"Damn it, what on earth is going on?!" Chu Xun's expression grew increasingly serious as he looked at the tightly shut door behind him.
Even though he was still several meters away from the iron door, he could still feel the powerful suction coming from it, along with the characteristic tingling sensation of high-voltage electricity. Clearly, the current attached to the door was extremely powerful and could easily fry him to a crisp.
With that thought, Chu Xun immediately took a few steps forward to distance himself from the door.
Only then did he continue observing the hospital around him.
Like the other parts of the base, the hospital was eerily silent, with not a sound to be heard.
The hospital wasn't very tall, but it was expansive. It was designed in a circular layout, maximizing the use of the underground space, which was relatively low in height but wide in scope.
At that moment, Chu Xun was standing at the hospital's entrance. In front of him were several wide corridors and two spiral staircases. Not far from the stairs were some elevators for entry and exit.
"Let me see if there are any other exits..." Stuck in this strange place, Chu Xun didn't dare to let his guard down. He looked around and then walked toward the center of the first-floor lobby.
There, he found a floor plan of the entire hospital.
"What a huge hospital..." After glancing at the hospital's floor plan, Chu Xun furrowed his brow.
The hospital was even larger than he expected, and the internal structure was quite complicated. However, what truly troubled him was that this hospital seemed to have only one entrance and exit—behind him.
This was highly unscientific!
"Central Control Room. It looks like if I want to get out, I'll have to go there first!" Looking at the most important location on the map, the room specially marked with a red symbol, Chu Xun's eyes narrowed.
There was no way the hospital's main door was locked or electrified without reason. He was sure that someone—or some other intelligent being—was waiting for him inside. The most likely place where he would encounter them was the Central Control Room.
However, when Chu Xun thought about the strange impulse he had just felt, a wave of unease and tension washed over him. Humans were instinctively afraid of the unknown, and he'd rather face a Tyrant Elite than a mysterious enemy who could affect his emotions.
But, in the end, he had to face it. Moreover, time was of the essence, and he couldn't delay for too long. So after taking a deep breath, Chu Xun and the Alien began heading toward the Central Control Room.
The Central Control Room was located at the center of the entire hospital. It was accessible through various paths, including the corridors, elevators, or staircases. However, Chu Xun didn't choose the most convenient elevator but instead walked toward the circular staircase.
Although the elevator would be quicker, it was also the least under his control and thus the most dangerous. Moreover, after glancing at the map, he saw that taking this route would lead him past the pharmacy, where he might find unexpected surprises.
As he walked along, the entire hospital was eerily quiet, with only the monotonous sound of Chu Xun's footsteps echoing, growing louder in the otherwise silent space.
*Whoosh!*
Just then, a tiny shadow darted past the far corridor at lightning speed. The shadow moved so fast, and the lighting in the distance was so dim, that Chu Xun couldn't make out what it was.
"Chase!" However, seeing the strange black shadow flash by, Chu Xun's eyes sharpened, and he immediately leapt toward it.
At the same time, the Alien shot forward, outpacing Chu Xun, like a hunting dog chasing its prey.
However, what Chu Xun didn't notice was that, just as he and the Alien gave chase, a security camera in the corner not far away subtly adjusted its direction. The blood-red indicator light on the camera blinked ominously in the dark corner.
"Hehehe..." At the same time, a cold laugh suddenly echoed from the Central Control Room.
"That's fast!" Chu Xun prided himself on his speed, and the Alien was even faster, but despite this, when they reached the staircase, they had already lost track of the shadow.
Ahead, the lights of several rooms flickered, faintly illuminating the corridor.
The hallway was littered with scattered medical equipment, and in many places, there were dark red, dried bloodstains. Clearly, there had been a disturbance here. Yet, like the outside, there were no bodies or remnants of the victims, as if all those who had perished had been entirely consumed by something. The sight was chilling.
"Disinfection room, delivery room, nursery..." Carefully proceeding, Chu Xun mentally mapped the rooms based on the hospital's layout. But for some unknown reason, his sense of impending danger only grew stronger as he went further, as if a massive threat lay ahead.
