Chapter 39.1 Code G（3）
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Lin Zhaohe said flatly, “Let’s go,” and followed behind Lin Yan.
The group continued walking. Qin Xu stood still, staring at Lin Yan’s back for a long time. Just when Lin Zhaohe thought he wouldn’t come along, he heard faint footsteps behind him. Qin Xu still decided to join.
“Are you okay?” After a while of walking, Zhuang Lao quietly asked.
It took Lin Zhaohe a moment to realize that Zhuang Lao was asking about himself. Indeed, his experience was very similar to Qin Xu’s. They both considered Lin Yan as their common enemy. However, it was odd that Lin Zhaohe didn’t react as strongly as Qin Xu did. In fact, when he saw the scar on Lin Yan’s cheek, he didn’t feel intense hatred but rather a strange sense of familiarity. It was as if they had known each other for a long time. He even wondered about the origin of that fierce scar and who could have caused such a severe injury.
It was really weird. Why didn’t he hate the person right in front of him, the one who started it all?
“I’m okay,” Lin Zhaohe replied.
Zhuang Lao probably thought he was pretending to be strong, so he patted his head and let out a sigh.
It was a dark night, and the team struggled to move forward in an unfamiliar city. Thanks to Qin Xu’s map, they avoided many wrong turns. If the journey ahead went smoothly, they would reach the laboratory just before dawn.
However, while passing through a residential area, Lin Zhaohe suddenly noticed many strange round objects on the ground. He took a closer look and thought they looked like animal eggs. He whispered, “What are those eggs?”
Zhuang Lao looked in the direction and his expression changed slightly. “This is bad.”
“Those are eggs of the Wingless Ones,” Yu Zhuqi said. “Damn, things just got serious.”
The Wingless Ones were a mutated type of zombie. Despite their name, they could fly. Flying zombies meant they could spread the virus to any part of the world, ruining any hope of controlling the source.
Zhuang Lao checked his watch. “The fusion zone appeared three days ago, and the eggs can hatch in as little as five days. Based on that, we have less than forty-eight hours to bring back the antibodies.”
“Why can’t we use a nuclear bomb?” Qin Xu said. “Just blow them all up…”
“Nuclear bombs are useless against the dead,” Yu Zhuqi said with resignation. “Zombies are already dead, so what’s there to destroy in their cells? Other bombs might work, but the problem is that there are military forces in this fusion zone. If they find out, things could go horribly wrong.”
Qin Xu: “…”
“We have to move quickly…” Yu Zhuqi had just finished speaking when a loud explosion sounded ahead, accompanied by a towering blaze that immediately caught everyone’s attention.
The explosion happened at a distance from them, but it was along their shortest route to the laboratory.
“Oh no, did something happen to the other team?” Lin Zhaohe immediately thought of the group they had separated from.
“Can’t establish communication,” Yu Zhuqi said. “We better not go there.”
The sudden explosion during the night would undoubtedly attract the attention of all the zombies. Without a doubt, all the mutated creatures in the city would converge towards the origin of the explosion. It would be too dangerous for them to go there.
“Are there any other routes?” Zhuang Lao asked.
“There is one,” Qin Xu said, “but it involves going through the interior of a hospital… you know, hospitals are…”
Zhuang Lao interjected, “Let’s take the detour.”
“I want to go and help them,” Lin Yan suddenly spoke up.
Seeing everyone’s gaze on him, his expression remained unchanged as he calmly said, “They are our teammates. It’s not right to abandon them like this. You all take the detour, and I’ll go and see if I can save a few of them. We’ll meet at the laboratory.”
“Are you crazy?” Qin Xu couldn’t understand. “Aren’t you walking into the lion’s den by going there like that?”
They were currently hiding in a secluded building, able to witness a continuous stream of zombies surging towards the direction of the explosion. Lin Yan, despite his impressive skills, was still just a human…
“I’m fine,” Lin Yan said. “I know my limits.”
