Chapter 122: Fatal G City (Part 7)

Edit: Fixed a couple of details about Lin Jian’s place in the previous chapter. Also changed Yaxiang Shuixie to Yaxiang Waterside Homes.

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Although they were surprised, getting out safely was the most important thing. All their questions would have to wait.

The journey across 10km was slow as accidents littered the road. It took them thirty minutes to finally reach the residential complex where Lin Jian lived.

The security booth at the entrance to the underground parking lot was empty, and the barrier gate had been broken. Hearing the sound of the cars, the zombies wandering on the road outside the complex slowly gathered toward them. The group quickly parked, turned off the engines, grabbed their things, and entered the complex, following Lin Jian.

“My home is in the middle of the second row,” Lin Jian whispered as he led the way.

The complex did have a low occupancy rate. The landscaping looked freshly done, which, in a way, saved them a lot of trouble.

Each residential building had a keycard access system. Fortunately, the old-school cadre Lin Jian had his keycard hanging from his belt, making it convenient to swipe them in.

But the six suddenly faced a zombie upon turning the first corner.

Skin shriveled and wrinkled, it lunged at them with its mouth wide open. Half its face had been chewed away, exposing the cheekbone. Chen Kaijie yelled in shock.

Xiao Muyu flinched, but Shen Qingqiu swiftly pulled her back, shielding her. With the dagger in her right hand, she lopped off the zombie’s head. It dropped and rolled off to the side.

Lin Jian couldn’t bear to look. He had a much higher tolerance than the average person. However, the thought that this horrifying zombie was once a living, breathing human made his heart ache.

“What about the body?” Zuo Tiantian asked softly, looking away from it.

They might be staying here for a while, going in and out. If they left the body rotting there, the smell would be unbearable.

“Let’s move it outside for now. We’ll find time to burn everything later,” someone suggested. The group didn’t have a better solution.

Chen Kaijie handled the dirty work. Grabbing the corpse by its clothes, he dragged it outside.

Lin Jian’s apartment was on the seventh floor. Thankfully, it wasn’t too high up, so they could take the stairs if the elevator stopped working.

Everything went smoothly from the elevator to the apartment entrance. The group leaned out a window to look down. About a dozen zombies wandered the streets and around the complex. Most who had been outside at the time didn’t make it, confirming that the zombie virus didn’t originate from a single point but had spread in multiple places simultaneously.

Lin Jian couldn’t stand the blood and stench clinging to him anymore. He wanted to clean up. “Everyone, take a break. I’m going to change my clothes. I’ve already started boiling some water. Help yourselves if you’re thirsty,” he said.

“Alright, thank you,” someone replied.

He shook his head and tiredly walked into the master bedroom, closing the door behind him.

“Leader Xiao, what is it about that doctor?” Su Jin asked, curious about Lin Jian. She thought bringing along local civilians in the apocalypse made little sense. Since most were ordinary people, they couldn’t understand the players’ reckless behavior and were likely to assume they were dangerous criminals.

“He’s not just any doctor, but one who worked in the ward where I was,” said Xiao Muyu. “He might know something about me. Also, since he’s a local, he knows more about G City and might have more insight into how the zombie virus started. After all, we don’t have our characters’ memories. Acting blindly puts us at a disadvantage.”

She had hesitated at first, given how hazardous the situation was then. However, when the doctor suddenly called her “Ms. Xiao,” it caught her attention.

More importantly, he didn’t seem like a bad person and could be genuinely helpful as a doctor, which proved true so far.

“Mm, I get it,” Zuo Tiantian nodded. “If he doesn’t have ulterior motives, having him with us is good. But it might be hard to keep things from him once we use our cards.”

“Just tell him we have powers. Isn’t that how it always goes in novels?” Su Jin raised an eyebrow, prompting a round of laughter from the group.

“Alright, let’s share what identities we’ve been given and any unusual information we’ve uncovered,” someone suggested. They were already pretty clear on the state of this world, but surviving wasn’t enough to clear the instance. They must also uncover hidden quests, so sharing intel was essential.

Xiao Muyu was the first to share. Shen Qingqiu’s frown deepened as she listened. Her gaze locked onto Xiao Muyu’s abdomen, she blurted, “Why didn’t you tell me earlier? Is your body okay? Has the wound healed? Was the internal bleeding in your spleen or your liver?”

She became more alarmed with each question. Shen Qingqiu looked like she wanted to grab Xiao Muyu and check her thoroughly to ensure everything was alright.

Su Jin and the others looked similarly anxious.

Xiao Muyu sighed. “Don’t get so worked up. You’re scaring the others. I’m fine. I took out seven or eight zombies on the way here and even caught you when you jumped down from over three meters high. Could I have done all that if I was injured? The doctor told me I recovered well.”

