Chapter 50

Chapter 50

The pair followed the current downwards, quickly reaching the tunnel exit, but to their dismay, it opened into a sealed circular chamber. The wall had a row of drainage holes, but the spaces between the metal bars were too narrow, not even a mouse could squeeze through.

There was only one upward escalator along the wall. Zombies swept down by the current crowded at the escalator, desperately climbing up.

The zombies were stacked on top of each other, stepping on shoulders and heads. Gunfire rang out continuously above the escalator. One after another, zombies were shot and fell, but others climbed over their bodies to continue upward, undeterred by the bullets above.

Watching this scene from underwater, Feng Chen felt a sense of despair for the first time.

The entire tunnel was submerged, and he and Yan Bubu had to get out. Ahead was the only exit, but the crowd of zombies was as dense as a station during rush hour. It seemed impossible for them to pass through unharmed and climb up the escalator.

Impossible.

Just then, an explosion suddenly sounded underwater, causing a momentary backflow in the current, and the loud noise made Feng Chen's ears buzz.

Someone was throwing bombs into the water!

The gathered zombies in front were scattered by the explosion, revealing the middle escalator. Feng Chen's heart leaped at this rare opportunity, and he kicked hard through the water, rushing forward with Yan Bubu.

He swam with all his might, ignoring the zombies just swept away by the current, hoping to reach the escalator before the zombies regrouped and surged back.

Waves churned around the escalator, but just as Feng Chen was about to reach it, the zombies had already started to regather and swim towards them.

Feng Chen reached out to grab a section of the escalator in the water, but his ankle was again caught by a fast-moving zombie.

He swiftly turned back, stabbing his dagger into the zombie's face, piercing through its eye socket into the brain. But no sooner had he dealt with this zombie than another approached from the left, opening its wide mouth to reveal rows of sharp white teeth.

Feng Chen had to let go of the escalator and continue fighting, stabbing the zombie in the mouth, piercing its upper jaw, then fiercely stirring and withdrawing the dagger.

Although he dispatched these two zombies efficiently and swiftly, dozens of seconds had already passed, and the zombies initially washed away by the wave had all rushed back.

Zombies surrounded them in a circle, now just a few meters away. Feng Chen could clearly see the dark blue veins on their faces and the blackened uvula and inner walls of their mouths as they opened wide.

He glanced at Yan Bubu tucked into his left arm.

Yan Bubu, eyes closed, limbs hanging limply, his curly hair floating gently in the water. His skin appeared almost translucent underwater, like a lifeless doll.

He had been unconscious from being covered over his mouth and nose for too long. But he had remembered Feng Chen's command not to struggle, and even in his suffocation-induced faint, he hadn’t thrashed at all.

Feng Chen had no chance to reach the escalator, and even if he had, the pursuing zombies would have pulled them back into the water and torn them to pieces.

There was no way out.

Feng Chen looked at Yan Bubu, then suddenly released the hand covering his mouth and nose, holding him tightly in his arms. Curling up his body and arching his back, he buried his face in Yan Bubu's hair.

Surrounded by lunging zombies and swirling water, the two maintained their embrace, suspended in the water, forming a quiet world of their own, like conjoined twins embracing in the amniotic fluid of a womb.

In a brief moment, Feng Chen seemed to think about nothing and everything at once, the fear in his heart dissipating as he just held Yan Bubu, waiting for the pain to come.

Just then, he felt a thunderous explosion in his mind, as if something had burst open. Though his eyes were tightly shut, he saw a dazzling white light.

The sound of water around him became distant, as if automatically filtered out by his ears, but another kind of voice echoed in his mind.

This voice did not travel through his ears but naturally appeared in his mind, as if coming from another dimension. It effortlessly transformed into images, clearly presenting themselves in his mind.

He saw a black lion stretching its agile body in the water, each muscle robust and powerful. With its sharp claws, it effortlessly tore apart several zombies in front of it. In motion, its long mane floated in the water like dense black seaweed.

The black lion shredded the encircling zombies to pieces, letting out a fierce and angry roar underwater.

Feng Chen, who had kept his eyes closed until now, suddenly opened them, his sharp gaze seeming to penetrate the water. An invisible force centered around him pushed outwards powerfully in all directions.

The dense zombies were thrust away, hitting the walls with the current, creating towering waves.

As the waves subsided, not a single zombie was left near Feng Chen, while the water surface in the distance was covered with floating zombie corpses, extending to the depths of the emergency passage.

