579: 9.49 Hold Up!

9.49 Hold Up!

"Commander!" Li Zhu immediately threw himself into Yang Tengfei's arms as soon as he was brought out of that hellish place. Tears, snot and filthy soot covered his face, covering the delicate visage of the youth and turning him akin to a madman.0

Li Zhu had been trapped in that place for more than an hour, listening to the sounds of zombies outside, choking on thick smoke, worrying about whether the door would be able to hold on until reinforcement arrived… He was truly at his wits' end. If he had to stay in that place for one more second, he would definitely go insane!

Now that he had been rescued, he could not hold back the flood of relief, longing and grievance in his heart. He vented them all by hugging the person he liked tightly, unaware that Yang Tengfei's face was darkening upon receiving his soldiers' wide-eyed stare and Zhao Bolin's meaningful smile.

The veins on Yang Tengfei's forehead throbbed. That one smile from Zhao Bolin spoke a thousand words. He could even hear the professor's voice mocking him, "What is this, Commander? You despise me for my unusual relationship with Lu Yizhou. As it turns out, we are the same kind of person?"

Yang Tengfei exhaled heavily and held Li Zhu's shoulders, forcibly peeling the sticky youth away from him. His face was severe as he demanded, "Where are the others? What happened here?"

Being reminded of the terror he had gone through for the past hour, Li Zhu's frame shook in fright and his complexion turned ashen. Tears covered his clear, black eyes as he recounted the situation. Of course, he omitted the operation part. "I–I don't know what happened to them. Brother soldier told me to hide inside Professor Zhao's office and wait there, but… but they are not coming back…"

Zhao Bolin cut him off coldly, "Where is Lu Yizhou?"

Li Zhu paused. From the start, he had never seen Lu Yizhou. According to the plan, he should have been led away by the soldiers. However, looking at their current situation, could he even survive…? Li Zhu raised his head to meet Zhao Bolin's sharp golden eyes. All of a sudden, he recalled the 'treachery' he had done and shrunk his head in guilt. He hid behind Yang Tengfei's broad frame and stammered out. "I—I don't know, Teacher. Last time, he went out to help the soldiers. He…"

"Bullshit!" Zhao Bolin sneered. "Li Zhu, who do you want to fool? Why should Lu Yizhou go out to help trained soldiers to fight the zombies? Is he an idiot? He will definitely hide inside the laboratory. But now, he is nowhere to be seen and you're the only one left. Tell me, if you were me, what would you think of it?"

Everyone's face, including Li Zhu, abruptly changed.

Lu Yizhou who was supposed to be in the laboratory was nowhere to be seen and there was only Li Zhu, this one person who should have been banned from entering. No matter what, it was impossible for Lu Yizhou to go missing. Unless…

There was a subtle change in the soldiers' gaze when they looked at Li Zhu. Even Commander Yang's eyes deepened in contemplation. It was evident that the seed of doubt had been planted into their heart.

Li Zhu cried out in disbelief, "T–Teacher, are you saying that I harmed him?!"

Zhao Bolin crossed his arms over his chest and glared at him sharply. "Otherwise? How is it possible that you don't know where he has gone?!"

Li Zhu's lips parted, yet he had nothing to say. It was not like he could say that Lu Yizhou was led downstairs by the soldiers and 'coincidentally' met a surge of zombies on the way. Panicked, he looked at Yang Tengfei and his heart sank when he found that the man had no plans to help him. "N—No…" His teeth chattered, whether it was guilt or fear, even he was not certain. He could only shake his head again and again, crying out with tears running down his face, "No, I didn't harm him! I have never! Please… Please trust me!"

Commander Yang saw that Li Zhu's mental state was quite unsound. He frowned and reached out to grab the trembling student's arm, forcing him to look into his eyes. "Hey, take it easy…" He stepped forward to whisper into Li Zhu's ear. "Don't worry, I believe you. You've got the flashdisk with you, right?"

