Bang!

The bullet hit the zombie's bandage-wrapped head, sending up a puff of dust.

Bang!

The zombie's steps faltered, but it immediately continued walking forward.

Ten meters, five meters, three meters.

With three bangs, Si Nan threw down the empty Type 64 Pistol, exhaled a hot, bloody breath, and swung his fist at the other's temple!

People often unleash astonishing strength in moments of crisis. Si Nan's heavy punch could rival a professional boxer's, landing unreservedly on the corner of the zombie's forehead.

If this had been a human head, it would have cracked by now. But this zombie, which had burst out of a coffin, merely tilted its head slightly, grabbed Si Nan, and threw him with a bang!

With a series of crashing sounds, Si Nan's body flew more than ten meters before hitting the wall. As he fell, he knocked over a swath of equipment and landed heavily amidst a floor of broken glass and metal fragments.

"..." Si Nan silently cursed. His eyes were so bloodshot he could barely see, and through the blur, he saw the zombie walking toward him step by step.

This zombie was wrapped head to toe in thick, grayish-yellow bandages, just like a mummy. Its facial features were completely obscured, save for a mouth revealing bloodstained, sharp teeth. Although its movements weren't very agile, its joints weren't stiff and its muscles weren't desiccated like the common zombies outside. On the contrary, it possessed unimaginable strength; even a direct bullet to the head couldn't cause any damage.

Si Nan slowly shook his head. 'What the hell is this thing?!'

In the Circular Underground Laboratory, other than the powerless elevator, there was nothing else to climb. 'Am I going to die here today?'

The zombie drew closer. Si Nan struggled to his feet. In his haste, he noticed a row of finger-thick, short glass tubes beneath him, most of which he had crushed. A crimson fluid had splattered all over him, looking just like blood.

He had no time to think about what it was. Dodging the zombie's iron claws as they came down on his head, he lunged to the side like a bolt of lightning.

"Awooo—"

The zombie's movements were even faster than he had imagined. It grabbed his leg and began to drag him backward. Si Nan was in a sorry state, but luckily, the force of his kick was greater than his punch. He managed to break free just a moment before being bitten, immediately scrambling to his feet and charging forward.

He couldn't run out of the laboratory, so he could only run along the circular alloy walls, with the zombie in hot pursuit. Several times, Si Nan felt his clothes snagged from behind, but in those critical moments, he managed to wrench himself free, using the large instruments to barely evade the zombie's chase.

The zombie wasn't a living person, after all. It was not very agile amidst the complex equipment, crashing into and smashing an unknown number of machines with loud bangs. In the dim light, one chased and one fled. After seven or eight laps around the football-field-sized laboratory, Si Nan had truly reached the end of his rope. By the end, he was practically coughing up blood as he ran. Suddenly, his foot caught on a cable sticking out from somewhere, and he was tripped, his whole body sent flying.

The zombie crushed an iron chair with one foot, and its putrid stench pressed in from behind.

Si Nan drew his dagger in a reverse grip. Like a silent fish swimming through the air, his entire body flipped over as if boneless, and he pressed the blade against the zombie's throat with both hands.

The zombie roared, lowering its head. Its sharp teeth were practically against the top of Si Nan's head, yet the blade simply couldn't cut into its neck!

Si Nan had never been this close to death in his life. Every second of the stalemate felt like a year. The muscles in his arms bulged with veins, and he was straining so hard that blood even seeped from under his fingernails.

The zombie's mouth drew closer, centimeter by centimeter, until it was almost touching Si Nan's eyelashes!

Just then, a voice came from above: "Si Nan!!"

Yan Hao!

Yan Hao was kneeling on one knee, holding an assault rifle. "Get away from there!!"

Si Nan was lying on his back. Using the force of the blade pressed against the zombie's neck, he slid backward along the ground, shooting back several meters.

The zombie got up to pursue him, and at the same time, Yan Hao pulled the trigger—

A 9mm lead-core armor-piercing round shot out, hitting the zombie with pinpoint accuracy and instantly sending it flying!

The coordination was brilliant. After his successful shot, Yan Hao immediately handed the assault rifle to Zhang Yingjie, pulled out a rope, and threw it down into the pit. "Si Nan! Come up!"

Si Nan took two gasping breaths and struggled to his feet.

