The Desire to Live (Part 1)

A few minutes later, everyone had recovered from the bloody deaths. Matthew Addison gratefully patted Zheng Zha on the shoulder. The mercenary captain who should have died in the corridor had survived this time, a tremendous change to the plot. Of course, he might still die later beneath Zombies' teeth or Lickers' claws. No one could predict it.

"Let's continue!" Matthew Addison said coldly after glancing at everyone.

"Continue?" Ryan, one of the male leads, shouted. "Continue what? You've got to be kidding! I'm not going into that corridor!"

Matthew Addison looked at Kaplan. The computer-savvy mercenary was drenched in sweat as he said, "Y-Yes, I've shut down all the defense systems. All of them..."

"All of them?" Matthew Addison repeated. "Are you sure?"

Without waiting for Kaplan's reply, he picked up the equipment from the floor and headed toward the other end of the corridor.

Kaplan kept tapping at the keyboard. This time, the door at the entrance did not close again. Alice followed them inside as she had in the original plot, and then the door leading to the Fire Queen's room in the Central Computer Room sealed shut once more. Zheng Zha and the others exchanged looks. They knew they were about to face the true theme of this Horror Movie—Zombies!

Zhan Lan quietly said to Zheng Zha and Li Xiaoyi, "Don't stray too far from Zhang Jie. And don't let the Zombies bite or scratch you. In the movie, once you're infected with the T-Virus, you'll turn into a Zombie within thirty minutes. I calculated it when I watched this movie before—the Detoxification Potion only works if it's injected within roughly ten minutes. Remember, don't leave Zhang Jie later. Since he survived three Horror Movies, he should survive this one too."

Zheng Zha and Li Xiaoyi both nodded. Zhan Lan suddenly smiled. "By the way, do you feel sick when you kill people?"

Li Xiaoyi answered first. "When I first came here, I felt really sick, and I wasn't used to the atmosphere here either. But after throwing up just now, my chest feels much better. If I kept my eyes closed, I think I'd dare to kill someone too."

Zheng Zha thought about it. His chest did feel much better after vomiting, and he had personally gone through a brush with death. At this moment, the unreality he had felt upon first arriving in this world was completely gone. He felt himself gradually becoming part of this Horror Movie. As long as he could survive, he was willing to kill people, kill monsters—anything!

Zhan Lan continued, "Good. Then later, find a chance to pick up their guns. If you see a lone Zombie, kill it if you can. Those are all Reward Points. Remember—the head! That's a Zombie's weakness!"

As they spoke, the lights throughout the room suddenly dimmed. They knew Matthew Addison had shut down the central computer. At the same time, the central computer's defense system, which had kept the Zombies and Lickers isolated, instantly failed. The entire laboratory would become the domain of those two things. After suffering through the consequences of changing the plot earlier, none of Zheng Zha's group dared alter it again. They could only watch helplessly as the central computer was shut down. Then, they would have to face death head-on.

In the darkness, Zheng Zha felt Li Xiaoyi beside him trembling nonstop. Even Zhan Lan was shivering slightly. He could not help asking softly, "Are you scared?"

"Yeah," Li Xiaoyi answered. "Very."

"I'm too excited..." Zhan Lan said instead.

Zheng Zha suddenly found this woman rather terrifying, so he did not dare ask further. He merely looked up toward the light source and silently waited for what came next.

Dozens of seconds later, the entire room lit up again. Zheng Zha knew it had begun!

Matthew Addison and the female lead emerged from the Central Computer Room. The Black mercenary looked utterly exhausted. After glancing at the bodies in the corridor, he said, "We can't deal with them for now. Let's take the Fire Queen's mainboard back to the company first. Kaplan, how is The Hive?"

Kaplan pressed a few keys on the computer. "Great. All defense systems have been shut down. We can walk right out of The Hive by the direct route."

