“This thing is so beautiful,” Jiezi pointed below and said, “I’ve never seen anything like it before. Should we go down and take a look?”
Xin Meng frowned, “Maybe we shouldn’t. I just feel it’s dangerous… Is this the meteorite mentioned on the card?”
Jiezi countered, “What meteorite looks like this? Even if it is, what if it’s a hint from the game about a way out? Just like many games have items that, once obtained, can help you clear the level or gain an extra life. The card specifically mentions a meteorite; doesn’t that imply something? If it’s about infection, we’re so close that we would have been infected long ago.”
“Exactly, exactly,” Xiong Jiabao nodded repeatedly from the side, “I’ve played games like that.”
With their words, Xin Meng hesitated a bit, but he still decided to trust his instincts and didn’t want to touch it.
He turned to look around; Jiezi and Xiong Jiabao were eager to try their luck with the object below, Dong Xiu had a blank expression, the light reflecting off his glasses obscured his eyes, and it was unclear what he was thinking. Li Yougen was timidly peering down, both curious and scared, but ultimately took two steps back, clearly not intending to take the risk. The girl was still hiding at a distance, maintaining an absolute distance from them.
“I…” Xin Meng finally said, “I’ll go look for any cars in the parking lot that we can drive.”
Unexpectedly, Jiezi, who seemed eager to go down and grab the item, immediately said to him, “I’ll go with you. If there are any zombies left in the car, I can protect you.”
Xin Meng found it a bit strange, “Aren’t you the one who wanted to get the item?”
Jiezi walked over, put his arm around Xin Meng’s shoulder, and smiled brightly, revealing his white teeth, “The item won’t grow legs and run away. Everyone’s safety is more important. I’ll help you find a car, and then I’ll come back.”
Looking at his sincere and caring gaze, Xin Meng felt somewhat touched. After thinking for a moment, he agreed. So, the two of them took their weapons and cautiously walked towards the outskirts of the parking lot.
The cars in the middle had been burned, and the outer cars had also been affected; they were tilted and some were even completely overturned, which made Jiezi’s concerns valid, as they indeed found four or five cars with zombies inside!
However, because Xin Meng was always very cautious, they encountered no real danger. They first bypassed the few cars with zombies scratching at them, trying the doors of other cars one by one to see if they were locked. Xin Meng pulled the car door handle while Jiezi stood closely behind him, holding a steel pipe, his gaze focused on Xin Meng’s every move.
Meanwhile, Dong Xiu and Xiong Jiabao were still gathered around the pit.
Dong Xiu kept staring at the red object below, his emotions shifting constantly.
Finally, he slightly turned his eyes to look at Xiong Jiabao, who was glancing towards Jiezi.
Xiong Jiabao was oblivious; he was worried about Jiezi and Xin Meng’s safety, so he kept watching them. Suddenly, he heard Dong Xiu speaking to him, “Aren’t you going down to get the item?”
“Huh?” Xiong Jiabao turned to look at him, “I’m waiting for Jiezi to come back before going down together.”
Dong Xiu lowered his head to look at the bottom of the pit, his lowered eyelids hiding his emotions, “Are you scared? It makes sense; if there’s danger, dying with a friend is better than being alone.”
“W-what are you saying?!” Xiong Jiabao exploded in anger, jabbing his thumb into his chest, “Am I that kind of person?!”
Dong Xiu sneered, “Who knows what kind of person you are? Some people talk about loyalty every day, but in reality, they’re just afraid of dying and are the quickest to betray their friends.”
This hit Xiong Jiabao hard; he had always regarded loyalty as a life principle since childhood, and he couldn’t accept this. In his anger, he forgot his usual admiration and respect for Dong Xiu, stepping forward to grab Dong Xiu’s collar and scold him. But out of the corner of his eye, he saw the girl retreating a couple of steps in fear, and he quickly turned to explain, “Don’t be scared! I’m not that kind of person, really! I won’t betray you, don’t be afraid!”
After saying that, he turned back to glare at Dong Xiu, but carelessly didn’t notice that the girl’s cold gaze was not on him, but on Dong Xiu!
The smile on Dong Xiu’s face seemed to provoke Xiong Jiabao even more; at least in Xiong Jiabao’s eyes, it was absolutely so. He deftly shook off Xiong Jiabao’s hand, elegantly adjusted his collar, and mockingly glanced at him, “Just because you shout doesn’t make you right. What you’re doing doesn’t support that. The thing down there could indeed be dangerous; if you’re scared, don’t go down. Just wait for Jiezi.”
The implication was that Xiong Jiabao was afraid of danger and didn’t dare to go down himself, instead wanting to push his friends into danger.
Xiong Jiabao was furious, jumping up and down, no longer afraid of Dong Xiu, pointing at his nose and shouting, “Stop talking nonsense! I’m not that kind of person! Just wait, I’m going down to get it now! Let’s see what you can say about me then!”
After hearing the conversation, Li Yougen couldn’t help but twitch at the corner of his mouth. Did these people really only have a straight line of thought? And Dong Xiu was even scarier, using provocation on his own teammates to get a… test subject.
Li Yougen, a clever person, naturally understood Dong Xiu’s intentions, but he didn’t say anything. Like the girl beside him, he just coldly watched, wanting to know the outcome as well.
The enraged Xiong Jiabao charged towards the bottom of the pit like a runaway train. At that moment, Jiezi, who had reached the outermost part of the parking lot, suddenly turned his head back but quickly turned away again.
