Seven people, six people, five people...

As more and more companions died tragically, fear overwhelmed Barrett like a tide.

When only he was left, under the empty and hopeless gaze of his deceased teammates, Barrett's legs gave way, and he knelt to the ground.

He neither had the courage to pull the trigger and fight back, nor the guts to end his life, so he could only kowtow ceaselessly to the monster, his voice trembling as he begged for mercy.

The monster paused for a moment, then extended a branch that slid into his body through his mouth and nose.

All these memories were tightly sealed in the depths of his consciousness until this moment.

He only remembered narrowly escaping back, unaware that he had long become a puppet of the monster.

So, I have already died?

So, I am no longer human?

As his gaze turned to Cheng Ye, who was continuously firing from outside the isolation chamber, his face bound in mid-air by vines suddenly twisted into a sinister smile.

The scattered vines, as if receiving some command, frantically surged out from the gaps in the isolation chamber's grille.

The other three people in the same isolation room as Barrett were terrified to death, but soon discovered that green vines were emerging from the surface of their skin as well.

Memories surfaced, revealing that during the days of joint isolation, they had long been infected by the rotting vine inside Barrett's body, and the painful memories of being infected had been selectively sealed!

"Damn, why is this rotting vine so hard to kill?"

The function of the vine's root system seemed completely unaffected even when the host was shot in the head.

Moreover, one infected body suddenly turned into four, with hundreds of vines squeezing through the narrow grille, trying to surge out.

Fortunately, the quality of the isolation chamber was really good; the grille remained unmoved, otherwise Cheng Ye would have turned and run without hesitation.

"Why are you still dawdling? Go call for help, are you just watching the show?"

After emptying one magazine, Cheng Ye reloaded with one hand and noticed Raven and Owl still standing there in a daze.

It wasn't until he shouted that they snapped out of it as if waking from a dream.

Raven scrambled towards a pillar, hitting it with his whole body, and slammed down the alarm button hard.

Owl was more straightforward, grabbing an extinguisher-like device from the back of the corridor.

"Sir, let me do it!"

With a shout, Owl unscrewed the valve, grabbed the nozzle, and ran forward, pressing the trigger with his thumb.

Whoosh!

A tongue of flame with a sulfur smell erupted, orange and red flames licking the green vines like a living thing. The root system that had been madly drilling out of the grille gaps instantly curled up into charcoal, with black droplets carbonizing and smoking in the fire.

A strange burning sound arose, neither crackling nor popping, but a dry snap like bones breaking, mixed with the hissing of gas expanding within the vines, as if countless trapped souls were screeching within the flames.

"It's not a water gun, it's a flamethrower?"

Cheng Ye watched in astonishment.

This operation completely deviated from the norm—who in their right mind installs a flamethrower indoors?

"This is... the emergency incinerator of Plan No. 3..."

Owl turned his head, grinning as he spoke.

But just as he turned back to explain, a vine covered in thorns suddenly drilled out from the gap in the railing, weaving through the flames like a venomous snake.

By the time Owl noticed, the vine's tip was within three meters of his chest!

Damn it!

This thing isn't afraid of fire?

"Get out of the way!"

Cheng Ye didn't have time to think it through. He lunged forward, sweeping Owl off his feet with a swing of his iron-whip-like leg.

At the same time, he grabbed the fallen flamethrower nozzle, performed a combat roll, and when getting up, his arms suddenly applied force, slamming down hard on the trigger.

Whoosh.

The blazing flame surged from the side, aiming at the thorny vine like a giant python.

No one expected this thing to possess such fire resistance. It wasn't until it bent and got within two meters of Cheng Ye that its outer skin finally "crackled" with sparks, gradually turning to charcoal from tip to root.

Was it pretending before? Pretending to be afraid of fire?

Cheng Ye's pupils contracted, the hairs on the back of his neck standing on end, further deepening his understanding of infected bodies.

These creepy things are far more terrifying than what the books recorded.

And they are indeed evolving in directions unpredictable by humans, no wonder Brother B said being cautious and prudent means living longer than just knowing the rules well.

Bang, bang bang...

The alarm blared, and more than a dozen guards rushed in, filling the corridor with the rapid burst of rifle shots.

Seeing this, Cheng Ye stopped the flamethrower as the fuel was nearly exhausted and its strength weakening, dragging the frightened Owl backward.

The moment the flames extinguished, he saw those vines struck by bullets healing at a speed visible to the naked eye, the green liquid oozing from the fracture like a tide mending the wounds, even proliferating denser fibrous tissues around the bullet holes.

Well, what kind of creature is this rotting vine, continuing to learn and evolve through contact, developing immunity to the physical impact of bullets.

However, the farce ends here.

Facing suddenly aggressive infected bodies, the guards might be slaughtered unilaterally.

But dealing with an infected body trapped in an isolation chamber was way too easy.

Cheng Ye turned and walked out.

He heard continuous explosions behind him, and within no more than a minute, calm was restored.

"Report to the inspector, the infected body code-named 'Unknown' has been successfully eliminated!"

"Professional containment personnel have been dispatched from the station, with cleanup expected in ten minutes."

Raven came out to report, catching a glimpse of Owl sitting at the warehouse door, petrified, clearly terrified out of his wits.

"Code-named unknown?"

Cheng Ye pondered, unexpectedly realizing that not only did the books in the Survival Library have no records of 'rotting vines,' but even in Happiness City, no one had ever seen this infection source.

Is this a newly evolved infection source, or has it migrated from elsewhere?

"Congratulations, sir. Unknown infection sources always come with substantial contribution point rewards. Just judging by the green vine's attack power, it's at least a starting gain of 40 points."

"Really?"

Cheng Ye nodded slightly.

For inspectors, killing infected bodies is a much more straightforward way to make money than exploiting loopholes in the rules.

And... it's truly thrilling.

Hitting a stationary target is one thing, but shooting at rotting vines is a whole different matter.

Especially that surge of adrenaline when wielding a flamethrower. Cheng Ye couldn't help relishing the memory, somewhat intoxicated.

"Sir, I'll go handle the follow-up now."

Raven respectfully excused himself, without asking how Cheng Ye identified Barrett as an infected body with just a few words.

To these frontline inspection station personnel, he only saw Cheng Ye stepping forward at the critical moment and saving Owl.

Among the 150 inspectors in the station, only a rare few could do that.

To regard them as human beings rather than cold, impersonal tools.

That alone was enough for them to risk their lives!

...

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