Speedrun

Aiden's momentum was strong, but the result wasn't great.

To save his daughter, Walsh had long since performed various experiments on himself, and his physical attributes were already superhuman.

With a side-step, he easily dodged Aiden's attack, pinned him to the ground, and looked at Chen Nuo with a cold, unfriendly gaze.

"What is the meaning of this?"

"Don't be in a hurry. Take a good look at this guy; his name is Aiden."

Chen Nuo ignored the fierce glares of the surrounding Renegades and pointed at the struggling Aiden.

"Aiden?!"

Walsh was stunned for a moment. He unconsciously loosened his grip and pulled Aiden up from the ground, scrutinizing his face. He could indeed see a faint, familiar resemblance.

"Let me go!"

"Are you really Aiden?"

"That's right, Walsh. I've come for revenge!"

Walsh was confused. His relationship with Aiden used to be quite close; he had almost treated Aiden as his future son-in-law.

However, an accident had separated them. He hadn't expected their reunion to be like this.

"What on earth happened to him?"

Walsh stared at Chen Nuo and asked in a deep voice.

He had a feeling this guy could answer the doubts in his heart.

"Maybe too many drug trials caused his memory to become muddled. It's fine; a good beating should fix it."

Chen Nuo shrugged and offered a suggestion while answering.

"Should?"

Walsh's mouth twitched slightly. Did he think Aiden was some kind of electronic machine from the last century?

That a single kick could solve most problems?

"Alright, let's put your matters aside for now. From now on, just listen to my commands and watch me work."

Chen Nuo waved his hand. There wasn't much to say about Aiden's memory; enough stimulation would eventually restore it. It was getting dark, and he needed to reach an agreement with Walsh quickly.

"Listen to you? On what grounds?"

Walsh asked with a hint of disdain.

By now, he was no longer the doctor once beloved by children.

The post-apocalyptic environment and drug modifications had left Walsh with almost no sympathy or mercy, only the obsession and extremism of saving his daughter.

His actions proved it; he wouldn't hesitate to sacrifice a city full of lives for a chance to save Mia.

Why would he choose to obey just because of a single sentence from Chen Nuo?

The surrounding Renegades were gradually closing in. Sensing the sudden change in atmosphere, Hakon felt a bit lost and subconsciously stepped back, trying to distance himself from Chen Nuo.

I'm just a guide; this has nothing to do with me.

Before the Renegades could act, Chen Nuo struck first. He lunged forward, twisting his hips and shoulders, his elbow driving into the chest of the Renegade in front of him like a battering ram.

The two-meter-tall, muscular man was sent flying, knocking over several others like bowling pins. The sound of breaking bones and snapping tendons rang out like firecrackers.

This horrifying scene made everyone present catch their breath.

"I have no room for trash among my subordinates."

Chen Nuo was willing to recruit Walsh only because of his abilities. As for the other Renegades, there was no need to keep such eyesores around to cause trouble.

"Who exactly are you?"

Walsh's expression was no longer as composed as before. The strength Chen Nuo just displayed exceeded his own experimental data. In Walsh's view, the other party must also be an experimental product.

To achieve such results within the constraints of the apocalypse, there must be a massive power supporting him.

After all, Walsh's current success was the result of the Renegade Colonel's full support.

This line of reasoning wasn't entirely baseless, but it was quite far from the truth.

"No rush for introductions," Chen Nuo said, slightly tilting his head.

An arrow grazed his hair and flew forward, only to be caught mid-air by a fair hand.

Chen Nuo snapped the arrow shaft, leaving only the arrowhead, and threw it behind him without looking. With a "whoosh," a Renegade archer collapsed, the arrow buried deep in his brow.

Seeing this, the remaining Renegades exchanged glances and charged at Chen Nuo in unison with perfect coordination.

These Renegades had their fear removed by Walsh; they would fight to the death without retreating.

Within moments, nearly ten fully armed Renegades lay on the ground like piles of soft mud, showing no signs of life.

"Come with me, Doctor Walsh," Chen Nuo said calmly, shaking off the blood on the back of his hand.

However, Walsh didn't seem ready to submit. He threw Aiden to the ground and swung a punch at Chen Nuo. The whistling wind from the punch revealed its power.

But with a "bang," Walsh was sent flying, crashing into the van behind him and becoming firmly embedded in it.

Seeing this, Hakon silently moved a few steps closer to Chen Nuo, trying to show his stance. He whispered,

"Boss, you won't kick Walsh to death, will you?"

"Don't worry, this guy is very thick-skinned."

