Chapter 124 – Life-and-Death Marathon (15)
◎ Braided Head’s Self-Perception ◎
The deep grey SUV drove through the open fields, gradually approaching the roaring waves of the riverbank. In front of Song Ke and the others appeared the only passage into the Haimen urban area—a magnificent bridge soaring over the river like a flying rainbow.
The entire bridge was divided into two levels. The upper level delineated lanes for floating vehicles, starships, and other suspended tools with neon signal lights. The lower level consisted of eight lanes for regular vehicles, spanning over 1.5 kilometers. From a distance, it looked like a giant dragon lying horizontally, forming the most critical lifeline in Haimen.
Lu Xiaoyu turned the steering wheel, preparing to enter the lower-level lanes. However, before reaching the bridge toll booth, the stationed sentry signaled for an immediate stop. Rows of jet-black heavy machine guns stood ready, their elongated magazines hanging from mounts, emitting a silent but intimidating presence.
“Wow, so cool.” Xu Xing leaned halfway out of the window, admiringly exclaiming.
Generally, most boys were fascinated by firearms. Xu Xing mimicked the action of firing a machine gun, making “pew-pew-pew” sounds, thoroughly enjoying himself. The sentries all simultaneously turned their gun barrels toward their SUV.
Song Ke and Xu Xing immediately raised their hands, while Lu Xiaoyu whistled and impeccably lifted his six mechanical arms.
The sentries tensed up, ready to act against the perceived threat, about to pull the trigger—
“Don’t misunderstand, we’re… competitors!” Song Ke frantically attempted to press down Lu Xiaoyu’s claw. Just as she managed to press it down, it popped up again. Frustrated, Song Ke smacked his head, finally calming him down.
A drone, displaying the logo of the Throne Race Competition, hovered above the SUV. The sentries remained vigilant, shouting loudly, “Stop immediately and undergo inspection!”
Lu Xiaoyu stopped playing around and obediently pressed the brake. The diligent sentries conducted a thorough search and interrogation for a full fifteen minutes. Only after confirming repeatedly with the city hall were they allowed to proceed. As they distanced themselves from the checkpoint, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
“Hell’s Scythe,” Zhuang Qingyan murmured softly, “good stuff.”
“What’s that?” The people in the car wore confused expressions.
Zhuang Qingyan pointed to the neatly arranged heavy machine guns outside the car window, saying, “These guns are produced in Mu City. They fire an average of 1,500 bullets per minute, with a precise shooting range of 1 kilometer and a maximum range of 5 kilometers. They can sustain heavy firepower against distant targets.”
“The production line for Hell’s Scythe was bought out long ago, exclusively for the Northern Base. It seems Haimen has done thorough preparation,” Lu Xiaoyu murmured disdainfully.
“They’re really wealthy…” Song Ke was once again astonished by the wealth of the people in Haimen.
District D had no access restrictions. V587, amidst the unwelcoming gazes of the sentries along the way, crossed the river and approached three heavily fortified lines of defense.
Brick walls with high-voltage electric fences stood tall under the sky, safeguarding the people of Haimen in their haven amidst the apocalypse. Outside the walls, everything was meticulously cleared, with no wandering zombies or mutated beasts in sight.
Upon entering each defense line, armed sentries rushed out to inspect them, “escorting” them with the presence of their numerous gun barrels.
“Creak…” The heavy iron gate slowly lifted, and the SUV carrying seven people entered the urban area of Haimen amid the swirling dust.
Because they took a shortcut, V587 was the first team to arrive in Haimen.
Lin Youyou supported her chin, sighing, “I believe, with everything fortified like this, even the Zombie King wouldn’t be able to break in. It’s practically impregnable!”
“Maybe not,” Zhuang Qingyan lightly tapped his fingertip, offering a faint response.
“…Huh? What else could it possibly do?” Lin Youyou’s accent gradually mimicked the locals of Haimen.
Zhuang Qingyan didn’t answer but instead a familiar villain smile appeared on his face.
“If you were the Zombie King, how would you attack Haimen?”
“Whoa, that’s a twisted ‘what if’!” At first, they strongly disapproved verbally, but then they eagerly started discussing.
Xu Xing enthusiastically raised his hand, “I’d freeze the river surface!”
Zhuang Qingyan replied, “With a river this wide and your limited awakened energy, you couldn’t even fill its gaps.”
Xu Xing wilted.
Lu Xiaoyu lifted his chin lightly, “I could enter openly.”
He had just observed that the defense line had two opening modes: automatic and manual. With a mere movement of his finger, the iron gate would open for him.
