Upon entering the room, a series of high-tech instruments greeted him, with the most prominent feature being the building's central surveillance system.
"Your body... it's truly unscientific."
Ye Shuangluo looked in the direction of the voice, seeing a young man in a white lab coat and gold-rimmed glasses looking at him with a half-smile.
"I heard there's a group of freaks with special abilities gathered in the capital, calling themselves New Humans. Are you one of them?"
The young man's gaze was intensely invasive, filled with a burning curiosity and scrutiny that made Ye Shuangluo feel uncomfortable all over.
"Actually, compared to those New Humans with special abilities and antisocial tendencies, I think you're more deserving of the title 'freak.'"
As Ye Shuangluo spoke, he communicated with the surrounding Wind Elements, already preparing to chop this guy down with a single strike.
The young man remained calm and collected. Even when Ye Shuangluo called him a freak, he showed no particular reaction, instead chuckling and saying,
"Actually, I'm very curious how you found this place? But never mind, compared to that trivial question, I'd rather dissect your body immediately to see why it's so incredibly strong."
By the end, the young man in the white lab coat had become inexplicably frenzied and excited.
He turned and slammed his hand on a button behind him. Two nutrient pods instantly opened, and two mutated zombies roared as they came to his side.
"Yin, Chen, break this kid's hands and feet and bring him over! I want to dissect him and see why his physical constitution is so strong!"
Facing Chen, with its deer antlers and eagle claws, and Yin, with its tiger head and tail, Ye Shuangluo showed no tension whatsoever.
The next second, the two mutated zombies simultaneously launched their attack.
Chen was faster, so it reached Ye Shuangluo first.
Just as it used its eagle claws to attack, Ye Shuangluo moved. He reversed his grip on his blade and chopped off Chen's eagle claws with a single strike.
Then, Wind Element covered ink execution, and he brought the blade down from above.
Chen still tried to roar and attack, but a line of blood had appeared from its brow down to its abdomen.
The next moment, its blood spurted out like a fountain.
Yin arrived in front of Ye Shuangluo at that moment. After seeing its companion's horrific death, its biological instinct made it want to flee desperately.
But the moment it turned, its tiger tail was grabbed by Ye Shuangluo, who forcibly yanked it to a halt. ink execution passed directly through the back of its head.
Yin didn't even let out a whimper before it, too, left this world.
What a pity, these two mutated zombies didn't drop any treasure chests.
"Your two little playthings are dead. Why don't you call out a few more?"
Ye Shuangluo flicked the blood from ink execution and slowly walked towards the stunned young man.
It must be said that after the battle with the Horned Zombie, Ye Shuangluo underwent a transformation.
First, he acquired the handy weapon ink execution, and then, along the way, he slowly developed basic ways to use Wind Elements.
The result was that he, who once struggled terribly against a single mutated zombie, now easily slew two of them.
"Don't, don't come any closer!"
Seeing Ye Shuangluo, who resembled a Asura, approaching him, the young man completely panicked.
He wanted to escape, but in this enclosed room, where could he go?
Soon, he was caught, and the blade was directly held to his neck. Ye Shuangluo asked with a kind expression:
"I only killed three of the mutated zombies you created. Tell me, where are the other nine?"
With his life in someone else's hands, the young man had no time to ponder why the other party knew there were a total of 12 mutated zombies.
"Two are dead, three are in the capital, and four I sold abroad to get more materials."
Looking at the blade against his neck, the young man broke out in a cold sweat. At this moment, he realized that no matter how much of a genius he was, he was just like ordinary people; he would die if killed.
"Is that so? Then you're useless, aren't you?"
Ye Shuangluo's grip tightened slightly, and the blade slowly pressed into the young man's neck.
The pain from his neck told the young man that if he didn't quickly find a solution, he would soon be decapitated.
Thinking of the other party's decisive demeanor just now, his brain worked frantically, trying to find useful information.
Finally, the young man thought of something that might interest Ye Shuangluo, so he quickly shouted,
"Don't kill me! I know where Zero is!"
Hearing the young man's words, Ye Shuangluo stopped pressing the blade into the other party's neck and asked with interest,
"Zero?"
The young man, having escaped death, knew he had gambled correctly and quickly spoke at his fastest speed:
"Yes, the mother body of the zombie virus, Zero, who spread the virus across the world by herself."
