FJB 3

The shout reverberated across the battlefield for a long, long time.

The captain spun around angrily. Under the gloomy sky, amidst the billowing smoke, there was indeed a person standing behind him. Or, better put, a humanoid lifeform.

Black windbreaker, boots, short hair, a face that could freeze people over; even should those facial features burn into ashes, he would recognise it.

—Yu Feichen. The mercenary that their team had hired, providing the service of ‘guaranteed clear’ through instances.

Their team wasn’t particularly wealthy, but to let the rookie they were taking along this time feel everyone’s might and credibility, they had very reluctantly forked out the money to hire the most expensive agent. Even the sight of him made their muscles sore.

Little did they expect that on the first day stepping into this instance, also exactly three months ago from this day, the mercenary hired at an astronomical rate would be buried by the zombie horde and die without even a corpse left behind.

The sheer loss of their investment astounded them. And without a mercenary, the progress of their mission also began to turn rocky. Just yesterday, the rookie Xia Sen even had a direly critical virus sample on him, yet was munched off by the zombies with all traces gone with the wind.

The hen had flown away and the eggs in the coop were broken; in a nutshell, they lost both people and property, suffering a dead loss.

So now, greeted by the sight of Yu Feichen’s face, all the captain wanted to do was hurl abuse.

He took a deep breath and only just settled his emotions slightly when he noticed Yu Feichen’s ashen skin, discoloured irises, expressionless face, and intact, undecayed body—all of these were characteristics of advanced zombies.

Was there anything he could say when meeting a teammate who had become a zombie on the battlefield?

How are you? Have you eaten? Are you dead? Do you still love humans?

Before the captain had time for his emotions to brew, he saw that thing take another man by the collar and fling him over—it was a grimey-faced, slim teenager wearing a white laboratory coat stained with blood.

“Captain,” the slim teenager was caught in the bald captain’s full embrace. He raised his head. “Yu-shen is a good person. He saved me from the hands of the zombies.”

—this was their team’s new recruit, Xia Sen. He was very intelligent. Although it was his first time entering an instance, he hadn’t performed too badly.

“Xia Sen.” The captain got to the crux of the matter as soon as he opened his mouth. “Where’s the virus sample?”

Xia Sen fished out a mini freezer from his bosom. “By the blessing of God, I didn’t lose it.”

The captain released a long sigh of relief.

But no sooner than that sigh had been dispelled, he choked up again.

He heard the voice of Yu Feichen, the man who after giving a few barely comprehensible commands to the headquarters, say to the people in the tank. “Drive on.”

The team looked at each other and reached the conclusion that they seemed to have no choice but to comply.

It was bizarre enough to see the overpriced ‘guaranteed clear’ mercenary die by the hands of the zombies right at the opening scene. It was even more bizarre to see this dead mercenary suddenly appear on the battlefield in the form of an advanced zombie.

Of course, what was the most incredulous was how this mercenary, who had already turned into an advanced zombie, suddenly appeared in their camp and began to command the human army in the war against the zombie horde.

Murmurings could be faintly heard from the team.

“There’s a spook among us.”

“But there’s also a spook among the zombies.”

“The two spooks are the same person.”

“So, which side is he actually playing for?”

“My gosh.”

“My gosh—I’m going to blow—”

Gunfire ripped through the air again, this time launched out of a shotgun. Each shell exploded and fragmented into nearly ten thousand miniature iron shrapnels when fired; even if the zombies weren’t wounded, they would still stiffen for a brief moment upon being hit.

Slowly but surely, the armoured tank seized this opportunity to grind its way through.

“Keep going.” Yu Feichen said, “The coordinates of the optimal position are 177.642N, 69.685W.”

However, the closer they got to Black Satan, the more massive the surrounding zombies became, and these ugly beasts encircled it like an impregnable fort. The shrapnel shotgun failed, the armour-piercing bullets were useless, and most importantly, their ammunition was almost exhausted.

