Outbreak

"Click, click."

A barrage of camera flashes lit up, washing Roger's face deathly pale.

Facing the international media, he kept a stiff smile on his lips.

He had no idea how those important figures managed to remain so composed in public, never even flinching when they lied.

All he knew was that his legs would not stop shaking.

Representatives from 175 countries around the world were either attending in person or connected online.

Soon, he would be this world's savior.

For someone who had still been a student a week ago, it felt like a dream.

The Death Exam was brutal.

Yet, strangely enough, he was beginning to understand Frank.

This place was hell, but it was also heaven. As long as you survived, everything you wanted was yours for the taking.

"Roger!"

"We've found that team's trail!"

One of his teammates suddenly rushed over, holding a tablet with a tense expression.

Roger took it in surprise. On the screen, Ye Lin was leaping rapidly between buildings.

His speed sent a chill through Roger. Even the high-definition cameras could not capture a clear image.

"When did this happen!?"

"A minute ago! Just one minute ago! The target appeared at the University of Southampton! Judging by his direction, he's coming for us!"

"What do we do!? Should we deploy troops to intercept them!?"

Roger's heart jolted.

Barring anything unexpected, the other team intended to attack them at this very moment.

Although they had military protection, no one knew what abilities that suspected Grade B guy possessed!

Roger had enhancements too, but he was only slightly stronger than an ordinary soldier. If they actually faced off, his team would not last more than a few seconds.

"Contact Frank!"

"If they're willing to show themselves, I'm afraid something's wrong!"

Roger took a deep breath and contacted Frank directly.

He really did not want to contact him, but he had to admit that their experience fell far short of Frank's.

The call connected quickly.

After swiftly hearing the news, Frank actually scoffed, utterly unconcerned.

"Those rats finally decided to poke their heads out? And you idiots are still scared to death?"

"Nothing will go wrong."

"The fact that they're appearing now proves they have no trump cards left. This is nothing but a desperate gamble."

"They've probably also realized that once we lower the zombie difficulty, we'll have enough resources to deal with them."

"But... choosing this moment to act? That's unbelievably stupid."

Frank sneered, looking at the layers of soldiers stationed beyond the bulletproof glass, and felt relieved.

Good. He had been worried that the other team would stay hidden and refuse to emerge.

To avoid assassination, he had deliberately hidden in an underground base capable of withstanding a nuclear blast. He had even stationed a body double outside.

But now, it seemed he had gone a little overboard.

"Stupid?"

Roger had not expected that assessment from Frank.

As far as Roger was concerned, the other team's timing was the best possible choice.

Scornful, Frank simply explained.

"If they were truly smart, they would wait until the middle or even the later stages of the zombie outbreak to appear."

"According to the information provided by the system, Mutants will emerge among the zombies."

"By then, much of our strength will have been depleted. To earn a higher rating, or even just to deal with the Mutants, they could use their individual strength to negotiate with us."

"But appearing now means precisely that they're afraid! They don't think they can withstand our pursuit after the zombie outbreak!"

Having said that, Frank could not be bothered to waste any more words.

After the exam question was released, he had run through every possible scenario.

In his view, if he were leading their team, he would decisively abandon the second option and approach the military, using his greater strength to earn their trust.

After all, nothing could convince those higher-ups more easily than supernatural abilities.

That way, both sides would control military forces, while his side would still hold the advantage in individual strength.

Thinking that the other team had failed to consider even this, Frank found them pitifully stupid.

Maybe I should harvest some points too. Even idiots like these are stronger than me...

Despite surviving four exams, he was still only Grade C.

Pushing aside those stray thoughts, Frank gave a direct order.

"Send troops to intercept them! But be careful. They might deliberately try to draw..."

Before he could finish, an icy system notification suddenly rang out.

Warning! The Ancient Stone Slab has been activated. The virus outbreak has been brought forward!

Countdown: 4:59...

58... 57!

Slab? What slab!?

The zombie outbreak was in five minutes?

Frank froze, then seemed to realize something and urged them on anxiously.

