Qinling · Outpost of Panshi Fortress · Deep Night
The blood moon was completely swallowed by the surging leaden clouds, leaving only darkness between heaven and earth.
The mountain wind, carrying bone-chilling cold and a faint smell of blood, swept through the dead pine forest, emitting a wailing shriek.
The heavy alloy gate slowly opened a gap just wide enough for one person to pass, with the low hiss of the hydraulic system, and four figures, seemingly merged with the night, silently slipped out like ghosts.
It was the reconnaissance team codenamed “Night Owl.”
The captain leading them was the tall soldier from earlier that day—Sergeant Li Zhenguo. He was the first to step out of the fortress.
He had specifically requested this operation from his superiors to confirm his younger brother's situation.
He was tall, yet his movements were exceptionally light and agile. The heavy tactical backpack he carried did not hinder him; each step precisely avoided loose gravel and dead branches, landing silently.
The few people vanished into the darkness, disappearing from sight frequently.
However, what they didn't notice was a bat with dark purple wings flying several hundred meters above their heads, then disappearing into the night sky even faster.
...
At Linghui Academy, the day's battle had exhausted everyone, and they were all sleeping soundly. Even Li Mingyu, who was on guard duty, was yawning nonstop.
Ling Chen slowly opened his eyes. A bat flew in from outside the window and landed on his shoulder. He tilted his head, listening to the ultrasonic waves it emitted, his gaze calm.
Oh, they came so quickly.
Then... the final and most brutal round of screening is about to begin.
...
The group moved very quickly, and since Linghui Academy was relatively close to the military zone, it only took them a little over two hours to reach the school gate.
Li Zhenguo wore the latest model of night vision binoculars. His eyes behind the lenses were sharp as an eagle in the eerie green field of view, scanning the deathly land shrouded in darkness ahead.
His QBZ-19 assault rifle, slung at his waist, was fitted with an efficient suppressor and an infrared laser designator, and its body was wrapped in anti-reflective cloth strips.
Following closely behind was the communications expert and drone operator, Sergeant Zhao Gang, codenamed “Dove.”
He carried an integrated electronic equipment case on his back. The goggles of his multi-functional tactical helmet switched between thermal imaging and low-light enhancement modes, with green and grayscale visions alternating. His movements were equally swift and silent, demonstrating extremely high professionalism.
The third member was the demolitions expert and heavy fire support, Sergeant Wang Lei, codenamed “Anvil.” He was built like a bear, carrying a heavy anti-materiel sniper rifle and a demolitions kit, yet his steps were as steady as mountain rock. He was a man of few words, his eyes behind the night vision goggles like quenched steel nails.
Finally, there was the medic and biochemical protection specialist, Corporal Zhou Xiaoyu, codenamed “White Dove.” She carried a medical first-aid kit and a portable biochemical detector. Her eyes were clear and resolute; she was the only female in the team and the anchor of psychological stability.
The team consisted of only four people, but for the first wave of reconnaissance, they were clearly sufficient. The second wave of reconnaissance would depart at dawn.
They were merely probes; the real vanguard was yet to come.
“Route confirmed. Radio silence. ‘Dove,’ release ‘Night Bat.’” Li Zhenguo's voice was low, transmitted to his team members through bone-conduction headphones.
“Understood.” Zhao Xiaowen replied, deftly opening the release port on the side of her backpack.
Four bionic bat drones, no bigger than a fist, pitch black, and with silent wing membranes, slid out, flapped their wings, and instantly merged into the darkness. They were equipped with high-sensitivity infrared thermal imagers and passive sonar, acting like invisible specters, transmitting real-time topographical contours, heat source distribution, and sound wave environments back to Zhao Xiaowen's goggles and tactical terminal.
“Heat sources are sparse, mainly concentrated in the building complex in the southeast corner. Sonar detection... low-frequency growls and scraping sounds, ghoul activity. Quantity... conservatively estimated at over three hundred, scattered.” Zhao Xiaowen's voice was calm and rapid.
“Avoid open ground, take the collapsed section of the west wall. ‘Anvil’ covers the rear. ‘White Dove,’ pay attention to environmental toxins and biological signals.”
Li Zhenguo issued commands and led the way down the mountain. His heartbeat thumped steadily and powerfully in his chest, but each breath carried a deep worry for his younger brother, Li Mingyu.
In the inner pocket of his tactical vest, a photo, half-stained with blood, clung to his heart—in the photo, his brother Li Mingyu was holding a boxing champion's trophy, smiling brightly.
Brother... you must live!
The team moved like four poisoned daggers, silently cutting through the dense darkness.
They bypassed stray ghouls, avoided foul-smelling corpse piles, and used broken walls and ruins, along with overgrown, strangely shaped mutated plants, as cover, stealthily moving towards Linghui Academy.
In the night vision goggles, the eerie green world was silent and bizarre, with only the slowly moving outlines of ghouls and occasional flickering cold light points.
...
Linghui Academy · Class 3-3 Classroom · Deep Night
The classroom doors and windows were tightly blocked by desks, chairs, and miscellaneous items. Gaps were sealed with damp cloth strips, blocking out most light and sound.
The faint light of an emergency flashlight flickered in the corner, like a candle in the wind, illuminating faces that were tired, numb, and etched with panic in their sleep.
The air was filled with the smell of blood, disinfectant, and... a bone-deep fear and oppression.
Li Mingyu leaned against the cold wall. The sharp pain of torn muscles in his right leg and three deep, bone-visible claw marks on his left arm felt like red-hot branding irons, repeatedly searing his nerves.
Chen Xue had re-bandaged him with the remaining bandages and medicine, but the pain had not lessened much. He tightly gripped the bent, deformed, and black-red blood-crusted rebar, his knuckles white from excessive force.
