CH 134

Seeing several speedboats getting closer, Li Han’er said in disbelief, “Didn’t they land on this island? Why are they coming here again on a speedboat?”

Dong Zhi joked, “It may be we’re seeing things, and it’s actually a group of zombies.”

But no one thought he was joking. Everyone actually thought it made sense, and they grabbed their weapons, looking wary.

The speedboat quickly docked, and the Americans jumped off the top. William, who was shouting on the speedboat just now, was the first to get off.

He looked excited. “Hey, Dong! What a coincidence. I wanted to call you, and we just ran into you!”

Yang Shouyi: “If he has turned into a zombie, with this language ability, he must be at least a level 6 zombie or above.”

Dong Zhi couldn’t laugh or cry.

But it wasn’t just the Americans. A total of three speed boats came over. The other two were carrying the British and the Southern Europeans. Compared to the Americans, the latter two looked much more miserable.

Seeing their faces were strange and motionless, William’s steps slowed down, and his smile faded a bit. He asked suspiciously, “What happened? Why are you all looking at me like that?”

Dong Zhi: “My companions suspect your existence is an illusion, but in fact, you’re all zombies.”

William laughed. “My god, why would you think that? Are you so crazy about killing zombies? I’m the real William—your old pal. Don’t you remember the cell phone I gave you? Zombies won’t remember this!”

Liu Qingbo sneered. “That’s not necessarily true. The zombies we met before were using weapons to attack. How many living experiments have you done on that island, and how many people have turned into zombies?”

Seeing the scowls on their faces, William quickly put away his joking demeanor and raised his hands. “Don’t get angry. Calm down. I didn’t put zombies on that island!”

Dong Zhi said, “Zombies are different from monsters. They were all ordinary people during their lifetime. The zombies we encountered have evolved and are able to use tools. This shows that sooner or later, they will evolve to a level of human wisdom. You must know something.”

“Let me explain.” A young woman walked over from behind William. It was Lilith, the captain of their team.

“The discovery of the zombie virus was accidental, but unlike in movies, TV shows, or novels, some people deliberately research it with malicious intentions. Once, when we were chasing a wolf demon, we found a victim who was infected with this unknown virus. It was initially suspected that this virus was composed of wolfsbane, the rabies virus, and demonic qi. However, the discovery was too late. A group of people have already been infected. In order to avoid the continued spread of this virus, Group 51 transported them to one of the islands here for long-term observation.”

Lilith frowned, then continued, “This island was originally an experiment base, but it was abandoned later. In order to observe the zombies, some staff members left behind tracking records. Who knew that later the zombies would have mutated and evolved, and the staff would also fall? We found that although these zombies are fearless, they still have some fear of exorcism marks, which may be due to the demonic qi in their initial composition. In the end, we could only set up an exorcism barrier on the edge of the forest to prevent them from escaping. As for the zombies using tools, we really don’t know. It seems that they have evolved after long-term wandering. That’s all I know.”

Hearing her explanation, the faces of Dong Zhi and the others finally improved.

Dong Zhi asked, “The forest is full of zombies, and there’s no food. How can they maintain their attack power?”

Lilith said, “At the beginning, we would regularly airdrop some live animals down. Later, we stopped feeding them and wanted to see how long they could survive without any food source. We later found that these zombies were almost immortal. They did show signs of exhaustion, but this took at least three years, so there are signs, but it’s very slow.”

Speaking of this, she hesitated for a moment. “I heard that some people in Group 51 think that humans may be able to get inspiration from the delay of life exhaustion from the zombies. They hope to extract anti-aging elements that can benefit ordinary people.”

Liu Qingbo sneered. “So you guys have been treating them like treasures all this time? Come on, the reason they don’t easily get tired is because they have demonic qi inside their bodies! Do you guys also want to try injecting some demonic qi in your bodies?”

Lilith smiled bitterly. “Some people think that demonic qi can be controlled within a certain safe range and can benefit mankind. This issue has been debated by the Minister of Internal Affairs for a while now, but I can only tell you this. The party that proposed to completely eliminate the zombies finally won. We can’t risk dancing with the devil.”

Zhang Song sneered. “In other words, you have long known that there will be zombies on that island, and you brought us here to help destroy them!”

William yelled from the side. “You can’t say that. Every island is dangerous. We don’t know which island you would draw. Moreover, didn’t I provide you with a lot of information?”

Dong Zhi said, “We didn’t encounter anything dangerous that your information provided so it’s useless. Since you have concealed the zombies from us, then there must be other things that you’re also hiding.”

William: “Come on, we don’t know a lot about the contents of the competition. We’re just newcomers to Group 51. Even if we have the advantage as the host, those above won’t tell us much. Just like this Full Moon Island. We thought it was dangerous, so we didn’t get very close at all. We turned around and went to another island. Since we’re all here, why not explore together?”

It was best not to bite the hand that feeds you. Dong Zhi realized that even though the Americans might know a lot, they weren’t necessarily obligated to tell him everything. The fact that he could come to them for cooperation was an opportunity, and he naturally wanted to take advantage of it. Therefore, he relaxed his expression.

