“Faster, faster, faster…” Qiu Shi murmured, staring at the screen as the infected rapidly approached Bai Zhan. His hand clenched tightly from anxiety, the fresh sting of the wound on his palm pulsing sharply.
The footage from Bai Zhan’s side was chaotic—turbulent water currents stirred up bubbles, bits of floating seaweed drifted past, and the camera wobbled as Bai Zhan turned his head to look around.
Qiu Shi felt like he could hardly catch his breath.
“How can infected hide underwater for so long?” he frowned.
“There must be somewhere in the research facility that connects directly to the sea,” Xing Bi replied.
Two of the fastest infected surged upward, closing in on Bai Zhan’s legs faster than him, then simultaneously grabbed hold.
Bai Zhan kicked twice, but the underwater resistance plus the weight of the infected prevented him from shaking them off like he could on land.
Each infected had sharp hooks tied around their wrists; with a swing, the hooks stabbed into Bai Zhan’s legs. When pulled outward, blood immediately gushed out.
The screen instantly filled with a chaotic red blur.
“Drop the thruster!” Xing Bi ordered.
The thruster’s power could no longer move Bai Zhan along with the two infected clinging to his legs. It was only hindering his movements.
At the same moment Xing Bi spoke, Bai Zhan raised his hand and cut the thruster’s straps. He then began sinking toward the seabed with the infected holding on.
Next, he drew his gun and fired two shots at the infected gripping his legs, hitting them both in the forehead. But their arms seemed locked in place—though dead, they still wouldn’t let go, clinging stubbornly to Bai Zhan’s legs.
Bai Zhan drew his knife and fiercely hacked off their arms, finally freeing himself from their grip.
But instead of ascending as Qiu Shi hoped, Bai Zhan rose a short distance then resumed the planned route, swimming forward along the underwater tunnel.
Without the thruster, his speed slowed significantly. Behind him, infected rapidly gathered.
“What the hell are you doing!” Qiu Shi shouted.
The infected’s target was clear: Bai Zhan. He couldn’t believe Bai Zhan didn’t realize that continuing to investigate in this situation was madness.
A freediver with double thrusters swam ahead of Bai Zhan; Bai Zhan grabbed his leg, and the freediver started pulling him forward.
Rapid tapping sounds came through the headset.
“What’s he saying?” Qiu Shi looked at Xing Bi.
“There’s a plan,” Xing Bi said. He had already taken off his jacket and put on goggles. “He wants to coordinate with the freedivers to clear out these infected.”
“What are you going to do?” Qiu Shi asked.
“I’m going to support him.” Xing Bi pressed his headset. “Jiang Liu, go get a speedboat from the freedivers. I’ll need it soon.”
Qiu Shi said nothing, just glanced at him again before returning his gaze to the screen.
Xing Bi was definitely going. No matter who was underwater, he would go—especially since it was Bai Zhan.
That junior brother who had fallen into Zheng Ting’s hands while helping them evacuate, the junior brother they thought was dead all these years, but who, after reuniting, still chose to trust even if he couldn’t understand Bai Zhan’s choice to become a symbiote…
Another freediver reached Bai Zhan and pulled him forward by grabbing the legs of two other freedivers. The underwater tunnel data kept updating on the right side of the screen.
Further ahead, Qiu Shi spotted a massive, round underwater structure—a large, flattened oval that had to be part of the research facility.
“Damn,” he couldn’t help but exclaim.
But the problem now was that the tunnel was very long. From where Bai Zhan saw the building to actually reaching it was still a considerable distance. With ambushes likely ahead and pursuers behind, and the freedivers needing to surface for air, Bai Zhan couldn’t possibly reach there.
“Bai Zhan!” Qiu Shi shouted, “What kind of brainless plan is this, just charging headfirst with a bunch of infected? You’re the tour guide!”
Bai Zhan gave the camera the middle finger, then pointed backward with the same finger.
As he turned to look behind, the screen showed a horde of infected following Bai Zhan closely in the turbulent bubbles like a pack of predators chasing prey.
What shocked Qiu Shi even more was that all these infected were biting on oxygen tubes.
With this situation, Bai Zhan still had the nerve to give him the middle finger?
But soon, Qiu Shi saw the freedivers—ten who had descended with Bai Zhan: two in front, and eight split into two groups following on each side of the infected.
Then a thin beam of light flickered between the freedivers, like a spider silk stretched across above the infected.
“Damn,” he whispered.
That familiar feeling made Qiu Shi vaguely understand their plan.
“I’m going to support him.” Xing Bi stood up, and Jiang Liu’s speedboat was already waiting by the reef.
Qiu Shi gave him a nod. “Okay.”
