Chapter 48 Necklace × Novel
A light drizzle began to fall, the misty vapor enveloping the city like a gray veil. It was cold and lifeless. Frenzied hordes of zombies ran through the streets, a testament to its former prosperity.
Where the zombies were heading, there was an office building with a heavy machine gun mounted on its roof, bullets spitting from the muzzle, the dazzling gunfire adding a touch of warmth to the gray city.
Li Nai held a panda in his arms, manipulating a machine gun with both hands, aiming it at the rooftop, while his palms held the fluffy little paws, which trembled incessantly.
+1
+2
+1
...
Take a look at the total score on the panel: 9843.
It'll be here soon.
Seeing that they were close to reaching their target, their spirits lifted. They glanced disdainfully at the machine gun, then turned their gaze to the side to a stack of wooden crates filled with grenades.
His hand, reaching for the grenade, suddenly paused. He took out a hand-drawn blueprint and began to read. One page contained key points about grenade loading and firing.
Following the instructions, equip the host with the new weapon, pick him up, and launch a grenade.
At the bottom of the building, in a specially chosen plaza, thousands upon thousands of zombies gathered, exploding shrapnel and tearing apart the surrounding rotting flesh.
The grenades kept falling, and every inch of the ground was smoking.
+2
+3
+4
...
Li Nai felt satisfied, his gaze relaxed, and drifted to the tall, aloof woman three meters away beside him.
—The captain of the Rachels squad.
She had no idea what her surname or given name was. She just called her captain along with the other team members.
The woman stood with her hands behind her back, her gaze shifting between near and far views of the tall buildings and streets. A small green light flashed on one of her earphones, suggesting she was having a conversation.
Two days ago, before they boarded their plane, Merck inadvertently revealed the origins of the mysterious Regales. Regales are Missyco's private army, obeying only Missyco's orders. They were born in a laboratory, and the men and women in the team are all extraordinary, yet their physiques and demeanors are as if they were one person, exuding a strange aura.
Captain Ricky suddenly turned around.
Li Nai blinked, suppressing the shame of being discovered by the person in question.
A tall woman walked towards her.
"Is the quantity sufficient? All the undead in this city have been driven here." The voice was clear, yet so flat that one could almost hear a metallic hum.
Li Nai pulled up the panel and was overjoyed.
The score is 10017.
"Enough, enough." He nodded frantically, his eyes fixed on a point in the air.
Captain Richie's eyes flickered slightly. He silently returned to his original position, spoke into the automatically landing earpiece, and ordered his team to return immediately to prepare to board the helicopter.
Li Nai snapped out of her daze and sincerely thanked the woman from behind: "Thank you, Captain, and everyone else for your help. You've worked so hard these past few days, I'll definitely give you a five-star rating in front of Missy."
The captain remained indifferent, merely nodding politely.
Soon, the team members climbed to the rooftop.
Six people stood in a neat row.
This is a good opportunity for Li Nai to take a closer look and make a comparison.
They were all the same height, with similar slender builds and identical aloof demeanor. The male and female team members had ordinary appearances; at first glance, they might have been mistaken for sextuplets, but upon closer inspection, they were quite different.
A strong wind was blowing overhead, and raindrops were pattering on her face.
Holding the restless panda cub tightly in his arms, he lowered his head and braved the wind pressure, following closely behind his team members onto the helicopter.
The helicopter moved away from the rooftop.
After comforting the cubs, Li Nai fell asleep, feeling a bit sleepy.
When she woke up again, she felt the helicopter descending. She wiped the fog off the window and, through the lingering raindrops, saw a solitary, grey-green building in the suburbs. The more she looked, the more familiar it seemed—like an unfinished prison base.
It's the abandoned base of Mishiko!
"Captain, aren't we going back?"
"We need to capture another 500 intact zombies for Dr. Merck."
Merck's angry face came to mind.
She forgot! She still owes Merck 500 zombies. Although she secretly thinks it should be 350.
He turned his head to assess the size of the cabin.
"There's not enough space. How are we going to transport it back?"
The captain sitting in the front didn't answer. The atmosphere instantly turned cold, as if she were the only living person present.
She shut her mouth and looked out the window.
Below is the building's rooftop, and the helicopter is slowly descending, having found its target position.
The hatch slid open, and dense raindrops drifted in.
The passengers disembarked in an orderly manner.
Li Nai, who was left behind, saw the weapon pouch lying in front of him and thought he'd lend a hand. He lifted it once, but it didn't move. He lifted it again and almost threw himself out of the hatch.
He braced himself against the door frame with one hand, raised his head, and stared wide-eyed.
Outside the hatch, Team Member A, who had been waiting for a long time, glanced at her, stretched out his long arm, easily lifted the hundred-pound weapon bag, and left without looking back.
She awkwardly touched her face, shaking off the raindrops. She slowly stepped forward, catching up with her captain who was waiting for her.
