Chapter 041 Self-Destructing Infantry?

The man was now in despair.

He had no idea what was happening in the city; all he knew was that everyone inside had turned into lunatics. Every person who spotted him wanted to attack, and even while driving, they fearlessly rammed their bodies into his car one after another, leaving his vehicle a wreck right before his eyes.

He tried calling the police, but all the lines were busy. There wasn’t a single officer on the streets, as if he had been abandoned by the entire world. Especially when his vehicle finally broke down, all that filled his heart was despair.

Until… he heard an angry shout not far away: “Over there! Run this way! Quickly! We’ll cover you!”

Following the voice, he spotted Ling Mo and three others in front of the Research Institute. It was the chubby guy who was waving at him.

Like a dawn breaking after darkness, that glimpse of hope in despair surged in him, and he turned around to sprint towards them.

Meanwhile, Xia Xinyan quickly scanned their surroundings, then pointed to a nearby hotel: “Let’s go there!”

It was still quite a distance from their home, and walking over in the current situation was too dangerous, especially since they had to rescue this bystander. Finding a safe hiding place quickly became the priority.

After all, the virus spreading in this city wasn’t a zombie virus; it posed less danger than the latter. Therefore, choosing this hotel wasn’t a bad decision.

The others had no objections and soon reached the hotel entrance. Xia Xinyan went inside to check the safety, while Ling Mo and the other two waited at the door for the bystander to escape over.

At this moment, over ten infected individuals, drawn by the commotion, were closing in. Fortunately, no more had joined the chase; otherwise, the three of them might not have been able to handle it. However, among the three, only Ling Mo carried a long gun, so before getting too close, neither the chubby guy nor Murong Yue dared to fire—afraid of wasting bullets.

Ling Mo, on the other hand, didn’t share such worries. He nonchalantly practiced shooting from a distance of over ten meters and even successfully took down several—his hit rate was probably above two-thirds; the chubby guy couldn’t help but exclaim how awesome he was.

Thanks to his preemptive cleaning, only a few infected got through to them, and they were all taken down by the trio’s crossfire. By the time the man arrived, panting heavily at the hotel entrance, there were no more pursuers behind him.

However, the man looked like he could collapse at any moment: “Th… thank you…”

“You haven’t exercised in a while, have you? Your physical condition isn’t great,” the chubby guy patted the man’s shoulder. Before the man could react, he pressed a handgun against his head. “Got a phone? Hand it over.”

The man: “?”

“Why are you wasting time talking to him?” Murong Yue was even more direct, stepping forward to pat down the man, her straightforwardness making him seem almost timid.

She even lingered a bit on some sensitive areas.

“Found it.” She pulled out the man’s phone from his pocket, nodded, “Alright, we can kill him now.”

The man: “???”

Even the chubby guy couldn’t take it any longer: “Wait, why are you more ruthless than me?”

“He’s just an NPC; what’s the point of keeping him alive?” Murong Yue shot him a glance.

Though the man didn’t quite understand what it meant, he knew he had just escaped from a tiger’s den only to land in a pirates’ ship—now as a hostage too. The glimmer of hope he had just felt vanished in an instant: “Aren’t you here to save me? I can pay you…”

“What’s the use of money? We can’t bring it back to reality.” Murong Yue still harbored obvious malice towards him, “Killing him is just simpler.”

“Alright,” Ling Mo interjected, “Let’s just keep him around; there’s no need to be so extreme.”

Even if he was an NPC, Murong Yue’s behavior was too inhumane.

“Come on, are you guys planning to take care of this guy? Just so you know, I definitely won’t care about his life and death,” Murong Yue distanced herself from the responsibility.

Ling Mo shot her a side glance: “I never said we had to take care of him, did I?”

After he spoke, Xia Xinyan returned to the front desk: “There’s no one inside; it’s safe. Let’s stay here for a day; if we close the door properly, there shouldn’t be any major issues.”

Hearing this, Murong Yue shot her a bewildered glance before turning towards the second floor: “Do as you like.”

The others quickly dispersed, locked the hotel door, and found room cards at the front desk, leaving the man behind as they headed upstairs.

Only Ling Mo kindly briefed the man on the current situation. As for what the man planned to do next, he couldn’t be bothered.

As long as he didn’t throw them under the bus, it was fine.

But even if he did, it wasn’t a big problem—after all, it was just a bullet’s worth.

The hotel had three floors, with two staircases, and the layout was decent. Plus, the rooftops were quite close together. Even if they were breached by the infected, they would have multiple escape routes. As a temporary hiding spot, this hotel was indeed a good choice.

However, there were certain disagreements when it came to room arrangements.

The chubby guy hoped that all four could share a room and take turns keeping watch at night for greater safety. Murong Yue leaned towards this idea, but she also wanted a room to herself, creating a bit of a dilemma. As for Ling Mo…

He turned to Xia Xinyan: “Xinyan, what do you… plan to do?”

Xia Xinyan pondered for a few seconds and smiled: “How about we share a room?”

“Sure,” Ling Mo didn’t think much of it and simply accepted, acting like a heartless affirmation machine. “You two can figure it out.”

Then Murong Yue couldn’t watch anymore: “Wait, there’s no need to show off your affection playing a game, right? By the way, does this game even allow for ‘activities’ like that?”

Ling Mo: “…”

—Oh right, doesn’t that count as his first time sharing a room with Xia Xinyan?

Oh no, he couldn’t stop himself from overthinking it.

Xia Xinyan, however, only smiled without responding: “There’s no rule against showing affection in the game, right?”

“Then fine, I’ll just stay in a room by myself,” Murong Yue pouted, not saying anything more.

“Well, at least before that, we should share some intel, right?” the chubby guy looked at Murong Yue, frowning, “You still have the phone; aren’t you going to check the situation?”

Murong Yue fell silent for a second, then directly handed the phone to Xia Xinyan: “It’s yours now.”

Xia Xinyan didn’t refuse, taking the phone to look it over.

This phone was indeed no different from reality—just no brand and no display of signal. But the internet speed was quite fast.

However, after a little research, oddities became apparent— like how the network only searched for virus-related news and returned nothing for any other content. The app store contained only two applications—one for navigation and one for news.

The news contained information about the virus in this city but was not detailed—

【Unknown Virus W: Transmission route unknown, incubation period between half an hour to a day, symptoms include abnormally scarlet skin, and an overwhelming desire to attack uninfected individuals. In the final stage of infection, the infected’s physique reaches its peak, leading them to charge at the first uninfected person they see before self-destructing.】

The last sentence caught everyone’s attention.

“Self-destruct? Like, self-destructing infantry?” The chubby guy’s expression grew increasingly strange, “Then tomorrow, won’t it be a city full of self-destructing infantry?”

Ling Mo thought for a few seconds and nodded: “I think I can guess what the final challenge will be.”

As for self-detonation, if the blast was even slightly powerful, it would pose a far greater threat than just charging headfirst.

Now, this was getting intense.