ATDIWR Chapter 9

Chapter 9: Comprehensive Outpatient Clinic, The Escape

Tang Ning herself was not a good-for-nothing. Although she lived with Tang Tang, she was not a wimp who relied on Tang Tang’s charity to survive.

Tang Tang was not responsible for her three meals a day, including clean, usable water.

Tang Ning had to go out and hunt Zombies to earn Zombie Crystal Cores for these things. Only when Tang Tang was in a good mood, or in a bad mood and wanted to humiliate her, would she bestow upon Tang Ning some leftover scraps.

As for why Tang Ning was still shamelessly staying at The Base when Tang Tang was humiliating her so much?

It wasn’t that she had no self-respect, but when she first arrived at The Base, the commander was not Chen Chen. At that time, Tang Tang was just an ordinary resident of The Base. Naturally, Tang Ning didn’t need to avoid her.

It wasn’t until Tang Ning became familiar with life at The Base and considered it her second hometown that, in the fourth year of The Apocalypse, Chen Chen became the commander of The Base, and Tang Tang’s status rose accordingly.

Tang Tang found her, kept her by her side, and humiliated her at any time.

At that time, Tang Ning had thought about leaving, but in the end, she gave up.

As far as she knew, several small nearby Bases had stopped accepting ordinary people.

They believed that ordinary people were useless, a burden, and that having some ordinary people in The Base working like oxen and horses was enough. More were not needed and wasted food.

This was how it was in The Apocalypse, the strong prevailed.

Moreover, the journey was very dangerous. In the fourth year of The Apocalypse, not only Power Users evolved, Zombies were also evolving.

She, an ordinary person, could handle ordinary Zombies, but facing Tier 1 or Tier 2 Zombies, alone, she might not even be able to defeat them.

Even if she was lucky enough to cross through layers of danger to another Base, whether those Bases would accept her was another question!

Jing Shi Base did accept ordinary people at any time, but it was too far from their Base. If Tang Ning walked there on her own two feet, it would take ages. She couldn’t get gasoline and couldn’t drive.

Within a few months, she didn’t believe she could avoid encountering even one Tier 1 or Tier 2 Zombie.

She admitted she was afraid of death. All things considered, it was because she was afraid of death that she didn’t dare to leave The Base. But how could she not be afraid of death? The reason she survived the initial outbreak of the Zombie virus was because her mother and father sacrificed themselves for her.

She watched with her own eyes as her parents fell into the Zombie horde and were devoured alive by Zombies to protect her.

Even in that final moment before death, her parents told her to live well, to be sure to strive to survive.

Her life was no longer her own; it carried the weight of her parents’ two lives!

Her parents gave up their lives for her, and she was only being humiliated a few times. How could she seek her own death!

Thinking of her parents, Tang Ning was filled with strength, as if she were no longer fighting for herself, but for her parents.

Tang Ning held her axe and fought with the Zombie. As she got closer to the Zombie, she realized it was an elderly Zombie.

Zombie transformation made his facial skin even more wrinkled, like a shriveled apple that had lost moisture.

The Zombie’s long nails clawed towards Tang Ning’s face. Tang Ning gripped her axe tightly and sliced off the Zombie’s reaching arm.

Blood splattered out. Even though Tang Ning was covered from head to toe, even her eyes were protected by goggles, she quickly rolled on the ground and swiftly dodged.

Zombie blood and nails carried the Zombie virus, which spreads through blood.

If scratched by a Zombie, or if Zombie blood splashed onto broken skin, there was a risk of contracting the Zombie virus.

After contracting the Zombie virus, people would develop a high fever, reaching above 39℃.

This process of high fever was evolution. If the evolution was successful, they would become a Power User. If the evolution failed, they would be assimilated by the Zombie.

Becoming a Power User did not mean being free from infection forever.

Similarly, being infected with the Zombie virus again would cause another high fever. If they survived the high fever, they survived. It was possible to awaken a dual-type ability for the second time, or it was possible not to awaken a new ability. If they didn’t survive, they would turn into a Zombie.

However, Power Users had stronger physical constitutions. After being infected with the Zombie virus, the probability of turning into a Zombie was low, only thirty percent.

But even so, there was still a thirty percent chance. Power Users would still be careful to protect themselves, fully arming themselves with specialized protective suits, protective coverings, protective goggles, etc., during missions, ensuring they were covered tightly from head to toe, and minimizing the risk of being scratched by Zombies to avoid secondary infection.

Zombies felt no pain. Cutting off one arm could not stop it from continuing to attack. The arm it used to attack Tang Ning was cut off, and its other arm immediately reached out.

Tang Ning rolled in a circle. As she was about to get up, the Zombie’s other intact arm had already reached her.