Shen Qingqiu held back from asking more, though the furrow between her brows didn’t ease.

“But Leader Xiao,” someone added, “Tian Jia — the first infected — is suspicious. What did she try to inject you with? It’s strange. A 20ml syringe is usually for preparing or adding medication. Hospitals don’t use such a large syringe for direct treatment. A nurse shouldn’t have made such a basic mistake.”

Xiao Muyu nodded. When she’d woken up and seen that drug, what struck her as odd was the syringe. Something about it felt wrong. That might be the key to everything.

“By the way, Leader Xiao, you mentioned that the zombies in your ward mutated faster. They were quicker, stronger, more aggressive, and spread the virus easier. It sounds like a different type from the ones that came later and probably originated from another source. There must be a reason the system placed players in that ward. We might need to investigate further.”

Chen Kaijie paused and added, “My character is a researcher at an institute. I gained consciousness in the middle of an experiment. During small talk, people mentioned that some coworkers had gotten sick and taken medical leave. Less than half an hour later, someone burst in, saying something had gone wrong. When I went out to check, I saw some people in the institute turn into monsters, attacking anyone on sight. They were fast, too. Those with poor stamina didn’t make it out.”

“It was the same in my neighborhood—Yaxiang Waterside Homes,” said Zuo Tiantian. “I still don’t know what my character is. I was already at home when the instance started. I only realized something was wrong when I heard people screaming outside. Lots of the residents were too scared to go out. I only snuck out because I needed to meet up with you all. The mutated zombies there were also faster than the ones I saw after leaving the neighborhood.”

Su Jin, Chen Kaijie, and Zuo Tiantian had regrouped en route to the Xinhe Building. Like Xiao Muyu and Shen Qingqiu, they had all started in different locations.

Su Jin had been handling some documents in an office when the virus broke out.

Xiao Muyu listened to each recount carefully. “Do you two know the names of the companies you work for?” she asked Chen Kaijie and Su Jin.

Su Jin nodded. “Nuoru Biopharmaceuticals. I looked it up. It’s a huge company. The entire office building belongs to them. It’s impressive.”

“The institute I was at is the largest biological research center in G City,” said Chen Kaijie. “It specializes in fundamental virology and seems to operate at a high level.”

Their answers immediately put Xiao Muyu on alert. Shen Qingqiu frowned. “I know Su Jin’s company.”

“You do?” Su Jin was surprised. In a low voice, Shen Qingqiu said, “Nuoru Biopharmaceuticals hosted the luncheon I attended.”

“A ward in People’s Hospital, Yaxiang Waterside Homes’ residential complex, Nuoru Biopharmaceuticals, G City Biological Research Institute—what do you all think about these places?” Xiao Muyu asked quietly, her gaze dark.

“It’s like every point of the virus spread is seamlessly connected,” Shen Qingqiu said coldly.

“It gets worse as I think about it,” murmured Zuo Tiantian. “Don’t tell me this disaster wasn’t natural but man-made?”

*Ding!*

The system’s sudden alert cut through their conversation. Everyone perked up, listening closely.

“Congratulations to Xiao Muyu, Shen Qingqiu, Su Jin, Zuo Tiantian, and Chen Kaijie for unlocking Quest 3 of Instance No. 005: Investigate the origin of the zombie virus and uncover the cause of the apocalypse.”

“Team reward: 5 points!”

“Did the system just announce it to everyone again?” Chen Kaijie said, frowning. “Feels like it’s painting a target on our backs. The other teams will start watching us now.”

Shen Qingqiu’s eye subtly twitched, and she spoke with a biting chill. “The bottom line is, always assume the worst about others. Whatever the system’s intent is, I’ll kill anyone dumb enough to come after us, no matter what they are. The system said we can’t harm NPCs but never mentioned anything about players.”

Her eyelids lowered, and her lips curled in a cold smirk—stunning, yet unmistakably bloodthirsty, with a hint of cruelty behind it.

This side of Shen Qingqiu was rare. The three had never seen how she was initially, so they couldn’t tell if she was joking or dead serious.

Of course, they weren’t naive. In instances, players stabbing each other in the back weren’t unheard of. However, Shen Qingqiu’s aura was downright intimidating.

The atmosphere instantly grew solemn. Only Xiao Muyu remained unfazed. Exasperation tinged her eyes as she glanced at Shen Qingqiu, then lowered her head and laughed softly.

Although she was now used to being with Shen Qingqiu and the tenderness and special treatment she received from her, Xiao Muyu had never forgotten how ruthless Shen Qingqiu was. As Shen Qingqiu had said, she would show no mercy to anyone who dared cross her, no matter what they were.