—Gunpowder smoke saturated the air, and on the road ahead that they had nearing zero visibility on, countless, humongous greyish-white shadows surged, crashing over this way!

Several teammates instinctively shouted like they had been hit by a car.

And just then!

The dull sound of flesh colliding suddenly rang out. To their surprise, it was another huge silhouette that shot from the rear and rammed straight into the behemoth’s head. The two monsters tumbled on the ground, tearing madly at each other.

A zombie monster had saved them.

Swiftly after, another pounced over.

And then there were more and more.

The captain struggled to look to the rear with the binoculars. They were once deep in the tide of zombies with enemies on all sides, but now despite the rear end frantically churning towards them, they engaged in a life and death struggle with a few other colossal zombies.

Dense smoke seethed and tossed about. The zombies ripped each other apart, and countless smaller waves of zombies continued to surge forwards like a parted sea, each side battering the other.

Had the zombies turned against each other?

And the side that suddenly rebelled was highly likely to be the abnormal zombies that hadn’t moved at all!

The captain suddenly remembered A1407, who was suspected to be the second zombie leader.

“It was a ruse!” He cursed. “Goddamnit, they’ve started infighting! The two chieftains are going to fight! Where the hell is A1407? Didn’t I tell you guys to look for it?”

None of his teammates had found A1407, and none of them dared to answer. They huddled together and quivered as one.

In the silent tank, a frosty voice suddenly spoke.

“You’re looking for me?”

Captain, “…”

Teammates, “…”

The captain stared at Yu Feichen with his jaw dropped. His mood could only be described as astonished, and even the address spilling from his tongue couldn’t help but change. “You… Y-You…”

> italicised above is a more formal ‘you’

Yu Feichen didn’t speak; this man simply surveyed everything ahead without batting an eye. Perhaps because his focus was overly intense, the pair of pupils turned purple from the mutation revealed a faint hint of insanity.

It didn’t matter if the man didn’t speak. Once they accepted this fact, everyone’s gazes abruptly changed.

Once they thought back on how the first traces of A1407 that the scientists monitored began not long after Yu Feichen died without a corpse to be found, everything made sense.

As it turned out, the zombie chieftain A1406 was Yu Feichen, their mercenary, standing on the side of humanity!

—They really hadn’t seen such a scene before.

In a twinkling, a bright new vista bloomed across the battlefield; the glimmer of hope coming at the darkest hour. The control that A1407 exerted over the zombies was rather much greater than the control that Black Satan exerted. The turncoat zombie greatly alleviated the stress levels of everyone in the tank, and the tank forged on, homing in on Black Satan itself.

Black Satan’s massive, mountainous size made it appear to have no weaknesses, but this thing clearly grew anxious about the approaching steel tank—millions of zombie birds swooped down to join the fray with shrill, chirping sounds. With this turn of events, the aerial fleets were given a chance to take a breather.

Bomber aircrafts took control of the sky. The target was large enough for bunker-buster bombs and guided missiles to fall systematically on Black Satan’s bulk. These things wouldn’t be able to kill it, but it would still be able to break its bones.

A deep growl came from the earth and the ground quaked; that craggy, ugly back slowly arched.

“Coordinate point reached.”

As the tank came to a halt, the shadow cast by Black Satan grew larger, like a mountain rupturing the earth.

—Black Satan stood up, terribly mangled.

The tank was no more than a hundred metres away from its feet, and above the tank was its belly—supposing that this thing had a belly.

A shrill cry pierced the air as a black bird with a wingspan of several metres swept past and grabbed Yu Feichen’s shoulders, lifting him from the top of the tank.

Hung high in the air, it looked as if Yu Feichen had sprouted a pair of black wings.

The gun rack was also empty. The captain suddenly raised his head and saw that Yu Feichen had effortlessly raised the barrel of the artillery gun that he failed to carry earlier towards Black Satan, and didn’t look as if he needed to aim at all.

What kind of monster was this man?

