Everyone proceeded in the direction indicated by Team B’s Consultant Ji with clear purpose.

It seemed that after Song Qinglan and Ji Yushi of Team B were separated from the original Squad 4 at Runjin Building, their friendship had inexplicably and rapidly deepened.

Duan Wen, walking at the front, commented, “Captain Song, it’s quite a coincidence—both Squads 3 and 4 ended up with you and Consultant Ji getting separated from the others. You two really are fated.”

Li Chun, trailing behind and massaging his sore shoulder from the earlier shooting spree, chimed in, “Yeah, Wen-ge, I hadn’t noticed until you mentioned it—on both sides, it was Captain Song and Consultant Ji who ended up alone. It seems that our parallel timeline selves might make the same choices!”

This team could banter under any circumstances.

After witnessing their own gruesome deaths and battling a giant spider, with unknown dangers still ahead, they were already chatting about trivial matters.

—Perhaps this was how Sky Vault’s Squad 7 distracted themselves.

Only by maintaining a good mood and adjusting their state of mind to be ready for the next unknown challenge could they truly be considered a sharp and effective team.

Ji Yushi was starting to understand Squad 7.

The surroundings were vast and empty. After the gate closed, they only encountered two or three zombies along the way, none of which posed a threat—they dealt with them easily using knives without firing a shot.

Tang Le said, “Does that mean the events after getting separated are highly similar?”

“Probably not,” Tang Qi replied. “Remember when we found Captain Song and Consultant Ji? They were trapped in that little green pavilion.”

Zhou Mingxuan, his small eyes twinkling mischievously, added, “Oh, that kind of green pavilion? Duan and I saw a few of those along the way. People of this era are quite open-minded! Did Captain Song have any revelations after going in? Maybe when we get back, we can retire and start a business specializing in the advanced technology of this era.”

Ji Yushi: “…”

What is happening? Are they openly teasing their superior, or trying to matchmake?

Have they forgotten that I’m supposed to have a deep-seated fear of such things?

Song Qinglan, carrying Shenmian, remained vigilant, not relaxing for a moment.

His pupils contracted as he scanned the surroundings, and with a high level of alertness, he casually quipped, “Revelations? Sure—inflatable dolls for everyone when we get back.”

Zhou Mingxuan chuckled.

Then, just as before they set off in the training room, Song Qinglan kicked him in the rear.

Song Qinglan said, “How about I give you the whole team’s share?”

Zhou Mingxuan laughed awkwardly and took a few steps away, saying, “No need, that’s too much—my body couldn’t handle it.”

“Captain Song.”

Tang Qi called out, seeking his opinion.

They had reached the “first gate on the left front” mentioned by Consultant Ji of Team B and saw the password panel that marked a secure access passage.

Behind them was a vast, empty area, and ahead was a new gate with unknown contents. Given what Team B’s Song Qinglan said about “all mutated species, all SSS-level difficulty,” everyone felt a bit reluctant to leave the current safe zone.

Who knew what they would encounter inside?

Through the gate’s glass, Song Qinglan peered inside and saw another clean and tidy new corridor, without a single zombie in sight.

Song Qinglan made a gesture.

Everyone raised their guns, aiming at the corridor inside the gate.

Duan Wen took out a device to crack the password panel. Despite the high-speed calculations, the lock, which should have taken only a few seconds to crack, flashed a red light.

This era was far more advanced than theirs; the lock couldn’t be cracked. Duan Wen prepared to switch to a different algorithm.

“Try a palm print.”

Ji Yushi suddenly suggested, handing over a blood-soaked, severed hand.

Everyone looked over: “…”

Duan Wen took the severed hand: “Consultant Ji, when did you—”

“When you all were talking about the inflatable dolls,” Ji Yushi calmly replied. “There was a zombie nearby, so I cut it off.”

Everyone: “!!!”

That’s ruthless!

If Song Qinglan hadn’t seen Ji Yushi discreetly wipe his hand, which had held the severed hand, on his black combat pants, he would have almost believed that Ji Yushi was really that calm and composed.

After all that, it turned out that someone who liked cleanliness considered wiping off zombie blood on his pants as “clean”?

Song Qinglan found it somewhat amusing.

“Beep.”

After a short beep, the gate silently rose.

Everyone remained silent.

