RIACMET chapter 71

 

Bang!

After taking down another zombie with a single shot, Jiang Nian couldn’t resist teasing,

“Since the virus triggered the control AI, the factory automatically sealed itself, trapping everyone who was working inside at the time… Doesn’t this remind you of the Umbrella Corporation hive in that old movie?”

Honestly, didn’t this feel like playing a live-action game?

Liao Yu, who was walking behind him, responded seriously.

“Our situation should be better than in those movies. We don’t have to go down into any basements. We can run whenever we want. Plus, we have supernatural powers, though the zombies in the real world have them too.”

“…”

“Do you think anyone survived in there?”

Tang Yi asked innocently and sincerely.

Lu Ningzhou clicked his tongue.

“Don’t say creepy stuff like that. Anyone who could survive in there would definitely be more terrifying than a zombie.”

“If there really is someone, he must be the son of destiny—the protagonist of the apocalypse!”

Liao Yu’s voice turned excited.

“Sir, you’re such a child…”

“I’m just stating facts. Protagonists who act like kids are usually reborn before the apocalypse, hoarding supplies, building harems, and killing everyone. They’re not that bad.”

“Haha…”

“True enough…”

“…”

Jiang Nian listened to his teammates chat as they shot zombies. When he heard them talking about reincarnation and stockpiling supplies, the corners of his mouth lifted.

He had rebirth, hoarded supplies, a space ring, a lover, and good teammates, but he still couldn’t be as successful as those protagonists and sweep through the apocalypse.

He could only live a little more comfortably than most.

Bang bang bang bang—

Bang bang—

Bang bang—

After entering the factory grounds, the team spread out and worked together to encircle and clear out the zombies wandering outside the sealed workshop.

Only then did they roughly dismantle the door.

With a loud crash, the door to the workshop collapsed. Everyone put on masks and eye protection, preparing for combat.

Looking inside through the destroyed doorway, they saw that the workshop was pitch dark.

“Raaaargh—”

After a moment, a deep, eerie growl rose from the darkness. Soon after, a group of regular zombies with twisted faces charged out, accompanied by a flurry of chaotic footsteps.

But everyone soon noticed that something was off. Every zombie that came running was missing parts of its body.

Not the usual decay, but rather, limbs torn off as if they had been ripped apart in fights or eaten early in the infection.

Even so, these zombies had evolved to a certain level. Despite their crippled state, they were fast and reached us in no time.

Thump, thump, thump…

Bang!

“…”

Gunfire erupted. Thunder and flames flashed, instantly turning the frenzied zombies to ash.

After collecting the crystal cores, Cheng Jing signaled for everyone to turn on their headlamps and enter the workshop.

Due to zombie contamination and the apocalypse virus, the sealed workshop looked as decayed as any other ruin.

Black bloodstains and signs of a brutal struggle were everywhere. Machine parts and raw chemicals were scattered all over the floor. Everything was blackened and corroded, its original form no longer recognizable.

There were also plenty of severed limbs and rotting human tissue, some bare bone and some still covered with bite marks, tendons, and flesh.

Once inside, the team split into pairs and moved in the same direction.

Cheng Jing kept Jiang Nian with him. The others adjusted their positions automatically, depending on their abilities and any sudden changes in the situation, forming five groups.

“It’s a bit strange.”

Everyone advanced cautiously. Suddenly, Jiang Nian stopped and adjusted his lamp to shine on a rotting, blackened, rigid human hand in front of him. It was clearly a zombie’s hand.

“What is it?”

Cheng Jing asked, his eyes shifting to where he was pointing.

The others all stopped and watched alertly.

“Brother Jing, look—these bite marks are still really fresh…”

Thinking he was imagining things, Jiang Nian crouched down, wrapped his hand in tissue, and picked it up to examine it. Sure enough, there were several bite wounds that were still fresh.

“Zombies eating zombies?”

Cheng Jing said, his expression serious, and had the others check the body parts scattered around.

After a while, everyone confirmed it.

Many of the limbs showed fresh bite marks.

This discovery made everyone’s hair stand on end.

They remembered how the zombies they’d fought outside had incomplete bodies—this must be why.

However, according to all the information they had studied, zombies never ate their own kind. They only chased fresh flesh and blood from the living.

“….”

Just as everyone was guessing and debating, Jiang Nian spoke in a grave tone.

“There are strong, chaotic supernatural fluctuations here. Either the zombie cannibalism is connected to some ability, or there’s something else in here. Everyone, be careful.”

If Yang Kai hadn’t been there, Jiang Nian would have already used his ability. His purification power reacts to zombies and could serve as an early warning system.

His teammates knew his power was sensitive to energy, so they trusted him.

After hearing this, Yang Kai watched everyone’s reactions and silently guessed that Jiang Nian’s ability must be some kind of detection ability. He nodded to show he understood.

“Each group, cover each other’s backs and stay on guard. Don’t get distracted.”

Once Cheng Jing finished giving orders, the team moved forward again, all on high alert.

According to the surveillance logs, about a hundred people had been trapped inside the workshop.

Other than the twenty or so they’d just dealt with at the entrance, most were still inside.

Their weapons were loaded and their abilities were ready. If they heard anything suspicious, they would suppress it with collective fire.

As the saying went, fear mostly came from not having enough firepower, so they’d strike together at the slightest sign of danger.

Sure enough, a few zombies they hadn’t encountered before were reduced to a single crystal core after being bathed in sparks and lightning.

The noise kept drawing more zombies out one by one. In a place like this—practically a zombie nest—there was no need to look for them. Sooner or later, they’d appear in front of you.

But gradually, as a pungent, acidic smell drifted in from ahead, no more zombies appeared.

The machinery around them showed signs of corrosion from acid.

“Ugh, it stinks!”

Huang Qian tugged at her mask and said.

“Smells like a chemical pond…”

Lu Ningzhou replied offhandedly.

Zhou Rongbin cut in.

“There actually is an indoor chemical pool here. According to the map, it’s right in the center of the workshop. We’re about halfway there.”

“… ”

Everyone kept moving, and finally, after passing a pile of chemical barrels, they saw the pool. It was square, with each side measuring about four meters, and it was only about a meter deep.

A third of the liquid had evaporated, leaving behind a dark, viscous liquid that reeked of foul acid.

Most horrifying of all, a male zombie wearing a blue work uniform was sitting in the pool, clutching the arm of another zombie and gnawing on it like a chicken foot.

Severed limbs and bloated, deformed organs floated all around him.