Chapter Sixty-Five: Blown to the Heavens

A jolt of alarm shot through me as I quickly lowered my head to look at Huo Bing.

Her eyes were still tightly shut, but her body was twisting as though it were undergoing some grotesque transformation.

She was already starting to convulse.

I remembered that moment back in the safe house in ZM City, right before I became one of the undead—wasn’t I just like Huo Bing is now?

Exactly the same.

My body trembled as I crouched down, fixing my gaze on her.

My fists clenched unconsciously, and I felt a stinging in my eyes.

A bitter taste filled my heart.

So, it has come to this after all.

I closed my eyes, taking deep breaths in an attempt to steady the storm of emotions within me, but it was futile.

Helplessness flooded my heart.

Not even on that island at the end of 2125 did I feel such despair.

I was certain I could do what needed to be done. If Huo Bing mutated, I would show her no mercy…

Would I, really?

If she truly became one of the undead, I’d have no choice but to send her off myself!

Perhaps after today, Cao Fusheng would cease to exist in this world.

I opened my eyes, the corners moist.

Above the reactor, clouds of acrid dust began to cascade down.

The stench was suffocating.

It wasn’t exactly foul, but it made me intensely uncomfortable, as though it were invading my body.

Like a virus.

Just as my vision was about to be blotted out by the ever-thickening dust, Huo Bing finally opened her eyes—those blood-red eyes.

I clenched my jaw and turned away, ready to hurl my fist straight at her face.

Since I’d decided to send her off, I would make it swift, a merciful end, but at the very moment I moved—

“Brother Cao…”

I could hear her?

Was I imagining it?

I spun around in haste; the voice was indeed hers.

She was in terrible pain, as if enduring unimaginable torment.

Huo Bing gritted her teeth and called my name. I grabbed her hand and replied, “Don’t be afraid, I’m still here.”

“I can’t hold on much longer…”

“Brother Cao…”

“I…”

“I love you…”

Huo Bing slowly closed her scarlet eyes, tears streaming down like a gentle brook.

I pressed my forehead to her cold hand.

The dust inside the reactor thickened, falling faster and faster.

Soon, it engulfed both me and Huo Bing completely.

Once again, I lost consciousness.

Right before I blacked out, I felt something clamp down on my abdomen.

“Scanning host’s vital signs…”

“Host’s vital signs have returned to normal…”

“Host’s human genes have undergone mutation…”

“Gene mutation has disappeared for unknown reasons…”

I don’t know how much time passed before the voice in my mind roused me.

When I awoke, I realized the dust had vanished at some point!

The entire reactor looked as though it had been scrubbed clean.

I glanced at my reflection in the polished inner wall.

Thankfully, nothing seemed amiss—just a few crimson flecks in my eyes.

Did the dust have no effect on me?

Huo Bing—where did she go!?

I pushed open the reactor and darted outside—she was gone.

The laboratory doors stood open; both the man in the white coat and Huo Bing had vanished!

Even my knives and equipment were missing!

I rushed toward the exit, but the moment I lifted my foot, I collapsed, my legs weak and powerless.

Completely numb.

Seriously? My hearing just returned, and now my legs are useless?

“Gene eco-chain, is there something wrong with my body?”

“Reminder: While you were unconscious, your body did experience some issues, but you’ve recovered now, and your physical condition is excellent. This should just be a temporary side effect. No need to worry.”

Relieved by its response, I lay there for a while until I finally felt some strength return to my legs.

Where had Huo Bing and Fourth Master gone!?

And that damned man in the white coat!

I staggered out of the lab, only to nearly collide with a group of undead shuffling toward the lab.

“You worthless scum! Even unarmed, I could kill every one of you with my bare hands!”

Impatience and urgency ignited my anger, and I unleashed it all on these brainless, shuffling creatures.

As the man in the white coat would say: these simpletons!

Apart from my still-weak lower body, my upper body had recovered.

With a single punch, I sent the one in front flying, taking out a whole line behind it.

Left hook, right hook, straight punch, swing, elbow strike—

I vented my turmoil without restraint. In moments, I was the only one left standing in the corridor.

All around me lay toppled, mangled undead, some still crawling toward me on instinct.

For such rabble, all I could offer was a skull-crushing stomp.

Thankfully, the power was still running inside the factory, bathing everything in light; I was no longer limited by a twenty-meter range in darkness.

Reaching the control room, I found a severed arm at the entrance.

The arm was still clad in a white sleeve, and the cut was so clean it looked as though sliced by a blade—no ragged edges.

“It must have been Huo Bing! She used the composite titanium blade—only that A-grade weapon could make such a cut!” For some reason, a flicker of excitement stirred within me.

At least it proved Huo Bing was still alive, and the man in the white coat had clearly suffered.

It seemed much had happened while I was unconscious.

Pity I’d missed it all.

I entered the control room and switched on the surveillance monitors, scanning each feed.

“They’ve left the factory floor and are in the open area of the quarantine zone! But why are there only Huo Bing and the man in the white coat—where’s Fourth Master?”

“Woof! Woof! Woof!”

As I puzzled over this, a series of frantic barks echoed from the processing area of the plant, drawing closer at lightning speed.

“Woof woof woof!!!”

“Fourth Master!”

I called out. In the next instant, a Border Collie bounded up to me, leaping into my arms in excitement.

Judging by his round, stuffed belly, he’d clearly eaten well.

“Hurry, take me to Huo Bing!”

“Woof woof!”

Fourth Master tugged at my pant leg, trying to drag me along.

Once outside, I hastened after him without hesitation.

The ruckus up ahead—this is bad, a corpse tide is erupting!

The man in the white coat must have lost control over them.

Perhaps he was tangled up with Huo Bing, unable to keep the undead in check.

Some of the locked-up undead were even spilling through the factory gates, heading for the quarantine zone’s edge.

So many—enough to form a formidable tide.

“Woof woof!!!”

A gust of wind swept to my side—I stared, shocked at the now-giant Fourth Master.

He was as big as an elephant!

Drool streamed from his jaws, his eyes bloodshot as if they might start bleeding at any moment.

He barked twice, then lay down, signaling me to climb on his back.

There was no time to hesitate. The corpse tide would soon overwhelm me.

Clinging tightly to Fourth Master’s back, I gripped his soft fur, bracing myself against his speed, lest I be thrown off.

Wails and howls echoed as every undead in our path was trampled underfoot or sent flying.

Fourth Master carried me all the way to the factory gates, only then shrinking back to normal size, clearly exhausted.

He looked utterly spent.

I scooped him up and tossed him outside, then turned and landed a few punches, knocking over a shipping container to block the gap I’d hacked in the gate.