Song Qinglan took a small object out of his pocket, crouched down, and tossed it into the empty corridor.

The small object glowed red, and after a soft “bang,” it exploded, echoing through the deep corridor, with shockwaves that would have been detectable by any giant white-legged huntsman spider.

One second, two seconds—no spiders appeared.

Nor did any other giant mutated insects.

Just as everyone was starting to relax slightly, the end of the corridor suddenly erupted with chaotic footsteps and growls. Countless zombies in white work uniforms seemed to surge from several underground floors simultaneously, rushing toward them with an indescribable speed and number, like ants swarming from a nest!

No giant spiders, but they were now facing the densest zombie horde they had ever seen!

“Shit, shit, shit!”

“Kill them all!”

“Bang, bang, bang!!”

The team unleashed their full firepower, mowing down the zombie horde.

This time, they were well-prepared. The explosives that Tang Qi and Zhou Mingxuan carried weren’t just for show—tossing one into the horde could take out dozens at a time.

And since they were positioned at the entrance of the corridor, no one even thought about running away. Zombies were just flesh and blood; this time, they had enough firepower to turn them all into mincemeat!

The corridor was filled with flying flesh and blood, with zombie gore splattering the walls, floor, and ceiling.

Wave after wave of zombies kept coming, but within minutes, the corridor was piled high with corpses, and no new zombies emerged.

After being chased by zombies for so long, everyone felt a surge of satisfaction in utterly annihilating this horde!

“That was satisfying!!”

“Really damn satisfying!!”

“Move out!”

Song Qinglan checked the remaining ammunition in Shenmian, pulled a new blue energy magazine from his pocket, and reloaded—1024 rounds, all spent.

The seven of them formed a circular formation as they moved forward.

Ji Yushi, in the center, occupied a prime position for an observer. He, too, was changing his energy magazine.

The stench of decay filled the air as they walked over the blood-soaked ground, stepping on the bodies of zombies that had once been their own kind. They successfully reached the core of the building’s first level.

This level was the operations room, filled with countless consoles—there were probably over a thousand. The zombies they had just fought were all formerly the operators here, working day and night to produce the energy PU-31 depended on.

“The numbers don’t add up,” Song Qinglan frowned.

“What numbers—”

Duan Wen’s question was cut off by a scream.

“Ah!!”

Everyone whipped around to see Li Chun being dragged into a ventilation duct, only his shoes and dripping mucus visible as he disappeared!

“Chun’er!!”

Everyone shouted. The ventilation duct rustled, and gunfire erupted—Li Chun was still firing his weapon as he was being dragged away!

But within three to five seconds, both the gunfire and the sounds ceased.

“What was that?!”

“I think I saw something like a suction cup!”

“Isn’t that a spider?!!”

“No! I don’t think so!”

Song Qinglan made a quick decision: “Move! Keep going down!!”

As soon as he spoke, something fell from the ventilation duct with a “thud”—a tongue-like object covered in suction cups, which shot toward Zhou Mingxuan!

Zhou Mingxuan rolled on the ground to dodge the attack, and immediately, his teammates opened fire, hitting the “tongue.” A strange and eerie scream echoed from above as the “tongue” quickly recoiled, leaving behind a writhing piece on the ground that still seemed to have some life.

The ventilation duct above them vibrated with the sound of the creature retreating.

Song Qinglan, his face dark with anger, fired a few shots in the direction of the sound, but soon lost track of it.

Ji Yushi walked over, holding his aching abdominal wound with one hand, and used his knife to examine the piece of the “tongue.”

The slimy fragment quickly stopped moving.

Ji Yushi didn’t blink, lost in thought.

“Downstairs!”

Song Qinglan ordered again.

The group moved together, this time much closer to ensure no one was left alone.

It turned out that the mutated species were indeed not limited to spiders; Li Chun’s disappearance had cast a shadow of anger and fear over everyone’s hearts, but there was no time to mourn him.

Unfortunately, they didn’t make it to the stairs before a new wave of zombies emerged from around the corner!

“Ho—”

Song Qinglan had been right; the number of zombies they had eliminated in the corridor earlier was indeed off.

Perhaps the noise from the creature’s attack had alerted the zombies to their location. In an instant, zombies poured in from below and all around them, several times more than those in the corridor!

