Faced with a host who’d decided to just slack off and let things rot, what could the system do?
Spoil her, of course.
Carrying the signal-blocker the system had given her, Bai Zhuo easily scaled the high wall, dodged the guards, and headed for the gray three-story building not far off.
【Please remember, host: the blocker only works for one hour, and it causes a corresponding backlash. The longer it’s used, the greater the backlash.】
【I got it, I got it, you’ve said it eight hundred times already.】
After a bit of bickering with the system in her mind, Bai Zhuo wasted no time. Climbing through a window, she silently restored it to how it had been.
The room carried the unmistakable smell of chemical reagents. Bai Zhuo pinched at her mask, thank goodness she’d had the foresight. It didn’t block much of the smell, but at least if she ran into a toxic agent she wouldn’t drop dead on the spot.
The system couldn’t give her a detailed map, she’d have to rely on herself.
Bai Zhuo stayed quiet in the room for a while, and only after confirming no one was coming did she cautiously feel her way outside.
Maybe it was because of the late hour, but the gray three-story building was eerily quiet.
Before the apocalypse, a building like this would probably have been covered in surveillance cameras. But now, when even basic lighting couldn’t be supplied, the surveillance system simply couldn’t run.
Bai Zhuo made her way soundlessly to the stairs and, to her surprise, discovered a nearly invisible door in the darkness.
This door, where did it lead?
Bai Zhuo reached out and pressed on it, and to her surprise, it actually pushed open, revealing a staircase leading underground right before her eyes.
No, wait, if it opens this easily, is the Linzhou base leadership really this careless?
Grumbling aside, this was a good thing for Bai Zhuo. She quickly slipped inside.
The staircase was long. There were some glowing things embedded in the walls on either side, but as lighting they weren’t bright enough, she could barely make out the steps beneath her feet.
When she finally set foot on level ground, Bai Zhuo let out a small breath of relief.
She narrowed her eyes and took in the underground space, a fork to the left and one to the right, with no telling where either led.
【Host, to the right.】
The system, which had gone offline for a while, came back online and pointed Bai Zhuo the way directly.
Without the slightest hesitation, Bai Zhuo headed in the direction the system indicated.
After walking about ten-some meters, Bai Zhuo stopped in front of a large door.
To the right of the door was a keypad, coupled with an iris scanner. If she wanted to get in, it would be extremely difficult.
Just as Bai Zhuo was considering whether to resort to a little brute force, the system told her to simply place the blocker on the keypad.
The blocker had that function too?
Half in doubt, Bai Zhuo did as the system said, and the next second, the door opened.
【Nice, System!】
It was a large laboratory. Bai Zhuo looked around and found all sorts of strange experimental equipment.
In the very center of the lab stood a nutrient pod. When Bai Zhuo leaned in close, she instantly sucked in a breath of cold air.
A zombie!
Inside was actually a zombie, eyes tightly shut, skin an ashen gray!
Bai Zhuo instinctively clenched her fists. She thought of what had happened on the way to Linzhou.
Those two originally normal people who had suddenly mutated into zombies.
Could this be the truth behind their mutation?
【Beep, System scan successful. Host, please withdraw at once!】
Scan? Scan what?
Before Bai Zhuo could figure it out, the blocker’s backlash abruptly hit her body. A needle-prick pain shot through her mind, and her face went pale in an instant.
Sparing the zombie steeping in the fluid one last glance, Bai Zhuo gritted her teeth and turned to run for the exit.
Out the door, up the stairs, out the window, when Bai Zhuo landed, her footing wavered and she nearly lost her balance.
“Who’s there?!”
Not good!
Bai Zhuo didn’t dare linger for an instant. She quickly vaulted the wall and vanished into the darkness.
This place was fairly far from where they were staying. Afraid of being spotted, Bai Zhuo didn’t dare stop the whole way, and it wasn’t until she knocked on the door and saw Xue Yanhen that she finally let her strength go.
Xue Yanhen caught her in her arms and laid her down on the bed.
Seeing how pale she was, cold sweat pouring off her nonstop, Xue Yanhen’s heart clenched.
“Xiao Bai? Where does it hurt?”
Bai Zhuo gave Xue Yanhen no reply, because in her mind she was howling curses at the system.
The system, whether from a guilty conscience or otherwise, simply let Bai Zhuo curse away without talking back.
This damned system was plainly using her, treating her as a tool. [1]a person exploited purely as an instrument for others’ ends jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_2936506_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_2936506_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });
Something cold touched her forehead, and the cursing in Bai Zhuo’s heart cut off abruptly. She instinctively opened her eyes and met Xue Yanhen’s worry-filled gaze.
Bai Zhuo reached up and touched the thing on her forehead, a damp towel.
Bai Zhuo sighed inwardly and gave Xue Yanhen a smile. “Don’t worry, I’m fine.”
“Really?”
“A bit of a headache at most.”
Seeing that her color really had improved somewhat, Xue Yanhen finally eased up a little.
Xue Yanhen didn’t ask what Bai Zhuo had been doing, she only told her what had happened while she’d been gone.
That girl still hadn’t given up. This time, taking advantage of Bai Zhuo’s absence, she’d pushed her luck even further. [2]pressed for more after getting a little jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_2936506_1_2').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_2936506_1_2', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });
The blocker’s backlash faded, and Bai Zhuo’s expression eased. “What did she do?”
Xue Yanhen pressed her lips together and stiffly changed the subject. “That doesn’t matter. What matters is, I got some things out of her. She seems to have some connection to the base leadership. She promised me that as long as I got together with her, I’d immediately break free of my current situation, become one of the elite of the apocalypse, someone above the rest, and never have to worry about survival supplies again.”
Bai Zhuo frowned. “So she really was here for you. Otherwise, by her own account, there’s no way she’d be living here.”
“Mm. I’d guess I got marked the moment I took the ability test.”
The room fell silent. Having confirmed this outcome, their best option was to leave the Linzhou base.
But there was no telling whether another zombie horde might come, and if they left rashly they might land themselves in danger.
“Let’s wait a bit longer.” Xue Yanhen laid a hand over Bai Zhuo’s. “Once the horde passes, we leave right away.”
“Okay.”
Bai Zhuo knew the mess she’d stirred up today was bound to throw the Linzhou base into turmoil, so even if they wanted to leave now, they couldn’t.
After Xue Yanhen had fallen into a deep sleep, Bai Zhuo summoned the system.
【Talk. I don’t need a partner who only lies to me and uses me. I may not be able to strip you out of my mind, but I can definitely refuse to complete missions and keep you from upgrading.】
The system was silent for a moment, then quietly played Bai Zhuo a video.
It was a fortress built atop a stretch of ruins. Outside the fortress, vast numbers of zombies roamed.
The cracked, barren earth gave rise to not a single blade of grass, and a blood moon hung in the night sky.
【This is a human base ten years from now.】
Bai Zhuo’s heart lurched. What did it mean, a human base ten years from now?
The video played on. When she saw the scene of the zombies charging at the human base over and over under the command of high-tier zombies, Bai Zhuo forced back the cry that rose in her throat.
Those high-tier zombies, they were no different from ordinary humans!
References[+]