Chapter 25: The Basement

The contents recorded in the notebook ended here.

"It seems a zombie virus has indeed broken out in the prison."

"But this hint is a bit too obvious, isn't it? The safe combination in the armory is Left 6, Right 2, Left 11..."

Fang Heng muttered under his breath.

"Is it blatantly telling me to go find the safe?"

"Such an obvious hint... could it be a trap?"

Fang Heng flipped further back.

On the last page of the diary, there was a passage recorded.

The handwriting was quite messy, likely written in haste.

"I'm sorry!

I'm sorry!

I was too scared! My body wouldn't listen to me, I just wanted to run at the time...

It's all my fault!

God! What kind of stupid thing have I done!!

I was the one who locked them all in the basement!

I am a coward! I am a piece of trash who killed my friends and colleagues!

...

The team leader was right, this isn't a riot, it's an infectious disease!

Building 3 is already surrounded by crazed infected, and I can't get out either...

The only way out is the basement, but it's already occupied by monsters.

Whoever you are, if you see this note, please tell those who come later that there are monsters in the basement. I will hide the basement entrance key in the safe in a moment.

Whatever you do, do not open the basement door on your own!

I'm sorry, Team Leader, I'll be joining you very soon..."

In the next second, several lines of game prompts refreshed in Fang Heng's mission log.

[Prompt: You have completed the reading.]

[Prompt: You have triggered the hidden mission—The Officer's Diary.]

Mission Name: The Officer's Diary.

Mission Description: Find the basement entrance key.

Mission Difficulty:???

Mission Reward: Survival Points.

Additional Note: The faster you complete the mission, the more rewards you will receive.

After reading the note, Fang Heng fell silent.

So this prison guard locked his teammates in with the zombies just to save his own skin?

Tsk tsk tsk...

Bad teammates are truly terrifying.

Fang Heng couldn't help but lament in his heart.

Hidden missions could also be triggered in the game, and generally speaking, the rewards for hidden missions were quite high.

Fang Heng opened the game log again to scan it, attempting to assess the risk of this mission.

The zombies had already completed their exploration of the 1st and 2nd floors of the prison work area and were currently clearing the 3rd floor.

The danger on the 2nd floor was minimal.

Assessment complete.

Fang Heng made a simple judgment.

The rewards far outweighed the risks.

He would take this mission!

Since he had decided to accept the mission, Fang Heng aimed for the highest reward and tried to finish it as quickly as possible.

Fang Heng extinguished the campfire, stood up, and looked up at the wall.

A layout map of the entire prison was posted on the wall of the entrance hall.

"The diary said the safe was in the armory..."

Fang Heng tried to find the location of the armory on the layout map.

Found it—the last room on the second floor.

Fang Heng pulled a mace from his backpack, summoned five zombie clones to follow him, and entered the 2nd floor via the main stairs in the hall.

The zombie clones sent out for "AFK" tasks could handle scouting, scavenging, and killing enemies simultaneously.

Unfortunately, their intelligence was insufficient; when they encountered doors they couldn't open, they wouldn't choose to smash them down to force entry, but would instead take a detour.

These locked rooms might hide zombies and supplies.

Originally, Fang Heng had planned to save these "blind boxes" for Liao Bufan to open tomorrow.

In front of the armory door.

Fang Heng tried to turn the doorknob.

As expected, the armory was locked from the inside.

Fang Heng also tried pressing his ear against the wooden door to listen.

There were sounds of zombies inside, and quite a few of them.

With a wave of his hand, Fang Heng signaled the zombie clones behind him to smash the door.

In just three minutes, the door was broken down.

Several zombies staggered toward Fang Heng outside the room.

"Ssh! Ssh!"

The zombie clones blocking the doorway were well-prepared, using long spears to continuously repel the zombies, stabbing several holes into them.

After dozens of such cycles, the remaining zombies inside the room were cleared out.

Fang Heng walked into the armory to inspect it.

Like the outside, the interior of the armory was a mess, looking as if it had been looted.

The firearms on the shelves had also been emptied, leaving only some scattered bullets.

Bullets were good items—rare resources.

Fang Heng collected them one by one into his player inventory.

[Prompt: You have obtained Common Pistol Bullets *237.]

The old-fashioned green safe described in the diary was placed in the right corner of the armory, visible at a glance.

"Left 6, Right 2, Left 11..."

Fang Heng stepped forward and carefully turned the numbers on the dial.

*Click.*

With a light, crisp sound, the safe was opened.

Fang Heng pulled open the safe.

Inside the safe lay a pistol and a ring of keys, resting quietly.

"There really is a gun!"

Fang Heng's eyes lit up as he picked up the pistol.

Item: Pistol - Colt M4000.

Description: A modified Colt M4000 pistol. Can hold 12 rounds. Slightly increases critical hit rate.

Good stuff!

Firearms were excellent items in the apocalypse and held extremely high value among players, especially in the dangerous early stages when they posed the greatest threat to players!

Fang Heng was certain someone would be willing to pay a high price for it.

And then there was this ring of keys.

Fang Heng picked up the keychain and weighed it in his hand.

He estimated that the keys to the entire Building 3 work area were all here.

That was fine; he wouldn't have to smash every single door tomorrow.

As Fang Heng put the keys away, game prompts appeared again.

[Prompt: You have found the basement entrance key.]

[Prompt: You have completed the mission—The Officer's Diary, obtaining 15 Survival Points.]

[Prompt: You may choose from the following options:]

[Option 1: Attempt to explore the basement.]

[Option 2: Sell the key to any Doomsday Merchant for 100 Survival Points.]

"This mission is a bit strange."

Fang Heng scrutinized the mission prompt.

"Although the mission provides options, it didn't force me to make a choice right now."

After thinking it over, Fang Heng decided to go check out the basement first.

He intended to build the prison into a shelter.

If a group of zombies was gathered in the basement, how could he possibly sleep well at night?

Fang Heng led his zombie clones back to the first floor via the same route.

The entrance to the basement passage was located next to the right-side warehouse, making it quite concealed.

There were even three layers of iron doors installed on the outside.

"No way, the security measures are this good?"

Fang Heng muttered as he rummaged through the keychain for the corresponding key.

He slowly marked each key until he opened the final door.

Behind the door was a long corridor.

The lighting was exceptionally dim, and patches of dried blood could be seen along the hallway.

Two zombies scouted ahead while Fang Heng followed slowly behind.

After walking about a dozen steps, Fang Heng suddenly heard a faint sound.

What was that sound!

Fang Heng froze in his tracks.

"Scritch, scratch..."

Listening closely, it sounded like something was scraping against the wall.

The sound was getting closer.

Fang Heng's pupils constricted slightly.

"Big trouble!"

Realizing the gravity of the situation, Fang Heng cursed loudly and turned to run.

Mutated Zombie—Spider!

A zombie with high-speed crawling abilities! They move extremely fast and can climb all kinds of terrain! They are experts at breaking into player-built shelters.

They can crawl into your shelter through any gap and forcibly drag you from the real world back into the game!

Because they constantly crawl on walls and their limbs become exceptionally long after mutation, they are also referred to by players as—Spider Zombies!