With a “snap,” Ji Yushi felt a cold, sharp pain in his hand as the “tongue” slithered down from above and coiled tightly around his arm!

In the intense pain, Diamond Bird fell to the ground, and Ji Yushi was suddenly lifted into the air!

“Consultant Ji!!”

Amid the gunfire, someone shouted.

His teammates were too preoccupied to help, so Ji Yushi drew his knife with his free hand and stabbed the “tongue” fiercely! But this time, the creature, having been injured before, seemed to remember its previous failure. It tightened its grip as it screamed, and Ji Yushi could almost feel the bones in his arm being crushed!

He was about to be dragged into the ventilation duct!

At that moment, Ji Yushi heard a furious shout.

“Ji Yushi!!”

He saw Song Qinglan, ignoring the zombies attacking him, suddenly turn his gun towards the ceiling, firing a barrage of shots at the ventilation duct. The creature screamed in pain, and the “tongue” suddenly released its grip, causing Ji Yushi to plummet to the ground!

As Ji Yushi hit the ground, still lying on his side, he shouted, “Don’t move!”

In that split second, his bruised hand grabbed Diamond Bird, and he fired several shots at the zombies closing in on Song Qinglan from behind!

Such synchronization…

The zombies close to Song Qinglan had their heads blown off, splattering him with blood.

“You’re welcome,” Song Qinglan said. “Thank you.”

Ji Yushi: “…”

Was it really okay for one person to deliver both lines?

Ignoring the blood on his face, Song Qinglan, with a grim expression, pulled out the only red energy magazine from his pocket.

As the team continued to shoot at the zombie horde, Zhou Mingxuan helped Ji Yushi to his feet.

Thousands of zombies swarmed around them, stretching endlessly in every direction.

Song Qinglan raised Shenmian, changing the magazine in what seemed like the blink of an eye.

In the deafening noise of gunfire and chaos, Ji Yushi thought he heard the sound of the weapon being cocked.

“Do you know the full name of Shenmian?!”

Song Qinglan’s entire demeanor was filled with ferocity, and at that moment, Ji Yushi saw intense killing intent and wildness in his eyes.

Sensing something, the teammates gradually gathered closer to Song Qinglan.

Before Ji Yushi could respond, Song Qinglan answered, “The Gods Slayer.”

“Boom!!!”

An earth-shattering explosion rocked the entire level of the base, the shockwave causing everyone’s eardrums to ache with a sharp ringing.

Above them, the ceiling crumbled, and steel and concrete slabs rained down, crushing the nearby zombies.

“Cover your ears!!!”

The bombing continued, and after three consecutive blasts, the zombie horde in front of them, blocking the way downstairs, was completely obliterated!!

To the rear, a large hole was blasted into the building, and a spacecraft appeared there. Some of the remaining zombies changed targets, swarming over the rubble toward the spacecraft.

A familiar tall figure stood on the spacecraft, silhouetted against the light, holding a pitch-black Shenmian in his hand, the glow of the red energy magazine gradually fading.

Other familiar figures, one by one, also appeared on the spacecraft.

Duan Wen, Zhou Mingxuan, Tang Qi, Tang Le, Li Chun, and Ji Yushi—all seven of them, led by that man.

It was none other than Song Qinglan, and his voice was stern as he said, “We thought it was an A-level mission when we set out, so we didn’t bring much equipment. What we did bring is valuable. Song Qinglan, you shouldn’t have used three energy cannons here.”

The two squads stared at each other from a distance.

One was clean and efficient; the other was battered and exhausted.

Song Qinglan was covered in blood, with the red energy magazine in Shenmian still glowing, unused.

The people behind him were all fatigued, on the brink of despair.

On the other side, the Song Qinglan on the spacecraft looked at them with interest and then said, “This isn’t the end yet. Assistance from Squad 6—no need to thank us.”

As the light flickered and dust swirled, almost as soon as the words left his mouth, the scene in front of them began to change.

The seven figures, who had descended like gods, and the spacecraft that had appeared suddenly, began to fade away like ripples on water.

The hole blasted in the building started to repair itself, and the zombie corpses that had been obliterated by the explosions seemed to be reassembling.

In that moment, everyone realized one thing—while they still could—

Run downstairs quickly!!