With weapons renewed, the joker fish reloaded immediately, aiming at the horde of approaching infected. Ying’s flashbangs timed perfectly, detonating just as the infected’s bloodied nails neared the joker’s wrists. The explosions hurled them five or six meters back, their backs smashing against walls, buying precious time even for their resilient bodies to recover.
With a frontline teammate engaging the enemy, Ying’s support role was maximized. No infected could approach the joker, giving him space to engage effectively in mid-range combat.
Taking the opportunity, infected were shredded by the shotgun blasts one by one. Suddenly, two of them felt a tight grip around their waists—Bai Chunian had scooped the two enraged omegas to safety, shutting the door and twisting the broken hydraulic lock back into place, sealing the safe door.
As the door closed, the jellyfish-like tentacles dissolved into floating vapor. The two omegas collapsed back-to-back, gasping for air.
The joker hugged his gun, burying his head in the crook of his arm to rest. Even the scorching barrel left a red mark on his neck, he didn’t let go. Bai Chunian reached to move the hot barrel away, but the joker shivered violently, clutching it tighter, eyes wide in panic—he almost had a trauma response, feeling helpless without a weapon.
The doctors from the Alliance Medical Association, survivors of the ordeal, quickly opened first-aid kits and checked Ying and the joker fish.
The atmosphere was silent, punctuated only by the soothing pheromones of two high-level alphas.
Bai Chunian crouched, untangling his ammo belt, counting out bullets for the two omegas, flashing his sharp canines. “Use them sparingly. Bullets aren’t free, you know.”
Han Xingqian slowly sat, one leg bent, leaning against the wall. Even using his restoration ability consumed energy from his own gland.
Ying quietly moved to the corner, hugging his knees and resting his forehead against the wall. There was nothing more humiliating than being responsible for protecting a high-level alpha, and even worse, trying to look competent in front of him while utterly exhausted.
“Wow… everything’s like new. But the ammo didn’t increase…” the joker muttered, examining his guns. “Amazing J1 ability… but such a pity it’s only a J1…”
Each gland has the potential for repeated differentiation. After J1 differentiation, it can advance to M2, or even A3, each stage granting a new ability whose power grows geometrically.
While Pegasus J1 “Endurance Reset” restores stamina, energy, and equipment to peak condition, it has limits: after each restoration, the durability ceiling halves. For example, a shotgun with a lifespan of 1,000 rounds restored by the J1 ability would function like new, but could now fire only 500 rounds before wearing out. Subsequent restorations halve the remaining lifespan further—500 → 250, and so on. Repeated nine times, a 1,000-round shotgun would be entirely useless.
Restoration doesn’t consider the weapon’s current state: even a brand-new shotgun fired only once would have its lifespan halved by the reset.
The same applies biologically. Someone who could barely run thirty minutes due to exhaustion could immediately run full energy after a reset—but the next thirty minutes of running would bring them back to exhaustion in half the time. This persists until full rest.
If Endurance Reset appeared at M2 differentiation, it might restore stamina and equipment without such drawbacks, Bai Chunian mused.
“You don’t understand,” Bai Chunian threw a teasing glance at the joker fish.
Samael’s hoop traps chased them down the corridor. Bai Chunian grabbed the overheating Nova shotgun from the joker’s back, firing at the approaching rings. Shotgun pellets perforated them, shattering them instantly.
They couldn’t linger. Bai Chunian stood, Nova in hand, leading the way. With unarmed doctors behind, the priority was to evacuate them from Enxi Hospital; finding Lin Deng would have to wait.
A distant whirring of helicopter rotors grew louder. Through the building’s sealed glass windows, two armed helicopters appeared, painted in bright orange with the PBBW Storm Force markings, gradually approaching Enxi Hospital while lowering suspension ladders.
The two rescue helicopters hovered over the target location. He Suowei, clad in Storm Force explosive-proof armor and wearing sunglasses, clung with one hand to the interior ledge of a helicopter, the other holding a radio.
“Attention, everyone. Over a thousand infected are inside the nineteenth-floor building of Enxi Hospital, and traps may be present. Silver Wolf has occupied elevated positions and locked onto the precise coordinates of Experimental Subject 408. Snow Wolf is enhancing the building’s signals and contacting Omega Alliance operatives. Message received. Over.”
He Wenxiao replied: “Silver Wolf copy. Rooftop of the research building secured. Over.”
