Chapter 85: Weapons of Slaughter

As the first Special Contamination Source incident – Incident 042 – that Lu Xin had personally participated in investigating from start to finish and carried out the final cleanup operation for, Qin Ran left a deep impression on him. The fact that, even after the matter was resolved, the research department never provided a conclusive explanation only made Lu Xin recall this person occasionally, evoking an indescribable sense of the absurd.

But he had never imagined he would see Qin Ran again.

According to previous notifications, hadn’t both Qin Ran and Cui Wang been sent to the containment facility?

How could he have suddenly escaped?

Or perhaps…

he never escaped at all? Could this be another Qin Ran?

A hair-raising chill of utter strangeness suddenly flooded Lu Xin’s mind, momentarily even making him forget his own dire predicament.

…

“Lu Xin… Lu Xin, are you alright?”

Soon, the blood that had rushed to his head amidst the dizziness after the rollover and the bizarre shock of seeing Qin Ran’s face receded, the blankness in his mind fading. The surrounding noise, the impact echoes, and Chen Jing’s shouting brought Lu Xin back to his senses.

Looking back, he saw Chen Jing struggling to kick open her door and crawl out, repeatedly calling his name.

Looking in the other direction, he saw that “Qin Ran” had already grabbed the glass case and climbed into a car parked by the roadside.

“I’m fine…”

Lu Xin replied, realizing his voice was already hoarse.

He tried to wrench himself free but found his body pinned. Unable to break loose, his gaze darted urgently around the crushed interior of the Jeep.

He quickly found Little Sister.

She was still seated in the back seat. Because the Jeep had flipped, her seat was now upside down, making her appear utterly bizarre as she dangled from the roof of the vehicle. At this moment, her eyes sparkled unnaturally bright, her long black hair hanging straight down. Only when Lu Xin’s gaze fell on her did she slowly rise and crawl along the ceiling towards him.

Her eyes fixed unblinkingly on Lu Xin’s pierced thigh— the site of his most severe injury.

“Big Brother, you’re hurt…”

An eerie excitement suffused her face. It was as if Lu Xin’s injury allowed her to vicariously experience some morbid exhilaration from broken flesh, or perhaps the sight of gushing blood, that vivid crimson, intensely stimulated her.

Lu Xin even felt she was about to burst out laughing.

“Just pull it out!”

He didn’t feel her reaction was particularly wrong; he just thought her focus was misplaced and reminded her of what needed to be done right now.

“Hmm!”

Little Sister nodded vigorously while hanging inverted. She then reached out both small hands and grasped the metal shard embedded in his thigh.

Schlick…

She yanked it straight out, the metal flake coming away with bits of red flesh clinging to it.

Instantly, blood gushed out like a fountain.

The agony slammed into Lu Xin’s consciousness. He stifled a groan, nearly blacking out from the sheer intensity of the pain.

Glancing at the spurting blood, Little Sister lightly licked her lips.

Then she opened her tiny arms and gently embraced Lu Xin’s wounded leg.

Cradling it gently like her beloved teddy bear, she rocked it softly. “Big Brother don’t cry, now… once you have more wounds, it won’t hurt as much…”

The moment she touched him, a profound icy chill washed over Lu Xin’s entire body. The pain vanished instantly. Instead, a strangely refreshing, almost stimulating sensation radiated from the wound, sharpening his mind. He twisted his body with incredible flexibility and effortlessly slithered out from beneath the overturned, shattered wreckage of the Jeep.

By the time he stood up, the wound on his leg was already contracting, stemming the blood flow as effectively as if it had been bandaged. Even the pain itself seemed severed, no longer affecting his nerves.

…

“Lu Xin, did you see… Special Contamination Source 042…?”

At almost the same moment, Chen Jing also crawled out of the wreck. She looked towards Lu Xin while shouting low.

Lu Xin turned to see she looked rather disheveled too. Her usual neat, efficient short hair was mussed. Her black suit jacket was smeared with oil stains and dust. And worse, her white shirt, tucked over her flat abdomen, was saturated with a large, spreading patch of deep crimson.

A piece of dashboard electronics had sliced open her lower stomach.

Yet this woman seemed oblivious to her own injury. She was fiercely wrenching a walkie-talkie free from near the steering wheel while urgently scanning ahead. Ahead was the car Qin Ran had boarded holding the glass case. That “Qin Ran” didn’t seem rushed, but his movements wasted no time. The car’s engine roared to life now, accelerating hard out of the parking spot…

“Lone Soldier! Are you still mobile?”

Chen Jing now used Lu Xin’s codename, her words laced with gritted urgency as she looked at him.

Lu Xin nodded, his eyes locked fiercely on the escaping vehicle.

Whether it was the unnatural appearance of this “Qin Ran” here or his act of attacking their vehicle with a grenade launcher – it all filled Lu Xin with intense curiosity. With Little Sister right beside him, of course he had to stop this man…

Before he could act, however, Little Sister tugged his sleeve.

Lu Xin glanced sideways and his blood instantly ran cold.

…

While Lu Xin and Chen Jing had been struggling free from the wrecked Jeep, on the adjacent stretch of road, several cars—which had remained strangely motionless amidst the surrounding chaos—simultaneously opened their doors. People stepped out. Some were gaunt, others burly; their attire varied – some looked like office workers, others like greasy, balding businessmen.

But their movements were unnervously synchronized. Some went to the rear of their vehicles and popped their trunks. Others reached into their back seats, leaned across, and opened the doors on this side. And one man simply hoisted a heavy, metal device onto the engine hood of his car.

What they hauled out or pushed forward was all the same weapon.

At the front: six barrels held tightly together by a muzzle ring. Next: the heavy black-painted receiver. Behind that: a worn, green-painted ammunition box tightly fitted into its slot. And gripping the handles: expressionless faces…

Those menacing black muzzles, each featuring six closely clustered cylinders, swung from various positions to target Lu Xin, Chen Jing, and their stricken vehicles.

Another unit was trained directly on the other cars of the Investigation Team.

Chen Jing suddenly realized the threat. She sucked in a sharp breath, her hand reaching for the walkie-talkie slowing down.

She knew exactly what these were.

Weapons that had proven devastating during The Cataclysm against the ubiquitous Maniacs, terrifying everyone who witnessed their relentless firepower. Favored by Scavenger Teams and Wilderness knights for their overwhelming force – firing over six thousand rounds per minute. M163-pattern rotary-barreled heavy machine guns.

Weapons designed solely for wholesale slaughter.

And now, pointed directly at her and Lu Xin in a deadly semi-circle, stood at least six of them.

…

That man called Qin Ran had planned all this, anticipated their possible pursuit, and had no intention of leaving any survivors.

In this instant, even Chen Jing felt despair creeping in.