The eerie girl

After emerging from the spatial dimension, the three of them had clearly grown closer.

Su Qingqian admired Lin Hui even more.

Liu Xi also felt a stronger sense of belonging to the RV. After witnessing Lin Hui's abilities, she had completely abandoned the idea of leaving to establish her own guild.

She was competitive by nature, but if someone stronger and more capable could lead her, she was willing to serve under them.

But only under Lin Hui.

The RV would probably gain more employees in the future. She had to secure her position as second-in-command.

Watching Lin Hui return to the driver's seat, Liu Xi silently drew a firm line for her own standing.

The RV sped across the Zombie Wasteland.

Over the next few hours, Lin Hui headed toward the "abandoned hospital," clearing out several groups of zombies and mutants along the way.

With the [V-Shaped Titanium Alloy Barrier-Breaking Shovel] mounted on the front of the RV and Liu Xi's extraordinary marksmanship, Lin Hui easily harvested a wealth of supplies and materials.

Night fell.

Endless darkness swallowed the wasteland.

Only the occasional zombie roar in the distance reminded them that this was the apocalypse.

Following the map, Lin Hui drove the massive RV up to a desolate cluster of buildings and slowly came to a stop.

Their destination stood two hundred meters ahead.

According to the map, the hospital was called "Benevolence Hospital."

"We're here."

Lin Hui switched off the headlights, leaving only the faint glow of the dashboard.

Through the enormous bulletproof windshield, the three looked at the cluster of buildings, which seemed particularly sinister in the darkness.

Half of the main hospital building had collapsed, leaving it sprawled in the dark like a dying beast.

He would set a trap here, lure in the Feral Wolf Guild's hall master, and wipe him out!

Just then, Su Qingqian pointed toward the hospital entrance and lowered her voice. "Boss, look at the gate!"

Lin Hui adjusted his focus. With [Low-Light Vision], he instantly saw what was over there.

His brow furrowed slightly.

A battered bus was parked at the weed-choked hospital gate.

It was neither an upgraded apocalyptic war machine nor a guild big shot's heavy vehicle.

In fact, it was still a basic level 1 vehicle!

Deep in this wasteland full of zombies and mutated beasts, in this godforsaken place more than two thousand kilometers from the starting zone, someone had parked a flimsy level 1 vehicle?

"That doesn't make sense."

Cradling her sniper rifle, Liu Xi frowned deeply. "How did a level 1 vehicle even get here?"

Lin Hui slowly raised his head, looking past the strange bus toward the hospital's top floor.

Amid the pitch-black, deathly stillness.

A light was actually shining in one of the windows on that floor.

"There's power?" Su Qingqian sucked in a breath. "This area has been abandoned for countless years. The backup generator in a hospital like this should've stopped working ages ago."

A battered level 1 vehicle.

A window glowing with stark white light.

In this zombie-infested night, those deeply unnatural sights filled the air with a chilling unease.

"Looks like we're not the only players here."

Lin Hui narrowed his eyes, tapping his fingers lightly against the steering wheel.

He had carefully chosen this place as the Feral Wolf Guild's burial ground, and he certainly wasn't willing to give it up easily. Whoever was inside would have to move out.

"I'll scout out that vehicle."

Liu Xi neatly tied her long hair behind her head, tightened her tactical bulletproof vest, and put on her infrared night-vision goggles. Holding her suppressed sniper rifle, she wore a sharp, focused look.

As an expert with a shooting specialization, stealth was one of her strengths.

"Be careful." Lin Hui nodded. "Keep communications open."

"Don't worry." Liu Xi gave a slight nod and stepped out of the RV.

The night wind carried the stench of decay. Under cover of darkness, Liu Xi slipped toward the hospital gate like a phantom.

Her movements were professional. Using bushes and abandoned stone bollards as cover, she quickly approached the battered bus.

"Boss, something's wrong."

Liu Xi's hushed voice came through his earpiece, carrying a hint of confusion. "There's nobody inside, but there are dozens of zombies..."

"Zombies?" Lin Hui froze.

"Yes!" Liu Xi pressed close to a window and peered inside, lowering her voice. "These zombies are strange. They're wandering around the bus as if they've lost their senses..."

"Leave the vehicle alone. Check the hospital lobby," Lin Hui said gravely. "Qingqian, send the drone to support her."

"Roger!"

Su Qingqian's fingers flew over the keyboard. The modified Combat and Reconnaissance Drone rose silently into the air and flew toward the illuminated top floor.

Through the window glass, the corridor looked utterly still.

Meanwhile, Liu Xi had slipped into the hospital lobby.

"The lobby's a mess. Dried blood and stretchers everywhere, but... no zombies."

Liu Xi's voice came through. "Not a single zombie. It's unnaturally quiet."

"I'll head up to the top floor..."

With that, she started up the stairs.

