163: Mountain of Corpses

Although three survivors were found, the building had not yet been fully searched.

Most importantly, the women's recent words made him suspect whether the Infected on the upper floors were truly killed by Mutated Creatures.

Perhaps, these Infected lost their ability to move for some reason, and some lawbreakers, worried about the Parasite crawling out of the Infected's bodies, cleaned up all the corpses.

Although this idea couldn't explain what exactly killed the Infected here,

it was still more realistic than a powerful Infected lurking around.

After all, this was an office building in the city, and the probability of powerful Mutated Creatures appearing was too low.

If they truly existed, it would be impossible for them not to be discovered before the Parasite disaster erupted.

Such powerful Mutated Creatures would require a large amount of food daily.

It was precisely because he believed there might not be powerful Mutated Creatures in the building that Ye Qindong continued forward with the three women.

Ye Qindong first gave the three women some food and water, allowing them to recover a little strength after eating.

This time, with survivors joining, the formation also changed. Ye Qindong led with two teammates, and three teammates brought up the rear.

The three women were in the middle of the group.

Soon, this floor was completely patrolled.

Aside from the three women, no other survivors or Infected were found.

Only a scene of chaos remained, recounting everything that had happened.

"Everyone, everyone, they killed everyone!" one woman stammered, trembling as she clutched a Soldier.

Ye Qindong frowned, signaled the team to halt, and looked at the woman.

Not only her, but the other two women were also trembling all over, looking at the empty surroundings with obvious panic.

Ye Qindong could tell that the three women were in extreme panic: their breathing was rapid, muscles trembling, faces pale, and pupils dilated.

"Asen, you and Afan, take them three up first, then come back down," Ye Qindong said with a frown to his two teammates.

"Yes!" The two Soldiers acknowledged the order and immediately escorted the three women up the stairs.

The floors above had been thoroughly cleared by them, with no danger found, and with two Soldiers escorting them, it was sufficient to handle most situations.

"Boss, this situation isn't right. Their expressions, whatever scared them, it's definitely not ordinary."

"Perhaps the disappearance of the Infected here is also related to them."

Several Soldiers spoke up one after another.

"Hmm, the enemies we are about to face might be Awakened Ones. Pay attention, their numbers are likely not small."

"Awakened Ones?!"

As they spoke, the group switched their equipment, replacing the high-speed submachine guns on their backs.

The four-person squad continued downwards, and the various bloodstains and drag marks in the stairwell became more and more numerous.

Even the walls had marks from bodies rubbing against them. This scene would make a timid person run away instantly.

Ye Qindong, leading the way, walked slower and steadier.

Finally, they stepped onto the eleventh floor. Similar to the twelfth floor, there were signs of combat and slaughter in the corridor.

Ye Qindong noticed a shallow human-shaped dent on the wall.

His pupils constricted, and he immediately walked over.

"Boss? Holy crap!"

The Soldiers looked over and were immediately startled.

"Was this made by a person being pressed into it?"

Their expressions changed slightly. How much force would it take to create a shallow dent in a wall with a person?

"What if it's an Awakened One? They are still flesh and blood. They will still die if a vital spot is hit by a bullet," Ye Qindong said in a deep voice.

Everyone nodded, but their hearts had already grown heavy.

They began to explore this floor, but it was still the same as before, with no Infected and no survivors.

They remained vigilant and continued downstairs.

The tenth floor was also completely silent, showing no signs of anyone.

At this moment, the two teammates who had gone back had safely returned and rejoined the team.

Afterward, they continued to explore: the ninth floor, the eighth floor, the seventh floor... They explored all the way down to the third floor, but found nothing else, neither Infected nor survivors.

"Do you smell anything?" a Soldier asked as soon as they reached the third floor.

"It seems like there is some, probably blood," a Soldier replied. The surroundings were messy, with bloodstains everywhere. It was normal to smell blood in such a place.

"Everyone be careful. If those people are still in this building, then they are only on these three floors," Ye Qindong said, beginning to explore this floor.

