Chapter 119: Revenge
From the camp to , the straight-line distance was only four kilometers.
But between them lay at least a thousand zombies, and among them were quite a few “Many-Eyed Ones” with heads covered in eyeballs.
held the borrowed and followed in the middle of the group. Watching the team members plunge straight into the mass of zombies, her heart had originally leapt into her throat.
However, she soon discovered that her worry was completely unnecessary.
Up ahead, twelve team members advanced rapidly in three-person groups.
They looked focused, moved easily, and did not even bother to quiet their footsteps.
A poked its head out from behind an overturned truck by the roadside. Before it could even open its mouth, a laser from above split open the top of its skull.
looked up.
Dozens of meters overhead, twenty or so fist-sized black flying objects were circling silently, like a flock of birds of prey patrolling their territory.
Every few seconds, a nearly invisible beam would fall, and then a would collapse quietly.
There was no danger, no chaotic fighting, not even a drop of blood splashing near her.
These soldiers seemed more like they were out for a stroll than in combat. Occasionally one or two zombies would charge out from a blind spot on the flank, and the nearest team member would dispatch them with a casual slash, without even breaking stride.
Watching all this, stared blankly for a while, her lips slightly parted, completely forgetting to close them.
Over the past few months, she had seen too many people in a wretched state before zombies.
Running, hiding, crying—every trip outside to search for food was gambling with their lives.
But the people before her killed zombies as casually as slaughtering chickens and dogs.
“Walk faster, don’t fall behind,” said, patting her from behind.
“Oh.” She sped up, then couldn’t help glancing back at the neat row of zombies lying on the road behind them, her heart full of disbelief.
“Nervous?” ’s voice came from ahead.
“I’m not nervous,” took a deep breath. “It just doesn’t feel real. You’re all too strong.”
“Haha, this is nothing,” immediately said smugly from the side. “You should have seen us fight the . That was really—”
Before he could finish, smacked him on the head. “Pay attention to your surroundings. Don’t underestimate the enemy. Be careful not to capsize in a ditch.”
“Oh.” Only then did obediently return his attention to their surroundings.
Fourteen minutes later, the building appeared at the edge of their vision.
[Target building perimeter personnel distribution confirmed.]
At the same time, ’s voice came through everyone’s earpieces: [Front gate sentries: four. Second-floor window sniper positions: two. East side patrol: five. West side rear entrance guards: three. Rooftop observation posts: two. Additionally, about forty people are gathered on the first floor inside, with the rest dispersed above the second floor. In the basement, there are seventeen heat-source signals, likely people being held prisoner.]
“Understood.” halted, waved a hand gesture, and the team silently spread out.
“ , take some people and handle the frontal assault.”
“Roger!”
“ , you’re with me to rescue the prisoners first.”
“Got it!”
“Third squad, hold the perimeter and provide support as needed.”
“Roger!”
Finally, looked at . “Stay on the perimeter with the third squad. Don’t get close.”
The girl opened her mouth as if to say something, but in the end only nodded.
“If there are no further questions,” glanced around at the team members, then made a hand signal. “The operation begins!”
At the exact second ’s voice fell, the “ ” drones circling in the sky lit up at once.
Sixteen lasers fell simultaneously.
At the same moment the sentries at each post noticed the drones, their heads had already been pierced through by laser beams.
At the same time, charged forward with twenty people. The assist systems made them far faster than ordinary humans.
The truck barricade at the main entrance was kicked aside with a single blow. The chained-up zombies were still howling when rounds tore them into pieces.
“Bang!” The door was smashed open.
Inside the first-floor hall, more than forty people who had been eating, drinking, or chatting were startled by the loud noise.
“What—”
A burly man holding a baseball bat reacted first, turning and rushing toward the weapons rack.
But the next second, a bullet hole appeared in his forehead, and his sturdy body crashed straight to the ground.
“Everyone down! Hands on your heads!” shouted. Behind him, team members in exoskeletons rapidly broke into the hall.
***
“Boom—”
A muffled explosion came from the first floor of the department store building, and the entire structure shook violently as if struck by an earthquake.
The chandeliers on the ceiling swung wildly as dust and debris showered down.
The gloom on ’s face was instantly replaced by shock. He shoved the underling in his way aside and rushed to the second-floor corridor railing to look down.
Outside the door, the terrified screams of the patrol members had just begun when they abruptly cut off.
“Enemy attack!!”
A shrill alarm tore through the “peace” inside the building.
“What’s going on?!” ’s scalp tingled as he roared at the lower floor.
But no one could answer him anymore. When an unfamiliar voice rang out from downstairs, he stumbled and nearly lost his footing.
“ ! It’s the army! Has the army come to save us?” An underling who had no idea what was happening looked at the exaggerated precision strike outside. Far from looking afraid, he wore an ecstatic expression.
no longer had the presence of mind to answer him. His heart was pounding frantically.
