Chapter 99: Leaving Luo City Base

Chapter 99 Leaving Luoshi Base

If he hadn’t turned into a zombie, Du Ruanlan would never have left the isolation room. To protect Luoshi Base, he chose to fight the Psychic Zombie King to mutual destruction rather than evade the attack when he could have.

Someone like him would never wander around the base, becoming its most unstable factor, knowing he could turn into a zombie at any moment.

"Notify everyone immediately to check all surveillance in the base. We must find Du Ruanlan," Commander-in-Chief Gu ordered at once.

No one should mistake Du Ruanlan for a coward just because he perished alongside the Psychic Zombie King. Commander-in-Chief Gu knew Du Ruanlan’s strength—he was a man whose combat prowess matched his own.

He hadn’t lost to the Psychic Zombie King. That day, he could have dodged the attack, but he feared that if he did, the Psychic Zombie King would seize the chance to slip away and lurk within Luoshi Base, eventually destroying it.

Now that Du Ruanlan had turned into a zombie, though a Superpowered Crystal Core would vanish and a Zombie Core would emerge in its place, a strong person like him would likely remain formidable even as a zombie.

A zombie Du Ruanlan would undoubtedly be an even more terrifying existence than the Psychic Zombie King.

"Commander-in-Chief Gu, we’ve found him! Ex-Commander Du Ruanlan has led a group of zombies to the city wall!"

Both Owen and Jiang Fuzhong’s expressions changed instantly. The city wall was Luoshi Base’s first and strongest defense. If the gates were opened, the consequences would be unimaginable.

"To the city wall!" Commander-in-Chief Gu led dozens of superpowered individuals toward the wall in force.

When they arrived, the wall was eerily quiet, as if deserted—no guards anywhere. Owen’s face was now pale as a ghost.

Jiang Fuzhong insisted, "No! The boss would never harm anyone. He gave his life to protect everyone in Luoshi Base—how could he harm the people here?"

Though He Tao deeply admired Du Ruanlan’s spirit of sacrifice, he had to say, "This has nothing to do with what kind of person Commander Du was in life. Once turned into a zombie, one loses all memories. Even if their own parents, children, or partners stood before them, they could kill without hesitation."

"No! The boss would never!" Jiang Fuzhong roared, tears streaming unnoticed down his face.

Ji An patted He Tao’s shoulder, gesturing for him to stop. Everyone understood the logic, but humans weren’t always creatures of reason—sometimes, they were driven by emotion.

The group quickened their pace and finally found people in the guardhouse.

Inside the small guard post, many lay haphazardly on the ground. Ji An and the others immediately checked their conditions and found that all the superpowered individuals were still breathing, with no external injuries—they were merely unconscious.

Jiang Fuzhong exclaimed joyfully, "I told you the boss wouldn’t kill anyone! See? He didn’t! These people were just knocked out temporarily—no injuries at all!"

His elation was as if it were his own victory, but no one blamed him. Everyone understood how he felt.

Owen also breathed a sigh of relief. If Du Ruanlan had truly killed people in the base after turning into a zombie, she couldn’t imagine how he’d feel if he ever woke up.

Among the group was a healing superpowered individual, who used a touch of their ability to wake the unconscious.

"Did you see Du Ruanlan? What happened?" Commander-in-Chief Gu asked.

The revived superpowered individuals from the guardhouse panicked. "Commander-in-Chief Gu, it’s bad—zombies got in!"

"Calm down and think carefully. Did zombies break in, or were the zombies inside the base trying to get out?" Ji An pressed.

After a moment of thought, the superpowered individuals hesitated. "It looked like they were trying to leave? I remember the zombies came from inside the base. It looked like they wanted to go out?"

Owen cut in. "Was Commander Du among them?"

"Why would Commander Du be with zombies?" one superpowered individual reflexively asked before recalling the recent rumors—that Commander Du had perished alongside a Psychic Zombie King to protect the base.

The superpowered individual’s face paled. Were the rumors true? Had Commander-in-Chief Du turned into a zombie?

When humans became zombies, their bodies withered and dried up. Even their own family might not recognize them.

The superpowered officer carefully recalled the situation in their mind, "There seemed to be one zombie that kept trying to communicate with us, but we couldn't understand zombie language. We thought it wanted to harm us, so we fought back.

That zombie was incredibly strong—it took us down in one strike.

Yet it didn’t take our lives. Thinking back now, that zombie felt disturbingly familiar. Could it have been Commander-in-Chief Gu?"

"It was him, it must have been him!" Owen cried. "What other zombie would leave without hurting a soul?"

Commander-in-Chief Gu said, "I recall there are surveillance cameras in the duty room?"

The superpowered officer replied, "Yes."

