Chapter 205

Chapter 205

Feng Chen killed the two zombies as they reached him, but throughout this process, his eyes never left Chen Sizhe.

"You could have easily escaped, so why blow up the mountain?" Feng Chen asked through gritted teeth, his voice hoarse.

"Finally, you ask me this question," Chen Sizhe sighed. "Xiao Chen, you should have asked me this when you first saw me, but you didn't. The only reason for not asking is that you thought you could control me, planning to let the military thoroughly interrogate me after resolving the crisis here. As the head of the Eastern Alliance Army, I agree with your approach, but it also made me quite uncomfortable."

Chen Sizhe tapped the plank beside him lightly, causing a startling creak somewhere, which elicited a new wave of alarmed shouts from inside the hole.

He didn't continue tapping but instead walked slowly towards Feng Chen, his voice still characteristically calm.

"Do you know why I'm uncomfortable? Because you're underestimating me. You think I'm not a sentinel or guide, just an ordinary person, and so you look down on me deep down."

Feng Chen remained silent. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a corner of a plank slowly emerging at the intersection of this wall and the one on the left in the ruins opposite him. As if afraid of being seen, the plank shifted to an angle where he and Chen Sizhe couldn't see it.

That spot was the opening he had made earlier, and the people inside were attempting to remove the fourth plank.

Zombies were running around in the center of the large camp, howling as they charged towards the plantation, with continuous gunfire echoing from the distant small camp. Zombies occasionally charged at Feng Chen, but before they could reach him, they were killed by his mental power.

"Although I am the head of the Eastern Alliance Army, I'm acutely aware of what goes through people's minds when they hear I'm just an ordinary person. Because of my position, they hide their emotions well, but I can still see it in their eyes."

Chen Sizhe paused and sighed, "Xiao Chen, you've been a sentinel since you were very young, so you can't understand my feelings. All of you sentinels and guides, though subordinates to me, have disbelief written in your eyes."

Feng Chen scoffed coldly, "I can't understand? Then what about Kong Siyun and the head of the Western Alliance Army, Ran Pinghao? Aren't they ordinary people just like you?"

"You're not them, so how could you know their thoughts?" Chen Sizhe retorted.

Feng Chen shouted fiercely, "Because you don't want to be an ordinary person, you did everything to get the code box and even imprisoned my parents for years. But you blew up the mountain to let the zombies in just because you felt like an ordinary person, despised in everyone's hearts, so you want all these people to die?"

"How could you think that?" Chen Sizhe laughed dryly, lifting his hand to untie the scarf around his neck. "I was just complaining a bit. It's not like I would want everyone dead because of that. After all, you've followed me for so long. Do you really think I am that petty?"

"Then why did you do it?" Feng Chen pressed.

Feng Chen saw half a head slowly emerge from the left side of the ruins and then quickly retract. It seemed that those people had removed the fourth plank and were crawling out through the hole.

Chen Sizhe and his two subordinates couldn't see behind the wall, but the zombies in the distance could. Feng Chen saw a group of zombies in the center of the camp suddenly turn and charge towards them with excited roars.

Feng Chen quickly unleashed his mental power, killing the group of zombies. Chen Sizhe turned to look and said to his two subordinates on the hillside, "They're too noisy. Go and block them at the front, don't let them disturb me and Xiao Chen. We, uncle and nephew, haven't had a good talk like this in a long time."

"Yes."

Hearing the footsteps of the two subordinates leaving, Feng Chen glanced over. He saw them heading towards the crack in the mountain, then stopping at the edge of the camp. The zombies, even when about to collide with the two men, would detour around them, no longer heading towards the ruins but charging straight towards the plantation.

"You... you all..." Feng Chen's suspicion grew clearer.

"You ask why I did this." Chen Sizhe chuckled, completely removing the scarf from his neck, along with his sunglasses and hat, and held them in his hand, then spread his arms wide. "You're such a smart person, why don't you guess now?"

Under the high-pressure sodium lamp, Chen Sizhe's eyes were pitch black, so dark that no light could penetrate. The skin exposed outside his clothes was tinged with a greenish-black hue, covered with spiderweb-like capillaries.

Despite being mentally prepared, seeing Chen Sizhe, indistinguishable from a zombie, still caused Feng Chen's pupils to dilate, feeling a chill in his heart and a cold shiver down his spine.

Chen Sizhe lifted his right hand, making a strange gesture over his heart, closed his eyes, and murmured, "The creator god Cassandra created this world and mankind, but was imprisoned in the Emile Abyss due to human betrayal. The tribulations faced by mankind are Cassandra's punishment for the traitors."