Matthew Addison nodded. "Good. Then now we—"

Before he could finish, a burst of gunfire suddenly came from B Restaurant outside. Matthew Addison and Kaplan exchanged a look, grabbed their guns, and ran out. Alice and the other two protagonists followed, while Zheng Zha's group exchanged glances and hurried after them.

When Zheng Zha and the others reached B Restaurant, he deliberately looked at the containers holding the Lickers. Sure enough, all the green lights on the containers had turned red. This meant the Lickers' freezing systems had failed. Thinking of the terrifying number of Lickers here, Zheng Zha felt a chill run through his heart. Such a horrifying number of Lickers was absolutely beyond what humans could fight.

When everyone reached the entrance of B Restaurant, the long-haired female mercenary Rain was clutching her hand and cursing. Matthew Addison asked, "What happened? I heard gunfire."

A large chunk of flesh was missing between Rain's thumb and index finger. It was a bloody, horrifying sight. Gritting her teeth, she said, "Officer, we found a survivor, but he'd gone crazy. He actually bit me..."

Matthew Addison frowned. "So you shot him?"

"Officer, he'd gone crazy!" Rain shouted back.

"He's gone!"

Zhang Jie's voice suddenly rang out. Looking at a pool of blood on the floor, he said flatly, "He was here just now, but now he's disappeared."

Matthew Addison walked over to the bloodstain and examined it twice. The blood had already become half-dried and viscous. It definitely had not just flowed from someone's body. A bad feeling rose in his heart.

Matthew Addison stood and shouted, "We leave The Hive immediately!"

Rain asked in surprise, "Officer? Weren't our orders to stand guard here after obtaining the Fire Queen's mainboard and wait for the follow-up team?"

Matthew Addison gave a bitter smile and shook his head. "There is no follow-up team anymore... Prepare to leave!"

At that moment, Zhan Lan walked up to Zhang Jie and quietly asked, "You suddenly spoke up just now. Aren't you afraid of changing the plot?"

Zhang Jie sneered. "You're the impressive ones. You're newcomers, yet you forcibly changed the plot and still didn't die... Take a good look at your watches. Is Matthew Addison's name still there?"

Zhan Lan, Zheng Zha, and Li Xiaoyi immediately looked at their watches. Sure enough, Matthew Addison's name had vanished. That spot was completely blank.

Zhang Jie gave a cold laugh. "From now on, we can act freely. Remember, you can do anything as long as you survive."

After thinking for a moment, he added, "If I were you, with poor stamina, poor reflexes, and no guns, I'd stick with the main group and return to the Fire Queen's room. At least that way, you'll stay safe..."

The three of them froze. Zhan Lan smiled and said, "I didn't expect you to actually be pretty nice. You're just not good at expressing yourself."

"Nice?" Zhang Jie sneered. "What kind of joke is that? I just don't want you holding me back from earning Reward Points. Don't get the wrong idea... There are no good people in this world. As long as I can survive, I don't mind using the three of you as human shields!"

The naked killing intent in his words sent a chill through Zheng Zha and the others' hearts. At the same time, the sound of metal scraping came from not far away. Rain and J.D. raised their guns and headed in that direction. After only a few steps, a man in a researcher's uniform emerged from around the corner, dragging an iron hammer. Several staggering "people" followed behind him.

J.D. cocked his gun. "Stop! Or I'll shoot!"

Naturally, those "people" did not stop. They had long since been infected by the T-Virus and turned into Zombies. As they appeared, more and more staggering "people" emerged from the surrounding corners. They wore work uniforms or research uniforms. Some of their bodies had already begun to rot, while others had ankles completely twisted and deformed, yet they still walked. Zheng Zha even saw one whose head was half gone, with rotten bone and grayish-white brain matter exposed. The sight nearly made him vomit again.

"Stop! Or I'll shoot!"

Bang!

Matthew Addison was the first to fire at the Zombies. The lead Zombie carrying the iron hammer was blasted backward, but it quickly staggered back to its feet. It had taken over a dozen bullets, yet barely any blood flowed from its body.

Bang!

