Chapter 74: Unlocking the Fifth Floor
Wu Fan stared at the lines of text on the screen, ash falling all over the table.
Over sixty thousand points, how long had he saved up for them?
Merle was out there risking his life; previously, Rick had used sound and fireworks at the freight station to fish for Walkers, and Glenn had been marking points one by one on the map.
Weser had recently been bombing the Walker hordes in Atlanta, and Shane was also eliminating hordes in Atlanta.
Over sixty thousand.
Now it had become twenty thousand.
He had unlocked the fifth floor: [Bioweapon Cultivation Area]
He clicked open the page for the fifth floor to take a look, then closed it, stood up, and walked to the window.
It was very quiet outside.
The searchlights on the perimeter wall were slowly rotating, their beams sweeping across the wilderness, occasionally illuminating one or two wandering Walkers, whose greyish-white figures would appear in the circle of light before vanishing back into the darkness.
He used the Red Queen to transmit the video captured by Merle's helmet back to watch; that totaled humvee, the large hole blown into the hood by an RPG, the edges of the steel plate curled up like crumpled paper.
Those people had hidden in the woods, waiting until Merle's convoy entered range before opening fire.
They weren't a rabble; they were trained.
Organized, disciplined, and armed.
Woodbury was more troublesome than he had thought.
Wu Fan stubbed out his cigarette and turned to walk out of the office.
He walked to the third basement floor of the CDC, then entered the hive system entrance and took the hive system elevator down: negative one, negative two, negative three, negative four.
He stood before the door to the negative fifth floor, and after the Red Queen identified Wu Fan's identity, the heavy metal isolation door opened.
The lights inside were cold white, illuminating every corner so there were no shadows.
It was a huge space, larger than all the floors above it combined.
Rows upon rows of cultivation pods were neatly arranged on the ground, like shelves in a supermarket.
Each cultivation pod iron door had a glass observation window, allowing one to see inside—it was empty.
They were all empty.
He walked between two rows of cultivation pods, his footsteps echoing in the vast hall.
The glass on those iron doors gleamed coldly under the lights, reflecting his own shadow.
He remembered the first Resident Evil movie, the Umbrella Corporation's underground laboratory, where those cultivation pods contained Lickers.
The Umbrella Corporation investigation team, the squad sent to their deaths to collect data, encountered a Walker holding an axe, half its face rotted away, walking out from beside a cultivation pod.
Now, these cultivation pods were all empty.
He stopped in front of the nearest cultivation pod; the glass door was printed with a model number, and below it was a line of small text: Bioweapon Container - Pending Activation.
He reached out and touched the glass window; it was ice cold.
"Red Queen." He said to the air.
From the speakers in the ceiling came that calm, emotionless voice: "Present."
"Do these things need to be bought from the hive system store again?"
"Yes, from the S-class store, under the Bioweapon category."
Wu Fan returned to the elevator entrance and opened the hive system.
He clicked open the S-class store and flipped to the very bottom.
Bioweapon—he clicked it, and the page refreshed.
[Tyrant (T-103)] Controllable, high combat power, follows orders. Manufacturing time: 5 hours. Usage duration: 24 hours. Exchange points: 500.
[Zombie Dog] Reconnaissance and assault. Manufacturing time: 1 hour. Usage duration: 24 hours. Exchange points: 100.
[Licker] Sneak attacks, assassination, wall crawling. Manufacturing time: 2 hours. Usage duration: 24 hours. Exchange points: 200.
[Giant Axe Executioner] Holds a giant axe, extremely high defense. Manufacturing time: 3 hours. Usage duration: 24 hours. Exchange points: 300.
[Nemesis] T-103 Tyrant + Nemesis parasite. Hunting and tracking. Manufacturing time: 5 hours. Usage duration: 48 hours. Exchange points: 1000.
Wu Fan stared at those lines of text for a long time.
Five hundred points to create a Tyrant, only usable for twenty-four hours.
One thousand points to create a Nemesis, only usable for forty-eight hours.
Once the time is up, it self-destructs, leaving nothing behind.
He took a deep breath.
"Red Queen, when the time is up for those things, do they die or do they become free?"
