Chapter 29: No Door Can't Be Opened |
The midday sun was dazzling.
Lin Shuman stood frozen in place, cold sweat breaking out on her forehead, her mind in turmoil.
The little boy fell to the ground, crying loudly, and was helped up by the old woman. He didn't seem like an Esper at all.
How could he be an Esper?!
The people who had investigated Zhao Hong and his wife should have already checked the area for energy reactions. If Zhao Jie were an Esper, he couldn't have been overlooked! Unless Zhao Jie suddenly became an Esper in the past few days.
There were two possibilities:
- Zhao Jie suddenly awakened.
- Zhao Jie was replaced by someone else.
Lin Shuman immediately connected to her earpiece channel and contacted Xia Lei, urgently saying, "Instructor Xia, urgent situation!"
"I detected an energy reaction from Zhao Jie, and it's at D-level!"
Xia Lei was also surprised, "D-level? At four years old? Impossible!"
Lin Shuman was a bit nervous, "But I'm sure the energy detector worked... Could it be broken?"
Xia Lei paused, then said, "No, there are exceptions."
Lin Shuman: "Huh?"
Xia Lei said seriously, "One of the Death Hive members who died last night was a six-year-old child."
Lin Shuman was stunned. Death Hive and children should be completely unrelated terms.
However, they were now bizarrely linked.
Xia Lei continued, "But that wasn't a natural awakening. It was a deformed product created by Death Hive using 'Ascension Candy,' which exhausts life force to produce a D-level Esper."
"Only this method can bypass the limitation I mentioned earlier."
"So..."
Lin Shuman swallowed, "Death Hive, after experimenting on Zhao Hong and his wife, secretly targeted their son as well."
Xia Lei said grimly, "Exactly. I'll send people over immediately. Keep an eye on the surroundings. Death Hive likely, no, definitely has eyes on that area."
"If you're correct, Zhao Jie, as an experimental subject, should be more successful than his parents."
"Death Hive would definitely monitor him."
Xia Lei added helplessly, "And Guan Shan is already a primary target for them. Now he's walked right into their sights."
He suspected this kid did it on purpose.
It must have been intentional!
Guan Shan killed Zhao Hong and his wife himself; he would know about it, right? Yet here he was, pretending to investigate.
Xia Lei paused. Could it be that Guan Shan came here to lead them to discover that Zhao Jie had been targeted by Death Hive?
The more he thought about it, the more reasonable it seemed.
And the more mysterious Guan Shan appeared. How did he even know about this... What exactly was his ability? Time was tight, and Xia Lei instructed the first team to move quickly. But then he heard Lin Shuman's trembling voice, "The number of energy reactions suddenly spiked. I see several people who look like Death Hive members approaching. What should I do?"
Xia Lei, surprised at her panic, asked, "Calm down. How many people are there? What are their levels?"
Lin Shuman replied, "The leader seems to have three or four D-level members, the rest are E and F-level."
Xia Lei sighed in relief, "Then what's there to fear? With Guan Shan around, you'll be fine."
Lin Shuman was near tears, "I'm worried he'll kill them all... Should we try to save one for interrogation?"
Xia Lei: "..."
That makes sense.
Xia Lei, momentarily confused, bit his lip and said, "Just don't expose yourself."
While Lin Shuman was nervously talking to Xia Lei,
Guan Shan and Shen Dinghua had left Zhao Hong's house, watching Zhao Hong's mother quickly shut the door behind them. The desolate house underscored how the murder had destroyed an entire family.
He shook his head and, just as he turned around, heard a mechanical voice.
【Scene scan complete, generating horror game...】
【Horror game generated: Zombie Siege】
【Loading story, please wait...】
"Damn! In broad daylight, you're generating a horror game?! This place doesn't even look like it could have a zombie siege!"
Guan Shan was stunned.
He thought that being thrown into a simulation on a night bus was the limit, but this was even more absurd.
Playing a horror game in broad daylight—this simulator must be seriously messed up! "Oh no, Xiao Shen is still here!"
Before the visuals could change, Guan Shan quickly turned Shen Dinghua around and spoke seriously, "Don't look back, no matter what you hear!"
Otherwise, I might seem like a lunatic to you!
Shen Dinghua, confused but obedient, turned around and covered her ears.
Guan Shan sighed in relief, just as the light around him shifted, turning from bright midday to dim dusk.
Darkness spread, the sky filled with low, oppressive clouds as if rain could pour any second. The surrounding buildings aged and decayed, turning into wastelands.
Walls on either side of the alley were splattered with bloody remains, covered with barbed wire.
A corpse hung from a nearby streetlight, dripping blood, with red-eyed crows cawing overhead.
"Crap! I was just joking about it being daytime, and you turned it to night instantly? The atmosphere team is too efficient! Love it!"
Guan Shan sarcastically gave the simulator a thumbs-up.
【Story loaded!】
【You are playing a low-quality horror game...】
Guan Shan laughed, "Self-aware, huh? Too lazy to even think up a story?"
【...a low-quality and clichéd horror game, with a clichéd apocalypse, clichéd biohazard, and clichéd zombie siege—everything is clichéd. You are trapped here like a gladiator in ancient Rome. All you can do is pick up a weapon, kill them, or be killed by them.】
【*Note: Only by defeating the final boss can you end this simulation!】
In his vision, from different directions, over a dozen zombies shuffled towards him.
They varied in shape, wearing tattered clothes, from crawling on all fours to strung together like centipedes, resembling the Hulk, and distorted in every way.
At a glance, their levels ranged from 4 to 7, with rotting mouths open, lunging at Guan Shan.
In the darkness, these grotesque zombies, screaming, displayed a terrifying and menacing appearance.
"Roar—"
A roar came from the side.
Guan Shan turned to see a giant zombie roaring, wielding a chainsaw, descending from the sky.
Startled, he jumped back, quickly opening his inventory to grab a weapon.
To avoid making too much noise, he didn't take out his Glock or the boning knife but chose the Crowbar.
Taking a deep breath, he muttered, "The anus... is still a door, right?"