“Don’t worry,” Xing Bi tapped on the screen a few times, splitting the view into two parts as he turned on his camera. “The assault may have to start earlier than planned.”
“Lin Sheng’s last batch of reinforcements hasn’t arrived yet,” Qiu Shi said.
“We can’t wait for them,” Xing Bi said. “They’ll come for a full clean-up.”
“Alright.” Qiu Shi agreed.
Xing Bi pinched the back of Qiu Shi’s neck lightly, opened the car door, jumped out, and rushed toward the shore.
Qiu Shi withdrew his gaze. The screen showed the freedivers split into two groups, sinking below the infected on either side. Occasionally when sunlight streamed underwater, it clearly revealed the thin steel wire stretched taut.
The freedivers held the wire with one hand and thrusters with the other, kicking fiercely upward.
The wire instantly looped around the infected at waist level. The freedivers on both sides maintained the same speed as the infected while moving toward the center, twisting the wire tight like tying logs together.
Then the two groups of freedivers switched directions and began forcefully tightening the wire.
Though the infected struggled fiercely, they were wrapped tightly in the wire, black blood streaming into the water.
Bai Zhan released the freediver holding him, turned, and swam toward the infected.
The infected were squeezed tight but still had some chance of escape.
The wire had to be quickly tightened and locked in place, but underwater there was no leverage, and the freedivers’ speed wasn’t enough.
Bai Zhan swam beneath the bundle of infected, flipped upside down, and delivered a powerful kick to the taut wire below—like a slap on a stuck blade.
The wire instantly cut into the infected’s bodies… then he swam away slightly and kicked again.
Right after, the divers above used the momentum from those two kicks to quickly reel in the steel wire.
The infected tangled in the middle were unevenly sliced into two segments, scattering apart like black blood-and-flesh fireworks exploding underwater—cruel and horrifying.
The image became unclear, filled with murky seawater and broken remains of the infected.
Qiu Shi leaned back in his chair and exhaled softly. No matter what, Bai Zhan was safe for now.
On the screen, Xing Bi and Jiang Liu were already on the surface with the speedboat and would soon reach above Bai Zhan.
A voice came through the headset: “A large number of infected have been spotted gathering to the south.”
“I have infected here,” Sang Fan almost spoke at the same time, “The main target is very close!”
“Start the assault,” Xing Bi said. “Qiu Shi, head to the entrance to regroup; three squads provide long-range cover.”
“Received,” Qiu Shi replied.
The soldiers standing guard outside quickly got back into the car, setting up their guns at the shooting positions.
The driver started the vehicle and sped toward the entrance ahead.
Qiu Shi bit on the whistle given by Bai Zhan, leaning halfway out of the open car door, and blew the whistle.
One long, two short.
The sharp whistle, tinged with a hint of melancholy, echoed far along the coastline.
Then again, one long, two short.
What was originally silent except for the crashing waves suddenly erupted into chaotic howls and shouts, from the sea surface to the distant shore. The divers’ long-awaited frenzied moment had finally arrived.
A shell exploded on the right front side of their vehicle; as the car sped past, Qiu Shi saw infected bodies blasted into the air.
“Contact with Bai Zhan?” Qiu Shi returned to the back seat, quickly securing the holsters and knife sheath on his legs, then grabbed a long gun.
“Waiting for him to surface,” Xing Bi said.
From Xing Bi’s surveillance footage, Qiu Shi saw the water around the stopped speedboat was blackened, with many body fragments drifting and rolling in the waves.
Infected burst out from the left reef, with their main body trailing behind.
Unit 249 was indeed growing impatient; the main body no longer hid behind the infected, but had sent them all out to stop them.
“We’ve reached the entrance,” Xu Jie’s voice came through, “It’s full of infected.”
“Don’t let them retreat into the tunnel. Push inside and kill,” Xing Bi said. “Find the main body. The infected can’t pass through the security facilities in the tunnel; surely some capable main body is with them or waiting inside to assist.”
“We’re here,” Ji Sui’s voice rang out. “We’re pushing in; fire two artillery rounds for cover.”
Golden arcs streaked through the air, explosions sounded from the entrance direction, and Yun City’s heavy weapon teams began concentrating firepower on the entrance.
Qiu Shi’s car soon approached the entrance; the area had already descended into chaos. Silent infected surged from all directions, mingling with frenzied divers who screamed and laughed wildly.
The soldiers of Yun City were the only calm presence amid the chaos — their neat uniforms and well-equipped weapons gave them an advantage. Though they lacked the divers’ experience in close combat, their heavy firepower helped the divers focus their assault and sped up clearing the infected.
The car stopped in front of a half-collapsed small building. Qiu Shi and the soldiers jumped out.
The driver and Song Heng stayed inside.
