When Ji Yushi played the video he found on the communicator, everyone shuddered.

The man in the video was also exhibiting symptoms similar to the homeless man and the administrator—his eyeballs were gray and murky, his skin was pale and covered in blue veins, and he was shouting, trying to bite his wife.

“The video was recorded a month ago.”

Unlike the others who were visibly terrified, Ji Yushi’s tone was calm.

He appeared brave and composed, as if the person who couldn’t even unscrew a bottle cap earlier wasn’t him.

“Zombies!!”

“If they’re really zombies, how many of them are out there?!”

“No wonder this place is so strange!”

“This video is already a month old!”

Familiar words echoed in the office.

While his teammates were discussing, Ji Yushi silently took another sip of water, gradually shaking off the terrifying sense of helplessness. He slowly said, “The communicator has no network, but I just received a new message. It should be meant for us.”

“The message is on the dead person’s communicator, but it’s meant for us?”

“Yes.”

“Open it.”

Song Qinglan ordered.

Ji Yushi projected the message.

[Welcome, Guardians from Star Year 1456, to PU-31.]

[The current transition is locked and will be unlocked upon successful mission completion.]

[Mission Mode: Ouroboros.]

[Mission Rule: Death Elimination.]

At this moment, Tang Le shouted, “Look outside!!”

Outside the window, a black wall suddenly appeared, stretching out from the direction they had come from.

“Beep—,” the communicator displayed one last prompt.

[Mission Objective: Dark Pursuer.]

Everyone was horrified.

In the midst of the chaotic discussions, Song Qinglan found a broom and poked it into the black wall. When she pulled it back, the portion of the broom that had entered the black wall was gone, the cut surface neat and tidy, as if the wall had “eaten” it.

“What did the mission rules say again?”

“D-Death Elimination,” someone replied.

“Good to know,” Song Qinglan said sternly, “Hold on to your gear and don’t let anyone die. We can’t go back anyway, so whatever this PU-31 is, we’ll face it.”

“What’s up with Ji Yushi?”

Duan Wen looked back at Ji Yushi, who was already walking in the middle of the group, standing tall and silent, completely unlike the person who was scared out of his wits by the rotting corpse earlier in the administration office.

In a private channel, Song Qinglan casually said, “Why don’t you ask him yourself?”

Duan Wen chuckled awkwardly, “I think I’ll pass, Captain.”

Song Qinglan’s tone subtly changed, “So?”

Plucking a tiger’s whisker, Duan Wen didn’t dare joke with the captain anymore. “I’ll still help out, you know, it’s our duty to assist our teammates.”

Song Qinglan remarked, “Cut the crap.”

Duan Wen said, “I’m just hoping when we write the report, it’ll be a bit friendlier and won’t lower our team rating because of a lack of harmony…”

Duan Wen was still rambling when Song Qinglan suddenly stopped, making a fist gesture.

“Wait.”

His voice came over the public channel.

Everyone looked ahead.

On the desolate, abandoned city road, a group of people appeared.

It was late summer, and the 6 a.m. sunlight pierced through the forest of steel and concrete, casting a golden line across the charred asphalt road.

That blinding light seemed like a boundary, dividing the world of the living from hell.

It was a group of zombies.

They hadn’t noticed the squad quietly walking in the secluded area, as they were focused on surrounding a mutilated corpse, emitting excited grunts as they feasted like beasts.

Flesh, limbs, and organs were torn apart, and the horrific chewing sounds were clearly heard by every member of the squad from just seven or eight meters away.

“Ah!!!!”

A sudden scream rang out.

From behind the squad, a woman burst out of a building, sprinting desperately, followed by twenty to thirty zombies who were almost upon her.

The scream startled the eaters ahead.

The squad was like the filling in a sandwich, watching as the eaters abandoned the corpse and charged at them with alarming speed!

“Damn it!”

Someone cursed, and another shouted, “Save her!”

With a few gunshots, three or four zombies chasing the woman fell, while another teammate opened fire on the charging eaters, killing them.

The gunfire echoed through the silent, empty city like a drop of water splashing into a pot of hot oil, causing the entire area to boil over as countless zombies poured out from the shadows!

“Move, move, move!!”

“Hurry!”

The gunfire was deafening.

“Captain Song?!” Duan Wen shouted, “Let’s go!”

Song Qinglan stood still as if waiting for something, exuding an intense, chilling aura.

Just as the woman was a few steps away, a cold light flashed, and she suddenly dropped to her knees before collapsing on the road.

With the cover of his teammates, Song Qinglan walked over, pulling his military knife from the woman’s forehead.

Blood poured over her wide-open eyes, her gray eyeballs now identical to those of the zombies chasing her. One of her ears was missing, with clear bite marks visible.

Song Qinglan sheathed his knife as Ji Yushi, behind him, turned and swiftly shot a zombie lunging at his back, his movements more efficient than Song Qinglan had expected.

He had thought that someone firing their first shot in a real battle would hesitate more.

The crowd surged, as if it were the end of the world.

Ji Yushi glanced at the woman on the ground, then looked at Song Qinglan in surprise.

That glance finally confirmed the reason for his hesitation. Ji Yushi’s clear eyes suddenly burned with intensity, as if they finally reflected the flames of human emotion. He shouted angrily, “Left front! Convenience store! Move!”

