Back on the surface.
As the smoke and dust cleared, a large hole several meters in diameter appeared on the once-level laboratory floor.
The edges of the hole were jagged and still emitting wisps of blue smoke. The air was thick with the acrid smell of burnt meat—the last trace Charlie left in this world.
Kross walked to the edge of the hole and looked down.
Below was a bottomless vertical shaft, where red emergency lights could be seen flickering faintly.
"So this is the rat hole," Kross snorted coldly.
He turned around and issued orders to the team members behind him: "No. 3, No. 4, you two stay here and establish a defensive position. Our reinforcements will be here soon; ensure the extraction route remains clear. The rest of you, follow me."
"Yes, Sir!" the two team members saluted and complied.
Kross and the remaining four Black Watch elite members quickly set up high-strength rappelling ropes at the opening.
"Move out."
With the command, five black figures plummeted into the darkness along the ropes like hunting falcons. The wind whistled past their ears, bringing with it a mixture of underground decay and the smell of machine oil.
Seconds later, the sounds of tactical boots slamming onto the metal floor echoed one after another.
The group landed in the middle of a silver-white corridor. This place was starkly different from the blood-stained and filthy laboratory above; the surrounding walls were made of composite materials, their surfaces smooth as mirrors and gleaming with a cold silver light. Embedded lights overhead cast a pale glow, making it look like a futuristic space station.
"Is this really something a zombie could achieve?" Specialist No. 2 looked around, his fingers gently tracing the precise seams on the wall, unable to help but marvel.
"Don't be fooled by appearances. This place existed before; it was built by humans," Kross coldly interrupted his subordinate's awe. His stun baton was preheating, ready to shatter anything that approached. "Stay alert. Advance."
The squad advanced in tactical formation. Their footsteps echoed in the deathly silent corridor, sounding exceptionally piercing.
Just as the group was about to turn the corner of the corridor to reach the next area—
"Zzt—"
A high-frequency electrical sound suddenly rang out in the air. Immediately after, the passage ahead was instantly blocked by a dense grid of red lasers. Those weren't ordinary infrared alarms, but high-energy cutting lasers.
"Halt!" Kross raised his hand in warning.
Specialist No. 6 immediately stepped forward, pulling out a complex decryption terminal to search for an interface to shut down the laser grid. "Sir, this is an independent power system. The encryption algorithm is very strange, it looks like... some kind of ancient cuneiform variant? What exactly is the background of this Corpse King? Give me a minute."
"Too slow!"
A gruff roar interrupted Specialist No. 6's operations.
Expert No. 1, the burly man carrying a twin grenade launcher, pushed aside the cracking Specialist No. 6 with a look of impatience. "Step aside! This delicate work isn't for us. Why not just blow it to hell!"
Kross's pupils contracted, and he was about to stop him.
But it was already too late.
Expert No. 1 directly raised his grenade launcher, aimed at the core component of the laser transmitter flashing with red light on the wall, and pulled the trigger without hesitation.
"Eat this!"
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
Three high-explosive grenades accurately struck the target. The violent explosion instantly destroyed the laser transmitter, and the red light grid flickered a few times before completely going out.
However, Expert No. 1 had not considered the load-bearing structure of this underground facility.
As the explosion's shockwave spread, the once-flawless silver-white ceiling overhead emitted a bone-chilling cracking sound.
"Crack—Rumble!!"
A massive amount of concrete blocks and metal supports crashed down, completely blocking the passage ahead. Even the floor beneath their feet shook violently, as if a small earthquake had occurred.
Dust filled the air, followed by bouts of coughing.
Kross, his face dark, emerged from the dust. He grabbed Expert No. 1 by the collar and slammed the burly man, who was even taller than him, against the wall.
"Is your head filled with C4?! If there was a load-bearing pillar down here, we would have been buried alive!"
Expert No. 1 scratched the back of his head, which was encased in a tactical helmet, and grinned innocently. "Heh, Sir, the commotion was a bit much, but isn't the way clear... oh, looks like it's blocked." He glanced at the path ahead, piled high with fallen rocks, and awkwardly shut his mouth.
Kross took a deep breath, suppressing the urge to throw this brute into a horde of zombies, and let go. "I'll deal with you later. All units, find a detour."
There was no time to discipline his subordinate now; the mission took priority.
Kross led the group toward a maintenance tunnel on the right. Specialist No. 6 now brought out a portable sonar detector and electronic jamming equipment, leading the way. "This way, Sir. According to the sonar feedback, there's a circular passage here that can bypass the collapse zone."