“Let’s talk about the situation on your side first.”

William told them that the news they had received in advance was just piecemeal. They only knew that the golden apple was related to a certain behemoth, but they didn’t know exactly what that behemoth was. After they landed on Full Moon Island, they saw this earthen city and wanted to send out two people to investigate first. If the situation wasn’t good, or if they felt that there might not be the golden apple on it, they would immediately leave and go to another island instead of wasting time. If they encountered any danger, they would release flares in time and let the people outside come rescue them.

Lilith said, “I went in with Tom.”

After Lilith and Tom entered, they found the earthen city was actually a huge maze made of earthen walls. The walls inside divided the huge space into countless roads, which were intricate and complex. If one wasn’t careful, they could get lost in it forever. The two of them didn’t dare to separate too far, sticking extremely close to each other for fear that something might happen. They didn’t even walk too fast and made many marks along the way to prevent themselves from getting lost. However, something did go wrong.

“Tom was walking in front of me. There was a corner at that time. I hadn’t seen it clearly, but he seemed to have been suddenly dragged away by something. He disappeared before my eyes without making a sound!”

Recalling the previous events, Lilith became a little nervous. Her other companions patted her on the shoulder silently to comfort her. She took a deep breath, then continued, “I hurried to catch up, but something strange happened. The front was completely empty, and there was no Tom, as if he had just simply vanished.”

Dong Zhi and the others looked at each other.

“What do you mean vanished?”

Lilith: “Vanished. I don’t know how to explain it. You have to know that he was right in front of me. From being dragged away to me catching up, it took at most two seconds. Tom is agile and strong, but he just disappeared out of thin air. I was stunned at the time. I shouted for him and looked around for a while, but found no trace of him. I knew he must have encountered some kind of unknown danger, so I took advantage of the fact that the exit wasn’t far and decided to leave first and discuss this with William and the others.”

William said, “Among our members, we all have mobile phones to contact each other, but we can’t contact Tom. The rest of us argued for a long time and finally decided to go in and save him, but after entering, everyone searched for a day and couldn’t find Tom. There was nothing inside except the maze of earthen walls. At that point, we decided to give up and go to another island.”

Liu Qingbo looked at the city wall that was at least six meters high and asked suspiciously, “How did you back out and return the same way? Flying Chinese kung fu?”

William asked curiously, “What is flying Chinese kung fu? “

Liu Qingbo rolled his eyes. “Don’t change the subject.”

William shrugged. “Well, actually, um, we brought a personal aircraft.”

He turned around and showed Liu Qingbo and the others his aircraft. It actually looked like a backpack but contained flying machine’s equipment. Only half the space was used to store things. They had never seen this kind of equipment before, so it was probably the latest black technology from the United States.

Li Han’er looked at it curiously. “How do you control this aircraft? Does everyone have it?”

William smiled. “This requires a little skill. Of course not everyone can do it. For example, it requires body balance. We all need to receive special training before we can use it.”

He didn’t elaborate, and Li Han’er didn’t ask more. She felt that the world was so big and that there were so many wonders. These Americans weren’t like practitioners but more like people who only used modern technology and strayed into a fantasy world full of monsters.

William then added, “But when it comes to beautiful ladies, I certainly have nothing to hide. After the competition, let’s go for a cup of tea, and I’ll slowly tell you all about it. How does that sound?”

Li Han’er said, “Forget it. I rather not know.”

William looked deflated while the Englishman next to him laughed mercilessly.

Lilith became irritated. “Gentlemen, can we get down to business?”

William hurriedly said, “Okay, okay.”

William described that after leaving the maze, they went to Rose Island, but encountered an overwhelming number of harpies. The harpies attacked them mercilessly, as if they were crazy. The British and Southern Europeans also encountered the Americans in the process of fighting the harpies, so everyone joined forces to defeat them and then left the island.

Dong Zhi said, “I remember the Russians also went to Rose Island. Didn’t you see them?”

The British captain, White, shook his head. “No, we didn’t encounter any Russians along the way, but those harpies were definitely strange. I have encountered them once before in Scotland and know they understand human language and don’t act that crazy. I don’t know what’s going on, but it seems as if they were suddenly bewitched by some kind of magic.”

He looked at William and the others. “Could it be that the organizing committee did something?”

William smiled bitterly. “The competition is for competitive exercise, not for killing people. I think something must have gone wrong in this competition.”

Dong Zhi interjected. “It may be related to the influx of demonic qi.”

He briefly talked about his team’s experience in the forest. It was just as thrilling as the other islands. After hearing that a Japanese was possessed by demonic qi and could command zombies to ambush and besiege them, Lilith’s face changed drastically. She muttered, “Things really are wrong. It shouldn’t be like this!”

White had lingering fears. “So, the sudden madness of those harpies may also be related to demonic qi?”

During their discussions, the Southern Europeans kept silent as if they were invisible. Most of the time, they just went along with the commands of others, reducing many disagreements.

