Ch 82: TGCIR

Supporting his heavy head, Chen Feng felt as though his eyes and arms were weighed down by a ton. He watched as the child slowly rose from its sitting position, its movements growing stiffer and more unnatural. Every joint seemed to freeze in a natural yet rigid posture. No matter how you looked at it, it could unquestionably pass for a living child!

It moved gradually, its lips curving into a smile. The stiffness of its facial muscles indicated that it had been a long time since it last smiled. The curve was graceful and perfectly natural, but its teeth were tinged with a decaying black hue. The child moved its bandages slightly, revealing patches of decomposed flesh beneath.

Strangely, it used bandages to conceal its own decayed half.

Although Chen Feng had managed to persist without losing consciousness like the others in the room, his condition was worsening. It felt as though countless needles were pricking his brain, and there seemed to be a persistent voice repeating, “Relax, it’s okay, you’ll be fine.”

If it was his remaining bit of clarity trying to communicate, then all the other members in the room were truly lost in a deep unconsciousness!

Though he couldn’t see, Shen Cheng on the screen had a clear view: the child’s fingers were gently fanning out, and with every movement, ripple-like patterns spread outward. Anyone touched by this ripple collapsed immediately without exception!

The child’s power was extremely terrifying, but Shen Cheng checked its health bar: it had only a thin layer of health, indicating that it was quite fragile.

Its strengths and weaknesses were glaringly obvious. From this perspective, the reason it had purposely lured Chen Feng’s team and approached so closely might have been due to its awareness of its own vulnerability.

Shen Cheng’s gaze scanned the room for anything that could immediately awaken Chen Feng.

It finally settled on the lamp hanging above, swaying gently as if affected by an invisible force. Shen Cheng tapped her finger on the screen repeatedly, and as she did, the portion of the lamp’s cord connected to the light bulb suddenly snapped and dropped heavily, hitting Chen Feng on the head with a resounding thud.

The impact sent a rush of blood to his head, and fresh liquid splashed over his eyes, temporarily blinding him. The intense pain, however, jolted Chen Feng awake. Relying on his blurry memories and his power over lightning, he only heard a series of “sizzling” sounds. The noises seemed to grow distant, and in his urgency, he wiped his eyes with his hand. Once the blood cleared and his vision cleared up, he realized that there was nothing in the room.

It was all an illusion.

With blood smeared across his face, Chen Feng’s expression turned cold. He looked at the members who were now crawling to their feet, massaging their heads. A sinister smile crossed his lips. Who would have guessed that he had been targeted by this zombie and deceived at his weakest point?

This lesson was truly unforgettable!

If he repeated the same mistake, it would be nothing short of his own fault!

Commanding the recovering team members who had regained their fighting spirit, they cleared the scene and bound the zombie with the copper-iron bones, preparing to take it back to the base.

Shen Cheng watched the events unfold on her screen, finally relieved that the child zombie had disappeared.

The zombie seemed to possess a high level of intelligence. When Chen Feng’s electricity had merely grazed its body, its already thin health bar dropped to zero in an instant.

It promptly vanished without a trace, showing an extreme desire for self-preservation. It had no intention of seeking revenge or fighting again.

This shattered the initial belief that Shen Cheng held, which was that the zombies in this world lacked intelligence, and even acted solely based on their instincts.

Since it believed that it was still “alive” in a sense, because something without self-awareness would adopt a “cherish life” approach. If that was the case, zombies might even flee, temporarily hide when encountering a formidable adversary, and only rise to their full strength when the opportunity presented itself. Then they could be treated as mere mechanical monsters by the abilities users. This would increase the difficulty of clearing and eradicating the zombie horde for the ability users!

What Shen Cheng could think of, Fu Yanzhou and the others could naturally deduce as well.

The team led by Chen Feng, comprised of both ability users and regular members, was considered one of the more elite groups within the base. They left with confidence but returned with dispirited expressions. The outcome could be described as bitter defeat.

Chen Feng securely bound the zombie that had fooled them, even stuffing cloth into its mouth, and placed it in Fu Yanzhou’s research room. His face was grim, and he punched himself: “If not for that lamp, this team would have been lost forever.”

After hearing the cause and effect explained repeatedly, Fu Yanzhou nodded calmly and analyzed, “The child zombie you described should possess hallucination and divine powers. Think about it, why did they choose to hide in the hospital?”

