Chapter 17: Raising Zombies? |
Gu Yue sensed a disturbance and had already been moving away from the red door.
But his eyes were closed, and ghosts fly silently.
Right now Wu Zhong watched with his own eyes as the ghost had already flown over his head and landed beneath a nearby chandelier, standing there fiddling with the hemp rope… it seemed to have emerged because it disliked how dark the room was.
And by emerging like that, what Gu Yue thought was distancing himself was actually moving straight toward it.
“Within one meter, it pulls you in?”
“Uh… you’re walking the wrong way. It’s in front of you. You’re getting closer to it now.”
Wu Zhong hesitated, then warned him anyway.
Although he didn’t fully understand, ever since hearing about the Ever-Thirst Plum’s effect, Wu Zhong had developed a bit of a trauma—he now felt a strong aversion to things like this.
If he could avoid getting close, he’d rather not get close.
Good grief, even ghosts get affected—this sounds like another unsolvable cursed thing, doesn’t it?
“How do you know that? Are you trying to get me killed?” Unexpectedly, Gu Yue didn’t believe Wu Zhong; he was convinced Wu Zhong was an associate of Infinite Summer.
“Why would I lie? Believe me.” Wu Zhong widened his eyes and watched helplessly as Gu Yue approached.
As Gu Yue moved closer, Wu Zhong was dragged forward as well, his heart hitching to his throat.
Yet nothing happened.
“It’s fake?”
That thought flashed across Wu Zhong’s mind.
But it couldn’t be— the ghost was clearly being drawn, wildly trying to untie the rope.
It grew increasingly agitated, even raging, hissing malevolently, “It won’t come undone, why won’t it come undone?”
At the same time, once Gu Yue got within one meter—even with his eyes closed—he trembled, actively opened his eyes, pushed forward and began working on the tangled mess of rope, his gaze obsessed.
Man and ghost, who had been fighting fiercely moments ago, now sat face-to-face fussing over a knotted rope.
They couldn’t actually untie it and even blamed each other.
“Don’t pull! You ugly ghost, I’m already almost there.” Gu Yue said irritably.
The ghost Gizzard didn’t hold back either, speaking in a sinister tone: “I can untie it by myself. Don’t disturb me!”
Both man and ghost were agitated but didn’t brawl; instead they focused entirely on the knotted mass.
Wu Zhong was dumbfounded—he was now sure this tangle’s properties were indeed dangerous.
Only, for some reason, he hadn’t been affected.
“Is this really an anomalous object? That’s seriously creepy!”
Left unattended, the air shield restraining him also slackened and dissipated because of Gu Yue’s abnormality—it vanished.
Man and ghost were so absorbed in conquering the knot that they ignored him completely.
As if that tangle were the universe’s greatest puzzle, containing endless mysteries that demanded life-or-death devotion—one must solve it even at the cost of everything!
“What do I do? They’re completely controlled by that tangle… can I leave now?”
“But… where can I even go?”
“Gizzard’s trapped here too. Without him to lead, how could I escape?”
Wu Zhong’s anxiety flared, but he dared not wander this area alone.
Who knew whether he’d encounter something even more unimaginable?
He glanced around and suddenly reached for the gun at Gu Yue’s waist.
It was heavy. It looked like a Type 92 pistol but had clearly been modified—stylish, comfortable to grip.
This was his first time holding a real firearm; he mimicked movies and flicked off the safety.
He also found four grenades on Gu Yue and a two-foot-long military machete.
Since the others were too absorbed to notice him, he took them for self-defense.
“Why don’t I take this tangle and move away with it?”
Summoning courage, Wu Zhong touched the knot.
Finding nothing happened to him, he grabbed the rope and began to move it slowly.
Man and ghost were engrossed in studying it—their instincts kept them within one meter; they seemingly wouldn’t voluntarily leave it beyond that distance.
Wu Zhong pulled the tangle as if leading two… companions.
“I will untie it! I, Gu Yue, will definitely untie it!” Gu Yue howled.
The ghost was equally confident: “Soon, soon! The one to untie this knot will be me, Gizzard!”
Seeing they could still speak, Wu Zhong hurriedly called out, “Gizzard, bro, lead me first.”
The ghost, remembering its role, snapped irritably: “Find your own way, don’t bother me.”
While dragging the tangle and drawing the two of them along, Wu Zhong scanned his surroundings.
He recalled what Infinite Summer had said… Containment Room 013.
Indeed, the red doors were numbered.
The spot the tangle sat at had been 011, so 013 couldn’t be far.
As he searched and pulled, the red containment rooms were not far apart; he soon spotted it.
“What is this place? This… this is a red door too.”
Wu Zhong stared at the red door of Containment Room 013, tense.
He knew there must be another anomalous object in there.
However, Infinite Summer had told him to avoid all red doors—except the one Gizzard would lead him to… which turned out to be this place, Containment Room 013.
“How do I get in?”
Wu Zhong called out, but man and ghost were absorbed and growing more agitated.
“Tch…”
Wu Zhong had to rely on himself. He thought hard and actually came up with a plan.
He pressed the tangle against the door, pushing Gizzard forward at the same time.
Pop! Gizzard was squashed and deformed by the pressure, and by instinct he momentarily blurred and phased—then in an instant he passed through the red heavy gates. Because he was holding the tangle, it was pulled through the gate as well.
This made the containment operative Gu Yue’s face contort in anger.
“Don’t leave! My knot— I’m about to untie it!”
Furious, he formed his air shield and pressed it into a slot. The red door slowly opened.
Wu Zhong followed him inside and found Gizzard hadn’t gone far—he’d only flashed through for a moment and then stood on the far side of the gate, continuing to fiddle with the rope.
