Chapter Sixty-Four: Drained Dry, Perhaps!

I hoisted the abandoned Huo Bing onto my back and returned to the laboratory.

At this moment, the lovely, delicate girl's face was streaked with writhing black veins, giving her a terrifying, gruesome appearance.

I quickly examined the reactor's controls. At the other end, it was connected to a tank as tall as a person. There was less than a fifth of the dust left inside the storage tank—this was the chemical substance responsible for the mutation in those corpse creatures.

Once everything was ready, I brought Huo Bing into the induction furnace. My plan was to activate the starter and then exit, but an unexpected change took place. The mouth of the reactor suddenly snapped shut!

The man in the white lab coat stood outside the furnace, a sinister grin on his face.

Fourth Master was nowhere to be seen—clearly a consequence of my hearing loss. Dog must have tried to warn me, but I was too focused on operating the reactor and tending to Huo Bing to notice any commotion on Fourth Master’s end.

That damn lab coat must have locked Fourth Master outside in the blink of an eye.

The laboratory door was sealed shut as well! The door was made of synthetic metal, at least half a meter thick—impossible for Fourth Master to break through.

In that instant, a thousand thoughts flashed through my mind. To make matters worse, I had left my knife outside!

What a turn of events—this lab coat corpse was truly a cunning villain. He’d left with such ease, and I’d been too anxious over Huo Bing to notice his odd behavior.

How could a corpse creature leave its prey behind so easily?

Even if it had gained human intelligence, it would never do something so completely against biological instinct.

Bang!

I slammed my fist into the entrance of the reactor, leaving a deep dent.

The furnace was completely sealed—there was no way to escape through any other exit. I was trapped!

Bang! Bang! Bang!

My fists pounded relentlessly against the wall of the furnace, the skin split and bleeding, but the wall would not give.

Damn! The furnace was made of special material—though it dented under my blows, I couldn’t break through!

“Don’t waste your energy—this furnace can’t be broken by blunt force. You two are just right for my experiments. I’ve never tested this foreign substance on living humans. You’ll be my first and second subjects—ha ha ha.” The lab coat, aware of my deafness, enunciated every word slowly so I could read his lips.

“In the old world, human experimentation was forbidden. I’d planned to capture someone for a trial, but before I could, the old era ended and I became like this.

“Later, for reasons unknown, after turning into this bloodthirsty monster, I started to regain fragments of my memory by devouring humans and my own kind. That’s how I became the ruler here—able to command these imbecilic creatures!”

“But I didn’t want them to harm people, so I herded all the corpse creatures together and locked them in the factory, leaving just a few in the quarantine zone as sentries. In fact, I noticed you the moment you arrived, every move you made.

“Others have entered before, but those cowards fled in terror, and the ones who didn’t escape fast enough were torn apart by these things. Useless fools! Have they never seen corpse creatures obeying orders? How vulgar!”

Inside the furnace, I let my fists fall. My knuckles were nearly broken. The lab coat was right—I couldn’t break out of this reactor.

Hearing his monologue, I couldn’t help but laugh—it was the first time in my life a corpse creature had ever complained to me!

To think I’d run into one who could speak and think—could it be a fourth-level corpse? The idea startled me.

Few have seen a fourth-level corpse; their abilities vary, but there are records in the Survivor’s Log of ones who could command swarms.

“In the old era, I was just a lowly researcher. But once I became a monster in this ruined world, I became a king! The last shred of humanity in me made me lock these things up—partly because I didn’t want to see them running wild.

“And partly, of course, because they’re my food. By devouring these imbeciles, I’ve grown stronger. Marvelous! Though eating their rotting flesh disgusts me—revolting! It’s been so long since I’ve tasted living human flesh.”

“Let me think—the last time was a week ago. Five or six fools wandered in. I meant to keep one or two as test subjects, but I couldn’t resist the lure of fresh human meat and ate them all. A pity, really.”

The lab coat gestured wildly as he spoke, clearly enjoying himself—he was a madman in corpse’s clothing.

“If you want to experiment on the living, why not take some of your corpse creatures out to catch people?” I asked, keeping my voice calm.

He wasn’t telling the whole truth.

For a moment, the rotting face of the lab coat froze.

He fixed me with his crimson eyes, smiling slyly, “I’m a coward. What if I get killed by humans outside? Besides, humans are rare these days, and this chemical plant is in a remote area. I have no choice but to wait for prey to come to me.”

“Oh, is that so? I suspect it’s because you can’t control that many corpse creatures at once. That’s why you herd them together instead of leading them out to attack. If you could command two thousand at once, you’d have massacred your way out long ago.”

I sneered, watching for any flicker of emotion on his face.

“Well, you’re not entirely wrong. But I really am afraid of dying. You think two thousand is a lot? These are all imbeciles. Take them out, and a squad of well-armed survivors would mow them down with ease.

“I’ll let you in on a secret—I know you’re trying to stall for time, but I have all the time in the world. You’ll never get out, and that girl beside you… her time is almost up.”

“Ahahahaha! Wonderful, marvelous!” The lab coat cackled madly. His laughter was so violent the rotting flesh at the corners of his mouth tore all the way to his ears—a ghastly sight.

“This damned body! I hate it—I despise this wretched flesh!”

“Let’s begin! I can hardly wait to see what you two become after being infused with the dust. All those imbeciles were defective failures; I’m the only semi-success. Don’t disappoint me!”

I glared murderously at the lab coat outside. Just one wall separated us, but there was nothing I could do.

Damn it!

Suddenly, Huo Bing, who had collapsed on the ground, stirred. She reached out and grabbed my ankle.