"What are you trying to do, take the thing? I don't want to fight you."
Hao Shuai's move immediately made James and the others point their guns at him. Rain shouted at him angrily.
"Looks like you've got a lot of objections!" Hao Shuai ignored Rain's warning. He unleashed his telekinesis, instantly pinning everyone to the floor, while sending all the mercenaries' weapons into his spatial storage.
"Anyone still have a problem?" Hao Shuai released his hold on them and asked again.
Spence seemed to have regained his memory. Thinking that they had the numbers and Hao Shuai wouldn't dare do anything to him, he actually stepped forward without a care for his life and shouted, "Who the hell are you? What gives you the right to take the motherboard, you damn yellow monkey?"
Hao Shuai's face darkened. In a low voice, he asked, "Oh, looks like you've got your memory back? Hm? You think no one knows what you did? Yellow monkey? Seems like you still haven't grasped the situation!"
As he spoke, Hao Shuai raised his hand toward Spence's hands and clenched his fist.
Crack! Crack!
"Ah!"
Spence's hands immediately fell limp, and he collapsed to the floor, howling in pain.
"Surely no one else has a problem now?" Hao Shuai asked the others with a beaming smile.
James and the others could only glare furiously at Hao Shuai, whose methods were both extraordinary and brutal. None of them dared to voice an objection.
"If you cooperate, I don't mind getting you out of The Hive safely and making sure the zombies don't get you." With the apocalypse about to arrive, and James and the others seeming like decent people, Hao Shuai didn't mind saving them.
"Zombies? What are those?" Rain asked.
"I could explain, but it'll be better if you see for yourselves. Come with me. I'll take you to see some zombies!" Hao Shuai said, then headed straight for Restaurant B.
James and the others exchanged glances. In the end, Alice helped Spence up, and they followed Hao Shuai out.
As soon as they reached Restaurant B, they heard a clattering sound, like metal rolling across the floor. Following the noise, they saw a middle-aged man in a gray suit, his head bowed, slowly walking toward them. He dragged a fire axe in one hand.
"There's another survivor!" Rain said excitedly.
"A survivor? Heh." Hao Shuai sneered. He pulled out a pistol and shot the middle-aged man twice in the legs, breaking them.
"Are you insane? Have you no humanity? How could you attack an innocent person?" Rain, hot-tempered as ever, forgot how brutal Hao Shuai was and roared furiously.
"Then take a good look. This is the zombie I was talking about." Hao Shuai didn't take Rain's attitude to heart.
As they spoke, the middle-aged man got back up. He lifted his pale head, opened a blood-red mouth, and staggered toward them with clawing hands.
Hao Shuai fired five more shots at him, hitting him in the chest and abdomen each time, yet he still stood and slowly shuffled forward.
By now, even James and the others could tell there was something wrong with the middle-aged man.
Hao Shuai fired once more, blowing the man's head apart. Black blood covered the floor.
"Look at his blood," Hao Shuai said to James.
The medic walked over and took a look. "Look at his blood. It's already half-congealed, and it's turned black. He's not alive."
"How is that possible? He was moving just now." Rain didn't quite believe it, but when she looked at the blood on the floor, it was indeed almost congealed.
"He's a living corpse now—in other words, a zombie. This is what happens when someone is infected with the T-Virus."
"What's the T-Virus?" Alice, who had been silent until then, asked.
"The T-Virus is..." Just as Hao Shuai was about to explain, the sound of his gunfire drew more zombies over. This time, everyone saw for themselves what a zombie was.
Some of the zombies had half their faces missing, but when they saw the group, they still opened their mouths and let out low growls. Others were missing an eye and lurched toward them.
Seeing how many zombies were gathering around them, Hao Shuai didn't waste any more bullets. He simply used his telekinesis to snap their necks.
The zombies immediately fell to the ground, lifeless. Seeing Hao Shuai's abnormal ability, James and the others felt a chill run down their own necks. They looked at him with fearful respect, worried he might get carried away and snap their necks too.
Pleased with their attitude, Hao Shuai continued, "The Hive is a secret facility owned by the Umbrella Corporation. It's responsible for researching and developing the T-Virus. The T-Virus is a major breakthrough in medical science, and it can also be turned into an expensive military weapon. Even after a person dies, their body continues functioning. Their fingernails and hair keep growing, and new cells are produced. Small electrical impulses also continue to flow through the brain, only disappearing after several months. The T-Virus can have a massive effect, making the cells and electrical impulses continue to grow. Simply put, it reshapes the human body."