"Quick! Release the information right now! They don't want to lower the difficulty!"

"Damn it! Those idiots! They'd rather drag everyone down with them than leave us any resources to hunt them!"

Although he did not know what the slab was, Frank figured it was most likely something the other team had just found.

As soon as he finished speaking, Roger and the others understood as well.

Unable to wait for every country to be ready, they rushed straight into the conference hall.

"This is UK Emergency Broadcasting, BBC Radio 4 LW 198 kHz-National Emergency Alert..."

Three minutes later, a test broadcast sounded, echoing through the building.

Scores of staff kept translating the zombie information and sending it to the leaders of various countries.

Seeing that the information had been released, Roger felt a weight lift from his shoulders.

He glanced at the communicator that had been ringing in his hand all this time. For some reason, an inexplicable unease crept over him.

Why were they still trying to contact us? What exactly did those people want?

Not long ago, the other team had suddenly abandoned their operation and headed straight out of the city.

After considerable hesitation, he took a deep breath and answered the call. Their plan was already complete. Whatever the other team wanted to do, it would be meaningless now.

Of course, he also wanted to demand why they had triggered the outbreak early. Although the teams were competitors, increasing the difficulty benefited no one.

To his surprise, the threats he had expected never came after the call connected.

All he heard was an anxious female voice.

"How many people have you told about the zombies!"

"Stop right now! The virus is a meme! It doesn't spread through..."

A meme? What meme?

Before Roger could even react in surprise, the other end went silent.

A second later, a cold male voice took over the call.

"If I were you, I'd kill myself immediately. At least that way, you could die quickly."

What?

Roger froze at those words.

Before he could say anything, he found that the other person had hung up.

"Roger, what did they say?"

Several teammates gathered around him in confusion. They had just sent detailed information about the zombies to every country.

To ensure that the zombies could be discovered immediately, they had even prepared videos and images and uploaded them to social media platforms worldwide.

Although only a few minutes remained before the outbreak, they believed the material would still be useful afterward.

They had not found any zombies so far.

The first wave of infected therefore had to be hiding somewhere.

So, as long as everyone knew what zombies were, they could report anything unusual immediately, or even eliminate them on the spot.

That way, the virus would be stopped at its source.

"Nothing. Just a bunch of lunatics."

Roger put down his communicator, so furious that he laughed.

Then, seeing the thirty-second countdown on his wristwatch, he raised his head to remind his teammates to watch out for infected appearing inside the venue.

The odds were extremely low, and they had checked every staff member, but it was still better to be cautious, just in case.

Yet the moment he looked up, a faint, invisible ripple swept over their heads.

Huh?

They paused in surprise. A second later, everyone else inside the building subconsciously touched their faces.

Their fingers came away stained crimson. Trails of bloody tears slowly streamed from the corners of their eyes.

At their computers, the staff responsible for uploading videos sat motionless, images of roaring Mutants reflected in their pupils.

"What is this!?"

Beep! The virus outbreak is imminent. All examinees, please prepare.

Boom!!

In the city, He Zheng drove the heavy truck, desperately flooring the accelerator.

No longer caring whether they exposed their whereabouts, the truck weighing nearly a hundred tons barreled down the road like a rampaging beast.

The vehicle rocked violently.

Inside, everyone's faces were deathly pale. Hu Jia, the most timid of them, trembled all over and clung tightly to Zhang Tie.

They already knew what was about to happen. At a time like this, no one could remain calm.

In the cab, watching Ye Lin silently lower the communicator, He Zheng could not help shouting anxiously.

"Ye Lin! Aren't we going after them anymore!? Didn't they answer!?"

"It's too late..."

Ye Lin's voice was hoarse.

He had ended the call because there was no point anymore.

He had already heard the test broadcast coming through the communicator. That meant the other team had released the information.

Each alarm sounded like a final testament.

If he still had two hours, he would choose to destroy the communications systems and stop the information from spreading.

If he still had one hour, he would take He Zheng and the others and do everything possible to kill everyone who knew.

