Chapter 14: On Guard

【System Alert: The zombie horde has breached the outer perimeter; street defense coefficient dropped to 40%. If not reinforced within five minutes, total collapse is imminent.】

Lin Chen shoved Xia Nuan into the warehouse compartment and locked the reinforced door.

"Cover your ears. No matter what you hear, do not come out."

Xia Nuan's fingers dug into his arm, her voice trembling: "Be careful."

Lin Chen patted her hand, grabbed his modified shotgun, and turned to charge out—

The roaring from outside had already surged to the doorway like a rising tide.

Outside the supermarket's rolling shutter, a group of survivors was scattering in flight, pursued by zombies.

Amid the chaos, a figure in a white lab coat was cornered by three zombies beside a truck,

the scalpel in his hand carving bloody gashes into the undead, yet utterly unable to stop their lunging bites.

Lin Chen's pupils contracted—it was the research maniac from the slaughterhouse; he knew Su Qing's whereabouts.

【System Alert: Key NPC "White Coat" survival probability below 15%. Rescue unlocks coordinates for the "Secret Laboratory"; abandonment will permanently erase the clue.】

Lin Chen raised his gun and pulled the trigger; the buckshot blew apart the frontmost zombie's half-skull.

The man in the white coat spun around in shock, and upon recognizing Lin Chen, a flicker of astonishment crossed his eyes.

Immediately, he scrambled madly toward the supermarket: "This way!"

Retreating while firing, Lin Chen covered him as he rolled inside the rolling shutter, then swiftly lowered the gate.

"Saved..." The man in the white coat collapsed on the floor, his chest heaving violently,

his coat splattered with blackish-red bloodstains.

Lin Chen pressed the gun barrel against his temple: "Where is Su Qing?"

The man in the white coat suddenly laughed, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth: "Want to see her? Come with me to the laboratory;

she's there, waiting to be dissected."

【System Alert: Side quest "Laboratory Rescue" triggered. Successfully retrieving Su Qing yields "Virus Suppression Serum"; failure will cause the target to mutate completely.】

Lin Chen glanced toward the warehouse and said to the man in the white coat: "I'll get someone."

He opened the warehouse door; Xia Nuan was peering through the crack. Seeing him enter, she immediately stood straight:

"How is it outside?"

"I'm going out for a while. Guard this place. Do not open the door for anyone but me."

After speaking, Lin Chen shut the door and jerked his chin at the man in the white coat: "Lead the way."

The two slipped out through the supermarket's back alley, using abandoned trucks as cover as they moved toward the suburbs.

As they walked, the man in the white coat muttered: "That girl Su Qing is uncanny;

after being infected, she didn't collapse—instead, she became a perfect host..."

【System Alert: Target laboratory is 800 meters away. Three zombie patrol points detected. Detour recommended.】

The laboratory was hidden inside an abandoned biological research institute; the iron gate was streaked with rust.

Two zombies gnawing on corpses at the entrance were dispatched by Lin Chen with a single headshot each.

Pushing the door open, a pungent smell of formaldehyde stung the nose; in the dim corridor,

only the incubation chamber at the far end emitted an eerie blue glow.

Su Qing was strapped to an operating table, her limbs shackled with alloy fetters,

a transparent tube inserted into her arm, through which a green liquid was slowly infusing into her body.

Her face was as pale as paper; her eyelids fluttered, and upon seeing Lin Chen,

her cracked lips moved faintly: "Lin Chen..."

【System Alert: Viral activity within Su Qing is at 92%. If the inhibitor is not administered within ten minutes, irreversible mutation will occur, resulting in mission failure.】

Lin Chen rushed over and slashed through the fetters with his blade.

Suddenly, the man in the white coat lunged from the side, clutching a syringe filled with purple liquid:

"Don't touch her! She is my achievement!"

Lin Chen sidestepped, slammed his elbow hard into the man's lower back, and snatched the syringe—

the label read "Emergency Inhibitor."

"That stuff can stabilize her temporarily," the man in the white coat groaned, lying on the ground.

Ignoring him, Lin Chen swiftly injected the agent into Su Qing's vein.

Her body jerked violently, and her previously unfocused gaze gradually sharpened.

【System Alert: Su Qing's condition temporarily stabilized. Mission progress at 70%. Must evacuate before the laboratory locks down.】

Lin Chen lifted Su Qing and headed for the exit, when the man in the white coat suddenly let out a bizarre laugh:

"You think you can escape? The zombies outside were all lured here by me;

I just wanted to see how formidable she would be once she lost control!"

【System Alert: Laboratory self-destruct sequence initiated. Main gate will lock in five minutes. External zombie horde is breaching the compound wall.】

Cursing under his breath, Lin Chen carried Su Qing and sprinted toward the main gate.

Struggling in his arms, Su Qing said: "Put me down; I can walk."

Lin Chen set her down and supported her as they ran outward.