If Tang Ning got up at this moment, she would run headfirst into the Zombie’s sharp long nails, her skin would be directly scratched open, and she would be infected with the Zombie virus.

Tang Ning’s pupils contracted sharply, her face showed terror, and despair flashed in her eyes.

Sure enough, she couldn’t leave The Base. It was only the first day since leaving The Base, and fighting a Zombie alone without the help of companions, she was about to be scratched by a Zombie.

Just when Tang Ning thought she was going to die, the Zombie’s head suddenly rolled off his neck with a gurgling sound.

Blood splattered on Tang Ning’s protective goggles, staining her vision red.

The headless Zombie, like a puppet whose strings were cut, fell straight to the ground with a dull thud, raising a cloud of dust.

Ji An had saved her!

And at this moment, Ji An was already breaking open the Zombie’s head.

Tang Ning quickly got up, not daring to be in a daze anymore. She quickly ran over and said, “I’ll do it.”

Ji An withdrew his hand accordingly, allowing Tang Ning to continue searching for a Zombie Crystal Core in the Zombie’s brain.

“Nothing, there’s nothing. This is an unevolved ordinary Zombie,” Tang Ning said dejectedly.

Not all Zombies had Zombie Crystal Cores to begin with. This Zombie was obviously slow-moving and had low combat power. When killing it, Ji An had already guessed that this Zombie might not have a Zombie Crystal Core.

However, with the attitude of rather kill the wrong one than let one go, he still dug open its head to look.

Just then, another large and small Zombie walked around the corner.

The smaller one was a child Zombie, walking behind. The larger one was an old man Zombie, walking in front.

“Two more. Let’s deal with them quickly, or the blood will attract more Zombies later,” Ji An bypassed the adult Zombie and went to kill the child Zombie behind it.

Tang Ning felt a moment of disappointment. She thought Ji An, having just saved her, would definitely deal with the adult Zombie.

After all, among similar Zombies, a child Zombie might be easier to deal with than an adult Zombie. A child Zombie was shorter, and she could blow its head off with one swing of the axe. But for an adult Zombie, she couldn’t reach its head without jumping.

However, Tang Ning quickly put away these selfish thoughts in her heart. Ji An had said from the beginning that he was not responsible for her safety. He saved her life, and she should be endlessly grateful. How could she be insatiable and ask for more?

Wouldn’t she then become an ungrateful person like Tang Tang?

Thinking of Tang Tang’s innocent, pitiful, white lotus appearance, Tang Ning felt a layer of goosebumps all over her body and shivered.

She immediately rushed forward and fought with the Zombie. Even if she died, she couldn’t be an ungrateful wretch like Tang Tang.

This time, Tang Ning had experience. She jumped onto a high platform, then held her axe and furiously hacked at the Zombie’s head until it was completely mangled, looking no different from having its head cut off, before she stopped.

The Zombie lay on the ground. Tang Ning searched again, unwilling to give up, but still didn’t find a Zombie Crystal Core.

She was a little frustrated, feeling unlucky. She couldn’t help but feel fortunate that this Zombie was only an ordinary Zombie. Otherwise, if it were an evolved Zombie, she might not have been able to defeat it.

After all, even fighting this ordinary Zombie was hard enough for her.

Tang Ning didn’t find a Zombie Crystal Core and turned to look for Ji An. Ji An had just finished dealing with the small Zombie and was digging for a Zombie Crystal Core.

“Tier 2 Zombie Crystal Core!” Tang Ning exclaimed in surprise.

She never expected that the seemingly weak child Zombie was actually a Tier 2 Zombie. Fortunately, Ji An had let her deal with the ordinary Zombie, otherwise, she might have died there.

Suddenly, Tang Ning remembered something. Just now, she was so caught up in her disappointment that she didn’t notice. Now, thinking back, it seemed Ji An had discovered something at that time, which was why he let her deal with the adult Zombie.

“Mr. Ji, how did you know this child Zombie was an evolved Zombie?” Tang Ning looked at the Zombie Crystal Core, envy showing in her eyes. But it was just envy, without a trace of greed. Tang Ning knew her own strength; she couldn’t possibly defeat a Tier 2 Zombie.

“This child Zombie walked faster than that adult Zombie, and its movements seemed more agile,” Ji An said, putting away the Zombie Crystal Core. “Let’s leave here quickly. The blood will attract more Zombies.”

At this point, they could vaguely hear the peculiar calls characteristic of Zombies coming from a distance. Ji An quickly ran with Tang Ning.

They took a small path, turning around and around, and ended up at a private comprehensive outpatient clinic.