Fortunately, nothing unexpected happened in this maintenance tunnel. Aside from a few mutated rats that Kross crushed underfoot, the squad successfully navigated the complex piping area and arrived before a massive circular airtight door.
This door was five meters high and incredibly thick. There were no handles or keyholes on the surface, only a flickering red electronic eye.
Expert No. 1 glanced at the passage behind them and shrugged. "Well, I guess it worked out. Seems we aren't that unlucky; we've arrived, haven't we?"
Specialist No. 6 rolled his eyes while connecting the decryption terminal to the access control system. "Idiot, this building has a circular structure. If you hadn't blown up the main road, we would have been here two minutes ago. Now we've had to walk extra."
"Both of you, shut up," Kross barked in a low voice, the blue light of his stun baton flaring. "Prepare to breach."
Specialist No. 6's fingers tapped rapidly on the keyboard. A few seconds later, following a crisp notification sound, he looked at the thermal imaging feedback on the screen and said, "Sir, detecting the situation inside... it shows no one. No signatures characteristic of the Infected."
Just as he finished, a long "Hiss—" sounded.
The hydraulic locks inside the airtight door disengaged automatically, and the heavy door slowly slid open to both sides. A cold blast of air, smelling of a mixture of disinfectant and ozone, rushed out.
"Opened automatically? Inviting us into a trap?"
Kross sneered. Without any hesitation, he was the first to walk in. Unless a retreat order was issued by a superior, the word "retreat" did not exist in Black Watch's dictionary.
The team members followed closely behind, their muzzles pointed at every possible blind spot.
It was a massive circular control room.
The surrounding walls were covered with giant display screens, upon which flowed countless complex data streams and surveillance footage—
In the center of the room was a large metal desk, on which several books and some precision experimental instruments were neatly arranged. But the chair, which looked like a symbol of power, was empty.
The group found no sign of the Corpse King, Haixin.
"Over there." Kross's gaze was sharp as he strode to the metal desk.
On the desk, a thick hardcover philosophy book lay open, with a pristine white letter pressed onto the pages. The handwriting on it was elegant and neat, even possessing a sense of classical artistry—completely unlike something a zombie could write.
Kross picked up the note and read it in a low voice:
"To my esteemed visitors:"
"By the time you read this letter, I will have already moved to the next observation point with my core data. Please forgive my unannounced departure; after all, a true wise man never personally engages in crude brawls."
"In you, I have seen the fragility of order and the aesthetics of violence. To repay the 'kindness' of you destroying my failed creation (Charlie), I have specially left a few meticulously crafted gifts for you."
"If you can survive, perhaps we will have a day to discuss the true meaning of life face-to-face."
"— Haixin"
After reading the last line, Kross folded the paper and put it in his pocket. "Playing tricks."
At that moment, red warning lights suddenly lit up in the previously dark corners of the control room.
"Warning. Bio-weapon restrictions lifted. Entering extermination mode."
A cold, synthesized electronic voice echoed throughout the empty hall.
In the four corners of the control room, the floor suddenly split open, and four massive cylindrical incubation tanks slowly rose. The cryogenic liquid nitrogen inside the tanks was rapidly draining, and white cold mist began to spread.
"Hiss—"
With the sound of pressure valves opening, the glass covers of the four tanks slid open simultaneously.
Four giant hands, covered by grey military trench coats, suddenly grabbed the edges of the tanks. Those palms were large enough to crush a human skull, and the fingernails possessed a deathly grey metallic luster.
Immediately after, four terrifying figures, each four meters tall, slowly peeked their heads out.
They had uniform grey-white skin; their bald heads were devoid of hair, and their facial expressions were as rigid as stone. Only those pale eyes stared intently at the Black Watch squad in the center of the hall. They wore specially made restraint coats, which served not only for defense but also to limit the excessively violent power within them.
Tyrants. They were the Special Infecteds among Corpse King Haixin's biological weapons.
Kross's expression instantly froze. He could feel that the threat level of these four monsters far exceeded the Lickers from earlier.
He quickly mounted the multi-functional grenade launcher onto his left arm, gripped the stun baton tightly in his right hand, lowered his center of gravity, and assumed a defensive-counterattack stance.
"Look out for yourselves!" Kross roared. "This is not a drill! Scatter! Free fire!"
Before his voice had even faded, the four Tyrants moved simultaneously.
They didn't emit any roars; they simply took heavy strides, like four out-of-control heavy trucks, charging toward Kross's squad with desperate momentum!