Chapter 24: Corpse Snake

Underground parking lot.

The entrance of the parking lot, without electric lighting, was pitch black.

Sunlight drew a clear line between the entrance and the shadows.

Lin An walked in front, with fully armed Zhang Tie behind him.

Clang—clang—

Rhythmic metallic knocking sounds came from inside the parking lot.

The sound was distant and muffled.

The passage shrouded in darkness resembled the entrance to hell.

Lin Dui, did you hear that?

Zhang Tie wore two oversized heavy cotton jackets and the largest welding helmet.

His large build made suitable armor for his transformed state hard to find.

He walked unsteadily, which actually resembled his transformed appearance.

I feel something's not quite right.

When I fled earlier, I saw the place full of zombies.

He spoke cautiously, his face grave, lowering his voice to ask Lin An.

Only a few wrecked cars sat on the slope of the parking lot entrance, yet no zombies were in sight.

Given that the apocalypse broke out only a few days ago, this underground entrance near the hospital should be teeming with zombies.

In just one day, the zombies vanished.

This defies common sense.

Lin An's expression remained calm as he nodded.

When things go awry, there must be something uncanny.

The two had originally planned to fight their way from the parking lot into the hospital.

No need to lower your voice; you can use the team channel.

Be careful; something might have changed last night.

Lin An said this over the team channel.

He recalled the sharp wail that echoed in the midnight of yesterday.

Zhang Tie stared, then gave an embarrassed laugh.

I'm not used to it yet.

His voice is extremely loud on the team channel.

It's too noisy.

Lin An helplessly glanced at Zhang Tie.

Let's go.

The two proceeded cautiously, their footsteps echoing.

Moving slowly down the slope, they saw many overturned, wrecked cars.

Many dried bloodstains marred the car windows.

The car bodies were covered in handprints, likely the owners' death‑struggle.

A rough count showed at least over two hundred vehicles.

Strangely, not a single corpse was visible.

Clang—clang

The eerie knocking didn't stop, yet Lin An still couldn't locate its source.

He only had a vague sense that the sound seemed to come from a lower level.

They passed through a passage blocked by cars.

Lin Dui! There are drag marks here.

Zhang Tie pointed to the ground not far away, where a three‑meter‑wide dark‑red bloodstain stretched all the way to the second level of the parking lot.

Vehicles beside the bloodstain were overturned, revealing roughly a five‑meter‑wide clear zone.

I saw it too; there's also one on the left.

Another blood trail ran across the roof of a flattened SUV.

Lin An's gaze grew grave; these two blood trails couldn't have been made by a single corpse.

Powerful mental energy swiftly reconstructed in his mind what might have happened then.

One, or perhaps two, huge monsters dragged many corpses down to the underground second level.

The left‑hand monster, while dragging, stepped on and flattened a midsize SUV.

The monster was at least about five meters wide, or equivalently, the pile of dragged corpses spanned about five meters.

Could it be a mutant?

Lin An wondered.

No way— in his past life he'd never heard of mutants appearing in a hospital.

Lin Dui, what should we do now?

Zhang Tie felt uneasy, as if something in the darkness were watching him.

Gloomy and icy cold.

Although his will‑sensing ability wasn't as high as Lin An's, his beast‑transformation talent gave him animal instincts.

Forget about that for now.

Just go up directly from the elevator shaft.

The elevator in the parking lot is a freight elevator that leads straight to the emergency center.

There's no power, but we can climb up through the elevator shaft.

Okay.

Their footsteps echoed.

Walking in the darkness, there was utter silence.

A strong damp smell mixed with the stench of blood.

Captain Lin, this is it.

Zhang Tie stopped leading the way, pointed to a dark spot not far away, and said.

Both are Awakened Ones; they only need a faint light to see in darkness as if it were daytime.

The metal sign hanging on the freight elevator is somewhat rusted, and the elevator doors are tightly shut.

It's covered in dense bloody handprints.

First...

Hiss!

In the silence, a sharp, hoarse sound rang out.

Bang!

An animal's instinctive reaction.

Zhang Tie instinctively kicked at the shadow lunging out of the darkness.

The shadow exploded into a pile of fragments upon impact.

Damn, what the hell is this.

Zhang Tie was startled, turned his head, and saw a puddle of minced flesh on the ground.

It was a head, without limbs.

A bare, stark white spine like a tail was attached to the head.

Zhang Tie's face looked somewhat grim.

Too disgusting.

Lin An also came over to take a look, examining it carefully.

His gaze was solemn.

This is a corpse snake.

Usually, it's formed when infected people, before death, are heavily gnawed by zombies, turning into this.

Because the zombie virus concentration in the body is too high, the spine becomes greatly strengthened.

With limbs missing, these monsters detach themselves from flesh and move about relying on their spine like a snake.

Lin An picked up the long spine from the ground, removing the skull part that had been blown apart by the kick.

He casually swung it twice, and the spine whistled like a long whip.

This stuff makes a decent weapon.

Its hardness and toughness are both high.

Lin An paid no heed to Zhang Tie's pale face and handed him the spine.

Take it; you happen to have no weapon.

The fire axe isn't durable enough; it's not as good as this.

In the Doomsday Game, when one hasn't acquired weapons or equipment in the early stage...

The spine of a corpse snake is highly favored by players; it can be called the best early-game weapon.

Captain Lin...

Zhang Tie had a grim look; the big guy, about 1.9 meters tall, couldn't help but step back a few paces.

This thing... is too disgusting.

Although he isn't timid, after all, the apocalypse has only broken out for two days.

In his first thirty-plus years, the bloodiest thing he'd ever seen was at most a street brawl.

For a moment, he couldn't accept this level of gore.

Lin An furrowed his brow.

Hold onto it; get used to it quickly.

There will be plenty more of this kind of thing later.

Disgusting, but can it help you survive?

Zhang Tie hesitated slightly, then gritted his teeth and took the corpse snake's spine.

I don't know why, but Lin An is clearly younger than him.

But he always feels that Lin An seems to have gone through a lot; his words are convincing.

Boom!

Lin An kicked the shut elevator door, and the huge sound reverberated.

The metal panel dented, revealing a narrow gap.

Pry it open.

Lin An gripped the Nepalese curved knife in a reverse hold with his right hand, assuming the optimal combat stance.

Above the elevator shaft is the emergency center; the shaft itself likely harbors a large number of zombies.

Squeak.

Metal deformation.

Zhang Tie's face was flushed red, and for a moment he couldn't pull it open.

He seemed to realize something, his pupils constricted slightly.

With his current strength, prying open the elevator door bare-handed was a piece of cake.

Unless.

There were many "things" pressing against the door inside the elevator.

"Power burst!"

Lin An also realized this.

Golden spiritual energy entered his body, Lin An's power fully unleashed.

He let out a low shout, his left hand helped Zhang Tie move the elevator door together.

"Roar!"

As if provoked, countless continuous zombies' howls rose.

Inside the elevator shaft, innumerable zombies, like tightly packed cans, blocked the entire shaft.

The elevator doors opened, zombies surged out like a flood breaking a dam.