“Ah Jun, after this mission is over, I swear to live up to my promise. A kid like you needs to find a channel to relax. Trust me, I was once your age myself.” A green military car was parked before the Medical Department’s Autopsy Building, and Uncle Dan was joking with Gu Jun. The sun was setting, and it was bustling with activity around the armored car. The members transported five cabinets that contained the bodies of the victims that had died from late stage Nightmare Illness into the vehicle. They were untouched, highly decayed, and had not been under the knife or in contact with formalin. An autopsy was not the only way one could contribute to science; being bait for the zombies was another valid contribution.
On the morning of the day before last, after reading all about Elder Tong’s case files, Gu Jun had gone to meet with Yao Sinian and Elder Tong, where he proposed the idea of voluntarily summoning the zombies. At this stage, any kind of breakthrough was welcomed, but for a proposal as drastic as this, Yao Sinian still hesitated for a moment. In the end, Elder Tong weighed in. “I believe the zombies are highly intelligent creatures. They too can process information and sense danger. They will not walk into an obvious trap. If they sense any trick behind this, they will not fall for it.”
Gu Jun concurred. They were definitely not facing a slow and fragile creature. If anything, these creatures might be even more powerful than human beings. However, as the Nightmare Illness threatened to claim more innocent lives both inside and outside Phecda, Yao Sinian was not given much choice. In the end, he approved of the mission.
This mission would be conducted by members taken from the Demon Hunters and Problematic Team to form a temporary tactical unit. The members were Xue Ba, Lou Xiaoning, Uncle Da, Gu Jun, and Wu Siyu. Regarding this team, Elder Tong thought there were too many, but then again, he understood the danger present if there were too few of them. All five members knew their way around firearms, but the main marksmen were still Xue Ba and Lou Xiaoning. Uncle Dan provided main medical support, and to ensure the stability of Gu Jun’s mental state, Wu Siyu was ordered to tag along.
“Captain Gu, come look at these toys,” Lou Xiaoning called out with suppressed joy from inside the armored car. Her S Value was assessed to be relatively low, but for Elder Tong, that made her the perfect candidate for this mission. She had seen things that would make her more reliable than others. The walls of the armored cars were lined with various kinds of weapons and ammo. Lou Xiaoning caressed a black eighty-nine 12.7-millimeter heavy machine gun lovingly. Her single left eye was radiant with something that was akin to love. “This baby can fire 450 to 600 rounds every minute, and its maximum range is 1,500 meters. I can’t wait to see it in action.”
“Amitabha…” Outside the vehicle, Wu Siyu closed her palm in prayer. Then, she turned to Gu Jun. “In case you need me, you’ll find me fixed next to this thing for the rest of the mission.”
Gu Jun let slip a chuckle. Because there was no weight capacity like the banyan tree hole, the unit had brought everything they could. Heavy machine guns, rifles, pistols, shotguns, grenades, rocket launchers, explosives… there was everything. Regardless, Gu Jun did not feel comforted by their presence. After all, their enemy would most likely be relying on mental attacks. These zombies were not of this world and so probably would not be that vulnerable to normal human weapons. To counter that, Gu Jun had brought his own set of weapons. He had requested the Carlot scalpel, and with the Carlot dissecting scissors, he hoped they would help during the mission. It would be best if they did not have to resort to the tranquilizers that were stocked in the first aid kits.
“Ah Jun, is there anything else that we need to bring?” Xue Ba asked. Even the thick anti-bullet vest could not hide his bulging muscles.
“That should be enough.” Gu Jun shrugged. “Then again, I do not think we can ever prepare enough for something like this.”
Uncle Dan and Wu Siyu were silent. Night was falling, and this was the time they were waiting for. Gu Jun was certain it was nighttime in his illusion when he saw the ritual in the graveyard. After all, it was only logical for creatures born in darkness to be more active at night.
“Ah Jun, be careful.” Yao Sinian, who had come to send them off, had more to say, but in the end, he could only leave them with a few words. “We will look after the patients.”
“Okay.” Gu Jun nodded. Prof Qin, Brother Qiang, and Surgeon Zhu had survived the lobotomies. Due to the early detection, the damage to the nervous system from the Nightmare Illness was limited to the minimum. However, it also meant that they suffered from the complications of the surgery the most. Prof Qin basically morphed into another person. His eyes that were previously filled with knowledge were glazed over. When people tried to speak with him, he could only mumble incoherently in response. A chatterbox like Brother Qiang became curiously introverted and quiet. Surgeon Zhu suffered from a panic disorder. His muscles would tense up, and his breathing would hike up at random moments. It was clear that his career as a surgeon was officially over…
This knowledge left deep gashes on Gu Jun’s heart. He did not wish to see any more of his friends and mentors suffer such unfortunate fates. Right then, Gu Jun noticed the shadows of Cai Zixuan, Wang Ruoxiang, and the rest appearing at the entrance to the Autopsy Building. They waved at him. They were there to give a send-off to Gu Jun even though they had no idea where he was going. The one thing they were certain of was that his mission was going to be incredibly dangerous, so each of them had on a somber expression.
“So, that must be Cai Zixuan, and the one next to him is Wang Ruoxiang.” Even though Wu Siyu had arrived for days already, due to her hectic schedule, this was the first time she had met Gu Jun’s friends. “They look the same as they taste.”
