Chapter 9

Chapter 9

The good news was that the lost transport truck had returned on its own.

The bad news was that they seemed to have wandered into enemy territory.

Before the sound of the engine could draw near, Jie Lin Yuan quickly stashed away the remnants of the cans on the table and grabbed Palmer's arm, heading for the stairs. Blinded, Wu Yin stumbled unexpectedly when pulled, his knee hitting the sharp edge of a step, nearly bringing him to his knees in pain on the staircase.

At this moment, Jie Lin Yuan had no time to play the gentleman, hoisting Palmer under one arm like a sack of potatoes and dragging this burden upstairs. Zhao Team, knowing the chaos haste can cause, forcibly remained calm as he assisted Xin Rong, who, despite her injury, scrambled up the stairs as if her rear was on fire.

By the time the vehicle's headlights hit the ivy-covered walls of the two-story building, all four had squeezed into a room on the southern end of the second floor.

Jie Lin Yuan peeked through a corner of the curtain with a grave expression.

The transport truck wobbled its way forward, making a sharp turn at the last moment towards the row houses opposite the small building, finally stopping in front of the middle one.

In the dark room, everyone silently breathed a sigh of relief.

Faint voices carried over from afar, the speakers unaware of the eyes spying on them from a distance, speaking freely. After a while, Zhao Team and Xin Rong also dared to lift the curtain slightly, peering out cautiously.

Wu Yin, the outlier, slid down against the wall behind them, closing his eyes, his consciousness drifting away.

Shadows jumped out from the back of the truck, passing supplies to each other and carrying them into the building. When most of the goods were moved, a burly man hopped back into the vehicle, forcefully dragging out two tightly bound individuals.

The two struggled and cursed as they were thrown to the ground, immediately met with vicious kicks and spit to their faces, accompanied by coarse, mad laughter.

Using the high beams of a transport vehicle and the flickering of several flashlights, Zhao recognized two bodies on the ground wearing Vanguard uniforms. Realizing something, he turned to Z1932, about to ask in a whispered tone if they were comrades from the special operations team, when he was caught off-guard by the fierce gaze and black veins spreading to the cheekbones of the man in front of him.

Zhao's concern for the others was instantly forgotten, his palm sweating, barely holding onto the gun with only two bullets left. He felt like a trapped beast in a cage, with wolves ahead and tigers behind, surrounded by dead ends.

"Z... are you alright?" Zhao instinctively moved to shield Xin Rong behind him.

"I’m fine," Jie Linyuan answered without hesitation, his voice as steady as ever.

"No, I don’t think so..." Zhao knew his next words were somewhat disgraceful, but for the sake of the lives of the three of them, including himself, he had to be blunt: "Z1932, you..." should leave.

Suddenly, Jie Linyuan slightly turned his head, raising his hand to interrupt him, a gesture signifying he was listening, making Zhao instinctively halt his words. A few seconds later, Jie Linyuan gently touched his left ear, and a tired but resolute voice came from below his adam's apple, "Z, respond if you hear me."

"Commander, this is Z."

"Report your current status."

The person issuing the command was Jie Linyuan's long-lost direct superior, the bearded officer from the Vanguard's special operations team.

Hearing the familiar voice, Zhao brightened up, no longer in a rush to urge Xie Linyuan to leave. Xin Rong looked relieved, her face beaming with the joy of a narrow escape.

As for Wu Yin... he shifted his sleeping position against the wall.

"Jie Lin Yuan quickly explained to the bearded man the details of their separation: their transport vehicle was attacked, leaving only four survivors. He also described their approximate escape direction, distance, and hiding location, as well as their recent unexpected encounter with a few of the enemy who had robbed the transport vehicle, resulting in two team members being captured."

"Excellent, excellent!" The bearded man laughed heartily, praising continuously. "We'll come right over! It's as if the net of heaven is vast and inescapable. I was just frustrated that about a dozen of those scum escaped and even took our transport vehicle. But to think we'd run into you, you've done splendidly!"

Jie Lin Yuan, encouraged by the praise, perked up and said energetically, "Commander, I request the decryption key."

"Once unlocked, the Z1932 represents absolute military dominance, a true mechanical god of war. Just hearing his request for unlocking already brought an unparalleled sense of security to everyone in the room."

Amidst the sound of electricity, there was the noise of clothes rustling. It seemed the bearded man had fetched the teardrop-shaped key, but in the next moment, he suddenly denied the request, saying, "No, I can't unlock it for you."

Before Jie Lin Yuan could respond, Zhao, the team leader, stepped forward anxiously asking, "Why, why won't you unlock it?"

"Old Zhao," the bearded man said solemnly, "the key's analysis shows that the contamination level in Z has reached 92%. I can't take the risk of unlocking it now."

