After My Death, the Protagonist Broke Character - Chapter 5

The hunting squad had lost both Huaisi and Xie Shoushan, and their combat effectiveness had plummeted. This was especially true for the new recruits; seeing such a scene for the first time, they had panicked and lost their composure. When one of them was injured, their already fragile team became even more vulnerable.

Fortunately, Chen Chenggang, Lu Zhiyuan, and the others were veterans. Compared to the newcomers, they were relatively calm in the face of the onslaught.

They circled around Chen Yao to protect her, as she was a non-combat ability user who had to be guarded at all costs.

“What is going on, Chen Yao? Isn’t your intuition supposed to be accurate? How could there be mutated zombies here, and so many fast ones at that?”

Chen Yao was also lost and confused. “I don’t know… when we left, my intuition definitely said this way was safer. Who could have known these mutated zombies would show up…” Seeing everyone being surrounded and potentially losing their lives because of her decision, her voice was thick with suppressed tears.

The zombies closed in step by step. Even Chen Chenggang and his team were struggling to hold them off; their abilities were not top-tier, and they had no way to eliminate the horde in one go.

What to do? Are they really all going to die here?!

No! I can’t accept this!

“Forget it, we have to risk it all!” Just as one person was about to make a desperate, suicidal charge, and a zombie’s sharp claws were about to grab him, the zombie suddenly collapsed. Behind it stood a man in a long black trench coat, wrapped in a scarf and wearing a hood. No one could clearly see what method he had used to kill the zombie. They only saw him move toward the next one, wave his hand, and the zombie was decapitated. As he moved toward the next, all the remaining zombies actually slowed down and retreated. The man seemed stunned for a moment, and then the zombies actually fled.

They had never seen such a scene. They looked at each other in bewilderment. Could it be that zombies now have consciousness? Do they know which humans are dangerous enough to kill them, so they run away? That is too terrifying.

Huaisi originally intended to leave after saving them, but he was intercepted by Lu Zhiyuan and the others.

“Thank you! Which shelter are you from? Or are you from the base? We haven’t seen you before.” Lu Zhiyuan sized him up, but he couldn’t see the man’s face at all, catching only glimpses of pale skin.

Huaisi shook his head and tried to leave, but Lu Zhiyuan and the others surrounded him again.

Someone with such formidable strength if he was willing to save them, there was a glimmer of hope to recruit him! Besides, who knew if those zombies would appear again on the way back?

Huaisi thought about it. He had wanted to go to the shelter to see how everyone was doing anyway. Since this opportunity had presented itself, he might as well escort them back.

He nodded slowly and attempted to speak, struggling to voice his thoughts. After several failed attempts, with everyone staring at him, he finally made a sound.

It was hoarse, obscure, and barely a blurred monosyllable.

“…Okay…”

It was no longer his once-clear, bright voice, but a harsh, grating one. He immediately shut his mouth and remained silent for the rest of the journey.

Chen Yao and the others assumed he was simply a cold and reticent person making him seem even more mysterious and powerful and they tried hard to persuade him to join the Shelter 8.

With this man on their side, their chances of entering the base would be much higher.

Seeing the towering, solid walls of the shelter, a sense of familiarity stirred within Huaisi. He thought he would just go in and take one last look to see Uncle Liao and the others and then he would return to Xie Shoushan’s side to continue the plot and be finished off by him.

Seeing Huaisi remained silent and didn’t refuse, the hunting squad immediately brought him into the shelter, opening the small iron gate.

Huaisi recognized the person opening the gate: Uncle Lin, who had been a security guard in his youth. Now, his hair was graying. Seeing them return, he wore a look of relieved relief, but his eyes also caught sight of the stranger, Huaisi.

Chen Yao took the initiative to explain, “This is an ability user we met outside. He saved us, so we invited him back to the shelter to rest.”

Uncle Lin was overjoyed. If a powerful ability user joined the shelter, the likelihood of the base’s investigation team giving them a high score and admitting them into the base would be greatly increased.

The group treated Huaisi with great enthusiasm, taking him on a tour. However, the shelter was originally a prison located outside the base’s jurisdiction; it had no facilities to speak of. At a glance, there were only elderly, weak, and young people living there; there was nothing to see.

A flicker of embarrassment crossed their faces, but seeing Huaisi stop, they couldn’t help but observe him.

Huaisi smelled the fragrance of many “meals.” As the number of people inside increased, the scent of blood grew richer. He looked at the familiar faces in the shelter and couldn’t help but swallow.

