Huo Shaochen’s expression turned solemn. “Everyone, keep your weapons ready. Don’t let the zombies get close!”
As soon as he finished speaking, he gripped his long saber and charged forward.
Hearing this, Huo Mian quickly held her Tang saber horizontally in front of her, taking a defensive stance as she stared intently at the battle ahead.
The zombie’s eyes were bloodshot, and it viciously clawed at Huo Shaochen with its sharp nails.
Huo Shaochen swiftly dodged toward the wall, avoiding the zombie’s claws. He immediately swung his long saber toward the zombie’s neck.
The zombie seemed to sense the lethal danger and twisted its body with astonishing agility, narrowly avoiding the fierce strike.
Then it suddenly kicked off the ground, leaped onto the corridor railing, and charged toward Huo Mian and the others.
Huo Shaochen was just about to turn around and pursue the Level-One zombie when the ordinary zombies behind him had already reached them, forcing him to stop and deal with them instead.
Cao Kang raised an eyebrow as he gripped his massive iron hammer. “Pretty damn fast, huh? Let’s see if I can’t smash you to death!”
With that, he quickly advanced several meters, swung the massive hammer with both hands, and slammed it toward the zombie’s abdomen.
He was trying to knock the zombie off the railing and send it falling from the fourth floor.
The zombie’s reaction was astonishingly fast. It suddenly leaped down from the railing, swiftly passed over Cao Kang, and charged straight toward Wen Qi.
“Everyone, be careful!”
As soon as Wen Qi shouted, he gripped his red-tasseled spear and thrust it viciously toward the zombie’s head.
The zombie seemed capable of predicting Wen Qi’s movements. Just as the spearhead was about to strike, it tilted its head slightly and dodged the attack.
Immediately afterward, it changed targets and suddenly charged toward Bai Ningrong, who was standing beside Wen Qi.
Wen Qi frowned and thrust his red-tasseled spear again.
The zombie suddenly extended its claw and precisely grabbed the shaft of the spear. Using the momentum of Wen Qi’s attack, it abruptly yanked forward with tremendous force.
Caught off guard and thrown off balance by his own momentum, Wen Qi stumbled forward under the zombie’s powerful pull.
The zombie opened its huge mouth and seized the opportunity to bite toward Wen Qi’s neck.
Wen Qi furrowed his brows and quickly shifted sideways, using the red-tasseled spear as support.
Seeing this, Bai Ningrong swung the large saber in her hand viciously toward the zombie’s face.
“Clack!”
The zombie actually bit down on the blade.
Apparently enraged by Bai Ningrong’s interference, the zombie suddenly swung the spear with tremendous force.
Wen Qi was thrown more than two meters away, spear and all.
The zombie then turned its attack toward Bai Ningrong and slapped the large saber with all its strength.
The saber was instantly knocked from Bai Ningrong’s hands, spinning through the air before flying far away.
“Clang!”
It struck the wall and finally fell to the floor.
The zombie viciously extended its sharp claws and swiped toward Bai Ningrong’s face.
Seeing this, Bai Ningrong quickly lowered her body, dodging the zombie’s claws.
Huo Mian was standing directly behind Bai Ningrong. When she saw Bai Ningrong duck down, she gripped her Tang saber and swung it toward the zombie’s head.
The zombie could no longer spare any attention for Bai Ningrong and quickly tilted its head to the side.
“Whoosh!”
The blade sliced off one of its ears.
The zombie cried out in pain, its throat immediately producing a series of sharp, rasping roars.
The terrifying sound echoed through the corridor, sending chills down everyone’s spine.
Seeing the zombie go berserk, Huo Mian quickly retreated.
At this moment, the zombie had completely lost control. It abandoned its attack on the closer Bai Ningrong and instead charged toward Huo Mian.
Wen Qi seized the opportunity to reach the zombie’s back. Seeing it charge recklessly toward Huo Mian, he hurriedly thrust his spear forward.
At the same time, Xu Mingfan, who was behind Huo Mian, showed no fear.
He took several quick strides forward, raised his large saber, and viciously slashed toward the zombie’s neck.
In an instant—
“Pfft!”
Wen Qi’s spear pierced straight through the zombie’s head, sending brain matter and black blood splattering everywhere.
At the same time, Xu Mingfan’s blade sliced through the zombie’s neck, instantly separating its head from its body.
A stream of foul-smelling black blood sprayed out, splashing all over Xu Mingfan.
The zombie’s hands remained frozen in the position of reaching for Huo Mian, its stiff fingers stretched toward the air. Its sharp claws glinted with a chilling sheen under the bright lights.
Xu Mingfan was too close, and everything had happened too suddenly for him to dodge properly. The falling zombie slammed squarely into him.
He hurriedly shoved the body away, sending it tumbling backward.
“Thud!”
It crashed onto the floor.
Xu Mingfan felt the sticky sensation on his face and smelled the foul stench filling his nostrils. His face twisted with disgust and anger.
He could not help cursing, “Damn it! This zombie’s already dead, and it still had to disgust me one last time. What a pain in the ass!”