But now, only ten seconds remained.

The stone slab that had suddenly been opened had pushed the situation straight into a dead end.

Clenching his fists, Ye Lin's mind raced. They had not activated the slab. They had not even seen it.

And that meant there was a third party here!

His words had barely faded before He Zheng's expression could change.

As the countdown reached zero, an invisible wave swept violently over the city like a psychic shock.

Everyone in the truck grunted, feeling as though a sledgehammer had struck their chest.

Bang!

Momentarily out of control, the heavy truck skidded and slammed into a roadside sign.

Before they could react, every sound in the city seemed to vanish at once, leaving only the broadcast overhead playing on and on.

On the streets, in skyscrapers, in hospitals, in schools-whether pedestrians dodging traffic or postal workers delivering newspapers by bicycle, everyone suddenly stood motionless, like stone statues frozen in place.

Some raised their heads toward the broadcast overhead. Others kept their eyes fixed on the images on their phones.

If someone could have looked down upon the entire globe, they would have seen that, within moments of the first crimson spark appearing, dense, seemingly endless patches of crimson covered the whole world!

Perhaps it took one second. Perhaps ten.

Roar!!

The first zombie roar rang out from a corner.

As though swept by contagion, the crowd abruptly turned and charged, roaring, at the survivors who had neither seen nor heard the information.

In an instant, more than a million roars drowned the entire city!

Inside the truck, everyone's faces went deathly pale. He Zheng's pupils constricted sharply.

The crowd roared and sprinted madly toward them! Even inside the buildings, infected people smashed through windows like lunatics and jumped straight down!

Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!

The sounds of falling bodies came as thick as rain.

Infected leaping from every direction crashed heavily onto the truck, the violent impacts caving in its roof.

Even when their limbs snapped, or half their heads split open, spilling red and white brain matter.

The infected still dragged their ravaged bodies forward, scrambling toward them on all fours.

At a glance, they seemed surrounded by a sea of corpses. Everywhere they looked, endless zombies swarmed over them!

Bang!!

As the first zombie hurtled into the front of the vehicle, He Zheng could no longer contain his terror.

"Ye Lin!!"

"What do we do now?! Should we use the flight packs?!"

He Zheng was horrified. With this many zombies, they could not break through even in a tank.

Even if they had reacted immediately and headed straight out of the city, they still had twenty kilometers to go!

Before He Zheng could ask anything else, Ye Lin leaped off the roof, landing heavily in front of the vehicle.

"They're no use! We can't get away unless we kill it!"

After slicing apart an oncoming zombie with one stroke, he fixed his gaze on the distance.

Amid a gathering of over a thousand zombies, a giant zombie four stories tall was slowly "raising its head."

Unlike He Zheng, who had not noticed it, Ye Lin could sense through his enhanced perception that this monster posed an immense threat!

The flight packs were too slow. If these were ordinary zombies, they could still use them to escape.

But now, this monster had clearly set its sights on them!

The fusion was over in an instant.

With a piercing shriek, the monster sprayed a foul-smelling glob of pus resembling corpse fluids from its split maw, sending it hurtling toward them!

Drops of the thick fluid fell to the ground, instantly corroding the road.

It rose and began to run, its massive body like a small mountain. Every footfall sent tremors through the ground.

Watching the charging Mutant, Ye Lin let out a fierce shout amid the repeated system warnings and pushed his speed to the limit! He crushed the nearest zombie underfoot, using it as a springboard to launch himself into the air.

Warning! Current infected population: 1,490,000! Difficulty: D!

Warning! Current infected population: 25,200,000! Difficulty: C!

Warning! Current infected population... 196,000,000...

Warning! Current infected population... 4,650,000,000! Difficulty: A.

"He Zheng! Huang Liang! Cover me!"

"We're... fighting our way out!"

Bang!!

His longsword cleaved downward, reflecting an eerie hue in the setting sun.

At the same time, the charging giant Mutant let out a shriek and swung its fist with savage force!