He was covered in blood from head to toe, and even his ears were clogged with clots. If anyone came within ten meters of him, his Pheromones would be completely exposed.

—But to worry about such things now would be overly sentimental. Si Nan staggered across the laboratory toward Yan Hao. Just as he was about to reach for the rope, a beast-like figure lunged at him from the side.

Pow!

Si Nan was knocked over headfirst!

The zombie, its body ruptured by the armor-piercing round, was enraged. It grabbed the rope and, with lightning speed, yanked Yan Hao down from the edge of the pit!

This sudden turn of events was completely unexpected. Zhang Yingjie had no time to aim and fire before Yan Hao tumbled headfirst down into the ten-meter-deep pit, crashing into a giant centrifuge.

And that wasn't all.

The other end of the rope was tied around his waist. The zombie grabbed the end and gave it a vicious tug, and before Yan Hao could even make a sound, he was yanked through the air by the immense force!

Zhang Yingjie roared, "Yan Hao!!"

His finger touched the trigger, then pulled back as if shocked—the zombie had grabbed Yan Hao. If he fired now, the armor-piercing round might not kill the zombie, but it would definitely blast Yan Hao into a bloody pulp on the spot!

Si Nan whipped his head around. "No..."

His pupils constricted and then rapidly dilated, a bloody light reflected in his eyes.

The zombie bit down on Yan Hao's carotid artery!

Yan Hao's cry of pain rang out instantly. Blood gushed out, quickly dyeing the bandages on one side of the zombie's face crimson.

Si Nan scrambled over the sharp metal fragments on the floor and lunged forward, one hand pushing against the zombie's heavy, steel-like body, the other reaching for Yan Hao. In the chaos, Yan Hao shoved Si Nan away forcefully, tremblingly pulled out a grenade, and shoved it into the zombie's arms—

Four seconds of silence, then the earth shook and the mountains swayed!

Yan Hao, shielding his head and face, was thrown far away. The zombie slammed against the wall and rolled to the ground.

"I'll fuck your ancestors—!"

Zhang Yingjie's eyes were red. He fired an armor-piercing round into the zombie's body, and in the flash of light, the zombie shot up. Before it could land, Zhang Yingjie loaded another round and blew the zombie's chest open!

Si Nan's voice trembled, "Yan Hao!"

Yan Hao's vision blurred. He convulsed in a pool of blood, countless bones broken, his chest caved in horrifyingly.

The Alpha Pheromone that had broken free of its cage peaked within seconds, the male scent so strong it was almost tangible. Si Nan smelled it and staggered in astonishment. But immediately after, as life rapidly drained away, the Alpha Pheromone quickly and ominously faded.

Si Nan knelt beside him, tremblingly taking off his jacket and pressing it hard against the bleeding wound on the side of Yan Hao's neck.

"..." Yan Hao mumbled something, but no sound actually came out.

His ears, nasal passages, and throat were all blocked with blood. His consciousness drifted, as if submerged in a warm, deep sea. Someone was pressing hard on his neck; he knew it was Si Nan.

'I'm sorry,' he thought.

We lied to you, but...

"Don't talk," Si Nan panted heavily. "It's okay, don't move... Don't talk."

After firing four armor-piercing rounds, Zhang Yingjie knelt on the ground, opening a new magazine. But his physical condition was truly failing. As he tried to load it, his hand trembled, and the bullets fell to the ground.

He hurried to pick them up. In those few seconds without suppressive fire, the zombie let out a piercing shriek and staggered back to its feet!

Half of the zombie's chest was gone, its left arm hanging from its shoulder by only a few strands of muscle fiber, but it still wasn't dead. Like a tank, it charged straight for Si Nan's back!

With a click, the magazine was loaded. Zhang Yingjie raised his gun to aim, but he just couldn't get a clear shot.

His vision was already very blurry. At this distance, the target split into double images, and the slightest deviation of the muzzle could hit Yan Hao and Si Nan.

—Damn it!

As if the last of the hot blood in his dying body had rushed to his head, Zhang Yingjie stood up, panting.

'I'm going to die anyway, what am I afraid of?'

'What the hell do I have to be afraid of?!'

He held his breath and, like an enraged lion, jumped down from the edge of the pit with the heavy machine gun in his arms!

The zombie crossed the laboratory, only to be tackled to the ground by Zhang Yingjie, who had descended like a divine soldier. It let out a series of strange cries. Immediately after, Zhang Yingjie straddled its body, his dying roar deafening, and jammed the assault rifle into its mouth!

