Chapter 15: 15

When he heard Qin Mo’s words, Shi Qing suppressed the fear in his heart and looked at the final glass cylinder. He observed it carefully and found that he was familiar with the bloody face contained within.

Was this really the runaway experimental subject that just fled? Did he honestly run all the way to this remote location, just to climb into a big glass container? Do you think you can bluff your way out of this if you pretend to be a corpse? Don’t be so naive, zombie.

Wait a minute…Shi Qing suddenly discovered that something was wrong. The experimental subject obviously lost one leg, but at this moment, it seemed like it had grown back?

Was it possible that the experimental subject could repair its body so rapidly? Was that monster hiding that kind of ability?

Shi Qing was apprehensive. The next second, the glass cracked and then shattered completely. It was reminiscent of a sand castle collapsing as the tide rushed in and engulfed it. Tiny shards of glass burst out and rained down like hail; brilliant but dangerous. Qin Mo and Li Su both retreated quickly. They managed to dodge the large pieces of glass debris, but they were still inadvertently wounded, as evidenced by various small, bloody cuts.

Shi Qing’s heart was gloomy. Although the broken glass shards were sharp and hard, in reality they were unable to cause any serious harm. However, the commotion that they created was enough of a distraction for the experimental subject to escape.

Shi Qing anticipated that Qin Mo would not be careless. He watched as the man quickly raised his hand and fired off a shot at the fast-moving figure without hesitation.

The bullets tore through the air that was filled with the shimmer of shattered glass debris, homing in on the experimental subject that was desperately trying to escape.

The speed of the experimental subject was indeed excessive. Even though it only had a few thousandths of a second to react, it managed to leap before the bullet struck. It escaped a fatal injury because of that movement, and the bullet struck it in the calf.

For regular humans, a calf injury would greatly reduce their mobility, but the experimental subject did not have any such detriment. Its speed did not diminish; it seemed like there was no injury at all.

Qin Mo clearly saw the outcome, but he was not worried at all. He fired off several more shots and a maniacal smile slowly bloomed on his face.

In the system space, Qin Mo did not purchase many bullets, but he spent a lot of money to buy several exploding bullets. As long as they were shot into the body, they would cause an explosion from the inside. The zombies did not know pain, so that could not be a limiting factor. However, if the lower half of its body were to disappear, how could it go anywhere?

Bang…

The explosion of the bullets resulted in the spread of flames. The strong scent of smoke blended with the acrid odour of blood and gunpowder. The overall smell was extremely pungent and the scene that accompanied it was very disturbing to look at directly.

By this time, the timid Shi Qing had already redirected his line of sight away from the horrible scene. With this shift, he unexpectedly glimpsed Leng Lin jump down from the tunnel entrance.

Leng Lin stared at the experimental subject with a soft look in his eyes. Perhaps because he assumed that no one saw him, his eyes shifted to display a look of intense wrath. It almost appeared as if his pupils had ignited and become red hot. He clenched his fists tightly, as if he was trying to suppress his emotions. By the next moment, he had calmed down and wore his usual calm, serious look.

His demeanor changed very quickly. His initial reaction was so fleeting that Shi Qing almost questioned whether he had seen an illusion due to vague and unclear vision.

And this time, Leng Lin said, “Great, you guys are really good!”

Li Su immediately turned to look at him.

Qin Mo just hazarded a glance in his direction and then went straight to the experimental subject that had fallen to the ground. This time, he did not destroy it humanely. Instead, he looked at it carefully. It was as if he found something interesting and he looked almost as if he was entranced.

Shi Qing continued to contemplate the scene he just witnessed. He could not figure it out—it was impossible that it was an illusion. What was going on with Leng Lin? Why was he so angry? And why was he trying to cover it up?

Unfortunately, there were outsiders present so Shi Qing could not talk to Qin Mo. Instead, he decided that he would observe Leng Lin for the time being.

