Chapter 17: Fierce Battle and True Identity Exposed
Small leather boots stepping on the accumulated water splashed up a few drops mixed with blood.
Underneath the exaggeratedly sized dark red giant scythe was a delicate and small body that was extremely disproportionate to it.
The crimson pupils swept around with a hint of disgust.
The incomplete corpses and black blood from the Black Rat swarm were scattered all over the street.
The strong smell of blood in the air once overwhelmed the stimulating smell of the pollution itself.
The figure, without any pause, stepped over the street paved with the corpses of the Black Rat swarm and continued towards the depths of the ruined city.
。。。。。。
The gore in the office building was not limited to the lobby on the first floor.
The mercenaries dispersed to search the office building.
Zhong Jing had just walked up the stairs to the third floor when she smelled a strong stench.
The walls and floor of the stairwell were also dark red, but compared to the fresh blood in the lobby, the traces here had clearly dried up a lot and should have been left long ago.
There were many claw marks on the walls, but because Zhong Jing didn't know much about mutated creatures, she couldn't tell what kind of mutated animal had left them.
Ascending the stairs to the third floor, the glass walls on both sides of the corridor had long since shattered into fragments.
The rooms on both sides were filled with collapsed desks, chairs, cabinets, and yellowed paper scattered all over the floor.
There were also many discarded personal terminals.
These things contained many valuable items, especially the core chips inside, which were worth a lot.
However, these terminals all showed signs of having been dismantled and were probably just empty shells.
There were also many corpses scattered around, but unlike the half-walker downstairs, these so-called corpses were actually just dried skeletons.
The remaining flesh and tissue had long since dried up and become as hard as stone.
Even mutated beasts in the post-apocalyptic world that fed purely on carrion would not touch such things.
Such skeletons almost all belonged to people from the pre-war world.
They had not become walkers, nor were there any obvious injuries.
It could be seen from several complete skeletons that these people had maintained their state until the last moment of their lives.
“Huh? This is…”
Just as Zhong Jing squatted down to examine a relatively complete skeleton lying on the ground, she suddenly noticed a bulge in the pocket of its clothes, which had almost rotted into cloth strips.
She reached out and tentatively pulled out a small white box.
“Cigarettes?”
This unexpected discovery was not bad news.
Zhong Jing eagerly opened the box and saw eight intact cigarettes arranged inside.
Although she didn't know much about cigarettes, at least Zhong Jing knew that this was a good thing in Chu Sheng City.
The most common cigarettes among civilians in Chu Sheng City were handmade ones produced in small workshops using waste paper.
Although Zhong Jing had never smoked, she knew from smokers that these handmade cigarettes didn't taste good.
Those who could afford good cigarettes were almost all people from the base government.
Good cigarettes like these, brought from the outside world, cost several times more than handmade ones and were also hot commodities on the black market, with no worry about finding buyers.
It could be considered an unexpected bonus for this operation.
“Rest in peace, I won’t be polite then.”
After whispering to the skeleton, Zhong Jing put the cigarette case into a pocket of her carrying gear.
However, just as she stood up and was about to continue searching the third floor, suddenly, an alarm from the depths of her heart surged up.
It was almost entirely an instinctive action; Zhong Jing didn't even have time to turn around and look before rolling to the right on the spot.
“Roar roar roar roar!!!”
Suddenly, a black shadow descended from the sky, pouncing heavily on the spot where Zhong Jing had just been standing.
And that skeleton also turned into countless flying fragments under this black shadow’s pounce.
“Hoo…”
Zhong Jing, who had rolled twice on the ground, quickly got up and pointed her gun at this sudden attacker.
The black shadow exposed under the illumination light allowed Zhong Jing to instantly recognize the attacker’s identity—a Tier 1 Swift Walker.
This discovery made her shiver.
This tall and thin monster was not a mutated beast, but belonged to the category of walkers.
In this world, neither walkers nor monsters had stopped evolving.
The mutated genes produced by pollution were constantly bringing them to a higher stage, and the creature before her was one of the results of evolution on walkers.
Swift Walkers belonged to one of the many branches of walker evolution.
Its characteristics could be seen from its appearance alone.
Its slender body was over two meters long, with long limbs, especially its strong hind limbs, which accounted for half of its body length and helped it move quickly and agilely.
And those sharp claws could even break through 5mm standard protective plates.
Although it had only completed the first stage of evolution, they were no longer the fragile, slow-moving ordinary walkers.
Humans without firearms would find it extremely difficult to deal with such monsters.
