24: Chapter 24 Mutant Nurse, Invisible Scalpel

"Boom!" A faint sonic boom actually erupted in the air!

She turned around and grabbed a two-hundred-pound alloy instrument case nearby with one hand.

Effortlessly, as if picking up a plastic toy, she lifted it directly over her head!

"And... my [Steel Body] talent seems to have become stronger as well. The activation time is longer, and the defense is even more monstrous!"

Zhang Man was trembling all over with excitement.

She turned her head and looked at Su Chen, her eyes filled not only with her original respect, but also an added sense of die-hard loyalty, willing to go through fire and water for him!

[Ding! Detected a drastic change in the loyalty of crew member 'Zhang Man'!]

[Current loyalty: 95 (Die-hard level)!]

[Passive skill 'Monarchs Halo' triggered!]

[Extracting a portion of the crew member's core attributes for feedback...]

[Congratulations, Host! Received attribute feedback: Constitution +5! Strength +5!]

"Boom!"

As the system prompt faded, Su Chen felt an extremely violent and pure surge of energy flood into his body.

His constitution, which was already far superior to that of an ordinary person, once again experienced a terrifying, visible surge!

Su Chen could even clearly feel that his current muscle density and bone hardness were enough to withstand some small-caliber bullets without issue!

This was the monstrous aspect of [Monarchs Halo]!

The stronger his subordinates were and the more loyal they were to him, the more his strength would exponentially skyrocket like a snowball!

"Very good."

Feeling the surging power within him, Su Chen satisfyingly pinched Liu Ruyan's flushed cheeks, which were red from excitement.

He turned his head, spoke into the communicator outside the carriage, and announced loudly in a voice that the entire train could hear.

"From today on, Liu Ruyan's scientific research contribution points will be doubled!"

"All personnel participating in auxiliary work in the research carriage will have their benefits increased by one level!"

As soon as these words were spoken, a burst of irrepressible cheers erupted from the corridor outside.

The girls were filled with envy, jealousy, and hatred toward Liu Ruyan, but even more so with longing for this research carriage and fanaticism toward Su Chen for being able to give such generous rewards.

"Let's go!"

Su Chen waved his hand and, with the reborn Zhang Man in tow, strode out of the train.

"Hiss—"

The train's heavy armored door slowly opened.

Su Chen's party of six, fully armed, stepped onto this abandoned hospital known as the "Death Zone."

As soon as they stepped out of the carriage, a nauseating stench, mixed with high concentrations of formalin and rotting corpses, hit them in the face like a physical wall.

In the mist ahead, several towering, massive buildings stood.

That was the former city center hospital.

But now, these white buildings, which once represented saving lives and healing the wounded, had turned into terrifying nests of flesh and blood.

The outer walls of the buildings were densely covered with dark red, massive tumors and thick blood vessels resembling giant pythons.

These blood vessels were even rhythmically expanding and contracting, as if the entire building were a living, breathing, terrifying creature.

There was a deathly silence all around; not even the cry of a low-level Ghoul could be heard.

This eerie quiet, instead, made the dangerous atmosphere permeating the air even more intense.

"Train Master, this place... feels very sinister."

Although Zhang Man's strength had greatly increased, looking at the scene before her, which resembled a scroll of hell, she couldn't help but tighten her grip on the fire axe in her hand.

Lin Momo was even more terrified, her little face pale, clutching tightly to the corner of Chu Qingxue's clothes, not daring to even breathe loudly.

"The more dangerous the place, the more good things there are."

Su Chen's expression was calm, and in those deep eyes, there was not a trace of fear, but rather a glint of bloodlust.

He didn't even take out the [thunder-fire roarer shotgun], still just holding the dark red [explosive combustion iron staff] upside down.

"Let's go, let's go in and meet these monsters."

Su Chen took the lead, stepping with a steady pace, walking straight toward the glass door of the outpatient building, which was already twisted and entangled by vines of flesh and blood.

"Creak—"

Su Chen flew into a kick, smashing the rickety glass door into pieces.

The group followed behind him, cautiously stepping into the dim, damp, and pungent-smelling outpatient lobby.

The registration desk in the lobby had been smashed to pieces, and the floor was covered with dried, blackened bloodstains and scattered medical instruments.

Overhead, a few flickering fluorescent lights were buzzing, casting long shadows of the group.

