Chapter 133: Fatal G City (Part 18)

After Chen Kaijie’s question, the others turned to look at Sun Xi and Liu Jia.

Seeing five people staring at them left the two girls at a loss.

“Did we do something wrong?” Sun Xi asked timidly.

Xiao Muyu shook her head before whispering to her teammates. “Stay alert. Since the system only spoke up now, the target likely isn’t one of them. Let’s wait and see.”

A shriek rang out, followed by a loud bang. While the others were still in shock, Shen Qingqiu frowned and said, “That was a gunshot.”

Xiao Muyu was surprised. “Gunshot?”

Shen Qingqiu waved her hand. “Take cover. I’ll go see what’s up,” she said quickly and hushedly.

Xiao Muyu wordlessly stepped forward. Shen Qingqiu turned to glance at her, wanting to speak, but ultimately just shook her head with a resigned smile.

The two signaled Su Jin and the others to take the girls and hide behind some cars in the parking lot. Then, they carefully followed the direction of the gunshot. When they reached the intersection, gunfire rang out again. Shen Qingqiu saw debris scatter where a bullet struck the ground.

They looked toward the sound and saw a zombie crouched on top of a car, growling viciously, its back hunched.

A few meters ahead of it stood a man. He held a gun in his right hand and a steel bar in his left, his whole body tense. The bar, as thick as a thumb, had bent from impact.

The man had his back to Xiao Muyu and Shen Qingqiu. They couldn’t see his face. But Xiao Muyu noted his neatly combed hair and clean clothes. He seemed strikingly composed, given the situation. However, that composure wouldn’t last. The gunfire would inevitably attract more zombies.

The zombie didn’t stay on the car roof for long. It seemed enraged. With a roar, it leaped down, moving much faster than the zombies wandering the streets. It reminded Xiao Muyu of the female zombie they had encountered at the gas station.

The man rolled to dodge the attack, swiftly turned, and fired at the zombie’s head. The bullet grazed its ear, spraying rust-colored blood onto the ground.

The petite zombie recoiled in pain, startled by the weapon’s power. It snarled at the man but didn’t dare to charge again.

Warning beeps sounded in Xiao Muyu and Shen Qingqiu’s minds. “Target has appeared! Target has appeared! Please protect the target!”

The zombie raised both hands and tore off its own clothing, tying it tightly around itself. To her shock, Xiao Muyu realized that it had been hunched over all this time because it was holding a baby.

The child was too small, curled up in the zombie’s makeshift sling like a kitten. Xiao Muyu glimpsed an arm slipping out—thin as a finger, ash-colored and shriveled, not how a living human’s flesh should look.

The sight left her deeply uneasy.

Now with its hands free, the zombie moved even faster. It jumped to the car the man had ducked behind, smashed the window with one hand, and tackled him to the ground.

Seeing the zombie about to kill the man, Shen Qingqiu’s heart tightened. After a glance at Xiao Muyu, she leaped onto the roof of an SUV. The dagger flew from her hand like lightning, and her body followed, vaulting over a car with her left hand pushing off the roof. Despite nearly five meters and two cars between them, Shen Qingqiu closed the distance in a blink, light as a bird.

The dagger sliced past the man’s nose and the zombie’s face. The already pale man flinched back.

Sensing the dagger’s sharpness, the zombie gave up on the man. It jumped onto another car’s roof, baring its teeth and snarling at the approaching Shen Qingqiu.

The zombie was a woman. Shen Qingqiu retrieved her dagger but had no time to examine the zombie. The panicked man, still on the ground, blindly groped for his gun and fired a shot at her.

“Qingqiu!” Xiao Muyu’s eyes flew wide open, and her heart nearly stopped. Fortunately, Shen Qingqiu was always alert to her surroundings. Sensing danger the moment the man reached for the gun, she rolled on the ground, narrowly dodging the bullet and quickly taking cover behind a camphor tree by the road.