Light twinkled in Li Zhu's teary eyes and he clutched the hem of the commander's sleeve, half in desperation and half in elation. "En!" No matter what, he had not failed the mission. That was the most important thing!

Commander Yang's domineering gaze softened a bit. "Good job." He turned to the soldiers and barked out an order, "The situation doesn't look good for others. I will bring a few people back with me to check later. For now, we will retreat first!"

All of the soldiers had been trained to obey his command and hence, they immediately saluted, "Yes, Commander!"

Unfortunately, there was one Zhao Bolin who was a rebel through and through. He voiced his complaints flamboyantly. "Hold up! Where do you think you're going? I will not leave without Lu Yizhou!" Zhao Bolin glowered like a mother hen whose chick was being stolen away. "If he dies, then I want to see his corpse. If he becomes a zombie, then I want to see him as a zombie! I will not leave without him!"

Commander Yang made eye contact with his soldiers. With his cue, all of them pointed their guns toward Zhao Bolin. The soldiers had been standing on the edge of the roof in order to monitor the situation and hence, it was easy for them to surround Zhao Bolin from all sides.

Zhao Bolin paused. A hint of surprise flashed through his eyes before they turned somber. "What do you mean by this, Commander Yang?"

This man did not even show a speck of panic at being held at gunpoint. Yang Tengfei carefully observed his body language and found out that he was really not nervous. Quite commendable, Commander Yang thought coldly, but he had no use for disobedient people. "Exactly what I mean," he said. "Now, you have two choices, Professor Zhao. Either come back with us to the military camp and we will let you continue your experiment in a sophisticated laboratory or…" his lips curled into a merciless smile. "...you can make this place your burial ground."

Zhao Bolin stared at him for a moment before he threw his head back and laughed airily. It was full of mockery, schadenfreude and pity.

It should sound melodious yet for some reason, it sent chills down everyone's spine.

"Are you still unaware of your current situation, Professor Zhao?" Yang Tengfei rebuked with a harsh tone. "The army and the government have no use for you again. If you are willing to listen to our order, then we will let you live, otherwise—"

"Hold up." Professor Zhao's eyes were full of mirth. He gestured at the space around them. "Before you talk about that, how about looking at YOUR own situation first?"

Yang Tengfei's heart abruptly sank at his words and subtle unease crept into his heart. The soldiers subconsciously looked around following Zhao Bolin's words and— "Aaah!!" They exclaimed in terror. "The zombies… The zombies have scaled the wall!"

It was unknown when it started, but at some point, the crowd of zombies had begun to congregate around the Biology Building and climb the wall. They were undead, they could feel no pain or fear. As such, they were the perfect killing machine. One zombie stepped above the other, and even if they fell from the fifth floor, they would get back up and climb their fellow zombie's body to reach the rooftop! 

Hundreds… Thousands of zombies had converged here to form the body ladder! This was simply a scene out of a nightmare!

Colors drained from Li Zhu's face as his feet swayed. If not for Commander Yang catching him in time, he would have toppled to the ground and let the fear consume his whole being. He could only stare at the scene blankly and shivered in fright, too afraid to even let out a sound. After Yang Tengfei caught him, he simply grabbed onto the man in a death grip and burrowed into his solid chest, like a frightened little animal seeking warmth from others.

Countless gunshots rang out in the air as the zombies' brain exploded in a firework of white and red. The soldiers cursed under their breath. Motherfucker, what the hell was happening here?! How could so many zombies be attracted here?! They could not figure it out and thus, could only shoot every zombie they saw. However, it was futile. No matter how many zombies were killed, more and more would replace the empty spot. It was practically endless! They were completely surrounded!

Amidst the precarious moment, Yang Tengfei swiveled to stare at Zhao Bolin who was standing there leisurely. His expression was livid. "I fucking knew that this has something to do with you!!" he roared accusingly.

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