Feng Chen's breathing grew more rapid, "You're not colluding with Anboga; you are Anboga?"

"…When all the sins of humanity are repaid, Cassandra will return to the holy temple." Chen Sizhe exhaled slowly and deeply, opened his eyes to look at Feng Chen, and smiled, "Guess again?"

"Now resembling a zombie, yet still smiling, he appeared even more sinister and ominous. Feng Chen slowly began to speak, his words squeezed through clenched teeth: "You're Anboga's bishop."

"I always said Xiao Chen is smart," Chen Sizhe's smile widened, eventually breaking into uncontrollable laughter. "Isn't it absurd? The head of the Eastern Alliance Army is actually Anboga's bishop. I find it absurd and funny every time I think about it…"

Chen Sizhe laughed so hard his shoulders shook. Feng Chen stared at him intently, his hands by his sides clenching tighter, veins bulging on the back of his hands. If it weren't for his current inability to move, he would have lunged at Chen Sizhe's darkened neck and punched his laughing face.

Chen Sizhe gradually stopped laughing. "Xiao Chen, you might think that my nurturing and care for you were insincere, with an ulterior motive. You're wrong. Although I indeed used you to threaten Old Feng, I never intended to harm you. Otherwise, I could have killed you just now instead of staying here and talking so much."

"I've spent my life without a wife or children, but you, being smart, capable, and purer at heart than others, I've seen and appreciated. I quite like you, Xiao Chen. Come with me, and you will be my son. In the future, everything I have will be yours."

Feng Chen had forced himself to calm down, but upon hearing Chen Sizhe's words, anger surged anew. He laughed bitterly and said, "Chen Sizhe, you're a monster, a madman—"

"Don't jump to conclusions so soon. Let me show you something." Chen Sizhe interrupted Feng Chen, lifting the briefcase he was holding, inputting a code, opening the lid, and turning its contents towards Feng Chen.

Inside the case was a row of neatly arranged silver-white syringes.

Chen Sizhe's eyes settled on the syringes, his voice filled with excitement, "Xiao Chen, you have no idea what we possess. The original virus was always Anboga's. Long before that earthquake, our sect had begun studying this virus, which can endow ordinary people with extraordinary abilities. Sentinels and guides are just natural mutations in ordinary people resisting this virus. Those who fail to mutate become zombies. But look at these syringes. What are sentinels and guides compared to them? Ordinary people injected with this serum will far surpass naturally mutated sentinels and guides in physical abilities."

"The original virus was Anboga's, studied long before the earthquake..." Feng Chen, as if realizing something, trembled uncontrollably, his voice barely audible, "...The virus is man-made, isn't it? It's your creation, right?"

Chen Sizhe glanced at him, "It was an accident. There was a fire in the lab, and the virus spread into the air. The only person injected with the serum also escaped, taking our original virus with him. Months later, he fell into the hands of Feng Ping of the Eastern Alliance Army."

"An accident... it was an accident..." Feng Chen's eyes turned bloodshot. Despite the massive rock on his back, his hands reached out towards Chen Sizhe, clenching into fists in the air. With all his might, he screamed hoarsely, "Because of you lunatics, your so-called 'accident,' how many people have died over the years? You beasts! How many have died because of you, all these years! Chen Sizhe! You beast! Madman! How many have died..."

Tears streamed down Feng Chen's face as his hoarse roars, laced with sobs, repeated those words over and over.

Chen Sizhe watched him with a smile, shaking his head, "Xiao Chen, what have I always taught you? No matter what happens, always control your emotions. And look on the bright side of everything. For instance, without that virus, do you think you could have become a sentinel?"

"Fuck you! You madman!"

Feng Chen's mind buzzed, and he took a step forward. Simultaneously, a black lion suddenly appeared in mid-air, roaring furiously as it pounced towards Chen Sizhe.

He had originally tasked Saska to follow Yan Bubu but now quickly retracted it into his mental realm, before immediately releasing it again.

All he wanted was to tear open the scalp of the man before him, to bite into his skull like a wild beast, drink his blood, and tear his flesh piece by piece. He wanted to condemn this man to eternal torture in hell.

However, as he stepped forward, the giant rock behind him rumbled and rolled forward half a step. The sound reminded Feng Chen, pulling back his sanity. He stopped in his tracks, continuing to brace the rock with his back, huffing heavily, his chest heaving, his bloodshot eyes fixed on Chen Sizhe, filled with violence and fury.

