Volume Six: The Years I Wasn’t Human
Meeting
“You’re saying there’s a fingerprint on the password?” Zhong Wenshu said in horror, “Is… is it a human fingerprint?”
Chu Han returned and told them about the situation underground. He nodded, “Yes, there’s a fingerprint on the password. It was likely left by someone who entered the password.”
Mu Xuan rubbed his arms, “I’m getting fucking goosebumps. Chu-ge, don’t be scary, I’m most afraid of ghosts.”
“Coward.” Sang Er hit him, saying with contempt, “You’re not afraid of zombies, but you’re afraid of ghosts? Are you a man or not?”
Mu Xuan’s face was deathly pale, and he pouted, “Sang-jie, you can make me fight several hundred zombies and I won’t be scared, but you can’t make me see a ghost.”
He muttered, “You’ve known me for so many years, don’t you know I’m especially afraid of ghosts? I’ve called you ‘jie’ for so many years for nothing, you don’t care about your little brother at all.”
“…” Sang Er helplessly rolled her eyes, “You’ve wasted that one-meter-nine frame of yours, your guts have all been fucking eaten by zombies. It’s a good thing you’re not my real brother, otherwise I’d die of shame because of you.”
Mu Xuan looked aggrieved, hiding behind Sang Er like a husky, and said with a trembling voice, “Sang-jie, if… if there’s a ghost, help me burn it with a burst of fire, let it be scattered into ashes and smoke.”
Sang Er: “….”
Is she a Daoist priest1?
What the hell is ‘scattered into ashes and smoke’.
Zhong Wenshu smiled, “Don’t be afraid. If it were a ghost, how could it leave a fingerprint?”
Mu Xuan’s body trembled, and he suddenly reacted, scratching the back of his head in embarrassment as it dawned on him, “That’s true.”
Sang Er dodged away from him in disgust, “Useless.”
Chu Han looked at An Min, seeing that he wasn’t focused on the underground structure, but was instead looking towards the residential area of the experimental zone.
He asked him, “Doctor, what is it?”
An Min retracted his gaze, “Let’s go down.”
Chu Han didn’t press him further, instead suggesting, “Doctor, it will likely be very dangerous down there. You must be extremely careful.”
“Mm.”
Chu Han went down first to clear the way, with Sang Er bringing up the rear.
Sang Er walked at the back of the team, looking at the central building which, like the surface, was a ruin. Bloody fragments of memories flashed through her mind. Looking at Chu Han walking ahead of her, the anger in her heart instantly surged.
She clenched her fists, forcefully suppressing the rising anger. Not now. No matter how much she wanted to kill Chu Han, she couldn’t make a move against him at this time.
The bigger picture is more important.
Once the dust has settled, she would take Chu Han to find Wen Nuan and atone for their sins.
The five of them arrived before the password-protected door. An Min looked at the fingerprint on it and said with his eyes lowered, “There are two chances left.”
Mu Xuan was ambiguous2, “What does that mean?”
Chu Han explained, “This password door only allows three attempts. If the third attempt is still incorrect, the control room will initiate a self-destruct sequence.”
Mu Xuan swallowed, looking at An Min with expectation, “Then Doctor, do you know the password?”
“I need some time.” An Min took out his laptop, sat on the ground, and began typing on the keyboard.
The four of them sat down around An Min, warily watching their surroundings, not daring to lower their guard.
Sang Er glanced at the password door, “Doctor, is this password very difficult?”
An Min didn’t lift his head, still typing on the keyboard, “Very difficult.”
“The person who can crack this password must be very formidable, right?”
“Mm, very formidable.”
Chu Han frowned slightly, looking at the scar on his wrist, his gaze flickering.
Sang Er let out a light laugh, “Indeed, she has always been very formidable.”
“‘She’?” Zhong Wenshu asked, “Are you talking about that B-grade psychic-type ability user who successfully deciphered the password lock?”
“Half and half, I guess.” She never denied anyone’s contribution; that psychic-type ability user had also been a great help in cracking the password lock.
Mu Xuan asked curiously, “Then who is the other half?”
Sang Er looked at the fire on her fingertips, pursed her lips, and lowered her eyes without speaking.
