Chapter Ninety-Seven: Securing the Virus

Page 1/3

Tang Senna felt as if Mount Tai were pressing down upon him, his tension unyielding.
“So formidable!”
Lin Dong’s gaze fixed steadily; with a swift motion, a long blade materialized in his hand, slicing down with great force.
The gleaming edge cut through the air, as if intent on drawing blood at the throat.
Startled, Tang Senna hastily released Xiao Hei and braced himself against the overwhelming pressure, retreating a step with great effort.
“Swish!”
The blade’s tip grazed past his cheek, shaving off half of his forehead fringe, strands of golden hair scattering in the wind.
A domain! This was a domain!
Fear gripped Tang Senna even as realization dawned—he had just arrived and already encountered a corpse king who had awakened a domain.
In the sprawling metropolis of twenty million where he had lived before, corpse kings with domains were exceedingly rare, yet… they all shared a common trait: their nests were notorious human no-go zones, listed on the charts.
Lin Dong paid no mind to Tang Senna’s thoughts and continued to slash relentlessly.
A scorching breath spread—flames ignited along the blade’s edge.
Tang Senna frowned, refusing to take any chances. Black mist surged from his hands as he raised his arm to block the long knife.
“Clang!”
A metallic ring sounded upon contact.
Tang Senna had indeed blocked the long blade.
Lin Dong raised an eyebrow, noting that Tang Senna’s ability to reinforce his body parts was not weak—an A-rank awakener, truly skilled, but… just skilled enough.
Lin Dong pressed his assault.
Though shrouded by the corpse domain, the A-rank awakener’s physique was formidable, allowing him to move, albeit arduously, draining his energy rapidly.
“This can’t go on…”
Tang Senna began to pray inwardly, hoping the zombie’s evolution level was not too high, that escape was still possible. From what he saw, the attack style was rather singular and not overwhelmingly powerful.
From a distance, Cai Jian and others fighting nearby noticed Tang Senna was truly locked in combat with Lin Dong—and fiercely so.
“Mr. Tang, what should we do next?”
“From my experience… we should retreat now.”
Tang Senna fought while retreating.
“…” Cai Jian and the others were speechless; clearly, Tang Senna had extensive experience dealing with these strange zombies.
Lin Dong’s long blade hummed with metallic wails but could not sever the ghostly hand.
Clearly, this level of weapon was ill-suited for a battle of such intensity.
“Forgot to ask Cheng Luoyi if this blade is repairable…” Lin Dong muttered to himself.

Page 2/3

After some thought, Lin Dong gave up, casually retracting the blade into storage, becoming bare-handed.
“Huh?”
Tang Senna watched curiously.
Why sheath the weapon mid-fight?
Could it be… creating an opening for himself?
He pondered, probing with the ghostly hand straight toward Lin Dong.
But Lin Dong’s eyes flashed red; the corpse domain expanded to its limit. Clenching his fist, he struck forward.
“Boom!”
An overwhelming force exploded like a cannon blast. Tang Senna’s ghostly claw instantly extinguished, his entire arm crackling as it twisted into a grotesque arc.
He was flung backward nearly a hundred meters like a kite cut loose.
The suffocating pain nearly knocked him unconscious.
“Hiss…”
Terrified, Tang Senna gritted his teeth, lying on the ground, looking up.
Lin Dong advanced step by step, the corpse domain fully unleashed. Debris shattered around him; even the nearby buildings crumbled with thunderous crashes.
It was as if a catastrophic disaster was closing in.
“How is this possible?”
Tang Senna could not comprehend.
Clearly, Lin Dong’s physique far exceeded that of his weapon. The moment the blade was sheathed, Tang Senna had no chance to resist!
“Then why did you fight me with a weapon before?”
“It’s nothing. Just didn’t want to dirty my hands killing you,” Lin Dong replied nonchalantly.
“You…”
Blood trickled from Tang Senna’s clenched jaw. He finally understood—the corpse king before him was highly evolved, with a physique surpassing his own, definitely reaching S-rank. Stronger than any corpse king he had encountered or even heard of before!
From afar, Cai Jian and the others’ hearts sank.
They had been evenly matched moments ago.
Now defeat seemed imminent.
Were they being toyed with?
As Lin Dong approached, Tang Senna was once again enveloped by the corpse domain. Exhausted and severely wounded, he was utterly defenseless.
He watched helplessly as Lin Dong reached out to grasp his head.
Darkness engulfed him.
Consciousness was lost completely.
Lin Dong stood still, holding an A-rank crystal core in his hand, its pure energy flowing and emitting a faint glow.

Page 3/3

The A-rank mercenary from Tech Corporation had perished upon arrival in Jiangbei City.
Lin Dong then seized the alloy box, tearing it from the corpse’s arm and storing it away.
The Q virus was now in his hands.
“Damn! This is bad!” Cai Jian panicked. But the moment he was distracted, he suddenly felt a chilling sensation in his abdomen as Xiao Ba’s sharp claws, like surgical knives, pierced him.
Blood sprayed forth, his life force rapidly draining.
“Swish swish swish!”
Xiao Ba’s claws slashed again, ripping him open and extracting his bloodied kidneys.
With Cai Jian’s death, the battle’s outcome was sealed.
The remaining awakeners despaired and were soon subdued by Xiao Hei, the Doctor, and the Flower Pot.
Before long, the fight ended.
The street lay in ruin—wreckage and collapsed buildings scattered everywhere. Several bodies lay in pools of blood. Lin Dong waved his hand, gathering them to share with his comrades.
“Heh heh heh, boss, let’s head back,” Xiao Ba licked his bloodied claws, clearly satisfied with the carnage.
Beside him, Xiao Hei gnawed on a heart.
First come, first served!
Just as they prepared to leave, chaotic footsteps echoed through the nearby streets. Zombies began to emerge from all directions; some moved swiftly and nimbly, clearly elite.
Lin Dong glanced toward them, easily deducing that the earlier battle had disturbed a corpse king in the area.
However, according to Brother Crow’s earlier reconnaissance, the corpse king here was not strong, and its horde was small—classified by Tech Corporation as a two-star corpse nest, weaker even than the original Red-Faced Corpse King.
As the zombies advanced, they did not attack immediately but instead surrounded the area, continuously snarling.
Xiao Ba and the shadow kings watched calmly—this was just a minor skirmish.
Soon, a corpse king emerged from the horde, stepping forward.
He was short and stout, with conspicuously large ears. His rank was just B+, and his awakened ability was Super Hearing.
In the early days of the apocalypse, this power had helped him prey on many survivors, earning some success.
But as time passed, his lack of combat attributes meant his growth lagged, and he was quietly being phased out.
The large-eared corpse king scrutinized the scene.
Normally, he would never dare provoke a dominant corpse king like Lin Dong, but emboldened by his numbers, he summoned a fraction of courage.
“You come to my territory, kill people, and then leave… don’t you think that’s a bit rude?”
…