The Nonexistent Passage

The Type 95 Rifle packs quite a punch, especially at close range. Unless you possess an Agility stat exceeding a hundred points, dodging is simply impossible, and Li Wei was no exception.

The bullets fired by the fat man struck Li Wei squarely, but to the fat man's surprise, Li Wei did not collapse and die as he had imagined. Instead, he merely staggered back a few steps from the impact before standing his ground.

Did I miss?

The fat man shook his head, his face a mask of disbelief. Just as he prepared to fire again, Li Wei, refusing to let this fat pig continue his insolence, raised his head and unleashed a "Cloud-Piercing Palm."

Although this technique achieves its maximum destructive power only upon physical contact, it is not impossible to project it through the air. While the force is significantly diminished, it was more than enough to deal with a fat man who was little more than an ordinary human.

Li Wei's palm struck the air, creating a phantom imprint. The fat man's obese chest caved in as if struck by an invisible hand. With a howl, he flew backward for two meters before crashing to the ground.

This projected strike had shattered several of his ribs and bruised his internal organs, though it was not fatal.

This display stunned the surrounding newcomers who had been watching like spectators. Li Wei had always been perceived as a strategist-type character in their eyes; they never expected him to be so well-hidden. Not only were bullets unable to harm him, but his combat methods were also entirely beyond their expectations.

Who had ever seen someone capable of knocking a person down with a palm strike from a distance?

Li Wei sneered as he watched the rifle slide away from the fat man's hand. If he hadn't been wearing the "Earth Fiend Set" obtained from Guo Jian, he might have truly capsized in the gutter today.

Since Li Wei had dared to hand weapons over to these people without fully grasping their backgrounds or intentions, he had certainly relied on something. This defensive armor was his trump card.

Back on Shadow Street, he had already tested it: bullets from standard firearms could not penetrate this armor. That was precisely why he had decided to distribute weapons to these newcomers.

It seemed he had been too "merciful" after all.

After picking up the dropped rifle, Li Wei walked over to the fat man, who was groaning on the ground. "You ungrateful wretch. If not for me, you would likely have been eaten by zombies by now. Since you dared to try and kill me, you should have been prepared to be killed by me!"

Bang! Bang! Li Wei fired two shots, hitting the fat man in both legs. Now, even if he wanted to run, he couldn't.

The excruciating pain caused the fat man to howl incessantly, like a slaughtered pig. Helpless, Li Wei chopped the back of the man's neck, knocking him unconscious.

Storing the rifle, Li Wei turned to scan the remaining newcomers. The five left behind were decent enough; at the very least, they didn't harbor such restless thoughts. Li Wei now had a new understanding of his own defensive capabilities. The "Earth Fiend Set" was still in its invisible state, yet it had blocked close-range gunfire; if he deactivated the invisibility, the defense would surely be even stronger.

With this armor, he had no need to worry even if these newcomers harbored ulterior motives!

"You must have many questions, but I have no intention of explaining them to you. I will ask one more time: those who wish to remain in this team must obey my commands unconditionally from now on. Of course, you may choose to leave, but if anyone harbors ill intent, the fat man just now is your future!"

No one left. Among the three men and two women who remained, aside from the middle-aged man, the others rarely spoke, but that did not mean they lacked intelligence. Even if they had harbored small thoughts, after witnessing Li Wei's exquisite skill, they buried those notions deep within their hearts.

"Good, very good!"

Li Wei nodded. Suddenly, he sensed someone approaching rapidly. However, upon catching a familiar scent, his grip on the rifle loosened.

Zheng Yutong, who had appeared suddenly using "Wind Walk," startled the newcomers, but at the same time, it completely erased the sliver of suspicion in their hearts. The man called Li Wei clearly knew this woman's strength, which was why he had been bold enough to let her stay.

So, he was not the type to betray his companions! Perhaps following such a person was truly a good choice.

Setting aside the newcomers' internal musings, Li Wei briefly inquired about the zombie from earlier. When he heard that the creature possessed a regenerative ability, he thought of Wang Kai.

He was the one who had undergone T-Virus enhancement during the Heroes of Might and Magic mission, but clearly, Wang Kai did not possess the raw power of that zombie; otherwise, the outcome of that mission would not have been what it was.

"Li Wei, this seems to be a dead end, doesn't it?" Zheng Yutong asked, looking around with a puzzled expression. She had heard Li Wei's guarantee that there was a "passage" out of here.

The other newcomers also watched Li Wei with focused attention, waiting to hear his explanation.

"A passage—you could say it exists, or you could say it doesn't!" Seeing the look of impending fury on Zheng Yutong's face, Li Wei hurriedly continued. She was different from the newcomers; if he annoyed this woman, she might actually lose her temper.

