Chapter 138
TL: Moonlit
Two paratroopers landed not far from each other, trying their best to control their direction and land on the rooftops to avoid falling to the ground and becoming a feast for the zombies.
Xu Guang landed steadily on the rooftop, dragged forward by the parachute. He quickly unfastened the buckle, and the parachute was blown away by the wind. Xu Guang narrowly avoided being dragged off the rooftop.
Benson wasn’t as lucky. He landed near the edge of the rooftop, and with a gust of wind, he was dragged backward. He quickly tried to unlock the buckle, but the pulling force was too strong, and he couldn’t undo it in time. Frustrated, he cursed loudly and was dragged off the rooftop, falling down.
Xu Guang wanted to help, but it was too late. Below them were crowded hordes of zombies, and if they fell, they would surely be torn to pieces.
Benson’s terrified screams came from below. Just as he thought he was about to be unlucky and eaten by the zombies, the parachute got caught on a broken railing of the rooftop.
Looking at the jumping and roaring zombies below, Benson, who had narrowly escaped death, burst into laughter.
He looked up and shouted, “Hey, buddy, give me a hand!”
Xu Guang didn’t have a good impression of these stubborn foreigners. But until their faces were completely torn apart, he couldn’t just watch a living person die in front of him.
He grabbed the parachute rope and exerted effort to pull Benson up.
Benson sat on the rooftop panting heavily, looking at the countless zombies below. He grinned, “Is this the ‘Zombie City’ you guys are afraid of? Besides having a few more zombies, I don’t see any difference.”
Xu Guang ignored him and used the portable communication device to contact the central mega-city. This communication device relied on crystal nuclei as its main energy source and had its own frequency channel to transmit voices back.
This technology came from overseas and was generously brought out for this exploration.
Since the reconnaissance aircraft returned from the border, helicopters from foreign countries, escorted by fighter jets, had arrived one after another at the central mega-city.
The behavior of the zombies was too abnormal, and they all wanted to know what had happened in China to attract all the zombies here. With such a terrifying number, they suspected that China was trying to cause trouble using the zombies. They couldn’t ignore it, of course.
Of course, besides the zombie problem, there might be other purposes that made these high-ranking officials from different countries eager to come.
The antidote and vaccines had been promoted in China for some time, and it was no longer a secret on Chinese soil. These countries might have received wind of it, and they gathered at the central mega-city through the zombie incident.
The abnormalities on Chinese soil were clearer to them from high above. To attract so many zombies to gather, it was definitely something humans couldn’t accomplish. They temporarily dismissed their suspicions of China causing trouble and realized that this should be a sign of a real disaster approaching.
The zombie crisis this time was not just China’s crisis. If it wasn’t handled properly, it would become a crisis that engulfed the whole world.
Representatives from various countries came to China’s largest survivor base to discuss this matter. All the zombies were gathering towards Yunjing City, and foreign representatives were very interested in what existed inside the city. They immediately wanted to send people to investigate, but they were stopped by the higher-ups of the central mega-city. They cited previous cases and advised against rash actions.
But if they didn’t investigate, they wouldn’t know what was happening inside Yunjing City. They were in the dark, so how could they resolve this situation?
Despite knowing that airplanes couldn’t fly over Yunjing City, they still dispatched two reconnaissance aircraft. Even if they had to sacrifice something, they needed to obtain information from inside the city.
Originally, the two pilots were supposed to come from the Central Mega-City, but since the city disagreed with the exploration mission, sending them to their deaths was not an option. Therefore, the foreign representatives had to send one of their own people to accompany them.
Xu Guang and Benson were the chosen individuals.
Xu Guang: “Calling Base, calling Base. The reconnaissance aircraft crashed, and we are in the central area of Yunjing City. Over.”
A voice came through the communication device, “Report the situation around you. Over.”
Xu Guang: “There are countless zombies gathered here, many of them evolved forms. We have not yet discovered any ‘special zombies’. Over.”
They had speculations about what these “special zombies” could be, but they were not certain and needed confirmation.
Communication device: “Stay safe and maintain contact. Over.”
Xu Guang: “Received, 001 out!”
Benson climbed up from the ground and said, “Hey, do you think it’s possible that it’s the ‘Zombie King’?”
Xu Guang remained silent.
Benson continued, “If it really is the ‘Zombie King’, it wouldn’t suddenly appear as two at once. We saw it from high above, all the zombies are gathering in two directions. I heard the other direction is called Ling City?”
Benson jokingly added, “In terms of nutrition and strength, we Westerners definitely surpass the Easterners. If there really is a ‘Zombie King,’ it shouldn’t appear on Chinese soil. So I guess it’s definitely not the ‘Zombie King,’ probably some kind of evolved monster.”
Even for the title of “Zombie King,” they were willing to compete.
The “Zombie King” was undoubtedly very powerful, and such a strong existence should appear in a powerful country, not in China.
From Benson’s tone, Xu Guang could sense the derogatory and arrogant attitude. Xu Guang chuckled, “Perhaps all your nutrients have been absorbed by your limbs. After all, the ‘Zombie King’ evolves its brain.”