The army? He knew better than anyone that if this really was the regular military, things would be truly troublesome.
“It’s an enemy attack!” he bellowed hoarsely, trying to cover his inner fear with volume. “Everyone! Hold the second floor! Open fire, now!”
However, his orders were already too late.
“Bang!”
Another loud bang rang out. The iron door leading upstairs was instantly smashed open from outside by an irresistible force.
Ten intruders wearing “ ” exoskeletons charged upstairs in standard tactical formation.
“Open fire! Kill them!” ’s underlings finally reacted, raising their rifles and spraying wildly.
But bullets striking the intruders only raised layer after layer of pale blue ripples, unable even to make them pause.
“Monsters! They’re monsters!” someone shouted in despair.
charged at the very front. Facing the hail of bullets, he didn’t even bother to dodge.
Seeing that there seemed to be a leader giving orders behind the crowd, he immediately shouted, “Put down your weapons! Hands on your heads!”
Then he smashed into the crowd like a human tank.
A burly man who tried to block him with his body was grabbed by the head with one hand and slammed viciously into the nearby wall, instantly falling silent.
Then a fierce-looking, tall, thin man swung a fire axe at him from the side. Without even looking, returned a backhand slash.
The blade flashed, and the man’s arm flew away together with the axe.
Meanwhile, led another team. took and eight team members through the rear entrance, following the fire passage straight to the basement.
“Is anyone here? We’re here to rescue you!”
***
, first-floor hall.
By the time led his people up the stairs, the battle was already over.
and his team were escorting the last group down from upstairs. Some were still in pajamas, and some were still cursing under their breath.
But the moment they saw their accomplices kneeling in a neat row on the floor, surrounded by a semi-circle of gun muzzles and drones, all sound vanished.
was among them. kicked him in the back of the knee, sending him sprawling to his knees, his face nearly bloodless.
Several hundred ordinary survivors were brought out from various rooms and stood at the periphery, their expressions varied.
Some were afraid, some were bewildered, and some, upon seeing and the others kneeling on the ground, suddenly went red-eyed with fury.
When , supported by , walked from the basement into the hall, a muffled commotion broke out among the crowd.
It was a woman who had become so thin she was almost unrecognizable. Her once-beautiful face was covered in sickly pallor, her lips cracked, her eyes hollow.
Her limbs were bound in iron chains, and her wrists and ankles were covered with raw, bloody abrasions.
“Sister Yutang!”
“Dr. Zhou!”
did not respond to their calls. Her gaze passed over the crowd and fixed dead on the kneeling , filled with bone-deep hatred.
felt her gaze and instinctively turned his face away.
But soon he straightened his back and lifted his head, and with a fierce front concealing his fear, he shouted at .
“Y-you... who exactly are you people?”
“Us?” planted a foot on his back, pinning him hard to the floor, and grinned. “You’re not qualified to know who we are.”
“You just need to know we’re people who specialize in killing beasts like you.”
“Beasts?” When heard that, he immediately retorted stubbornly. “What have I done wrong? I’ve been managing a ! More than a thousand people have survived until now. I’ve done a huge service!”
“If it weren’t for me, the people here would have starved long ago! I’m the true hero, not a criminal!”
The more he spoke, the more agitated he became, as if he truly were a hero who had endured humiliation and shouldered infamy for the greater good.
“A muddle-headed saint like is the real criminal, the real beast! She’ll only get more people killed!”
“But wasn’t your saved by her?” asked coldly from the side.
“So what?” stuck out his neck, putting on a self-righteous air. “I’ve always had principles. I would never let the fact that she saved me cloud my judgment.
By choosing to save me, didn’t she accept the risk that I might betray her in the future? What did I do wrong?
She deserved to die anyway. I only locked her up and kept her properly fed, which already more than repays her -saving kindness. It was also a lesson for her.”
Hearing this utterly shameless speech, laughed in fury. The next second, his fist came crashing down.
The punch landed square on ’s face with bone-deep force.
The sound of a nose bone shattering was clearly audible. Two front teeth flew far, trailing blood, and went “ding, ding,” bouncing across the floor tiles several times.
was sent reeling backward, his mouth bubbling with blood like a broken ketchup bottle.
“If you love being a beast, just be a beast. Why make up so many excuses for yourself? Do you take everyone else for fools?”
“I’ll give you a line, too—no matter how much you talk, any normal person can still see at a glance that your true nature is that of a beast.”
After saying this, he raised the muzzle of his gun and aimed it at ’s head.
“Wait.”
However, suddenly stepped forward and pressed down on ’s shoulder, stopping him.
Then he walked over to , slowly crouched down, and met his gaze at eye level.
“I heard you’re also called ?”
“So what if I am?!” , struggling up from the ground, looked into the other man’s calm, unruffled eyes, and for some reason a chill shot up his spine.