Rolling up his sleeves, Li Wei walked to a corner and began tapping the concrete wall with his fist. "On the map—that is, the building's blueprints—the underground garage has no other exits. However, nothing is absolute. Through the computers in the security room and the city map on the Yellow Paper, I discovered that a subway line was constructed nearby. So, I tried comparing the building's blueprints with the subway distribution map. Guess what I found?"

Li Wei's highly provocative words immediately captured everyone's attention. As he moved along the wall, tapping, their hearts seemed to beat faster in rhythm with the thud-thud sounds.

Boom! A sound distinct from the others echoed out. Li Wei smiled. At this moment, he wanted to show off his own strength; otherwise, failing to suppress these newcomers later would be a failure.

Taking a deep breath, he channeled his "Innate Skill" throughout his body and unleashed his "Cloud-Piercing Palm." Combined with his 27 points of Strength, he slammed his palm against the wall. With a thunderous roar and the sound of crumbling concrete, the dead end was forcefully breached by Li Wei, revealing a hole.

Behind the hole lay a long-abandoned tunnel.

"As you can see, I discovered that the building's underground garage and the subway maintenance room are separated by only one wall. The wall is constructed of hollow bricks and concrete. As long as you strike a specific point with a force exceeding 1,000 kilograms, you can open this passage!"

Turning around, Li Wei saw that all six people, including Zheng Yutong, were wearing expressions of utter stupefaction. The middle-aged man who had been holding the firearm didn't even notice when it slipped from his hands.

Although he knew these people would be startled, he hadn't expected the shock to be this intense.

Is this guy even human?

All six of them, including Zheng Yutong, were struck by this bizarre thought. To discover such clues in such a short time, and not only that, but to precisely calculate the exact location—how could this be something a human could achieve? Suddenly, they recalled a sentence Li Wei had said.

"Congratulations, joining this team is the wisest decision you have ever made!"

Thinking about it now, it was indeed worth congratulating. If not for Li Wei, they would likely still be hesitating over whether to charge out of the building, knowing full well that a zombie army hundreds of thousands strong waited outside.

Sometimes, gaining the recognition of others is an incredibly difficult thing, but Li Wei had done it. From this moment on, the newcomers truly acknowledged him, and they no longer held any doubts about his commands. From the start of the mission until now, he hadn't missed a single detail—from intelligence gathering, calculations, and route selection, to this "stunning" method of opening a path—all of it demonstrated Li Wei's precise analytical capabilities.

Having such a person as a teammate was truly a stroke of luck.

"Passing through this tunnel will lead us to the main subway station of Raccoon City. From there, we can take the special light rail train to leave the city..."

Before he could finish, Li Wei suddenly sensed a wave of danger.

Someone was coming!

Zheng Yutong, standing to the side, was the quickest to react. With lightning speed, she drew her bow and fired an arrow into the darkness more than ten meters away, where the light could not reach.

The sound of the arrow piercing the air echoed through the underground garage, but strangely, the arrow seemed to fall into a quagmire, returning not a single sound of impact.

"Who's there?"

The inquiry echoed through the empty underground parking garage, but this time, the only answer was the sound of low, rhythmic footsteps.

"It couldn't be that zombie from before, could it?" a girl among the newcomers said, her voice trembling.

They had all overheard the conversation between Li Wei and Zheng Yutong; the zombie clearly hadn't died, so it was highly likely to be it.

A flurry of gun bolts clicked into place. Although the newcomers were terrified, the presence of Li Wei and Zheng Yutong bolstered their courage significantly.

However, when the figure emerged from the shadows, they were all taken aback. The person who appeared was not a zombie, but someone far more terrifying.

Number 114, Shao Yang!

The madman who had slaughtered over a hundred newcomers was now looking at Li Wei's group with a smile, just as he had the first time they met.

"Everyone, we meet again. I never expected you to find a shortcut out of the city here. I'd like to take my teammates and leave through this way as well—would that be alright with you?"

No one answered him.

"Don't worry, I won't get in your way. I just want to borrow this passage; you have no idea how many zombies are outside..."

It turned out that Shao Yang was still unaware that Li Wei and the others had witnessed his massacre of the newcomers. That made sense; he had led those people to the eleventh floor specifically to avoid prying eyes, never imagining he had overlooked the detail of the surveillance cameras.

If one didn't know what he had done, it would be easy to be deceived by that hypocritical mask.

"Of course you can!" Li Wei stepped slowly out from the crowd, and as he passed Zheng Yutong, he gave a subtle hand signal.

Take the people and leave, quickly!