Chen Sizhe narrowly evaded Saska's attacks, his face losing its smile, turning cold and grim. Saska leaped, its sharp claws aiming for his head, but Chen Sizhe did not dodge or flinch, instead, he struck back at Saska's head with a punch.

As the claws reached Chen Sizhe's scalp, the fist also connected with Saska's head. After a second's freeze, Saska vanished into thin air, while Chen Sizhe's head remained unharmed, only a few strands of hair floating down as Saska disappeared.

"Although I'm not a sentinel or guide, after being injected with the serum, I can see quantum beasts. That means I possess the abilities of zombies. My muscles, bones, including my skin, have all been enhanced; quantum beasts can't harm me," Chen Sizhe walked aside, sighing somewhat helplessly, "Xiao Chen, I don't think you're in the right state for a conversation. I hope you can stabilize your emotions and listen carefully to what I have to say. Maybe then your thoughts will differ."

Feng Chen also calmed down, about to speak, when he saw several people appear from around the corner of the ruins. Holding iron rods, they crept silently towards Chen Sizhe.

Feng Chen paused, then abruptly closed his mouth.

He knew these people were no match for Chen Sizhe and would only be walking to their deaths. But he couldn't warn them aloud and could only give them a look, signaling them to leave, while Chen Sizhe was looking down.

However, the group hesitated only for half a second before continuing to stealthily approach.

Chen Sizhe looked down at the briefcase, carefully picking up a syringe from it, showing it to Feng Chen as if it were a treasure, his expression filled with fanaticism.

"Because of my status as the head of the Eastern Alliance Army, Anboga's research could proceed smoothly. Look, this is a serum we recently developed. It's a reward bestowed upon me by Cassandra and Her oracle, signaling that I can finally begin."

"The only regret is that I don't have the original virus. If the serum contained the original virus, the effects post-injection would multiply, and I could maintain a normal appearance," Chen Sizhe's voice conveyed his regret, "This serum makes me look like this, which is why I hesitated to inject it earlier, making me more desperate for the original virus."

"But now I had to inject it… Still, it's fine. The serum has been successfully developed, and whether I retain the position of the head of the Eastern Alliance Army doesn't matter anymore. I can control zombies, and my followers at the base are waiting for me. Xiao Chen, come back with me. Once all these dirty, selfish people turn into zombies, the whole world will be ours."

Chen Sizhe gazed at his reflection on the silver-white syringe, and then broke into a smile, "Actually, whether I look normal or not doesn't matter. I find this appearance quite pleasing to the eye…"

Feng Chen saw those people sneaking up behind Chen Sizhe, raising iron bars towards his back.

Chen Sizhe, still looking at the syringe, suddenly noticed their reflections on the tube, abruptly losing his smile and turning around.

"Ah!!!!" The group screamed in terror upon seeing Chen Sizhe's face, but their iron bars still smashed down towards him.

Chen Sizhe lifted his arm to block, and the iron bars clanged against his arm. After several sounds, five or six bars were knocked out of their hands, flying into the air. When they landed, the straight bars were bent, but he remained unscathed.

However, the syringe he was holding in his other hand was struck by a bar and fell into a small bush on the hillside.

The group looked down at their empty hands, then back at Chen Sizhe, standing dumbfounded. Others, clutching stones, who had rushed from around the corner also froze in place, witnessing the scene.

Chen Sizhe snapped the briefcase shut. Seeing some of the onlookers regaining their senses and wanting to pick up stones, Feng Chen shouted at them, "Run!"

Startled by his shout, the group turned and ran, with someone yelling, "You drop the rock, everyone's out already!"

The moment Chen Sizhe closed the briefcase, he darted towards his rear side, grabbing one person's neck with a snap. Meanwhile, Feng Chen released the giant rock and lunged towards him.

The rock quickly tilted forward, rumbling towards the plank house. Amidst the massive crash, Feng Chen punched at Chen Sizhe's wrist.

He used all his strength for the punch, enough to shatter anyone's wrist bone. But his fist hitting Chen Sizhe's wrist felt like striking an iron wall, sending a painful vibration back through his own knuckles.

The planks behind him collapsed with a thunderous crash, kicking up a cloud of dust. In the white haze, Feng Chen threw punch after punch, while Chen Sizhe continuously blocked. In the few seconds before the complete collapse of the plank house, they exchanged seven or eight rapid blows.

As the dust quickly cleared, the person whose neck Chen Sizhe had grabbed lay on the ground, neck broken, lifeless.