Chapter 39: High-Speed Escape

Roger’s team was busy quickly loading up the energy crystals. On the other side, Fang Tianhe and Wu Yan were also hard at work throughout the energy chamber. They took out devices resembling timers and placed them in every corner of the room according to a specific pattern. Then, they connected these "timers" to ammunition for their hand cannons.

Seeing this, Lin Xinghai realized they were creating a bomb. By the time 100 hand cannon rounds had been placed throughout the chamber, Lin Xinghai felt a chill down his spine. While these rounds were small, their power was comparable to 20th-century artillery shells; if 100 were detonated simultaneously, the force would be no less than that of a medium-sized missile.

Finally, Fang Tianhe solemnly took an oval metal sphere from his backpack. After he pressed the activation button, mechanical limbs rapidly popped out, and it stood up like a metal spider. A red light pulsed in the abdomen of this metal spider, and in sync with its flashes, the timers distributed throughout the room began to blink red as well. Soon, the frequency of all the red lights became uniform.

"Calibration complete! A Type I spider bomb combined with this many hand cannon rounds should be enough to give that mutant zombie a run for its money," Fang Tianhe said, finally letting out a sigh of relief.

"If it isn't alert enough to escape the energy chamber immediately, it might even be blown to pieces," Wu Yan added.

Within the mercenary squad, Roger served as a part-time hacker, while Wu Yan acted as the part-time explosives expert.

"Let’s get out of here! I have a bad feeling about this," Xu Haishui chimed in. He immediately activated his werewolf ability, grabbed two folding crates, and headed for the exit.

Roger also quickly stowed his tools back into his tactical backpack and picked up two folding crates. Lin Xinghai had wanted to help carry one, but he realized they were not light at all. In fact, doing the math made it clear: the entire block of energy crystal weighed 1.5348 tons, or over 3,000 pounds. Even cut into eight pieces, each piece weighed over 380 pounds. With his strength stat of 21, Lin Xinghai could lift one, but it would be a struggle and would significantly hinder his speed. Of course, Fang Tianhe hadn't brought him along to carry crates, so in the end, Lin Xinghai didn't take one. The only other person not carrying a crate was Fang Tianhe himself—the former because he lacked the strength, and the latter to maintain peak combat readiness.

After leaving the energy chamber, the squad immediately broke into a trot to head back the way they came. Of course, what they called a "trot" would be an all-out sprint for an ordinary person. At this pace, and with the path behind them having been largely cleared of zombies, they could be out in two minutes at most. Sometimes two minutes is very short—barely enough time to say a few words—but at other times, it is agonizingly long, long enough to determine life or death.

Less than 20 seconds after they left the energy chamber, a piercing alarm sounded from Wu Yan’s tactical backpack. His pack contained a small zombie detector; while they were downstairs, it had been completely useless due to the interference of the energy crystals. But now that the crystals were stable and no longer emitting an energy field, the detector was fully functional.

Hearing the alarm, everyone’s expression shifted. Different alarm tones on the detector signified different types of zombies. Even a novice like Lin Xinghai, who was on his first mission, remembered this specific sound vividly. It was the alarm that only sounded when a mutant zombie appeared!

"The detection range of this small zombie detector is only 300 meters," Wu Yan said, his voice trembling. 300 meters—at the terrifying speed of a mutant zombie, that was an incredibly close distance. If they hadn't left a trap behind, they might as well have been signing their own death warrants.

At this moment, no one needed to be told; everyone just buried their heads and ran for their lives.

Rumble!

They had only run a few dozen meters when a deafening roar erupted behind them, and the entire ground shook violently. Lin Xinghai glanced back, his pupils shrinking—the entire corridor showed signs of collapsing, and a violent shockwave mixed with flames was sweeping rapidly toward them down the hallway.

"Faster, faster! The stairs are right ahead!" Fang Tianhe shouted, turning back to help the two members at the rear of the squad carry their crates.

Lin Xinghai didn't hesitate to activate his speed ability. Lacking the strength to help carry, he instead darted to the front of the formation and kicked open the fire door, saving the team precious time. Fortunately, they weren't far from the stairs, and they managed to rush up to the second basement level just before the shockwave swept through.

"I think I might have used too much explosive," Wu Yan said with an embarrassed, dry laugh. If they had been even a little slower, they really could have been in trouble. The ground beneath their feet was still trembling, and the collapse continued; if they didn't get out in time, they might truly be buried alive.

"Not too much. The mutant zombie isn't dead yet," Fang Tianhe said as he continued to lead the team forward. The detector in Wu Yan’s pack was still wailing.

At this point on the second basement level, many zombies had been stirred up and were wandering about. Fang Tianhe handed the folding crates back to his team members and began clearing the path with his large blade. Simultaneously, he used his wrist-mounted computer to call for support from Shen Han, who was waiting above.

Lin Xinghai’s marksmanship finally came into play; he fired constantly, coordinating with Fang Tianhe to take down wandering zombies and keep the team moving at high speed. However, no one looked relieved, as they all felt a prickling sensation on their backs.

The more sensitive a person was, the more obvious this feeling became.

"Why does it seem completely uninjured? Its speed hasn't dropped at all. 200 meters, 180, 150, 130..."

Lin Xinghai looked back to see Wu Yan, who had taken the detector out of his pack. Every number he reported sounded like a death knell. By the time they reached the stairs to the second level, the mutant zombie was only 110 meters away.

A trace of despair rose in Lin Xinghai’s eyes. At the mutant zombie's speed, it was questionable whether they could even make it back to the first floor, let alone escape the Star Shield Shelter. What made matters worse was that when they reached the first basement level, the remaining zombies in the assembly workshop had, for some reason, all gathered at the stairwell. It was a disaster on top of a crisis!

"Follow me and jump up, there's still time!" Fang Tianhe shouted. He leaped onto a nearby fixture used to secure the spacecraft, then used the momentum to jump again, aiming directly at the alloy ceiling overhead.

Lin Xinghai was stunned at first, but he soon saw that Fang Tianhe’s entire body was enveloped in black light. It was his ability: Heaven-Splitting!

*Shhh!*

A sound like a hot knife slicing through butter rang out. Upon touching the black light, the sturdy alloy ceiling was instantly reduced to powder. In this way, Fang Tianhe used his ability to carve out a path, leaping directly to the first floor and opening a road to survival for the team members behind him.