Chapter 41.1 Code G（5）
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The best scenario was for them to reach the thirteenth floor and take the elevator to the top level.
The group headed towards the staircase, and before leaving, Yu Zhuqi stared angrily at the two hired mercenaries, muttering about how some people were difficult to deal with and insisted on being slapped before understanding anything.
Lin Zhaohe couldn’t help but burst into laughter upon hearing that, and Lin Yan’s face visibly relaxed.
“Stay focused,” Zhuang Lao reminded them, “Forget about them.”
The group suppressed their smiles and became cautious.
After reaching the thirteenth floor, Lin Zhaohe opened the small door in the staircase and was immediately taken aback by what he saw inside.
Compared to the neatness of the other floors, the thirteenth floor appeared as a horrifying scene, like a glimpse of hell on earth. Every surface—floor, walls, and even the ceiling—was stained in a dark shade of red, painted with the blood of victims. The remnants of bodies scattered around added to the horror.
Just a glance was enough to imagine the tragedy that had unfolded here. These unfortunate souls hadn’t even had a chance to turn into zombies before meeting their untimely demise.
Qin Xu’s expression turned grim as he questioned, “What could possibly be here?”
Zhuang Lao signaled for silence with a hushed gesture.
Yu Zhuqi whispered, “The stairs are destroyed, something smashed them.”
True enough, as the group looked towards the staircase leading to the fourteenth floor, they discovered a massive gap, spanning a distance of three to four meters. It would be nearly impossible to cross by human strength alone.
Lin Yan: “Don’t worry, I can carry two people across in one go.” He possessed the ability to fly.
As soon as Lin Yan finished speaking, Lin Zhaohe heard strange sounds coming from above. “There’s something above us,” and raised his gaze towards the ventilation shaft overhead.
“Be careful, keep your distance,” warned Zhuang Lao. Before Lin Zhaohe could react, the ventilation shaft above him was forcefully knocked open, and a thin, white substance sprayed towards him. It happened so swiftly that Lin Zhaohe couldn’t respond in time, and he was instantly ensnared and dragged upwards.
“Damn it!” Lin Zhaohe let out a scream. Within moments, his entire being was pulled into the ventilation shaft.
“Lin Zhaohe!!” Zhuang Lao’s voice echoed from below. Alongside his cry, low, bestial roars filled the surroundings, indicating that the people below had encountered other monstrous creatures.
As Lin Zhaohe was dragged into the ventilation shaft, he felt like a ping-pong ball bouncing inside a pipe. His body continuously collided with the walls of the narrow passage, causing dizziness and throbbing pain. Gritting his teeth, he reached for the dagger at his leg and forcefully plunged it into the ventilation shaft beneath him, barely managing to stabilize himself.
Gasping for breath, Lin Zhaohe turned his head to look behind him, getting a clear view of the thing grabbing onto him. In the darkness, eight fluorescent eyes revealed its identity—a giant, zombified spider. Its black, fur-covered limbs occupied the entire ventilation shaft. Green fluid oozed from its gaping mouth as it greedily stared at its soon-to-be captured prey.
The spider’s body was decaying due to the invasion of the zombie virus, but its insatiable craving for flesh and living beings remained ingrained in its marrow.
Lin Zhaohe wasn’t particularly afraid of zombies, but he dreaded these hairy arthropods. He let out a cry of desperation and struggled, attempting to kick away the spider silk entangling his right foot. However, the strength of the silk was far beyond ordinary, and Lin Zhaohe couldn’t free himself with just his foot.
“Stop pulling, damn it!” Lin Zhaohe screamed. “You’re tearing my pants off—”
The spider made another attempt to ensnare its prey, exerting immense pulling force. Lin Zhaohe clung tightly to the dagger with one hand, while the other quickly searched his pocket.
Unable to drag its prey any further, the spider started moving closer to Lin Zhaohe. Its exaggerated eight long legs swiftly maneuvered within the cramped space, displaying astonishing speed.
Lin Zhaohe was on the verge of collapse. He would rather die than let that thing crawl onto him. Almost on the verge of tears, he pleaded, “Please don’t come any closer!”
Unfortunately, the spider couldn’t understand human language, otherwise, it might have become even more excited.
In a matter of moments, the spider climbed up behind Lin Zhaohe. Its forelimbs raised, revealing sharp fangs and a mouth dripping with green fluid.
Lin Zhaohe didn’t care about the consequences anymore. He pulled out the object he had found in his pocket and, after removing the safety pin, threw it directly into the monster’s mouth. In theory, throwing such a thing at such close range was suicidal, but he would rather die than have intimate contact with a giant spider.
With a loud bang, accompanied by the exploding spider carcass, Lin Zhaohe felt as if he had been struck heavily, being sent flying a considerable distance.
The ventilation shaft shattered from the explosion, and Lin Zhaohe dropped from the ceiling, crashing into objects with a clattering sound before landing on the ground. The pain was so intense that his vision darkened, and his head buzzed.
“Aww…” After lying on the ground for who knows how long, Lin Zhaohe struggled to open his eyes. He saw stars before him, and he felt severe chest pain that prevented him from standing up.
“Is anyone there?” he weakly inquired, his gaze scanning the surroundings.
He had no idea where he was. Zhuang Lao and the others were nowhere to be seen. The air carried a lingering scent of fresh blood, as if a fierce battle had just taken place.
Lin Zhaohe was barely clinging to life, attempting to rise from the ground. However, despite his repeated efforts, he couldn’t succeed. Finally, gritting his teeth, he managed to stand up, but a sharp, bone-deep pain shot through his left hand, indicating a possible injury.