William said, “The only good news is now we have ruled out two islands. Diana Island and Rose Island. The golden apple shouldn’t be there. What’s left are Full Moon Island and Princess Island, where the French is. Let’s hope God blesses Princess Island with no golden apple!”

Dong Zhi asked, “So what’s in the maze?”

William shook his head. “We don’t know. If we knew, maybe we wouldn’t have lost Tom. Now that we have four teams here, maybe we can make plans so we can be more efficient without harming each other’s interests.”

Everyone had no objections. At this time, the sky gradually darkened. Everyone decided to rest first, come up with a plan, and enter the maze early tomorrow morning.

There were few trees on Full Moon Island. They were scattered about on the periphery of the maze. The old trees were withered and dying, but it was enough to give them firewood for the night. With many hands of varying strengths, the task became easy. In no time at all, they all returned with several large bundles of branches on their backs.

Putting some branches against the stone wall, White took out his lighter but couldn’t light it, most likely because it was too damp. He borrowed a different bundle from his companions, but even those branches were damp as well. After several attempts, he failed to light a fire.

Zhang Song, who was next to him, curled his mouth when he saw this and directly pulled out a talisman. His mouth opened and closed a few times, and the talisman caught fire between his two fingers. He threw the talisman at the piled-up firewood, and it instantly burst into flames. The fire was raging, glowing in everyone’s eyes.

The British: ……

William grinned and thought in his heart that it was wise for him to choose the Chinese to form an alliance. He couldn’t help but gloat, and he said to White, “Why don’t you seek help from our Chinese friends?”

The Americans and the British didn’t have much conflict, but they didn’t really get along privately either. They often didn’t see eye to eye with each other, so White responded coldly, “You can seek help yourself. No need to use us as an excuse.”

William shrugged. “We don’t need it!”

He turned his head and fired a shot at the pyre. It wasn’t a bullet that came out of the barrel, but a flame. Fire instantly ignited at once, but in order to pose in a handsome posture, his shooting technique was a little awkward, making a twig bounce off from the flames and hit Lilith in the forehead.

Lilith was furious and raised her hand to beat him, which William quickly avoided.

White laughed mercilessly.

When fire was finally lit for all four teams, the captains and vice captains on each side sat around the fire to discuss strategies.

Now that the Americans were missing Tom, there were only five people on their team.

The British didn’t lose anyone, but the red-haired Grace had caused so much trouble with Dong Zhi’s team that White was afraid she would cause more trouble after she came, so he left her at the hotel and didn’t bring her. Now there were only six of them; the same as Dong Zhi’s side.

One of the Southern Europeans was seriously injured in the fight with the harpies. The injured person was still in a semi-comatose state and was placed by his companions to rest by the fire, which was equivalent to losing a fighting power. Thus, they only had five people on their team.

Lilith said, “I have a suggestion. There are many forks in the maze. We won’t always be together and will inevitably be separated. Whoever finds the golden apple first must signal before leaving the island so others can see it. What do you think?”

Everyone thought this was a good idea. Not only would it prevent robbery, but it would save everyone time, so they all nodded in agreement.

The British brought their own flare guns, so Lilith gave Dong Zhi and the captain of the Southern Europe team a flare gun.

Lilith: “Our companion is Tom. If you see him tomorrow and he’s still alive, please help him. We’ll be very grateful!”

White asked, “Do you have any photos?”

William thought for a moment and then said, “I’ll draw a picture.”

He took out a pen and paper and drew a sketch on it.

Dong Zhi leaned over curiously to look. In the next second, he couldn’t wait to slap himself from two seconds ago.

William turned his head to him and asked, “Nice, right?”

Dong Zhi: “…Does he have a lot of acne on his face?”

William: “That’s nonsense!”

Lilith rubbed her forehead. “Alright, stop drawing! He’s probably around six feet tall, quite burly, bald with a golden beard, and round-faced. You should be able to recognize him when you see him.”

Everyone looked at William’s sketch and felt that Lilith’s description was more graphic.

They all agreed they would look out for him. Lilith once again expressed her gratitude and asked, “Do you have anything to add? If not, let’s rest early.”

Dong Zhi thought for a moment, then said, “I hope that in this competition, everyone will try to stand united when facing monsters. Even if you see the golden apple, don’t ignore the safety of your competitors. After all, monsters are our true enemies, and the glory that comes from that is more worthy of respect.”

Naturally, everyone nodded and agreed. As for whether they truly thought so in their hearts, it was unknown. White secretly laughed in his heart, feeling that Dong Zhi’s seriousness was a bit naïve. Of course, it was easy to say this kind of thing when it was all talk, but in a real battle, those who wanted to snatch the golden apple were considered enemies. And who would be merciful to their enemies?

However, he would later discover that it wasn’t Dong Zhi who was naïve but himself. The other party had said these words not to make their enemies merciful, but for their own good.

But at this moment, White had no such experience for the time being.

The author has something to say:

A small theater that has nothing to do with the text:

Now,

White: Oh, how naive!

Future,

White: Dad, show mercy!