"Self-destruct. The longer the time, the faster the t-virus evolves, making them all unstable and uncontrollable. All bioweapons have built-in self-destruct programs that automatically activate after the usage duration ends, completely decomposing them with no residue."
"Will people injured by them be infected with the t-virus?"
"Yes, but it will not evolve or spread through the air. The infected's behavior is consistent with ordinary Walkers, with slightly faster movement speed. To require airborne transmission, please purchase the t-virus from the hive system store."
The corners of Wu Fan's mouth twitched.
Wu Fan: " ( ° ㅅ ° ) ♦ "
He closed the system screen and turned to walk into the elevator.
The elevator door closed, and he leaned against the wall, watching the floor numbers jump up one by one.
Negative four, negative three, negative two, negative one.
The door opened, and he walked out, returning through that familiar corridor back to the third-floor office.
He sat in his chair and lit a cigarette.
Five hundred points to create a Tyrant, only usable for one day.
One thousand points to create a Nemesis, only usable for two days.
It wasn't even enough to fight a single battle.
He thought of that RPG shot from Woodbury, that destroyed humvee.
On the way back, Merle's face must have looked terrible!
Hehehe.
That guy rarely suffered setbacks; this time, he'd been blindsided and was holding in a belly full of fire.
If there had been a Tyrant squad at the time, or a few Lickers sneaking into the woods—he shook his head, shaking off the thought.
Those things were too expensive and time-limited; he needed to think it over.
Plus, they self-destructed after use, leaving absolutely nothing behind.
What he needed were things that could be used long-term, not one-time consumables.
He opened the system panel and glanced at his point balance.
Twenty-one thousand and forty.
Unlocking the fifth floor cost forty thousand, and now only this much was left.
He closed the panel and leaned back in his chair.
Regarding Woodbury, he had to handle it in a different way.
He couldn't go head-to-head; if people were lost, his rate of point accumulation would decrease.
But he couldn't ignore it either; those people were already targeting him.
He thought of the red circle on the map, the forest, and the flash of the telescope lens in the sunlight.
Those people would come again.
He stubbed out the cigarette butt and picked up the phone on the table.
"Have Merle come by once he gets back."
After seven in the evening, there was a knock on the door.
Amy indicated that Merle had arrived, and shortly after, Merle walked in, his face still bearing the dust and fatigue of his trip back.
He stood before the desk, unusually lacking his usual smirk.
"Boss, I messed that up."
"It's not your fault." Wu Fan pointed to a chair.
"Sit. Those people aren't a rabble; they are organized and premeditated. You were in the open, they were in the dark; anyone would have suffered a setback."
Merle sat down, took a cigarette from his pocket, glanced at Wu Fan, and put it back.
"So what now?"
Wu Fan stood up and walked to the map.
Merle followed.
Wu Fan's finger landed on the red circle of Woodbury.
"Don't fight for now; just keep watching. I will arrange for a Group of Sages to come up with a strategy."
"Group of Sages?"
Wu Fan signaled: "Yes, you can go now! Go watch that place."
Merle was stunned for a moment, then nodded.
"Alright, I'll head out tomorrow."
Wu Fan turned to look at him.
"Don't be impulsive, and don't just rush in the moment you see people from Woodbury."
Merle opened his mouth, then closed it.
He stood up, walked to the door, and looked back.
"Boss, are we just going to let the RPG thing go?"
Wu Fan didn't answer.
Merle stood there for a moment, then pushed the door open and left.
The office quieted down.
Wu Fan stood before the map, staring at the red circle of Woodbury for a long time.
Let it go? Of course not.
But now wasn't the time.
He needed points, a lot of points.
He needed to fill those cultivation pods, he needed to create those bioweapons.
By then, it wouldn't be something a single RPG shot could solve.
He lit a cigarette, the smoke slowly dissipating under the light.
Outside the window, the searchlights were still turning, their beams sweeping across the wilderness, illuminating nothing.
It was time to ask the Group of Sages for a strategy. The Governor is coming to fight, how should we respond? Which one to send out of the city to fight the Governor,
1: Tyrant → _ →
2: Zombie Dog → _ →
3: Licker → _ →
4: Giant Axe Executioner → _ →
5: Nemesis → _ →