The man’s shot at Shen Qingqiu gave the zombie an opening. It jumped down and lunged at the man again. But the man wasn’t defenseless. He quickly fired two more shots, one of which struck the zombie in the shoulder blade, halting its movement.

Shen Qingqiu moved in to attack again. Xiao Muyu could no longer stay put. She dashed over and delivered a spinning kick that sent the gun flying from the man’s hand.

The man staggered back a few steps, color draining from his face as he saw Xiao Muyu roll forward, snatching the weapon.

Before he could speak, Xiao Muyu aimed the gun at the wounded zombie. Giving the man a side glance, she said, “Mind how you use a gun. You’re attracting every zombie in the area. Besides, we mean no harm.”

A trace of embarrassment crossed the man’s face. His gaze lingered nervously on the gun in her hand. “I misunderstood. Give the gun back. That zombie’s strange. Who knows what might happen if we let it go.”

Xiao Muyu looked over at the zombie. It was fast, its clothes filthy and tattered. But aside from the wound the man had just inflicted, its body showed no other injuries.

Because Shen Qingqiu had stopped it from killing the man, the zombie shifted all its rage onto her.

Shen Qingqiu didn’t dare let her guard down. Her dagger moved in a tight flurry, narrowly blocking the zombie’s claws several times.

Xiao Muyu grew anxious. An absurd idea formed in her mind, and despite the man’s warning, she called out, “Qingqiu, don’t kill it yet.”

Shen Qingqiu frowned. She shifted her dagger an inch off course, leaving only a shallow cut on the zombie’s neck. The zombie also tore a piece off her jacket, making Xiao Muyu’s heart almost leap out of her throat.

Maybe Shen Qingqiu’s strike had been too much, as the zombie retreated in fear, baring its teeth fiercely at her. After one final glare at the man, it turned and fled.

Shen Qingqiu couldn’t help but frown. “This is the first time I’ve seen a zombie choose to run after seeing people,” she muttered.

Xiao Muyu stared in the direction the zombie had fled. After a long while, she finally turned back to the man and glanced down at the gun in her hand.

Still holding her dagger, Shen Qingqiu took the pistol, looking it over. “A 9mm □□. How did you get this?” (Use your imagination for the censored brand.)

Instead of answering the question, the man voiced his anger. “Why did you let it go? You could’ve killed it! That thing eats people, and you told her not to hurt it?!”

Shen Qingqiu weighed the gun in her hand. “That zombie’s combat ability far exceeds a normal one. It’s not just some random stray. If you want it dead that badly, why didn’t you kill it before?”

The man’s face darkened. He shot an irritated glance at Xiao Muyu. “I would’ve if she hadn’t taken my gun.”

“You’d be dead if it weren’t for me. When it pinned you earlier, did you have a chance to shoot? And if you hadn’t fired at me for no reason, she wouldn’t have taken your gun.” Shen Qingqiu’s gaze was sharp as she stepped toward him, her voice lowering dangerously. “Be honest—where did this gun come from?”

He frowned at her words. “What do you mean where did it come from? It’s mine to begin with.”

“Judging by your grip and shooting stance, you don’t use a gun regularly.” Shen Qingqiu grabbed his hand and pressed it to the ground, inspecting his thumb joint. His palm had calluses, but the web of his thumb didn’t, meaning he wasn’t used to holding a gun long-term.

The man tried to struggle. Shen Qingqiu drew her dagger and stabbed it precisely between his fingers, the blade sinking into the tile crack. The man immediately gulped.

“What are you trying to do?”

Shen Qingqiu glanced at Xiao Muyu, and Xiao Muyu immediately got the hint. She stared at the man and asked, “Do you know the Noro Group?”

“No.” The man’s eyes wavered as he hurriedly denied it—almost without thinking.