Chen Nuo knew what he was doing and hadn't kicked too hard; otherwise, Walsh wouldn't be embedded in the car—he'd be snapped in half.

Sure enough, Walsh soon responded to Chen Nuo's words with a beast-like roar.

Hakon was all too familiar with this sound; it was how Volatiles roared.

Walsh's experiments on himself weren't entirely successful.

While they greatly enhanced his physical attributes, severe injury or stimulation would cause him to lose control and turn into a terrifying beast.

In this state, Walsh had no reason left, but his strength would increase significantly.

"Roar—!!"

Walsh howled as he tore through the iron plate of the van like thin paper. He stood before Chen Nuo again, his poise gone, replaced by a frenzied wildness.

It felt as if a Volatile was standing right there.

Walsh bent his knees and lunged at Chen Nuo like a cannonball. He was so fast that he left only a blurry afterimage in Hakon's eyes.

But in the next second, Walsh's body flew back even faster, denting several cars in a row and dragging on the ground for over ten meters before finally stopping.

This time, Walsh really couldn't get back up and fell into a deep coma.

"Go drag this guy out and take him to my safe house,"

Chen Nuo told Hakon. However, Hakon stood frozen, failing to react.

It wasn't until Chen Nuo slapped his shoulder that he cried out like a rabbit whose tail had been stepped on.

"Ah—"

"Get to work, it's almost dark."

Chen Nuo gave Hakon a sharp kick. He finally moved, grabbing Aiden from the ground and rushing to carry Walsh.

The successive commotions had attracted the attention of nearby zombies. Many Toxic Corpses were crawling out of sewers and other dark places, snarling.

The twilight ultraviolet rays had limited lethality and hardly affected their movements.

As a veteran Night Walker, Hakon naturally knew how dangerous the current environment was. If he were alone, he could easily ditch these Toxic Corpses.

The problem was, there was now an unconscious Walsh.

"What are you still standing there for?"

Chen Nuo glanced at the two of them. He flicked a long blade dropped by a Renegade into his hand and struck the nearby iron railing.

The loud noise immediately drew the attention of all the Toxic Corpses to him.

Without Chen Nuo needing to say another word, Hakon and Aiden seized the opportunity to carry Walsh and retreat toward the safe house.

"Come on then, you stinking things."

Chen Nuo raised his long blade, took a deep breath, and assumed the starting stance of Flame Breathing.

Flame Breathing naturally couldn't unleash its supernatural power in the world of Dying Light, but the force-delivery methods and breathing rhythms it contained still had some science behind them.

Using them to deal with zombies was quite suitable, as they all required decapitation anyway.

"Roar, roar, roar..."

The Toxic Corpses swarmed forward.

Following that, the sounds of blades cutting through the air and flesh rang out continuously.

Before the sky turned completely dark, with only a sliver of moonlight adorning the sky, Aiden and Hakon had arrived at the safe house with the heavily injured and unconscious Walsh.

"This guy isn't dead, is he?"

Hakon took several heavy breaths to calm his ragged breathing. If Aiden hadn't helped, he really wouldn't have been able to carry such a heavy guy up to the safe house.

"He's still breathing."

Aiden was also worried. He stepped forward to check Walsh's breath. Confirming he was alive, he breathed a sigh of relief.

Setting everything else aside, even if just to find his sister Mia, Aiden couldn't let Walsh die.

He was a bit reckless, but he had some brains.

From the conversation between Chen Nuo and Walsh, Aiden could tell that the facts might be different from what he had firmly believed.

Now, trying to recall the past, it was indeed difficult to piece together a coherent and complete set of facts; it was mostly fragmented memories.

The loss of memory caused Aiden extreme pain.

Just then, the successive roars outside the safe house interrupted his thoughts. It was the call of the Volatiles.

"Oh man, the boss isn't in trouble, is he?"

Hakon crouched by the windowsill, peeking out.

Even though Chen Nuo had shattered his perceptions today, a Night Walker's fear of Volatiles was etched into their bones.

The thing any Night Walker feared most was the howl of a Volatile while swinging through the night.

However, the cries soon stopped.

A moment later, the security door was pushed open, and Chen Nuo walked in dragging the corpse of a Volatile. Notably, the corpse was missing its head, and the cut at the neck was smooth and even.

Hakon had seen dead Volatiles before—he had often set up uv light traps with Chen Nuo to kill them—but he had never seen one killed by decapitation like this.

It wasn't hard to guess what had happened from the blood-dripping blade in Chen Nuo's hand.

Killing a demon in close combat?

If he had such an achievement, Frank would have stepped down long ago.

Hakon couldn't help but think.

Frank, the former leader of the Night Walkers.