"What do you mean, afraid he'll go berserk?" Zhao was so angry he nearly used Jie Lin Yuan's neck as a microphone to vent, "Isn't that thing hanging around your neck supposed to force a shutdown? Just let him deal with these people and then shut him down."

"Old Zhao..." the bearded man hesitated, then explained helplessly, "In a contaminated state, the mechanical god of war can't be remotely shut down. Moreover, its aggressiveness becomes extreme, actively tracking and attacking humans, with combat strength comparable to nearly a hundred mutated beings. The chaos can last three to four days, causing us unpredictable losses. If that happens, we can only order Z to self-destruct through the supreme command of the leader. The northern survivors warned us repeatedly about this when we traded, insisting we never unlock it once the contamination reaches 90%. Z is a valuable asset to our shelter; I can't take such a risk."

Zhao opened his mouth to speak, then fell silent.

Taking a deep breath, the bearded man said, "Hide well, we're coming over."

Before ending the communication, Jie Lin Yuan hurriedly added, "But Commander, what about Xiao Liu and Ah Jiu..." He quickly moved behind the curtains, aligning his left eye with the distant scene.

The flickering red dot diligently transmitted the real-time surveillance footage to the bearded man's hand. In just a few minutes, their team members were brutally beaten on the ground with bricks. Their faces were unrecognizable, one with an unnaturally twisted right leg, the other with both arms limply hanging, obviously broken by a steel rod.

The robbers, having suffered heavy losses in the battle with the vanguard, vented all their rage on these two captives. They weren't seeking information or plotting anything, just purely unleashing violence in the most brutal and fierce manner.

Initially, there were pleas and screams of agony, but gradually, on the ground...

Xin Rong glanced and couldn't bear to watch anymore, her body trembling uncontrollably. For some reason, she suddenly turned and threw herself into Palmer's arms, clinging tightly to his arm, burying her head and shivering.

Wu Yin, deep in sleep, was bewildered.

"Commander, please, I beg for the unlock," Jie Linyuan's voice trembled with earnest sincerity, "Just give me five minutes, no, three minutes will suffice."

The bearded man was silent for a long while before responding, not as calm as before, "Z, I understand how you feel, but rules are rules. Your current mission is to protect Professor Palmer and Captain Zhao until we arrive..."

"Commander! I can't stand by and watch my comrades get beaten to death in front of me," Jie Linyuan roared emotionally, "You only need to unlock me for two minutes, and I can save them."

"Stay calm, Z," the bearded man coldly interrupted, "Follow orders."

After saying that, the bearded man decisively ended the call.

Jie Linyuan clenched his fists, veins throbbing on the back of his hands, tearing a hole in the curtains.

Zhao, a military man before the apocalypse and now a team leader, was easily moved by such genuine camaraderie. He couldn't help but empathize with Z1932, patting his shoulder sentimentally.

Wu Yin was speechless, having experienced unwanted advances from Palmer while in Wu Xiaohu's body and now from a woman while in Palmer's body. Unable to sleep, he irritably pushed Xin Rong away and slowly stood up leaning against the wall.

Jie Linyuan furrowed his brows in thought for a few seconds before suddenly looking up, "Hide here well. The vanguard team has my current location. You just need to be careful not to be discovered and wait for rescue. I'm going to see if I can save them."

"Alone?" Zhao was surprised.

"Alone," Jie Linyuan quickly checked his equipment, ready to act.

"Z," Zhao didn't stop him but passed his last weapon with a spirited gesture, "Only two bullets left, but it's better than nothing. Save them if you can, but don't force it... I never thought a half-mechanical test subject raised in a science academy could be more sentimental and loyal than most humans."

Jie Linyuan accepted the handgun without saying much, just nodded at Zhao, then quickly left the room, closing the door behind him.

As he turned, the sincerity and bravery on his face for his teammates instantly turned to cold and sinister determination, with twisted black veins branching into thin capillaries, creating eerie and malicious patterns across his face like cracked, dry earth.

"Damn it…" He cursed silently, his military boots stepping over the moldy wooden floor, descending the stairs step by step.

Suddenly, Jie Linyuan felt resistance from behind, something tugging at his clothes. Almost reflexively, he moved to counterattack but withdrew his force the moment he saw who it was, changing his fierce attack into a grip, seizing the wrist of the foolhardy hand that had grabbed him.

The cold and thin expression dissolved into a gentle smile: "Professor Palmer, what are you doing here?"

Palmer's face emerged under the moonlight, divided by the bridge of his nose: half hidden in shadow, the other half expressionlessly watching him. Being expressionless is Wu Yin's most comfortable state; managing those subtle facial changes was always energetically taxing for him.

"Jie Linyuan," he called out softly, almost like a whisper shared between lovers.

Jie Linyuan looked up to see Palmer standing a step higher, one hand resting on the railing, leaning in close to whisper, "I've said, I don't want to die…"

"So, you better behave."