From transforming into a zombie at a certain point in time; controlling the direction of his mutation to evolve towards a zombie chieftain; during this process, finding the point where Black Satan’s nerve centre was located; to finally, returning to the human camp at the last minute, switching up the tempo of his plan and taking up human weaponry—

The captain felt that he still had too little experience tackling zombie instances, for he couldn’t even figure out the method to achieve a single one of these items.

However, inclining his head to gaze at Yu Feichen in the air and thinking back upon his earlier expression, the captain had a hunch that this person was anything but a good person.

“Boom—”

After a subtle movement came smoke and fire. Streams of light streaked across the gloomy sky, instantly embedding somewhere in Black Satan’s exposed abdomen from its upright position.

That tremendous figure froze harshly, like time had suddenly stood still.

Yu Feichen made a gesture in the air.

The captain’s pupils suddenly contracted!

“Get back! Quickly!”

The faces of the teammates in the tank paled, violently pulling the lever!

On the rugged earth surface, the heavy tank stumbled backwards at an all-time record speed!

Its shadow loomed, crashing down towards them, and the tank sped along the edge of it like it was pulling the shadow along, and then—the shadow overtook it.

It wasn’t Black Satan’s body that first smashed into them, rather a body part as big as a human’s head.

The captain roared, “Close the hatchet—”

The hatchet closed, but the violent barrage of crashes was unceasing, like a hail of countless rolling stones pounding down, overwhelming the steel plates. And with every creaky groan, the hearts of the people inside the tank leapt.

When it finally stopped, the captain was the first to climb out of the hatchet, and before him was a scattering of mutilated, ugly limbs. Black Satan had not fallen whole; it was dismembered.

Looking in every direction, gunsmoke no longer pervaded the air, and the number of zombies still resisting grew smaller and smaller.

Like a symphony pulling to rest, the frantic tearing and biting slowed into ruminative chewing, and the rapid swooping of flying objects turned sluggish. Eventually, all the zombies stopped.

And they gradually turned to assemble to the core.

The battlefield was utterly silent. They moved closer and closer like a soundless migration, gathering before a nondescript location on the battlefield. All their faces, devoid of anger, turned towards the human base, and even the flying birds and insects had descended to ground.

—Yu Feichen fell back into the tank.

The teammates’ voices chattered endlessly, “Great. Now that A1407 joined hands with humanity, Black Satan has been defeated with the help of the human force.”

“Great, a new zombie king is born.”

“Great, what’s going to happen next?”

“Not great, it should be time for A1407 to flip out and chomp on humans instead.”

“You guys are one of a kind.” —This sentence came from the communication device.

Yu Feichen couldn’t help but glance over at them.

He had been doing this ‘guaranteed clear’ business for a long time already and had met all sorts of employers and teams. But a team so dedicated to repetition and comedy was still very seldom seen; such an eccentric team couldn’t be birthed by just anywhere in the world.

Naturally, the extent that this team could develop was limited. But it did have its redeeming qualities.

After a mere hour and a half, the assembly of zombies had come to an end, and they were densely lined up on the plain without the slightest sign of resistance like a pot of dumplings that had already been cooked.

Yu Feichen told the United Front headquarters through the communication device—

“Blow them up.”

His tone was as natural as calm as the tone one would use to say ‘let’s eat.’

And humanity, in this way, was victorious.

Carpet bombing was a very simple affair, so simple that some people lost any desire to watch.

“Yu Feichen, Yu-ge,” the captain’s deep voice came from within the tank.

Yu Feichen looked towards him, showing that he was listening.

“Are you willing to sincerely explain how all these happened today?” the captain said.

“The employment contract has been fulfilled.” And indeed, Yu Feichen’s tone was remarkably sincere as he said, “Remember to make the final payment.”

“Has it really been fulfilled?” The captain’s voice was pained.

Yu Feichen thought back on it.

This team’s mission was to win the defensive battle, destroy all zombies, and save the human base.

Contractual condition no. 1: ensure the survival of the entire team.