Bang! The zombie's bandages flew apart.

Bang!! Blood burst from the zombie's seven orifices.

Bang!!!

The zombie let out a sharp, frenzied cry and threw Zhang Yingjie off with a sweep of its arm!

Zhang Yingjie crashed into the wreckage-strewn floor and didn't move.

The zombie was like a haphazard, teetering pile of bones. Its skull was almost completely shattered, half of its messy brain exposed, its eyes, ears, mouth, and nose a pulpy mess. It stood there, gazing blankly around, seemingly unable to find its target.

"You..." Si Nan stood up, his vision blackening. His pale face was covered in blood. In that instant, he resembled a grotesque and ferocious monster. "You can just die—!"

Si Nan threw his military dagger. The blade whirled through the air and embedded itself deep in the zombie's brain!

With a squelch, brain matter splattered everywhere. The zombie finally twitched twice and collapsed to the ground.

·

The laboratory fell silent. Si Nan knelt on the ground, then fell backward onto his back.

For a moment, he felt that he was dead too.

His eyelids had never felt so heavy, as if closing them would instantly send him into a peaceful, deep sleep. Just by closing his eyes, he could immediately escape the heart-wrenching pain, the weight of life and death, and this devastated world.

Those blood-soaked eyelashes slowly closed.

Five seconds later, he choked abruptly and opened his eyes again.

Si Nan endured the intense pain and rolled over. His blood-covered hands pressed down into the metal and glass fragments with a crunch, and he felt a sticky liquid flow through his fingers. At first, he thought it was blood, but then he realized it wasn't.

It was the crimson solution from the test tubes he had mostly smashed earlier.

In that instant, the air seemed to freeze. Si Nan stared blankly at the few remaining three-sectioned metal test tubes, and fragmented images suddenly flashed through his chaotic mind.

The plane cabin shook violently, screams rising and falling, seats splattered with blood.

The cockpit door slammed shut, the swarming living dead vanished behind it, a blood-red syringe fell out of the cryo-box...

Si Nan shuddered. His mind suddenly went blank, then was wracked by a tearing pain!

"...Ah..."

He curled up, clutching his head. A glimmer of memory seemed to surface from the depths of his mind, but in the blink of an eye, it vanished completely!

"Serum," he murmured, "Serum, Serum, Serum..."

As if possessed by some unseen force, Si Nan inexplicably picked up a test tube, fumbled for a syringe needle from the messy instrument table, and practically crawled over to Zhang Yingjie. Without even checking if he was breathing, he tremblingly injected the entire tube's solution into his jugular vein.

Then he did the same, stumbling to his knees beside the violently gasping Yan Hao and injecting another full tube of solution into a vein in his arm!

It was a long few minutes, but for Si Nan, they passed in a flash.

He knelt there, his forehead split open, dried blood caked on one cold side of his face. His arms, legs, and torso were covered in large patches of red—brownish-red where it was dry, bright red where it was wet, and stickily half-dry in between, like a crimson canvas with varying shades from a poor dyeing technique.

He used his jacket to press tightly against the bleeding wound on the side of Yan Hao's neck, using more strength than he ever had in his life—as if he were racing against an unseen fate in the void, as if he were desperately, tightly, gripping the Grim Reaper's sinister scythe with both hands.

"...Ah... aah... ah...!"

Si Nan whipped his head around, looking toward Zhang Yingjie.

The solution reacted violently within Zhang Yingjie's body, but it was the worst possible reaction—the veins all over his body bulged and turned blue, as if he were being strangled, his eyes staring blankly at the ceiling.

Then, under Si Nan's despairing gaze, his body arched upward with all its might, a final gurgle of bloody foam bursting from his throat, before he suddenly collapsed and stopped moving.

—He was dead.

He stared into the endless darkness, his eyes empty and lifeless, but his face was turned slightly toward Si Nan and Yan Hao, as if he wanted one last look at his comrades.

Until the very last moment of his life, he remained humanly lucid and in pain, showing no signs of turning into a zombie.

Si Nan was speechless, clutching the empty syringe he had just used on Yan Hao, his neck turning with painstaking slowness—

Behind him, Yan Hao's death throes suddenly intensified, becoming terrifyingly clear.