The room beyond was pitch black and dim.
Wu Zhong felt along the wall and actually found the switch—he turned on the lights.
Clack clack clack!
One by one, lights came on above, illuminating a vast hall.
What he saw made Wu Zhong inhale sharply.
Zombies—real zombies—packed everywhere!
Most were rotted; many had intestines trailing on the floor. Some had severed arms, others were missing lower bodies.
They emitted hoarse guttural sounds, identical to the zombies in movies.
As the lights came on, countless zombies oriented toward him.
In that instant, Wu Zhong felt cold all over!
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Zombies ran like the wind, swarming like sardines.
They were on the first-floor hall, and Wu Zhong had come in from a second-floor ledge.
But that didn’t stop them; they were drawn to Wu Zhong and began climbing a human ladder to reach him.
Wu Zhong didn’t hesitate—he hid behind man and ghost, even hoping the tangle could control the horde.
He was disappointed. The zombies weren’t affected by the tangle and ignored the ghost, lunging at Gu Yue and him.
Gu Yue wasn’t stupid. Although the mind-warping influence made him obsessed with unraveling the tangle, his thinking still existed—he was just absurdly fixated.
“Don’t bother me!”
Boom!
He formed a dense, layered air shield around himself, solid and resilient, protecting him and keeping the zombies’ bites at bay.
Wu Zhong was frozen with fear because the zombies, unable to bite through the shield, used the men inside as footholds to climb closer to him.
He remembered Infinite Summer’s warning: when you see zombies, think of torturous, painful things.
He tried thinking of those things, but it did nothing—the zombies attacked relentlessly.
Wu Zhong fired his pistol angrily, but the recoil was so strong his arm nearly hit his face.
Bang! That shot had no clear target.
He shouted for help, backing up and firing repeatedly, but the ghost paid him no mind.
The ghost, however, was furious and agitated to the extreme.
“It won’t come undone! Why won’t it come undone? It’s so hard! So hard!”
Its face twisted. When a bullet hit the tangle, it seemed to snap the ghost into violence—he began to tear at it with force.
His spectral claws were iron-strong, ripping ferociously.
But the rope was indestructible, unharmed. Meanwhile the ghost accidentally injured Gu Yue.
Gu Yue didn’t hesitate either; he shouted, “Biyuan Blade!”
“Break it for me!” He glowed with green energy that coalesced into a blade-like light, detonating against the knot—an attempt to slice through the tangle!
Alas, it didn’t work. The green energy carried a corrosive effect and injured Gizzard.
Now both were grabbing opposite ends of the tangle, attacking it violently. Being so close, they kept hurting each other indirectly.
Gu Yue’s technique had a wide area of effect, blasting and tearing apart many zombies.
“Ugh, this ghost is useless. I end up depending on Gu Yue.” Taking advantage, Wu Zhong found a gap and kicked two zombies away.
A zombie lunged from the side and he shoved the pistol into its face and fired.
Boom! The zombie’s head exploded; even its chest cavity ruptured!
“What a destructive power.”
Wu Zhong pressed the pistol close to another zombie and blew it away too—though he hit the upper chest, the force tore open the zombie’s neck and the head flew off.
Thanks to the pistol’s power, he killed two zombies up close and managed to rush into an observation room, slamming the door shut behind him.
He didn’t lock it; half-closing it was enough.
Wu Zhong was wary of true locks—he couldn’t open them. His door-welding ability welded doors, not unlocked them.
That half-closed door would hold the zombies out.
“My door-welding doesn’t require a fully closed door to trigger. Even slight changes can weld them shut in that state.”
Inside the observation room, Wu Zhong watched the zombies piling up outside the door.
There was a ten-centimeter gap between door and frame; tattered, disgusting zombie faces shoved in the gap, snarling and baring teeth at him.
Hissing, creaking… a wave of stench hit him and Wu Zhong averted his eyes, scanning the observation room.
“So shabby…”
The observation room was abandoned, empty—seemingly untouched for a long time.
Wu Zhong sighed—good thing he had Gu Yue’s machete and pistol for protection.
Through the observation window, he could see the containment room’s full panorama.
It was large and had two levels.
He’d entered on the second level from a high platform; the middle opened directly down, so he could overlook the first-floor hall filled with zombies.
But the zombies had already formed a human ladder and could easily reach the second floor.
They moved nimbly; their running speed and agility were no different from living humans.
“Infinite Summer said to go through the food delivery conduit… what’s that?”
Wu Zhong searched and indeed found a conduit-like structure with a conveyor belt.
There were a lot of bloodstains nearby—clearly used to feed the zombies.
“Aha? Unit 985 actually raises zombies?”
“With their force, eliminating these zombies would be trivial. Why keep them alive?”
“Research? Doesn’t look like it. This observation area is abandoned; it’s basically a warehouse.”
Wu Zhong didn’t understand. For him the zombies were terrifying but essentially ordinary human-level fighters—flesh and blood.
You didn’t need any special power; guns alone should solve them.
This place didn’t feel like a research facility. It looked long-abandoned, to the point that feeding was automated with a conduit and timed delivery.
He couldn’t grasp the reason for keeping a horde of zombies—was it just to avoid their extinction?
“Whatever. Anyway, I have to go through from here…”
“But… it’s so far. It’s practically a diagonal for me!”
“Do I have to cross the entire zombie crowd?”
Standing on the high ledge, Wu Zhong scoped the route and found no clever shortcut.
There was no choice but to run through the countless zombies in his path, which made his face go pale.
“Me? Fight a thousand? Seriously?”
…