Chapter Seven: Return and Reunion with the Beloved

Chapter Seven: Return and Reunion

Only seventeen minutes remained. Outside, the Lickers were pounding at the door; the entrance would not last another forty-five seconds. No matter how one looked at it, this was a dead end—humanity would either perish in silence or erupt from it.

Zheng Zha’s mind raced at lightning speed, rivaling the calculations of a Level 2 Esper from a certain science fiction about a certain “Railgun.”

Suddenly, Zheng Zha shouted, “Red Queen, quickly calculate how much longer we can hold out!”

But the childish voice did not respond. After waiting a moment, Zheng Zha abruptly pointed his weapon at the computer mainframe. “Red Queen, I know your core programming is to prevent the spread of the T-virus. In other words, you must eliminate any life forms that could cause an outbreak—including us, correct? Now you have a choice: activate the defense system to protect us, or let the Lickers outside break in. But before they do, I’ll destroy your mainframe. When the Hive loses your control, how many virus carriers do you think will escape?”

“No more chatter. We don’t need that computer’s help. Lickers are nothing—just fourth-tier combatants. Lolita, take out the Red Queen’s mainframe. Leave the rest to me.” Schuster’s voice drew everyone’s attention.

In his hand was a samurai sword, the lower half of its back stained blood-red, the blade shimmering with an azure gleam. Its master, Schuster, strode step by step toward the steel door.

“Warning, if you come any closer I will consider you a threat to my objective and will direct the Crawlers to attack you.” As Lolita approached within a meter of the Red Queen’s mainframe, the childish voice sounded once more.

“Warning ka—” Lolita paused, then, in a blur of motion, detached the mainframe before anyone could react.

“Just scrap metal. I’ll take it back and upgrade my computer,” Lolita said, pocketing the Red Queen’s mainframe.

“What are you doing? Those are Lickers! Now you’ve destroyed our last hope of stopping the Crawlers with the laser corridor!” Zhang Jie and Zheng Zha roared in protest.

The clash of metal and the gruesome sound of blade meeting flesh drew everyone’s gaze.

Before them lay a headless corpse, the exposed brain glistening, the entire skull blood-red and eyeless, a ten-centimeter maw full of fangs gaping open, a grotesque tongue lolling out. Even in death, its terrifying visage sent chills through the crowd.

“Killed a Licker. Reward: 100 points.”

After a moment, the group turned to Schuster. The door had been sliced in two with a diagonal cut, and a Licker’s headless body lay at his feet. The blade’s sharpness had prevented any blood from spurting, but the creature’s muscles had collapsed, its flesh slack and decaying. Lickers were once humans infected by the T-virus; their metabolism accelerated, tissues rotted and aged, skin turned ashen and peeled away, exposing raw muscle. The infected hosts became ravenous, compelled to feed endlessly to sustain their out-of-control metabolism. When food was lacking, their bodies rotted, stinking of death, their brain function ceased, and with bones brittle under the strain, they reached the final stage of zombification—either collapsing in the street or being shot in the head. The reason for the slackened muscles was simple: the curse of the Blood Dance Crescent Moon, which intensified all damage.

“Pathetic creatures. Scoring points is too easy. Lolita, give them your gun so they can rack up some points.” Standing in the doorway, Schuster severed another Crawler’s tongue and drove his blade into its spine without looking back.

“Who wants to go first? The bullets are enchanted; about five shots to the head should do it,” Lolita said, swapping in a magazine with glowing rounds.

“Give it to Zheng Zha. I don’t need that many points,” Zhang Jie said, lighting a cigarette.

“Thank you,” Zheng Zha replied, taking the submachine gun from Lolita and approaching a still-twitching Licker.

A burst of gunfire, and after five shots, the Licker’s head was little more than pulp. Judging by Zheng Zha’s expression, he had claimed another hundred points.

“That was easy… Well then—” Suddenly, a flash of steel and a spray of blood: a barbed tongue was severed as a Licker’s ambush was cut short; it collapsed to the floor.

“Finish it!” Schuster shouted.

Reacting instinctively, Zheng Zha sprayed bullets at another emerging Licker, reducing it to a bloody mess in seconds, a testament to the power of Lolita’s enchanted ammunition.

The very next moment, everyone slipped into a half-awake, half-dreaming state.

Time froze, the scene shifted.