After the Night Walkers disbanded, he became a drunkard.

"The usual,"

Chen Nuo said, tossing a round object to Aiden. Aiden instinctively caught it, only to see it was a hideous Volatile head. He nearly dropped it in fright.

Suppressing his inner fear and disgust, Aiden forced a smile and nodded.

"Of course, I understand."

Working for Chen Nuo was great in every way except for one thing: he liked to catch Volatiles for no reason, dismember them, put them in bags, and grow mushrooms.

This was the main reason Hakon had chosen to leave.

It simply wasn't a job for humans.

He hadn't expected to return to his old profession after so long. Hakon sighed inwardly, but he was still quick to drag the Volatile to the kitchen.

Before long, the sound of chopping meat rang out.

Amidst this gruesome background noise, Aiden couldn't help but swallow. Suppressing his unease, he asked,

"What did you mean by what you said to Walsh earlier? What exactly happened to me?"

Chen Nuo was washing his hands and didn't have time for Aiden. He kicked Walsh and said,

"Don't be faking it. Get up and talk."

"..."

Walsh's heart twitched. He didn't understand how he had been discovered despite his perfect disguise. Opening his eyes, he slowly crawled up from the floor and sat on the sofa.

Chen Nuo's two kicks had indeed nearly killed him on the spot.

However, Walsh's body modifications greatly enhanced a person's vitality; as long as they were still breathing, even the most severe injuries would eventually recover.

"Aiden, it's true I performed experiments on you, but it was all to save you,"

Walsh said, panting slightly.

When the THV virus first leaked, many children became infected, and Aiden was one of them.

Walsh was a very good person back then, and many children liked him. Even though the experiments brought them much pain, the ultimate goal was to save them.

Speaking of which, Lawan was also one of the experimental children.

However, she was one of the few who hated Walsh.

After all, Lawan was young then and couldn't understand the experiments. More importantly, Walsh wasn't as close to Lawan as he was to the other children.

Without the doctor's guidance and comfort, Lawan naturally harbored extreme resentment for what she experienced in her youth.

You couldn't blame Walsh for playing favorites.

Anyone would be the same; just look at what Lawan looks like now, and you can probably imagine her childhood appearance—she really was a bit unlikable.

Aiden was also one of them, but due to his unique constitution, he underwent further experiments, which eventually led to memory confusion.

However, that was done with Aiden's consent, also to save the sick Mia.

Under Walsh's explanation, Aiden gradually recalled the facts he had forgotten. The two conflicting perceptions were quite painful, but he slowly adapted.

"Sorry... Walsh."

Aiden supported Walsh with an apologetic look and then asked.

"How is Mia doing now?"

"Not good... The experiment was almost complete back then, but that fire... So now I need the GRE key to restart Sector X13. That's a hidden GRE base with a large amount of supplies and equipment,"

Walsh said, unable to hide the excitement in his voice.

Hearing this, Aiden subconsciously looked at Chen Nuo's chest, where the key to everything was hidden, but then instinctively shrunk his neck.

Stealing the GRE key from Chen Nuo? No one would seek death like that.

Maybe we should discuss it and have a good talk.

Now Aiden knew how to communicate with people.

"Restarting X13 is also my plan. The supplies inside are enough to rebuild Villedo, but we need to act carefully. You know that restarting X13 will also activate the security protocols. One mistake and Villedo will be destroyed by missiles,"

Chen Nuo said at this point.

Walsh nodded in acknowledgment. There was indeed such a risk, and he had considered it. As long as things were done according to his plan, the missile system could be deactivated when restarting X13.

In the original timeline, Walsh's plan had progressed smoothly, if not for the arrow shot from Lawan's back that interrupted his reunion with Aiden and caused him to lose control and turn into a beast.

"Then what do you want to gain from this?"

Aiden asked somewhat bluntly.

"What do I want?"

Chen Nuo stretched and then replied.

"You can think of me as an ambitious man preparing to control all of Villedo, or as a savior preparing to eliminate the virus. But what I want to do isn't important to you. What matters is that I can save your sister, Mia."

"..."

Aiden didn't know what to say for a moment.

"So, will you join my team? Aiden."

Chen Nuo looked at Aiden. Though the words were a question, his tone was quite certain.

The subsequent development would be simple. Just keep an eye on Lawan, that human-shaped Volatile, and don't let her ruin things.

This heavy responsibility would be given to Aiden; he believed the two of them would surely spark something special.

Chen Nuo would research new inhibitors or rather, evolutionary agents, and save Villedo along the way. Everyone would have a bright future.

The speedrun tutorial was just that simple.