The axe howled through the air.
The impact made He Zheng feel as though his right arm had collided with a speeding truck.
The steel-pipe handle bent into a grotesque curve the instant the axe struck the Aberrant's shin, nearly wrenching the weapon from his hand.
But the blow worked. The Aberrant buckled as its right leg deformed. Losing its balance, it slammed into the steel structure beside it.
Bang!
Glass shattered under the impact. Even the metal doorframe bulged outward.
Scales cracked. The Aberrant shrieked in fury.
Before it could rise, Zhang Tie rushed in and smashed his iron rod into its other leg.
"Ye Lin! Shoot!"
He Zheng bellowed.
In the passage, Ye Lin pulled the trigger without hesitation.
Two shots rang out, and a burst of blue blood exploded from the creature's eye.
Its screech cut off. With its brain pierced, the Aberrant shuddered, then toppled backward with a heavy crash.
Silence returned, broken only by their panting.
Grimacing, He Zheng staggered up from the floor, seemingly drained of strength. He kicked the unmistakably dead Aberrant and cursed at it.
"Fucking fish head. Come on, chase me now!"
The others exchanged relieved looks. Perhaps because this was their second encounter, killing another fish-headed monster gave them noticeably more confidence than before.
But while they relaxed, Ye Lin slowly lowered his arm, his eyes growing heavy.
The Type 77 Pistol wasn't powerful. It was generally used for self-defense at close range.
He had one bullet left. Given the Aberrant's anatomy, there was almost no chance a single round would penetrate its eye and destroy its brain.
He Zheng was in worse shape too. After he stood up, his right arm wouldn't stop shaking. He had clearly torn some muscle in it.
"Quit standing around! Get in here and look! See if there's anything we can use!"
He Zheng called Hu Jia and the others over to help search. Ye Lin silently put away his pistol, with no intention of explaining the full situation.
The truth would only destroy the hope they had finally managed to build.
Especially...
...
"Ye Lin, did you find something?"
A minute later, He Zheng stood behind him with a frown, idly twirling the freshly "repaired" fire axe.
They had dismantled a few chairs to make crude spears. They had also backed a piece of glass with some opaque cloth, creating a mirror they could extend around corners.
They hadn't found any useful clues, but it was better than nothing.
For some reason, though, Ye Lin hadn't joined the search. Ever since entering the room, he had stared at the "painting" on the wall. He wasn't even looking at the computer anymore.
Ye Lin didn't turn. His eyes remained fixed on the corpse painting.
Unlike the enormous murals they had seen earlier, this image had what looked like Aberrants at the feet of the female corpse depicted as an "angel." They lay prostrate, as though worshipping her.
"No backup power supply either, right...?"
Several seconds later, Ye Lin sighed almost imperceptibly and asked the question softly.
Behind him, Hu Jia, who had been fiddling with the computer, paused and gave an embarrassed nod.
The computer they had pinned their hopes on wouldn't even turn on. Worse, they hadn't found so much as a single sheet of paper with writing on it anywhere in the office.
Ye Lin seemed to have expected the answer. He showed no reaction, not even a trace of disappointment.
He turned, took the "spear" Zhang Tie handed him, and prepared to leave.
Even He Zheng, slow as he was, could tell something was wrong. Beside Lin Ya, An Ke frowned and glanced thoughtfully at the corpse painting.
"Ye Lin, what's going on with you? If you've found something, just tell us!"
"Did we get something wrong?"
Confused, He Zheng grabbed his arm.
Despite his urgency, Ye Lin only shook his head. He wasn't going to explain.
"It's nothing. We haven't gotten anything wrong."
"Come on. We may not have much time left..."
Ye Lin strode past He Zheng, turning his back to the others.
Unseen by anyone, his fingertips whitened as he gripped his weapon.
He couldn't tell them what he had discovered.
If he did, he was afraid their morale would collapse.
The reason was simple.
That corpse painting was "fresh." And along one edge was an almost imperceptible trace of blue.
(Could it be... what I think it is...?)
...
"So many... Aberrants!"
At a corner, a crude mirror lashed to a long pole was carefully withdrawn.
He Zheng swallowed hard, his face turning grim at what it had reflected.
No one dared speak. They could only mouth words to one another.
The good news was that the laboratory marked Biohazard Zone No. 1 lay just around the corner. There was a key right in front of the corpse by its door. If they could open it and rush inside, they could shut the Aberrants out. Get faster updates on novelping(.)com.
The bad news was that more than twenty Aberrants crowded the entrance, blocking it completely.
Perhaps dormant, they stood motionless as statues. But everyone knew the slightest noise would wake them all. Then the monsters would kill and eat them.
"What do we do?"
He Zheng looked at Ye Lin, his palms sweating.
If there had been one, or even two, he would have dared fight. With this many, they would probably tear him apart in the first exchange.
Ye Lin said nothing. After a brief moment's thought, he looked up at the ceiling.
He pointed overhead, then at the passage with a bend to their left, silently mouthing the words.
"The air duct. Crawl over through the air duct..."
"Crawl over? But the noise..."
He Zheng started to ask, then understood when Ye Lin mimed tapping the steel rod in his hand.
"Have someone make noise to lure them away?"
Ye Lin nodded and looked at Hu Jia.
"You go."
"Me? I can't! I really can't!"
Seeing that Ye Lin meant him, Hu Jia waved his hands frantically and pleaded.
In a panic, he pushed Lin Ya in front of himself, then shakily rolled up his trouser leg to show that he couldn't run fast.
Ye Lin's gaze only hardened. He raised his pistol and aimed it at Hu Jia's other leg.
There was no better choice.
He had chosen Hu Jia precisely because he was injured and couldn't run fast. Once the Aberrants were drawn away, they would need to rush inside and shut the door as quickly as possible. If Hu Jia couldn't keep up, something could go wrong.
"Go, and you might live. Refuse, and you'll definitely die."
Ye Lin enunciated each word. Understanding his meaning, He Zheng clapped a hand over Hu Jia's mouth to prevent him from taking them all down with him.
Hu Jia tried to struggle, but he had nowhere near the strength to break free.
With the Aberrants nearby, he didn't even dare make much noise.
Ignoring Hu Jia's despairing gaze, Ye Lin shook his head and leaned close to offer him a little hope.
"There's a room you can hide in at the turn we passed. Once we're inside the lab, we'll make noise and draw the Aberrants back."
"Think about it. It'll only get more dangerous ahead. Hiding there and waiting for us to come back gives you a better chance of surviving."
Hu Jia stiffened, his struggles weakening.
But he wasn't an idiot. He knew that even if he reached the room, Ye Lin wouldn't have to come back for him if he really saw him as dead weight.
Then he would be left alone to die!
Before an impatient He Zheng could threaten him again, An Ke, who had been silent all this time, stood and looked at Ye Lin.