Just as "Ghost" was about to report on the "nightingale" to the command center, the communicator in his ear suddenly crackled with the urgent, suppressed voice of another scout, T-1.
"Captain, primary target sighted! Bearing seven o'clock, central park of the residential complex, distance 1100 meters!"
A chill ran through Ghost. He immediately tore his focus away from the farcical human drama. Swiftly, he swung his binoculars towards the location T-1 had indicated.
In the overgrown central park, right beside what was once a children's sandpit, two figures stood facing each other. Their shambling gait and ashen skin left no doubt they were infected. But their behavior was utterly bizarre—they weren't wandering aimlessly or snarling like ordinary zombies. Instead, they stood quietly, their heads occasionally making slight, deliberate movements, as if engaged in some silent communication. One of them even raised its arm, using its claws to scratch vague yet distinctly patterned marks into the sand.
"Lock on target. Initiate full-spectrum scan. Record all bio-signals and environmental data," Ghost's voice was cool and decisive. "All units, transition to Condition One. Await the plan from headquarters."
The squad members sprang into action. They adjusted their positions with ghostly silence, forming a wide perimeter that encircled the central park. A torrent of data streamed back through the quantum communication satellite, flowing ceaselessly to the Black Watch command center in the F University Gymnasium.
In Lin Xuan's office, a massive holographic screen displayed the live feed and analytical data transmitted by the White Blood Cell Squad. Dr. Parker stood beside him, her eyes gleaming with fervent intensity.
"Preliminary analysis indicates abnormally heightened activity in their prefrontal cortex, far exceeding levels seen in standard infected. They are engaging in complex interaction via infrasound and pheromones. Sir, they are forming a primitive social structure," Dr. Parker reported.
Lin Xuan's gaze was as cold as ice. He knew that an enemy possessing intelligence had to be utterly eradicated or brought under control while still in its nascent stage.
"Order the White Blood Cell Squad: capture one alive, eliminate the other on site. I want a live specimen delivered to the lab," Lin Xuan commanded.
Upon receiving the order, a glint flashed in Ghost's eyes. He glanced at the coordinates for the "nightingale" on his tactical tablet, and a plan crystallized in his mind.
"T-3, T-4, take the assault team and execute Operation 'Cicada Trap.' The rest of you, with me for Operation 'Mantis Stalker.'"
Ghost issued the order over the squad channel. "The Commander requires a live specimen, and I intend to deliver him another surprise. I'm executing a forced 'relocation' on that woman."
With the command given, the entire squad activated like a precision war machine.
*Thwip—!*
A nearly inaudible whisper cut the air as a specialized subsonic sniper round fired from a kilometer away struck the head of one of the intelligent zombies with pinpoint accuracy. The zombie's skull exploded like a watermelon, spraying dark red brain matter and bone fragments, collapsing without so much as a sound.
The other intelligent zombie seemed stunned by the sudden violence. It let out a sharp screech and began to move, but two Black Watch Soldiers erupted from a nearby thicket. Like hunting leopards, one tackled its legs while the other locked its upper body in a vise-like grip, pinning it forcefully to the ground.
The intelligent zombie erupted with astonishing strength, thrashing wildly and emitting a piercing, ear-splitting shriek. This shriek acted as a signal; the ordinary zombies in the vicinity, as if enraged, began converging on the park's center from all directions.
But the Black Watch was faster.
*Rat-a-tat-tat-tat-tat—!*
The roar of rotor blades filled the sky. A flight of three attack helicopters and one multi-role helicopter screamed into view. The Gatling guns mounted beneath the noses of the attack helicopters spewed tongues of death, raining 30mm cannon shells like a torrential downpour into the zombie horde, shredding approaching undead into fragments.
A Black Hawk helicopter hovered above the park, lowering a cable. Two Black Watch Soldiers swiftly bound the intelligent zombie with specialized restraints, trussing it up like a dumpling, attached it to the cable, and it was rapidly winched up into the helicopter.
This massive commotion naturally caught Zhao Yuwei's attention.
She ran to the window, carefully parting the curtains a sliver. When she saw the pitch-black attack helicopters in the sky, her hands flew to her mouth in shock, her eyes wide with disbelief.
The military! It really was the military! And such a heavily equipped force!
A powerful, overwhelming urge to rush out and beg for help surged within her. But within a second, she forcefully suppressed it. She looked down at her impregnable fortress, then thought of her mountainous stockpile of supplies. *No. I can't go out. The lessons from my past life taught me that in the apocalypse, the only one you can trust is yourself. Who knows if this unit is good or evil? Even if they are good people, if I join them, would I still be as free, would I still have everything I have now?*
In the end, she chose silence. Like a frightened hamster, she retreated into her burrow to wait and watch.
The capture operation was clean and efficient. Under the covering fire of the attack helicopters, the White Blood Cell Squad emerged unscathed. The helicopters carrying the precious specimen rapidly returned to base, while Ghost led the remaining squad members aboard an attack helicopter, flying directly towards the rooftop of Building 28.
Ghost and his four team members fast-roped onto the rooftop, their movements silent and ghostly.
Inside Zhao Yuwei's apartment, the alarm blared once more. But this time, the composure and mockery vanished from her face, replaced by unprecedented terror.
Because she discovered that all her surveillance cameras had turned to static snow at the same exact moment! External Wi-Fi signals and radio waves were also being completely jammed by a powerful force! She had instantly been rendered blind and deaf!
*BOOM—!*
A tremendous crash erupted from her front door, shaking the entire building.
Panicked, Zhao Yuwei rushed to the door and peered through the physical peephole. Outside, a Black Watch Soldier was aiming a fearsome-looking device at her alloy door. The device's nozzle spewed a blue plasma flame burning at thousands of degrees. Her pride and joy—that bank-vault-grade special steel door—began melting and warping under the plasma cutter's assault as easily as butter.
Zhao Yuwei was scared out of her wits. She had never imagined her fortress could be breached with such brute force. Stumbling backward, she grabbed the compound crossbow from the wall, aiming its trembling tip at the melting door.
Minutes later, accompanied by the shriek of twisting metal, the supposedly indestructible door was ripped open, a gaping hole torn into it. Ghost stepped through first, his team members fanning out behind him in a tactical formation, the dark muzzles of their rifles covering every corner of the apartment.
"Y-you... stay back! Come any closer and I'll shoot!" Zhao Yuwei's voice was shrill with fear. She strained with all her might to steady the crossbow, but her trembling arms betrayed her inner turmoil.
Ghost looked at this woman, all bluster and no substance, his face expressionless. He didn't even bother with words. He simply took a step forward, then abruptly lifted his leg, delivering a crisp, powerful front kick.
*Thud!*
Zhao Yuwei felt an irresistible force slam into her abdomen. Excruciating pain instantly radiated through her entire body. It felt as if her organs had been rearranged. The wind knocked out of her, she doubled over like a boiled shrimp, the crossbow clattering from her hand to the floor. Clutching her stomach in agony, she collapsed to her knees, gasping for air she couldn't seem to draw in.
Ghost watched her coldly, as one would observe an object.
"Take her."
Two soldiers immediately stepped forward. Each grabbed an arm, hauling the limp Zhao Yuwei to her feet and dragging her out like a sack of grain. She struggled feebly, but her strength was that of an infant against these steel-hardened warriors.
She was forcibly dragged out of the fortress she had poured her heart and soul into building, forced to watch as strangers occupied her home. All her efforts, all her preparations, seemed so laughable and powerless in the face of this absolute, overwhelming force.