Just as Su Chen's military boots stepped over the huge "+" sign in the center of the lobby,

"Drip... drip..."

A faint sound, like some kind of liquid dripping on the ground, suddenly came from above their heads.

Su Chen suddenly looked up.

His deep, cold eyes instantly constricted.

He saw that on the dim ceiling, dozens of meters high, who knew when, more than a dozen eerie figures were hanging upside down densely!

It was a group of female zombies wearing nurse uniforms that had turned into rags.

Their bodies were shriveled to just skin and bone, but their limbs were abnormally thick and developed, having grown spider-like barbs that were tightly hooked into the crevices of the ceiling.

The most terrifying part was their hands.

The hands that should have held syringes and medicine bottles had completely mutated, turning into two pale white bone blades, half a meter long, shimmering with a cold, eerie light!

The edges of these bone blades were even dripping with dark green poison that emitted a foul stench.

The "drip" sound from just now was exactly what these toxins made when they hit the floor.

[Warning! Encountered a group of high-risk mutants—Blade-ized Nurse Zombies!]

[Rank: Bronze Mid-grade!]

[Characteristics: Extremely fast movement speed, adept at using terrain for silent assassinations. Their mutated bone blades are extremely sharp and carry high-concentration neurotoxins.]

[Weakness: Relatively weak defense, fears strong light and fire.]

Almost at the same instant the system prompt rang in Su Chen's mind,

"Hiss—!"

The group of Blade-ized Nurse Zombies hanging upside down on the ceiling suddenly turned their heads in unison, staring fixedly at the intruders with eyes that had no pupils, only pale white whites.

They let out a sharp hiss, similar to a viper flicking its tongue.

The next second,

More than a dozen zombies, like white reapers descending from the sky, released their claws from the ceiling, carving a dozen shrill afterimages in mid-air, and lunged directly at Su Chen and his group!

Their speed was too fast, and during the pounce, there was almost no sound of breaking wind; they were simply like silent, invisible scalpels.

"Look out!"

Su Chen shouted in a low voice, and the [explosive combustion iron staff] in his hand instantly ignited with dark red flames.

With a casual wave, he smashed the nurse zombie charging in the front, sending it flying backward, where it burned into a fireball in mid-air.

However, there were too many of these monsters, and they coordinated with extreme tacit understanding.

They didn't all attack Su Chen, the most dangerous individual, but split off a few, using an extremely eerie arc to bypass Su Chen's frontal defense.

One of the nurse zombies, with its pale white eyes, locked onto Lin Momo, who was at the back of the team and appeared the weakest.

Its shriveled body twisted in an incredible way in mid-air, like a hunting praying mantis, its two sharp bone blades crossed into a cross, aiming straight for Lin Momo's delicate and lovely cheeks.

"Ah!"

Although Lin Momo had experienced a few battles, this ghostly assassination raid made her panic instantly.

She only had time to let out a short scream, forgetting even to release her talent skill, and instinctively closed her eyes.

The bone blades, carrying a strong stench and the aura of death, were less than ten centimeters away from her fair cheeks.

Even the poison dripping from the bone blades was about to splash onto her long eyelashes.

"Bang—!"

Just at this critical moment,

A dull, loud sound, like heavy metal colliding, exploded in Lin Momo's ears.

The expected pain didn't come, and Lin Momo opened her eyes abruptly.

She saw a wild and tall black figure, like an unshakable city wall, abruptly inserted between her and the nurse zombie.

It was Zhang Man!

This combat team leader, who had just taken the [junior physical strengthening potion] and whose strength had surged, had activated her B-rank talent [Steel Body] at the most critical moment.

Her muscles, which were already full of explosive power, instantly expanded a circle, and the surface of her skin took on a cold, hard luster like titanium alloy.

The nurse zombie's cross bone blades slashed fiercely onto Zhang Man's crossed arms.

"Creak—"

A teeth-grinding sound of metal friction rang out.

The sharp bone blades, which could easily cut through an ordinary person's bones, only left two shallow white scratches in front of Zhang Man's reinforced Steel Body!

Even the paralytic toxin attached to the bone blades was perfectly blocked by this layer of metal skin.

"You think you can touch my people with this little strength?!"

Zhang Man roared wildly like an enraged lioness.

After tanking this blow, she suddenly jerked her arms outward, directly jarring the nurse zombie and leaving its center wide open.