Fortunately, I’m not very hungry right now. Looking in the mirror had barely helped him regain some semblance of reason, and these people’s blood was not as tempting as Xie Shoushan’s. For now, he could hold back.

But if he stayed too long, he couldn’t guarantee that his zombie instincts wouldn’t take over and devour these people. He had to finish checking on Uncle Liao and leave immediately—he must not linger.

He was pondering how to find Uncle Liao when he keenly caught a scent—a fragrance far more enticing than anything on the weak and sickly people in the shelter. He was pulled toward the source of the scent, arriving outside a door in the shelter’s tallest building, but was stopped by Chen Yao and the others.

“That is where the base investigation team discusses matters and rests.”

Huaisi stopped in his tracks, but the fragrance was too tempting. He couldn’t help but take a few more steps forward, only to hear a familiar, gentle voice asking from not far away.

“You’re back. Are you all right?”

Huaisi finally woke up completely. He stepped back and looked toward the source of the voice.

It was a man in his thirties, tall and thin, wearing a washed-out shirt and trousers that hung loosely on his frame. Because of his height, he looked even more fragile. He wore glasses and had a refined, fair complexion, looking like one of the countless math teachers he’d once known.

In fact, Liao Muqing had indeed been a teacher; even in the shelter, he loved to teach everyone to read and write. Back when he was taking care of Huaisi, because of food shortages and other issues, he had occasionally joined the hunting squad. Once, he had been injured, leaving behind long-term ailments, and had never fully recovered, so he had stopped going out to hunt. However, Liao Muqing was knowledgeable, gentle, and kind-hearted. He was the quintessential “good guy.” Even though life in the shelter was difficult, he was well-liked.

Hearing his question, the hunting squad knew he was genuinely concerned for them, and they all responded.

“That’s good. As long as you’re all right.” Liao Muqing noticed Huaisi’s presence and asked, “And who is this?”

The hunting squad hurriedly introduced him, “This is the ability user who saved us outside. He wanted to come in and take a look.”

Then, someone immediately said, “Uncle Liao, why don’t you take him around the shelter to get familiarized?”

After all, Huaisi was bundled up tight, wouldn’t talk, and his unpredictable strength and those near-imperceptible vertical pupils gave off an overwhelming sense of oppression. They didn’t know what to say to this high-level expert and felt anxious just standing near him. Seeing Liao Muqing who loved teaching and wouldn’t refuse they naturally handed the task over to him.

Liao Muqing smiled, understanding their intention in bringing this person in. Since it might help the shelter, he didn’t mind. He greeted Huaisi and offered to show him around.

Huaisi hesitated. He had originally thought that seeing Uncle Liao once was enough, and now he had seen him.

But… he still wanted to spend a little more time with Uncle Liao, since he could be finished off by Xie Shoushan at any moment.

He reluctantly left the place filled with “fragrance,” though before leaving, he glanced back at that door.

The building was the tallest and best-preserved in the shelter. The prison complex was mostly built of cold concrete; this house in the center of the prison had previously been the living quarters for the prison guards, and now it had all been handed over to the investigation team.

It seems the people in the shelter have truly given the best they have to this investigation team from the base. It’s just hard to say if this investigation team will accept these gestures that hold no value.

“…It seems there’s no value here, but we have to wait… What’s wrong, Xingchang? You keep looking outside; is there a problem?” He Qiao noticed Wei Xingchang had been distracted for a while, staring at the door.

Wei Xingchang, fearing he was being blamed for losing focus, hurriedly said, “No, I just feel like there’s a strange smell…”

“Zombies?”

“Maybe, but it’s like it’s there, yet not…” Wei Xingchang himself wasn’t sure. His ability made him extremely sensitive to the presence of zombies, which had helped them avoid wave after wave of danger. This vague, flickering sensation left him uncertain.

He Qiao pondered for a moment. “Your ability has always been sharp. Even if this shelter has no value for being incorporated into the base, we should go out and check just to be safe.”

Although he felt it was unlikely for zombies to appear in the shelter, it would be troublesome if something went wrong and the Minister blamed them when he returned.

“Is it necessary? Anyway, it’s not…”

He Qiao gave him a warning look. “What do you think the Minister will think if something happens while he’s away?”

Wei Xingchang froze, remembering the Minister’s handsome, refined appearance and the terrifying aura he projected behind those gold-rimmed glasses and nodded with lingering fear.