Everyone was stunned.
"Back from the dead?" Rain asked curiously.
"Not exactly. They can only move, and might retain a few scraps of memory. In theory, they have no intelligence. They're driven by the most basic nerve impulses and fundamental needs."
"What needs?"
"To satisfy their appetite!"
"What do they eat?" James asked.
"Fresh flesh and blood," Hao Shuai replied ominously.
A chill ran through everyone at those words.
"How do you kill them?"
"Sever the spine, or inflict critical damage on the brain. Those are the most effective methods—like what I just did," Hao Shuai said.
"Why did the T-Virus leak?" Matt thought of his possibly dead sister and asked angrily.
"The T-Virus leaked because someone broke into the lab to steal it and smashed a container of it. That allowed the virus to get into The Hive's air-conditioning and ventilation system and spread. The virus has already evolved. It went from a liquid to a gas, and now it can even spread through blood. It can also survive and thrive in its environment, to the point where it's impossible to eradicate. Red Queen was afraid the T-Virus would spread beyond The Hive, so she activated the emergency protocol. She killed everyone inside and locked them in designated areas. When we shut Red Queen down just now, we released all the zombies." Hao Shuai patiently explained.
James was speechless when he realized that shutting down Red Queen had released the zombies. Rain was even angrier. "You knew shutting her down was dangerous. Why didn't you stop us earlier?"
"Why should I have stopped you? Aside from the fact that we were both after Red Queen's motherboard, even if I'd spoken up, would you have listened to me? Besides, even if we hadn't shut Red Queen down, the T-Virus would still have leaked out of The Hive." Hao Shuai rolled his eyes at Rain.
"Why?" Rain asked, puzzled.
James and the others knew that Hao Shuai wouldn't have been able to stop them even if he'd tried. After all, as the saying went, people wouldn't believe it until they saw the coffin. Still, they were puzzled by his claim that the outcome would have been the same whether or not they shut down Red Queen, and looked at him curiously.
Hao Shuai shook his head and said, "Red Queen thinks sealing The Hive will stop the virus from leaking, but she didn't consider that The Hive is underground. There are so many snakes, insects, rats, and mice down here. The virus has probably already spread to the outside world by now. No one can stop it."
Besides, Hao Shuai didn't tell them that this was all part of a scheme by the Umbrella Corporation. Even if the virus hadn't leaked this time, it would happen again. The Umbrella Corporation's methods were already far beyond ordinary villainy in its pursuit of world domination.
Hao Shuai didn't say everything. After all, he knew the Umbrella Corporation's headquarters was directly beneath The Hive, and he didn't want to provoke the final boss just yet. He could come back later.
Hearing Hao Shuai's explanation, everyone imagined the outside world soon turning into a world of zombies, and shuddered.
"All right, that's enough for the crash course. You have two choices: one, stay here and wait for the Umbrella Corporation to rescue you; two, I'll give you weapons, and you can fight your way out with me." Hao Shuai gave them their options, then pointed to the rows of cultivation tanks in the restaurant. "Every one of these contains a monster called a Licker, cultivated by the Umbrella Corporation by injecting the T-Virus into living cell tissue. Now that the power's been shut off, they'll probably wake up soon."
James and the others were at a loss for words. Hao Shuai said they could choose, but then told them about the Lickers. Obviously, he wanted them to go with him!
So much for two choices. It was just like taking off your pants to fart—completely pointless.
James and the others said they wanted to get out with Hao Shuai. Without another word, Hao Shuai took a huge pile of guns and ammunition out of his spatial storage and armed them. He also told James to unlock Matt's handcuffs.
They weren't surprised by Hao Shuai's ability to produce things out of thin air. They each picked out a gun that suited them. Hao Shuai went straight to Spence, who was glaring at him resentfully, and asked Matt and the others, "Aren't you curious who stole and released the T-Virus?"
The others were sorting out their gear. When they heard Hao Shuai's question, they all looked at Spence's terrified face and immediately understood who he meant. Fury surged through them, and they cursed him one after another.
"You son of a bitch! It was Spence!"
"Damn it! Spence, you bitch! Kill him!"
Matt charged over and punched Spence repeatedly, beating him until he was battered and bloody.
"All right, Matt. We're short on time. Let's get moving," Hao Shuai said, stopping Matt from continuing his lesson.
Then he pointed his pistol at Spence and said, "Try being a decent person in your next life!"
Bang!
Spence, the villain, was killed off.
Before you continue