Tough Guy

After advancing about 100 meters, Little Fatty spotted the door from the Diary. It was obvious, tucked under a curved, thick concrete wall that formed a seamless whole—the Diary's claim that "even a direct nuclear strike couldn't break it" didn't seem baseless.

This arc-shaped building sat at least 20 meters from the other cells, leaving the area in front of it empty and bare.

Kirk walked up to the door. Little Fatty nodded nervously, so Kirk used the key from the Diary!

He inserted the key into the door. A minute passed. Nothing happened. No mechanical clicks, no belt drives, no laser scans.

The group went from bracing for battle to exchanging bewildered glances. Someone coughed inappropriately, and light chatter broke out.

Kirk and Little Fatty's faces darkened. Wasn't this a total scam? They'd been coaxed into selling everything they had, buying up birth control pills ([High Protein Potassium Injection]), massage oil ([Stone Skin] potion), Viagra ([Adrenaline]), and bottom-boy meds ([Sheep Transformation] potion), all geared up and raring to go for a wild three-hundred-round brawl with the boss—and now there was nothing on the other side? What the hell?

"Maybe this key isn't for this door at all. Maybe the lock was swapped after the key was lost. Maybe... there are plenty of maybes." Mori blew smoke rings with schadenfreude, took a drag, flicked the butt to the ground, and crushed it out, waving for everyone to leave.

Kirk suddenly heard a faint, almost imperceptible sound. Then the whole prison began to tremble.

An electronic synthesized voice announced: "Warning! Highly classified sector C-03 is opening! All security personnel be advised! Highly classified sector C-03 is about to open! Unauthorized entry will invoke Clause 04!"

The mottled concrete wall began to slide apart from the center, retreating on both sides of the massive steel door, revealing its full form.

It was a true hunk of steel. The special stainless steel metal radiated the cold, biting menace and authority of a technological age.

Then, with the hum of hydraulic presses and the clatter of complex machinery, the central steel door slowly swung open. Kirk saw the door was at least a meter thick!

What kind of thing was hidden so deep in the most dangerous maximum-security prison in America?

What kind of secret led the guards to execute prisoners immediately after the catastrophe?

What kind of conspiracy caused so many riot police to be deployed and all die in the depths of this prison?

Once the door was fully open, an elevator appeared ahead. A large elevator, 4 by 4 meters, spotless and gleaming.

There was no turning back now. Resolved to push forward, Kirk entered first, Little Fatty right behind, and the Plot Characters followed in order.

Watching Mori's nonchalant expression, Kirk's restless heart gradually steadied. That man was like a stubborn rock, always radiating a kind of reliable strength.

With T-Dog, Guillermo, and a few other Gunner Plot Characters, the group numbered about ten, all fully armed. Even if danger came, they wouldn't be completely helpless, right?

The elevator seemed to descend for a long time before finally stopping. There was no floor indicator inside. Kirk figured they were now deep underground.

System Prompt: "Contractors No. 4444 and No. 4445 have discovered a hidden Main Plot location—U.S. Military Top-Secret Laboratory (Military Code JBA-2B) (Kirk: Cool code name. I like it. Bring it on)."

"Silver Hidden Main Mission Phase 1 - [Exploration] officially activated! Explore JBA-2B Laboratory. Investigate the hidden truth behind the world's great catastrophe."

Kirk's face turned serious. From the plot, the Protagonist Rick woke up in the hospital and immediately plunged into the catastrophe. No one asked why. It was as if everyone, like the writers, took it for granted. Even by the end of Season 3, not a single word explained why the catastrophe happened worldwide. No why, only how to survive. (The world's walkers: No one gives a damn.)

But clearly, there was a huge mystery here. If someone could explore and uncover it, they'd undoubtedly reap enormous benefits. It seemed this hidden task within the Main Plot was to find the root of the world's disaster, expose it, and maybe even make major adjustments and impacts on the plot.

