LIGHTNOVELONLINE CHAPTER 70
Chapter 70: The Monster Revealed
"Ma'am, what's your name?" Bai Tianyu inquired, his voice firm but polite.
"Xu... Xu Rufang," the woman stammered, her eyes darting nervously.
"The smell of blood in your house is quite strong," Bai Tianyu observed, his senses heightened by his Awakened abilities. "Has something happened?"
Xu Rufang shook her head vigorously, her unease growing. "No, nothing's happened," she insisted, glancing briefly towards the second bedroom. "There's no problem here. Please leave."
Her demeanor raised alarm bells for Bai Tianyu. In the apocalypse, survivors might react with tears, suspicion, or pleas for help when encountering military personnel, but they wouldn’t demand their immediate departure.
Bai Tianyu's eyes narrowed as he scrutinized Xu Rufang. Her clothes were stained with blood, but she bore no injuries. His initial assessment: this woman was dangerous, possibly a killer.
His gaze shifted to the second bedroom, a sense of foreboding washing over him. He moved towards the room, his voice firm. "Ma'am, I need to inspect your house. I assure you, I won't wrong an innocent person, but I won't let a guilty one escape either."
He considered it his duty as a protector to uncover the truth, no matter how disturbing it might be.
As Bai Tianyu approached the bedroom, Xu Rufang's anxiety escalated into panic. She lunged forward, attempting to grab him from behind.
Bai Tianyu easily dodged her grasp, his expression hardening. "This could be construed as an attack," he warned. "I have the right to defend myself. Don't make me resort to force, ma'am. Please stop resisting and explain yourself."
Xu Rufang froze, her limited experience failing her in this tense situation.
Suddenly, a voice called out from the second bedroom. "Mom, what's going on?"
Bai Tianyu spun towards the sound, while Xu Rufang's face paled.
In the tense silence that followed, the bedroom door slowly opened, releasing a wave of foul odor. A frail figure emerged from the darkness.
The figure that emerged from the second bedroom was a young man, seemingly ordinary and unremarkable. He was around eighteen or nineteen years old, with dyed blond hair in a punk style, a lanky build, and unremarkable features that vaguely resembled Xu Rufang's.
He wore light green pajamas stained with what appeared to be mud, and an inexplicable odor emanated from him.
Upon seeing her son, Xu Rufang's expression shifted. "Lian... Lian Jie," she stammered, "this is... this is..."
"He's a soldier, right?" Lian Jie interjected, smiling politely at Bai Tianyu. "Hello, I'm Lian Jie."
Bai Tianyu's tense posture relaxed slightly. He pointed towards the bedroom. "Is that your room?"
"Yes," Lian Jie replied. "I was resting. My mother probably didn't want you to disturb me, so she didn’t let you in. I admit her behavior might seem strange, but she’s under a lot of stress and is very protective of me."
He stepped aside, opening the door to reveal the dim and messy bedroom. "Would you like to come in and have a look?" he offered with a smile.
Bai Tianyu hesitated, then shook his head. "No need," he said. "Since everything seems to be in order, I'll be on my way."
With that, he turned and left the apartment.
Xu Rufang breathed a sigh of relief, believing she had successfully deceived the soldier. However, she failed to notice the intense gaze Lian Jie fixed on Bai Tianyu's retreating back, his eyes glinting with an unnatural red light.
Bai Tianyu maintained a calm exterior as he left, but his senses remained on high alert.
Lian Jie's voice suddenly broke the silence. "Mr. Soldier..."
"Yes?" Bai Tianyu replied, turning to face him.
"You noticed, didn’t you?" Lian Jie asked, a cryptic smile on his face.
"Noticed what?" Bai Tianyu inquired, feigning confusion.
"I don't have a heartbeat," Lian Jie revealed.
The atmosphere instantly chilled.
Meanwhile, in the community square, Lin Bai and his team had formed a perimeter around Building No. 3, awaiting Bai Tianyu's orders to engage the zombies. But the silence from within the building was unnerving.
Suddenly, a loud explosion rocked the third floor. The wall burst outwards, and a shadowy figure crashed through the debris, landing gracefully on the ground.
The figure that emerged was Bai Tianyu, but transformed. He now stood at an imposing 2.3 meters, his muscled frame straining against his military uniform. His exposed torso, a network of bulging veins, glowed with an unsettling crimson hue.
This was Bai Tianyu’s superpower: Blood Boiling. It doubled his physical capabilities when activated, a simple yet devastatingly effective ability.
As he landed, he barked a command to his team, “Evacuate!” His eyes fixed on the hole he had created on the third floor, his usually confident expression replaced with a look of unprecedented gravity.
He had encountered something truly formidable.
Zombies were lifeless corpses, incapable of possessing a heartbeat. Yet, Bai Tianyu had clearly heard a heartbeat within the apartment, specifically Xu Rufang's. He had heard nothing from Lian Jie.
The moment he saw the young man, he knew something was wrong. He had planned to retreat and call for reinforcements, but Lian Jie had seen through his ruse.
Now, a low, guttural growl emanated from the hole in the wall. Lian Jie's emaciated figure appeared, his pale face twisted into a grotesque smile as he looked down at Bai Tianyu and his team.
"So much... so much food!" he rasped, his mouth widening unnaturally. Saliva dripped from his lips, forming a thick, glistening thread. His eyes glowed with a predatory red light as the zombie’s primal hunger overwhelmed his remaining sanity.
"I want to eat! I want to eat so badly!"
With an explosive sound, his back erupted, revealing eight python-like tentacles that writhed and pulsed with an unnerving energy. He now resembled a nightmarish, monstrous version of Doctor Octopus.
The soldiers, save for Bai Tianyu, stumbled back in terror. Lian Jie's grotesque transformation and the sheer power radiating from him sent chills down their spines.
"What... what is that?" one soldier stammered.
Bai Tianyu's voice cut through the fear. "A zombie," he declared, his tone grave. "A Tier 4 zombie."
End of Chapter 70