The post-apocalyptic world has a space full of supplies.

Chapter 138 Zombification

Considering the limitations of the escape routes within the research institute, the commander-in-chief, after deliberation and planning by Commander Zhang and Pei Simin, decided that Ji Lang and Qin Yuan, the two strongest combatants at the South China base, would work together to enter the research institute to eliminate the zombies and rescue Nie Jiyang.

The most dangerous situation inside the research institute was that Nie Jiyang had also mutated, and there were two level-one zombies inside. However, for some unknown reason, they were trapped in the narrow area between the institute's escape door and the ventilation window. Ji Lang originally thought he could go down himself, but in this critical situation, he didn't dare disobey orders.

Without any preparation, Ji Lang and Qin Yuan removed the shields from the air vents and jumped down one after the other.

For Lu Yuan and his group, they had already come face-to-face with zombies so many times along the way that they didn't take it too seriously this time. Moreover, strictly speaking, Lu Yuan and his group were not officially enlisted soldiers. Under the commander-in-chief's arrangement, except for Lin Yun who stayed outside on standby, the rest of them were arranged to return to their dormitories to rest.

Considering that they had brought back a ship full of superhumans, Gu Nanfeng did not insist. After all, there might be many things to do and arrange later. Rather than being unable to do anything here, he agreed with the commander-in-chief's arrangement and led everyone towards the dormitory building not far away.

After Ji Lang and Qin Yuan jumped into the escape hatch, they finally understood why the shield that had been covering the ground had been thrashing about. Before they came down, Pei Simin had told them that the first one to mutate was a researcher who had absorbed a fire-type crystal. He later absorbed about sixty or seventy level-one crystals in the laboratory, and was probably already a level-two zombie.

As for Nie Jiyang, all that was known was that he had absorbed a crystal, but things were too chaotic at the time, and no one knew what kind of crystal he had absorbed or what kind of ability he had gained. Now Ji Lang and Qin Yuan understood that Nie Jiyang had absorbed a water-based ability.

The human and the zombie were in this narrow passage, no more than five meters wide. One was by the safety door, and the other was under the air vent. They were fighting back and forth between fire and water. When the water met the fire, it formed steam that pushed open the shield pressing down on top. When the steam disappeared, the shield fell back down.

When Nie Jiyang saw Ji Lang descending from the sky, he stumbled and almost fell flat on his face. Fortunately, Qin Yuan reacted quickly and pushed him when he landed, preventing him from being hit by the fireballs released by the zombies again.

"How is it?" Ji Lang waved his hand casually, and the fireball that came was quickly enveloped by the wind and snow created by his wave and then extinguished. He glanced at Nie Jiyang, who was leaning against the side panting heavily. The other man's face was pale and he didn't look well.

"Cough cough... If you don't come soon, I... might be gone..." Nie Jiyang was barely breathing. He had been here with this zombie for about half an hour. He was certain that the zombie had reached level two superpowers. He could feel that if the zombie wanted to, it could crush him like an ant. But who would have thought that the zombie wasn't in a hurry at all and just kept him hanging on like this.

"You can't use your powers anymore. Captain Ji, hold them off for a bit. I'll get Captain Nie up there first." Qin Yuan had seen Du Wenqing overuse his powers before, and Nie Jiyang's complexion was similar to Du Wenqing's back then. Nie Jiyang gained his powers by absorbing level one crystals, and it's very likely that powers obtained in this way are very unstable. If he overuses his powers again, he might turn into a zombie like Du Wenqing.

"Leave it to me." Ji Lang is a level four ability user. Let alone blocking a zombie with only level two abilities, he could easily slice it down.

The zombie in the passage was the most terrifying one Ji Lang had ever seen. It had no intact skin left on its body. Perhaps because Nie Jiyang used water-based superpowers to resist, the water that hit it was also burned by its own flames. Although it had mostly lost the ability to feel pain, Ji Lang, who could clearly see its appearance, still felt extremely uncomfortable.

"Ji Lang, you bastard, how come you're so lucky... so lucky?" Nie Jiyang, whose face was pale, had overexerted himself and his strength was not enough to support him to stand up. He could only lean against the wall.

"Lin Yun, quickly lower the safety ropes." Qin Yuan could see that Nie Jiyang had no strength at all, so he could only shout twice towards the air vent. Soon, Lin Yun's head appeared at the air vent, and then two safety ropes were lowered down.

Although Ji Lang was startled by the zombie whose flesh was scalded beyond recognition, he quickly recovered and unleashed a blizzard in that direction. Soon, the entire passage was covered in a layer of white snow.

The zombie opposite wasn't about to surrender easily. A tongue of fire suddenly shot out from the snow and mist, charging straight at Ji Lang's face. The fire melted the snow and wind Ji Lang had created, and Ji Lang once again locked eyes with the zombie four or five meters away.

"Heh." Just as Ji Lang was about to unleash his power on the level 2 zombie inside again, his keen observation revealed that the other was actually laughing. To be honest, although he had seen many zombies, he had never seen a zombie laugh. This made him stop his hand from releasing the blizzard and freeze there.

"You..." At the same time, Qin Yuan behind Ji Lang suddenly shouted, and then flames suddenly rose around him. Ji Lang knew very well that this was not the flame released by the zombie inside, but Qin Yuan himself.

"Qin Yuan! Nie Jiyang!" Ji Lang turned around and saw Qin Yuan's hands tightly holding Nie Jiyang's head in the blazing firelight, while Nie Jiyang's teeth were deeply embedded in Qin Yuan's arms.

"Qin Yuan!" Lin Yun, who was outside the window, also saw what had just happened. In that instant, Nie Jiyang, who was helping Qin Yuan tie the safety rope, suddenly jumped up and bit Qin Yuan's arm.

Although Qin Yuan was still wearing the protective suit given to him by Lu Yuan, he could not withstand Nie Jiyang's bite. Red blood quickly seeped from the wound, staining the pure white protective suit. Nie Jiyang, who was conscious just a minute ago, suddenly lost the light in his eyes, and then his limbs began to twitch. His zombification process took less than a minute.

Qin Yuan knew very well what the consequences of being bitten would be. As a soldier, he did not hesitate to use his superpower to ignite himself, and then with all his might, he grabbed Nie Jiyang, pushed aside the still panicked Ji Lang, and rushed towards the zombie in the direction of the safety door.

"Even if I die, I'll die a worthy death." These were the last words Ji Lang and Lin Yun heard from Qin Yuan...