Under the headlights, the light and shadow on the faces of those few people were sharply divided. It added more terror to their already frightened expressions, as if a psychotic murderer was chasing them. The people scrambled out, rolling and crawling, still shouting for help.
Needless to say, Jiang Yuntan, Shen Hegui, and the others all chose to remain silent. Save them? No way.
Qiao Chengming had said that this was a research institute privately funded by some company. Originally, it collected various folk inventions and improved them. This time, the laser sword was developed as an accidental breakthrough inspired by other things. It was said that they wanted to successfully develop the laser sword and hand it over to the state in exchange for some benefits. But just after they developed it, before finding a suitable energy source for the laser sword, the apocalypse arrived. Their trip here was originally to take the things. Their best-case scenario was that no one would be left in this research institute. So saving people was impossible. Shen Hegui and Jiang Yuntan were very taciturn and did nothing.
Those people ran over, grabbed the iron gate, and tried to open it to escape, but they couldn't. The iron gate originally had a special fingerprint lock, but now with the apocalypse, there was no power, so they couldn't open it. Panic filled their eyes, and their hands were trembling. Outside, Shen Hegui and the others watched calmly. Just as those people finally remembered that without power, the iron gate was no longer electrified and they could climb over it, the zombie that had been chasing them inside walked out.
Jiang Yuntan got a full view of him: a grayish-white face, red eyes especially conspicuous in the dark night, wearing a white lab coat stained with blood. Coupled with his delicate features, he looked like a crazy lunatic. Needless to say, just by his appearance, it was clear this was no ordinary zombie.
Qiao Chengming said softly, "Fang An? Their genius researcher here actually turned into a zombie?"
As soon as he finished speaking, the person climbing over the iron gate suddenly shouted and fell off, while those who hadn't climbed also clutched their heads, screaming in pain, curling up and rolling on the ground. The zombie named Fang An walked over leisurely, as if it were the hunter.
Shen Hegui kept his eyes on Fang An, a deep look in his eyes. The next second, those who had been screaming in pain started to fight each other—one punched another in the eye, another tackled and choked someone. Those who had been fleeing were now fighting fiercely, their faces red.
Yu Ke gulped. "Wait, now zombies can control people to attack each other? What ability did this zombie awaken?"
Jiang Yuntan thought that what Fang An had awakened should be a mental-type ability. But she didn't plan to say it, because this was her first time seeing it. No one had named this ability yet, so how could she know what it was called? Unless she herself had awakened a mental-type ability, she could say that. And now they had already guessed that Fang An was controlling those people, so she naturally didn't need to remind them.
Shen Hegui warned, "Since it's an ability for mental control, everyone be careful not to fall under its influence."
Even facing this situation, they had no intention of saving anyone. Coincidentally, the zombie solved the problem for them. When they went to get the laser sword later, they wouldn't have to worry about anyone obstructing them.
Soon, half of those people gradually stopped moving; they seemed to have died. Originally, they thought Fang An would personally deal with the remaining three, but unexpectedly, several zombies suddenly emerged from behind Fang An and charged at the three. After a tough fight, the three were exhausted but still forced themselves to stand and fight the zombies.
Shen Hegui spoke up, "We can't wait any longer. If we wait, Fang An might summon all the nearby zombies." He could vaguely tell that Fang An found it easier to control zombies than people.
As he spoke, Shen Hegui sent a flurry of flying knives toward Fang An's face, trying to test him and see how he would react. Jiang Yufeng followed with his wind blades. Ever since he saw Jiang Yuntan compress fire to increase temperature, he had also learned to solidify wind blades for greater lethality. Both deliberately bypassed the zombies fighting the three men, since they were acting on their own and had no intention of saving anyone.
The zombie, which had seemed calm and sinister, instantly bared its teeth when Shen Hegui and the others attacked. The fragmented madness from before was gone, replaced by a more unhinged look.
Qiao Chengming, who was gathering his ability, paused when he saw this. Only because he had known Fang An before and knew that Fang An was truly devoted to scientific research. Seeing Fang An like this now gave him an awkward feeling of seeing an acquaintance. But he quickly pushed that aside. Since Fang An had already turned into a zombie and lost his mind, there was no use thinking too much. So, Qiao Chengming's jagged earthen clods followed soon after.
After Fang An was hit by Shen Hegui's flying knives, his white lab coat was dyed red. His expression grew angrier, and the controlled zombies became even more restless.
Jiang Yuntan saw them start fighting and didn't follow suit. Instead, she watched the zombies entangled with those few people. After seeing them bitten to death by the zombies, Jiang Yuntan cast a fireball and threw it out. The compressed, high-temperature fireball landed on a zombie, burning a hole through it. One fireball hit a zombie right between the eyes, reducing the flesh and blood there to ash. The crystal core fell out, and the zombie collapsed.
Yu Ke and the others, who were observing their surroundings, were stunned when they saw this. Was that even possible?
Jiang Yuntan repeated the move, killing all the stray zombies. When she felt her ability was nearly depleted, she grabbed a crystal core and absorbed its energy.
Over on the other side, Shen Hegui and the other two were still fighting Fang An. None of them held back, but Fang An summoned many zombies to shield itself. Most of Shen Hegui's attacks landed on the surrounding ordinary zombies. But with three of them against one Fang An, more and more zombies fell around him.
Jiang Yuntan felt that Shen Hegui was toying with Fang An, using its ability to lure out all the zombies in the research institute. That way, when they entered, there would be fewer zombies inside.