This damn thing had probably been lurking in the dark since she came up to the third floor, waiting for an opportunity, and only launched an attack when she was picking up the cigarette case just now.
If it weren't for that inner vigilance that made her act immediately, she would probably have been injured.
“Third floor requests support! Discovered Tier 1 Swift Walker! Repeat! Third floor discovered Tier 1 Swift Walker!”
Zhong Jing immediately called for help from the other team members in the office building through the communication headset.
Her call for help was immediately answered: “Hold on! I’m coming!”
Hold on? Easy for you to say, you try it!
“Roar roar roar!!!”
Seeing that its sure-kill attack had not succeeded, the Tier 1 Swift Walker seemed a bit agitated.
Its slender body twisted nimbly, and it quickly readjusted its posture, preparing to launch a second attack.
Zhong Jing immediately pulled the trigger, sweeping a burst of bullets towards it.
However, the Swift Walker was extremely fast.
By the time she opened fire, it had already prepared to dodge.
Its four limbs on the ground propelled its slender body rapidly to one side.
The bullets chasing its figure continuously created craters behind it.
Not only was the lighting poor in the small room, but the piles of debris also became cover for the Swift Walker.
The impact of the bullets splashed up streams of dust and debris.
The wind generated by the monster’s running body also sent papers flying everywhere, obstructing Zhong Jing’s vision and making it increasingly difficult to track its body.
“Damn it!”
If she continued to stay in place and wait for the monster to find a gap in her shooting to attack, she would undoubtedly die.
When the bullets in the extended magazine were about to run out, Zhong Jing suddenly exerted force and crashed into the room on the other side.
This studio was relatively empty and more suitable for counterattacking than the narrow area she was currently in.
The glass partition between them was also covered with spiderweb-like cracks and relatively easy to break through.
While being wary of the monster, Zhong Jing was also trying her best to protect her body.
However, although she was mentally prepared, the moment she collided with the glass partition, the intense pain that spread from her shoulder still made her gasp, tears welling up in her eyes.
Amidst the crisp sound of shattering, splattering glass fragments flew in all directions, and this sound also triggered the Swift Walker’s second attack.
“Gagagaga—”
The Swift Walker, which had jumped onto the wall, let out a strange hind leg kick.
At this time, the gun in Zhong Jing’s hand had already emptied an entire magazine.
Losing the suppressing fire of bullets, the Swift Walker immediately turned its body and pounced down again towards Zhong Jing, who was lying on the ground.
“Boom!”
This time, the Swift Walker’s accumulated force smashed a circle of cracks on the ground.
Zhong Jing could feel the entire cement floor beneath her tremble, making her marvel at the Swift Walker’s strength, and also wondering if this precarious office building would collapse in this great battle.
Having barely dodged this attack, before she could get up, the Swift Walker suddenly turned around, and its long, thin tail heavily whipped Zhong Jing’s chest.
This thing actually has a tail?!
Just as this thought popped into Zhong Jing’s mind, she saw the surrounding scenery rapidly receding in her vision.
The momentary feeling of weightlessness made her lose control of her body.
“Ugh—”
Zhong Jing, sent flying, crashed heavily into a data rack more than ten meters behind her.
Her thin body, under the powerful impact, dented the iron rack considerably.
Files placed on the data rack fell one after another onto Zhong Jing, seemingly about to bury her.
Fortunately, these were all paper files and did not cause any secondary damage.
But even so, Zhong Jing’s condition at this time was not optimistic.
Sharp pains came from her chest in waves, even making her feel a twinge with every breath.
Without looking, she knew that the protective plate on her chest must have been severely deformed by that tail whip just now.
Perhaps a few ribs were broken.
In addition, the burning pain in her back made it even more difficult to move.
“Heh heh heh…” Seemingly confirming that Zhong Jing had lost the ability to resist, the Swift Walker’s movements became unhurried.
Although it was a bloodthirsty monster, at this moment, it behaved extremely human-like.
Its step-by-step approach seemed to be exerting final psychological pressure on its prey, enjoying the prey’s desperate expression while waiting for death.
“Just… a beast…”
Zhong Jing wanted to fight back, but the impact just now had caused her gun to slide several meters away.
For her, who couldn't move, this distance was like an insurmountable chasm.
Getting the gun back was clearly impossible.
Am I going to die like this? Is my two-year mercenary career ending here? In my dream, I died in the JD Ruined City Nuclear Wasteland Area, and now I will also be buried here… Will this death be another dream?
No! I absolutely cannot fall here! If I die here, then… What will Sister Shang Shu do? The person she worried about most in Chu Sheng City was Sister Shang Shu.
