no signs of releasing their grip. On the contrary, they exerted even more force. Their strength was astonishing, managing to lift the several-ton vehicle half a wheel off the ground. One can only imagine the fate of a human if caught in the grip of their tongues.
The man remained calm and composed, not showing any signs of urgency. He fired his gun in a leisurely manner, hitting vital spots with each shot. Lin Zhaohe was somewhat amazed by his shooting technique because he had used the same gun before and knew its strong recoil. However, the man’s hands remained steady without the slightest tremor. Dozens of bullets precisely hit the same spot, delivering a powerful blow to the Devourers. Although the Devourers were mutated zombies, they were still flesh and blood. Their tongues were pulverized by the intense firepower, causing them to be propelled off the wall and pounce toward the man. Swiftly dodging their attacks, the man shot a few more rounds into their heads until they ceased their movements.
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