Chapter 17: Death Stairs
Zhan Lan had never imagined she would one day "drink" undiluted T-Virus.
But as Fang Ge said, this was the best method.
Whether it was to heal her injuries or to improve her physical attributes, these were exactly what she urgently needed.
"You should also take this antidote. After climbing this section of the Death Stairs, you'll reach a relatively safe platform. You can then take the antidote, and it should still be in time."
Seeing Zhan Lan's delicate body trembling slightly, Fang Ge spoke, trying to alleviate her concerns:
"Moreover, Dr. Isaacs's clone in Resident Evil 3 injected the antidote only after being infected with the virus for a longer period, yet he was still able to prolong his rationality."
"As long as we return to the Main God Space... as Zhang Jie said, any injury can be healed!"
Zhan Lan's mind was still clear, and her intelligence far surpassed that of Zheng Zha and his kind.
"Crunch!"
With a crisp sound of glass, the blue liquid slid down her tongue and into her throat.
Zhan Lan knew there was no turning back. This was simply a gamble on whether the Main God, as Zhang Jie described, was omnipotent.
"Smash!"
Zhan Lan threw the glass bottle far away. The sound of it breaking attracted the attention of the zombies.
The young woman boldly wiped the corner of her mouth, ignoring the blood from the glass shards that cut her, and said with a charming smile:
"If I turn into a zombie... please make my death a beautiful one."
"...I will." Even if the promise was only witnessed by a bunch of rude zombies.
Fang Ge haphazardly bandaged Zhan Lan's wound with her torn jacket, and then the two began to chase after the main group. After passing through the front plaza of the central elevator, the last thing to do was...
Climb the stairs!
A straight distance of three hundred meters, which might translate to a hundred floors?
If you're a man, climb a hundred floors!
The Death Stairs in the original story eventually became a life-devouring chokepoint at the end of the reincarnation world.
—Five vials of the original solution, two have been used. The vial in Chu Xuan's hand should also be consumed at the right time, leaving only two vials... One of the five antidotes was given to Zhan Lan, and Chu Xuan and I each hold two.
Fang Ge knew Chu Xuan's nature. At a time like this, he would try any means that could enhance combat power or increase safety.
This way, the special event of "unenhanced Chu Xuan unlocking his Gene Lock" would not exist. Even if Chu Xuan unlocked his Gene Lock in the upcoming battle, he would still be labeled as "borrowing external power from the T-Virus."
Fang Ge didn't know if the Main God could determine if Chu Xuan had his Gene Lock before coming to the Main God Space, but it was highly probable.
However, the Main God's method of calculating individual or team evaluations would definitely not include the strength that a Reincarnator had not yet displayed.
"You finally caught up... If you were any later, for the sake of the team, we would have had no choice but to abandon you."
James, seeing his saviors back in sight, revealed a smile on his tense, bald head. He waved his arm, issuing an order.
"Blow up the stairs!"
"Boom!"
A huge sound and shockwave came from behind. Fang Ge pulled Zhan Lan forward with big strides, increasing their speed even further.
Then, the Main God personally initiated the end of the story.
"Protect Alice and the mercenary team as they escape the Hive. For each person who survives, participating Reincarnators will be rewarded with 1 D-rank side quest and 1000 reward points. For each mercenary who dies, 2 D-rank side quests and 2000 reward points will be deducted. If Alice dies, participating Reincarnators will be obliterated!"
Once they reached the top of the stairs, it would be the train station platform that led back to the old castle. This should be the final test; crossing it meant they could return with a full load.
Theoretically, zombies do not possess efficient means of climbing stairs and cannot cross the "cliff" created by the Explosion.
So the answer was very obvious: their next opponents were those sixty-nine creepers...
—I run, he chases, I cannot escape even with wings...
Fang Ge still had the leisure to let his mind wander.
Five floors, ten floors, then twenty floors.
Forty floors? Eighty floors?
The homogeneous scenery made it difficult to distinguish their location, nor did they know where the hope for survival truly lay.
Perhaps only Chu Xuan still had the energy to calculate the distance.
Under high-speed movement, due to increased metabolism, the T-Virus's effects would accelerate.
Zhan Lan's transition from initially stumbling to now moving with ease in his peripheral vision further illustrated this point.
The glasses girl's skin had already taken on a faint pinkish hue, and her body temperature had reached a critical point. Her chest, rising and falling with movement, was like an alluring Xiao Pingguo.
Based on this association, Fang Ge somewhat missed Xiao Pingguo, but he didn't know when or in which movie she would join the team in the new version.
Putting aside Fang Ge's scoundrel thoughts, this would be the most agile moment of Zhan Lan's first half of her life.
