CHAPTER 9
The sound of gunshots rang out quickly. Tang Yu and Jin Ye moved swiftly, running ahead. However, Jian Wu wasn't as lucky. His agility was slightly lacking, and at this moment, one of the subordinates grabbed him by the back of his collar.
Jian Wu made up his mind. Perhaps it was out of guilt for leading them astray. He shouted loudly, "Run! I'll buy us some time." He turned around and pounced on the person grabbing him, opening his mouth to bite.
In that moment, the young man finally understood that trusting others blindly wouldn't lead to a good outcome.
Tang Yu and Jin Ye had already broken into the last two single-story houses and disappeared from sight.
"Aren't we going to save Jian Wu?" Jin Ye asked as they ran.
"We can't. You might not have seen clearly behind me, but that woman in the house is the one who killed your teammate this morning."
Jin Ye's gaze darkened. "Song Lengzhu, indeed, we can't defeat her."
Tang Yu finally learned Song Lengzhu's full name.
Damn it, how could she encounter this unlucky person wherever she went?
They squeezed themselves behind a decaying wooden shelf. The wall on one side of the shelf had collapsed, creating a chaotic scene. Outside the wall, the sounds of guards running around could be heard, interspersed with a few gunshots, but it was unclear if they hit anyone.
Tang Yu suppressed her pounding heart and held her breath in the narrow space.
Several times, footsteps approached them, and someone stabbed a knife randomly into the gaps in the wood. Seeing nothing unusual, they moved on to search elsewhere.
Tang Yu's skin was cut in several places by the blade, but due to her zombie physique, it took a while for the blood to trickle out. She didn't make a sound or move an inch, and Jin Ye was in a similarly precarious situation.
After waiting for a while, when they thought the danger had passed, two faint sets of footsteps sounded nearby in the alley.
Unlike the guards searching everywhere outside, these footsteps sounded composed, and there was even a faint conversation growing louder.
Through the crumbling half-wall, Tang Yu and Jin Ye heard the voices outside.
"Miss Song, is this mutated zombie the person you were looking for?" a male voice asked.
"Yes," Song Lengzhu's voice lacked warmth. "Although they're wearing masks, I recognize them. I've crossed paths with two of them before."
"That's strange. How come the zombies you've encountered have all become mutated? Could it be an issue on your mind?" the man laughed.
"Shen Xu, I don't like jokes." Song Lengzhu stopped walking and stood in front of the wall.
Shen Xu didn't mind and changed the topic, "In your opinion, do these three abnormal zombies have any connection to the zombie king in the neighboring city of Y?"
"Probably not. The mutations of the Zombie King aren't so... human-like. It's more brutal, ravaging, and it doesn't run away, only attacks," Song Lengzhu said, then asked, "The Zombie King has taken over the central square of Y City, right? When is your camp planning to eliminate it?"
Shen Xu chuckled, "I can't disclose that. Miss Song, you're interested in that Zombie King too, right? I heard the bounty for killing it is 500 points, the highest kill score for a zombie so far."
"Yes, I am interested."
"In that case, I can't reveal the details of our operation. We're competitors after all. Although I can't kill you right now, I've been wanting to do so for a long time. If you were in my position, would you give your enemy any information?"
"Then forget it." Song Lengzhu didn't insist. She came to Shen Xu's camp because she overheard the vanguard soldiers discussing the captured mutated zombies from the opposite mountain. Since she had encountered Shen Xu before, she decided to come and take a look. Shen Xu's polite reception had already given her face.
Hearing this, Tang Yu breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that Song Lengzhu wasn't a friend of Shen Xu.
Moreover, from a low position, Shen Xu was likely the manager of this camp.
But before she could fully relax, Tang Yu heard the person outside the wall saying, "Boss Shen, you go ahead with your work. I'll take a look around on my own. Maybe I can help you catch the escaped zombie."
Shen Xu chuckled lightly, "Sure, go ahead and take a stroll, but remember not to go where you shouldn't." After saying that, his footsteps grew fainter as he walked away.
However, Song Lengzhu didn't leave. Her fingertips tapped on the broken wall intermittently, and this slight sound struck directly at the bottom of Tang Yu's heart, sending shivers down her spine.
......
Outside the game, the live streamer Xiaozhao's heart was in her throat. It's over, it's all over. Tang Yu's life is going to end here.
The audience who shared the same view exploded with comments because those who often frequented live broadcasts knew that Song Lengzhu had unlocked a special talent.
"Keen sense of smell."
Even though "Dark Earth" emphasized a realistic experience, it was still a game. Games have upgrade systems, and the more points you accumulate, the higher-level skills and abilities you unlock. Otherwise, players wouldn't stay engaged.
Tang Yu didn't know all this, but the audience did.
Xiaozhao anxiously ran her hand through her hair. Live streamer and viewers couldn't communicate with the players inside the game, they could only watch and discuss but couldn't provide any hints.
Some players were also unaware that their gameplay was being live-streamed, like Tang Yu, the streamer, and the first batch of players who entered the game. In that case, Song Lengzhu might not be aware of the livestream's existence either, as she was a player from the game's closed beta testing.
On the right side of the screen, someone in the discussion forum asked, [Just arrived, don't understand, why is Sister Tang done for? What do you mean by her keen sense of smell?]
[Because the smell of zombies is different from that of ordinary people. One of Song Lengzhu's special abilities is her extremely sensitive nose. She can detect subtle differences in smells. Once, she smelled a very faint tobacco scent in the air and directly wiped out the competing team that was ambushing her. That cigarette she found tucked behind her ear wasn't even lit.]
[One of her abilities? How many more abilities does she have?]
[According to the research by the Song Institute, there are at least eight or more abilities. There are still some that she hasn't demonstrated, and we are not aware of them. After all, no one livestreams her directly. We piece together information from other livestreams.]
[Wow, that's impressive.]
Xiaozhao tightened her lips as she watched the discussion. As someone in the live-streaming company, she knew more about the insider information than others. Song Lengzhu had a remarkable background, and the company had explicitly forbidden live-streamers from independently live-streaming her. The reason was unclear.
The development company of "Dark Earth" was called Xingyan Research, and it had a strong background. Many live-streamers were directly assigned by the company, and the live-streamers received missions to share their gameplay without needing the consent of player streamers.
Although it seemed to violate privacy rights, their company had been doing it for a long time and hadn't faced any punishment from the Interstellar Headquarters. Gradually, people accepted it as legal. After all, privacy rights were considered insignificant in the interstellar realm.
But Song Lengzhu was one of the designated players who couldn't be live-streamed. Xiaozhao hadn't paid much attention to her before because Song Lengzhu had no connection to her. But now it was different. This person always posed a threat to Sister Tang's safety, and Xiaozhao's curiosity was piqued.
Sister Tang was her cash cow!
Among the discussions, Xiaozhao also noticed a barrage that deviated from the main topic: [By the way, I really want to know what zombies smell like. Is it the smell of rotten flesh? It's so disgusting.]
Someone replied to her, [Oh no, some eliminated players have described it. The lighter smell is like rotten oranges, and the stronger smell is indeed that of decaying flesh.]
[Well... I guess I can accept it to some extent.]
[I can't accept it at all, ew!]
[Sister Song must have discovered Tang Yu. Why else would she be lingering by the wall?]
[It's better that she doesn't leave. Let's see her confront Tang Yu face to face. I want to see that.]
[I don't want to see it. I pray for Sister Tang's safe passage through the catastrophe.]
The audience eagerly discussed, and Xiaozhao thought for a moment before clearing a space on the screen and searching for information about Song Lengzhu.
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