“Song Heng, ensure communication and data integrity,” Qiu Shi ordered.
“Understood,” Song Heng replied.
Qiu Shi left the road and jumped onto the reef, where he could already see a crowd in chaos ahead.
The entrance to the research institute was in the crowd, inconspicuous and obviously damaged. The once spacious, grand tunnel entrance was now half destroyed — likely blown up along with the bridge above.
The reef beach they crossed had been cleared by the divers, littered with infected corpses and a few diver bodies.
Qiu Shi fired at infected in the distance while watching the sea surface.
“Xing Bi, location?” he asked.
“Just pulled up,” Xing Bi said. “Heading back.”
Qiu Shi checked the map, selected a reef about 500 meters from the entrance, and sent the coordinates to Xing Bi: “Regroup there.”
The battle at the entrance was not going well. They couldn’t use artillery too close to the entrance — damaging it would cause huge problems later. They had to rely on hand-to-hand combat, but infected blocked the doors, making progress very difficult. New infected kept arriving on the beach.
As Qiu Shi and a few soldiers reached the reef edge, he saw Xing Bi’s speedboat approaching from the sea surface.
He exhaled in relief and hid behind the reef, using binoculars to watch the entrance.
Only half of the entrance was exposed on the beach; the rest was buried under collapsed rubble. The part of the tunnel by the shore was small but mostly intact, so entry was still possible.
The speedboat pulled up to the shore, stopping beside the reef.
Qiu Shi noticed only Xing Bi, Jiang Liu, and Bai Zhan were on board. Probably due to weight limits, the other divers clung to the boat’s edge, being brought back.
“Tha…” Qiu Shi’s “Thanks” was cut short as a group of divers just pulled from the sea, led by Lao Qi, charged into the chaotic fight with shrill screams.
“You’re welcome,” Bai Zhan said.
“Who says…” Qiu Shi’s sentence was cut short as he realized he wanted to say this to Bai Zhan — Bai Zhan had nearly died underwater.
“How’s your injury?” Qiu Shi glanced at a nearby soldier, who quickly took out a medkit and a bioroid repair injector.
“No big deal,” Bai Zhan said.
“Want me to inject it for you?” Qiu Shi took the injector.
“I’m not broken-armed,” Bai Zhan said, taking it and injecting twice through his pants directly into his leg.
“You really are mixing with divers,” Qiu Shi said, watching his method.
“Should I take off my pants for these two shots?” Bai Zhan asked.
“Your pants aren’t intact anyway — full of holes left and right. You don’t have to poke through the fabric, right?” Qiu Shi said.
“The entrance seems tough to get through for a while,” Xing Bi said.
“Go through the sea or somewhere else,” Bai Zhan said. “If they can ambush underwater, there must be some way in and out.”
“No way,” Qiu Shi refused decisively. “It’s too risky. Nobody knows how many of them are lying in ambush underwater. We don’t understand the terrain at all; going down there is basically a death sentence.”
“From the design perspective,” Song Heng’s voice came through the earpiece, “besides the tunnel, the main part of the research facility must also have access points connected to the sea…”
“Keep that as a backup plan,” Qiu Shi said. “Let’s first consider the entrance…”
As he looked toward the entrance, he noticed something in the sky.
It looked like a vague cluster of parachutes drifting from south to north.
“What’s that?” He picked up his binoculars, nervously observing.
There was someone under each parachute.
“Gliders,” Xing Bi turned his head to look. “Whose people are they?”
“Not refugees, they don’t have this kind of equipment,” Bai Zhan said.
“A speedboat is coming,” Xu Jie’s voice came through the earpiece, mixed with nearby gunfire. “Don’t know who they are.”
“Cover the rear,” Xing Bi pressed his earpiece. “Keep an eye on the sky.”
“Roger.”
Qiu Shi’s small comm device in his thigh pocket vibrated a few times. He was surprised since this area was already beyond the device’s usual range to receive Yun City’s signals. Who would still be contacting him here?
He pulled out the device, which had already auto-connected a call, and a familiar voice came through: “Qiu Shi.”
“Lao Deng?” Qiu Shi was shocked, paused for two seconds, then suddenly turned his head to look at the gliders in the air. “Is that you?”
“Not too late!” Deng Yeye’s voice, carried by the roaring wind, was a bit intermittent. “The main force is still five kilometers away. Our people have already joined with the immunes over at Chen Dang’s side! We can cut them off from behind!”
“Damn,” Qiu Shi never expected this. “How did you…”
“I told you I’d keep following you,” Deng Yeye said. “I keep my word.”
“Thanks.” Qiu Shi said.
“No need to thank me. This isn’t help for someone; this is a fight for everyone.”