Benson, who graduated from a Chinese language kindergarten, clearly didn’t fully understand Xu Guang’s words and continued babbling.
Xu Guang took out the portable energy source he carried and prepared to cross the building to the other side.
Benson disagreed, “If there really is a ‘Zombie King’ here, it would definitely know of our presence. It should come to us instead of us going to find it. If we go over there, we might not have a chance to see the ‘Zombie King,’ but we might have a chance to meet God.”
The noisy crowd of zombies downstairs suddenly fell silent, alerting Xu Guang. Benson, who had been chattering, also fell silent.
Both of them tightened their grip on their firearms and cautiously approached the edge of the rooftop to look down. Among the crowd of zombies, two giants appeared. One was dark-skinned and taller than the average zombie, while the other had a turret embedded in its body, even taller and larger than the dark-skinned zombie, resembling a giant. However, the floor they were on was high enough that the height of that zombie couldn’t reach them.
Benson cursed, “What the hell are those things?”
Xu Guang immediately reported the situation of these two zombies to the base.
Based on their physical characteristics, the Central Mega-City provided the answer: an eighth-level evolved form called “General” and a seventh-level evolved form called “Turret.”
They were both looking up at the rooftop.
Xu Guang answered Benson’s question, “They are unique to China, eighth-level evolved form ‘General’ and seventh-level evolved form ‘Turret’.”
Benson’s eyes almost popped out of his head, “Our seventh and eighth-level evolved zombies don’t look like that. How powerful are your seventh and eighth-level evolved zombies?”
They are very powerful, there’s no doubt about it.
Xu Guang didn’t have time to tell Benson how powerful their own seventh and eighth-level evolved zombies were. His gaze fell on the opposite rooftop, where two people stood. One had black hair, black eyes, and pale skin, wearing a black windbreaker.
Standing beside him was a young boy with black hair, red eyes, and snow-white skin, dressed in a simple shirt and black pants, looking innocent and harmless.
Xu Guang was greatly shocked, not only because he couldn’t believe there were living people here but also because he was astonished by the appearance of the boy with red eyes.
In the Central Mega-City, he had the fortune to meet Wen Qingling in person, and the boy in front of him looked exactly like a replica of Wen Qingling. Except for slightly younger eyes and a more tender face, there was no difference.
Subconsciously, Xu Guang pressed the communication device and said, “I see two people. One is a mature man with black hair, black eyes, and a black windbreaker. He is accompanied by a young boy with black hair and red eyes, about fifteen or sixteen years old. His appearance is exactly the same as Wen Qingling… They’re coming! They jumped directly from the opposite rooftop…”
Then came a continuous sound of gunfire, followed by Benson’s final curse and Xu Guang’s last words…
“They… are not human…”
An explosion sounded, and the communication device was filled with static. There were no other sounds.
The command center fell into a long silence.
Everything happened too quickly, and they didn’t have time to think much before those two individuals had already met their demise.
When they finally reacted, all the high-ranking officials in the Central Mega-City looked toward Xiao Jiang.
Even the foreign representatives, after hearing the translation, turned their gaze to Xiao Jiang and asked, “Who is Wen Qingling?”
No one answered.
The command center fell into a prolonged silence.
A shaky voice from a high-ranking official spoke up, “Do you all remember the news from a long time ago about Wen Qingling being able to control the zombies in the southern city? Is this really because of his psychic abilities? Do other countries’ psychic ability users have this kind of power?”
Another high-ranking official struggled to speak, “And what about the construction of Civilization City? All the zombies outside the city are staying obediently, but where does Civilization City get the confidence that those zombies won’t form a tide and attack the city?”
“We can be sure that there is no military force in Ling City. How did they manage to move the zombies from Ling City and the Three Counties? We’ve experienced the battles in the cities ourselves, and we know how much effort it takes to fight against the zombies and corpse beasts occupying a city. How could Wen Qingling accomplish it so easily? If it’s because of his psychic abilities, then it’s truly terrifying. How is this any different from higher-level evolved zombies?”
“Don’t forget, all the zombies from around the world are converging towards China. And now that the influx of zombies into Yunjing City has been diverted by Ling City, the number of zombies gathered there is almost comparable to that in Yunjing City. If there really is a ‘Zombie King’ in Yunjing City, what would be in Ling City?”
Xiao Jiang didn’t want to beat around the bush with them, “Can you be more straightforward? Are you suspecting that Wen Qingling is not human?”
The command center fell into silence once again.
If Wen Qingling was truly not human, it would be truly terrifying. What level of zombie would have the appearance of a human…
They all remembered Xu Guang’s previous description. There were also two individuals in Yunjing City, and Xu Guang said they were “human.” The man with black hair, black eyes, and a black windbreaker, and the young boy with black hair and red eyes…
In the end, Xu Guang made it clear, “They are not human.”
Everyone present heard it with their own ears. They had the appearance of humans but were not…
The possibility of Wen Qingling not being human seemed even greater.