Leng Lin frowned as he looked over the experiment subject. He took out a pair of medical grade nitrile gloves, put them on, and started the procedure for extracting antibodies.

Qin Mo stood beside and offered, “Need help?”

“No need.”

Although he was declined, Qin Mo did not leave.

There were special instruments for collecting tissue samples. After the preliminary preparations were completed, there was a bit of a wait. Leng Lin kept looking at the experimental subject, and his serious face displayed little expression.

Qin Mo watched, then suddenly asked,  “After extracting the blood sample, will it die?”

Leng Lin stared at the experimental subject and responded after half the day, “It will.” After he spoke those words, he fell into what seemed like a stunned silence.

Qin Mo looked at him, and then he casually asked, “So, there are only two experimental subjects?”

“Yes,” replied Leng Lin in a monotone voice. In the next moment, he suddenly turned to Qin Mo and stared blankly. The other man was already looking at him, face to face.

Qin Mo looked back at Leng Lin and his dark eyes were deep and unmeasurable. Inside those depths it was like a fierce beast was hiding, temporarily silent. It waited for the prey to reveal its feet, and at this time it would strike to kill.

Leng Lin’s temperament was outstanding. He abruptly broke their eye contact, then calmly said, “That is all the detector shows.”

Qin Mo did not continue to ask questions on that topic. Instead, he resumed speaking by changing subjects and asking, “So will you be able to extract antibodies from the blood serum that you’ve collected?”

Leng Lin remained focused on serum collection as he answered, “There is an eighty percent certainty of success. “

“That…is it contagious? “

Leng Lin’s body suddenly stiffened, he turned his head very slowly, and stared expressionlessly at Qin Mo.

Qin Mo was also staring back at him, then slowly opened his mouth and, carefully enunciating each word, asked, “Well, is it?”

The air seemed like it was frozen. The two men looked at each other and their eyes were each glued to the other.

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Li Su discovered the tense undercurrent between the two men, and observed in puzzlement. He could feel the mercenary’s malice towards Leng Lin, but he did not understand why he would feel that way.

At this time, there was a ‘beep, beep, beep’ sound. The sound originated from the collection instrument and it indicated that the necessary amount of serum had been successfully collected.

A look of joy crossed Leng Lin’s eyes. He ignored Qin Mo and quickly completed the necessary final steps.

Qin Mo suddenly lifted his hands, gripping the desert eagle, and took aim precisely at Leng Lin’s heart.

Leng Lin was forced to stop moving. He stared at Qin Mo without any fear and questioned, “What do you want?”

Li Su was also taken by surprise. Just when he wanted to take action, Qin Mo smiled, and then swiftly shifted the direction he was aiming. His gun was now pointing at the experimental subject laying on the floor. He fired several quick shots at the zombie’s vital areas and eliminated any possibility of revival.

The second experimental subject died.

The mechanical voice only heard in their ears updated their sub-task status, but Shi Qing did not pay any attention to that. He was still staring at Leng Lin, trying to decipher the emotions on his face.

However, Leng Lin’s demeanor did not have the slightest flaw. He did not react to Qin Mo’s actions and remained very calm.

In Shi Qing’s eyes, he was far too serene.

Leng Lin silently gathered up the samples he had collected. By this time the other two soldiers and two mercenaries had come into the room. They saw that the mission was complete and could not help feeling greatly relieved.

Their tasks were finished and they could finally return home.

At this time, Shi Qing finally ceased his observation of Leng Lin and immediately started to worry.

Although the main mission was to escort the serum antibodies back to the base camp, their sub-task had not yet been completed. Of the three experimental subjects, one still remained.

If they departed now, then they would have to abandon the sub-task.

If they did not go, they would not be personally delivering the antibodies back to camp, so did that mean that their mission would be considered a failure?

If they failed their main mission, then it would be pointless to complete the sub-task. Not only would they be denied any rewards, they would actually lose points. As a new system administrator, Shi Qing was well aware of the rules.