Strictly speaking, zombies were already corpses, but now they were truly gone, gently bobbing in the water. Besides the bite marks on their bodies, there were no new wounds, but their mouths and nostrils slowly oozed out pulverized brain matter.

Feng Chen snapped back to reality, grabbing the railing with one hand and holding Yan Bubu with the other, he climbed up.

As he emerged from the water, Yu Yuan and two soldiers pulled him up, while Lin Fen issued an order: “Close the fault layer doors.”

Feng Chen didn’t have time to look around or notice who was beside him. He placed Yan Bubu’s limp body on the ground and knelt beside him, starting chest compressions.

One, two, three, four…

Amid the rumbling noise, a fault closure door extended from beneath the floor at their feet, sealing the elevator entrance and thus isolating the floodwaters in the emergency tunnel below.

"How is it? Everything okay?"

"Lucky timing. Just evolved right now. The burst of power during evolution is strongest. Otherwise, it's hard to say what might have happened."

"How long has the little curly hair been underwater?"

……

Voices surrounded him, like meaningless white noise, none of which could penetrate Feng Chen's mind. At this moment, he couldn't hear anything else, focused solely on performing chest compressions for Yan Bubu.

Yan Bubu lay quietly on the floor, her small body shaking with Feng Chen's movements. Her lips were as pale as her face, showing no sign of life.

Feng Chen's eyes were bloodshot, unblinkingly fixed on Yan Bubu's face. Tears flowed down his wet hair, dropping onto the floor.

Lin Fen crouched on the ground, reaching to check Yan Bubu's neck pulse, when a piercing scream sounded overhead.

"Ah! Zombies!"

Yu Yuan's face changed abruptly: "Bad news, there are zombies above us too."

Some people don't immediately turn after being bitten by a zombie but go through a latency period. It seems someone was bitten along the way and only now started to mutate.

Lin Fen glanced at Yan Bubu and Feng Chen: "Let's block the upper level to prevent the zombies from coming down."

"Okay."

Lin Fen and Yu Yuan, along with several soldiers, moved to the upper level, where gunfire and zombie roars echoed continuously.

Feng Chen remained deaf to the chaos outside, silently counting in his mouth. After completing a cycle of chest compressions, he lifted Yan Bubu's chin to keep her airway clear and bent down to administer artificial respiration.

After artificial respiration, he continued with chest compressions, starting the second round of the rescue procedure.

Black Lion appeared beside Yan Bubu, gently licking her face with its tongue and sniffing near her nose before pacing anxiously back and forth.

Feng Chen completed a cycle, then leaned his ear against Yan Bubu's chest to listen before continuing.

"Yan Bubu, you must wake up, you have to," Feng Chen pleaded through his tears, his voice hoarse and choking: "Please don't sleep, wake up quickly."

"Yan Bubu, are you not listening to me? I'm telling you to wake up... Awubangaga Adawussia, Awubangaga Adawussia..."

"Cough, cough."

Feng Chen seemed to hear coughing. He stopped and held his breath, staring at Yan Bubu, fearing it was just an illusion. The anxious Black Lion also rushed over, mirroring Feng Chen's actions, its golden eyes fixed intently on Yan Bubu's face.

"Cough, cough, cough."

Yan Bubu coughed again, her eyebrows furrowing.

This voice was like music to Feng Chen’s ears. He patted Yan Bubu's face and urged hurriedly, “Are you awake? Open your eyes and look at me.”

Yan Bubu slowly opened his eyes, still groggy. Seeing Feng Chen, he called out with a hoarse voice, "Brother..."

Feng Chen, looking at him with tears still on his face, smiled again.

Not understanding why, Yan Bubu also chuckled twice.

Feng Chen's smile faded as he tightly embraced Yan Bubu in his arms.

Held like this by Feng Chen, Yan Bubu felt both confused and pleasantly surprised. Only when he heard gunfire overhead did he remember they weren’t in the Beehive room, but escaping through the emergency tunnel.

Flood, zombies, corpses, gunfire... these thoughts flashed through Yan Bubu’s mind. He suddenly lifted his head from Feng Chen’s embrace, looked over his shoulder, and saw a zombie lunging down from the staircase on the wall.

Desperately tugging at Feng Chen's clothes, Yan Bubu pointed behind them, too frantic to form coherent words, only managing to shout, “Ah wo bang ga—”

The black lion standing beside them suddenly sprang into action. It leaped into the air, intercepting the zombie. Its claws extended sharp tips and with a swift slash, the zombie’s head was split in two.