Following that, she gripped the heavy, giant fire axe with a backhand grip and, with terrifying, mountain-splitting power, slashed fiercely from bottom to top!

"Puchi!"

Foul-smelling black blood shot into the sky.

The nurse zombie didn't even have time to let out a scream before being split in two from crotch to crown by Zhang Man's axe!

Internal organs and intestines spilled all over the floor, emitting a nauseating stench.

"Mo Mo, back up! Buff me!"

Zhang Man kicked the two halves of the corpse away, wiped the black blood splashed on her face, and turned to shout at Lin Momo.

"Uh... uh! I know, Sister Man!"

Lin Momo finally recovered from her fright.

She endured the stench and fear, quickly retreated a few steps, and clasped her hands together in front of her chest.

"In the light of the dawn, strength is with us..."

An ethereal and passionate war song suddenly rang out in the outpatient lobby, which was filled with the aura of death.

Pink-gold musical notes floated out from Lin Momo's delicate lips, turning into materialized streams of light, quickly merging into the bodies of Zhang Man and the other girls in the combat team.

Speed increased by 30%! Stamina recovery speed increased by 50%!

With the powerful support of the A-rank [Vitality Notes], Zhang Man felt as if she had endless power in her body.

She laughed wildly and, like a human bulldozer with full horsepower, crashed directly into the crowd of nurse zombies that were swarming in from all directions.

"Clang! Clang! Clang!"

Zhang Man swung the fire axe so tightly that not a drop of water could pass through, and every collision erupted with dazzling sparks.

Although her [Steel Body] had amazing defense, this talent consumed a lot of stamina.

Moreover, the speed of the Blade-ized Nurse Zombies was simply too fast.

They were like a group of tireless white ghosts, shuttling back and forth between the narrow ruins of the registration desk, constantly using their sharp bone blades to look for flaws in Zhang Man's body.

Even two fists cannot fight four hands.

Even with the support of the notes, Zhang Man's body was soon marked with a dozen white scratches; although they didn't break her defense, this dense attack gradually made her overwhelmed.

Not only that, but a few other nurse zombies had already bypassed Zhang Man's defense line and started lunging at the three ordinary girls in the combat team.

Although these three girls held the rapid-fire crossbows magically modified by Su Chen, in this narrow and complex space, facing monsters with such high speed, their aiming and shooting became extremely difficult.

Within just a few seconds, one girl's arm was slashed by a bone blade.

Although the wound wasn't deep, the terrifying paralytic toxin took effect instantly, causing half of her body to lose sensation, and she fell to the ground in despair.

"Train Master, the terrain is too narrow, the crossbows can't be used effectively!"

A girl shouted in terror.

Su Chen was currently entangled by the three strongest nurse zombies.

He could actually have taken out the top-grade bronze [thunder-fire roarer shotgun] and blasted these monsters, along with the walls of the outpatient lobby, into slag with one shot.

However, the terrain in this hospital was too complex.

Not only was the space narrow, but it was also full of load-bearing columns and abandoned instruments.

The power of the thunder-fire shotgun shells was too great, belonging to large-area explosive damage.

If he fired here, it was very likely that he would accidentally injure Zhang Man and Lin Momo and the others.

"Since I can't use a gun, then I'll solve you with the most primitive violence."

A trace of cold, sharp killing intent flashed in Su Chen's eyes.

He was just about to activate [Thunderclap Step] to use his speed advantage to break these monsters one by one.

Just then, Chu Qingxue, who was standing in the center of the team and hadn't made a move yet, suddenly moved.

This ice-berg school beauty, who usually was responsible for internal affairs management and had a cold and rational personality, now displayed her stunning combat talent and terrifying growth speed as one of the only two S-rank talent holders on the train.

She didn't, like before, blindly consume mental energy to release a large-area "Ice Freeze for a Thousand Miles," nor did she condense those ice cones that were easy to dodge.

In Chu Qingxue's originally clear eyes, a heart-palpitating ice-blue light instantly lit up.

Her hands quickly formed an extremely complex hand seal in front of her chest, and her stunningly beautiful face was full of focus and solemnity.

"Extreme Cold Ice Shield—Condense!"

Chu Qingxue's crisp and cold voice, like a wind chime in the dead of winter, suddenly rang out in the chaotic lobby.