The wind and snow still raged on. Gale-force winds whipped the goose-feather snowfall into an even fiercer storm, hurling snow mixed with ice chips against the outer walls of the research base in a dense, piercing clatter.
Professor Yefuni tightened his robe, turned to pick up the coffee he had brewed, and ignored the irritating noise. He had worked here for over a decade and was long accustomed to the environment.
The research base had changed names several times, and its directors had been replaced time and again. But as a scientist assigned here when the base was first established, Professor Yefuni knew everything about it intimately, including the experimental subject they had studied for more than ten years.
The subject had arrived aboard an advanced spacecraft that crashed within Mao Country. Its landing had caused panic among many residents, but once the military surrounded and detained it, the state suppressed the matter. Apart from certain soldiers and scientists, everyone else signed confidentiality agreements.
The environment on the snowfield was harsh. It was engulfed by wind and snow all year round, and even Professor Yefuni, who had grown used to the climate, sometimes wanted to leave and return to the bustle of the city.
But unfortunately, if one gained something, one had to give something up. In pursuit of science, Professor Yefuni had resolutely abandoned his career and happy family life, choosing instead to study extraterrestrial technology here.
"Professor, get some rest. We still have to prepare that alien's examination report tomorrow." A young man approached Professor Yefuni with a yawn and greeted him.
"Mm, you should go rest first." Professor Yefuni answered, but did not move. He knew the analysis of the alien's cells had reached a critical stage. There was no way he could sleep tonight. Even if he tried, he would not be able to.
As for that young man, he was his most outstanding disciple. In a godforsaken place like this, this old man past fifty had relied greatly on the kid's care. Professor Yefuni had even considered marrying his daughter to this sensible disciple.
"Then I'll go to sleep first. Take care of yourself." The young man smiled, took off his white lab coat, wrapped himself in a blanket, and walked out of the laboratory.
Professor Yefuni watched him leave and smiled as well. No matter what, this disciple truly was his pride. Perhaps in the future, he would have to inherit his legacy.
After pondering for a moment, Professor Yefuni turned around, took another sip of hot coffee, and chased the chill from his body.
Suddenly, a deafening alarm sounded in the distance. The abrupt blare startled Professor Yefuni so badly that he dropped his coffee, which shattered on the floor.
But Professor Yefuni had no time to worry about it. He looked around in confusion before suddenly remembering. This was the military district's invasion alarm, evolved from an air-raid siren. It was the highest-level alert, sounded only when enemies launched a terrorist attack.
The research base had been built inside this massive military fortress and was the only base under its protection. Once the fortress came under attack, there could be only one target: the research base where he was located.
With that thought, Professor Yefuni immediately rose and left the laboratory. But before he had taken more than a few steps, the invasion alarm began blaring within the research base itself. In an instant, red warning lights lit up the laboratory corridor, staining the dim passage a bloody scarlet.
"How could this happen?! The fortress alarm only just went off, yet the research base is already sounding its own alarm. Could the enemy have breached the military fortress's defenses in an instant?!"
Professor Yefuni was horrified. With no time to think, he returned to his office and took a pistol from a drawer.
Just then, a squad of fully armed soldiers raced past the laboratory. Professor Yefuni recognized them at once. They were the special unit assigned to protect the laboratories. For them to be mobilizing in such a hurry, the enemy had clearly already infiltrated the base.
Seeing this, Professor Yefuni stopped one of the soldiers and asked, "I'm the head of the testing department. What exactly happened here? Who is the enemy?"
"I don't know. We're still investigating." The soldier was extremely anxious as well and seemed not to understand what was happening. "The commander said the fortress outside has already been breached. The guards are still fighting the enemy, and we've been ordered to hold the laboratories."
Boom! Boom!
Before the soldier could finish, the entire underground laboratory shook amid thunderous roars. As a professor, Yefuni could tell immediately that it was the sound of heavy firepower—and heavy weapons from their own forces.
The enemy's firepower was probably overwhelming, forcing the fortress guards to bring out their final trump card.
"Those are maximum-firepower howitzers! What kind of enemy are our troops fighting?!" Professor Yefuni shouted. He could not understand it. To warrant that kind of firepower, the enemy needed to have at least a division's worth of troops. But how could so many people have openly made their way here?
"I'm not sure either. Professor, you should get to shelter quickly. I have a mission to carry out." The soldier gripped his gun tightly. His face showed that he was nervous too. After saying that, he immediately chased after his squad.
Professor Yefuni knew this was not the time to dwell on it. Fighting the enemy was the soldiers' task, not the task of a scientist like him. What he needed to do now was join the other professors and researchers and get to safety as quickly as possible.
As he ran through the research base, Professor Yefuni saw chaos everywhere. Guard troops gathered one after another and rushed toward the base's main entrance. Some researchers who had just been awakened did not even have time to get dressed, only able to flee with the crowd while wrapped in blankets.
No one knew what had happened. They could only hear one deafening explosion after another outside the research base. Professor Yefuni had heard such dense, disorderly bombardment only when the military destroyed weapons.
He gripped the gun in his hand tightly, as though the weapon could offer him even the slightest sense of security.
But soon, an unprovoked sense of dread rose from the depths of his heart. Professor Yefuni felt the temperature around him drop even further.
He broke away from the crowd and ran toward the dormitory where his disciple stayed. Right now, all he wanted was to ensure the survival of his most outstanding disciple. After all, he had invited the boy here and regarded him as his own son.
His disciple's dormitory was on the second floor above ground in the research base. As Professor Yefuni headed there, he could clearly see the soldiers standing ready for battle and feel even more directly just how fierce the fighting on the surface was.
Since they were under attack, Professor Yefuni did not dare take the elevator and could only climb the stairs floor by floor. When he came up from the underground laboratory to the above-ground research base, he instinctively moved closer to a stairwell window, seemingly wanting to see what was happening outside.
He wanted to know the invaders' identity and what kind of enemy the guards were fighting.
But when he pressed himself against the window and looked outside through the glass, his wrinkled face instantly twisted in terror, and his eyes flew wide open.
"Z-Zombies!!!"