Chen Feng had initially wanted to say, “Naturally, it’s because there was a pile of zombies chasing the car and they needed cover.” But after some thought, he realized that wasn’t right. The car was equipped with an electric fence, and since they had chosen to rest in the hospital, why not use the car for cover and have the electric fence protect them while they fought directly? Hospitals were ominous places, even in an apocalyptic world. Some people felt uneasy about entering them. What kind of fear or sickness had compelled them to choose the hospital as cover without even clearing it or checking its surroundings?

Furthermore, it had been over a year since the apocalypse began. How had a child, even a child missing half of its limbs, managed to survive in such a place devoid of resources?

Upon closer examination, these were all glaring loopholes. But how had the team been led into this trap so naively?

It might have been forgivable if it was only him, but dragging the entire team, who had taken on this mission based on trust, into a trap—Chen Feng truly felt ashamed to face them all.

Standing there, the more he thought, the colder he felt. Could it be that ever since the zombies first targeted the vehicles, they had walked into a trap?

Fu Yanzhou seemed to have already figured it out and nodded, “I’m afraid we won’t be sending teams out on missions for a while.”

Chen Feng silently nodded and left the room.

Fu Yanzhou was right.

As the leader, if he brought a team, he was responsible for that team. Even if the zombie had been deceptive, it was indeed a fact that his weaknesses were too obvious.

Sitting dejectedly against the wall, just then, one of the children from the orphanage—small and young as they were—walked over with a sunny smile and hummed a tune. Though they were mere children, they had been receiving basic combat training in the base. The only difference between them and the adults was that their food was provided by the base. They did not contribute points and only enjoyed meals without any distinctions.

The child cherished their current life in the base. However, upon seeing Chen Feng’s dispirited face, they hesitated for a moment before calling out.

Chen Feng’s eyes brightened when he saw the child, but then they dimmed again as he remembered his recent mistake. “It’s Brother Chen.”

The child looked at his disheartened and gloomy expression and gently touched his cheek with small hands. “Brother Chen, you seem like you want to cry. If you’re finding things tough, it’s okay to cry.”

The thoughtful words from the young girl tugged at Chen Feng’s heart.

Looking at the child’s face, he sighed. “It’s because I made a mistake.” But what was even scarier was that he hadn’t yet figured out how to fix it.

Was it wrong to show mercy toward children and women? It seemed like it was. Could he change? It appeared to be difficult.

But if he changes, this kind of mistake might happen again and again, and this time it might not only affect the team but even harm himself.

“Perhaps you’re right,” he sighed softly.

“To protect others, it’s better,” the child looked at his exhausted and lifeless eyes thoughtfully, “To exchange protection.”

Chen Feng’s eyes widened in realization. Yes, indeed, there were already enough people to protect. The children in the base were increasing in number, and their protection should be directed toward the base’s residents!

**

In the real world, at a military base.

A man in military uniform received a report from the investigation in the northern town of X, and his brow furrowed.

Translated on ho lo lo novels dot com.

They had received an anonymous tip-off letter. Initially, experts had doubts about the development and situation described in the letter, but as reports of related “rumors” gradually surfaced online from local residents, the authorities decided to send someone to investigate.

As they investigated, things became clearer.

The details in that anonymous letter seemed almost prophetic, unfolding precisely in the direction it had indicated!

The focal point was a black hole. They had dispatched machines to explore it, but no matter how advanced the machines were, they never returned once they entered.

From initial skepticism to subsequent attention, and then heightened alertness, when it was determined that the black hole could not be destroyed or eliminated, the authorities could only seal it off as suggested, but besides sealing it, they could do nothing else.

“Can we find a solution?”

The man shook his head.

He sighed, “For now, thankfully, they seem to be more friend than foe. Send them an email, saying that we agree to any terms they propose. If they have a way to help us eliminate the black hole, regardless of what it takes, give them everything we can.”

**

After receiving the “Experiment with the Zombie Boss” task, Fu Yanzhou entered seclusion for research.

On the screen of Shen Cheng’s phone, the progress bar indicated that there were still 12 hours left.

She clicked on the “Main Character” tab, only to find that the main status had changed. Instead of “Main Character undergoing external training,” it now read “Main Character returning to the base.”

Cub is back!

Shen Cheng’s heart leaped in excitement!

She had been a bit worried that the base might face the zombie siege without cub. Without his presence, it might lack a leadership figure, but since cub had returned in time, her worries were eased!

Hmph, she was initially going to tease cub for saying “waiting for you the game every day,” but now she realized that it was a complete lie. She hadn’t thought about this before, but ever since cub went on his “training,” she had clearly been waiting for him to return home.

Come to think of it, wasn’t this their first meeting in the game world after meeting in person?

Just thinking about it feels a bit nostalgic.

🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