With that carefree personality, she would easily suffer losses without her care.
Thinking of this, Zhong Jing reached out and gripped the handle of the hunting knife hanging from her lower back.
Perhaps she could counterattack with the knife when the Swift Walker let down its guard and approached her! Zhong Jing’s eyes stared fixedly at the Swift Walker’s bloody and mangled head.
The head was almost a universal weak point for all monsters.
If she could succeed… that would be her only chance!
Zhong Jing’s heart beat violently, and her muscles tensed up.
The Swift Walker was getting closer and closer to her, and she could even smell the nauseating stench emanating from its mouth.
The intense nervousness made her temporarily unaware of the pain from her body… and also ignore the burning sensation from the necklace on her chest…
Closer… closer…
At this distance, that ugly face was clearly reflected in Zhong Jing’s eyes.
The flesh and blood intertwined face had no skin covering it.
No pupils could be seen in the pale eye sockets.
This corpse, which should have died, was living in a twisted way, and it was about to take the life of another living person.
Zhong Jing’s hand gripping the knife handle turned white, and her breathing became more and more rapid.
“Roar roar roar roar!!!”
The split jaws opened wide, revealing disgusting and sharp fangs.
A mixture of saliva and blood splattered onto Zhong Jing’s goggles.
“Come on! Monster!”
‘Bang!’
Just as the Swift Walker was about to bite down, a sudden gunshot interrupted its action.
The bullet grazed the Swift Walker’s face, taking away a large part of its collapsed nasal bone.
Bone fragments and black blood splattered out, but the impact of the bullet only slowed the Swift Walker’s movements and did not cause much damage.
The walker, having lost most of its pain nerves, didn’t even feel any pain.
“Flashbang! Close your eyes!”
At the same time, a shout came from the other end of the corridor.
It was Uncle Lin’s shout, accompanied by a continuous crisp sound of something landing, and it was getting closer and closer.
Zhong Jing didn't even think and immediately closed her eyes, covering her ears tightly with both hands.
The flashbang that landed between Zhong Jing and the Swift Walker suddenly lit up, and the intense light produced in an instant enveloped the entire studio in white light.
“Ssss ssss—!!!”
Although the Swift Walker did not rely on sight for movement, the stimulation of the strong light still threw it into a daze, making its hissing sound unusually frantic and uneasy!
Good chance!
Zhong Jing knew that once the Swift Walker recovered from the brief stun, it would definitely choose to flee, but their subsequent actions would then have to face a powerful lurker hidden in the dark.
It had to be killed here!
“Die!!!”
The hunting knife was unsheathed! The strength accumulated in her muscles instantly erupted.
Zhong Jing lunged at the Swift Walker in front of her at an extremely fast speed.
The hunting knife in her hand stabbed fiercely towards the target in her eyes.
Perhaps her individual strength alone could not penetrate the Swift Walker’s hard skull, but the nasal cavity wound caused by the shot just now became her best target at this moment.
‘Plop—’
The forearm-length hunting knife plunged into the Swift Walker’s nasal cavity.
The unevolved soft tissue could not resist the blade’s deep penetration at all.
Under Zhong Jing’s force, the entire hunting knife was sent into the Swift Walker’s head, leaving only the handle outside.
Gushing black blood splattered all over Zhong Jing, but she still held the handle tightly, pushing the blade deeper.
“Gagagagaah—!”
The severely injured Swift Walker finally felt fear instinctively.
The high-decibel screech pierced Zhong Jing’s ears at close range, leaving her with only a ringing sound, and also preventing her from dodging in time.
She was once again knocked flying by the violently struggling Swift Walker.
Fortunately, this time she landed in a pile of waste paper.
After a few seconds of violent struggle, the Swift Walker stopped all activity and fell motionless into a pool of black blood, completely freed from the control of pollution and mutated genes, and fell into the eternal slumber of a living being.
“Stone! Are you alright!”
Is this… Xiao Liu’s voice?
Coughing violently a few times to dispel the stuffiness in her chest, Zhong Jing felt her body being lifted up, but this movement made the pain in her abdomen, which had been hit just now, even worse…
Suddenly, she noticed that the arm supporting her had suddenly stiffened.
This made her, with great effort, open her eyes to find out the situation, only to see Xiao Liu’s somewhat immature face, full of astonishment and surprise, facing her.
What happened?
Before she could ask, the pungent smell that rushed into her nasal cavity made her realize the reason after a slight daze—her gas mask… had fallen off!