To Yan Bubu, it seemed as if he had just uttered a spell, and as the zombie lunged in mid-air, its head inexplicably split like a watermelon cut in half, effortlessly separating.

Seeing Yan Bubu frozen, Feng Chen asked, “What’s wrong? Are you feeling okay?”

Yan Bubu slowly turned to look at him, his eyes shining brightly: “My magic, my magic has really returned.”

“Yes, I told you your magic is powerful. It helped us get here safely,” Feng Chen said as he picked up Yan Bubu and stood up. “Let’s go, we need to find Major General Lin and the others.”

Only then did Feng Chen take in their surroundings, realizing they were inside Haiyun Tower.

Haiyun Tower had been built over twenty years ago for various reasons. Initially constructed with an indestructible steel frame structure, it was later requisitioned and sealed off by the military.

The public was unaware of the military's use of Haiyun Tower. Feng Chen hadn't cared much about it either until now, when he realized it served as an emergency exit.

It wasn't just an exit; the tower could also act as a temporary refuge in emergencies. With its vast space, each floor's circular corridor led to rooms capable of accommodating thousands.

However, now that zombies had appeared inside the tower, it was no longer viable as a shelter.

Lin Fen and Yu Yuan, along with a few others, were busy fighting off the attacking zombies. Seeing Feng Chen carrying Yan Bubu up, they said, "Let's go."

A group of ion beasts cleared the way in front, with the others following, ascending the spiral staircase.

Each floor required navigating the circular corridor to continue to the next level. Some mutilated corpses lay on the stairs, and a few zombies gnawing at them looked up at the noise, their faces smeared with blood.

The ion beasts, spurred on by Yan Bubu's incantations, attacked. Before the zombies could even rise, they were slashed open by the beasts' claws and beaks.

“Don’t look,” Feng Chen cautioned Yan Bubu, worried the scene might frighten him.

But Yan Bubu showed no fear, excitedly watching the zombies being sliced open, exclaiming, “I’m so powerful! My magic is so strong!”

A zombie crouching under the staircase, gnawing on a corpse, suddenly leaped out, aiming for Feng Chen's back. Feng Chen, without looking back, thrust his hand out and drew his blade. The zombie collapsed, a dark hole appearing in its temple.

Feng Chen felt an odd sensation. He hadn’t seen the zombie behind him, yet some kind of danger signal appeared in his mind, forming a clear image.

Without using his eyes, he knew there was a zombie crouching on the left corner upstairs, three in the right corridor, and two others, alerted by their footsteps, charging down the stairs.

But the black lion, spurred by Yan Bubu's incantations, had already charged ahead, smashing the two zombies on the stairs into pieces.

Feng Chen noticed that the black lion would occasionally turn its head to look at Yan Bubu.

Whichever zombie Yan Bubu targeted with his incantations, the lion would quickly dispatch. Yan Bubu shouted in excitement, and though the lion showed no emotion, its thick tail wagged happily.

Feng Chen: “...”

"Haiyun Tower has sixty floors, and we are on the seventh. The lower half of the tower is a sealed structure. Only above the twentieth floor do windows exist for exit. The soldiers above are guiding people out of the tower; we need to move quickly." Yu Yuan said this while raising her gun and efficiently took down three zombies with three shots.

Gunshots echoed from above, with zombies continuously falling from the tower's central space to the ground floor, creating a dull thud.

Led by the ion beasts and Yan Bubu's incantations, they cleared the piled-up zombies ahead. Feng Chen and the others dealt with the scattered zombies nearby, progressing floor by floor upwards.

Most of these zombies were ordinary civilians in life, so they lunged forward without any strategy, often being killed before they could get close.

The transformed zombies from the Western Alliance Army were more challenging, not only possessing immense strength but also retaining their bodily memories from life, unexpectedly using evasion tactics and grappling moves.

When encountering these Western Alliance Army zombies, Yu Yuan and several soldiers looked distressed, even avoiding them, as if they couldn’t bear to strike.

A Western Alliance Army zombie lunged at Yu Yuan, who dodged left and right, almost colliding with another zombie. Lin Fen, noticing this, decisively shot and killed both zombies.

"Our soldiers are already dead, their bodies taken over by these monsters. Killing these creatures is avenging them, understand?" Lin Fen sternly said to a stunned Yu Yuan.

Yu Yuan, pale-faced, nodded: "I understand."

Lin Fen's expression softened, a flicker of gentleness in his eyes. He hugged Yu Yuan, patted his back, and released him, murmuring, "It’s okay."