As he spoke, Xu Mingfan hurriedly wiped his face with his sleeve. From the corner of his eye, he noticed that Wen Qi’s red-tasseled spear was still impaling the zombie’s head.
Black blood trickled from the severed neck, dripping onto the floor with a steady “drip, drip” sound.
Xu Mingfan’s eyes widened.
“Bro, why are you still carrying that zombie head on your spear? Hurry up and throw it away! This thing is disgusting!”
Wen Qi glanced at Xu Mingfan and calmly flicked the zombie’s head off his spear.
The head rolled across the floor, tumbling round and round until it finally stopped right at Xu Mingfan’s feet.
Xu Mingfan: “?”
Huo Shaochen finished dealing with the ordinary zombies and walked over to the group.
“Is anyone injured?” His voice carried a hint of concern.
Everyone shook their heads and answered in unison, “No.”
The solemn expression on Huo Shaochen’s face eased slightly. He then walked over to the zombie’s head.
He crouched down, twisted his wrist, and suddenly produced a dagger in his palm.
Huo Mian’s peach-shaped eyes flickered.
She had seen the Swift Shadow Squad take weapons out of their storage spaces and distribute them to everyone before.
Come to think of it, it seemed that every member of the Swift Shadow Squad had a storage space.
They were ridiculously wealthy. Huo Mian could not help feeling envious.
Huo Shaochen used the dagger to poke around inside the zombie’s head. Before long, he pried out a transparent crystal core about the size of a pigeon’s egg.
The crystal core emitted a strange glow, but it was covered with the zombie’s black blood and bits of flesh, making it look filthy.
Huo Shaochen took out a glass bottle filled with water, gently placed the crystal core inside, and then stood up.
Bai Ningrong stepped forward, her face full of curiosity.
“Shaochen, what is this?”
Huo Shaochen patiently explained, “It’s the energy crystal core of a Level-One zombie. This transparent crystal core represents no elemental affinity. There are crystal cores of other colors as well.
“Different colors represent different elemental attributes. For crystal cores of the same color, the deeper the color, the stronger the zombie’s ability.”
Xu Mingfan suddenly interrupted, “Zombies have levels too? If a Level-One zombie is already this powerful, how are humans supposed to deal with high-level zombies in the future?”
Huo Shaochen glanced at him and slowly said, “Zombies aren’t the only ones who can level up. Humans can also increase their ability levels through combat and by absorbing the energy from zombie crystal cores.
“During battle, we continuously temper our abilities, thereby stimulating our potential.
“Absorbing crystal cores is another way to increase our strength quickly, but the process must be handled carefully. The slightest mistake could cause the energy within the crystal core to backfire and injure the user.”
At this point, his expression became serious.
“The crystal cores should ideally be purified before being absorbed. The base is currently developing a device to purify crystal cores.
“I’ll keep this energy crystal core for now. Once we have enough, we’ll distribute them among everyone.”
After hearing this, no one objected. They all nodded in agreement with Huo Shaochen’s suggestion.
Huo Shaochen turned to Wen Qi.
“Can you determine Professor Yang’s location?”
Wen Qi frowned and shook his head.
“My ability can only ignore physical obstacles within thirty meters.
“The laboratories nearby are all filled with zombies. I haven’t seen any living people. For anything farther away, I need to enter within thirty meters of it before I can ‘see’ it.”
Huo Shaochen’s brows furrowed tightly.
He remembered that the gunshots from their recent battle might attract other zombies.
In the end, he ordered everyone to split up and search, striving to find Professor Yang as quickly as possible.
To enter the laboratories, an access card was an indispensable pass.
The laboratory access-control system had originally been designed to ensure the safety and confidentiality of the experimental environment.
Under normal circumstances, access cards worked together with electronic identification devices to accurately verify authorization and ensure that only authorized personnel could enter and exit.
However, the unexpected power outage had disrupted the laboratories’ normal operations.
The loss of electricity caused the access-control system to instantly stop functioning, leaving it unable to respond to access cards.
The cold metal doors had become obstacles preventing them from entering the laboratories.
Huo Shaochen possessed dual lightning and metal abilities, while Xu Mingfan possessed a metal-type ability. The two of them could break through the laboratory locks and open the doors.
In the end, Huo Shaochen arranged for Wen Qi, Xu Mingfan, and Huo Mian to inspect the laboratories on the right.
Huo Shaochen, Bai Ningrong, and Cao Kang would be responsible for the laboratories on the left.
Wen Qi took the lead, walking slowly down the corridor, while Huo Mian and Xu Mingfan walked side by side behind him.
The three of them passed four laboratories in succession when Wen Qi suddenly stopped.
He turned around and said, “There are survivors in the laboratory ahead.”
Huo Mian instinctively glanced back and saw that Huo Shaochen and the other two were no longer in the corridor.
She blinked and looked at Wen Qi.
“Should we go inform Captain Huo?”
Wen Qi shook his head and said softly, “Not for now. We still don’t know whether Professor Yang is inside. Let’s rescue the people first.
“We may need to use some of the equipment later. Let them deal with the zombies in the laboratories first. That will save us some trouble afterward.”