Sometimes death isn't such a bad thing

Thanks: Eastern Thundercloud tipped 100 Qidian coins. While everyone was gathered around the corpses, Kaplan said, "This will slow us down. Our route to the Flame Queen has to go through these labs."

The mercenary captain nodded. "Rain, J.D., Zhang Jie, go see how bad it is. Kaplan, use your computer to find another route to the Flame Queen."

At the captain's order, Rain and J.D. raised their guns and went deeper into the lab to check things out. Zhang Jie, however, waved at Ye Siyu and the others before walking over as though it were no big deal.

Once the three had gone some distance away, the culprit, Spence Parks, said, "What on earth happened here? Why do these labs look like... like they were filled with water from the inside?"

The mercenary captain glanced at Alice and Matt, who both looked equally curious, before saying, "About five hours ago, the Flame Queen sealed off the entire Hive, then used the internal defense systems to start killing people. She released poison gas, shut down elevators, and locked down labs, just like these. It killed everyone in this research area."

He paused, then added, "When the company realized something had happened here, our team was sent in to shut her down. That's why we're here."

Alice bit her red lips. "Why would she do that? Isn't she an intelligent computer system? She shouldn't be able to hurt humans."

The captain shook his head. "We don't know either. She might have been affected by something external, like a computer virus... or someone on the inside might have tampered with it. It's all..."

"Ah!"

But while he was speaking, a figure slowly floated into view behind the tempered glass Matt was leaning against. Matt caught sight of something out of the corner of his eye and turned to look, only to see a woman's corpse floating in the water. He cried out in fright and jumped aside.

Matt's cry startled everyone. Even Zheng Zha and the others who knew a woman's corpse would appear jumped, their scalps tingling.

At the sight of the corpse, the mercenary captain and the other story characters looked a little uneasy, but they quickly calmed down.

Apart from Ye Siyu, Zheng Zha, Zhan Lan, and the others all turned away from her instinctively. Their hands and feet had gone cold with fright, and the timid middle-aged woman even began to weep quietly.

Just then, Zhan Lan, who wore glasses, said to Zheng Zha and the others, whose expressions were still a little strained, "Hey, how about we introduce ourselves? We're going to have to depend on each other to survive soon, after all."

Seeing that no one objected, Zhan Lan said, "My name is Zhan Lan. Zhan as in Zhan Tianyou, and Lan as in mountain mist. Hehe, sounds like a boy's name, doesn't it? I'm a writer. Before I came here, I kept complaining that I'd lost the desire and inspiration to write. I never expected to end up in a world of limitless inspiration. Hehe, I guess this is karma."

Hearing Zhan Lan introduce herself, Zheng Zha gave her a friendly smile. "Zheng Zha. Zheng as in Zheng Chenggong, and Zha as in Nezha. I'm a company manager. Uh, before I came here, I did complain that the real world was too boring, so monotonous it felt like I was rotting away day by day. I wanted some excitement... but this is a little too intense."

Zhan Lan grinned and shook his hand. "A kindred spirit! That's what I thought too."

The middle-aged man smiled in a good-natured way. "Mou Gang. Mou as in Mou, and Gang as in Gang. Sigh, I'm not as educated as you folks. Anyway, that's my name. I'm a long-haul truck driver. Before I came here, I did complain that my wife was too stingy and my son wasn't living up to expectations. Basically, I was pretty disappointed with real life. I clicked that confirmation while playing an online game with a friend, and then I ended up here."

The unremarkable young man said, "Li Xiaoyi,

"I'm a senior in high school. I complained about a lot of things before I came here, but it's actually pretty good here, as long as I don't die, I can become someone special. And from what Zhang Jie said, if I can get back, it looks like I can keep my enhanced abilities. I can't stand being bullied at school anymore. If I get back, I'll kill those bastards!" Seeing that everyone else had introduced themselves, the fat man, who was in a poor mood, followed suit. "Huang Lang."

The middle-aged woman, whose emotions had partly broken down, said nothing. She just sat quietly on the floor, and no one knew what she was thinking.

After Zheng Zha and the others finished introducing themselves, everyone turned their attention to Ye Siyu, who was standing in front of the tempered glass, quietly watching the woman's corpse on the other side.

Zhan Lan took a deep breath, walked over to Ye Siyu, and said, "Hey, handsome, you haven't told us your name yet."

"Ye Siyu." Hearing Zhan Lan, Ye Siyu did not take his eyes off the corpse. He simply spoke the words softly.

"Ye Siyu? That sounds like a woman's name." Zhan Lan thought for a moment, then smiled.

"Sir, we've found another route, but it'll probably take us longer. We'll go back here first, then pass through Dining Hall B and head straight to our destination from there. This route may take twice as long." By then, Kaplan had used the miniature computer on his arm to find a passage leading to the Flame Queen's mainframe.

"Sir, there's no way through. The whole floor is flooded." Before long, Rain, J.D., and Zhang Jie, whom the captain had sent to check the situation, returned and reported what they had found.

"All right, we're behind schedule, so let's move," the captain ordered with a nod.

With no other choice, Zheng Zha and the others followed the main group back the way they had come.

Suddenly, the corpse's tightly shut eyes snapped open. She had turned into a zombie.

Ye Siyu, who had remained in front of the glass, reached out and tapped it gently, making a clanking sound.

"Sometimes death isn't such a bad thing," Ye Siyu murmured, so quietly that only he could hear.

Bang! The corpse answered Ye Siyu by pounding hard on the glass.

Ye Siyu glanced at the female zombie pounding on the glass, then dragged his axe away.

The mercenaries, Zheng Zha, and the others had long since disappeared into the maze of research areas, but Ye Siyu was not the least bit worried. He had already walked these passages 155 times.

Before long, Ye Siyu caught up with Zheng Zha and the others. They had stopped outside an iron door, and Kaplan was using his computer to open it.