The others also tensed up and followed, maintaining a perfect formation with no blind spots.

However, after they had explored the entire floor, they still found nothing.

"Something's not right. Logically, even if those people were active on the first floor, it wouldn't be this quiet," Ye Qindong said, frowning.

"Boss, do you mean those people might have already left the building?" a Soldier asked.

"It's possible, but it's also possible they've already discovered us and want to ambush us in secret," Ye Qindong said.

Hearing this, everyone's hearts tightened. Being ambushed by an Awakened One was no joke; it could very well be fatal.

Especially when they thought of the human-shaped dent on the upper floor.

In this tense atmosphere, the six-person squad continued downstairs to explore.

In the stairwell, there were more and more bloodstains, and a certain smell grew stronger.

"It really is, this is the smell of blood! And..." Ye Qindong's expression changed slightly; he also noticed a strong smell of blood.

"If this is the smell of blood, then the missing Infected..." Several people's expressions also became solemn.

Finally, the squad stepped onto the second floor. The entire second floor was more chaotic than all previous floors; the partitions between different companies were shattered and collapsed.

Broken office supplies were everywhere, and desks and chairs were scattered all over.

Even more striking were the bloodstains—an enormous amount of blood, practically a river of it.

Some bloodstains were splattered, covering an entire wall!

The entire second floor no longer looked like an office building; it was more like a bloody slaughterhouse!

Only, this slaughterhouse now had no flesh or blood, only bloodstains remaining.

The squad, just in case, still carefully explored the area to prevent an ambush.

The result was still the same; there was no discovery whatsoever.

"Now, we go downstairs. If nothing unexpected happens, they will be on the first floor."

"Two people with me will watch the left, three people watch the right. If anyone is spotted, immediately order them to stop approaching. Any suspicious movement, you are authorized to open fire directly!"

Ye Qindong made the final arrangements. Facing the unknown Awakened Ones, he also felt pressure.

The competition between Awakened Ones and modern Soldiers was all about distance. Once they got close, the Soldiers would have little resistance, but if there was enough distance, the Awakened Ones would be riddled with bullets!

Therefore, he speculated that these people were definitely ambushed on both sides of the stairwell.

Finally, Ye Qindong led his people, slowly descending the stairs, but just as they were about to approach the stairwell exit,

Ye Qindong threw a table leg he was holding.

With a clatter, the table leg fell onto the first floor.

At the same time, the five Soldiers had already placed their fingers on the triggers, their minds highly focused.

But nothing happened.

Ye Qindong's eyes flickered. He made a gesture and walked down with a Soldier.

The moment they reached the stairwell exit, the two immediately turned to look in opposite directions.

However, there was nothing; no enemies!

Ye Qindong did not relax his guard and began to survey the surroundings.

But as soon as he shifted his gaze, he noticed the scene in the first-floor lobby, and he was stunned.

"This..."

The other Soldier was also frozen in place.

"Boss?"

The four Soldiers on the stairs, seeing this, worried that the two might be ambushed and immediately rushed down the stairs.

But soon, they all looked ahead with dumbfounded expressions.

In the first-floor lobby, nearly a thousand headless corpses were arranged together, forming a mountain of bodies. The bodies had been deliberately twisted to form specific shapes!

Blood flowed, forming a river of blood!

On both sides of this mountain of corpses, there were also countless strange shapes made of intestines, and strange shapes made of hearts!

All of this was bloody and utterly bizarre!

"This... what kind of lunatic did this?!" a Soldier stammered.

He now understood why those two girls were so scared.

This scene was simply inhumane!

Even if they were Infected, they were still human beings!

Even the higher-ups of the nation did not allow the unjustified slaughter of Infected.

"This is a symbol!"

At this moment, Ye Qindong, who had moved away from the mountain of corpses and even reached the entrance of the building, finally managed to make out the shape of the corpse mountain, and his face turned ugly as he spoke.