ALL NOVEL Chapter 12: Chapter 12: Corruption!
The place was nothing but ruins, overgrown with grass nearly a meter high, eerily silent with no signs of life, and not a hint of battle damage nearby.
"This should be it," Marian confirmed, double-checking the coordinates.
Anis, still doubtful, jumped down from a rusted car and gestured around. "I'm telling you, there's nothing here."
Rapi slung her rifle over her shoulder and headed toward the subway entrance. "Let's search together."
With no other options, the rest of the group followed her.
In the middle of the group, Mo Chen stayed silent, his gaze fixed on the continuous notifications from the system.
"Rescued 120 people, gaining 120 points."
"Rescued 370 people, gaining 370 points."
"Rescued 97 people, gaining 97 points."
"Rescued 725 people, gaining 725 points."
"Rescued…"
So, this was Black Smith's lair.
Turning off the notifications, Mo Chen glanced around.
On the surface, nothing seemed amiss.
Looking around, all he saw were rusted tracks, a crumbling platform, broken stairs, and a smashed, rust-covered train. Just another ordinary ruin.
But he knew better. This place was teeming with hidden danger, a trap set by the Tyrant-class Rapture, Black Smith.
The sudden surge in points nearby was proof enough.
Among those points, not only were there likely human lives, but possibly some Nikkes as well…
Just then, Ark's communications officer, Shifty, patched through.
"...Rapi, we finally got ahold of you. The black box from the transport has been analyzed, transmitting data now."
Her voice crackled with static, and the video feed cut in and out from poor signal.
"Copy that."
The data transfer completed.
As she reviewed the data, Rapi's eyes froze, her pupils contracting sharply.
She turned abruptly.
Click!
Rapi's gun was now trained on Marian, who was searching nearby.
"Marian, don't move."
"Yes."
Marian didn't understand the situation but still trusted her team enough to stop.
Rapi's gaze fixed intensely on Marian, as guarded as if she were facing a Rapture.
Then, she uttered a shocking question.
"Was it you who sabotaged the transport?"
Anis froze, then looked at Marian in disbelief.
"...What?"
Rapi continued, calmly relaying the analysis from Shifty's report on the black box.
"There were two explosions inside the transport."
"The type of bomb has been identified—it's the same model required for this mission. The bombs have ID codes; they can't explode without someone arming them."
"And the only one with that ID code, Marian… is you."
Marian was stunned by Rapi's words and instinctively denied it.
"It wasn't me."
Rapi pressed on.
"What's your objective?"
Her gun remained unwaveringly aimed.
Marian's eyes were unfocused, her expression lost as she tried to process the accusations.
"Right here."
Rapi's gun was still trained on her, finger ready on the trigger.
"Answer me! If you don't, I'll execute you on the spot!"
Suddenly, Marian began muttering to herself in a low, mechanical voice, like a broken transmitter repeating a jumbled message.
"Right here."
"Right here."
"Right here..."
Her head was down, her expression hidden.
The eerie, monotone words echoed through the empty subway station, sounding like the whispers of a demon, chilling everyone to the bone.
Shifty's voice came over the comms, alarmed.
"Infection detected!"
"It's Marian!"
Marian looked up, her eyes now glowing an ominous red!
She'd been corrupted by the Rapture virus!
Anis, shocked, quickly aimed her weapon at Marian, gritting her teeth. "When did this happen...!"
Though they hadn't been particularly close, she harbored no ill will towards Marian—they were teammates, after all.
What angered her most was that she hadn't noticed anything wrong until now.
Just then, a low buzzing filled the air, followed by a deep rumbling that shook the ground beneath them.
The team tensed, immediately forming a battle formation.
Suddenly, Raptures burst out from beneath the subway floor, swarming toward them like a relentless tide.
There were thousands upon thousands of them!
It was a trap!
Anis's face went pale as she saw the endless wave of Raptures, clogging the subway corridors and filling every corner. Her hands went cold, and her heart sank.
With tens of thousands of Raptures, including countless lord and master classes, it wasn't just their team that was doomed—even an entire squadron from the Ark wouldn't stand a chance against this!
The situation had become utterly dire.
Anis turned to the others, forcing a smile.
"Anyone want to leave a will? Not that we'd have time."
Then, as if remembering something, she added, "Oh, wait, these things eat Nikkes… so, a will might be pointless anyway."
Her strained smile was obvious to anyone.
Though Nikkes could be repaired, that only applied if their heads remained intact. If the head was destroyed, they would die, and this Rapture—known as Black Smith—could even corrupt their neural systems.
"Commander, I'll charge southwest and open a breach to draw their fire. You'll break through from there," Rapi said, immediately outlining a battle plan. But how could she, a veteran of countless battles, not know that this would likely be a suicide mission?
The command was clearly one that would require self-sacrifice.
As a comrade, Anis immediately understood Rapi's intention.
"There are way too many of them. You can't handle this alone—I'll go with you."
"Anis…"
Rapi tried to say something, but Anis cut her off.
"No need to say more. Given the situation, saving even one life is a win." She hoisted her grenade launcher onto her shoulder, pretending to be casual. "Besides, we're supposed to be unfeeling Rapture-killing machines, right?"
Then she turned to Mo Chen and asked,
"Hey, you still haven't told me—are you really a special agent sent by the Ark?"
Mo Chen couldn't quite understand Anis's thinking—why was she asking such questions at a time like this?
So he chose not to answer.
"I'm not telling you."
Anis immediately grew frustrated.
"We're about to die! What's with the secrecy? Can't you just let me die knowing?"
Mo Chen walked past Anis, patting her on the head as he passed.
"Don't worry. No one's dying today. Stop talking like that."
Anis angrily slapped his hand away from her head.
How could this guy act so nonchalant!
The Raptures were surging forward, flooding like a broken dam. In no time, they were upon them.
Even Anis was visibly nervous, her small face pale as she gripped her grenade launcher, hands sweating.
At that moment, Mo Chen gave the command.
"Attack!"
The timing was perfect.