Chapter 96: Throw into the Land of Death and He Will Survive

ZZ City's outskirts. Cao Fusheng led the way at the front with Shen Dong and Gao Yi. Thanks to the new night vision goggles, Shen Dong's eyesight had improved as well, easing some of Cao Fusheng's burden. At least he now had one more pair of usable eyes. Han Shuqing supported Chu Wei as they walked slowly behind. The latter's complexion grew increasingly pallid. If effective treatment was not received soon, she would faint. Even in the outskirts, undead species were everywhere, densely packed and forming an unbroken mass. Under these conditions, alerting a single undead species would trigger undead hordes, undead tides, and an array of bizarre creatures to take turns appearing. Helpless, the group abandoned the noise-reducing vehicle and chose to walk quietly into the city to avoid causing a greater disturbance. Chu Wei's consciousness was already unstable. She forced herself to stay alert, or she would soon collapse. At the same time, her heart was in turmoil. "Gene Ecological Lock Chain has detected the host encountering a random event. A random task is generated for the host according to its importance." "Random task generation in progress..." Random task: [Intelligence] Task success reward: none Task failure consequence: death Task instructions: none Cao Fusheng's figure trembled. He stood frozen in place for a long time without moving. This was his first encounter with such an absurd task, which felt as if ghosts had materialized in broad daylight. Success brought no reward, while failure meant death, with no task instructions or reminders. This was clearly setting him up to live a long life, deliberately pitting the host to death. Cao Fusheng signaled the others to hide casually in a nearby alley and planned to inquire about the Gene Ecological Lock Chain. "Can you tell me who crafted this lowly thing? Where are the task instructions! Prompts! Clues! How am I supposed to complete a ghost task? And there's no time limit! When does it count as task failure?" Cao Fusheng was somewhat angry, firing off a stream of questions that anyone would feel indignation at. Saying the failure consequence was nothing would be acceptable, but this directly meant death—who could accept that? Gene Ecological Lock Chain: "..." "Answer my questions. Stop pretending to be dumb!" "Please host observe and think carefully..." Cao Fusheng's forehead bulged with veins. He raised his hand to rub his temples and calm his thoughts, then began seriously pondering the two words "intelligence." Since the task was triggered by the events and environment encountered, he had to start from his immediate surroundings. Cao Fusheng's gaze turned to Chu Wei. If there was a problem to point out, it was only Chu Wei. Cao Fusheng had already harbored suspicions about this woman's true motives. From his observations, Chu Wei would never claim she wanted to return to Tianzhu to take an antidote to prolong her life. She could place life and death aside, and returning to Tianzhu to clash with the undead tide carried a high probability of death. Yet she stubbornly insisted on returning, which was fundamentally unreasonable. It did not match her personality or the way she conducted herself. A moment earlier, Cao Fusheng had lost his composure from the sudden appearance of the Gene Ecological Lock Chain, but his mind remained clear. He quickly locked his gaze on Chu Wei. The few in the team sensed the subtle atmosphere. They did not understand why Cao Fusheng was staring fixedly at Chu Wei without blinking. Among them, Gao Yi was the most tense, fearing that the respected Cao would suddenly say something like "Chu Wei, I love you." Chu Wei's return to Tianzhu was not about facing the so-called need to detoxify, but about carrying intelligence vital to Tianzhu's fate. This also explained why the Gene Ecological Lock Chain's failure penalty was death. If this intelligence failed to reach Tianzhu's high-ups, it would lead to Tianzhu suffering an unknown strike, preventing Cao Fusheng from completing his subsequent tasks. This was an event that required pulling every thread. Regardless, it had to be completed. Before that, Chu Wei's life had to be preserved. Cao Fusheng could not read minds. If he forced Chu Wei to reveal secrets, it might produce the opposite effect. Because this task had been triggered, he could no longer abandon Chu Wei when matters became impossible as before. "Listen to me, everyone. The urgent priority is to save Chu Wei. Her injuries cannot be delayed further. We have not scouted the terrain around Tianzhu yet. If we rely on entering there to rescue her, it would be no different from a lunatic's dream. We need to think of other methods." Cao Fusheng said in a low voice. At this moment, Han Shuqing transferred the support of Chu Wei to Gao Yi and moved to Cao Fusheng's side to whisper, "I can tell you were not joking. Why the sudden change? The good words I said about her in the car earlier were deliberately said to her, but they cannot be taken seriously." Cao Fusheng had no intention of hiding it from Han Shuqing. Women building emotional bonds tend to be quicker than between men and women. If it was Han Shuqing, she might extract useful information from Chu Wei more rapidly. "This I am, of course, clear. I suspect Chu Wei may carry important intelligence, related to Tianzhu's survival and our future. She cannot die yet. At least until she clarifies the secret, we cannot let her die. We need to bring this intelligence into Tianzhu." Unbeknownst to them, while the two whispered in secret, Chu Wei's gaze kept sizing up Cao Fusheng. Cao Fusheng did not know that originally Chu Wei had planned to inform him of the information when he was about to die, and Chu Wei did not know that Cao Fusheng was already preoccupied with this intelligence. It was merely due to various considerations that neither of them opened the window and spoke frankly. "Little Wei, rest assured, we will never abandon you. Even if Fusheng really decides to abandon you, Shen Dong and Gao Yi and I will not agree. Since we promised to take you into Tianzhu back then, we will not go back on our word." Han Shuqing said with a smile. She feared these words of good intention were too obvious and added, "The most important thing is that we still rely on Little Wei to introduce us." Chu Wei gave Han Shuqing a grateful look and softly said, "I am already a lone person. My teammates all sacrificed for me. I feel a deep sin on my body. Being treated like this by you all, little sister really does not know how to thank everyone." Han Shuqing held Chu Wei's hands and said, "Where is that from. If Little Wei does not mind, we can be a family from now on. Even if we luckily return to Tianzhu, it is the same. No matter what matters or requests, as long as you are willing to speak up, we will do our utmost to complete them." Chu Wei's gaze flickered. For a moment she did not know if it was gratitude or something else. She suddenly said, "Throw into death to survive." Beside him, Shen Dong instantly perked up. Without thinking, he replied, "Plunge into death to be reborn!" Chu Wei's face changed drastically. She broke free from Han Shuqing's hands and stepped back a few steps unnaturally.