“Nothing,” said in a flat tone. “I just think your reasoning is truly ingenious. By your logic, since you didn’t travel all the way here to kill me at the first opportunity, you’re allowing me to slash you to death as I please, right?”
“Y-you... what do you want?! Aren’t you official troops? You can’t...” ’s face finally changed. He began shouting desperately,
“I can control zombies! I have ! I can contribute to rebuilding civilization! I’m very smart!”
But ignored his shouting. He simply stood up, walked over to , who was still supported by , and held out a scalpel.
There are always people like this: they want to be villains themselves, yet they expect everyone else to be fools.
They expect others to definitely forgive them, to think they’re so very valuable, and to keep them around so they can continue to “shine and contribute.”
But contribute to the development of civilization? Are you worthy? They aren’t the kind to take in just any trash.
“I heard you were a doctor, too.”
“Can you dissect?”
A trace of emotion stirred in ’s hollow eyes. She looked at the knife, then at , and nodded seriously.
“Good.”
***
The operating table was two long tables pushed together.
was bound to it, a cloth stuffed in his mouth, only muffled whimpers coming from his throat.
, now in protective clothing and gloves, stood to the side, clutching the knife tightly. Looking at ’s terrified expression, a trace of satisfaction flickered through her eyes.
The next second, the blade sank into his abdomen.
’s face contorted to a horrifying degree. His screams were blocked by the cloth and turned into desperate whimpers.
At first, ’s movements were somewhat unpracticed, carrying the precision and restraint of a medical student dissecting a specimen.
But soon, as warm blood splattered onto her clothing and the pained grunts of her enemy reached her ears, her eyes grew increasingly full of satisfaction.
The blade began to slice chaotically through flesh and blood, no longer following any procedure.
Blood ran down the edge of the table and gathered in a small stream on the floor.
Seeing ’s whimpers weaken, stopped. A faint emerald glow began to appear on her palm.
But pressed her hand down and instead took out a tube of .
“Use this. Since using your ability has a price, don’t waste it on someone like him. We have better things.”
As the was injected into ’s body, his vital signs, which had been on the verge of failing, instantly stabilized again.
Then continued calmly, “Peel off those two eyes on his chest as intact as possible. They’ll be useful for follow-up research.”
“Mm,” nodded seriously. “I understand.”
And so, this long and meticulous “surgery” was completed under the horrified gaze of hundreds of survivors. (Children like had already been kept outside beforehand.)
When the final cut fell, ’s also came to a difficult end.
But at the moment he stopped breathing, his corpse suddenly began to swell violently. Under the skin, eyeball after eyeball bulged frantically, as if a new mutation was about to occur.
But just then, a layer of white frost suddenly spread rapidly over the corpse, freezing the entire body within seconds.
“What right do you have to mutate?” Only then did , who had been standing nearby, pull his hand away from the corpse. His eyes were full of deep disgust and hatred. “A thing like you should just die thoroughly and cleanly!”
After he spoke, swayed.
“Boss, are you okay?” hurried forward to support him.
“I’m fine,” waved his hand, his face somewhat pale. “Just a little tired. Move the ice block to the outside and send it back to for research.”
This dissection had yielded a rich harvest.
In addition to the pair of intact eyeballs, also found an abnormal crystalline body the size of a grain of rice in ’s brain, faintly emitting red light.
The brains of the other underlings’ corpses had no similar structure. guessed that this might be related to ’s ability to control zombies.
Afterward, on the other prisoners, they also tested the effect of inhibitors on mutated eyes.
Unfortunately, the could not make the eyes disappear; it could only make them close for a period of time.
Finally, after the survivors identified people one by one and cross-verified their accounts, fewer than seven hundred of the more than twelve hundred people were deemed qualified to return to the temporary camp.
As for the rest, their crimes would be repaid with their own lives.
All samples with experimental value, together with that ice sculpture, were quickly packed up and taken by the just-returned “ ” back to the research center in .
***
Temporary camp.
The campfires had been lit again, but the atmosphere was somewhat heavy.
Looking at the seven hundred or so survivors with their varied expressions, rubbed his brow and said to the beside him, “ , we’ve run into trouble.”
[I saw.] ’s voice came through the speaker.
“More than seven hundred people...” gave a bitter smile. “Our team only has one hundred and fifty in total.”
Including the children from before and the people they had taken in along the way, the total number of people now traveling with them had already surpassed nine hundred, yet their core members numbered only 150.
Carrying and managing several times their own number of survivors was far more difficult than winning a battle, not to mention that most of these people carried unknown mutations and should actually have been quarantined for observation.
[I know.]
“So what should we do next?”
[I suggest leaving first. The mutation ecosystem here is likely already close to maturity. It would be unwise to stay long.] ’s tone was steady. [As for these people...]
[After leaving the city, you can find a relatively safe temporary settlement point, settle them there, and then continue south.]
[Afterward, I will arrange a temporary transport team to meet them and bring them back to the .]