“Let’s go.” Gu Jun waved back at his friends before climbing into the car. “When we return, I’ll get Zixuan to cook some good broth for us.”
Under the concerned gazes of the people, the team of five got into the vehicle. The doors slammed shut, and Xue Ba drove them out of the base. The armored car drove all the way to the southern side of Eastern State. Nan Tang Village and the Necro-skins were situated around that mountainous area. Phecda had already evacuated all its members from that area a few days ago. The mountains stretched for more than ten kilometers, and the geography was incredibly treacherous. That made the previous search incredibly difficult and ultimately fruitless. The team would not have known where to go if not for Gu Jun. Latching onto his instinct, hooked along by the illusions, Gu Jun gave the directions from the back of the car.
The mountains rose and fell, casting deep and dark shadows. Seemingly endless stretches of old trees rose around them. The branches were spindly and leafless as the season moved into late autumn. They looked like monstrous fingers twisting themselves into concentric and indecipherable shapes. Unknown creatures made their home among the crooked branches, calling out noisily as the armored car disturbed their rest. As they moved deeper into the mountain, it seemed like they had moved back in time. The signs of civilization slowly faded away until the mountainous tracks that they had been following eventually petered off. It was like they were moving into the prehistoric era. But Gu Jun still sensed that they were far from their destination.
It was then the night mist rolled in, casting a veil on the already mysterious darkness. This caused Xue Ba and Lou Xiaoning to frown deeply. Even with the headlights and night vision goggles, they still felt like a curtain of darkness had fallen over their vision. They strained their eyes, but it did nothing to help. The armored car continued its difficult journey on the winding and dangerous mountain treks until the way ahead was blocked by a rising cliff and ancient trees that reached into the clouds.
“This place should be fine,” Gu Jun said uncertainly. There was something pulling him, but he could not be certain it was the same feeling he had felt during his illusion. The car stopped, and they found themselves at a rather flat opening in the forest. There was a barely noticeable crack in the cliff that stood before them.
Xue Ba turned to Gu Jun. “If we are to find any zombies here, I would place my bet on that cave over there.”
“I can’t tell for sure, but I don’t think we should just venture over there like that,” Gu Jun said seriously. “We’d better stick to the original plan.”
They did not maintain a communication channel with the command center. This was done on purpose because animals could tune into frequencies that human beings could not. Some of them could sense brain waves, so it should be no problem for them to detect electromagnetic waves. The zombies might be cautious if they left the communication on, and that defeated the purpose of this mission.
The team of five jumped out from the vehicle. Gu Jun, Xue Ba, and Uncle Dan worked together to remove the cabinets from the cabin while Lou Xiaoning and Wu Siyu guarded their surroundings. The five cabinets were placed close to the entrance of the cave before the lids were pulled back. Instantly, the smell of putrefaction permeated the air around them. Over the past three days, the bodies had been left at room temperature, and now they had bloated to several times beyond their original sizes.
The cave was still dark and silent, but the mist thickened until they could barely see two meters before them. Learning from the tragedy that happened to the Phoenix unit, the five tied themselves to each other with metallic rope around their waist and stayed five meters away from the cabinets. They leaned against the machine artilleries that were installed on the ground and aimed their guns alertly around them.
“Ah Jun, should we return to the car?” Uncle Dan had a bad feeling about this. This was something he had harnessed from being a field medic for many years.
“That would make this whole journey a waste of time.” Gu Jun agreed with Elder Tong. If the zombies could sense any trick behind this, they would never show up…
The mist appeared to have swallowed the night as well. The smell of decay gathered in the air as it slipped into the members’ lungs between breaths. It tensed up their nerves and turned their stomachs.
‘What is still missing?’ Gu Jun was thinking. ‘A spell? A ritual? But they do not appear to understand human language. Wait… that sentence, that was not in any human language. F*ck it, we’re already here…’
Even though he was not closer to understanding its meaning and its pronunciation, Gu Jun started to chant at the cave, “Ph’nglui mglw’nafh Cthulhu R’lyeh wgah’nagl fhtagn!”
Wu Siyu frowned. Something was reacting to it…
The other three felt the shift in the air, the added chillness in the mist. Then they spotted strange shadows moving in the darkness.
A strange sense of disturbance assaulted Gu Jun. The letters on that paper in his memory suddenly jumped before his eyes, as clear as day. They appeared to speak to him subconsciously. He trained his focus and chanted, “Ph’nglui mglw’nafh Cthulhu R’lyeh wgah’nagl fhtagn!”
The others heard the difference in the second chant. This time, Gu Jun’s voice got deeper, smoother, and richer with tempo and volume!
The chanting appeared to pierce through the mist, allowing the darkness to rush in.
But the cave remained silent.
Gu Jun’s chanting had changed something in the air. Their senses were pricked up. They watched everything around them with more alertness. Right at that moment, the five bloated corpses placed inside the cabinets started to stand up teeteringly from their supposedly final resting place. Their heads were so bloated that water gushed out from their every orifice with this unnatural movement.
“Ah.” Wu Siyu gasped. This was definitely not something they were expecting.
“What the f*ck…” Gu Jun cursed. Xue Ba, Lou Xiaoning, and Uncle Dan’s expressions changed.
At the same time, unknown shapeless shadows suddenly appeared out of the darkness, shadows that could not be detected through the night vision goggles. The team of five had been surrounded!