Chapter 75: The Survivors
The silently slid into that two-story imitation-antique mall. To 's surprise, the inside... was actually quite clean—clearly someone had taken care of it.
Unlike the situation outside the door, where zombies gathered in droves, the first-floor lobby of the mall had no zombies. There wasn't even much blood, only a few long-dried dark brown stains visible in the corners.
On rows of antique-style wooden shelves, merchandise had been swept to the floor, but there were few signs of struggle.
The 's spherical camera rotated, its infrared thermal imaging module sweeping over every corner to confirm there were no hidden threats.
It switched from track mode back to its four-legged arthropod form, its metal limbs stepping steadily onto the wooden staircase beside it.
"Creak——"
The wooden stairs let out a faint groan.
However, on the second floor, still didn't see anyone.
Or, more precisely, within his field of view, there was still no one.
Boxes of bottled water and instant noodles were neatly stacked in the corners, alongside large quantities of compressed biscuits, canned goods, and self-heating meals—but of people, there was no sign.
But in the 's thermal imaging view, behind a heavy deep within the second floor, roughly thirty-odd human-shaped heat signatures were packed tightly together.
Looking at those mountains of food, guessed these people had probably only just hidden themselves away, not even having had time to bring many important things with them.
He could guess that these people were all a bit afraid of this suddenly appearing "hunk of metal," but with their situation truly desperate, they had opted for the classic "half-coward" move.
Having figured this out, brought the to a halt, not rushing forward to knock.
At times like this, playing "dumb" was a little trick that put people at ease.
Letting them believe their self-deception was working would, in turn, grant them a shred of false security, keeping them from panicking excessively and doing something wrong.
So simply had the wander around the second-floor hall like a curious tourist.
After all, some representative would eventually come out to test the waters. wasn't in a hurry, and he could give them time to mentally prepare.
He circled a pile of supplies, his attention drawn to a peculiar device.
It was a massive, foldable solar panel, currently folded up and leaning against the wall.
Its design was strange. It didn't seem to be a traditional crystalline silicon panel—the deep black surface shimmered with a colorful luster.
But given 's year-round gloomy weather, how much electricity could this thing really generate? was quite skeptical about that.
Just as the 's mechanical arm reached out to touch the solar panel, the sealed behind it suddenly opened.
A young man scrambled out in a fluster, running toward the with his palms pressed together, his expression tense.
"Don't! Don't touch it! That's my research project—the work of my life! Please, I'm begging you, don't break it!"
Uh... so now you decide to come out? Then why did you hide so fast just now?
If it's the work of your life, you'd think you'd remember to grab it and hide with it. Doesn't seem like that devotion runs very deep— silently grumbled in his mind.
[Hello.]
The 's spherical camera rotated 180 degrees, locking precisely onto the young man's face, as a calm electronic voice sounded from its built-in speaker.
[I am the person in charge of in ... the AI in charge, codename .]
[Since you've decided to come out, would you mind introducing yourself and telling me about the situation here?]
The young man who'd come out looked to be about twenty-four or twenty-five, wearing a pair of black-rimmed glasses with lenses as thick as bottle bottoms.
He wore a plain plaid shirt under an ill-fitting windbreaker, his hair was a mess, and his eyes held a distinctly dazed look.
Hearing 's question, the man froze for a moment, adjusted his glasses, and only then reacted: " ?! You... you're really someone sent by the authorities to rescue us? No wait, a robot?"
[...] was momentarily at a loss for words. [If you didn't think so, then why did you lure me over here?]
"Mainly because your design is very distinctive—not like something those monsters could have evolved into," the young man said with a perfectly serious expression, pushing up his glasses.
"But without sufficient observational data to support it, any judgment could be mistaken. So..."
"Alright, get to the point." suddenly felt this kid was a bit thick in the head.
"Oh, oh, right!" The young man snapped out of it as if waking from a dream, and hastily said, "Hello, my name is . ... uh, I used to be a researcher there."
"After the disaster broke out, I fled with the others, making my way from all the way to . After joining up with some survivors here, we got trapped by the suddenly increased zombies because of an accident."
He turned back and called out in a low voice toward the gap in the door: "Come on out! They're friendlies! An intelligent robot!"
The slowly opened, and thirty-two people filed out from behind it one after another.
Most of them were young, a mix of men and women. Though exhaustion and wariness were written on their faces, they were fairly clean, and their mental state was far better than most survivors had seen.
Clearly, the resources 's group had gathered and stockpiled were keeping them alive quite well.
In addition, among their ranks, noticed several people carrying a peculiar kind of "weapon."
These were oddly shaped, nondescript elongated objects. The main body was a metal tube more than 1.5 meters long, its exterior densely wrapped with coils of wire.
The rear section was connected to a bulky battery pack that looked extremely heavy. They looked like guns, but not quite.
asked about them out of curiosity and learned that these "guns" were semi-finished products from an electromagnetic weapon research project.
This surprised somewhat, but once he remembered that some of them had fled from , it made sense.
After all, there was a there—that was genuinely certified by the authorities.
After a round of conversation, learned that these thirty-three people weren't even all of them.
In the underground district of , their main force was still trapped—more than two hundred people.
They had planned to use the complex underground pipeline network to cross the ancient city, but unexpectedly ran into a cave-in along the way and had to turn back.
However, the surface had also been sealed off by the suddenly increased zombies, and 's group, who had risked breaking out, were forcibly separated from the main force underground.
[You said the zombies here suddenly increased?] keenly seized on the key information.
"That's right!" nodded firmly. "Right when we were planning to return to the surface, the number of zombies here exploded by at least tenfold overnight, and a large number of even more terrifying monsters appeared too."
[Do you remember the exact time?]