From a room at the edge of the platform, a classical beauty burst forth, running to Zhang Jie in tears. For the first time, Zhang Jie’s face softened with genuine tenderness as he ran to meet her, embracing her in a passionate kiss before everyone’s eyes.

“Damn… We survived again…” Zhang Jie sighed with relief.

“You’re one to talk… You barely lifted a finger the whole time,” Zhan Lan scoffed at him with open disdain.

“Uh… haha… well…” Even with a face crisscrossed with scars, Zhang Jie’s thick skin couldn’t withstand such a rebuke.

“If there’s anything you don’t understand about the rules, just ask the ‘Main God.’ You can communicate directly with your mind… Aside from creating a woman for yourself, don’t redeem anything else! Wait until tomorrow for everything else. Oh, and pick a room—visualize what you want it to look like and it’ll appear.”

Zhang Jie, still holding the woman, dashed into a nearby room, barely managing a few words before disappearing inside with her. The door slammed shut, leaving Zheng Zha, Lolita, and Li Xiaoyi staring at each other. After a long moment, they all collapsed to the floor in exhaustion.

Lolita retrieved her gun from beside Zheng Zha and walked toward Schuster, who stood beneath the great luminous sphere of the Main God.

“That guy’s really something, huh? Still had the energy to run like that—and the interest to do… well, you know,” she teased.

Lying weakly on the ground, Zhan Lan said, “I was terrified back there. My legs are still shaking. But he seems not to care at all…”

After a while, she realized no one was listening. Turning around, she saw the others standing beneath the light, eyes closed, with Zheng Zha and Li Xiaoyi both showing telltale signs of excitement—the look of men imagining their ideal woman. She wondered idly why Schuster was standing there too, but figured he must be asking the Main God something.

“You idiots! All men are idiots! We finally survived such a nightmare, and you come back only to think about that? Men are hopeless!” Zhan Lan stormed off into a room, slamming the door with a thundering bang, startling the two men out of their reverie. They exchanged embarrassed smiles, then promptly shut their eyes again.

“Was it really necessary to scold me too?” Schuster grumbled.

“Oh, come on, big brother. Standing next to you, it’s hard to even think of you as a man,” Lolita teased.

“Forget it. You two over there, hold off on creating women for a moment. I just discovered something about the Main God’s creation function!” Schuster called to Zheng Zha and Li Xiaoyi.

“Hm?” they replied in unison, looking up—only to see that Li Xiaoyi had already completed his creation: a voluptuous, golden-haired cat-girl now nestled in his arms.

“Never mind, you can go. I’ll just talk to Zheng Zha.” Schuster waved Li Xiaoyi away as he slinked off, grinning lecherously.

Turning to the somewhat bewildered Zheng Zha, Schuster said, “I just tested it. You don’t have to limit yourself to creating a woman. Technically, you can create any living being. The Main God allows you to set physical abilities up to twice the average human standard. So whatever you decide to create, always go for the highest stats you can. That’s all I’ll say—it’s up to you whether you listen.”

“Thank you, Schuster,” Zheng Zha replied sincerely.

A flash of white light, and before Zheng Zha appeared a smiling girl, about fifteen or sixteen years old, with long, silky hair, snow-white skin, dreamy eyes, and lips like crimson petals. In the story, she was his first love—Lori.

He watched as the pair walked to an empty room and disappeared inside. Finally, Schuster turned his gaze to the great glowing orb. “At last, I can see you again, sister.” A single, clear tear slid from the corner of his tightly shut eye, tracing the curve of his handsome face before falling to the floor.

He opened his eyes to see a woman slightly shorter than himself, waist-length hair cascading down her slim frame, her features as exquisite and composed as a porcelain doll, but with a cold, expressionless face. Her chin was sharply pointed, her face reminiscent of an inverted spade from a deck of cards, her eyes even larger and darker than Schuster’s own. Her features were flawless, the face of a true queen, her figure tall and elegant, clothed in a tight white outfit that accentuated every curve. Yet the beauty before him regarded Schuster with unmistakable hostility.

“Who are you?” Her voice was hollow, distant, as if rejecting all emotion.

PS: The main heroine has arrived! Oh yes! Next volume jumps directly to Bleach, the otherworld apocalypse arc will move to the one after that. The main heroine gets an upgraded bloodline after exchange—naturally, it’s for the main heroine!