【Side Quest Triggered: Kill Zero】
【Quest Description: She is the virus mother body personally created by Him. She should have been born long ago, but due to some accidents, her birth was delayed. The moment she is born, the zombie virus will fully evolve, and at that time, no human will survive in the entire world. Now, to save the world, find her and kill her. This might allow you to delay the world's downfall.】
【Quest Reward: 5 Free Attribute Points】
This reward was truly generous. Ye Shuangluo was tempted; he would never miss any opportunity to become stronger.
So he retracted ink execution. The young man in the white lab coat, having survived a near-death experience, instantly collapsed to the ground, tears uncontrollably streaming down his face.
He's alive, he survived.
Before the young man could rejoice, a gun was pressed against his forehead.
"I'll give you one chance. Explain everything about this zombie Zero clearly. If I'm not satisfied, you can look forward to having your brains blown out."
Facing the threat of death again, the young man dared not delay and immediately began to recount what he knew.
"About a month ago, a fishing boat salvaged a coffin from the sea, a crystal coffin.
Those fishermen immediately handed over the coffin. We used many methods and finally opened this coffin, but what we didn't expect was that inside the coffin was actually a..."
"What is it?"
Ye Shuangluo's curiosity was also piqued.
"It was a baby girl, a small baby girl who looked like she had just been born from her mother's womb."
"Is this baby girl Zero, the zombie?"
The young man nodded and replied,
"Yes, she is Zero, the zombie.
At our research institute, two female researchers were responsible for taking care of her. She looked no different from an ordinary baby.
But in just three days, she rapidly transformed from a newborn into a three-year-old child."
Even now, the young man still felt amazed when he thought of that scene. Completely disregarding the speed of biological growth, that scene could only be explained as a miracle.
"After that, she continued to grow one year every day. No matter how much we researched, we couldn't figure out why her body grew so fast.
Soon, she had been at the research institute for half a month. Now she was like a 15-year-old girl. She was beautiful, breathtakingly beautiful, even somewhat unreal."
Ye Shuangluo frowned. Why suddenly emphasize her beauty?
The young man paused at this point, then sneered:
"There was an idiot named Aqi at our research institute. From the day Zero arrived at the institute, he had been very focused on Zero.
We all thought he was just curious about Zero as a scientist.
But we never expected that he fell in love with her.
That idiot! He actually betrayed his own race for that freak, even wanting to help that freak escape.
On the sixteenth day, that Aqi inexplicably offered everyone water. Fortunately, I always looked down on him, otherwise I would have drunk the water mixed with Zero's blood.
In the end, everyone in the research institute, except for me and a young couple who were on leave, turned into zombies."
Hearing this, Ye Shuangluo's expression was a bit strange. 'Fortunately, you always looked down on him'—that's a truly bizarre reason.
But the young man seemed not to notice, still rambling on:
"After I realized something was wrong, I immediately notified the nearby army. So, when Aqi tried to escape with Zero, they ran head-on into a fully armed army.
Under duress, Zero had no choice but to prematurely activate the spread of the zombie virus.
It was at that moment that all hot weapons instantly turned into scrap metal.
Many people in the rescue army were converted into zombies, allowing Aqi and Zero to successfully escape.
But I always looked down on him. After all, this Aqi was as stupid as a pig; I knew his plan from the very beginning.
So I intercepted him at his destination, and finally, we made a deal.
He gave me Zero's heart. Without her heart, Zero couldn't continue to grow, and the zombie virus wouldn't evolve again."
"What would the zombie virus become if it evolved again?"
The young man was silent for a moment, then finally uttered a few words:
"...Airborne transmission. At that time, no human in the entire world would survive."
Hearing 'airborne transmission,' Ye Shuangluo's pupils slightly contracted. That was indeed terrifying.
"You said earlier that you knew where Zero was."
The young man nodded frantically and quickly said,
"Yes, I know where Zero is. That idiot Aqi is hiding with Zero in some underground base in this city."
"Your research institute truly has a lot of 'talented' people. One after another, all hiding underground. Do you all really like being rats so much?"
Hearing Ye Shuangluo's words, the young man could only offer an awkward smile. He was hiding here because it was safe; after all, zombies couldn't smell humans underground.
As for why that idiot Aqi was also hiding underground, he didn't know. Perhaps, as this monster in front of him said, the other party was a rat who couldn't stand the light of day.
The young man took two steps back, picked up a map from the table, and handed it to Ye Shuangluo, explaining, "That kid and Zero are probably at this location."
Ye Shuangluo took the map. There was a marked spot on the map, clearly the other party's hiding place.
【Quest Item Acquired: Map to Zombie Zero's Hiding Place】