"Yes, roughly the tenth day after the disaster," recalled. "That day, the sky went dark without any warning—lightning flashed, thunder boomed, and fierce winds howled."
"Lightning struck everywhere. We hid underground and didn't dare come out. Some people even said they heard something roaring above the clouds—it was terrifying."
"By the time the storm passed and we tried to come out again, things outside had completely changed. Zombies were everywhere on the ground."
"Originally, there weren't this many zombies here."
[Understood. Thank you for the information.] 's electronic voice remained calm.
[However, I probably can't take you away for the time being,] continued. [The density of zombies and advanced mutants here is too high, and there are 'Pilgrims' in the sky. I need to think of a way first.]
[Afterward, I'll go verify the situation of the people underground that you mentioned.]
"Please do! Thank you!" bowed solemnly.
[You're welcome.]
***
After confirming that and the others were safe for the moment, had the slip out of the mall once more, disappearing back into the shadows, preparing to head for .
But just then, a change occurred in the underground cavern. looked at the tunneling direction of that parasitized " ."
He was somewhat taken aback—it seemed to be digging toward .
It can't be that coincidental, can it?
The moment this thought crossed his mind, a black streak of light he knew all too well shot through the sky at a speed the naked eye could barely track, trailing a white sonic boom cloud behind it, heading straight for the center of !
It was " "!
Why would it come here?
Before could figure it out, the three "Pilgrims" circling above the ancient city instantly abandoned their original patrol routes, let out a shrill shriek, and turned into three bolts of white lightning to meet the black streak.
immediately zoomed the 's camera to its limit, aimed at the sky.
"Boom——!"
Black and white collided thunderously in midair!
The six blade-like limbs behind " " traced bizarre arcs through the air, easily parrying the claw attacks of two "Pilgrims."
At the same time, a flash of orange-red light blazed through the vertical slit pupils on its face!
Shink! Shink!
Two searing energy blades shot out instantly, precisely slicing through half the bodies of those two "Pilgrims," wings and all.
The bone-white figures immediately plummeted toward the ground like kites with snapped strings, trailing black smoke.
The last " ," seizing the opportunity its companions had bought, circled around behind " ." Its wings beat violently as it clawed viciously at " 's" back!
However, as if " " had eyes in the back of its head, its body performed an impossible midair pivot.
Its two longest limbs crossed like scissors, precisely cutting this " " clean in half at the waist!
"Crack!"
The entire process was smooth as flowing water—within a few breaths, victory and defeat had been decided.
This was the first time had seen "Pilgrims" slaughtered so effortlessly—a small hexagon tragically running into a big hexagon.
Watching the three "Pilgrims" fall toward the ground, smoking and on their last legs, a bold idea suddenly sprang up in 's mind.
The next second, the shoulder armor of the lurking on the street nearby slid open, and a micro-missile launcher extended out.
Whiz, whiz, whiz!
Several missiles, trailing exhaust flames, converged in a precise strike on the three falling "Pilgrims."
The sound of violent explosions rang out almost simultaneously.
Although this 's feed cut out completely the next second, watching the progress in the system mission climb, didn't feel bad about it at all.
[ Seven: .]
[ , please complete ten kills of "Pilgrims" (6/10).]
[Mission Rewards: 1,000 , blueprint x1—completely blocks first-level , partially blocks second-level .]
Worth it! Anyway, the new had already long since snuck into . 's attention shifted entirely to the new .
Just then, in the new 's field of view, the ground of the temple's bluestone plaza suddenly bulged upward into a huge mound.
Boom!
Rubble flew everywhere as a colossal " " covered in dark red flesh membranes burst out of the ground—it was that unfortunate parasitized one!
For a moment, two top-tier mutants—one in the sky, one on the ground—had their sights set squarely on the at the center of the ancient city.
Seeing this, , lurking in the shadows, couldn't help but focus. Just what kind of target could make these monsters go to such lengths?
The next second, atop the ten-story , a bone-white figure nearly twice the size of an ordinary " " suddenly spread its wings and shot up from below the pagoda, charging straight at in the sky.
At the same time, from the middle-floor windows of the ancient pagoda, six white figures of normal size filed out one after another, charging straight at the parasitized " " on the ground.
***
Meanwhile, in the underground drainage system of , at a certain collapsed area.
In the darkness, a young man whose face was smeared with mud shouted excitedly.
"Professor Xu! Over here!... There seems to be an opening over here! There's wind coming through it, and it's strong!"
From deeper in the dim passage, a bespectacled man who looked to be in his fifties, with a steady, composed bearing, hurried over at the sound.
Behind him followed a dozen or so wary-looking people holding weapons such as shovels.
They all saw the newly appeared opening, but after approaching to examine it, they all frowned in unison.
The opening was highly irregular, its edges covered with claw marks and shattered rock. The walls still bore traces of some unsettling slime, giving off a faint rank odor.
"This... doesn't look naturally formed, and it wasn't dug by human hands either." The man addressed as Professor frowned deeply, his expression grave.
"But we don't have any other options. We can't break through to the surface. If we don't find a way out soon, our food and water will run out." A steady-faced middle-aged man spoke up.
"Right! Professor, how about a few of us go in and take a look first?" A young man who seemed to be a student asked in a low voice. "Maybe this connects to an exit, you never know."
Everyone's gaze converged on Professor Xu.
The professor was silent for a long while, gazing at the opening whose end was nowhere in sight, and finally nodded slowly.
"Alright, a few of us will go in first to scout the way. But we must be careful about everything."
He stood up, brushed the dirt from his hands, and his gaze became utterly resolute.
The others all nodded silently and followed Professor Xu into the passage.
No one knew whether this was a road to survival or a road to death, but right now, they had no choice.