He Wenyi: “Snow Wolf copy. Signal enhancement in progress. Over.”
Using the military-grade onboard instruments, they bypassed the signal jammers, and Bai Chunian’s communicator came alive.
As the channel opened, Bai Chunian led the others up to the rooftop, asking He Suowei, “Wow, so cool. What kind of wolf are you, Captain He?”
He Suowei’s tone remained stern. “Report your location and the number of hostages.”
Bai Chunian answered, “There are ten Alliance Medical Association members with me. Inside the building, two of my other trainees are protecting Enxi Hospital staff, but we’ve lost contact. You have the height advantage—help me find them.”
The radio crackled with static as He Suowei issued a search command, sending a team of Storm Force operators down via zipline. A fully armed, gas-masked squad swiftly landed on the rooftop.
Bai Chunian raised his gun and shot a hoop trap flying toward them, warning He Suowei: “Samael’s M2 ability is the hoop. Anyone caught is infected; a second capture drives them into violent frenzy. Be careful.”
He Suowei understood immediately, signaling his team with hand gestures.
The nineteenth floor was close to the rooftop. Bai Chunian instructed Han Xingqian to escort the doctors through the safe door to meet PBB and evacuate, while he descended the stairs with Ying and the joker fish to locate the other trainees and the staff they were protecting, following coordinates from the communicator.
Bai Chunian led the three in a triangular formation, Ying and the joker on either side, scanning all directions as they moved floor by floor.
On the seventh floor, fresh blood trails appeared, dripping along the corridor.
Turning a corner, they saw the doctors at the end of the hall. Peculiarly, each had their hands clamped tightly over their mouths, some silently weeping, trying not to make a sound.
A mongoose alpha stood guard in front of them, holding a battered AK-47. The weapon’s barrel rifling had worn down from continuous use.
His expression was grave, revealing only a fleeting sense of relief when seeing Bai Chunian. He did not move.
No one moved.
In front of them, a Nile crocodile alpha leaned against the wall, strips of torn fabric tied around his arm for bleeding control, his shirt soaked through. Calmly, he loaded his AK-47—one round, two rounds, three…
His eyes were unnaturally bloodshot, pupils tiny.
Ying and the joker instantly realized: the Nile Crocodile had been bitten, infected with the Circulation Virus, and the incubation period had ended. He was showing early-stage symptoms.
Bai Chunian silently approached him.
During early-stage infection, the Circulation Virus causes the host to repeat a previous action. The instant they notice a deviation, they enter late-stage infection, which is invariably fatal.
But what if he never realized?
Bai Chunian crept up in the Nile Crocodile’s blind spot, slowly raising his hand from behind. If he could knock him unconscious before he realized anything, there would be a chance to save him. His movements were feather-light, not stirring even a breath of air.
Just as his hand was about to strike the back of the alpha’s neck, a colored hoop flew from above, targeting Bai Chunian’s back. He instinctively dodged, but the hoop redirected and ensnared the Nile Crocodile instead.
The alpha’s last remaining pupils vanished; blood-red eyes stared with a grotesque, clown-like smile.
A decisive gunshot rang out. A scorched hole appeared between his brows, the bullet passing through his skull, splattering the wall with blood.
Bai Chunian’s left hand held the pistol steady, barrel pointed at his forehead. His eyes were cold, the smile gone.
Ying covered his mouth, slowly collapsing to the floor.
“Take the doctors out,” Bai Chunian ordered, holstering his gun.
The mongoose alpha wanted to retrieve his classmate’s body, but Bai Chunian whispered, “He’s infected. Leave him.”
The three trainees, weighed down by exhaustion, escorted the Enxi Hospital staff to the rooftop. On the floor remained a solitary, rotting body, clad in IOA training base armor.
The hospital became empty and silent; footsteps echoed long in the corridors. Bai Chunian sat beside the rapidly decaying corpse, smoking a cigarette.
When he finished, he placed his hand on the corpse’s grotesque, smiling face—and the body vanished.
The pus and blood stains evaporated with it, leaving only dust and footprints. The Nile Crocodile’s body seemed never to have existed.
Bai Chunian bent and picked up a glass orb where the body had been, slipping it into his pocket.
Though Enxi Hospital reeked of potent alpha pheromones, the living had evacuated, and no one felt the oppressive force.
Bai Chunian pulled out his phone and contacted the crawler omega as arranged: “Where is Samael?”