Dong Xiu crossed his arms, suppressing his provocative expression behind Xiong Jiabao, focusing intently on his back.
Xiong Jiabao, under the gaze of everyone, was oblivious to the turbulent waves behind him. He held his breath, wanting to prove that he wasn’t the kind of coward who hides behind friends, a betrayer, but a loyal and courageous warrior!
The pit was deep, and the surrounding slope was steep, making it difficult to descend. Xiong Jiabao climbed down carefully, and after much effort, he finally reached the bottom of the pit. At this moment, he looked up, and the sky above had turned into an irregular patch. He felt like a frog trapped at the bottom of a well, only able to see a limited sky, with freedom feeling far away and getting further.
Xiong Jiabao shook his head, throwing away the inexplicable thoughts in his mind, and focused on the “meteorite” in front of him that looked like flowing lava. He crouched down, cautiously extending his hand. Just as his fingertips were about to touch the “meteorite,” he still didn’t feel any heat, so there was no need to worry about getting burned. This made him completely at ease, and he reached out with his hand to grab the “meteorite”…
“Creak, creak, creak…”
A strange sound like nails scratching glass came from inside a car. Xin Meng bypassed this car and walked towards the next one, with Jiezi swaying behind him, occasionally glancing at Xin Meng’s back.
His back was thin, and his physique wasn’t very strong.
After all, he was still young, probably just barely an adult, and had been caught in such a game.
So pitiful.
Jiezi sighed and suddenly said, “Even though you’re the youngest, you’re the smartest.”
Xin Meng was pulling on a Volkswagen car door, which, like the previous few, didn’t open. He didn’t turn back and casually replied, “If we’re talking about smart, I think Dong Xiu is smarter. I heard he skipped grades several times in school and later became a manager at a big company at a young age…”
Jiezi shook his head, still insisting, “No, no, no, I still think you’re the smartest, in this team, in my heart, you’re the smartest.”
Such a straightforward compliment made Xin Meng a bit embarrassed. He didn’t know what Jiezi meant by suddenly saying this, so he didn’t respond, just shyly smiled at Jiezi and continued to look for the next car.
In a place he couldn’t see, Jiezi also smiled at his back, then his lips moved slightly, saying something, but because no sound came out, no one knew what that sentence was.
“Ah, ah, ah, ah—”
Suddenly, a piercing scream echoed throughout the parking lot without warning!
Xin Meng turned around sharply, looking in the direction of the sound; it was Li Yougen!
Next to the pit, Li Yougen sat on the ground, staring in disbelief at the bottom of the pit, his eyes nearly bursting, letting out a heart-wrenching scream, while Dong Xiu’s face turned pale, frantically retreating, seemingly eager to get as far away from the pit as possible, and the girl hid even further away!
What happened?
Xin Meng was confused, but a bad premonition grew stronger in his heart.
He immediately ran towards the edge of the pit, with Jiezi closely following him, almost sticking to his back. Xin Meng didn’t have time to care about him, his gaze shifted to the bottom of the pit, where he saw a scene he would never forget…
Xiong Jiabao was tightly clutching the “meteorite” in his hands, holding it against his chest, his eyes wide open to the limit, the corners of his eyes tearing, blood tears flowing down, his mouth open in a painful and fierce howl, his expression incredibly twisted. His whole body was shaking violently, convulsing, and swelling, like a balloon being inflated. The once soft flesh, lacking exercise, turned into bulging muscles all over, with veins crawling like terrifying blue worms on his skin. The sound of bones continuously fracturing was chilling, and Xiong Jiabao’s body kept growing larger, taller, and more terrifyingly strong, his skin turning deep purple, his eyes blood-red, pupils disappearing, his belly swelling larger and larger, and finally, with a “bang,” it burst open, rotten intestines gushing out, mixed with a nauseating stench that sprayed all over the pit…
Xiong Jiabao was dead!
Xin Meng’s face drained of color, staring in disbelief at this horrifying scene!
He couldn’t understand how, in just a few minutes, a companion who had just been joking and playing with him had turned into such a monster!
Was this a nightmare?!
How could it turn out like this? How could it turn out like this!
The monster, with its bulging, veiny muscles, let out a “huffing” breath, then raised its head, its gaze shooting towards Li Yougen, who was closest to it, paralyzed with fear and unable to escape. Those terrifying eyes, filled with blood and lacking pupils, fixed on him, and Li Yougen felt a wave of heat below, trembling like a leaf, unable to stand, continuously backing away, screaming in terror, “No, don’t come over! Don’t come over! Help! Jiezi, Jiezi, help! Please save me, ah!”
He instinctively called for the person with the highest combat power here, his whole being on the verge of collapse. He desperately crawled towards Xin Meng and Jiezi, but when he inadvertently turned back, he found that the “monster” that Xiong Jiabao had turned into was already chasing him, running towards him at a speed much faster than his!
“No—” Li Yougen screamed frantically, his legs trembling so violently that they no longer obeyed him. He couldn’t crawl anymore, but the monster didn’t stop. In his tear-filled, blurred vision, he could only see that purple giant monster getting closer and closer…
Xin Meng stood there, stunned by what was happening, almost unable to react. Dong Xiu and the girl had long since run far away, and only he remained foolishly standing in place… no, there was also Jiezi.
No…
No! This isn’t right!
