Chapter 72.1 Savage Expansion (5)
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The two of them went up to the eighth floor, one in front and one behind.
This was Xiao Yu’s first time going to the eighth floor after living here for several years. Since some incidents happened in the building, the eighth floor was completely sealed off. Guards would come every night to prevent any monsters from coming down. But today, they didn’t see a single person…
Yun Yuzi held a flashlight and walked ahead.
Compared to the floors below, the eighth floor was much more run-down. The floor was covered in thick dust, and there were furniture debris and wall fragments scattered in the corridor. Some signs of severe damage could be faintly seen. With the flashlight’s light, Yun Yuzi spotted Lin Zhaohe standing at the end of the corridor.
Lin Zhaohe was still wearing the protective suit, facing away from them.
“Xiao He?” Yun Yuzi called out. She walked slowly towards Lin Zhaohe but stopped before reaching him. “Lin Zhaohe, is it you?”
The person turned his head, revealing Lin Zhaohe’s face. He opened his mouth and emitted a piercing scream.
In the next moment, Yun Yuzi decisively drew her gun and fired.
With a loud bang, flames burst from the barrel, and at such a close distance, the bullet’s force was maximized. It effortlessly created a large ʜᴏʟᴇ ɪɴ ʟɪɴ ᴢʜᴀᴏʜᴇ’ꜱ ʜᴇᴀᴅ, obliterating half of it. The scene was incredibly gory.
Xiao Yu, upon witnessing this, let out a startled cry and covered her mouth. Before she could ask Yun Yuzi why she had taken such action, the person hit by the bullet underwent transformation right before her eyes.
Despite having half of its head blown off, it didn’t collapse. It remained stationary, even blinking its eyes. It parted its lips, revealing a creepy smile directed at Yun Yuzi.
In the next second, a blood-red fissure split open in the middle of its body. It expanded from the center, similar to a bird extending its wings. Its wings consisted of bone and flesh, and through the chilling white bones, one could glimpse its internal organs in the abdomen. The face, which belonged to Lin Zhaohe, also split apart in the middle, transforming into a gaping maw filled with tightly packed teeth. It moved with incredible speed, hurtling towards Yun Yuzi during its metamorphosis. In the blink of an eye, it had already reached Yun Yuzi.
Witnessing this, Xiao Yu believed that Yun Yuzi was doomed. She emitted a terrified scream as she observed the creature unfurling its bones and flesh, completely enveloping Yun Yuzi.
“Aaah! Help! There’s a monster! A monster!” Frightened by the sight before her, Xiao Yu was greatly alarmed. She turned around, attempting to flee, but her panic caused her to stumble and fall to the ground. She could only watch as the creature’s body writhed vigorously, seemingly trying to digest the engulfed individual.
However, its plan didn’t go smoothly. Gunfire echoed intensively inside the monster, accompanied by dull explosions. Its skin burst open with numerous bloody holes. A gleaming blade forcefully broke through, and Yun Yuzi emerged from its body, swearing and grumbling, greatly damaging her appearance.
The monster couldn’t handle Yun Yuzi at all. She battered its body to a ragged state, leaking like a sieve. It couldn’t even hold water, let alone withstand a person. Realizing the dire situation, the monster turned around, attempting to escape. But Yun Yuzi swiftly caught it and viciously impaled it with a long, sharp blade, piercing through its body and pinning it firmly to the ground.
“What kind of creature is this? Where is Lin Zhaohe? What did you do to him?” Yun Yuzi kicked the monster. Her face was covered in blood, making her resemble more of a monster herself. She was now completely sticky from the monster’s fluids. She delivered a few more vicious kicks to the howling monster and said, “Can you speak human language? If not, I’ll just slaughter you.”
Xiao Yu didn’t dare to approach, weakly stating from behind, “Sister Yun, monsters can’t speak human language.”
“Oh, then it’s worthless.” After speaking, she drew her gun and aimed at the monster’s head. With a few shots, she completely pulverized its skull, ensuring its demise, and then withdrew the long blade.
Xiao Yu watched in trembling fear, afraid that if Yun Yuzi was dissatisfied, she might turn around and crush her as well.
“This monster is so weak. Why were you all in such a pitiful state because of it?” Yun Yuzi said disdainfully, “If it can’t even speak human language, what’s there to be afraid of?”
Xiao Yu forced a smile, saying it wasn’t like that, not every one of them is so easily dealt with. They also have formidable roles.
Yun Yuzi: “Damn, this isn’t Lin Zhaohe. Then where did Lin Zhaohe run off to?”
Xiao Yu: “Could she have been taken away by that female ghost?”
Yun Yuzi: “Female ghost? What female ghost?”
Xiao Yu stuttered as she described what she had seen. In the middle of her description, she noticed Yun Yuzi’s expression, which had been as courageous as a war god, turning increasingly grim. Even her aura weakened. “Ah, did you see the female ghost too?”
“Yes, the one in the red dress. It was so terrifying. When she ran towards me, I was almost scared to death.”
