Misty mystery

The bee-sized miniature drones scattered from the window, circling over the urban expanse, transmitting real-time images to Ji Yushi's communicator as they flew, projecting holographic images for observation.

"There are survivors in the city," Zhou Mingxuan pointed to a spot on the screen. "Look, there's thick smoke here!"

On the screen, the cityscape gradually emerged.

Dilapidated streets, damaged roads, everywhere indicated that civilized society had disappeared from this city. Like the area they were currently in, other streets also bore only the traces of zombie activity.

"There must be survivors. Weren't we almost hit by that space car just now?" Li Chun said, unable to conceal his anger and regret.

"If it weren't for that space car, Wen-ge wouldn't have been injured like this... I truly couldn't have done any better at that time!" Ji Yushi admitted.

"I was a bit late in reminding you," Ji Yushi confessed.

Li Chun opened his mouth and then said, "Advisor Ji, that's not what I meant."

"Alright, he didn't mean it," Song Qinglan intervened.

Using binoculars, Song Qinglan looked at the location Zhou Mingxuan had pointed out. In the lens, on the rooftop of a building, three or four people were piling up fuel in a large blue drum, while on the ground, a large "SOS" was painted in white paint, indicating their distress.

"Survivors are also awaiting death."

Not far away, the black wall that devoured everything stood silently.

With zombies in front and the black wall behind, these people, like them, were barely surviving, perhaps unaware of when their end might come.

As far as the eye could see, countless zombies were emerging from various buildings, residential areas, subway entrances, and other places. With no "prey" like their kind nearby, these zombies moved like ordinary people, walking aimlessly. As more and more zombies walked onto the streets, the crowded heads resembled a bustling New Year's Eve.

After observing for a few minutes, Song Qinglan frowned. "These zombies seem to retain societal habits?"

Zhou Mingxuan, taking the binoculars, also noticed this. "Strange, are they returning home after a night's sleep, going out for a stroll early in the morning? They truly seem to love life!"

On the other side of the black wall, sunlight bathed the entire city.

Looking at the footage from Ji Yushi's drone, Song Qinglan's stern profile tightened, lost in thought.

During his time at the park management office, Song Qinglan had used a military knife to pry open the eyelids of a dead administrator for observation. That was the closest encounter he had recently. The murky, gray-white eyeballs of the corpse suddenly flashed in his mind, and he realized, "It's the light."

Everyone looked at him.

"We arrived here at 4:30 in the morning. Apart from that homeless man, we didn't encounter a large number of zombies on the road at first. Not until the sun came out—"

There was no need for him to say more.

The first wave of zombies encountered by the team came when the first rays of sunlight shone into the city.

"Look." Song Qinglan pointed to the drone footage. "The zombies are congregating. Many of the places they're coming from are underground passages, subway stations, and buildings. Most of these places are illuminated all night."

"I assume the virus invaded their visual nerves, damaging their eyes, so they can't see clearly. Thus, they have a strong reaction to light. Besides sound and smell, they instinctively follow their kind to chase after brighter places with light," Song Qinglan analyzed.

Listening to the captain's analysis, everyone was enlightened.

Li Chun looked up at the bright crystal lights in the hall and then walked over to turn them off.

Everyone tacitly approved of this action.

But then, another question arose.

"If these light-chasing zombies can be tentatively called 'Light Chasers,' what does the mission target, 'Dark Chasers,' mean?" Ji Yushi asked.

This question remained unanswered for the time being, and no one could answer it.

Zhou Mingxuan pondered, "Shouldn't we travel at night for safety? At night, these creatures will return to their nests on their own, won't they?"

"Not necessarily," Song Qinglan said. "Not all zombies will gather underground. Some will remain outside. Compared to their sensitivity to light, these zombies have a stronger sensitivity to sound and smell. Have you forgotten the fierce battle we just had in the corridor?"

Li Chun added, "That's right, they may be visually impaired, but they're fast!!"

Song Qinglan said, "The most important thing is, regardless of the perspective, we cannot wait for so long."

In the hall, Duan Wen remained unconscious.

Their immediate concern was still to find a pharmacy, to get medication and anti-inflammatory drugs for Duan Wen. Otherwise, not to mention his leg, his life might not be preserved.

Song Qinglan was a very proactive person, and in a short time, he had already sorted out his thoughts. He enlarged the current building's aerial view. "Moreover, the current situation is actually advantageous for us."

"Just now, Tang Le and Zhou Mingxuan took a look around. Apart from the elevators that cannot be used, Runjin Building still has four fire escape stairs."

"The left corridor is blocked. The one we came up just now is even more so. That leaves us with only two options. It's hard to say which one is better."

"Going down the fire escape stairs will lead us directly into the underground passage—now that most of the zombies are on the streets, the underground is relatively safer than the surface. The underground passage connects to the main road, which is the surface exit."

