The Heart of Darkness

Chapter 42: Heart of Darkness

Humans are the most complex creatures in this world.

Sometimes, they will sacrifice their lives for a complete stranger, yet at other times, they will slaughter their own kin for the sake of petty gains.

At the very least, Li Wei himself had not yet fully grasped the depths of human nature, but that did not hinder him from making judgments.

The images on the surveillance monitor left everyone in the room stunned, but Li Wei did not show much surprise, for he had anticipated this outcome long ago.

Zheng Yutong was the most visibly affected. She stared at the monitor, her fists clenched so tightly that it seemed the only way to alleviate the fury in her heart, while the other newcomers wore expressions of terror and lingering fear.

The footage transmitted by the monitor was a bloody tapestry. Shao Yang, the veteran numbered 114, had suddenly raised his hands after leading his followers to the 11th floor. He drew two thin swords, and then began a slaughter comparable to hell itself.

Having reached four times the physical constitution of an ordinary human, he easily used the sharp blades to pierce the necks of the newcomers. In a single encounter, seven or eight people died under his sword.

And this was only the beginning. The newcomers, having reacted, tried to resist, only to find to their surprise that their bodies were no longer under their own control. This was the restriction of the "Slave Scroll": those who signed their names on the scroll could not defy the captain's orders, nor could they strike against the captain, or their bodies would stiffen for five seconds.

It was those five seconds that cost over a hundred lives. In less than three minutes, more than a hundred people had died under Shao Yang's blade. Blood and severed limbs carpeted the entire eleventh floor. Floating above the corpses were various skill books—items those newcomers had purchased with their hard-earned points—all of which now fell cheaply into Shao Yang's hands. Not only that, over a hundred "Guardians" also floated above the bodies. Because their masters were dead, these Yellow Papers were in a free state, and the veteran Shao Yang gathered them all into his embrace.

Silence!

Whether inside or outside the monitor, there was absolute silence. At this moment, Li Wei walked to the monitor at the right time, blocking the screen with his body.

"Did you see that? That man is a lunatic! Everyone, you are very lucky to have chosen us instead of that madman, otherwise, right now..." He gestured toward the monitor, his meaning self-evident, and then continued: "Now, we have one more threat. This lunatic is clearly far more dangerous than those zombies. In the future, unless necessary, do not have any contact with him, understand?"

The newcomers nodded blankly. Zheng Yutong, of course, knew that Li Wei was taking this opportunity to teach the newcomers a lesson, but she had many questions she wanted to ask.

Pulling Li Wei aside, Zheng Yutong smoothed the hair on her forehead and asked softly, "You knew all along?"

Li Wei nodded noncommittally.

"Then why didn't you stop that madman? He is nothing but a beast—he even killed those underage children!" Zheng Yutong was clearly furious.

"I can only make inferences about things that haven't happened yet. Rest assured, even if we don't go looking for him, that lunatic will come to kill us eventually!" Li Wei's words clearly startled Zheng Yutong.

Without giving her a chance to ask, Li Wei continued: "Do you know that killing 'Reincarnators' like us causes them to drop their Guardians and the skill books they have learned?"

Zheng Yutong shook her head in confusion. Li Wei felt a sense of relief; although this woman was strong, her heart was still very kind. Judging by the fact that she did not know this, Zheng Yutong had never killed a Reincarnator.

Li Wei spent some time explaining to her about the items dropped after killing a Reincarnator. Upon learning that killing people could yield such rewards, Zheng Yutong was shocked, especially when she learned that fusing with someone else's "Guardian" could increase one's four basic attributes. She hurriedly said, "In that case, that madman now has over a hundred Yellow Papers. If he fuses them, wouldn't he be..."

Li Wei knew what she was worried about, but this was also his own concern. He had fused with Guo Jian's Yellow Paper Guardian, and all four of his attributes had increased by 5 points. If one were to extrapolate based on this standard, that Shao Yang was now essentially invincible.

Even if he hadn't reached such an exaggerated level, the improvement was certain. It would be best to try and avoid that guy in the future!

Having made up his mind, Li Wei switched the surveillance screen to another floor, where a dozen Reincarnators armed with firearms were located. Not far from them, five zombies were feeding.

Perhaps the survivors originally hiding in the building had encountered these zombies while out looking for food, and thus met their tragic end. One could not hear sound through the monitor, but Li Wei could feel the sound of sharp teeth tearing into flesh.

Fortunately, this was a virtual world. If this T-Virus existed in the real world, it would absolutely be a catastrophe.

Finally, the group of players on the monitor encountered the zombies. The leaders had some experience, calling out to their teammates while firing at the zombies.

They were using AK47 rifles purchased from Shadow Street. These weapons were brought to Shadow Street by people from the real world through various channels, which was also a way to earn points. Li Wei lacked these channels; otherwise, he could simply spend a few hundred points in Shadow Street to buy gold, exchange it for weapons in the real world, and bring them back—a quick flip would yield dozens of times the profit.

Of course, Li Wei's Art of Stacking earned him even more than those arms dealers.

The muzzles of the AK47s roared, and bullets hit the zombies like raindrops, splashing large amounts of blood and gore. One zombie's arm was even shattered by the whistling bullets, but the zombies were fearless and continued to move forward.