“Hmm, you might get in, but I bet those sentries have been eagerly waiting for you, ready to turn you into a hornet’s nest with smiles,” Zhuang Qingyan nodded.
Lu Xiaoyu: “…”
It was Su Cha’s turn. He said hesitantly, “I could sneak in… hopefully without being noticed.”
“If you can sneak in alone, what about your zombie subordinates?” Lin Youyou chuckled softly behind her hand, countering faster than Zhuang Qingyan, “Plus, who leads a charge among the undead?”
Fang Zhixu shook his head directly, “Don’t ask me, I have no idea.”
“What about the captain?” Lu Xiaoyu asked.
“Well, I’m still thinking,” Song Ke wore a serious expression, although her mind was blank, unable to come up with any solution.
“Once again, our captain remains calm, never speaking without thought,” Zhuang Qingyan praised, utterly devoid of principles.
Others: “…Flatterer.”
“What’s your plan, then?” Xu Xing retorted indignantly.
The carriage jostled slightly, and Zhuang Qingyan looked at the rearview mirror. At the final iron gate, several large food airdrop containers were being stopped by the sentries, who opened and scanned them top to bottom with life detectors, finding no traces of anything amiss.
Zhuang Qingyan’s voice was low, “If I were the Zombie King… I’d tell the people of Haimen one thing: ‘Darkness under the lamp.'”
V587: “What’s with the riddles again?”
Even after the SUV had been driving for a while, his gaze remained fixed in the direction of the iron gate.
“What are you thinking?” Song Ke leaned over and asked.
“Thinking about a classic battle from ancient times,” Zhuang Qingyan spoke somberly, “The Trojan War.”
…
They spent nearly two hours searching in Haimen, but the check-in point was nowhere to be found, making it clear it hadn’t appeared yet.
The sky had darkened completely, pedestrian traffic on the streets had decreased, and V587 was clueless and at a loss.
Suddenly, Xu Xing rubbed his eyes in disbelief and pointed outside, murmuring, “Braided Head?”
Across the street, a relaxed figure was leisurely strolling around. It would lean against shop windows for a moment, then glance at a garden, and when tired, it knew to sit on a bench to rest.
“Capture it,” Zhuang Qingyan said coldly.
Song Ke and Su Cha opened the car doors and dashed across the street like lightning.
The Braided Head visibly startled, jumped in place, and tried to flee. However, its speed couldn’t match that of two top-tier awakeners. Song Ke leaped high from the roof of the car, diving and forcefully tackling it to the ground!
The Braided Head struggled and its hat fell off, revealing most of its scarf. The clear lines of decay were visible on its profile. It twisted to bite Song Ke, but before it could, Su Cha grabbed something from a nearby garbage truck and stuffed it into its mouth.
Coincidentally, it was a used diaper.
The Braided Head froze instantly, abandoning resistance. Its throat convulsed, exhibiting a look of pure disgust as if it had been sickened.
Its expression was incredibly vivid, barely any different from that of a human. Zhuang Qingyan silently stared at it.
Xu Xing jumped out of the car, hesitatingly approaching Braided Head’s side.
Encountering a zombie within the heavily fortified city, a normal person’s initial reaction would definitely be to kill it.
The commotion had already attracted the attention of passersby, and patrolling sentries were approaching.
Zhuang Qingyan lowered his voice, “Take it away.”
Song Ke lifted Braided Head with one hand and tossed it into the car, and the SUV sped away.
The faithful drone captured everything, causing an explosion of comments from viewers watching the live stream from Ferrara.
“Oh my god! Is that a zombie? If I’m not blind, that’s definitely a zombie!”
“You’re not blind, that’s indeed a zombie.”
“Can someone tell me why there’s a zombie in Haimen’s urban area? Are the sentries just for show? Ah!!”
“Does anyone have the contact information for Haimen’s city hall? Alert them quickly!”
Ferrara Hotel.
He Qiuhong’s gaze intensified, and the lines around her nose deepened suddenly. Without hesitation, she initiated a communication.
“Captain Yin Xiao, I’d like to request the ‘Tustan’ team to fulfill a personal task of mine.”
“Commander He, if I remember correctly, I am currently enjoying my hard-earned break—pe—riod,” Yin Xiao drawled leisurely, elongating his tone. “Are you openly asking me to work overtime? Will there be overtime pay?”
Ignoring his impertinence, He Qiuhong calmly said, “I’m asking you to immediately go to District D135 and capture a mutated zombie. I believe Dr. Ning’s research team will find it very interesting.”
“District D135?” Yin Xiao’s lazy tone vanished instantly, replaced by a hint of surprise. “I happen to be watching the Throne Race Competition; are you referring to Song—cough, I mean, the team V587 in Haimen.”