The scenes of the brutal battle earlier that day—personally killing zombified classmates and teachers, facing that nightmare-like mutated flesh mountain—recurred in his mind like maggots clinging to bone.
Every time he closed his eyes, he could see Zhang Hao's crimson eyes, see Teacher Liu's collapsed chest, see the flesh mountain's exploded head and spurting pus... and Zhao Feng's desperate, silent eyes as he was dragged away by the ghouls.
Power? The Buli (Brute Force) ability indeed made him stronger, able to easily smash ghoul heads.
But watching those once familiar faces shatter beneath his rod, watching former classmates collapse in fear, scream, and then become numb and ferocious... this power brought not a sense of security, but a heavy, blood-stained shackles and... endless emptiness.
He subconsciously touched the three shallow letters— “LZG”—carved into the middle of the steel rod with a military knife. It was a gift from his older brother, Li Zhenguo, on his sixteenth birthday, a real military dagger, though he naturally couldn't bring such a thing to school.
His brother had patted his shoulder at the time, his eyes serious: “Kid, take it! Protect yourself like a man! Don't always make people worry!”
Brother... the brother who always had a stern face but would silently apply medicine for him after he got into a fight and got injured... where was he now? In this damned apocalypse... was he still alive?
“Bro...” Li Mingyu murmured softly, his voice hoarse like sandpaper rubbing. He buried his face in his arm, the cold touch of the steel rod against his forehead, trying to dispel the bloody images and deep worries in his mind.
In the corner, Lin Wei was curled up, her face as pale as paper.
She had just experienced a terrible nightmare.
In her dream, she was back on the sunny playground. Teacher Zheng Xiyun was smiling and blowing her whistle, organizing everyone for warm-ups. Suddenly, the sky turned blood-red, Teacher Zheng's smile twisted, and her eye sockets became two madly spinning gray-white vortices!
Countless gray-white tentacles surged from her body, coiling around every classmate! She wanted to scream, but no sound came out!
Then, she saw Ling Chen standing not far away, his eyes under his hood flickering with cold purple light... She woke up with a jolt, cold sweat soaking her thin clothes.
She subconsciously looked at Ling Chen, who was leaning against the wall on the other side.
He was still wrapped in a large hoodie, his face pale, his breathing faint, as if he could die at any moment.
But Lin Wei's Discernment ability allowed her to catch an extremely subtle energy fluctuation, like the chilling ice of an abyss, that flashed from him. That feeling... and the cold dread deep within her nightmare... were so similar!
She shook her head vigorously, trying to dispel this terrifying thought.
Impossible... Ling Chen was injured like this to save everyone... But... there were too many suspicious points about him... the speed of his wound healing, the strange deterrence he had over mutated beasts, and... he always seemed to “just happen” to avoid the most fatal dangers... and the aura emanating from the three heavily injured bats on his shoulder... made her instinctively tremble.
She quietly clenched a small bottle in her pocket, which contained a few scraps of blood-stained gauze from when Ling Chen's wound was changed earlier that day.
She needed... an opportunity.
An opportunity to get close to his fresh blood. Her Discernment ability told her that in fresh blood... lay the truth.
That's right, she had also awakened an ability, but Lin Wei hadn't told anyone.
Firstly, this ability, even if she told them, would be useless for combat.
Secondly, her intuition told her that once she spoke out, there would be big trouble.
Ling Chen seemed to sense her gaze, moved slightly, and let out a suppressed cough, a new trickle of blood spilling from the corner of his mouth. Chen Xue immediately leaned over anxiously, wiping it with a clean cloth.
“I... I'm fine...” Ling Chen's voice was as weak as a wisp of smoke. He struggled to lift his eyelids, his gaze sweeping over everyone in the classroom, finally landing on Li Mingyu, “Mingyu... your injury... how is it?”
Li Mingyu looked up at Ling Chen, who looked like he could die at any moment, and his slight doubt was replaced by guilt.
He shook his head: “I won't die.”
Won't die, that's good.
Ling Chen chuckled inwardly.
You two brothers are truly alike, both without much brains.
“Night watch... cannot be relaxed...” Ling Chen said intermittently, “Those things... are more active... at night... especially when... the blood moon... is covered...”
As if to confirm his words!
“Whoosh—!!!”
A sharp, ear-piercing shriek, tearing through the night sky, came without warning from somewhere outside the campus!
Immediately after!
“Bang—!!!”
A blinding, intensely red light, like blood, exploded in the sky above the school playground like the single eye of hell opening! Instantly bathing the entire campus in a crimson glow!
Ling Chen almost laughed speechlessly.
It was the same in his previous life, exactly the same, absolutely identical!
Like daylight descending! The dilapidated teaching building, the messy playground, the wandering ghoul figures... everything was exposed under the bloody glow!
Flare! A red flare!
“Enemy attack?!” Sun Qiang suddenly stood up, his metalized skin reflecting a cold gleam under the red light!
“It's the army's flare!” Wu Tao cried out, his voice tinged with a hint of disbelief and surprise, and an even deeper fear!
The classroom instantly erupted into chaos! Students fearfully rushed to the windows, then recoiled, afraid of being discovered by the ghouls outside!
“They're here! The army is here to save us!” Someone shouted excitedly.
“No! This flare... it's marking a position!” Li Mingyu's face drastically changed! His brother had once explained these things to him, and he knew the meaning of this red flare—target designation!
And it wasn't just simple target designation. Especially in this dead of night, this light was like a lighthouse, attracting all monsters within a few kilometers!
“Damn it! What do they want?!” Sun Qiang roared!
Boom—!!!
Like a spark thrown into boiling oil! The entire campus instantly boiled over!