Crawler: “My monitoring shows he took Dr. Lin Deng into the underground garage. Likely planning a hostage escape by vehicle.”
Crawler: “I prepared a sports car for you. It’s in the underground garage.”
Crawler: “I remotely decoded all password doors in the building. Follow my route; you can reach the garage in one minute.”
Bai Chunian stood up, hands tucked casually into his pockets, and strolled to the window. He lifted his foot and gently kicked.
The wall cracked and collapsed with a thunderous roar. Thick masonry and twisted steel beams were exposed as a huge gap tore through the building’s exterior.
Bai Chunian stepped down gracefully, landing on several canopies and small balconies to dissipate the impact, taking ten seconds to reach the garage entrance.
From the breach, swarms of infected poured out like a horde chasing prey, surging madly into the city. Four helicopter-mounted heavy machine guns raked them, sending up clouds of stench and blood.
The armored car that Crawler had prepared swung open its doors, ready for him.
The screen by the steering wheel displayed the route from Crawler’s navigation system. Two red dots appeared: one representing Samael’s car, the other Bai Chunian’s. The distance between them was growing.
Bai Chunian got in, slammed the door, started the engine, and accelerated. He grabbed the communicator: “Captain He, 408 is on city streets. Clear the way—I’m in pursuit.”
He Suowei’s voice crackled over the line, harsh and grating from the helicopter: “You’re alone? Are you armed?”
“Cut the chatter,” Bai Chunian said, curling a wry smile. “I’m not taking credit. Whether 408 lives or dies is on you.”
The black sedan burst out of the garage, plowing through the throng of frenzied, biting infected. Blood and gore flashed past the windows, blurred into chaotic stains at high speed. The speedometer climbed near its limit, the sedan a streak of black lightning on the asphalt.
Enxi City had been evacuated, leaving numerous civilian vehicles abandoned. Bai Chunian carved a straight path through them, following the navigation, his eyes catching the red car ahead—the one carrying Samael.
PBB’s military armored vehicles had been ordered to clear obstacles at intersections. Once it was confirmed that the speeding red car carried Samael, Bai Chunian leaned half out the window, left hand firing, targeting the rear tires. Two rounds punctured the tire, and he quickly ducked back to maintain control and speed.
The red car’s rear tire exploded, nearly flipping it. It fishtailed twice in the center of the road before continuing toward the cross-river bridge.
The bridge led close to the city limits. Military support wasn’t authorized to cross into the neighboring jurisdiction, so capturing Samael within Enxi City was imperative.
Samael leaned out of his car window, dressed in the same exaggerated gold-and-red plastic clown suit as in the projections, with the grotesque smiling mask and comical red nose.
He taunted Bai Chunian with a wave. Above his red car, red-and-white hoops began to appear—one became two, two became four, increasing in number and flying toward Bai Chunian’s car.
Bai Chunian tightened his grip on the steering wheel, tires screeching against the asphalt as he swerved S-shaped to dodge the incoming hoops. He pressed the button to open the sunroof, grabbed the rifle inside, and stood through the roof to fire at the red car ahead.
PBB, having obtained temporary authorization over the cross-river bridge, blocked it in the center, suspending it from multiple points. The slopes grew steeper beneath the two cars.
Even so, Samael didn’t slow. He accelerated to maximum speed, attempting to jump the gap using momentum.
Bai Chunian gritted his teeth: “God, give me something to take this bastard down, and I’ll eat nothing but vegetables for three days.”
The river churned, storm clouds thickened, lightning coiling in the dark sky. A fish-shaped figure emerged from the waters, a haunting, ethereal roar echoing across the air.
Suddenly, the water exploded as a mermaid with a tail crackling with electricity burst from the river, hovering in the air alongside the red car leaping the bridge.
The water inLan Bo’s hands hardened into impenetrable hydro-steel, forming a wide-barreled transparent rocket launcher on his shoulder. Fierce wind swept the river’s surface, compressing the rising waves into two spherical water projectiles, which he fired, locking onto Samael’s red car.
Both spheres struck the car. The forcibly compressed water exploded with the energy of the entire storm-driven river, crushing the vehicle as though a sea demon gripped it in its hand. The car plunged into the riverbed, buried several meters in mud, as waves surged violently, tearing away sections of riverside structures.
The Manta Ray’s M2 ability, “High-Explosive Water Orbs,” doesn’t cause direct damage but can send any target flying, ignoring rank or power.