These newcomers, who clearly had not learned "Precision" or "Firearms Mastery" skills, were visibly panicked when faced with the unkillable zombies. One of them didn't notice a zombie that had been blown in half and had his ankle bitten hard. On the monitor, one could clearly see a large chunk of flesh being torn away.

The man nearly died from the pain and pressed his muzzle down to blast the sneak-attacking zombie into pulp, but the lethal T-Virus had already flowed through his blood into his entire body.

He was not the only one injured. Although the zombies' bodies were very fragile, their teeth and nails were exceptionally sharp; as long as they broke even a layer of skin, one would be infected.

The five zombies were ultimately no match for the power of firearms and were reduced to piles of rotten meat, unable to stand again. Li Wei then closed the monitor at the right time.

He noticed that the women in the room, including Zheng Yutong, were showing signs of vomiting. It was no wonder; the thought of someone downstairs being bitten alive and even eaten as food would leave anyone unsettled.

As for those who had been bitten, heaven only knew what they would turn into!

"This is enough intelligence to collect!" Li Wei rummaged through all the drawers and cabinets in the surveillance room, finding a few items: a notebook, a map, and several radio walkie-talkies.

Opening the notebook, Li Wei began to draw in it with a pen. Based on the surveillance and the map he had just viewed, he sketched out a route with some special markings along the way. Zheng Yutong and the newcomers gathered around to look, all of them confused, not understanding what Li Wei was planning.

"Pack your gear and get ready to move. We're taking the elevator straight to the underground parking lot!" Stuffing a pile of items into his storage space, Li Wei grabbed his rifle and walked out first.

"The elevator? The underground parking lot?" The newcomers looked at each other, wide-eyed, all feeling skeptical about Li Wei's plan.

"Hey, tell me, do you think this guy is just pretending to be calm? Everyone knows you shouldn't take the elevator during a disaster, and the underground parking lot only has one exit. We'll end up facing the zombie horde anyway. Or is he trying to find a car to drive out? I really don't know what he's thinking!" One newcomer, perhaps emboldened by the weapon in his hand, whispered to his companion.

"Yeah, I hope we didn't follow the wrong person. At least we have weapons now; if we really run into danger, we'll just leave on our own!" another whispered back.

Li Wei, walking in front, curled his lips. Did they think he couldn't hear them?

What a bunch of clueless newcomers. This wasn't an earthquake, a tsunami, or a flood, but a man-made disaster. In this case, basic resources would not be damaged, and the building's power system was independent. Therefore, rather than encountering zombies that could appear at any time in the narrow stairwells, it was better to take the safe and convenient elevator to their destination.

As for why he chose the underground parking lot, Li Wei had his reasons.

Looking for a car?

Only an idiot would do that. From his observations on the monitor, the zombies' vision had severely deteriorated, but their hearing and sense of smell were much sharper than before. Imagine a group of idiots with firearms leaving in a roaring car—would the zombies let this group of idiots go?

With hundreds of thousands of zombies nearby, so densely packed, even an armored vehicle wouldn't be able to drive out. The reason Li Wei chose the underground parking lot was that he had found an exit route on the map in the security room.

As long as he found this passage, he could leave without anyone noticing. These were things Li Wei would not explain, especially to that group of newcomers who didn't understand anything yet.

He pressed the elevator button and heard the sound of the elevator operating. Sure enough, the building's elevators were still functioning normally. Soon, the elevator reached the 23rd floor. After the doors opened, Li Wei glanced inside first; there was nothing unusual, so he led the group in one after another.

He pressed the button for the B1 floor again, and the elevator began to descend rapidly. It took only a dozen seconds to reach the basement level. When the doors slid open, none of them had expected to reach the underground parking garage so smoothly.

Zheng Yutong was the first to step out of the elevator. Holding that Uzi Submachine Gun with Stacking applied, she truly looked like a heroine among women. According to her, as long as she survived this mission, her rating would reach B-rank—a significant watershed moment.

"Situation!" Zheng Yutong signaled, coming to a halt.

Under the middle-aged man's half-hour of training, the group of newcomers held their weapons with a semblance of competence, each of them dropping into a half-squat, though one could still see their hands trembling as they gripped their guns.

Li Wei stared into the pitch-black underground parking garage, his gaze quickly sweeping over a dark shadow.

The shadow merely flickered past, like a trick of the light, but Li Wei knew it was no illusion; there was indeed something lurking in the darkness.

One minute, two minutes!

Time slipped away slowly, and along with it, the cold sweat on everyone's foreheads. Even the newcomers, who understood nothing, could sense the terrifying killing intent emanating from the dark. It was like standing before a pack of predators—a primal instinct of survival.

Finally, one of the newcomers, unable to withstand the pressure, pulled the trigger.

(The third update for today. Writing is incredibly arduous. I checked the review section and the posts reporting bugs are as numerous as cow hairs. Once again, An Hei says with shame: I am sorry, everyone. Although I haven't replied to some posts, I have recorded all the bugs you discovered. I will avoid changing previously published chapters as much as possible and can only slowly patch those major bugs in the subsequent story... As for minor bugs that don't affect reading, An Hei guarantees to make fewer mistakes in the future. Once again, thank you all for your support!)