Half an hour ago, Feng Chen would have struggled against the Western Alliance Army zombies, but now his burst strength and speed had dramatically increased. Even with his left hand holding Yan Bubu, dealing with a few of these zombies was no longer a significant challenge.

Some survivors had hidden in rooms adjacent to the corridor and, upon seeing Major General Lin and his group, came out to join and follow them.

To his surprise, Yan Bubu spotted Chen Wenchao, the chubby kid, among the crowd.

Chen Wenchao, too, was being carried by his father, drenched and walking with the group. When he saw Yan Bubu on Feng Chen’s shoulder, he first paused, then tried to look away, but Yan Bubu grinned broadly at him.

Yan Bubu had been waiting for this moment for a long time.

"Look at my teeth, they’ve almost grown as long as the others."

Chen Wenchao was puzzled by Yan Bubu’s smile, twitched his mouth, and then forced an awkward smile.

Seeing Chen's obviously still-growing teeth, Yan Bubu laughed even more joyfully.

"Still got a gap in your teeth!"

When Chen Wenchao genuinely started to laugh at him, Yan Bubu suddenly turned serious and looked away, leaving the chubby kid baffled.

Above the twentieth floor of Haiyun Tower, there were windows. From the twentieth to the twenty-fifth floor, outside each of the sixteen windows on every level, hung a long rope. Under the soldiers' guidance, people slid down the ropes to the air cushion boats below.

A group of sentinel guides guarded the stairway entrance on the twentieth floor, preventing the zombies below from surging upwards, with intense gunfire echoing throughout the tower.

When there were too many zombies, they would use psychic attacks, killing the incoming waves of zombies at once.

But the zombies were relentless, and even with guides coordinating and using psychic tendrils to manage the sentinels' mental realms, their psychic energy was draining rapidly. Their faces turned ashen, barely able to hold on.

People were lined up at the windows, waiting their turn. When it came, a soldier would tie a safety rope around their waist, secure it, and then they would slide down from the window.

Due to the urgency of saving time, several people were always sliding down on a single rope, and with windows on other floors aligned, the ropes were crowded with people sliding close together.

From a distance, Haiyun Tower resembled a tree crawling with ants.

For those hesitant due to fear of heights, soldiers quickly tied safety ropes around their waists and threw them out. The tower was filled with continuous screams.

Occasionally, one or two zombies would break through the gunfire and charge, growling as they lunged at the nearest soldier.

A group of ion beasts guarded the staircase entrance, piercing the brains of any zombies that approached with their sharp beaks and claws.

By the time Feng Chen and his group reached this floor, they were met with a scene of zombies scattered across the floor.

Yan Bubu, now fully convinced of his magic power, was unfazed by the sight of so many zombies, confidently holding his chin up while in Feng Chen's arms, casting a disdainful glance downward.

The black lion, white crane, and vulture charged forward, joined by a deer, raccoon, zebra, and marten, and even a half-human-length carp that descended from above, flicking its tail fin as if swimming through the air.

Feng Chen watched the group of animals charge; antlers thrusting, hooves kicking, fighting alongside the black lion. The crane and vulture grabbed zombies and tossed them down the center of the tower.

As the zombies fell one by one, their numbers dwindled. Yan Bubu, full of vigor, chanted spells and created hand gestures, reassuring Feng Chen intermittently, “Brother, don’t be afraid, I’m here to protect you.”

Feng Chen, while stabbing nearby zombies with his dagger, kept an eye on the fish.

He couldn't fathom how a carp could attack zombies.

Suddenly, the carp twisted mid-air, its tail heavily smacking a zombie behind it. With a muffled thud, the zombie’s head burst open, spilling dark brain matter.

Feng Chen: “...”

Pointing to his chest excitedly, Yan Bubu stammered, “Did you see that? It was me! I did that! I killed that zombie!”

Lin Fen, standing nearby, glanced at Yan Bubu. Just as he was about to cast a spell at a zombie and the black lion prepared to pounce, Lin Fen swiftly shot and killed the zombie first.

Yan Bubu paused, then switched his target to another zombie, with the attentive black lion ready to leap.

With a sharp crack of a gunshot, Lin Fen swiftly killed another zombie.

After two of his targets were taken, Yan Bubu quickly looked over, and Lin Fen, expressionless, blew the smoke away from the gun barrel.

Yan Bubu stiffened, not daring to voice any further objections, and silently diverted his gaze.

Lin Fen gave a slight curl of his lips, then turned to deal with other zombies.