The Cruel Truth

Inside the department, Lin An expressionlessly wiped the sticky substance from his hand with a piece of white cloth.

A puddle of red-and-white filth stained the pristine ceramic floor. It was vaguely recognizable as the crushed head of the Zombie Doctor.

"Team Leader Lin!"

Zhang Tie was somewhat furious, and a trace of unbearable sorrow flashed through his eyes.

Without the Zombie Doctor's commands, the Zombies pounding on the door had weakened considerably. For the moment, they no longer had to worry about the Zombies breaking in.

"Didn't he say he had a child somewhere?"

"I think it was willing to hand over the Glove. It only wanted us to help it find its child."

"Why did you have to kill it?"

"It actually didn't want to become a Zombie."

"I think..."

Lin An dropped the cloth in his hand and looked at Zhang Tie.

He wasn't surprised that Zhang Tie would be furious over him crushing the Zombie Doctor's head outright.

Zhang Tie was kind by nature. That was evident from the fact that his entire team consisted of the old, the weak, the sick, and the disabled.

"Do you think I was too cruel and inhumane?"

"We were going to the building next door anyway. We could have found its child along the way, and it would have handed us the Glove."

"It was even willing to tell us where another component was."

"So I shouldn't have killed it?"

Zhang Tie met Lin An's gaze, feeling that his thoughts had been right.

"Yes!"

"I think it was still human! It only wanted to find its child!"

"Human?"

Lin An gave a soft laugh and walked to the metal cabinet in the corner of the room.

"A Zombie is always a Zombie."

"The moment it became a Zombie, it had already lost its humanity!"

"You underestimate how terrifying the Zombie Virus is!"

Lin An walked toward the mass of black mist in his Judgment Vision.

"Clatter!"

The cabinet was pulled open, and bones from the entire cabinet spilled out, rolling to Zhang Tie's feet.

Three rows of children's skulls were neatly arranged on the top shelf. Their young faces were covered in marks left by gnawing.

The terror they had felt before death could be seen in every pair of eyes. There was only dead silence.

On the ceramic tiles.

The bones had been licked completely clean, and even the marrow had been pried out from the middle. Not a bit had been wasted.

What was this!?

Zhang Tie breathed rapidly, staring at the white bones beneath his feet in disbelief.

With trembling hands, he picked one up. It appeared to be part of an arm.

The bone was tiny, and its slender structure looked not to have fully developed.

"Clack-clack-clack..."

Zhang Tie's teeth chattered, and the broken bone in his hand fell to the floor.

He recognized them. All these bones had come from children.

Lin An wasn't surprised by Zhang Tie's reaction.

Although he looked burly and rough, his mental resilience was not lacking.

But the apocalypse had only just begun. Without having endured the cruel baptism of the apocalypse, few people could withstand the sight before them.

Lin An sighed softly and patted Zhang Tie on the shoulder.

"Part of the second floor has been designated as the Pediatrics Department."

"From the time we came in until now, have you seen a single Zombie that was transformed from a child?"

"It told you that the Glove's ability was what preserved its reason and humanity."

Zhang Tie took a deep breath and struggled to force a few words from his throat. He shook his head.

"Team Leader Lin, wasn't it because of the Glove?"

Lin An felt around the Glove on his right hand, his gaze cold.

If he hadn't been a reborn person, he would most likely have been deceived by the Zombie Doctor's words.

Reason? Wanting to save children?

A Zombie could never possess such things!

From the moment they transformed into Zombies, they had completely become monsters!

At most, they could retain a little intelligence.

Even that came at the price of eating humans.

Just like the Stitcher.

After eating all the survivors in WanDa Shopping Mall, it had become the Third Order Mutant, Abomination!

It had become the ultimate Nightmare of the survivors in Lin Jiang City!

"Haven't you figured it out yet?"

"It lost the Glove but still possessed intelligence and even knew fear. This proves that its intelligence wasn't granted by the Glove but came from within itself."