“That’s right. I want you to capture the zombie alive before they kill it.”
“Well, overtime is possible, as long as you remember to pay triple the commission fee,” Yin Xiao strangely changed his tune, agreeing quite readily.
“Thank you for your hard work.”
*
The SUV stopped at an abandoned factory, and the bound Braided Head was thrown to the ground.
It tried to run, but its limbs were tightly bound. It stumbled after just a couple of steps and fell flat.
A metal wheelchair rolled slowly in front of it. Zhuang Qingyan observed it with lowered eyes, appearing like an unfeeling deity capable of deciding its life or death at any moment.
Feeling threatened, Braided Head let out a hoarse roar from deep in its throat, baring its teeth viciously at Zhuang Qingyan. Its pointed teeth weren’t as sharp as other zombies’, resembling underdeveloped canine teeth.
“Shut your mouth, or I’ll pull out all your teeth,” Zhuang Qingyan threatened.
“!!” Braided Head whimpered and surprisingly shut its mouth obediently.
“It… it understands!” Fang Zhixu exclaimed in surprise, assuming that the fallen had only retained consciousness, never expecting it to communicate with humans.
Zhuang Qingyan asked in a low voice, “You understand what we’re saying, right?”
Braided Head hesitated for two seconds and reluctantly nodded.
“Why did you infiltrate Haimen?”
“Ah… ah…” Braided Head tilted its head back and let out a couple of random shouts.
Zhuang Qingyan: “Untie its hands.”
Su Cha cut the ropes with a dagger, freeing Braided Head, whose stiff fingers clumsily drew an unfamiliar pattern in the sand.
V587 was utterly baffled—what kind of bizarre symbol was this? Even if it understood, could it not communicate?
With hands behind his back, Xu Xing circled the pattern twice and suddenly exclaimed, “I got it! This is the Zombie King!”
“Ah! Ah!” Braided Head exclaimed excitedly.
“Xiao Xing, how did you figure it out?” Song Ke humbly asked.
“These are wings, and these are blood vessels, quite easy to recognize,” Xu Xing explained confidently, pointing at the dark and intricate drawing.
“…,” Everyone was speechless. How did they not recognize it?
“Are you saying you were sent by the Zombie King?” Zhuang Qingyan shifted the conversation, “Apart from you, how many similar zombies have entered?”
Braided Head’s grey eyes moved slowly, seemingly surprised that Zhuang Qingyan knew it had companions.
Like a child caught in wrongdoing, it sneakily glanced at Zhuang Qingyan, then lowered its head, pretending to “think,” before starting to draw little figures in the sand—one after another, row after row, quickly filling two lines and not stopping.
“It says there are many more,” Xu Xing blinked, taking the role of the zombie language interpreter seriously.
“…Thank you for making that clear.”
Zhuang Qingyan’s eyes grew colder, “Was your mission to open the three iron gates from inside?”
Braided Head’s drawing paused abruptly, as if hitting a wall.
Zhuang Qingyan pressed on, “Why didn’t you act together with your companions?”
When V587 captured Braided Head, it behaved like someone taking a leisurely stroll, as if casually roaming the streets without any sense of carrying a heavy burden.
Braided Head struggled, scratching the ground with its fingers for a while. Eventually, it sluggishly drew a vertical dividing line. On the left side, it drew a cluster of unknown symbols, and on the right side, another set of these symbols.
Everyone looked to Xu Xing, waiting for his translation.
Even Xu Xing found himself a little puzzled this time. He crouched down, studying it for a while.
Braided Head enthusiastically explained to him, “Ah—ahh—ahh.”
Xu Xing nodded and pointed confidently at the left side, “This is you.”
Braided Head exclaimed, “Ah!”
It quickly added a few strokes on the right side, connecting a line to the earlier drawing of the ‘Zombie King.’
Xu Xing continued, “This is the bad side of you.”
Braided Head exclaimed again, “Ah!”
Zhuang Qingyan looked at the strange pile of symbols on the ground, a hint of a smile on his lips. “You want to tell us that the Fallen are divided into two factions. One identifies with its former existence as a human and doesn’t want to be involved in conflicts. The other has completely sided with the Zombie King, willingly becoming its followers. Is that right?”
Braided Head nodded happily, its stiff neck making crackling sounds.
Zhuang Qingyan slowed down his speech, “Oh? So, which side do you belong to?”
This time, Braided Head hesitated for a very long time.
Carefully, it lifted its finger and slowly drew a line, connecting the ‘good self’ to Xu Xing’s feet.
