Chapter 2 Rebirth

Chapter 2 Rebirth

After the two silent psychics opened the stone door, the ten people behind them wore various expressions, clearly unaware that such a large secret space was hidden behind the hospital.

"Tsk tsk, can you believe it? We've been on duty here for so long, and we never knew there was a secret room here." The words came from a fat man next to Shenchi. He wasn't asking anyone in particular but still scanned the group, spotting a couple of familiar faces.

Just as the fat man was about to get closer for a look, the stone door opened, and the group started moving again.

No one dared to answer the fat man's question. They had managed to stay in their positions by keeping their mouths shut, even if they had complaints, they wouldn't voice them in front of the psychics.

The surroundings fell silent, and the fat man felt his face flush with embarrassment. His cousin was not only a powerful fire psychic but also a close advisor to the leader. Most psychics would try to curry favor with him.

He naturally considered himself above these people, usually commanding attention, but now everyone was quiet out of fear of the two psychics, which diminished his standing.

The fat man was furious but didn't dare to challenge the psychics directly.

The two psychics at the front exchanged glances and sneered.

As Shenchi watched the others pass through the stone door, he stumbled and fell at the fat man's feet.

"Damn it, looking for death!" The fat man turned around and kicked Shenchi, who was lying on the ground—

Shenchi, thin and frail, flew like a leaf against the wall and then crashed heavily to the ground, curling up in pain and coughing violently, as if trying to expel his organs.

The fat man felt vindicated, and perhaps one kick wasn't enough, so he walked over and poked Shenchi with the gun in his hand.

"Cough! Stop coughing... stop hitting me! Stop hitting me!" Shenchi curled up, covering his head, but he had no strength and could only run in circles around the fat man.

The other guards laughed at the spectacle until they noticed the psychics' displeased expressions and abruptly stopped.

The fat man, basking in his moment of triumph, suddenly heard a hand grab the gun barrel. Startled, he saw Shenchi use the leverage to stand up, snatch the gun, and fire into the crowd before hiding behind a pillar to dodge the bullets coming from behind and running in the opposite direction.

Humiliated by losing his gun, the fat man grabbed a gun from a companion and chased after Shenchi.

Behind them, the ropes binding the people were cut by the bullets and fell to the ground. A few people with some remaining strength seized the opportunity to grab the guards' guns and start shooting in all directions.

Chaos erupted, and one person managed to escape under the cover of their companions.

A muscular psychic cursed and ignited a flame in his palm, but his earpiece beeped twice, followed by his teammate's voice.

"Damn these damned lab rats!" the psychic with braids asked the muscular man after killing a few people, "What did they say?"

"It's started. Retreat!" the muscular man said, firing several shots indiscriminately at the remaining people.

Seeing the indiscriminate killing of both lab rats and their own, the psychic with braids understood and began attacking those around him. The accomplices fell before they could react.

The psychic with braids wanted to chase the escaped ones, but the muscular man stopped him, "Don't chase them; they won't survive even if they run back. We don't have time. Let's go!"

"Bang!"

The heavy iron door slammed against the wall, and Shenchi appeared at the entrance, facing a room full of cages and zombies inside. The previously quiet zombies roared at Shenchi's appearance.

Shenchi closed the door and retreated.

"Beep... beep..." a sound kept ringing incessantly. Shenchi knew it was a timer, a death knell.

"Bang!" Shenchi pushed open the next door, revealing various laboratory equipment.

Close the door, retreat.

"Beep... beep..."

"Bang!" An autopsy room.

Close the door, retreat...

"Beep... beep..."

"Bang!" An operating table.

Close the door, retreat...

Shenchi repeated this mechanical action, knowing that leaving was the wisest choice, but a deep-seated attachment pulled him back.

"Beep... beep..."

Time was running out.

Shenchi looked down the corridor, his heart pounding. There were only two rooms left.

He stood before the second-to-last frosted glass door, panting heavily, his fingers tightly gripping the front of his hospital gown. Hesitantly, he pushed the door open.

Behind the door was a screen.

Shenchi moved past it, seeing rows of display cabinets, shattered glass, and torn documents scattered on the floor. The cabinets contained transparent jars filled with specimens like chunks of flesh, tissue samples, and insect and animal corpses, each labeled with a number and marked with a red cross.

Shenchi's pupils constricted as his gaze fixed on a massive transparent glass sphere.

It was a sphere with a diameter of two meters.

Shenchi approached step by step, and the scene inside became clearer—a partially formed fetus floating in murky liquid, curled up silently.