The Desert Eagle in Zhang Jie's hand fired. Its enormous power instantly shattered the Zombie's head, like an exploding watermelon. He sneered. "Go find the exit. Leave this place to me!"

Matthew Addison hesitated for a moment before shouting, "Fine. Everyone, maintain formation! J.D., find the exit! Rain, guard the prisoner! Everyone else, stay with me!"

Zheng Zha turned back and saw that Zhang Jie had not fired again. He spun the Desert Eagle around his fingers as the Zombies drew ever closer. Then he gripped the pistol and fired in a rapid burst. The few Zombies nearest him immediately had their heads blown apart and collapsed. His firing speed and accuracy far surpassed ordinary people—at least far beyond normal humans!

Zheng Zha felt that he could see Zhang Jie's movements clearly. He had read some books on fighting before. They divided human vision into two kinds: static vision, which determined how far away and how tiny an object one could see, and dynamic vision, which determined how fast a moving object one could see. The faster the object moved while remaining clear to your eyes, the stronger your dynamic vision was.

It seemed dynamic vision was related to neural reflex speed. He could see Zhang Jie's movements very clearly, which meant the gap between their neural reflex speeds was not too great. And when he saw the Zombies' heads explode and their bodies fall, he only felt sick at first. After watching more, it began to feel natural. That was probably related to his Mental Power.

Sure enough, those Reward Points really did enhance my physique! It wasn't a joke after all!

Zheng Zha was overjoyed, but he still calmly followed behind Matthew Addison. As they walked, Matthew Addison suddenly turned and handed him a pistol and two magazines. "We might not be able to look after you later. Each magazine has fifteen rounds. Do what Zhang Jie did—aim for their heads!"

Of course Zheng Zha understood that better than anyone. Although he had never used a pistol before, with his current neural reflex speed, what looked like a quick raise-and-fire was actually a carefully aimed shot at the Zombie's head. He was smart too. He never fired at Zombies more than ten meters away. Ten meters was his current effective range. With a pistol like this, without sights, it all depended on feel. Since it was his first time holding a gun, he could only dominate within ten meters.

The others did not know any of this. They saw Zheng Zha raise his gun and fire as if he did not need to aim, yet every shot blew apart a Zombie's head. At first glance, he looked extremely impressive. Matthew Addison nodded to himself, and he and the other mercenaries focused only on the path ahead. The Zombies behind them were left to Zhang Jie and Zheng Zha.

Li Xiaoyi's eyes practically sparkled as he watched. He shouted excitedly, "Brother Zheng Zha, you're amazing! You must have used guns a lot before, right? That's incredible! How many Reward Points is this worth?"

Matthew Addison suddenly turned around and asked, "Reward Points?"

Li Xiaoyi's face instantly turned ashen. Zheng Zha knew he must have heard some sort of warning, followed by a deduction of Reward Points. This brother was truly unlucky. Not only had he earned no rewards, he had gone into the negatives.

Matthew Addison gave the three of them a strange look, then turned his attention back ahead. Zhan Lan patted her chest and whispered, "That was close. I thought the plot was going to change again."

Zhan Lan actually had a great figure, and she was quite pretty too. When she patted her chest, her breasts bounced wildly. Zheng Zha and Li Xiaoyi immediately glanced over several more times. She seemed to notice something was off and quickly crossed her arms over her chest. "Do you think Zhang Jie will be all right? We can't even see him anymore."

Zheng Zha knew she was changing the subject, so he casually replied, "He should be fine. He's much better than us, and he has that Desert Eagle with unlimited bullets... Damn it, once I survive, I'm definitely exchanging for one too."

Zhan Lan touched her forehead again, seemingly out of habit. Her forehead protruded slightly more than that of an average girl, and her chest was also larger than average, so the gesture gave her a rather distinctive charm.

"A hundred Reward Points can increase an ordinary person's strength or something else by one-tenth. Once we survive, we still need to ask Zhang Jie about the details of Reward Point exchanges... But this isn't the time to talk about that. You should focus on protecting us." Zhan Lan giggled.