The Puma helicopter carved an arc in the air and changed direction.
Wu Fan gripped the control stick, and Glenn's voice came through the headset: "BOSS, everyone has been evacuated, and we are driving toward the suburbs."
"Copy that."
Wu Fan scanned the dashboard—the fuel warning light was already on, and ammunition was running low: "I'll head back first; be careful on the road."
"Understood."
Wu Fan cut the communication and pulled the control stick.
The Puma accelerated, flying toward the CDC.
Behind him, the Atlanta skyline grew smaller and smaller.
Those dense hordes of Walkerss, those desperate survivors, those burning buildings—gradually blurred into a gray background.
Twenty minutes later, the familiar woods appeared in his field of vision.
Wu Fan lowered the altitude and found the clearing that had been "erased" by the system.
The Puma descended slowly, its rotors whipping up a gale that caused the surrounding trees to sway violently.
It landed steadily.
Wu Fan shut down the engine, and the rotors slowly decelerated.
He leaned back in his chair and let out a long breath.
Five minutes later, the ground began to tremble.
The landing pad descended slowly, and the scenery around it grew darker—the trees vanished, the sky vanished, and the sunlight vanished as well.
Replacing them were metal walls and deep darkness.
Descending, descending, and descending further.
Finally, a dull mechanical sound rang out, and the elevator stopped.
The surrounding floodlights instantly lit up, illuminating the entire landing pad as bright as day.
Wu Fan pushed open the cabin door and jumped off the aircraft.
Three patients and one police officer followed him off.
Beneath his feet was a metal floor, and overhead was a closed gate.
Wu Fan led the four of them across the landing pad and entered the tunnel leading to the Hive entrance.
Ten minutes later.
After handing the people over to Kyle, Wu Fan sat in the third-floor office.
He had just lit a cigarette when the door was knocked upon.
"Come in."
Amy pushed the door open and entered, holding a cup of coffee.
She placed the coffee on the table but did not leave immediately; instead, she stood there, looking as if she had something to say but was hesitating.
Wu Fan picked up the coffee and took a sip: "Is something the matter?"
Amy hesitated for a moment and asked: "How should we arrange for the group of newcomers?"
"Follow the standard procedure."
Wu Fan said: "Three days of quarantine, physical examinations, registration, and then disperse and assign them to the various squads."
Amy nodded, but she didn't leave.
Wu Fan looked up at her.
Amy bit her lip and said: "I learned a new dish; tonight... could you come over to my place to taste it?"
Wu Fan looked at her, his expression somewhat strange.
This girl was becoming more and more direct.
He put down the coffee cup, leaned back in his chair, and smiled half-heartedly: "After the meal is finished, then—you'll be the final dessert, right?"
Amy's face flushed red instantly.
But she did not deny it; she just stood there, looking at him with flickering eyes.
Wu Fan smiled.
He stood up, walked over to Amy, and reached out to lift her chin: "Sure! What time?"
Amy's voice trembled slightly: "Se-seven o'clock."
"Alright."
Wu Fan let go: "I'll be there on time."
Amy blushed and ran out.
After the door closed, Wu Fan sat back in his chair and opened the system panel in his mind.
[Current Points: 22560]
It was time to unlock new floors.
He swiped the panel and found the floor plan of the Hive.
[Hive Second Floor: Administrative Office Center]
[Required Points to Unlock: 5000]
[Hive Third Floor: General Laboratory]
[Required Points to Unlock: 10000]
Wu Fan thought for a moment.
The second floor was the Administrative Office Center—conference rooms, archives, dispatch centers, and the like.
It wasn't very useful right now; he could make do in the third-floor office.
The third floor was the General Laboratory—basic virus research, sample analysis, and data storage.
This was useful; he could have Edwin and the others move down there, where there was more space and better equipment.
He gritted his teeth.
"Unlock the second and third floors."
[Confirm spending 15000 points to unlock the Hive's second and third floors?]
[Confirm]
[Unlocking...]
[Unlock Complete]
[Current Remaining Points: 7560]
Wu Fan looked at the number, feeling a pang of heartache.
Fifteen thousand points, just gone like that.
He continued to look down.
[Hive Fourth Floor: Advanced Virus Laboratory]: 20000 points
[Hive Fifth Floor: Biochemical Weapon Cultivation Area]: 40000 points
[Hive Sixth Floor: Classified Research Area / High-Risk Isolation Laboratory / Mutant Research]: 60000 points
[Hive Seventh Floor: Clone Memory Implantation / Cloning Pods / Sleep Pods]: 80000 points
Wu Fan stared at the description of the seventh floor, his eyes narrowing.
Clones.
Memory implantation.
This was what he truly wanted.
If he could build a cloning factory on this floor, what would that mean?
It meant infinite labor.
It meant he could mass-produce Soldiers.
It meant—in a sense—immortality.
But 60,000 points was not a small amount.
He had to speed up the recruitment process.
That refugee camp in Atlanta had to be taken as soon as possible.
Those Soldiers, those skilled civilians, were all valuable resources.
And there were those scattered survivors in the city—if he could organize a large-scale rescue, he could earn quite a few points.
Wu Fan closed the panel and picked up the phone on the table.
"Tell Rick and Shane to come see me when they get back."
Outside the CDC.
Two box trucks drove over slowly.
The perimeter security personnel raised their hands, signaling them to stop.
The driver's side window rolled down, revealing Rick's tired but smiling face.
"Our own people."
He said.
The security guard took a look inside the truck bed—it was packed full of people, along with wheelchairs and elderly people.
He nodded and waved.
"Let them through."
The two vehicles drove into the parking lot and stopped.
The doors opened, and people jumped down one after another.
On the training ground, those who were training and working stopped what they were doing and looked curiously at this group of newcomers.
Elderly people.
They were all elderly.
Those in wheelchairs, those on crutches, those being supported, and those being carried.
Some had completely white hair, some had wrinkled faces, some had dull eyes, and some were shivering.
But on everyone's face, there was a sense of relief from having survived the catastrophe.
A young woman carried an old lady off the vehicle and gently placed her in a wheelchair.
The old lady held her hand and murmured: "We're here... we're really here..."
Beside her, an old man sat on a cart, looking around at everything—the wire fences, the guard posts, the patrolling Soldiers, the neat buildings. His eyes welled up with tears.
"This place... is really nice..."
He said.
Guillermo stood in front of the crowd, looking at the security personnel who were curiously staring at them, feeling somewhat uneasy.
He turned to Rick and said: "Can we... really stay?"
Rick patted his shoulder: "Don't worry, the people here won't drive you away."
Shane stood to the side, looking at the elderly people, and for once, a trace of a smile appeared on his face.
Glenn ran over, panting, and said: "BOSS wants to see you two when you get back."
Rick nodded and said to Guillermo: "You all wait here for now; someone will come to make arrangements."
He and Shane walked toward the main building.
Behind them, those elderly people were still looking around, like a group of country folk who had just arrived in the city.
But they all had smiles on their faces.