After speaking, he turned and walked away, leaving everyone dumbfounded and unable to react.
“Is he… too selfless?” Qin Xu said in a daze.
“But isn’t he like that in the original story?” Lin Zhaohe said. “Haven’t you read it?”
Qin Xu: “…”
Lin Yan was a protagonist unlike others. Unlike most fictional protagonists, he truly embodied selflessness.
He refused to abandon his teammates and was willing to try and save every life, even at a great cost. He had been betrayed time and time again, yet he always chose to believe in and help humanity. Many people disliked him, but there were even more who were obsessed with him.
People disliked the selflessness of someone who extended kindness to others, but he was a saint who sacrificed himself to save others.
This was also why so many people loved him. His tragic background and unique outlook on life made him stand out among countless novels, attracting a large fan base.
“Why, why is that?” Qin Xu, lost and confused, said in a daze. “Is he really Lin Yan?”
“Let’s go, time is running out,” Zhuang Lao didn’t answer Qin Xu’s question. He glanced at his watch and reminded them.
They continued on their journey.
The explosion over there had attracted most of the zombies, making their path relatively easier. The ordinary zombies that needed to be cleared along the roadside had all been drawn away. They only needed to quietly proceed along the road.
Zhuang Lao’s communicator suddenly rang, and he raised his hand to answer it. From the device came a wailing and desperate scream for help. “Rescue… we need immediate rescue…”
Zhuang Lao asked, “What happened to you guys?”
“Gorillas, we encountered gorillas,” the person’s voice was distorted due to fear. “It overturned the armored vehicle…”
Zhuang Lao: “How many of you are still alive?”
“Only me… no, there are five more!” The person seemed to have realized something and quickly changed their statement. “Save us, quickly, come… save us… Ahhhh!!!”
He let out a piercing scream, and then the communicator transmitted horrifying sounds of flesh being chewed.
“Bad news,” Zhuang Lao ended the call. “It seems like Lin Yan went in vain.”
Clearly, that team had encountered unfortunate luck, or perhaps the sound of the armored vehicle had attracted something. It was highly probable that they had been wiped out by now.
Lin Zhaohe also felt a sense of heaviness and exhaled deeply. “I hope they have good luck.”
They would reach the hospital Qin Xu mentioned once they passed through this street.
Due to the explosion, the surroundings were no longer quiet. Lin Zhaohe had originally thought that zombies were only interested in living humans, but he was surprised to see them attacking and devouring each other. The scene was disgustingly chaotic. He even witnessed the parasitic zombies that lured Lin Yan with the cries of babies. After attracting other zombies with their sound, they would open their mouths wide and swallow them whole.
Was this really the movie he remembered? Lin Zhaohe felt that everything before his eyes seemed bizarre, as if it had far exceeded his imagination…
“The entrance to the hospital is on the southwest side of this street. We need to clear the zombies on the street first,” Qin Xu said, pinching the map. “We don’t know the situation inside the hospital yet. We’ll figure it out once we get in.” He took a deep breath. “Hospitals are always troublesome places in these movies. Everyone, be prepared.”
“I’ve been ready for a while,” Yu Zhuqi patted the gun at his side.
“Then let’s go,” Zhuang Lao nodded slightly.
Qin Xu roughly sketched the layout of the hospital. They needed to enter through the main entrance, reach the top floor, cross the external corridor, enter another building, and then leave through the southern back door. Once outside, they would cross another street and reach the laboratory.
However, as soon as they entered the hospital, Lin Zhaohe felt something was off. “Why is it so quiet?”
Compared to the chaotic situation outside, the entire hospital seemed like an oasis in the midst of hell. It was eerily silent, and not a single zombie could be seen upon entering the lobby.
“Something’s not right,” Zhuang Lao said. “Be cautious.”
“There are a total of four floors,” Qin Xu said. “We need to reach the rooftop first… Let’s take the stairs.”
Although the elevator was faster, it posed a higher risk and limited their mobility. For low-rise floors like this, taking the elevator wasn’t a good choice.