This comprehensive outpatient clinic was a two-story building. The plaque was nowhere to be seen, lost somewhere. The small building had been completely abandoned after seven years of The Apocalypse, becoming a desolate ruin.

The paint had peeled off the walls, revealing mottled, distorted patterns that resembled strange Zombies in The Apocalypse.

All the window glass was broken, with only a few shards of glass occasionally standing on two windows.

The medical supplies and usable medical equipment inside the clinic were gone. Even the examination beds and usable tables and chairs had been moved away, leaving only empty rooms and a chilling atmosphere.

“Mr. Ji, this place has been swept clean. Can we find anything?” Tang Ning didn’t understand why Ji An would come here, and she spoke hesitantly.

“What we’re looking for isn’t here.” Ji An was heading to the basement, although saying basement wasn’t quite right. It should be an underground base.

The reason Ji An knew about this place was because he had heard Chen Chen and Tang Tang mention it when he was a ghost.

When he was a ghost, he could only drift around in Chen Chen’s bedroom. He couldn’t go anywhere else.

All the information he knew was what Chen Chen and Tang Tang discussed in the bedroom.

They said there was a Wo Long Village in Yan City County, Qingfeng City, and there was a hospital built by the Japanese in that village.

Actually, foreign companies like these usually choose big cities. What were they doing building in a small rural village? Providing free medical services? Giving back to society?

Unfortunately, the Japanese didn’t have that kind of spirit towards the Chinese.

This comprehensive outpatient clinic, ostensibly just a clinic, was actually built with an experimental base dug underground when it was constructed.

This experimental base specialized in human experiments, and it was equipped with a complete range of precious medical equipment.

The reason Chen Chen and Tang Tang discussed this was because this place was discovered not long after he died.

Ji An had only overheard it but remembered the place name firmly. At that time, Chen Chen even took out a map and showed Tang Tang the location, which Ji An also remembered.

Actually, Ji An was someone who really enjoyed doing research, and he was very talented in this area.

As soon as he entered university, he was able to join the research lab of a famous professor at Peking University and work on projects with his advisor.

Not only that, he developed a small research project on his own, and the patent fee sold for two hundred thousand yuan.

Unfortunately, The Apocalypse happened later, and Chen Chen and Ji An were constantly on the run, with no time or opportunity for Ji An to do research.

Later, Chen Chen finally managed to become the commander of The Base, but there was no experimental equipment.

Experimental equipment that didn’t cost money had long been taken by the Power Users of the large Bases. And expensive experimental equipment was extremely costly and very difficult to obtain; they simply couldn’t afford the resources to exchange for it.

So Ji An never had the opportunity to do research.

When he was a ghost, in the room when no one was there, Ji An had thought that if he could live his life over again, he would only do two things.

The first thing was revenge.

However, he didn’t want that short-lived revenge, killing the other party directly. He wanted them to be like him when he was a ghost, unable to do anything, only able to watch their enemies rise and find happiness. Their hearts would slowly be tormented, and eventually, their minds would go mad.

Perhaps others seeking revenge wanted to kill their enemies immediately, but Ji An did not. Perhaps being a ghost for too long had made him abnormal, thinking differently from normal people.

Ji An wanted his two enemies to torment each other mentally and physically, like monkeys caught and chained, forced to perform on stage.

And he would be the spectator sitting below, leisurely eating melon seeds and drinking iced soda.

When the monkeys were being tormented, barely alive, he would occasionally clap twice, stimulating these dying monkeys. Then they would be stimulated to get up and jump around again, be tormented again, jump again, and be tormented again.

Finally, unable to bear it any longer, they would end their own lives.

This was the best revenge.

The second thing was that he would no longer compromise for anyone and give up research.

He truly, truly loved doing experiments and research. There were so many things he wanted to invent, and he wanted everyone to use the things he invented.

When he was a ghost, he had already decided on the Base he wanted to go to if he could live again – Jing Shi Base.

In a small Base, he couldn’t get experimental equipment, and he couldn’t do the research he wanted freely.

As for Jing Shi Base, Ji An had heard more than once that this large Base valued scientific research very highly, almost being one of the Bases globally that valued scientific research the most.

Jing Shi Base was Ji An’s final destination after leaving this Base, but he needed something when he went there, like a letter of allegiance.

Otherwise, for a nameless and unknown person like him to arrive at The Base and want to join the most cutting-edge and advanced research team, and freely use precious experimental equipment, it would be a pipe dream. No one with a normal mind would agree to him.

That’s why Ji An thought of detouring here to collect experimental equipment. With this batch of precious supplies, he could join the Jing Shi Base research team.

Even if he couldn’t enter the most advanced team for some reason, he could apply to build his own laboratory. He believed that with this batch of supplies, this would be a very simple request.