“Lin Wen Nuan.” Chu Han spoke up.
Sang Er abruptly extinguished the flame on her fingertips.
Mu Xuan glanced at Sang Er, then said in surprise, “Lin Wen Nuan? That A-grade healing-type ability user?”
Although he had never met this Lin Wen Nuan, he had heard of this famous healing-type ability user.
Her ability was very special; she could treat the after-effects of the H-agent, which is now the zombie virus. As long as a human was bitten by a zombie, if they could receive this healing-type ability user’s aid within three minutes, they could maintain their humanity and not transform into a zombie.
Moreover, this healing-type ability user could also provide energy to other ability users, equivalent to a pure crystal core without any viral residue, providing ability users with the purest energy and allowing them to fight continuously.
It was equivalent to a wet nurse role3 in a game.
“Mm,” Chu Han looked at that password door, “The first half of the password was cracked by the psychic-type ability user, and the second half was cracked by Lin Wen Nuan.”
Zhong Wenshu said in surprise, “Which part of the password was more difficult to crack?”
An Min stopped his hands and pushed up his glasses, “The second half was an encrypted password, so it was the most difficult to crack.”
Mu Xuan exclaimed, “…Then this Miss Lin is truly very formidable.”
As soon as he finished speaking, the atmosphere became so quiet that only the sound of An Min’s keyboard could be heard.
The flame on her fingertips flared up and extinguished, again and again. Sang Er took a cigarette out of her pocket, lit it, and began to smoke.
An Min’s nose twitched, and he looked at the cigarette in Sang Er’s mouth, “What is this?”
Sang Er raised an eyebrow, “…A cigarette, you don’t recognize it?”
“It smells very good,” An Min looked at the smoke Sang Er exhaled, “and very delicate.”
Sang Er was a little pleased by his praise, thinking An Min wanted one of her cigarettes, “I don’t have many of these cigarettes, I can’t give you any.”
“I don’t smoke,” An Min pressed his aching temples and asked, “but the cigarette you’re smoking is very special. Where is it produced?”
Sang Er’s eyes narrowed, “…Wen Nuan gave it to me.”
She didn’t know where this cigarette was produced. She first became aware of it from the faint, sweet fragrance on Wen Nuan’s body. In her impression, people who finished smoking always left a very smelly, choking, and pungent odor on their bodies, but the smell of smoke on Wen Nuan was very special, possessing a faint, sweet fragrance.
If she were to describe it, her uncultured self could only think of the mountain mist in the forests of her old home village.
Like after a heavy rain, when layers of thin mist drift through the mountains.
Zhong Wenshu had also never met Lin Wen Nuan, and he was very curious about this person. Learning that Sang Er’s cigarette was given to her by Wen Nuan, and that its scent was light, pleasant, and not choking, like a watery mist.
“You don’t know the place of origin either?” Zhong Wenshu asked.
Sang Er shook her head, “I never asked.”
An Min extended a hand, “Can you give me one to look at?”
Sang Er’s eyes narrowed. She took one out of her pocket and handed it over, threatening, “This is the last one I have left. If you break it, I’ll break your fingers.”
“Alright,” An Min took it, observed it carefully, and came to a conclusion, “This was likely made by Miss Lin herself.”
He returned the cigarette to Sang Er, his voice faint.
“This is the last memento she left me.” A look of pain appeared in Sang Er’s eyes.
Chu Han’s thin lips pressed into a straight line, his expression dark and unreadable.
Mu Xuan and Zhong Wenshu looked at Chu Han and Sang Er respectively, finally exchanging a glance. Both of them fell silent. After all, anyone who dared to speak without tact at this moment would likely get caught in the crossfire.
“Alright,” An Min closed his computer, stood up, and walked to the password-locked door, “we can go in now.”
Chu Han said in surprise, “Doctor, you’ve cracked the password?”
An Min calmly and unhurriedly keyed in the password, “Mm.”
The four of them split into two pairs, standing to the left and right of An Min, vigilantly watching the password door.
After An Min entered the last digit, they only heard a sound from the password mechanism: [Correct!!!]
Click—
The sound of the lock opening.