So the group headed towards the stairs, their footsteps echoing sharply on the hard ground.
Lin Zhaohe caught a whiff of that pungent, nauseating odor again. As they ascended the floors, the smell grew stronger and stronger. By the time they reached the third floor, the protective mask on his face seemed to be ineffective.
“It stinks,” Lin Zhaohe muttered under his breath.
“I’m about to vomit,” Qin Xu’s reaction was even stronger than Lin Zhaohe’s, his voice weak and filled with disgust. “So disgusting…”
On the third floor, they still hadn’t encountered a single living zombie.
“It’s strange,” Qin Xu murmured. “No bodies, but where is the smell coming from?”
The odor had already made Lin Zhaohe feel dizzy and disoriented. “How much longer until we reach the rooftop?”
“We’re almost there. We’ve reached the third floor,” Qin Xu said, but then his movements suddenly paused. He stopped in his tracks, his voice filled with alarm. “Oh no, the staircase is broken.”
They looked up and saw a massive gap smashed into the staircase, spanning a distance of two to three meters. There was no way to pass through.
“Let’s take the fire exit,” Zhuang Lao’s voice came through, and whether it was due to the mask or not, Lin Zhaohe felt as if his voice was distant, as if it came from another world. He wanted to say something, but Zhuang Lao had already turned and headed towards the location of the fire exit.
“It’s so stinky,” Qin Xu muttered under his breath. “It’s disgustingly stinky.” He continued walking forward, muttering to himself, clearly expressing his intense disdain for the foul smell.
The fire exit was located on one side of the corridor, and Qin Xu led the way, pushing open the heavy door.
As soon as the door swung open, a strong, pungent odor hit them. The smell was so nauseating that Lin Zhaohe couldn’t bear it any longer. He lifted his gas mask and vomited, exclaiming, “Ugh—what is this smell!”
He retched violently, his legs growing weak as he leaned against the wall for support.
The others weren’t faring any better. To avoid vomiting inside their gas masks, they had no choice but to lift them and continue retching. It was unbelievable how the molecules of that odor managed to penetrate their masks and assault their nasal passages.
After emptying his stomach, Lin Zhaohe finally felt a bit better. “Are you all okay?” As he looked up, he was startled by the scene before him.
Qin Xu stood there with a gun, furrowing his brows and staring at Lin Zhaohe, his gaze filled with vigilance. It seemed like he could shoot at any moment.
Shocked, Lin Zhaohe exclaimed, “Qin Xu, what are you doing??”
Qin Xu didn’t speak. Holding the gun, he slowly retreated until he entered the fire exit, appearing completely dazed.
“Qin Xu—” Lin Zhaohe suspected that he was hallucinating and shouted, “Snap out of it!”
Little did he know, his shout only agitated Qin Xu, who let out a loud cry and, in a spur of the moment, pulled the trigger.
With a loud “bang,” sparks flew from the muzzle as Lin Zhaohe stood frozen in place. He couldn’t believe his eyes. Zhuang Lao, who should have been beside him, appeared in front of him out of nowhere, taking the bullet intended for him from Qin Xu’s gun.
“Qin Xu!!!” Lin Zhaohe’s anger flared up, his eyes instantly turning red. He held onto the fallen Zhuang Lao, his abdomen soaked in crimson blood.
“Boss, boss, are you alright, boss??” Lin Zhaohe became frantic, feeling an icy chill run through his body. An overwhelming, familiar anger welled up in his chest, nearly overwhelming him. “Boss…”
Zhuang Lao’s face turned pale as he lay in Lin Zhaohe’s arms, barely clinging to life. His blood-stained fingers touched Lin Zhaohe’s cheek as he whispered softly, “As long as you’re okay.”
Tears streamed down Lin Zhaohe’s face. “Boss…” He sobbed with his head lowered. When he looked up again, a white rabbit mask adorned his face.
___
【⊙﹏☉?】
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well! o7 goodbye to those guys