Contractual condition no. 2: complete the mission.

Additional stipulation no. 1: Preferably a powerful clear (let the rookie feel the team’s might and credibility, such that he’ll topple over in worship and admiration)

Recalling how moved Xia Sen looked when he was saved from the hands of the zombies, Yu Feichen’s tone became several degrees more confident.

“It’s been fulfilled.”

—

After clearing the battlefield and a brief celebration, the vast majority of the forces at the base began to throw themselves into the research of the zombie virus vaccine. The virus samples brought back by Xia Sen played a crucial role, and everything went without a hitch.

The captain bumped into Xia Sen while on the way to find Yu Feichen. Xia Sen said, “Captain, have you seen Yu-ge?”

“You’re looking for him, too?”

Xia Sen’s lips pressed together into a smile.

“There’s something wrong with your head.” The captain looked at Xia Sen askance.

Xia Sen grinned. “I’m very curious about him, and thirst for knowledge is a virtue well looked upon where I was born.”

“It isn’t wrong that it’s a good virtue. Unfortunately, it tends to get people killed,” muttered the captain.

They found the man in the watchtower at the northeast corner of the base. There was a platform protruding out the eighth floor of the watchtower, and Yu Feichen was sitting on one side of a wide concrete barrier, his back against the wall and one leg bent casually. He carried a clear glass bottle in his right hand, filled with what looked like blended high-proof spirits produced by the mess hall of the base, otherwise known as bogus alcohol.

He took a swig from the bottle. It was hard to tell what this act of drinking represented to him. At first glance, he looked like a melancholic silhouette carved against the blood-splattered sunset; but on closer inspection, his expression was so impassive that even a robot placed where he was wouldn’t look as mechanical as he did.

For a moment, the captain didn’t strike up conversation with him, instead walking up to the barrier and gazing across. This could be said to be the highest vantage point of the base, and the grey concrete buildings were packed together as densely as an ant colony, framed by a formless border of white columns. And beyond that, an endless, black expanse.

A flock of ravens spiralled over the wilderness. Under the magnificence of the setting sun, the city appeared even more insignificant than the flock of ravens. These inhabitants, who were lucky to have come out of this with their lives, seemed to have a more arduous road ahead trying to regain the normalcy of their lives than winning the war.

“Captain?” Xia Sen asked softly.

“Just getting a little sentimental.” The bald captain sighed.

“Suffering will pass,” Xia Sen said as he gazed at the ravens, folding his arms over his chest. “Because God loves every one of them.”

“You actually know quite something,” said the captain.

“Although I don’t know much about ‘Paradise’, I was born in Landon Warren, and we have believed in the Divine Lord for many generations.”

Yu Feichen turned his head over.

“Ah, you broke out of it,” the captain said.

“I came to ask you something, Yu-ge,” the captain said. “The zombies have been eliminated and the vaccine was announced to be successful today, so why haven’t we returned yet? Is there still some kind of hidden mechanism?”

Yu Feichen looked at him.

This wasn’t the first time that the captain had received such a look. The left eye read ‘how haven’t you figured it out yet’ and the right eye read ‘how are you still alive’.

Captain, “…”

Yu Feichen’s gaze shifted off the captain. His employers often asked him questions that were excessively simple to the point of bizarre. Regarding such questions, if the contract requested for ‘coaching’, he would occasionally skimp out an answer. But the contract this time was a simple ‘guaranteed clear’ service.

Since the complaints had started to increase in frequency, he stopped taking ‘coaching’ contracts.

The burning sensation in his throat gradually dissipated. 78° proof, not too bad.

Then, he drew a long dagger he carried on him and drenched the entire blade from the tip with half a bottle of alcohol.

And as the captain and Xia Sen stared blankly at him—

Utterly expressionless, he stabbed himself.

“Ding.”

Following this came a gentle female voice.

“791154 has been completed.”

“Return channel opening in 10, 9, 8, 7, 6…”

“Welcome back to Paradise.”