They landed in a six-story entertainment building. It was a familiar place for Li Nai, after all, she had worked as a waitress there for a while.
The fire escape door leading to the floor was wide open, and six team members had already gone downstairs. In the dim and quiet space, only the sound of footsteps on the iron lattice steps could be heard.
The captain voluntarily stayed at the back of the group, letting Li Nai walk in front.
Li Nai took a deep breath and nervously looked around, especially at the entrances and exits of each floor, fearing that a bunch of zombies would rush out.
According to Merck's recollection, the total number of zombies in the base, plus a small number of newly infected humans, was roughly over 4,000. What he still doesn't understand is who released all the zombies from the cells. The prison had double-layered security; a zombie escape shouldn't have been possible.
Uneasy, they made it down to the first floor without firing a single shot.
Where are the promised 4,000+ zombies? Did they all run outside?
Looking around at the familiar interior, it was no longer as magnificent and bustling as it used to be. Although it had only been two months since I left, it was already covered with a layer of gray, with dried and blackened blood pools everywhere, and what looked like human remains lying scattered and still. The whole place was gloomy, and the dark corners seemed to hide sinister shadows.
Li Nai shuddered and quickly turned to look at the others, who were working together to set up the camp and defenses.
Somewhat embarrassed, she stepped forward to lend a hand. Everyone was quick and efficient, so she didn't need to help at all. She finally managed to get a job moving a small wooden crate, but underestimated its weight, and the crate scraped against the ground with a screeching sound.
My cheeks felt hot, and I looked down, thinking I should hurry up.
A person appeared in front of him, lifted the wooden box with both arms, and turned to leave.
She straightened up. She watched as Team Member B carried the wooden crate back to the original spot, then the other three team members shouldered their equipment bags and split up, disappearing into different dimly lit passageways.
Blink.
She ended up making things worse.
She stood there helplessly. Suddenly, something drifted down from above and covered her head.
Pull it down for a closer look; it's a red cloth, and it looks like a promotional banner for a celebration.
Look up.
On a cloudy day, sunlight streamed through the two glass walls on the second floor, illuminating the shimmering ribbons and a giant birthday banner.
—Happy 33rd birthday to Missy, the mistress of the base.
Suddenly I felt dizzy, and images were flashing by rapidly.
hiss!
My head hurts so much.
His body swayed twice.
A woman's terrified scream suddenly burst into my ears.
She covered her head and fell straight backward.
In the distance, the menacing afterimage lurking in the shadows swept over her like a raging fire. Scorching flames tore at her skin, especially her abdomen, while the icy flames brutally pierced and churned inside.
"No! No! No!"
She screamed and rolled around on the ground. Something deep inside her head was pounding against her skull.
She was terrified, not of the grotesque afterimages and the flames tearing at her skin, but of the "monster" in her mind.
Don't come out, don't come out.
I bumped into a pair of feet.
The owner of the foot squatted down, her strong hands controlling her almost frantic movements.
"Wake up, wake up." A clear voice with a hint of metallic friction was close to my ear.
Slowly opening his eyes, the indifferent woman's face gradually came into focus.
"team leader?"
She called out in a daze, then drifted off to sleep, her mind heavy with sleep.
"Eek! Eek!"
A wet, hot tongue licked the eyelids.
Unable to resist the passionate wet tongue, she turned her head to the left and right to dodge, her tightly closed eyes naturally opening. Before her eyes was the edge of a dark gray sleeping bag, and her gaze extended to the dance floor floor.
Um?
Looking up, the light was bright outside the second-floor glass window; it wasn't evening yet.
When did she fall asleep?
I sat up. I saw a group of people gathered not far away—the four team members who had gone out had returned.
They had their backs to Li Nai and didn't notice that she had woken up.
She quickly lay down, closed her eyes and pretended not to wake up, while pressing down on the cub licking her face in her arms.
A sentence, seemingly from a meeting, drifted into my ears.
"No targets found?" the captain's distinctive voice rang out.
Then silence fell.
Target? She realized there wasn't a single zombie on the road. She'd probably have to move on to another location to capture zombies alive. Nothing to do now, she thought, she'd take another nap.
"You are in charge of monitoring the entire building. Lock down any unusual activity immediately."
"You guys, go and inspect the five areas that are under defense."
"The intelligence is accurate; we must capture it today."
Li Nai suddenly opened his eyes.
It? Not them?
Who is the captain going to arrest?
Looking up at the huge red banner celebrating a birthday that was slightly moving in the sky.
Identify the words on the cloth.
—Misico's birthday.
My scalp itched, so I scratched my head, and a strand of hair got caught. My thumb touched a cool ring. My expression changed.
Oh right! I still owe Missy a gift.
The points redemption shop is brought up, and the points displayed are 10017.
I'll save 10,000 points to exchange for a divine scroll.
She needs 18 points to redeem the antidote green potion. She's currently one point short; she needs to kill another 50 zombies.
She sat up abruptly.
"team leader!"
