Chapter Ninety-Nine: Ros's Predicament

Wujue decisively countered Ros's provocation and began searching for a way out within the building. He was convinced that Ros was hiding in some room, observing everything that happened inside.

He told the others to be wary of their opponent—Ros's mind was exceptionally sharp, and according to intelligence they had received from Tel earlier, after being infected by the virus in the laboratory, he had transformed into a terrifying toxic man.

So if they encountered Ros, they absolutely must not engage him head-on. It would be best to let Wujue and Xun'er make the move.

Luke and the others voiced no objections, but they could not help feeling a trace of weariness welling up from the depths of their hearts. After all, following the slaughter at the amusement park, less than half of the alien clansmen accompanying them remained.

Wujue saw through their hesitation and finally consulted with Luke and Pike: "You two should head back to the main hall. Those friends over there still need looking after. Leave the task of finding Ros to me."

He then arranged for Xun'er to help care for those people and await his news, but Xun'er refused, acting spoiled: "I'm sticking with you no matter what on this journey. With the two of us joining forces, what do we have to fear from this Ros?"

So he had no choice but to bring the girl along. Wujue formally set out for the upper floors. According to the floor plan on the first level, the entire building consisted of thirteen stories. Below the seventh floor were the research rooms; above that were dormitories and audio-visual entertainment rooms.

If Ros wanted to control the entire building, he certainly would not be above the seventh floor. So they would begin their meticulous search from the second floor.

The two took the elevator up to the second floor. Xun'er remarked with a sigh: "I didn't expect the electrical equipment here to still be working. Looks like the backup generator is pretty reliable. By the way, how should we conduct the search? Split into two routes?"

Wujue stepped out of the elevator, glanced left and right, and said: "You take the right, I'll take the left. If anything happens, shout!"

With that, shotgun in hand, he began his sweep. The rooms here were empty and hollow; inspecting them one by one revealed nothing but instruments that had ceased running. Just as Ros had said, they were all scientific research equipment.

Some had even been stopped midway through use. Wujue could clearly see that certain instruments were switched on—they had shut down at some unknown point in time, as if they had been forcibly pried open.

Moving further ahead, he began to notice peculiar traces, as if corpses had been disposed of. Some rooms had been sealed shut, completely impenetrable.

When Wujue reached the end of the corridor, he saw a room labeled "Observation Room" and could not help furrowing his brow. This room was clearly sealed extremely tightly. On the outside was an electronic lock, which appeared to require fingerprint verification.

He pressed himself against the window, straining to peer inside, but could not see anything within. Suddenly, the door let out a heavy thud, as if someone were slamming against it. Then Ros's voice came from overhead: "Congratulations. You found my location so quickly. Do you dare come in and settle everything face to face?"

Wujue looked up at the camera and speaker above him, then said suddenly: "So that's it. You're imprisoned here. No wonder the system said you were the subject of research! Ros, so you've fallen to this state as well?"

Ros laughed maniacally from inside the room: "So what? I have that master of this place to thank. Although he locked me in here, he granted me a new life. You have no idea that after my body mutated, it brought severe side effects—my mind began to grow foggy and I lost my original sanity. But the laboratory equipment restored my former intellect, and my mind has evolved as well!"

"Evolved? So what?" Wujue chuckled derisively. "You think you still have a chance? I'll watch you rot trapped in there, dying of despair."

"No!" Ros denied it outright. "You won't do that, because you need talent like mine. See those enemies chasing after you? You can't handle the Tianzhu Clan. With those ragtag soldiers by your side, they're utterly useless to you."

"Admit it, Wujue!" Ros began to tempt him with all manner of allurements. "In this apocalypse, only the strong survive. If you hadn't possessed peerless martial arts, how could you have earned your position today? A smart man like you should know what choice to make. Allying with the strong is the finest beginning."

"You're giving me a lecture?" Wujue laughed in spite of himself. "Do you think I'd be bewitched by you in an instant like Xiao Yang? Let me tell you, years of experience have taught me that a wolf's nature can never change. Rest easy and die in there!"

He cast his sorcery, directly destroying the electronic door lock so that the door before him could never be opened again. Ros sensed Wujue's actions and flew into a rage within the room: "Damn you, what have you done? You're bringing about your own doom! The Tianzhu Clan will arrive any moment now. Let's see what you do then!"

A cold sneer curled at the corner of Wujue's mouth. Without wasting a single word, he turned and retreated to regroup with Xun'er.

The girl heard footsteps in the corridor and hurried over to meet him, asking: "How did it go? What about Ros?"

Wujue said: "I've made sure he'll never come out again in this lifetime!"

Hearing this, Xun'er could not help pouting: "Well, that's no fun at all. I thought there'd be a thrilling battle! So what do we do next? Head back?"

Wujue reached out and pressed the elevator button. Facing the slowly opening doors, he suddenly sensed something amiss. He hurried back, dashed to Ros's door, knocked, and demanded: "Damn it, how did you know the Tianzhu Clan would be here any moment? What exactly do you know? Have you been colluding with them all along?"

Ros did not reply from within. Instead, his familiar face suddenly appeared on the glass pane of the door, staring calmly at Wujue: "You've fallen into my trap. Now I'm safer than anyone. Next, it's time to watch how you all die!"

It turned out the bastard had been bluffing all along, deliberately letting Wujue seal him in here so that Wujue would have no way to harm him.

Wujue could not help firing a shot at the door: "What kind of deal did you make with the Tianzhu Clan? Did you sell out your country? Sell out the entire Earth?"

The bullet struck the door, instantly blasting a sizable hole in it, but a steel plate quickly sealed shut from inside. Ros turned with a cold smile and walked deeper inside: "What does that matter? Survival of the fittest. To survive, I can abandon my origins and become a member of the Tianzhu Clan."

Seeing this, Wujue kept attacking the door relentlessly, but realized that after the lock had been destroyed, there was no way to open it.

This observation room, in order to guard against dangerous subjects under observation breaking out and causing harm, had been designed so that once the door was damaged, it could never be opened.

No matter how much effort Wujue expended, he could not pry it open. Xun'er said: "Let me try!"

She waved her hand and cast her sorcery, forming a pink mist over the door lock in an attempt to restore the electronic lock. Just as she was on the verge of succeeding, a flood of venom suddenly burst out from beneath the crack of the door, surging straight toward the two of them.

"Run! This place is no longer safe." Wujue saw it at a glance and immediately made the call to abandon their position.

He grabbed Xun'er and dashed into the elevator as fast as lightning, then headed straight down. The elevator only swayed for a moment before suddenly shuddering violently, the lights flickered and went out, and it ground to a halt.

Wujue slammed the open button repeatedly with no response at all. Then he smelled a pungent odor seeping through the gaps around the elevator. A flood of venom began to spread, enveloping the entire elevator.

***

Meanwhile, Luke and the others standing guard in the main hall witnessed an equally unbelievable sight.

A mighty Tianzhu Clan warship materialized out of thin air, descending directly into the center of the city, sweeping across countless buildings.

Then, hundreds upon hundreds of zombies appeared in formation, marching in to surround the building.

They carried advanced biological weapons in their hands, aiming at the people inside the building, ready to open fire at any moment.

End of Chapter 99: Ros's Predicament