"Should I keep going?" Chu Xun trusted his instincts, so he immediately stopped, hesitating.
"Maybe I should take another path?" After a moment of contemplation, Chu Xun made up his mind and began to withdraw.
For the unknown dangers, he preferred to avoid them when he could!
"Ah!" But just as Chu Xun was about to retreat, a piercing scream, like a cat's cry in the night, suddenly rang out from behind him, filling him with a strong sense of impending doom.
"Shit, it's behind me!" Feeling the sharp gust of wind coming from behind, Chu Xun didn't hesitate for a second. Without turning around, he lunged forward.
Luckily, he reacted quickly. Just as he leaped off his original spot, a small black shadow shot toward him, crashing into the spot where he had been standing.
*Boom!*
With a dull thud, the spot where Chu Xun had been standing just a moment ago was hit by the force, creating a small crater. The hard ceramic tiles shattered and scattered like bullets in all directions.
"This..." After narrowly dodging the terrifying strike, Chu Xun finally had a chance to turn around and see what his attacker looked like. But the next moment, his face paled.
It wasn't because the creature was disgusting or terrifying, but because the creature... was a baby!
That's right, the creature that had just attacked Chu Xun was a baby—or rather, a zombie baby!
"Dammit, I actually encountered a baby corpse!" Staring at the grayish-white, fang-baring, sharp-nailed, and even spiked baby corpse, Chu Xun's face turned even darker.
A baby corpse was an extremely rare yet powerful type of special zombie!
The conditions for a baby corpse to form were incredibly harsh. First, the mother of the baby corpse had to be a powerful ability user. The stronger the mother's abilities, the higher the chance of a baby corpse being born and the stronger it would be.
Secondly, the mother had to be infected by the concentrated virus of an evolved zombie, which suppressed the life energy in her body to maintain balance.
Lastly, the mother had to die just before giving birth. This would cause the baby inside to turn into a zombie. The baby corpse would then consume the mother's body, becoming an independent entity.
These harsh conditions made baby corpses extremely rare, and they eventually became a terrifying "boogeyman" used to scare children.
But Chu Xun hadn't expected to encounter one here!
"Dammit, today is definitely my unlucky day!" Seeing the zombie baby just three meters away from him, Chu Xun instinctively swallowed and groaned inwardly.
Zombie babies were highly combat-capable because they had not been interfered with by human factors. Their combat style was more animalistic and cunning, and their bodies were purely evolved for killing and combat. Even the weakest baby corpse was at the peak of the first tier, with the strongest having no confirmed limit.
The strongest one to date had not been killed or captured, but many ability users had perished at its hands, including one who reached the fifth tier!
"Hehehe, come on, my little babies, tear this poor soul apart!" The mysterious figure in the Central Control Room suddenly laughed menacingly as he watched the baby corpse and Chu Xun on the monitor.
"Ah!" As if influenced by the mysterious figure's voice, the zombie baby suddenly screeched loudly. Its tiny body then shot forward, faster than lightning, aiming directly for Chu Xun!
"Hiss!" The zombie baby's speed was incredible. In the blink of an eye, it appeared in front of Chu Xun. However, just then, a shadow rushed forward and slammed into the baby corpse's small body with tremendous force.
*Bang!*
With a muffled thud, the zombie baby was hit hard by the Alien's long tail and sent crashing to the ground, its tiny body smashing into the tiles, causing them to shatter.
To Chu Xun's surprise, the zombie baby possessed an immense physical strength that was completely disproportionate to its tiny body. Despite the Alien's full-force strike, it only left a deep bloodstain on the baby corpse and didn't manage to seriously injure it.
"Good, at least we can handle it..." Seeing the baby corpse quickly get back up, Chu Xun sighed in relief.
This zombie baby was troublesome, but it seemed to be the weakest of its kind, posing no real threat to him.
"Ah!"
"Ah!"
"Ah!"
However, once again, Chu Xun's luck proved to be terrible.
Just as he sighed in relief, a series of shrill cries echoed from the nursery.
The zombie babies—there were not just one, but a whole group!