A pair of bright eyes looked towards the meeting place. It was empty; the entire team had vanished.
He glanced at the red birthday banner above, then at the surrounding equipment. He held the soft, warm cub tightly in his arms, his face full of hesitation.
After a moment of silence, she stood up, took out a black backpack, and began packing weapons and bullets.
Then she picked out a smaller backpack, put the cub inside, and slung it over her chest. The cub poked its head out and looked around restlessly.
"Don't move or make a sound."
She comforted him as she squatted down, carrying a black bag of weapons on her back.
I stood up, feeling the pain in both shoulders from the straps. I gripped the two shoulder straps with both hands, took a deep breath, and took a few heavy steps forward.
No! It's too heavy!
He let go of her hand, allowing the backpack to slip to the ground.
They unearthed the bulky guns. Only one pistol and one submachine gun remained. The remaining space was used to assemble a magazine and a string of BBs.
The pistol was cocked.
Teacher Qi's instruction: When you get your hands on a gun, you must release the safety and push the bullet.
He raised his flashlight and aimed it at the dimly lit entrance to the passage. His eyes gleamed, and he tiptoed inside.
There should be more zombies on the first floor than on the other floors. However, after searching the entire area, Li Nai couldn't find a single zombie, not even a shadow of one. The ground was also spotless, without a single piece of corpse in sight.
Could it be that the entire team, led by Ritchie, has taken care of them all?
Puzzled, she climbed to the second floor and searched the area, but saw and heard nothing. She deliberately made noise, but still saw no movement from the zombies.
That's really weird.
Go up the stairs to the third floor. This floor is the staff dormitory. Pass through a cell-like door and stop. The door looks familiar; this used to be her staff dormitory.
Just as I was about to leave, the unlocked door suddenly opened by itself.
She reflexively took a large step back, raised her gun, and fired.
Bang bang bang!
There are three bullet holes in the iron gate.
Teacher Qi's instruction: Don't hesitate to fire. Shoot as soon as you sense danger.
Splash!
The sound of wind rustling through the pages of a book drifted from the quiet room.
He raised his gun with both hands and crept furtively toward the door.
The cramped single room had a 1.3-meter-wide bed facing the door. An open, thick book lay on the messy bed.
The room lights suddenly turned on and flickered continuously.
The light illuminated the pages turning in the wind, the text covered with scribbles and writing.
A large handwritten black pen note covered another piece of text—"The weakest system, Li."
His eyes narrowed instantly.
I grabbed the book and flipped it to the cover—"The Apocalypse: I Am the System".
His eyes widened again.
Put down the gun and quickly flip through the book.
The book was thick, divided into two volumes. But no matter which way she flipped through it, she could always find repeated sarcastic notes.
—Stupid System.
—A useless system.
—Even a dog would be better than her as the system.
—The dance was really ugly.
—A system that can't drive.
— Suspected problem with physical coordination.
Snap!
The book was slammed shut, then thrown to the ground.
The cub on her chest jumped in fright.
The owner of the book—that despicable Qi Shuihan!
I'd die if I didn't laugh at her for a day.
Furious, he stomped on the book, then squatted down to pick it up and smashed it to the ground again. He wanted to smash it into pieces like a watermelon.
The cub huddled inside the backpack, whimpering softly.
It was raised high again, but something fell first.
She looked closely and saw two small photos scattered on the bed.
Pick it up and look at it against the overhead light.
The lights had stopped flickering and were now emitting a dim glow.
His bright eyes widened in shock. His eyebrows furrowed tightly.
Missco...
The woman in the small photo is completely naked, her face is flushed, her limbs are bound, and a large, eerie flower tattooed on her lower abdomen firmly draws the eye.
Look away.
She switched to another photo, and just one glance made her hand holding the photo tremble violently. She closed her eyes tightly, not daring to look at it any longer.
But that scene is deeply imprinted in my mind.
A beautiful body that has been abused, surrounded by a circle of men.
Feeling a bit flustered, I looked down to pick up the loose pages of the book and discovered that the edge of the slightly thick cover was cracked, exposing half a corner of a photograph inside the lining.
Qi Shuihan's identity and her mission to get close to Misike came to mind. It wasn't hard to figure out that these were parts of the personnel files the organization had given her.
[Ding! The past locations of Evil Woman No. 2 have been unblocked. The host can view them freely.]
His eyes became vacant, but he regained his senses after the system finished broadcasting.
The cub didn't seem to understand. It glanced at her, then shrank back into the bag.
It's difficult to get a cub to understand human language. I'll help it another time.
Thinking it over, she stuffed the book into her chest bag. She patted the cub's head and said, "Sweetie, don't bite the book."
Boom!
Thunder roared across the sky.
Sizzle~
The lights suddenly turned on brightly.
A huge shadow loomed over the wall in front of her, covering her own shadow.
Pfft!
The lights went out, and the giant shadow vanished immediately, as if it had just been an illusion.
But why does it smell so bad?
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