“Zhuang Lao?” Lin Zhaohe whispered his teammate’s name. “Yu Zhuqi?”
No one responded. The room was empty, devoid of any human presence.
Lin Zhaohe checked and took out his communication device, intending to call Zhuang Lao. However, no one answered, and the same was true for the others.
“Damn it,” Lin Zhaohe felt extremely uncomfortable. He sat down for a moment, taking out the laboratory floor plan given by Madam Yan. After confirming the direction of the elevator, he staggered toward that direction.
On the way to the elevator, Lin Zhaohe noticed signs of a struggle along the path. Some bullet marks were still fresh, indicating they had been recently left behind. Just like himself, Zhuang Lao and the others must have encountered a troublesome and sudden event. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have left him behind and departed.
Gritting his teeth and enduring the pain, Lin Zhaohe gathered his spirits and continued forward.
This floor was entirely filled with laboratories. Looking up, he could see various dilapidated experimental equipment and bizarre apparatuses.
In the massive bioreactors filled with green liquid, there were even creatures in the process of gestation. Their appearances were grotesque and horrifying, and it was impossible to tell if they were dead or alive. Why would they create such things?
Most of the doors and windows on this laboratory floor were shattered. Occasionally, amidst the fragmented desks and chairs, he could glimpse one or two corpses, mostly dressed in laboratory attire. Their bodies were maimed, either missing hands or feet. Lin Zhaohe felt that he wasn’t far from becoming like them…
The elevator, which wasn’t too far away initially, now seemed unreachable. Lin Zhaohe felt his body ache as if it had been disassembled. He coughed, and traces of blood appeared in the phlegm. The best-case scenario would be a lacerated throat, while the worst-case scenario could involve a lung injury.
Lin Zhaohe was contemplating that maybe he wasn’t so unlucky when he heard a peculiar sound. His nerves were already at strange breaking point, and this sound immediately made him alert.
Carefully listening, the sound seemed familiar to Lin Zhaohe. After discerning it, he concluded that it resembled the low growl emitted by dogs when they feel threatened. However, there were no dogs in the laboratory, so it had to be something else.
The sound was coming from the direction of the elevator, precisely where Lin Zhaohe needed to go.
Gritting his teeth, Lin Zhaohe rummaged through his backpack and took out some painkillers, swallowing them. He then briefly attended to his immobile left hand before retrieving his gun. Slowly and silently, he approached the direction of the elevator.
He moved cautiously, trying not to make any noise. Upon reaching the corner leading to the elevator, he poked his head out to assess the situation.
“Damn it,” he couldn’t help but mutter under his breath. “What the hell are those things?”
In front of the elevator doors, there were over twenty creatures resembling dogs.
Though described as dog-like, in reality, these things had nothing to do with dogs anymore. Their bodies lacked a single strand of fur, completely corroded by the zombie virus to the point that even their skulls had turned into skeletal structures.
Evidently, they were a special breed created through laboratory research. They possessed massive frames, each standing at least one meter tall, with bulging muscles. Currently, they squatted in place, emitting low growls.
Lin Zhaohe stared at them, muttering with resentment, “Why the hell do they have to make dogs so muscular? Today, I’ll show you what real… cowardice is.” He took two steps back.
As a coward, Lin Zhaohe decided to strategize. The best outcome of confronting these dog-like creatures head-on would be leaving behind a few scattered bones to prove their incapability of even gnawing on bones.
Lin Zhaohe stealthily slipped away. He knew he couldn’t use the elevator, so what about the stairs? If he recalled correctly, this building had two stairwells. If he could reach the other stairwell, climb one more floor, and then take the elevator, he could successfully escape.
Thinking his plan was feasible, Lin Zhaohe circled around to the other side. However, when he reached the stairwell and saw the situation clearly, he was dumbfounded.
The staircase that led upstairs had also been blasted open, and it was evident that it had just happened. Lin Zhaohe could even smell the lingering scent of gunpowder in the air.
Was it his fate to drench in the rain and still tear apart someone else’s umbrella? Tears streamed down Lin Zhaohe’s face as he looked at the stairs. He realized that his apocalyptic journey might come to an end here.
With no other options left, only one path remained. Lin Zhaohe licked his lips and made a decision to initiate his last plan. Since there was no one here, transforming wouldn’t be witnessed. The only inconvenience was that he didn’t know if the freezing rays had a significant effect on these creatures. After all, it was an unsolvable mystery whether there were more viewers of Code G or Fruit Magical Girls. Now, he could only take a daring risk.
Finding a corner, Lin Zhaohe, filled with tears, completed his transformation, becoming Yellow Banana Girl once again.
After the transformation, it seemed that his fractured hand had healed. It made sense. A magical girl meant for children’s viewing shouldn’t be injured and bleeding. It would be absurd to get into a fight and then spend two months in the hospital. Besides, the health insurance didn’t cover it. That was too much of the adult world.
With the successful transformation, Lin Zhaohe felt a great sense of relief throughout his body. But before using magic, he decided to physically strike those creatures.
In the next moment, several bombs with their fuses pulled fell among the pack of dogs. Before the zombie dogs could react, the bombs erupted with a thunderous boom, marking the beginning of the battle.
The explosion caused blood and flesh to scatter in all directions, instantly killing several monsters. If it weren’t for concerns about the floor’s structural integrity and the risk of collapsing the entire floor, Lin Zhaohe felt like he could have thrown a few more.
The remaining creatures, witnessing their comrades under attack, lunged fiercely toward Lin Zhaohe.
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