Chu Han and the others instantly stood on high alert4, watching as the control room’s main door slowly opened.
The scene inside the control room was identical to the control room on the surface that had already become a ruin, both filled with precise and high-end instruments and equipment.
An Min walked to the console, connected his laptop to the computer equipment, and quickly found the most core research data on the H-agent, preparing to export it.
He turned his head, looked at the four of them, and said in a deep voice, “The moment I press the export key, the experimental zone’s defense system will be activated. The alarm will attract all the zombies in the experimental zone to rush here, and the defense system will also release ‘Test Subject No. 1’.”
“Then Doctor, what is this ‘Test Subject No. 1’ you speak of?” Mu Xuan asked, puzzled.
An Min took a deep breath, “Before the apocalypse had completely broken out, No. 1 was already a Zombie King.”
Everyone’s eyes widened, filled with disbelief.
“By now, I’m afraid it has already become a Zombie Emperor.” He looked at his laptop, “I have already connected the data to the console on the Jingdu side.”
“We just need to hold out until the data transfer is complete.”
As for whether they lived or died, it no longer mattered. After all, everyone knew in their hearts that in coming to Qian’an this time, they all came with the determination to die.
Mu Xuan took a gun out of his space and handed it to An Min, “Doctor.”
An Min took it, “Many thanks.”
Chu Han said grimly, “Alright, Doctor, you can proceed.” He looked at the other three and said through gritted teeth, “Protect the Doctor and the data, even if we die.”
“Alright!”
An Min pressed the transfer key, and the transfer speed began to change.
1%…5%….7%….
The lights in the experimental zone suddenly went out. The crimson warning lights instantly dyed everyone’s eyes red, and the piercing sound of the alarm roared and shrieked in their ears.
Chu Han and the others walked out of the control room, using their bodies to block the doorway, their eyes fixed on the path ahead. They were already prepared to sacrifice themselves.
After a long while, the four of them did not encounter the expected thousands of zombies. Not even the shadow of a single zombie appeared.
Mu Xuan looked at his watch, completely baffled, “It’s already been twenty minutes, how come we haven’t seen a single zombie?”
Chu Han also found it strange, his brow tightly furrowed. He turned his head back to confirm the situation in the control room, “Doctor, how much of the data has been transferred?”
An Min replied, “It’s already at 20%.”
“Alright, you continue. Don’t worry, we’re out here.”
“Alright.”
“The alarm has been ringing for so long, but not a single zombie has come. Could it be because of the Zombie Emperor the Doctor mentioned?” Zhong Wenshu guessed.
Mu Xuan looked back and asked An Min, “Doctor, how powerful is the Zombie Emperor?”
An Min glanced at Sang Er and Chu Han, “A human 3S-grade ability user could fight against it.”
The four of them: “….”
A 3S-grade ability user. Currently, no human could reach this level.
In other words, they were certain to die.
Suddenly——
The four of them heard the sound of a footstep from the dark corridor in the distance. Although the footstep was very faint, it was easily perceptible.
Chu Han extended a hand, blocking the others, and whispered, “Hold your breath, be ready.”
Ta-ta-ta——
The sound was like sneakers stepping on the floor, very light, not like a man’s footsteps.
Long-long-long——
It sounded like something round and lumpy was rolling on the ground. The sound was loud, as if that person was making it intentionally, and it was getting closer and closer.
Everyone held their breath, not daring to make a sound, their hearts beating wildly in their chests.
That thing got closer, and closer…
Until Chu Han looked down and saw the human head that had rolled to his feet.
It was like a human head that had rotted from being soaked in water, with sparse hair, sunken cheeks, and a grayish-white color. It was just a skull wrapped in a layer of wrinkled skin.
There were still remnants of flesh and blood on its teeth, and fresh blood was still dripping from the corners of its mouth.
A single human head was not enough to make the four of them lower their guard, because that footstep was slowly approaching.
Until a warning light flickered, emitting a faint red glow.
Sang Er’s and Chu Han’s pupils instantly dilated. They looked in disbelief at the person under the red light.
“Wen Nuan——”
The author has something to say:
Wen Nuan: Hi, wifey.
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