Still, Kirk wished he'd never taken this lucrative mission. No matter how good the reward, you had to live to claim it. He was an otaku who preferred steady progress—a "farm-and-build" type in gamer terms. He didn't shy from risk, but he sure as hell didn't want to die.

Unfortunately, Little Fatty had stumbled upon that damned Diary by sheer luck. The System had gleefully forced itself on them, no payment, no protection, triggering this bastard mission as if it couldn't wait for bloodshed.

He sighed. Whatever happened, he had to find a way to survive.

His gaze drifted to the side. In this team were Mori, T-Dog, Guillermo, and a few other tough guys. Maybe his and Little Fatty's hope of survival lay with these Plot Characters?

Even after selling everything he had, his combat ability was only on par with T-Dog's. Mori was probably stronger. He had no confidence in surviving this trial.

"Big brother! I found a lab!" Little Fatty ran over excitedly.

Kirk shook his head, pulled himself together. If he had to die, he'd die clean. He followed Little Fatty over.

As he walked, Kirk was horrified. On both sides, cultivation vessels were large incubation tanks with transparent glass, filled with red and yellow liquids, eerily like amniotic fluid in a human placenta. Inside, faint pale bodies were visible—corpses of humanoid creatures. But without exception, they were all dead and had mutated.

"Big brother, what the hell are these things?" Little Fatty asked, trembling.

"Based on the System Prompt, this is a U.S. military secret lab. And these shady bastards, right after the catastrophe, mobilized riot troops to execute all the prisoners. Seems like they were doing biological experiments, and then something leaked? Like Umbrella Corporation in Resident Evil?"

"So... are we going to face some kind of super walker?" Little Fatty pressed.

"Yeah, from the looks of it, high chance." Kirk nodded grimly. At least one thing was good: after entering this world, most of the skills he'd gotten were effective against walkers—like [Walker King], which added 20% damage to walkers. That would come in handy now.

"Hey!" Mori suddenly walked over and grabbed Kirk by the neck. "Idiot kid, I don't know what you two are muttering about. Something I don't know?"

"Yeah, looks like one or more terrifying walkers are about to charge us. We're a bit nervous." Kirk answered honestly.

"I don't give a damn about some walker. I'll kill whatever comes." Mori shrugged. "If you're scared, go home and crawl back to your mommy."

Damn it. Of course I want to go home, but this fucking System! Kirk griped internally.

Kirk and the others opened the lab computer. After some investigation, it played a voice Diary: (Kirk: This prison is twisted—inmates love writing, villains love recording. Anyone here into selfies like Edison Chen?)

"...We're almost there. Subject 03's biological test body is in final calibration. Our gene weapon targeting the Asian genome is nearing perfection..."

"...The cells are showing signs of stabilization. Those black cells can erase memories while preserving instincts. Fascinating..."

"...Congress wants to investigate us. Ridiculous..."

"...That bitch Hillary sold us out! Unforgivable. But I'll shut her up. Even a former First Lady and current Secretary of State can't stand against the political forces behind me. A suitable replacement will take her place. But I need Philip to speed up his experiments..."

"...Philip is hiding things from us. I know his daughter has been infected with some unknown virus, very similar to our experimental strain... What is Philip up to?"

"...Philip has gone mad. He wants to take the experimental serum and sneak it home to save his daughter! I won't allow it! Philip must be severely punished!"

"I've fired Philip and thrown him in the cell. He can watch our success from less than 100 meters away."

"...My God, Philip had someone write a viral code program in advance! The lab is out of control! The test subjects are loose! They're biting people! Eating people! Bastard... Ah! (Screams, chewing sounds)"

Kirk and Little Fatty gripped their weapons tightly. They had clearly uncovered a shocking secret. Stormy Waves churned in Kirk's heart: "Philip? Researcher? Could that be the evil Governor Philip? Same name? What a coincidence?"

