Ouroboros

Chapter 8

When the video found in the communicator was played by Ji Yushi, everyone shuddered.

The man in the video was also showing signs of change just like the drifter and the management staff just now—– His eyes were grey and turbid, his skin was covered in prominent blue-green blood vessels and he clamoured to tear his wife apart.

“The video was recorded one month ago.”

Unlike the others who expressed shock, Ji Yushi’s tone was calm.

He acted very brave and mature, as if the person who couldn’t unscrew a bottle cap just now wasn’t him.

“Zombies!!”

“If it’s really a zombie, how many of them are out there?!”

“Fuck, no wonder it’s so weird here!”

“That was a video from a month ago!”

Familiar sounding exclamations sounded in the office.

As the teammates discussed, Ji Yushi only silently took another sip of water. Only then did the terrible feeling of powerlessness fade. He spoke slowly, “The communicator has no internet, but I just received a message. It was probably sent to us.”

“The message was sent to the deceased’s communicator, but the message is for us?”

“Yes.”

“Open it.”

Song Qinglan said.

Ji Yushi turned on the holographic projection.

[Welcome Guardians from Star Era 1456. Welcome to PU-31.]

[The transfer this time has been locked in. Unlocked after mission is successful.]

[Mission mode: Ouroboros.]

[Mission rule: Death elimination]

At this moment, Tang Le shouted, “Everyone, look!”

Outside the window, a black wall suddenly appeared, connecting the sky with the ground. It spread all the way from the direction they had just come from.

“Beep——–” The communicator let out a final reminder.

[Mission objective: Chaser of darkness.]

Everyone was horrified.

Amidst all the discussions, Song Qinglan found a broom and poked it into the black wall. When he took it back out, the part of the broom that had pierced through the black wall was completely gone, as if it was ‘eaten up’.

“What did the mission rules say?”

“De-death elimination.” Someone answered.

“It’s good that we know.” Song Qinglan turned to everyone and said sternly, “Pick up your weapons and try not to die on me. Since we can’t go back anyway, let’s figure out what this PU-31 is.”

*

“What’s wrong with Advisor Ji?”

Duan Wen looked back at Ji Yushi who had already returned to the middle of the team. He stood there, tall and straight, and was very silent. He didn’t look like he was the one who was scared just now by the corpse in the management office.

Through the private communication channel, Song Qinglan suggested lightly, “Ask yourself?”

Duan Wen let out a small sigh, “Forget it. What if he asks me to open a bottle for him?”

Song Qinglan’s tone changed slightly, “So?”

One wouldn’t pluck a hair from a tiger and Duan Wen also didn’t dare joke with his captain, “Uh, I will still help him. It is our responsibility to help our teammates.”

Song Qinglan assessed, “Less useless talk.”

Duan Wen: “In fact, I hope that we can be more friendly by the time we return to write our reports so that our ratings don’t drop because of the team’s disharmony……”

Duan Wen was still chattering when Song Qinglan suddenly stopped and made a fist gesture.

“Wait.”

His voice sounded in the public channel.

Everyone looked ahead.

On the roads of the deserted and uninhabited city, a group of people appeared.

It was the end of summer. The morning six o’clock sun passed through the concrete forest, casting a golden glow on the charred asphalt road.

The dazzling light was like a dividing line, dividing between the mortal world and hell.

It was a group of zombies.

They didn’t notice the small squad quietly approaching in the distance and their attention was on the bloody corpse in the centre. Excited growls emitted from the depths of their throats as they scrambled to eat it like wild beasts.

The flesh, limbs and internal organs were all torn apart and devoured. The terrible sound of chewing could clearly be heard from a distance of only seven or eight metres.

“Ahhh!!!”

A scream sounded.

Behind the squad, a woman frantically rushed out of a building and closely following behind her were twenty or thirty zombies, reaching out trying to tear her apart.

That scream alerted the feasting zombies ahead.

The squad watched those feasting zombies toss the corpse aside and rush over towards them!

“Fuck!”

Someone cursed and soon following that, someone said, “Save her!”

‘Bang, bang, bang’. Several gunshots sounded. Three or four zombies behind the woman fell and at the same time, the other teammates also opened fire at the zombies rushing towards them.

The sound of gunshots echoed through the silent and empty city. Like a drop of water falling into a pan of hot oil, countless zombies emerged from the shadows!

“Go, go, go!!”

“Hurry!!”

The gunfire was deafening.

“Cap Song?!” Duan Wen shouted, “Let’s go!”

Song Qinglan stood in place. He seemed to be waiting for something. His body exuded a compelling aura.

When the woman was just a few steps away, a cold light flashed, and the woman suddenly fell onto her knees, collapsing onto the ground.

With the cover of the teammates, Song Qinglan strode over and pulled out his military knife from the woman’s forehead.

Fresh blood flowed out from the woman’s wide-open eyes. Her grey and turbid eyes were just like those of the zombies that were chasing after her a few seconds ago. Part of her ear was missing and there were also clear tooth marks there.

Song Qinglan stored the knife away. Ji Yushi behind him turned around and accurately shot down a zombie trying to attack him from behind. His actions were smoother and swifter than Song Qinglan’s expectations.

He had thought that he would be more hesitant when shooting down someone for the first time in a real battle.

It was chaotic, like it was the end of the world.

Ji Yushi looked back at the woman on the ground and then looked at Song Qinglan in surprise.