"Pull up the footage."

The superpowered officer retrieved the surveillance video, showing a zombie leading dozens of others charging into the duty room. Instead of mindlessly attacking, the zombies fell into formation behind their leader, awaiting commands.

The leading zombie attempted to communicate with the duty officers, but they couldn’t understand it and even launched an attack first. Only then did the leading zombie retaliate—but it merely knocked them unconscious without inflicting harm.

The leading zombie lumbered toward the control panel. It seemed aware of the surveillance camera above, looking up and waving like it knew someone was watching. Then, it extended its long black nails and pressed a button on the console, opening the base’s gates.

The leading zombie led the others out through the gates. Before leaving, it turned back for a long, last look at Luoshi Base, waving its stiff arm as if bidding farewell to someone.

Owen covered his mouth, tears pouring down his face.

"It’s Ruanlan—it’s him. I watched him turn. I recognize his zombie form. That’s him. And only he, even as a zombie, would never harm the people of Luoshi Base." Owen pushed open the command room door. "I’m going to him."

Jiang Fuzhong immediately followed. "I’m coming—that’s our boss out there!"

Ji An looked at Commander-in-Chief Gu. "Let’s tail them. They’re not thinking straight."

"Agreed." Gu Jinsheng prepared to drive Owen in pursuit of Du Ruanlan, but the superpowered individuals from Jingshi Base wasn’t about to let their commander go solo and insisted on joining.

After all, Du Ruanlan had turned into a zombie. No one knew how long his last flicker of humanity would last. If they found him after he had fully zombified, with no recollection left—leading dozens of zombies—Gu Jinsheng’s group of four, two of whom clearly couldn’t bring themselves to harm a zombified Du Ruanlan, would be sitting ducks.

In the end, dozens of superpowered individuals left the base together.

Du Ruanlan and the others had only recently turned, so they moved with that fresh-zombie shuffle. Ji An’s group hadn’t gone far before spotting them.

Gu Jinsheng kept his distance, unsure if Du Ruanlan still had any awareness left, not wanting to spook the horde.

Owen bailed from the car, chasing after them while shouting, "Ruanlan!"

"Deputy Commander Owen, it’s dangerous!" He Tao yelled in concern.

Before He Tao’s words even finished, Jiang Fuzhong also leaped out of the car, running after them and shouting, "Leader! Leader!"

He Tao cursed in frustration. "What’s this underling doing, butting into lover’s business?"

The zombie horde trudged onward. Despite Owen’s loud commotion, none of the zombies stopped to attack.

"Ruanlan, wait!" Owen finally caught up, grabbing the zombie wearing familiar clothes amidst the horde.

The previously calm zombie horde suddenly erupted into chaos the moment Owen seized the leading zombie. Many wheeled on him with gnashing teeth, ready to lunge and tear into him.

There were simply too many—dozens of zombies baring their teeth and growling at Owen. Even in his grief, cold fear shot through him.

The leading zombie immediately snarled at its rowdy horde, emitting a beast-like warning growl. The previously aggressive zombies instantly fell silent, shrinking back.

Though this was an act of protecting Owen, he felt no warmth—only ice in his veins. Only an alpha zombie could command a horde like this. It meant Du Ruanlan was gone—just another monster now.

But Owen's grip on Du Ruanlan's hand remained firm; she refused to let go.

Owen sobbed, "Ruanlan, come back with me. Even if you've turned into a zombie, I'll keep you safe."

Du Ruanlan shook her head and pointed at the zombie horde behind her.

Just then, Jiang Fuzhong ran over. With a choked voice, he called out to the zombie Owen was holding, "Boss!"

That single word—"Boss"—suddenly made everything click for Owen.

Looking at the unrecognizable faces of the zombies but their faintly recognizable clothes, Owen understood everything.

Before turning into a zombie, Du Ruanlan had protected the entire Luo City base. Even after becoming one, she still couldn't bear to abandon the comrades who had turned into zombies alongside her while protecting the base to the end.

"I can take care of them too. It's just a few dozen zombies—a bit of blood won't be a problem. I can afford it. Besides, you have so many resources. Even without me, you could support all these zombies yourself."

Du Ruanlan shook her head again. She made a sound that was a guttural, half-human noise, "..."

Owen stared blankly, suddenly realizing she could no longer understand what Du Ruanlan was saying.

Tears flooded Owen's eyes in that moment—her Du Ruanlan had fully turned into a zombie.

Du Ruanlan raised her hand, wanting to wipe the tears from Owen's face. But just before her fingers could touch Owen's skin, she caught sight of her own long, sharp nails and noticed Owen wasn't wearing a protective suit.

Slowly, Du Ruanlan lowered her hand; she didn't try again to dry Owen's tears.