More and more zombies were pouring out, an endless stream from every visible corner.

They weren’t too far from the convenience store and could clearly see its intact metal grille.

Spotting the shelter in time bought them valuable moments.

Working together amidst the hail of bullets, they quickly reached the convenience store entrance.

Without hesitation, Ji Yushi fired a shot, hitting the store’s recognition panel. Amidst the ear-piercing alarm, Li Chun and Zhou Mingxuan pulled open the metal grille!

Just enough for one person to roll through, Ji Yushi, like a slippery fish, swiftly slid inside.

“Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang!”

Suddenly, several gunshots echoed from inside the store.

The gunfire ceased.

Ji Yushi reappeared behind the metal grille, his pale face now splattered with blood, even his eyelashes were stained with it.

He was slightly out of breath, his voice a bit unsteady: “Get in!!”

Everyone: “???”

When they all entered the convenience store and saw the fresh corpses scattered on the ground, they were left speechless: “……”

Was this really the same Ji Yushi who couldn’t even unscrew a bottle cap?!

The convenience store was a mess, the shelves were empty, but it was relatively safe—if there was any danger, Ji Yushi had already dealt with it single-handedly in the blink of an eye.

His speed and decisiveness were as if he had foreseen the situation.

To be honest, even the best of Guardians could barely reach this level.

The team members started feeling like they might have been outsmarted.

“Where’s Captain Song?!” Zhou Mingxuan suddenly asked.

In the store were Li Chun, Duan Wen, and Ji Yushi, but the twins and Song Qinglan were nowhere to be seen.

Ji Yushi frowned: “Open the door, wait for them!”

Just as he finished speaking, a barrage of gunfire erupted from outside the store.

Under the cover of the team inside, Song Qinglan pushed Tang Le into the store.

Tang Le looked dazed, while Song Qinglan’s face was grim. The metal grille slammed shut with a clang, and someone shouted: “We still need to wait for Tang Qi!”

“No need to wait,” Song Qinglan stood up, his body covered in blood, “Tang Qi got bitten. After he was infected, the mutation time… was less than ten seconds.”

Tang Le broke down in tears.

No one knew what had happened outside, but hearing this, everyone was shaken to the core.

Close by, countless zombies were violently pounding on the metal grille, their gaping mouths and gray eyes fixated on the living inside the store, as if they would break in and tear them apart at any moment.

Ten seconds.

The speed of this virus’s transmission was terrifyingly fast.

Coupled with the 100% mutation rate after being bitten, no city in the world could possibly defend against such a virus.

“We can’t just sit here and wait to die. This grille won’t hold for long.” Song Qinglan’s voice was cold, “There’s a fake wall made of light bricks in the store’s warehouse. Blow it open and get out through there.”

Ji Yushi suddenly looked up.

Their eyes met.

This wasn’t the time for conversation, but Ji Yushi’s blood-soaked face, with those bright eyes, stood out.

Song Qinglan remained calm, but his question carried deeper meaning: “Consultant Ji, what’s behind the wall?”

Ji Yushi clenched his fists, his nails digging into his palms.

Facing his clueless teammates, he calmly replied, “It’s the back alley.”

The others were puzzled, not understanding the cryptic exchange between the two. But with an escape route in sight, there was no time to worry about anything else.

The metal grille was under immense pressure, shaking with a terrifying noise. They had to get out as quickly as possible.

The wall was blasted open, and light streamed in.

After the last teammate jumped out of the window, with a loud crash, the grille finally collapsed!

Zhou Mingxuan fired at the zombies in the back alley to cover them: “Get in the car!!”

Song Qinglan shoved the nearly collapsing Tang Le into the back seat.

The zombies poured into the convenience store and then followed them through the warehouse window.

Zhou Mingxuan also got in the car. The small vehicle, now crammed with six grown men, was tightly packed.

Someone shouted: “Where’s the keycard?! Find it, quick!”

Song Qinglan and Ji Yushi were separated by Tang Le.

But they were close enough for Song Qinglan to see the fine soft hairs on the back of Ji Yushi’s pale neck in the sunlight filtering through the car window.

Ji Yushi squeezed forward to open the glove compartment and handed over the keycard: “Here!”

Li Chun, in the driver’s seat, grabbed the keycard and hurriedly started the car, which sped off.

The car roared, the tires screeched as they burned rubber against the ground, dragging a trail of dark red blood as it plowed through the zombies ahead.

They raced out of the back alley.

Before they could catch their breath, as they reached an intersection, Ji Yushi’s face suddenly changed, and he shouted, “Turn left!!”

Not far away, a massive space vehicle was speeding towards them!

Ji Yushi’s timely warning triggered Li Chun to instinctively yank the steering wheel, and the car shot straight into a nearby building!

“Bang, bang, bang—!!”

The car’s brakes screeched as it crashed through several glass doors before finally coming to a stop.

The windshield shattered into a spiderweb of cracks, smoke rose from the hood, and everyone was thrown around by the impact.

After a brief moment of silence, Song Qinglan kicked the back of the driver’s seat: “Chun, I don’t think you’ve got your driver’s license yet.”

Li Chun, weakly, replied, “Not to be rude, Boss, but now’s really not the time to worry about those details.”

Everyone else: “……”