Should they actually abandon the sub-task and only complete the main mission? Please, they had already completed two-thirds of the task. Would bonus points just fly over if they clapped their hands?

Unexpectedly, Leng Lin actually spoke up and unwittingly helped Shi Qing and Qin Mo.

Although he spoke as if his hands were tied, he maintained a cool and collected manner as he suggested, “Colonel Li and Mr. Qin, although we have successfully collected the necessary samples, since it is a rare event to come to this experimental base, it would be better to search for some data and bring it back to the camp in order to facilitate the work of the research team.”

Li Su frowned. His task was to bring the serum antibody back safely. Now that it had been collected, in order to avoid accidents, they should immediately withdraw to safety. They should not continue to stay here. In particular…he looked up at Qin Mo and Leng Lin and his keen senses reminded him that there must be something going on between them, and it was definitely not a good thing.

After careful thought, he spoke decisively, “Doctor, although there is no apparent danger here, no one can guarantee it is safe. In the event of a zombie siege, our current supplies and manpower would not be enough to confront it.”

Leng Lin looked over at Qin Mo.

Qin Mo said, “Colonel, you might as well leave first, the doctor will hand it over to me.”

This sentence was almost like a slap in the face for Li Su. He immediately grew nervous. He was a fearless soldier, but he felt a sense of foreboding. In this situation, how could he shrink back as the time for battle approached? Give him the doctor? Are you making fun of me, who just aimed a gun at Leng Lin’s chest? Give it to him? That doctor would not want to hand anything over to someone like that mercenary.

Although Qin Mo’s antagonistic words gave him the impulse to attack, Li Su maintained his reason. Even though he thought that immediate withdrawal was the best choice, when he faced the persistence of Leng Lin and the provocation of Qin Mo, he could not ignore their words.

Instead of carrying on with arguments that led to time delays, it was better to act immediately. They needed to search for any valuable data, bring that out, and take it away. After weighing their options, he finally nodded his consent.

The experimental base was not large. It was about twenty meters long and about ten meters wide. In this space, seven individuals were combing through in order to find anything useful.

When Shi Qing saw this situation, he knew it was a good opportunity. He hinted as much to Qin Mo, so Qin Mo separated slightly from the crowd.

Once they broke away, Shi Qing hurriedly whispered to Qin Mo about his discoveries related to Leng Lin. He especially told him about his behaviour when he thought no one was looking, and the emotions that he inadvertently revealed.

When he had just finished talking, Qin Mo touched him gently,  and said softly, “You did a good job.”

This generous compliment caught Shi Qing off guard for a moment. He ended up feeling pretty embarrassed, but he was still a little proud.

Shi Qing coughed, then pushed down his feelings and continued, “Leng Lin is weird, and you said that it may somehow be related to the experimental subject? I feel he may be familiar with the experimental subject. I imagine that when doing research, he may have known all of the experimental subjects…Well, you said Leng Lin may know where the third experimental subject is?”

Shi Qing felt he was doing some great divergent thinking, and was a bit impressed by his own high IQ! What a powerful deduction—such a great guess.

Seeing that Qin Mo did not stop him there, he continued to extrapolate, “Leng Lin was a scientist involved with research in the year that things went wrong. He must know a lot of insider secrets! These surviving experimental subjects must be the first ones that were created. They are powerful and seem to have control over the other zombies. Ever since that time, their intelligence has certainly increased! Since it is clear that this location is being used as another experimental base, that must mean that one of the experimental subjects is capable of conducting research. They are probably an extraordinary scientist…”

Wait a minute…Shi Qing was suddenly shocked by his own thoughts.

I guess I have been feeling particularly ambitious lately, so I have managed to get more chapters than usual out of my various projects. It’s not sustainable, but I suppose it is good to have these periods.

I just looked over beside me and my toddler is eating an ice cream sandwich that I gave him. And. It’s a freaking disaster. Hope you’ve enjoyed this chapter!

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