The second floor... the third... the fourth... the fifth...

"Everything's normal. No signs of life," Liu Xi whispered. "I've reached the top floor. I'm in the corridor now, approaching the lit room..."

"Bzzzt..."

A sudden burst of static crackled through the earpiece.

An ominous feeling rose in Lin Hui's chest. "Liu Xi? Report your status."

"...What... is that?"

Liu Xi's voice suddenly grew urgent, tinged with unmistakable fear.

"What happened?" Lin Hui asked immediately.

"Bzzzt... there's something in the room... bzzzt..."

Bang!

After a single brief gunshot, communications cut out completely.

"Liu Xi!"

Lin Hui shot to his feet.

"Boss! The drone feed!" Su Qingqian suddenly cried out.

The instant Liu Xi ran into trouble, she had used the drone's weapon to shatter the window and sent it into the corridor.

Lin Hui whipped his head toward the screen.

On the feed, a blurry figure was dragging Liu Xi into the room.

Just then, a dark shadow flashed across the drone's camera.

Crack!

The screen instantly dissolved into static.

"The drone's been destroyed! It was too fast. I couldn't see what it was!" Su Qingqian's face turned deathly pale.

"Stay in the RV and lock the doors! Be ready to support me at any moment!"

Without the slightest hesitation, Lin Hui grabbed the Axe Gun and the Extraordinary Item, the Eye of Scapegoating. With a thought, every muscle in his body instantly tensed.

He unleashed all 150 points of constitution!

Boom!

He shoved the door open and jumped out, shooting toward the hospital like a cannonball.

Liu Xi couldn't die.

Not just because she was his employee, but because she provided indispensable ranged firepower for his team.

Besides, anything that could cut off contact with Liu Xi so quickly was definitely no ordinary threat.

Lin Hui charged into the lobby without attempting to sneak as Liu Xi had.

He chose the most direct approach.

A brute-force charge!

Without slowing, Lin Hui rushed straight toward the stairwell.

A faint stench of rot hung in the air, sickening enough to turn his stomach.

He sprinted all the way to the top floor.

This was the floor with the light.

Gripping the Axe Gun in one hand and the Eye of Scapegoating in the other, Lin Hui slowed his steps, his breathing becoming long and faint.

His extraordinary hearing picked up a faint sound from deep in the corridor.

"Drip... drip..."

It was the sound of dripping liquid.

Following the sound, Lin Hui reached a set of double doors at the end of the corridor.

That stark white light spilled through the gap between them.

Lin Hui drew a deep breath and shoved the doors open!

Bang!

The doors slammed against the walls with a deafening crash.

But the sight before him sent a bone-deep chill through even Lin Hui, who was no stranger to slaughter.

It was an exceptionally spacious operating room, and far too clean.

The surgical light was at full power, illuminating the room as brightly as daylight.

On a hospital bed in the corner, Liu Xi lay unconscious. She had no obvious wounds, and her chest still rose and fell. She seemed merely asleep.

At the very center of the operating room stood an enormous, specially made operating table.

A monster lay on it.

It was a giant zombie more than four meters long!

Knotted muscles covered its body, its skin was a lifeless iron-gray, and its right arm had swollen into a bony battering ram.

Lin Hui's pupils abruptly contracted.

A tier 4 zombie!

A tyrant among zombies!

But that wasn't the most terrifying part.

The most terrifying part was... this tier 4 zombie tyrant was being dissected.

Its chest cavity had been fully opened. Black blood flowed through a tube into a bucket below, making the dripping sound Lin Hui had heard outside.

Beside the tyrant's enormous corpse stood a girl.

She wore a pristine white dress beneath a bloodstained transparent raincoat.

Her long, silvery-white hair hung loose down her back, gleaming beneath the surgical light with a radiance both holy and uncanny.

She looked eighteen or nineteen, her figure so slender and frail that a gust of wind seemed enough to topple her.

Yet she held a delicate scalpel.

Even a heavy sniper rifle might not have pierced that tier 4 tyrant's skin, but beneath her scalpel, it was sliced open and separated as easily as soft tofu.

The girl showed no alarm at the sound of Lin Hui bursting in.

Her movements remained elegant, precise, and steady.

"Plop."

She tossed a gray-black mutated organ she had cut free into a tray beside her.

Then.

She slowly turned around.

Her face was breathtakingly beautiful.

Beautiful, yes.

But in that instant, the horror reached its peak.

Every muscle in Lin Hui's body tightened to its limit.

Who was she?

A player?

A special mutant?

Or... a native?

The white-haired girl slowly removed her bloodstained rubber gloves, her gray eyes quietly fixed on Lin Hui.

The corners of her mouth suddenly curled upward.

She revealed a smile that was both innocent and utterly chilling.

"You're actually... unharmed?"

Her voice was ethereal, yet carried a trace of eerie excitement.