Chapter 53: Chapter 48 Malice
“South?”
Jack, wearing Uncle Long’s face, was a bit surprised. As for Tao Yu’s English with a noticeable accent, it didn’t seem strange to him at all. Many people in this area had heavy accents.
“Something seems to have happened in the south, a prairie and rainforest appeared.”
At this time, the bald man also seemed a bit puzzled, using his binoculars atop the roof, he could almost make out the abnormality over there.
But because of the zombies, nobody had the energy to go and check it out.
“I’m Tommy, former Marine Corps,” the bald man extended his hand to Tao Yu and gave him a firm handshake. “Brother, your equipment and abilities are pretty impressive, and that gun of yours isn’t bad either.”
The tall black man carrying a crossbow and holding a shotgun seemed a bit silent and reticent.
“Zhang Wei.”
Tao Yu blurted out a random name.
“You’re also of Chinese descent? Can you tell us about the situation down south? What are your plans now, to join our settlement or…?”
Jack took the opportunity to ask.
“The south is complicated. There are creatures even more terrifying than the zombies. I advise against going there. I want to investigate some information on the zombies and will likely leave after staying here a short while.”
Tao Yu was dressed in standard combat gear, devoid of any affiliation markings, but it was easy to associate him with members of particular special statuses.
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His talk of investigating zombie information was somewhat abrupt, but not unacceptable.
Still, it was somewhat remarkable for a person to dare undertake such a task alone.
“More terrifying than zombies?”
Jack frowned, his large nose becoming more prominent as the scar on his face twitched.
“Zombies aren’t much of an issue; it’s mainly their numbers.”
The bald man, Tommy, wasn’t surprised. After all, they were in an apocalyptic world and they had a high acceptance level for change.
Zombies were already a reality, so what if new creatures appeared?
After all, things couldn’t get any worse!
As they had just met, they didn’t want to interrogate him too much. Sometimes it’s better to wait until you’re more familiar before asking too many questions.
“There’s also a type of python.”
“Pythons aren’t a big deal. When we were training in the Amazon, we hunted ones that were seven or eight meters long. With weapons, it’s easy to kill them alone; without weapons, two people can still take them down with their bare hands.”
The silent black man Senke chimed in.
“Senke used to be a part of the Delta Force, and I guess I was a former CIA agent, though my memories are a bit mixed up,” Uncle Long Jack stated simply.
It was no wonder that these three were the martial force in this end-of-the-world scenario, nor was it surprising that they had become the leaders.
And Tao Yu, upon hearing what Jack said, began to slowly realize who he was and from what world he came.
‘Who am I?’ A meteorite of high research value had fallen, a CIA task force went to retrieve it, then the team was wiped out, and Jack, one of the survivors of the failed silence operation, lost his memory!
Because so much time had passed, all Tao Yu could roughly recall were these details. It seemed like the meteorite could also be used to create weapons, but it should be the kind that explodes on the physical side, how did it turn into a zombie world?
The Abyss, indeed, was quite chaotic!
“Alright, let’s head back and talk. If you want to know information about the zombies, we can tell you about that too. I actually do have some understanding of the cause of this crisis,” Jack sighed, seemingly lost in memories for a moment. Then he looked up at the sun and decided to lead everyone back first.
They went over the alley from rooftop to rooftop, heading back toward the hotel, as Jack shared along the way,
“I was betrayed by my superiors during a secret mission, and after I retired, I received a request from a friend to investigate a new virus. Initially, the impact of these viruses wasn’t significant. Although the zombies looked terrifying, they weren’t enough to affect the entire world…”
Tao Yu nodded as he listened. If zombies could only spread through blood, then indeed they wouldn’t have much ability to spread given modern weaponry. It’s very likely that the virus originated from another world.
“…Later it seemed all the water sources were contaminated. Someone was deliberately poisoning them, and the viruses, which had long incubation periods when transmitted through drinking water, meant that by the time our investigation teams understood the truth, it was too late. Only a few with resistance managed to avoid the initial infection, and everything descended into chaos.”
Hearing this, Tao Yu felt a stir in his heart, then he spoke up,
“So is the water still contaminated?”
“The broadcasts said it’s not anymore, no idea why, maybe it passed the survival period? But now we can’t receive official broadcasts anymore, only the ones from the neighboring radio station,” Jack casually mentioned.
Back at the hotel rooftop, they opened the metallic door and walked inside one after the other.
The stairway had no lights, but with the sunlight coming in from outside, it didn’t seem dark.
“We managed to get a diesel generator, but because it attracts zombies with its noise, we don’t use it much.”
As they descended the stairs, Jack continued to explain, then suddenly remembered something,
“Oh right, buddy, seeing how you moved effortlessly and dared to investigate this alone, does killing zombies make you stronger?” he asked.
At these words, Tao Yu felt bemused. What was that about? Killing zombies to get stronger? What kind of nonsense was that?
Even if the zombies possessed a weak Yuan Force, after killing them one would have to take their teeth, which would waste more time than just practicing directly!
Then, Tao Yu keenly noticed the word ‘also’.
This Jack, with Uncle Long’s face, could get stronger by killing zombies?
“Can you do it?” he immediately asked back.
“I only discovered it after a long time. My companions grew weaker and weaker, but my physical condition kept improving. It’s pretty strange, and that’s why I became the leader,” Jack replied without hiding anything. Tommy, the bald man, also interjected,
“We’re pretty envious of the boss’s situation, but we only found out that he can do it. Can you, brother?”