Song Qinglan drew a green line on the holographic map, analyzing quickly.

"Based on the real-time situation transmitted by the drone, after exiting from the surface exit, we can take the route with the fewest zombies and quickly find a pharmacy or hospital. This is the ideal breakout method. The only problem is: which fire escape route to choose."

Li Chun: "It's a fifty-fifty chance, a fifty percent chance of success."

Zhou Mingxuan elbowed him. "Why don't you say there's also a fifty percent chance of dying if we choose wrong?"

Li Chun looked at Tang Le and winked at Zhou Mingxuan. "Lao Zhou, you're wrong. People always have to think positively!"

Just as they were speaking, the drone footage suddenly flickered and went black.

A prompt appeared on the projection: [Warning, drone offline].

"Damn it! The Black Wall is moving over here!" Zhou Mingxuan walked to the window and glanced out, cursing angrily. "We need to move quickly!"

Everyone was startled.

Sure enough, that Black Wall, quietly and without warning, had spread out and had already moved to the street where the convenience store was located. Not only did it "consume" the drone, but it was also about to encroach upon them!

Originally, there was a time difference of a few minutes to synchronize the footage from the drone to generate the map. Who knew that they had just made a plan, and it was truly a case of a calamity occurring just as they patched the roof!

Song Qinglan couldn't help but slap the table.

Ji Yushi checked the storage situation. "It's okay. I've memorized the route map. I can draw the nearest pharmacy and hospital."

"After hastily scanning the image data, countless streets are distributed. Can you draw?" Song Qinglan held back his anger, raising an eyebrow slightly. "Are you a bit too confident?"

Ji Yushi glanced at the Black Wall, then at the time on the communicator. "What if I draw it?"

Song Qinglan: "..."

Seeing his urgency, Ji Yushi continued, "I won't draw so much. Drawing the most suitable route for advancement is enough. Give me five minutes."

Everyone: "???"

Was Advisor Ji going crazy?!

* 

Ji Yushi finished drawing the map in less than five minutes.

At first, everyone thought he was just talking, after all, how could one person remember all the unfamiliar routes and the conditions of each road? But as the map became more and more complete, with the north, south, east, and west directions seamless, Ji Yushi's effortless sketching actions made everyone secretly astonished, not daring to underestimate him.

When the route map was completely presented, Song Qinglan quickly scanned it once and then sent the route map to everyone's communicator group, hastily saying, "Split up. If you get separated, meet up at the designated location. When passing by a pharmacy, if conditions permit, try to find bandages, anti-inflammatory drugs, splints, and other items, as many as possible. When you see the Black Wall, run for your lives. Zombies are nothing compared to the Black Wall."

Everyone: "Understood!"

Outside the window, there was a dark mass, and the Black Wall covered the light of the sky, about to encroach upon them.

Zombies gathered in the building, even more so outside on the streets. In the two years since the establishment of the Seventh Team, they had never reached such a desperate situation unknowingly.

Li Chun: "Tang Le and I will go to the southeast corner!"

Zhou Mingxuan, carrying a gun, said, "Captain, Ji Yushi and I will take Lao Duan to the northeast corner!"

"Damn PU-31, damn Black Wall zombies! If I die, remember to write down an address when burning paper!" Li Chun wiped his eyes, a determined look on his face. "Burn a couple more for the girls!"

"You jerk, aren't you afraid of Advisor Ji laughing at you?"

Li Chun grumbled, "Pah, maybe Advisor Ji even requests to burn some muscular men."

The others shoved him playfully.

Even Ji Yushi didn't feel that this group of people was unorthodox at the moment.

He glanced at Song Qinglan. How did he manage to train such a group of people under his command? It seemed that they weren't as disagreeable as he had imagined.

"All right, I'll burn eight for you."

A sudden voice from Duan Wen came over the public channel.

Hearing that he was awake, everyone quickly walked to the dimly lit hall after turning off the lights, and they were all surprised!

Apart from the dark red bloodstains on the sofa, there was no trace of Duan Wen to be found!

Song Qinglan realized something. "Duan Wen!!"

The captain's angry shout no longer frightened Duan Wen. He continued to speak on the public channel, "I have a fever. Following you outside means death, so I might as well make a contribution. What the hell kind of mission is this, tsk."

Static came from Duan Wen's communicator.

What was that sound? Everyone heard it very clearly.

"Brother Wen! Where are you?!"

"Old Duan, where the hell did you go?"

Duan Wen said, "Stop the damn whining, I'm helping you save time."

"No need to split up." "Captain, this road is blocked. Take the fire escape in the northeast corner. Hurry, the Black Wall is coming."

The chaotic footsteps in the corridor were transmitted through the communicator.

"Heh heh—"

"Bang!" The sound of a gunshot rang out.