Chapter 295: 21 The Situation Becomes Clear

Chapter 295: Chapter 21 The Situation Becomes Clear

“Biological research sample?”

Li Yan’s eyes swirled, and without batting an eyelid, he asked, “Could it fetch a decent price from Kuang Zhuoma?”

Song Zuo was quite tactful. He didn’t press Li Yan on how he survived under an F1 grenade, and he didn’t mention the bizarre and exaggerated shotgun. Instead, he volunteered a piece of information to Li Yan.

Song Zuo glanced at Li Yan’s face, gave a light smile, brushed the dirt off his body, and walked towards the small building that had just been raided by the military sabre-wielding living corpse. “The starting price is a hundred thousand. The specific price depends on the contents of the sample. Ha, but we Wilderness Hunters don’t have the skill or the eye to assess the value of a sample. We take whatever price we’re told.”

He took out a roll of medical gauze from his shiny leather jacket and wrapped it around his neck. “I originally thought you might be a spy sent by other large organizations to interfere or even steal Kuang Zhuoma’s results. I didn’t want that kind of trouble, but now it seems you are not.”

He put away his Angry Shocker, and in two strides, caught up, “So, you mean, I don’t look like those genetically modified soldiers from the big organizations?”

Li Yan was thankful he hadn’t shown too much surprise just now.

“No, you’re too much like one, with clean clothes, an uncommon weapon, and your speech, combat style. Who else would bother to make an old-fashioned long rifle out of high-strength alloy, besides those young masters born into the safety zones drawn by big corporations, who grew up with a silver spoon in their mouths? An old hand in the wilderness wouldn’t make such a mistake, especially your skin. It’s free of disease, which is fair since you’re a third-tier genetic soldier, but the pigmentation from UV rays doesn’t lie. You’ve hardly lived outdoors. No spy would be this clumsy.”

He continued talking to himself, then added, “Hey, luckily you’re quite skilled. Let me guess… Han Chinese, from a big company. Black Star chariots? No, they’ve been in trouble recently. Yunhai Pharmaceuticals then, from Area Y, known for Wandering Deity and Psychic Mover, and there are especially many melee weapon fanatics in Area Y.”

“Old man, you’ve got quite the imagination.”

Li Yan smiled dismissively and let Song Zuo guess as he pleased.

Apart from being warned in the initial exploration records not to reveal “Legacy Projection” to any living person, Li Yan wasn’t concerned about arousing suspicion, even if he openly said he was Yan Fu walking the earth, no one would believe it. After all, compared to the explanation of “coming from another world,” no matter how bizarre the origins, everything would seem reasonable.

Perhaps the brief side-by-side battle had brought Li Yan and Song Zuo closer, and their conversation flowed much more smoothly. Li Yan knew his sniper rifle was left in the building, but under these circumstances, a legendary firearm that couldn’t be used and a still reliable, living, and strong-firepower sniper didn’t seem like much to choose between.

“Why tell me there’s a research sample in the building? You went to a lot of trouble, and now the living corpses in that building are almost wiped out. Are you just going to let me have a share for free? Because I saved your life just now.”

Song Zuo glanced at Li Yan and said, “First, we don’t owe each other anything. At most, we’re even. Remember when you were speaking through the loudspeaker? I fired a shot. Second…”

He paused for a moment and then shook his head bitterly, “I underestimated those living corpses. I can’t get the stuff in the building on my own.”

“What do you mean ‘even’? Who was that shot for?”

Li Yan asked, sure now that the shot wasn’t fired at him.

Song Zuo suddenly snorted coldly but didn’t speak.

After that, the two reached the rooftop. Song Zuo saw his simple pack and the RS107, which he had dropped under the satellite dish during the sudden attack. He walked over, grabbed the rifle, and straightened up instantly. Then he took a thumb-sized injector from the box, rolled up his sleeve to reveal an arm full of black holes, and jabbed the needle in.

Li Yan originally didn’t care much, but after carefully observing the syringes scattered on the ground, his eyebrows involuntarily twitched.

[es Hematopoietic Cell Enhancer] (mixture): Efficacy brief

Li Yan licked his lips, “I’ve never seen anyone use this. Is it a new kind of hallucinogen?”

“Medicine. My hematopoietic tissue has mutated, similar to sepsis.”

The old man casually replied, such things were commonplace in his upbringing environment, there was nothing to hide.

“So many injections? You must be close to death. These days, using hallucinogens isn’t shameful. What is it that you can’t admit?”

Li Yan said with a deliberate chuckle.

Song Zuo, irritated, was loading bullets, disgusted by the frivolity of the man in front of him, yet patiently answered, “The medicines from Big Ben all have unique identifiers; Pompeii Armaments doesn’t sell hallucinogens.”

Li Yan observed closely and indeed, each syringe had a mark at the bottom, above was the iconic British landmark Big Ben, and below that, a solemn purple-faced person that reminded one of political figures on banknotes. It must be the so-called Pompeii Armaments.

Storing this information in his mind, Li Yan didn’t dwell on it any longer and got straight to the point, “How did you know about the research samples in the building?”

Song Zuo handed Li Yan a notebook, “I found it while I was scavenging.”

When Li Yan took it, it was full of dense letters. It was apparent that among the Wilderness Hunters who scoured the outskirts, more than one had stumbled upon slight clues about the secrets hidden within Great Demon Lake.

The notebook seemed to be a diary, or perhaps a family letter. Song Zuo pointed out two pages for Li Yan to read.

“Natasha, you have no idea what kind of project we’re involved in. When I was transferred from group 717, I complained since the group focused on ground effect vehicle research was just about the highest-level project I had encountered. But you’d never guess…”

“Six Yak, haha, probably because the funds poured into them are comparable to the cost of a Yak fighter jet. Out of tens of thousands of valid research samples, only six were successful…”

“I’m not sure about the location of the main research lab, I was blindfolded both times I went there… Guess who I saw there? Li Senke of the Big Ben Research Institute! The Red Bishop of our country’s genetics!”

The many accounts that followed were mainly about the excitement of meeting a research idol, and showing off, which were probably meant for the writer’s own eyes. Indeed, it mentioned some research samples that had not undergone clinical trials were stored in that building, with the room number precisely listed. Along with the existence of those zombies wielding Chachik Military Sabres, it suggested there really were things inside the burnt black building remains.

“It’s not just those zombies with Chachik Military Sabres; nearby the building, there are also zombies using high-powered sniper rifles.”

Li Yan was initially startled, but then he understood something.

These zombies were divided into two groups: one with sniper rifles aimed to shoot him, and keen sabre-wielding zombies tasked with chasing after Song Zuo. Song Zuo saw the sniper zombie by chance during their negotiation, which led him to shoot but was then immediately ambushed by a sabre-wielding zombie. Due to the uncanny timing and urgent situation, Song Zuo briefly entertained the illusion that Li Yan was coordinating with the group of zombies, only to realize later that it was truly just a coincidence.