Yun Yuzi forced a smile as images from the horror movie she had seen before flashed through her mind. She vividly remembered the pale face and black eyes of the female protagonist in “Ghost Grudge.” As she thought about it, her body trembled slightly.
“Let’s go downstairs first,” Yun Yuzi weakly suggested. “The atmosphere here is a bit frightening.”
Xiao Yu: “?” You’re frightened? Or are you just pretending?
The two of them prepared to go downstairs and, before leaving, Xiao Yu locked the door again. She had an uneasy feeling in her heart.
That premonition soon became reality. As the two of them descended to the sixth floor, they heard an explosion. The vibrations from the explosion made the entire building tremble.
“Something’s wrong!” Yun Yuzi hurriedly started running.
At the same time, chaos had already engulfed the lower three floors. After the explosion, a massive hole appeared on the sturdy wall. Smoke filled the area around the hole, and debris was scattered everywhere.
People near the hole scattered in all directions, as if they had just experienced a major disaster. The crowd was filled with crying, shouting, and panicked calls for help. The scene became chaotic to the extreme.
With a loud bang of a gunshot, resembling thunder on a clear day, the people who had lost their targets temporarily regained their senses. Brother Xiao, the leader, stood panting in the crowd. His eyes were red with anger as he shouted, “Don’t you fucking run! I’ll kill anyone who runs!” After his roar, he saw some people in the crowd darting around like headless flies and without hesitation, he opened fire.
Flames spewed from the muzzle of the firearm, and the person who had been targeted fell to the ground. The onlookers were stunned by this scene. They had never expected Brother Xiao to actually shoot. Their footsteps halted, and they stared at him blankly. The chaotic situation was finally brought under control.
“Where are the monsters? Where did they go?” Brother Xiao angrily exclaimed.
“Th-they’re over there…” someone spoke up softly, pointing towards a corner.
Brother Xiao followed the direction of the person’s finger and saw a handsome man standing in the corner. The man had delicate features and was wrapped in a thick protective suit. Despite his refined appearance and slender physique, he didn’t look like a powerful character.
Brother Xiao breathed a slight sigh of relief, but before he could fully relax, he noticed what the man was holding in his hand.
It was an odd-looking creature, about the size of a fist. It struggled vigorously on the man’s slender fingers. This creature was the culprit that had just smashed through the wall. Its great strength was evident.
However, this powerful monster was helplessly struggling in the man’s hand, like a pitiful little pet. It exerted all its strength but couldn’t escape from the man’s grip.
The man seemed to be extremely disgusted with this thing, finding it somewhat dirty. He furrowed his brow slightly and delicately held it between two fingers.
Brother Xiao heard himself swallow audibly. He struggled to steady his mind, reminding himself not to panic. With a hot firearm in his hand, he walked slowly towards the man. He asked, “Were you here all this time?”
The man was none other than Zhuang Lao. He displayed an unfriendly attitude towards Brother Xiao and appeared remarkably composed. He even shook the creature he was holding in his hand a couple of times, warning it not to squirm anymore.
The creature miraculously sensed some kind of threat and ceased its intense wriggling, playing dead in Zhuang Lao’s hand.
“Yes,” Zhuang Lao replied.
Brother Xiao realized clearly that the person before him was not someone to be trifled with. He gritted his teeth and asked again, “Did you see everything?”
Zhuang Lao raised an eyebrow. “See what?”
Upon hearing this, Brother Xiao felt a slight relief in his heart. He thought it wouldn’t hurt if he admitted they were seen, as long as Zhuang Lao didn’t get involved… But just as he was thinking this, the person in front of him spoke nonchalantly, “Did I see you all killing and butchering your comrade for meat, or something else?”
As soon as those words were uttered, the expressions of the crowd changed.
Their previously apprehensive demeanor turned into hostility. The people inside the building gradually gathered around, forming a circle around Zhuang Lao. Judging by their postures, it seemed they were ready to launch an attack at any moment.
“Did you see everything?” Brother Xiao inquired.
Zhuang Lao nodded indifferently. He did see everything. At that time, this group of people asked him to stay in the lobby, claiming they needed to discuss something. He didn’t care much and had no idea what they were up to. But suddenly, a creature appeared and smashed through half of the building’s walls. When Zhuang Lao went to help, he saw pools of blood and a dismembered body lying on a table.
The dismembered person was the slim young man who had come back with Brother Xiao earlier. The body parts were neatly arranged on the table, clearly the work of humans rather than the creature.
As for what the remains of a comrade could be used for in the apocalypse, one didn’t need much imagination to guess.
Zhuang Lao didn’t express approval or disapproval of such behavior. In extraordinary circumstances, cannibalism was not something he found unfathomable. However, it was evident that they were not in such dire circumstances. After all, their supplies were abundant, and their bodies showed no signs of starvation. Their rosy complexions indicated they were far from being deprived of food.
“You don’t understand. We were forced to do it too!” someone shouted loudly, seemingly provoked by Zhuang Lao’s indifferent attitude. This kind of indifference was more hurtful than disgust or anger, especially with that apathetic gaze, as if looking at pitiful and despicable creatures. “Who are you to judge us? We, we’re just trying to survive…”
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