Just as they burst out of the main building, dense ranks of zombies had already surrounded them, roaring as they lunged forward.

Su Qing suddenly shoved Lin Chen aside; her body began transforming at visible speed—

dark cyan scales emerged beneath her skin, her nails sharpened into cruel claws,

and her pupils turned completely blood-red.

She emitted a piercing shriek and dove into the zombie horde like a shadow,

Sharp claws tore open the zombie's chest, splashing green fluid all over her.

【System Alert: Su Qing has entered a semi-mutated state; combat power increased by 300%, but sanity is continuously dropping. Complete loss of control will occur in 10 minutes.】

"Su Qing! Let's go!" Lin Chen shouted.

Su Qing glanced back at him, a flicker of struggle passing through her eyes,

then turned and rushed out alongside him.

The two stepped over zombie corpses, carving a bloody path through the horde,

finally shaking off the swarm and sprinting toward the supermarket.

Just before reaching the supermarket, Su Qing suddenly stumbled to a halt as her scales began to recede,

her face paler than before: "I... can't hold on anymore..."

Lin Chen steadied her: "Hold on a little longer; it'll be safe once we get there."

【System Alert: Side mission "Laboratory Rescue" completed. Reward "Virus Suppression Serum" has been stored in the supermarket freezer. Please retrieve it.】

Back at the supermarket, Lin Chen pulled up the rolling shutter; upon seeing Su Qing, Xia Nuan froze,

instinctively stepping back half a pace: "She..."

Lin Chen offered no explanation, supporting Su Qing into the storage room and leaning her against the corner.

【System Alert: Team membership increased, triggering resource rationing mechanisms. Existing supplies will now be allocated among three people; daily quotas reduced by 40%.】

Lin Chen frowned; just as the delivery issue was resolved, a supply crisis arose.

He walked over to Xia Nuan and saw her clutching an empty milk carton,

with half a pack of moldy biscuits beside it: "You ate this?"

Xia Nuan lowered her head, her voice barely a whisper: "Three days ago... I was too hungry..."

【System Alert: Xia Nuan has ingested spoiled food, triggering an acute infection. Without antibiotics within one hour, her life will be endangered.】

Lin Chen's heart sank; there were no antibiotics in the storage room.

He looked at Su Qing, and suddenly a risky idea formed.

He picked up a compressed biscuit, walked over to Su Qing, and forcibly stuffed it into her mouth:

"Eat it."

Su Qing didn't move, merely staring at him with hollow eyes.

【System Alert: Force-feeding may stimulate viral activity. Su Qing's mutation risk has increased by 15%. Proceed?】

Ignoring the system alert, Lin Chen grabbed a bottle of mineral water, pried open her mouth, and poured in a few mouthfuls.

Su Qing suddenly began to struggle violently, her eyes glowing red once more.

Lin Chen pinned her shoulders, his voice icy: "If you want to know why you've become like this,

then obey and eat; otherwise, you won't even know how you died."

Su Qing's movements ceased; she slowly chewed the biscuit and swallowed the water.

Lin Chen exhaled in relief and was just turning to find another solution

when a system alert suddenly popped up.

【System Alert: A special reaction detected between the virus in Su Qing's body and ordinary food. Extract a sample for study? Extraction will consume 90% of existing supplies but may unlock research clues for "Virus Antibodies"; declining will result in no change.】

Lin Chen froze—90% of their supplies meant they might starve in the coming days.

He looked at Xia Nuan, who was curled on the floor clutching her stomach, her complexion worsening by the second.

Then he looked at Su Qing, who sat with her head bowed, unconsciously picking at cracks in the ground with her fingers.

【System Alert: Decision countdown: 10 seconds. Extraction will be automatically forfeited after time expires.】

When the countdown ended, Lin Chen still had not made a choice.

【System Alert: No sample extraction performed. No reward, no penalty.】

He was just about to turn and check on Xia Nuan

when a piercing cry of agony suddenly rang out from outside the storage room.

Lin Chen rushed out to find Xia Nuan curled on the ground, her forehead pressed against the cold floor,

her entire body shaking violently.

【System Alert: Xia Nuan's infection is worsening. Remaining treatment time: 45 minutes. Immediate travel to Chengxi Hospital to obtain antibiotics is recommended.】

Lin Chen looked at Xia Nuan groaning in pain on the ground, then glanced back at Su Qing in the storage room,

his mind in turmoil.

At that moment, Su Qing emerged, supporting herself against the wall, her voice hoarse:

"There should be antibiotics in the pharmacy at Chengxi Hospital; I've raided supplies there with others before."

Lin Chen immediately stood up, grabbed his shotgun: "Lead the way."

【System Alert: Emergency mission "Hospital Medicine Run" triggered. Retrieve antibiotics within 45 minutes to cure Xia Nuan; failure will result in...】

Before the system alert could finish displaying, Lin Chen was already dragging Su Qing toward the door,

leaving Xia Nuan with a brief command: "Lock the door and wait for my return."