Chapter Sixteen: The Necromancer's Terrifying Biochemical Arsenal

“This is the place!” Guo Lang, holding Alice’s phone, checked the map. The general location was in that dense area a few kilometers ahead. The capital’s traffic planning was excellent, with smooth, well-connected roads. Even in the midst of this apocalyptic catastrophe, there were still plenty of routes open.

But as they approached the fourth ring road, the area became so crowded that they had to park the car in a hidden spot and continue on foot. This cast a shadow over Guo Lang’s heart. In this city, even with shortcuts, the fourth ring was more than twenty kilometers away from their starting point. It meant that if something happened, it would be almost impossible to escape using a vehicle. If they were spotted by a large horde of undead, that would be the end.

Guo Lang glanced at his watch. It was already 6 p.m. It was midsummer, and by the climate here, night would fall around eight. They only had two hours left. They’d set out in the morning, but walking over twenty kilometers had delayed them. In order to conserve energy, they hadn’t pushed themselves to exhaustion, so it had taken a long time. Guo Lang noticed the excitement on Alice’s face and sighed helplessly. With a tone of negotiation, he said, “We’ll spend an hour scouting the area, searching for your mother’s location, but we must reserve at least an hour to find a safe base!”

Alice pouted and thought it over before compromising. “Half an hour to find a base is enough.”

Guo Lang saw the tension in her expression and didn’t object. Half an hour was cutting it close, but it was barely doable. Besides, their situation was already extremely dangerous.

The parasitic undead hated sunlight. During the day, most of them lurked in the shadows of buildings. Guo Lang and Alice had come along the main road, carefully avoiding the lines of sight of certain houses. Surviving to reach this point owed much to luck. But staying outside after dark would be suicide.

Studying the area, he saw four towers with wide spaces between them. All four were named Emperor Tower. As for which one the little girl’s mother was in, it was only a matter of guesswork. With the information they had, they would have to search them one by one. Guo Lang saw no real hope for success, but he couldn’t bring himself to say a word to discourage Alice.

As they approached the perimeter of the towers, Alice, who was walking ahead, suddenly froze and yanked Guo Lang several steps back. Instinctively, he ducked behind a nearby obstacle with her.

“What is it?” Guo Lang asked, puzzled.

“Something is watching me!” Alice’s face took on the calm seriousness she showed in combat. Her voice chilled, muscles tensed, and her body shifted into fighting mode.

“Something is watching you?” Guo Lang frowned. This was the first time he’d heard her say that. In the villa district, they had always been the hunters, stalking the undead. And with Alice’s talent for stealth, most undead couldn’t detect her from five steps away. And yet, in the open just now, she claimed she was being watched?

Could it be an even higher-level undead? But Guo Lang instinctively dismissed that idea. Parasitic undead had limited intelligence; they weren’t capable of calmly observing prey. If they saw prey, they would attack directly. Even higher-level undead would make a move if they spotted Alice—there would be some reaction. So… could it be a human?

Guo Lang tensed. He took out his binoculars and carefully scanned the towers. After a while, he finally noticed that the top floor of one of the buildings seemed to be wrapped in masses of flesh and blood, like vines. The glaring sunlight made it hard to see at a glance, and with the building so tall, he hadn’t noticed at first.

“This is… a Necromancer’s Biochemical War Factory?” To confirm, Guo Lang grabbed Xiao Tao and asked, “What is that?”

Xiao Tao, displeased by his rough handling, refrained from arguing in the tense atmosphere. She looked over obediently, paused, and said, “The Necromancer’s power is growing quickly. That’s a Level One Horror Biochemical War Factory. It can only be unlocked after establishing the Necromancer’s Main Energy Tower and opening the basic tech library. Hmm… no, the beginner unlock is just the standard Ghoul Graveyard. The Horror War Factory normally requires a follower who’s advanced to the Necromancer class!”

“A professional class!” Guo Lang’s face turned pale. That explained everything—the reason Alice had been sensed from across a building was because the necromancers were here, and among them was at least one advanced mage!

Early attribute enhancements conferred different abilities. For example, agility could drastically improve your reaction speed, mental sensitivity, and bodily control early on. For a mage-type necromancer, boosting mental power early had its own benefits: sensing large areas, rapid analysis, even a measure of precognition.

If someone could sense them from atop a tower, their mental power must be at the level of a professional, likely probing the area at that very moment. Guo Lang calmed his breathing, staring at that tower and wondering if their presence had truly been detected.

Alice had reacted instantly, pulling him out of the perception field. Their intrusion would have been fleeting, and unless the observer was obsessively cautious, it could easily be dismissed.

Regardless of whether they’d been noticed, barging in now would be extremely dangerous. After weighing the risks, Guo Lang said to Alice, “The situation has changed. We’re running out of time. Let’s fall back to the next building, find a safe base, observe for a night, and act tomorrow!”

“But—!” Alice protested anxiously. They were so close. She was unwilling to leave without even checking inside.

“Your mother is very likely still alive.” Guo Lang looked at her seriously.

“Huh?” Alice’s eyes widened, and she became very quiet.

“I’ll explain the details later. Let’s find a base and settle in first. Trust me.”

“…Okay.” Alice nodded.

“Let’s go, then.” Guo Lang took her hand and was about to leave when Alice suddenly stopped, turning to him with a helpless expression. “You… you have to promise you’re not lying to me!”

“I’m not lying.” Guo Lang squeezed her trembling hand, took a steadying breath, and comforted her, “Let’s go.”

------------------------------------------

Meanwhile, atop the tower, Ian suddenly frowned and opened his eyes. His pale green irises reflected a trace of confusion. He closed his eyes again, trying to sense, but this time, there was nothing.

“What’s wrong?” Jones nearby was quick to notice his teammate’s strange reaction.

“I’m not sure…” Ian shook his head. “Just now, I thought I sensed someone coming in.”

“Someone came in?” Jones was taken aback, then went to the window. Like Ian, he had specialized in agility, so his field of vision was broad. The area below was as quiet as ever, nothing out of the ordinary—just dried blood and scattered flesh on the ground, bleak and desolate in the sunlight.

“Are you sure?” Jones looked back at him, amusement in his eyes.

Ian smiled and sipped his wine. “As I said, I’m not sure.”

“Interesting…” Jones murmured.

At the same time, in the upper floors of another tower, Laura felt a strange itch in her heart. For a brief instant, she thought she sensed her daughter’s presence below.

She shook her head, blaming hunger-induced illusions. Looking at the meager rations of snacks and water she’d carefully portioned out on the table, she reminded herself that she survived each day on the bare minimum. Her tenacity would shame many special forces soldiers; she never took a sip more than her allotted water.

She hadn’t given up. She was still waiting for rescue, even though her rational mind told her the odds of the government army reaching here were minuscule. Still, she would not surrender hope—because she had to see her daughter again. By all logic, her young child’s chances of survival in this apocalypse were even slimmer than the army’s chances of rescuing her. But without seeing it with her own eyes, she refused to believe her daughter was gone.

When confronted with what they treasure most, people always hold out for miracles. However faint the hope, they still believe. Such is human nature.