System Prompt: "Warning! Warning! Contractor No. 4444, Contractor No. 4445, you have discovered the ultimate secret hidden within This World's plot! Silver hidden Main Plot progress 1-[Exploration] has been completed. Silver hidden Main Plot progress 2-[Survival] has been unlocked!"

"Experiment Subject 03, Five Mutations, will appear shortly. Kill it!"

Prompt: Due to the original Dark Gold hidden Main Mission being forcibly downgraded to a Silver hidden Main Mission by spatial law, the originally scheduled Experiment Subjects 05 and 11 will no longer appear. Subject 03's brain has regained the "Vital Part" attribute, taking double damage when struck! Corresponding reward deductions apply."

Hearing this, a heavy thud slammed against the floor, shaking the entire lab. Kirk sighed and said to Little Fatty, "Time to face fate, brother! If I don't make it, remember—don't tell my family!"

Little Fatty's face was grim too: "Big brother, same for me. Don't tell my mom I suffered this much before I died!"

Then both of them were kicked out by Mori, who shouted, "We need meat shields up front! Move it!"

Kirk studied the fat man who'd dropped from the sky—a massive one.

[5th Mutation Corpse King]

[Description]: The United States is the most cutting-edge nation in biochemical weapon research. They have long been conducting biological gene weapon studies aimed at potential enemy nations. This prison near Atlanta, Georgia, is a secret biochemical gene weapon research base. Unfortunately, the proverb about lifting a rock only to drop it on one's own foot keeps repeating itself. The Great Catastrophe is Uncle Sam's latest boulder dropped on his own foot. A yellow-skinned felon sentenced to death was subjected to inhumane, repeated experimental infections, undergoing five mutations. Back then, that door was broken open by him when he escaped. The U.S. SEAL Team lost an entire battalion to recapture him. Now it's your turn.

[Weight]: 1000 kg (Kirk: "Are yellow-skinned people even this fat?" Little Fatty: "Guess I'm not fat after all.")

[Strength]: 25 points (Reached the limit of Novice Trial Space law)

[Agility]: 7 points (You can't expect a one-ton meatball to run like Bolt.)

[Stamina]: 25 points (Reached the limit of Novice Trial Space law)

[Intelligence] + [Wisdom] + [Charisma]: 3 points (No explanation needed.)

[Skills]:

1: [Brute Force Charge]: A charging 5th Mutation Walking Corpse delivers impact force equal to a car going 100 km/h, dealing damage of Corpse Strength * 2 + distance/speed adjustment. If the victim rebounds into an obstacle, they suffer secondary damage.

2: [Slaughter Tear]: Fatty loved meat in life; tearing flesh gave him pleasure. This preference carried over after death. Once he grabs and tears at an opponent, the opponent must pass both Stamina and Toughness checks or die. If they pass, they become Crippled or severely injured.

3: [Thick Fat]: When this guy underwent surgery, the scalpel wasn't long enough to pierce the fat layer, driving the researchers crazy—they ended up using a chainsaw. The thick fat resists 25% of physical damage, and the slippery skin deflects 25% of ranged bullets automatically.

4: [Gene Mutation]: This guy regenerates Health Points at 5 points/second. When HP drops below 50%, regeneration increases to 10 points/second. When Near Death below 10%, it jumps to 30 points/second—scared you, didn't it?

5: [Giant Physique]: This fatty was chosen because he was hit by a 10-ton GMC truck in a car accident and came out unscathed except for a broken leg. U.S. researchers discovered he even has a trace of pure ancient Giant bloodline! From his ancestral bloodline, this fatty enjoys a 3000 Health Point bonus.

6: [Boss Template]: As a Silver Plot Boss, how could he be squishy? Health Points increased by another 3000. (If this were a Dark Gold Main Mission, Health Points would increase by another 10,000.)

7: [???]

8: [???]

"R, man!" Little Fatty and Kirk both yelped: "Seriously hardcore!"

Little Fatty wept: "My ass is done for this time—no kidding, no amount of meds can save it."

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