Chapter 123 - 98: Core Area

Chapter 123: Chapter 98: Core Area

Scrambling into the bright sanctuary cast by the searchlights, many collapsed straight to the ground, gasping for air. Their faces were a mixture of rain, sweat, and the blank daze of having survived the ordeal. However, after a brief moment of relief, a new, more subtle and heavy atmosphere began to spread.

Almost without prompting, everyone’s gaze fell upon the two companions who had been injured in the attack. They were invisibly isolated at the edge of the crowd. The others subconsciously kept their distance, their eyes filled with a complex mix of emotions: concern and sympathy, but mostly, an unconcealable wariness and fear.

One of the two injured survivors had been hurt on the arm, the other on the shoulder. While the wounds weren’t deep, dark red blood was still seeping out, staining their clothes.

With pale faces, the two leaned against a discarded tire, feeling the strange looks from the others. Their expressions were full of bitterness and despair. They knew better than anyone what a zombie scratch meant in this apocalypse. It was practically a death sentence, just with a short reprieve.

The on-site commander, Second Lieutenant Wang Lei, took it all in. His brow was furrowed, and his sharp gaze swept over the two wounded men. Without a moment’s hesitation, he waved to two soldiers at his side and said in a low, firm voice, "Restrain them."

Two soldiers immediately stepped forward. Their movements were swift but not rough as they used plastic zip ties to bind the wounded men’s hands and feet. The two didn’t resist, merely closing their eyes in silent resignation, as if they had already accepted their fate.

After dealing with the injured, Second Lieutenant Wang Lei moved to a slightly elevated position. His gaze swept over the crowd, who were still reeling from the shock, and his voice boomed out, loud and steady, in an attempt to quell the rising panic.

"Listen up. I’m the on-site commander, Wang Lei. Due to a sudden, unknown threat, the planned perimeter-clearing mission is terminated, effective immediately."

He paused to let the information sink in, then continued, "Right now, you have two options!"

"First, you can hold your ground here and wait to rendezvous with our main force at dawn. You’ll be assigned new, low-risk auxiliary tasks, and the reward will be fifty percent higher than the original."

"Second, you can consider the mission complete and settle for the base reward. Tomorrow, during the day, we will arrange vehicles to escort anyone who chooses to return to Jiang City."

Presented with this choice, there was almost no hesitation. Over eighty percent of the Scavengers, including the temporary squads, unhesitatingly chose the second option.

For them, last night’s encounter had been horrifying enough. The image of the strange, green zombie and their companion being killed in an instant was seared into their minds. No one wanted to spend another second in this godforsaken place.

A higher reward was useless if you weren’t alive to collect it. Returning to the relative safety of Jiang City as soon as possible was the most instinctive choice.

Xu Mo, standing in the crowd, thought for a moment before choosing the first option: to stay.

His reasoning was practical. The battle in the core zone had clearly taken an unexpected turn, to the point that even the outer perimeter was being hit by unknown zombies. In this chaotic situation, splitting up to escort a large group of survivors, all desperate to get home, back to Jiang City would undoubtedly stretch their already thin forces. Who could guarantee they wouldn’t face an even fiercer attack on the way back?

In contrast, staying with the main force, despite the potential for unknown risks, at least meant having the backing of Jiang City’s strongest military power. Besides, just as Wang Lei had said, those who stayed would likely be assigned some relatively safe, "milk-run" tasks—low-risk, with even higher pay.

Just as everyone had made their choices and the atmosphere had begun to ease slightly—

ROAR—!!

A low, guttural roar, completely inhuman, erupted from the edge of the crowd.

All eyes snapped to the source. The two bound, injured men had begun to convulse violently. Their once-pale complexions rapidly turned a deathly gray-blue. Veins bulged on their foreheads and necks, writhing like twisted earthworms. Their eyes grew cloudy, devoid of all light, leaving only a beast-like madness and bloodlust. With heads bowed, they let out a continuous stream of unintelligible, horrifying gurgles from their throats, struggling desperately against their bonds.

Xu Mo was surprised. He hadn’t expected their zombification to be so fast.

BANG! BANG!

The instant the transformation began, the two soldiers standing guard—their rifle muzzles pointed slightly down but their focus absolute—raised their weapons, aimed, and fired without hesitation.

After two clean, sharp gunshots, the unsettling roars and struggles came to an abrupt halt.

The two survivors, who had been their companions just moments ago, were now cold corpses, each with a gruesome bullet hole in their forehead.

The soldiers, their faces blank, lowered their rifles and silently returned to their posts, as if they had just performed some trivial task. But the area fell into a dead silence.

Many people stared at the two rapidly cooling corpses, an unspeakable sorrow in their eyes. They may not have known the two men, but there was a shared grief for their own kind—a chilling reminder of their own precarious existence.

Just a short while ago, they had been the same as everyone else: people struggling to survive, who had come here hoping to earn Contribution Points and build a better life. Yet in the blink of an eye, a single accidental injury had led to this. This was the cruelty of the apocalypse. Death was an ever-present shadow, and fate was chillingly fickle. Their sorrow was partly for the dead, but it was also a silent terror for their own bleak futures.