The continuous unknown sounds from behind further filled her with dread.
The T-Virus would interfere with one's mind, and the agitation of the blood would almost drive one mad. However, Zhan Lan's few remaining clear thoughts coincidentally unified her spirit and matter.
The goal of climbing upwards was so clear.
"Thump!"
The sound of some weapon forcefully striking concrete.
A creeper's projectile tongue suddenly appeared!
"Did she avoid it?"
Zhan Lan's calf was not pierced by the projectile tongue. Strictly speaking, she hadn't even fully understood what had happened.
Her body's actions seemed to precede her brain. Countless pure techniques were rehearsed in her mind, as if she inherently knew how to dodge and fight!
The sensation of fine gravel hitting something, accompanied by a foul, meaty smell, made Zheng Zha feel as if his heart was about to stop.
So close... If the target had been him, it would have been unimaginable. How could that little girl have dodged it... Did she have eyes in the back of her head?
"Thirty more floors... Optimistically, it will take four more minutes."
Chu Xuan's casual actions were instantly impressive. With the first shot, the creeper's extended tongue was actually severed by a single bullet.
With the second shot, its exposed brain matter was also penetrated by a bullet.
Chu Xuan even managed to grab Kaplan's wrist with his other hand, stopping him from deploying a flashbang.
"Not enough. There aren't enough flashbangs in the team. And we can't avoid being interfered with."
"Pay attention to the number and position of the creepers. Ammunition makes it difficult to kill them... especially since there's a big one."
"Give me all the explosives. I have a way to deal with them."
Two bullets, four sentences.
Absolute rationality.
Undoubtedly, Chu Xuan had stunned the mercenaries.
"Hiss... Listen to him."
James gritted his teeth, deciding to trust this glasses-wearing man who was exceptionally skilled but hard to categorize as a "security personnel."
Could he be some kind of company experiment again? A super soldier?
He could perceive his own gradual changes... Although he had lost a lot of muscle, that feeling of rapidly increased reaction speed, of the world slowing down...
It made him feel even more that the Umbrella Corporation was unfathomably deep!
As their steps intertwined, Chu Xuan's large hand snatched a fragmentation grenade and casually threw it behind him, seemingly without intention.
The fragmentation grenade detonated in an "air burst" in the stairwell, scattering fragments that embedded themselves into the enemies' bodies.
The slight light it provided allowed Zheng Zha to see the hellish scene behind them.
Densely packed muscular beasts were clinging to the walls, easily dozens of them.
And there was one particularly huge special individual!
Three to four times the size of a normal individual, this was already close to or even surpassed the infamous Tyrant.
But it was still a creeper, unable to stand and move, with sharp claws and a terrifying long tongue!
—Damn you, Main God, because Tyrants can't climb walls, you create a Tyrant creeper to disgust people, huh?
Fang Ge rarely encountered anything new. The previous Main God wouldn't "fabricate monsters"; even if he spawned a G-Virus in the Hive, Fang Ge wouldn't feel "new."
Speedrunners are very straightforward: see a monster, then deal with it.
Fang Ge wouldn't dwell too much on how it was created or what the Main God's intentions were. Just kill it, and it's over.
No matter how powerful a T-Virus infected entity was, one vial of antidote was enough to make it lose its combat capability.
A glistening green vial was thrown by Chu Xuan—it was the antidote!
What was Chu Xuan trying to do?
This was everyone's first thought.
The next moment, a look of blankness appeared in Chu Xuan's eyes, and he entered a mysterious, special state.
For the first time in the Main God Space, he had unlocked his Gene Lock!
The small handgun in his hand fired again, the bullet traveling in a straight line, then grazing the lower edge of the antidote bottle!
To prevent high temperatures from destroying the antidote, Chu Xuan had tried every possible method. This way, even if the lower part of the antidote became inactive, the upper part could still function!
"Shatter!"
The sound of glass bursting. Green antidote scattered in the air. In fact, Chu Xuan himself didn't know if the antidote could be transmitted through the air.
—The answer is no, which is why Chu Xuan had to first throw a fragmentation grenade to create wounds, but this dosage wasn't enough; it couldn't kill them at all...
—No, no need to kill them. Our goal is just to escape.
Could the T-Virus antidote repel creepers?
The answer is yes.
The T-Virus in their bodies gradually became inactive... That feeling of being stripped of strength and vitality was very unpleasant.
creepers are creatures driven only by instinct. The dispersal of the antidote made them "flinch."
This momentary fear was very important; it gave the mercenary team time to climb higher!
Only that special individual, the "Tyrant creeper" that had been lagging behind, seemed to possess more extraordinary intelligence and did not stop its advance!
"Ugh..."
Just then, Zhan Lan's legs gave way!