“Sort of,” Tao Yu did not deny it, but his mind kept speculating. What was going on?
As an outsider, Tao Yu didn’t have much access to information or intelligence. Although he made an effort to catch up on some things, there were still significant gaps.
However, that didn’t prevent Tao Yu from making some guesses.
Only Jack could do it, and it was very likely that he was the “Child of Destiny” Tao Yu had vaguely heard about.
In some world fragments, there were always some individuals who were very special, but previously Tao Yu only knew so much. He had heard that there were some of these people serving the company at its old gathering places.
Now it seemed that these ‘key players,’ after killing Yuan Force creatures, could also automatically gather Yuan Force and then naturally use it in their daily enhancements. Over time, this had given them a certain sensation.
It appeared they didn’t need to absorb any Yuan Force objects, nor did they have any choice in actively enhancing or using it.
Thinking of his own world’s will to save itself, Tao Yu faintly felt that this might be a self-rescue method of some of the fragmented worlds.
Even for a short time, Tao Yu had some tempting thoughts, such as leaking a skill related to being proficient in home furnishing.
But he then suppressed them.
Tao Yu didn’t think of himself as a good person, but he also didn’t want to become a slave to interests.
If he were to die and also become someone he disliked, what was the point of having such abilities?
Perhaps because he was somewhat astounded by Jack’s development, Tao Yu seemed a bit distracted as he followed them all the way to the hotel’s seventh-floor lobby.
The hotel now looked somewhat disordered, with various supplies stacked up in the lobby in front of the elevator, and the corridors leading to the rooms were also filled with numerous items.
Many people dressed in various clothes were languidly sitting on sofas and various chairs that had been moved out.
Most of their expressions were numb, with faces filled with worry.
It was not until they saw Tao Yu coming down with a large backpack that quite a few people’s eyes lit up.
“Do you have food?”
“What supplies do you have?”
“…”
Looking at those gazes, Tao Yu frowned slightly.
He himself was not short on food; if necessary, he could even go back. As a person with 21st-century thinking, he didn’t mind lending a hand to others when it wouldn’t affect himself.
But, he did not like moral coercion.
“What are you looking at? This belongs to someone else, don’t embarrass yourselves,” Jack, still holding some credibility as a leader, rebuked them and managed to quell some of the restlessness.
Just then, a somewhat abrupt voice with a Cantonese accent speaking in Mandarin suddenly came from the corridor of a room on the side,
“Brother Jack, those three who attacked us have disappeared, all gone, without leaving any traces of escape.”
Soon after, Tao Yu saw a person with an ordinary-looking face hurry over.
Well, another familiar face. Although what he said was a bit disconnected, Tao Yu still pieced together the information, guessing that it might be three Pioneers who had attacked them and had been captured, and they managed to escape back to the real world through meditation.
This kind of thing happened from time to time, but since the returned location was still the same, whether they could truly escape was a matter of luck.
Since this face was here, it probably wasn’t just some minor character. Zhang Wei had said earlier that only Jack could absorb Yuan Force, so couldn’t this guy do it? Or was he holding back?
Or did Tao Yu get it wrong, and it wasn’t ‘who am I’?
Tao Yu pondered in his mind, but the information he knew was indeed not enough.
“Gone?”
Jack seemed to have a hard time understanding what he meant. If they were locked up and tied up in a room, how could they disappear?
He then turned to Tao Yu to explain,
“His English isn’t good. He’s an undocumented worker who came here for a job. Previously, there were a few arrogant guys who attacked our stronghold, all very strong, with very accurate shooting. If they did not hold back from killing us, probably many of us would have died at the first encounter.
“He helped with a sudden attack, killed one, otherwise our losses could have been significant.”
After explaining to Tao Yu, Jack turned back and continued to ask the newcomer in Mandarin,
“Shaolin, what exactly happened?”
Tao Yu, who had been listening with a smile on the side, suddenly stiffened when he heard Jack call out the newcomer’s name. Then, he slowly removed his helmet and said with a smile in Mandarin,
“I understand too, we’re all our own people here.”
After speaking, he also looked at the newcomer with a beaming smile.
“You’re quite handsome, young man. May I know your esteemed name?”
Tao Yu himself possessed a very high level of attractiveness, even more so than the newcomer, and removing his helmet also took people aback.
Then the newcomer subconsciously said,
“Oh, no need for formalities. My surname is Cao, my name is Cao Shaolin, and I’m an undocumented worker.”
Cao Shaolin’s face also showed a smile, but the smile seemed somewhat forced.
And the Spirit Perception that came with Tao Yu’s Deification in the form of a Crane immediately let him sense an incoming wave of malice.
Okay then, no escape now.
Although the disguise was well done, it must be that Cao Shaolin!
What the hell, why did he come here?!
There were not many villains played by the newcomer, but Tao Yu had a very deep impression of this one.
The scene of ‘I don’t eat beef’ was vivid in his memory.
Most importantly, when that wave of malice hit, Tao Yu even felt a sense of crisis as if a thorn was on his back.
Was this guy a threat to him?
He was supposed to be just a character with a twisted personality, a spoiled rich kid.
Considering what Jack said, if Cao Shaolin came from another world, then it was unknown what he might have experienced along the way.
This was someone who could easily gamble with his own life for the sake of his ‘fun in the game.’
He was truly f***ing well-suited for this Abyssal environment!
Tsk~
Hes fingers twitched, but Tao Yu still suppressed the urge to attack immediately and simply nodded with a smile,
“Nice name…”
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