"Players can level up by killing Mutants. Likewise, Zombies can also 'level up' by eating humans."

"The stronger the Mutant, the more people it has killed."

"That Zombie might have been weak in my eyes just now, but its true strength was far greater than that of other Zombies."

"Moreover, it should have been one of the more special types. It could use Mental Strength to command other Zombies."

"Otherwise, without commands, we wouldn't have had such a difficult time earlier."

"Unless something unexpected happened, it probably ate most of all the children here by itself. That's why it mutated."

Zhang Tie fell silent. Unable to resist, he walked over to the puddle of "filth" on the floor.

Gnashing his teeth, he crushed it beneath his foot.

"Damn scum!"

Ding, Zhang Tie's Loyalty toward you has increased by 10 points. Current Loyalty: 70!

With 70 Loyalty, Zhang Tie would basically not betray him.

Having the System monitor Loyalty in real time was indeed useful.

Not bad.

It seemed this incident had dealt a heavy blow to Zhang Tie's worldview.

From now on, Zhang Tie probably wouldn't question Lin An's decisions anymore.

"Team Leader Lin, I'm sorry."

Zhang Tie lowered his head and gave a self-mocking smile.

"It's nothing. Sooner or later, everyone has to experience these things."

"Don't trust any Zombie or Mutant. From the moment they transform into Zombies, they are no longer human."

Lin An stood before the window, looking toward the inpatient building in the distance.

Room 303. Wen Ya's Mother.

The Zombie Doctor's child. The key component missing from his equipment.

It seemed that whether he wanted to obtain Wen Ya's Loyalty or complete his equipment, he had to make a trip there.

"Rest for ten minutes, then we'll set out!"

Ten minutes was enough time for Zhang Tie to recover his stamina.

After all, the higher one's Physique, the faster one's recovery speed.

Time was pressing. Ever since the Doomsday Game descended, the world's weather had become unusually unstable.

Although the two of them had set out early that morning, it was only noon now.

But night fell quickly these days. It would become dark at around five in the afternoon.

Once time was wasted.

In the darkness, the Zombies' strength would increase substantially.

Quantity would lead to a qualitative change.

No matter how strong an individual ordinary Zombie was, its strength was limited. A Zombie Crowd was different.

Even the slightest increase in strength would make them extremely troublesome.

Lin An stood by the window, carefully observing the terrain and buildings throughout the hospital.

The operation ten minutes later might not go smoothly.

Why had the Zombie Doctor wanted him to go to the inpatient department?

What was there?

He found it hard to believe that the Zombie Doctor merely wanted him to go there and find its child.

A child?

Whether there was one at all was a question mark.

Unless something unexpected happened, there should be some danger there.

The Zombie Doctor wanted him to go over there because it definitely wanted Lin An to remain there, or at least be trapped for some time so it could escape.

Lin An muttered to himself.

A Mutant?

Mutants that had never appeared in his previous life had already emerged in the hospital.

Then it wouldn't be strange for one more to appear.

But what exactly had caused the deviation?

The knocking sounds from the Underground Parking Lot, the Corpse Snake that shouldn't have appeared, last night's shriek, the vanished Bloody Witch, and the mountain of corpses on the City Entrance Highway that seemed to have been caused by a Third Order Mutant!

Lin An was certain he hadn't done anything that would have affected "history" on a large scale.

If there was something.

Then it could only be.

Taking the Doomsday Ring ahead of time!

Lin An recalled the strange sensation when he took the ring. Something had clearly burst out from within that mysterious Black Hole.

Afterward, he had fallen unconscious for three days, causing him to waste three precious days that could have been used to prepare supplies.

Lin An's thoughts churned, and an idea suddenly flashed through his mind.

Perhaps he could find a chance to visit Fengming Road 97 and take a look.

If something really had burst out, it must have caused damage to the surrounding environment.

A careful investigation might reveal some clues.