As Jiang Zhendong and the others left, the zombies outside finally broke through the last line of defense and surged into the city, filling it with the sounds of frenzied biting and desperate human struggles.

A piercing scream of rage and sorrow echoed beyond the city walls, followed by a car speeding out of the city.

A woman lying on the ground, being devoured by zombies, stared at the car heading towards the city gate and laughed, her half-eaten face twitching uncontrollably, "Run... run away... Ha, wolves ahead, tigers behind... Ha... fly as fast as you want... ha, what does it matter—"

Her mouth was bitten, her throat torn by claws, and the spurting blood made the zombies even more frenzied.

Up ahead, the sedan turned two streets and slowly came to a stop.

The car window rolled down, and a gun barrel extended from the window. "Bang!" Twelve ice arrows whistled out simultaneously. Two of them pierced through the pineal glands of zombies and then with another "plop," embedded themselves in the foreheads of the zombies behind, causing them to fall.

Shenchi aimed at the zombies, shooting continuously. Although he hit many with each volley of twelve ice arrows, he could not stop the relentless waves of zombies. He had no choice; the car was out of gas.

A "click" signaled an empty shot.

Shenchi paused as he prepared to embed a crystal core. The energy gun in his hand turned to ash and scattered through his fingers.

Shenchi looked at the surrounding horde of zombies and then raised his head toward the vehicles disappearing over the hill.

He pulled back, carefully picking up the bundle wrapped in white cloth from the passenger seat. In the process, he revealed a swollen infant's face, the baby's fan-shaped eyelashes drooping lifelessly over closed eyelids, devoid of any sign of life.

Shenchi gently brushed his cheek against the baby's cold little face and whispered softly, "Child, we'll meet again in the next life."

As he spoke, he opened the sunroof and stood up with the baby. Behind him, the research lab exploded with a loud boom, the shockwaves continuing one after another. Shenchi paid no attention, his gaze fixed on a protected SUV in the distance, slowly raising his hand—

"Boom—!!"

On the mountain, a fire dragon rushed over at lightning speed. Inside the car, Shen Tian thought he must be seeing things, but then watched in horror as the fire dragon opened its gaping maw toward him!

Shen Tian's breath caught, and his heart skipped a beat!

Yet, the fire dragon transformed into specks of light, gradually dissipating in the wind...

Shenchi's eyes darkened.

—"Bang!!!!"

In the dimly lit bedroom, a gentle breeze blew through the heavy curtains. The floor was littered with beer bottles, clothes scattered everywhere, and a crumpled blanket. A man sitting on the bed had flushed cheeks, a scruffy beard, and half-closed eyes, half-asleep.

The curtain at the foot of the bed fluttered slightly in the breeze. As it lifted, a flash of light from outside caused the man on the bed to suddenly grab a nearby bottle and hurl it at the window. He then rolled off the bed, landed, and tried to move towards the corner but stumbled and fell like a leaf to the ground.

A few seconds later, the body on the floor curled up. Shenchi clutched his stomach, his head throbbing painfully, yet still writhing to hide in the corner.

After a while, the pain subsided.

Then, hurried footsteps approached from outside the door. Shenchi, startled, grabbed a bottle near his feet and quickly positioned himself behind the door.

"Damn it! Open the door! Do you think hiding will solve anything? If you don't open the door, I'll make sure your parents won't recognize you!"

"Hey, Zilong, calm down. Xiao Chi wouldn't do something like this intentionally..."

"Get lost, Mom. This is none of your business. Go get some food for my friends!"

"Hey, don't push me, you kids!"

"That's right, Brother Long. We need to teach him a lesson..."

Standing by the door, Shenchi listened to the constant cursing outside. The door was being pounded, making the windows rattle. As he gathered his thoughts, his eyes quickly scanned the room, and he was stunned into a momentary breathlessness.

In the less than thirty square meter room, there was a bedroom, a bathroom, and a kitchen. The kitchen was tiny, barely three square meters, with just a few utensils. The bathroom door was half-open, revealing only a small ceramic basin. The bedroom contained a 1.5-meter wooden bed, a dining table, and a computer desk, nothing more.

However, Shenchi found everything absurd. The second-hand laptop bought in his sophomore year, the wooden wardrobe from a flea market, the rooster alarm clock purchased for five yuan with daily necessities, and the full-length mirror bought after work now stood quietly in the corner, reflecting the face of a pale man with a mole on his nose.