Red River System Online

In the distance, zombies howled as they charged toward the building.

The stairwell was packed full of zombies, with every step covered in them.

Zombies were constantly being squeezed off and falling to the first floor. Yet the zombies on the first floor stacked themselves like human pyramids, piling up and charging upward.

Li Mu Chuan's heart pounded as he walked to the balcony and glanced down.

What he saw made his heart race even faster. Along the building walls, the zombies below were frantically climbing up the glass. Looking closer—

The building's entrance had already been completely jammed, so these zombies had simply decided to climb up the exterior walls.

"What kind of joke is this?!"

Cold sweat instantly ran down Li Mu Chuan's face.

This was a thirty-two-story building, easily over a hundred meters tall.

A hundred meters! How were these zombies supposed to climb up the outside of the building?

Yet just as Li Mu Chuan leaned out to look below, the zombies noticed him. Their cries instantly became even more frenzied.

One after another, they crazily began climbing the outer wall.

As more and more zombies gathered, many below began serving as a foundation. In moments, the pile had already climbed more than three meters high.

Farther away, Li Mu Chuan could clearly see several black lines rushing toward this direction at tremendous speed.

They were all zombies from around the building, now drawn here in full.

Watching this scene, Li Mu Chuan began to panic. These zombies were too ferocious.

The zombies beneath the building continued piling up, inching closer and closer to the rooftop.

Within a few breaths, they had reached the height of the fourth floor.

More and more zombies gathered from all around, and their climbing speed increased steadily.

When the zombie pile reached around the sixteenth floor, the situation finally improved slightly.

The stack had become too high. With the base unstable, sections of it frequently collapsed.

For every meter they climbed, they fell back about half a meter, greatly slowing the rate at which they rose.

However, the situation had not improved for long before the next sight made Li Mu Chuan's heart sink.

Somewhere near the building, a group of small creatures emerged.

Their bodies were extremely light, and they stepped on the zombies below as they rapidly climbed upward.

Once these little creatures reached the tenth floor or so, Li Mu Chuan immediately recognized them.

"Cats!"

Li Mu Chuan's expression changed instantly after recognizing the animals.

Normally, there would have been nothing to fear from them. But now that they had become zombies, they had been strengthened countless times over.

One scratch or bite from them would probably cause infection.

More importantly, they were far too nimble. Right now, they were climbing at terrifying speed!

Li Mu Chuan tightened his grip around the steel bar and stared fixedly at the mutated cats below. The moment one got close enough, he would knock it straight back down.

Around the building, zombies now stood packed densely in every direction.

It seemed that all the zombies nearby had been drawn over. Looking down, there was nothing but a vast sea of black.

In the distance.

Li Qingxiao watched countless zombies frantically climbing the outer walls of the building ahead toward its roof.

The black line formed by the zombie staircase clung to the exterior wall like black liquid, endlessly corroding its way upward.

A trace of anguish filled Li Qingxiao's beautiful eyes. She knew Li Mu Chuan was standing atop that high-rise.

Once those zombies reached the roof, he would be doomed.

Besides the zombies, there were also infected animals.

Rats, cats, dogs, and other creatures people had once overlooked would all become deadly infected entities.

And they would receive even greater enhancements.

Under such circumstances, there was absolutely no chance of survival.

An inexplicable pain clenched Li Qingxiao's heart. She bit her lip hard and hurried toward the laboratory.

The zombies around her had already been lured away. She had to enter the laboratory as quickly as possible.

Pushing the cart, Li Qingxiao rushed into the laboratory at top speed. She immediately headed to the computer room and activated the backup emergency power system.

"Bzzzz!"

With a hum, the backup power successfully activated.

The surrounding lights automatically came on.

At the same time, the computers in the laboratory lit up, their green and red indicators flashing in succession.

System loading... 1%... 10%.

System loading complete!

Red River System online.

Warning. Biological crisis detected! Defense mechanisms activated according to security protocol! The laboratory will enter security lockdown in three seconds. Personnel with Level One researcher clearance or above, please issue instructions within three seconds!

Warning! Red River System has detected personnel within the laboratory. Identifying personnel...

Name: Li Qingxiao.

Unit: Biomedical Engineering, Genetic Engineering, Area A Level One R&D Unit.

Clearance: Level One.

...

Biological crisis detected. Other researchers detected offline. Highest security protocol automatically activated. Survivor clearance elevated to Special Level. This Red River System grants her access to all functions.

Connecting to laboratories of other units. Resource sharing enabled.

Beep. Red River Third Laboratory detected offline.

Red River Fifth Laboratory detected offline.

Red River Eighth Laboratory detected offline.

...

In the computer center, red lights continuously flashed among the indicator lights that should have been green.

As various protocols activated within the computers, every door outside the laboratory slammed shut, followed by reinforced locking bolts.

The laboratory activated internal air circulation. The lights automatically turned on, and disinfection began.

In an instant, the laboratory had become the safest place possible.

Li Qingxiao looked around the empty laboratory. Under the lights, everything appeared so pale and blank, and an equally empty feeling rose in her heart.

"Red River, pull up the surveillance feed for the building five hundred meters to the southwest."

Li Qingxiao hurried toward the monitoring room, her face filled with urgency and anxiety.

"Yes. Surveillance feed retrieved."

Red River's voice rang out.

When Li Qingxiao arrived in the monitoring room and looked at the footage, the exterior wall of the distant high-rise looked as though someone had drawn a stroke across it in ink.

A black line stretched from the bottom of the building to its roof, making one's scalp tingle just from looking at it from afar.

At the top of the building, the zombies had already climbed onto the roof.

Li Mu Chuan swung his steel bar, sending an infected cat that had climbed up flying back down. Sweat covered his face.

The zombies' roars were already clearly audible. The iron door behind him had begun to deform, as if it would not hold much longer.

Li Mu Chuan took a step back. The next moment, countless zombies burst out like an eruption and lunged directly at him.

Li Mu Chuan moved to the edge of a raised platform on the other side, knocking a zombie that tried to bite him to the ground while nervously watching the time.

Ten seconds left!

Li Mu Chuan took a deep breath. Zombies packed the three directions ahead, left, and right, surging toward him.

Using all his strength, Li Mu Chuan savagely struck at the zombies from all three directions, but this time it had little effect.

The zombies had already pounced in front of him. Li Mu Chuan could smell the foul stench from their mouths.

Two seconds left!

Li Mu Chuan suddenly leaped out of the building. The zombies behind him rushed after him like dumplings dropped into a pot.

The next moment, Li Mu Chuan transformed into a flash of white light and vanished from this world.

In the distant laboratory, Li Qingxiao stared blankly at the monitor. Li Mu Chuan had jumped from another side of the building.

All she could see was Li Mu Chuan jumping from the building at the final moment. From such a tall building...

She knew Li Mu Chuan would die, but when she truly saw that scene, Li Qingxiao suddenly felt a piercing pain wrench through her heart.