The people led by Deng Yeye came from the air. They weren’t many. Their speedboats pulled the gliders, sweeping over the infected below, firing continuously at the groups. Then they turned around and came back.
The aerial assault quickly disrupted the clusters of infected on the ground.
Ji Sui and Xu Jie led their men into the tunnel.
“We’re entering,” Xu Jie said. “There’s a door ahead, it’s open.”
“San Fan, cut off the attack from behind,” Xing Bi said as he started running toward the entrance. “We’re almost there.”
“Roger!” San Fan answered.
Qiu Shi checked the map briefly. The interior of the tunnel was not showing up. The small dots representing Xu Jie and Ji Sui inside the tunnel did not appear on the map.
“There’s signal jamming inside,” Qiu Shi said, firing a burst at an infected rushing toward him. “Be careful.”
“Is the comm clear?” Ji Sui asked.
“Clear.” Qiu Shi answered.
“We’ve entered the inspection area,” Xu Jie said. Background noise carried chaotic sounds of chopping and hacking. The tunnel layout was unclear; they couldn’t fire their guns and had to use knives. “The place is intact; this door must have just been opened.”
“There are their people inside,” Bai Zhan said. “Wait for us before advancing further.”
“Got it.” Xu Jie replied. “The inspection area door has been broken; temporarily safe. Waiting for you… withdraw!”
“Retreat!” Ji Sui shouted too.
Qiu Shi’s heart sank: “What’s going on?!”
“San Fan, get people away from the entrance!” Xu Jie shouted.
“Got it! Retreating now!” San Fan said. “What happened?”
“The inspection area is sealed off,” Xu Jie said. “Don’t come over, don’t come over.”
“But wasn’t the door already broken?” Qiu Shi’s voice was hoarse. He stopped alongside Xing Bi and quickly retreated behind a nearby reef, feeling chills run down his spine.
“There’s a hidden door.” Xu Jie said.
“Who’s inside?” Xing Bi asked.
“Me, Ji Sui, and three soldiers,” Xu Jie said. “The infected have been cleared.”
“Is the air normal?” Xing Bi asked.
“Normal,” Ji Sui answered. “I think… 249 plans to blow up the tunnel.”
“Check inside immediately, find an exit,” Bai Zhan said. “Emergency buttons, escape routes…”
Before he could finish, a muffled explosion came from below. Then Qiu Shi felt the beach shaking beneath his feet and irregular ripples on the sea surface.
“Ji Sui!” Qiu Shi yelled.
No response.
Then the sea surface near the tunnel entrance suddenly seemed to be sucked in, collapsing violently and forming a whirlpool.
“Xu Jie!” Qiu Shi shouted again. “Ji Sui!”
No sounds returned.
“The tunnel collapsed!” San Fan shouted. “They’re trapped inside!”
“Keep clearing,” Xing Bi said after a two-second pause, his voice steady. “No need to hold the entrance anymore, kill freely.”
“Roger.” San Fan replied.
“Contact Old Deng,” Xing Bi said to Qiu Shi. “Tell them to come down.”
“Okay.” Qiu Shi responded and connected to Deng Yeye’s call.
“What’s going on!” Deng Yeye’s voice was anxious. “Who blew it?”
“249,” Qiu Shi said. “You come down.”
“Is anyone trapped inside?” Deng Yeye asked.
“Their’s,” Qiu Shi said.
The speedboats on the sea were heading their way.
Deng Yeye and her team landed on the beach.
“What happened!” she rushed over.
“Can we borrow the speedboats and gliders?” Xing Bi said. “Also need some brothers to drive the boats.”
“Okay, how?” Deng Yeye glanced at two people beside her, who quickly took off their gliders.
“We’re heading to the main part of the research facility,” Xing Bi pressed his earpiece. “Song Heng, how much data do you have on the main building? Can you identify any locations possibly connected to the sea?”
“Not certain, but three spots have the highest probability,” Song Heng said.
“Send them to me.” Xing Bi said.
“Okay.” Song Heng replied.
“Brother Six,” Xing Bi looked at Jiang Liu, “find some refugees and check the blast area damage from the explosion point.”
“No problem.” Jiang Liu nodded and immediately ran off.
“We’re going,” Xing Bi said looking at Qiu Shi, “you, me, Bai Zhan, Old Deng — we try to get in directly.”
“Are you sure?” Qiu Shi asked.
“Normally,” Xing Bi said, “I’ll save people first. Xu Jie and Ji Sui might still be alive. The sooner we rescue them, the better their chance.”
“249 knows us well,” Bai Zhan said. “He knows Xing Bi won’t give up his team, his brothers.”
“So…” Qiu Shi looked at him.
“So now I’m willing to give up once,” Xing Bi said, “and go straight to find his lair.”