Xiao Muyu nodded. “So you do. Noro is a leading enterprise in G City. Even if you didn’t know the company, the building itself is so well-known that the chances of you not having heard about it are slim. And a person usually pauses to recall something before honestly denying it. Yet, you answered without hesitation.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. G City’s huge. There are tons of companies. Besides, my job has nothing to do with biopharmaceuticals…”

Xiao Muyu looked at him. “I never said it was a pharmaceutical company.”

The man realized he’d slipped up and immediately shut his mouth. Shen Qingqiu’s eyes turned cold as she raised her dagger, but Xiao Muyu reached out, stopping her.

“That zombie was different. How did you end up provoking it?”

After speaking, she glanced at Shen Qingqiu. “You saw what my friend just did. No ordinary person moves like her. This is the apocalypse. There’s no point hiding anything. She’s not just good at killing zombies. She also kills people without blinking. Everyone calls her ‘Ghost’s Bane.’

“Given the current situation, one or two deaths are normal. I don’t want to kill anyone, but if you insist on being stubborn, then…”

She released Shen Qingqiu’s hand, her expression indifferent, eyes devoid of warmth. Even if they weren’t in an apocalypse, the man could tell she’d let Shen Qingqiu kill him.

Seeing Shen Qingqiu raise her dagger, the man broke into a cold sweat and hurriedly said, “I—I was sent to find someone. The e-employer is a senior executive at Noro Biopharmaceuticals. I don’t know why you’re pressing me about the company, but they told me I m-must not reveal the mission. They didn’t tell me anything else. Honest.”

Xiao Muyu and Shen Qingqiu exchanged puzzled glances, though Xiao Muyu didn’t show it. She continued calmly, “Who are you looking for?”

“A young woman, around her twenties, with long hair and very pale skin. They showed me a photo. It seems she’s someone important.” Frankly, he didn’t understand why such details must be kept secret.

After hearing the description, Xiao Muyu vaguely felt she had overlooked some things.

“Zombies are everywhere. Why would you agree to come out? What did they offer you?” Xiao Muyu cut straight to the point, following her sharp instincts.

The man’s expression shifted immediately. Shen Qingqiu shot him another warning glance.

“H-He gave us guns and promised a steady supply of food. Traffic and communication are down. The government usually responds fast to disasters, but it’s been so long, and there’s still no sign of rescue. We’re losing hope.”

“Food? It’s only been two days since the apocalypse started, and you’re already risking your life for food?” Xiao Muyu was not buying his story.

“Two days? You really believe it’s only been two days?!” The man suddenly snapped, gritting his teeth. “If they hadn’t irresponsibly covered it up, we wouldn’t be left in the dark like this. The virus started spreading long ago but only came to a head in the last two days. Noro Biopharmaceuticals claims they have a vaccine. Once injected, you’ll get better and become immune. I saw it with my own eyes. They saved someone who had been bitten. He never turned.”

This information was monumental.

Xiao Muyu had only started questioning him because of the system’s sudden warning. She’d already suspected Noro Biopharmaceuticals’ deep ties to the outbreak in G City and that the target was related.

She had hoped for a new clue. A breakthrough of this scale was unexpected.

A vaccine? Noro Biopharmaceuticals had a zombie vaccine?

Xiao Muyu’s first instinct was to doubt. However, it wasn’t impossible for a pharmaceutical company deeply tied to the zombie virus to have a vaccine. But why hadn’t they publicized the vaccine to save people with G City nearly wiped out?

While the three stood there, each lost in their thoughts, Su Jin and the others sneakily came over.

After hearing the commotion, they feared the two women would get surrounded. Although they had dealt with several of the approaching zombies, they must leave now.

“Leader Xiao, Vice-Leader, let’s go. This place isn’t safe. And who’s this guy?” Chen Kaijie shot Xiao Muyu a look.

She nodded, but her gaze was on Sun Xi.

Because the moment the man saw Sun Xi, surprise and joy flashed in his eyes.

Perhaps this was the real nine linked rings puzzle, impossible to cut and sort out.