Shen Qingqiu had a soft heart. She never held back her kindness toward those she found agreeable, and she’d protect people she cared about at all costs. But she was also ruthlessly cold to those she considered irrelevant. She didn’t sympathize easily.

“What? Did I scare you guys?” Shen Qingqiu wasn’t blind to the shift in atmosphere. She crossed her long legs and leaned back slightly, seemingly relaxed, yet there was a faint sharpness in her gaze.

Su Jin quickly shook her head. Zuo Tiantian and Chen Kaijie shook theirs even harder.

“Your aura just overwhelmed us, Vice-Leader. That’s how it should be!” Chen Kaijie’s eyes were resolute, his tone growing more serious with each word. “Everyone wants to survive. Why should we tolerate anyone wanting to screw us over? We don’t mess with people if they don’t mess with us. But if they do, they’d better be ready for the consequences.”

The strong thrive, and the weak get eaten. Chen Kaijie still held onto his conscience and had no intention of scheming against others. But that didn’t mean he’d let others get away with doing that to him.

“Alright, let’s all relax and get back on topic.” Xiao Muyu reached over and tapped Shen Qingqiu’s knee.

The queen-like, intimidating Shen Qingqiu straightened up obediently. “Go on,” she said calmly.

Su Jin stifled her laughter.

“At the moment, clearing the instance requires one thing: keep breathing. But we already do that automatically, so I hardly consider that a requirement.” Xiao Muyu cracked a dry joke with a serious face.

Everyone burst out laughing.

Shen Qingqiu laughed so hard she fell sideways, limply leaning onto Xiao Muyu’s shoulder. Xiao Muyu gave her a mildly disdainful glance but let her be.

“Jokes aside, the system demands us to gather the essentials for surviving in the apocalypse—food and water.

“The second requirement is the hard one and determines our plan of action—clearance pass. One pass costs 250 points, which means we need a total of 1,250 points. I’m sure that will be a major hurdle.

“The third requirement is to uncover the truth, which has no time limit. It could be ten days or half a month, which makes the first condition much more challenging. We need to prepare.”

In previous instances, investigating the truth required guts and, more importantly, brains. But this instance also demanded strength and stamina. Staying holed up in an apartment wouldn’t get them anywhere near the answers. So they must go out. They couldn’t just wait it out by hiding.

Xiao Muyu sat there speaking unhurriedly, concisely laying everything out. The system had calculated everything in advance and wasn’t about to let them have any peace.

Just then, Lin Jian came out of the master bedroom. Everyone went quiet. He glanced around at them and asked, “Do you all want to wash up?”

They looked down at themselves. Xiao Muyu wrinkled her nose, and Shen Qingqiu immediately answered, “We do. Thanks.”

The two had the foresight to grab a few sets of clothes from the mall. After handing one each to Su Jin and Zuo Tiantian, Shen Qingqiu nudged Xiao Muyu to take her shower first.

Meanwhile, Lin Jian organized the sleeping arrangements.

There were six people—two men and four women. Lin Jian’s apartment had three bedrooms, which worked out nicely. Two people could share one room.

The team couldn’t resume their discussion due to Lin Jian’s presence, so everyone went to shower and change.

Using the excuse of needing rest, they returned to their respective rooms. Once inside, Shen Qingqiu grinned lazily at Xiao Muyu. “You wouldn’t share a bed with me outside the instance, but inside, you have to.”

Xiao Muyu shot her a sidelong glance. “I could sleep with Tiantian,” she said coolly.

Shen Qingqiu’s smile froze. She narrowed her eyes and lowered her voice. “So you don’t want Tiantian to survive, is that it?”

That “Tiantian” was especially pointed.

Xiao Muyu’s eyes slid to the side, ignoring Shen Qingqiu. Her mouth corners faintly rose for a split second.

Shen Qingqiu huffed. “Keep this up, and you’re asking for trouble.”

Xiao Muyu silently looked at her.

Shen Qingqiu didn’t know what thought crossed her mind, but she suddenly leaned in. Coyly, she murmured, “By the way, Muyu, when you paused the stopwatch, why couldn’t Su Jin and the others move, yet you and I could? It makes sense that you could since it’s your card, but I should be the same as the others. Why am I the only exception?”

The bewilderment on her face made it seem like she earnestly sought an answer. But she was really thinking, “Am I special and super important?”

Xiao Muyu’s face stiffened, eyes shifting away as she tossed her two clipped words.

“No idea.”

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Author had something to say:

Xiao Xiao: I can sleep with Tiantian.
Zuo Tiantian: No, you can’t!
Xiao Xiao: ……
Xiao Shen: So you don’t want Tiantian alive.
Zuo Tiantian: [Shivering] A couple flirts and the bystander suffers.
Xiao Shen: My wife says she has no idea. Do you guys know?