Chapter 181: The Walking Catastrophe

The helicopter's rotors emitted a deafening roar, leaving the city below, which resembled a hellish scroll, far behind.

Inside the cabin, the atmosphere was so oppressive that one could barely breathe.

Mo Shu curled up in the corner, her protective suit already removed and set aside, stained with blood and dust.

Her fractured ankle was simply strapped, but the real agony came from her heart.

She did nothing but hug her knees, burying her head deep in her arms, her shoulders trembling violently.

She didn't cry out.

Yet that silent grief was more heartbreaking than any wailing sob.

Her doe-like almond eyes had lost their former sparkle, now hauntingly hollow, fixed on a spot on the ground as if Jiang Yuan's final lingering afterimage were there.

Wang Zhangzhi sat opposite her, his back straight as a silent statue.

He stared at the scorched earth outside, ravaged by nuclear fire and monsters; his bronze-colored face showed no expression, and his deep, pool-like eyes revealed no ripple.

Only his clenched hands, knuckles whitened from overexertion, exposed the raging turmoil within him.

He was defeated.

Completely, utterly defeated.

A vibrant newcomer, a soldier he had personally trained, were forever left in that hell.

The Weird Object "Human Skin Paper" seized from Scott, along with Jiang Yuan, was also lost in the Monster Nest.

It was because this Captain was too overconfident.

It was his underestimation of how terrifying the mess left by the North American Union truly was.

It was he who, with his own hands, pushed that young man, eyes full of admiration and zeal, into an abyss from which there is no return.

"Captain......"

Mo Shu finally spoke, her voice hoarse as if sandpaper‑worn, heavy with nasal tone.

"Jiang Yuan..."

Wang Zhangzhi slowly closed his eyes, then snapped them open.

"It is my fault."

He cut her off, his voice low and powerful, each word seeming to be forced out between his teeth.

"All responsibility, I will bear."

After speaking, he no longer looked at Mo Shu, but turned to the Communicator nearby, issuing an unquestionable order.

"Please connect me to headquarters, Wei Gong's dedicated line."

After a few seconds of electrical static, a calm, authoritative voice came through the encrypted channel.

"Zhangzhi."

"Wei Gong."

Wang Zhangzhi's lips moved as if to speak, but his throat was terribly dry.

He cleared his throat and, in a nearly mechanical tone, began his report.

"We successfully left Chicago, but......"

"Team member Jiang Yuan...... sacrificed."

"Sequence Object 'Transmission Skin Scroll'...... lost."

"I, Wang Zhangzhi, acknowledge a major command error in this mission and am ready to face punishment."

On the other end of the Communicator, a prolonged silence settled.

Only the massive rotor noise reverberated inside the cabin.

After a long while, Wei Gong's voice sounded again, still steady, revealing no emotion.

"Understood."

"For comrade Jiang Yuan, record a First Class Merit."

"You all return first."

Wang Zhangzhi's body trembled slightly.

He knew that for a decision‑maker like Wei Gong, who stands at the macro level, casualties are just a cold number.

But Jiang Yuan is not a number.

He is a living person.

"Wei Gong," Wang Zhangzhi suddenly asked, "How is the development of the large‑scale 'Purification' weapon against Spider Humanoids progressing?"

The question came out rather abruptly.

Wei Gong on the other end fell silent again for a moment.

"We've hit a bottleneck."

"The latest research report shows those monsters possess a certain degree of Hive Mind, or rather, a crude version of Collective Consciousness."

"Any individual facing a lethal threat instantly feeds back to the entire group through a mechanism we do not yet understand. They learn, they adapt, they evolve."

"The more we kill, the smarter they become, the harder they are to eradicate completely."

That answer dropped the cabin temperature by several degrees.

Wang Zhangzhi's heart sank a little with it.

What does this mean?

It means that Jiang Yuan's sacrifice, the monster data he exchanged his life for, may have been meaningless from the start.

What they face is a Terrifying Horde that cannot be killed, cannot be eradicated, and even grows stronger the more they are slain.

Human weapons before them are like children's toys.

Despair.

A deeper despair clutched Wang Zhangzhi's heart.

He looked at Mo Shu beside him, already on the verge of collapse, her face buried in her knees, emitting stifled sobs.

An unprecedented sense of powerlessness swept over his entire body.

He wanted to say something to comfort this usually lively and cheerful subordinate.

But when he opened his mouth, he couldn't utter a single word.

Any consolation, in the face of the cruel reality, seemed so pale and ridiculous.

The communication had not been cut off.

Wang Zhangzhi, inexplicably, asked a question that even he himself thought foolish.

He was like a person about to drown, futilely trying to grasp the last straw.

"Lord Wei......"

His voice, for the first time, carried a barely perceptible tremor.

"Jiang Yuan...... could he possibly...... make it out of Chicago?"

The entire cabin fell silent in an instant.

Everyone turned their gaze to Wang Zhangzhi.

Even Mo Shu's movements hesitated slightly, and in her red‑swollen eyes from crying, a tiny, almost extinguished flame ignited.

On the other end of the communicator, Lord Wei's answer was crisp and decisive, as firm as cutting nails and slicing iron.

"Impossible."

Those two words were like two cold iron pincers, snuffing out the last light in Mo Shu's eyes.

She lowered her head again, this time unable to hold back, letting out a heart‑rending wail.

Wang Zhangzhi's body swayed slightly, then he slowly leaned against the cold cabin wall.

However, Lord Wei's words were not yet finished.

He continued, in his usual steady tone devoid of any emotion, stating a cold fact.

"In a situation where tens of thousands of monsters flood in, the human flesh and blood body has zero chance of survival."

"Unless......"

Lord Wei's words paused here.

"Unless, he is no longer human."

Wang Zhangzhi slowly raised his head.

"What does that mean?"

"The meaning is, unless he has become Weird. Or......"

Lord Wei's voice, even through the encrypted line, exuded a chilling dread.

"Or, he has obtained some kind of terror force surpassing A-level Weirdness."

"Such a being can no longer be measured by our current ranks; one person alone is a walking disaster."

"He will no longer need weapons; his very existence is the most terrifying weapon. Regular troops before him are no different from paper."

"He can, by himself, slaughter every Spider Humanoid in the Chicago ruins."

"Likewise, he alone could destroy any city other than Chicago, along with its countless inhabitants."