Chapter 56: Corpse Vine Parasite

"Sizzzz..."

The corpses with burst heads on the ground also began to emit faint sounds.

Fang Heng could see tiny vines gradually extending from the wounds on the corpses' necks.

Not only that, but the faint sounds were even coming from the rows of freezers on both sides!

Kunba's scalp went numb.

This was the first time he had seen such a terrifying sight. He immediately shone his flashlight toward the freezers on both sides.

To his horror, he discovered that tiny, elongated objects were actually crawling out from the gaps in several morgue lockers.

What on earth were those things?

Vines?!

"Fang Heng..."

Kunba's breathing grew heavy.

"We're in trouble. They're Vine Zombies."

The scene before him overlapped with a specific type of zombie Fang Heng had encountered in his body's memories.

This was an extremely rare type of zombie.

They belonged to the category of Tier-2 Mutated Zombies.

Players called them—Vine Zombies.

According to his body's memories, Vine Zombies moved relatively slowly, but they had incredibly high health pools and could use vines for auxiliary attacks.

Once a player got close, the Vine Zombies would use branches extending from their bodies at extreme speeds to bind the player tightly!

They were a nightmare for melee combatants.

The only reliable way to kill them was through ranged methods!

"Quick!! Follow me!"

Fang Heng pulled the bolt of his gun and stepped forward rapidly.

"Boom!"

"Boom!"

Two shots.

Large holes were blasted into the bodies of the two Vine Zombies blocking the doorway, sending them flying backward.

They were not dead.

Tiny vine tentacles immediately extended from within the large holes to seal the wounds.

They slowly began to crawl up from the ground once again.

"Hurry!"

Taking advantage of the fact that not all the Vine Zombies in the morgue had fully awakened, the two of them ran quickly out of the room.

Fang Heng slammed the morgue door shut.

However, because the power had failed, the door could not be locked.

No matter; they would stall for as long as they could.

Fang Heng casually took several wooden frames from his backpack and used them to block the doorway.

The two immediately headed back toward the generator room.

...

Inside the room, Hao Zhou and the others were gathered around, studying the materials they had stripped from the generator set.

In the Zombie Apocalypse game, generator sets held extremely high value, and players were unable to craft them.

In the early stages, due to insufficient player levels, Kunta could only dismantle some useful materials from a generator set, and doing so would reduce the quality of the materials obtained.

Seeing Fang Heng and Kunba running back from the door in a frantic state, everyone stood up instantly and entered a state of alert.

"What happened?"

"Quick! Find a way to restore the power in the basement!"

Kunta froze and responded instinctively, "I can't. I can't do it. My electronic manufacturing level is too low. To restore it, I would need a skill level of at least 10."

Kunba's heart sank upon hearing this.

Hao Zhou asked, "So urgent? Did something happen?"

"There are zombies in the basement!"

As Kunba spoke, he shifted his gaze toward Fang Heng.

Previously, he had only seen the eerie zombies reviving in the basement before being dragged away by Fang Heng in a desperate escape.

To be honest, he wasn't entirely sure what exactly had happened inside the basement.

"The director of this hospital was conducting T-Virus research in the morgue. They are a type of zombie scientifically known as Corpse-Vine Parasites."

"These zombies are sensitive to temperature. They enter a dormant state in low-temperature environments. Under normal circumstances, researchers keep a large number of Corpse-Vine Parasite zombies dormant in the freezers in the underground morgue."

"After the zombie apocalypse arrived, the backup generator kept the basement at freezing temperatures, so these zombies remained in a dormant state."

"Once the generator failed and the temperature rose, the dormant Corpse-Vine Parasites began to awaken."

Fang Heng quickly gave a brief summary of what he knew.

The group became instantly tense upon hearing this.

Very few people had ever heard of the name "Corpse-Vine Parasite."

"What is the strength of the mutated zombies?"

Fang Heng said in a heavy voice, "Players call Corpse-Vine Parasites 'Vine Zombies.' Their strength is equivalent to Tier-2 Mutated Zombies. They possess extremely high lethality at close range. If you encounter them, whatever you do, do not get close!"

The expressions of the group shifted once again.

The higher the mutation level of a zombie, the higher its strength!

Spider Zombies were roughly considered the strongest representatives of the Tier-1 Mutated Zombie class.

Corpse-Vine Parasites were even harder to deal with than Spider Zombies!

"This is bad... how could it be Vine Zombies..."

Hao Zhou had also heard his comrades mention Vine Zombies before.

His expression was exceptionally solemn.

"After the power outage, the electronic doors in the morgue also failed. These Corpse-Vine Parasites will soon fully awaken; they could come for us at any moment."

Hao Zhou looked at Sister Li and asked, "Sister Li, how is your recovery going?"

"It's not fully restored yet. If I force the use of my skill now, I can only maintain the barrier for a maximum of six minutes."

Only six minutes? That was too short!

When they first entered the town, they had lured away most of the zombies, which allowed them to save a lot of time.

But if they were to escape now, time would be even tighter.

The noise from the explosions would attract zombies, doubling the level of danger.

Six short minutes wouldn't be nearly enough.

"We still have time. It's possible the Corpse-Vine Parasites might remain hunkered down on the first basement level."

After a brief moment of thought, Hao Zhou made a quick decision.

"The Corpse-Vine Parasites move slowly. Even if they catch up to us, we can simply abandon the mission and leave from here."

"If we don't use explosions to attract nearby zombies, the pressure we face while escaping will be much lower."

Upon hearing this, the team members thought it over and began to nod in unison.

The mission rewards were good, but they had to be obtained on the premise of staying alive.

Everyone only had three chances at death and rebirth; no one wanted to waste one like this.

After a brief discussion, everyone began to prepare for the upcoming battle.

Fang Heng, meanwhile, continued to flip through the experimental manual he had just obtained from the research room.

[5.2]

1. The parasitic efficiency of the Corpse-Vine is much faster than we imagined. To increase efficiency, we have manufactured a large number of Corpse-Vine Parasites. Hiding them inside freezers is a good choice.

2. The experiment has not yet commenced, but the company wishes for us to begin preparations for the next stage immediately, attempting to fuse them with living humans.

3. Fine, I need some healthy living humans for testing. The Director will find a way for us.

[5.10]

1. Out of twenty-seven living subjects, only one experiment was successful. His name is Alex. After being parasitized and infected, Alex exhibited extreme instability; he is brutal and bloodthirsty, attacking all types of anomalous creatures.

2. We want to find more living humans for testing, but this town is truly not large. The recent unexpected disappearances in the town have already attracted a small amount of attention. It is necessary for us to pause for the time being.