This one look finally confirmed something he had been hesitant about. Ji Yushi’s beautiful eyes heated up, as if he finally found some vitality. He shouted loudly, “To the left! Convenience store! Hurry!”

There were more and more zombies. They poured out continuously in all directions.

They weren’t too far from the convenience store and could clearly see its metal barrier.

Quickly finding a hideout bought them a lot of time.

Everyone worked together and quickly hurried over to the convenience store under the rain of bullets.

Without even looking, Ji Yushi shot at the shop’s identification panel. Amid the harsh alarm, Li Chun and Zhou Mingxuan worked together to lift open the metal barrier.

As soon as it was enough for someone to roll through, Ji Yushi quickly slipped through like a slippery fish.

“Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang!”

Suddenly, several gunshots came from inside.

The gunfire subsided.

Ji Yushi reappeared behind the metal barrier. His pale face was stained with blood and there were even droplets hanging from his eyelashes.

He was panting slightly, and his voice was unstable, “Get in!”

Everyone: “???”

When everyone entered the convenience store one after another, they were met with a pile of fresh corpses. Everyone: “……..”

Was this really the Advisor Ji who couldn’t even unscrew a bottle cap?!

The convenience store was a complete mess and the shelves had been ransacked. Besides that, it was safe —– The danger had already been single-handedly dealt with in a blink of an eye by Ji Yushi.

That speed and decisiveness, it was almost like he had known about this in advance.

In all honesty, even the best Guardian was at this level at best.

Everyone suddenly felt like they should give intelligence some respect.

“Where’s Cap Song?!” Zhou Mingxuan suddenly asked.

Only Li Chun, Duan Wen and Ji Yushi were there. The twins and Song Qinglan were not around.

Ji Yushi frowned, “Open the door and wait for them!”

As soon as he said that, rapid gunfire sounded outside the store.

Song Qinglan pushed Tang Le into the shop under everyone’s cover.

Tang Le’s expression was dazed while Song Qinglan’s was pale. The barrier was once again pulled down with a ‘clang’. Someone shouted, “We still have to wait for Tang Qi!”

“No need to wait.” Song Qinglan stood up, his body covered in blood and dirt, “Tang Qi was bitten. After being infected, the mutation time….took no more than ten seconds.”

Tang Le cried bitterly.

No one knew what happened to them outside. Everyone was shocked when they heard this answer.

Close at hand, countless zombies slapped at the metal barrier, growling loudly with wide open mouths. Their grey eyes stared stubbornly into the store, as if they would suddenly rush into the store the next second and tear them to pieces.

Ten seconds.

The speed of the virus spreading was very fast.

Coupled with the 100% mutation rate after being bitten, no city in the world would have the ability to defend against such a virus.

“We can’t hang around. This barrier won’t last long.” Song Qinglan’s voice was cold, “There is a fake wall in the store’s warehouse. Blast that open and get out from there.”

Ji Yushi sharply turned his head.

The eyes of the two happened to meet.

Now wasn’t the time to chat. The eyes on Ji Yushi’s bloody face was exceptionally bright.

Song Qinglan remained calm and composed but his question carried profound meaning, “Advisor Ji, what’s behind the wall?”

Ji Yushi clenched his fists, his nails digging into his palms.

In front of his ignorant teammates, he also answered calmly, “Back alley.”

Everyone else had no idea what was going on and they didn’t understand what riddle the two were playing, but as long as there was a way out, they shouldn’t waste time caring about anything else.

The metal barrier was on its last legs. It swayed and made some terrible noises. They must race against time to escape from here.

The wall was blasted away with everyone firing at it at the same time. Light poured in.

After the last teammate jumped out, there was a ‘bang’ and the metal barrier finally fell.

Zhou Mingxuan opened fire at the zombies in the back alley, covering his other teammates, “Get in the car!!”

Song Qinglan stuffed Tang Le who was almost on the brink of break down into the back seat.

The zombies rushed into the convenience store and followed them out through the opening in the warehouse they had just escaped out from.

Zhou Mingxuan also got in the car. With six big men suddenly crammed into a not-so-wide car, it was a tight fit.

They could only hear Duan Wen shout, “Identification card!! Find it!”

Tang Le was squeezed between Song Qinglan and Ji Yushi.

But it was close enough for Song Qinglan to see the small baby hairs on the back of Ji Yushi’s neck under the sunlight entering through the car window.

Ji Yushi squeezed over to open the storage box and handed the identification card over, “Here!”

Li Chun in the driver’s seat took the card and hurriedly started the car and drove out.

The car roared and white smoke formed as the tyres spun against the ground. The zombies ahead were hit by the car leaving dark red marks following the collision.

They rushed out of the back alley.

Before they could breath a sigh of relief, Ji Yushi’s expression suddenly changed when they reached a certain intersection. He shouted, “Turn left!!!”

Not far away, a large spacecar suddenly appeared before them.

Ji Yushi had shouted in time and this shout made Li Chun reflexively turn the steering wheel, driving the car into a building.

“Bang bang bang——-!!”

The car braked sharply and the several glass doors that were rammed through trembled before finally stopping.

After a moment of silence, Song Qinglan kicked the back of the driver’s seat: “Chun’er, I don’t seem to remember you getting a driver’s licence.”

Li Chun was helpless, “I’m not talking back boss but now isn’t the time to care about those details.”

Everyone: “………”