While everyone was examining the fallen corpse, a roar echoed from a distant passage, and then they saw a dozen zombies emerge — the same ones that had just attacked the soldiers.
These creatures weren't like regular zombies. They didn't eat flesh — they only drank blood. They ran as fast as an average human, maybe even faster, and their bodies didn't look decayed at all, unlike traditional zombies.
Judging by the clothes they wore, they had likely been human centuries — perhaps even millennia — ago, clad in iron or leather armor.
There's no way ordinary zombies could survive that long without rotting.
"Open fire!!" Lin Ye saw the monsters emerging and immediately ordered the soldiers to shoot. They obeyed, opening fire wildly on the vampires sprinting toward them. Javier took aim and killed one with a single shot to the head.
Seeing how effective a headshot was, he immediately shouted:
"Aim for the head!"
Soon, the vampires reached them. Javier drew his combat knife and decapitated one of the creatures that had gotten too close. He then ran to assist the others. These vampires behaved just like zombies — going into a frenzy at the sight of living humans.
After knocking down a soldier, one of the vampires bit into his neck and began sucking his blood.
The entire battle lasted just over ten minutes. More than a dozen vampires were killed, but unfortunately, Javier's team suffered five casualties.
"Commander, what should we do now?" Krauser stepped forward and asked.
"There's no other path left. We can only keep moving forward," Javier replied calmly.
Upon hearing Javier's words, everyone entered the passage.
The corridor was pitch black, and with the help of a few glow sticks to light the way, they proceeded cautiously.
There were many corpses and weapons scattered across the floor, as if a battle had taken place there.
After passing through the tunnel, the sight that greeted them was shocking. A massive, deep shaft stood before them, with a wooden elevator suspended in it, held by iron chains from top to bottom.
Above their heads, a hole let sunlight shine straight down, seemingly all the way to the floor.
"Great, we can finally get out of here," Lin Ye said with relief. He was sick of that place.
"Sir, I found supplies and some research equipment over there," a soldier reported.
Following the soldier, Javier discovered that the items were not new and looked quite old — at least several decades old.
While searching the area, Javier found a journal. He immediately opened it and began reading. The author was a scientist named Claude.
As it turned out, near the end of World War II, the German army had discovered this place. Upon learning of the monsters living there, Hitler ordered Claude to lead a team to explore it, attempting to harness the mysterious power within to change the course of the war.
When Claude and his men arrived, they were attacked by vampires. All the soldiers were killed — only Claude and his assistant survived. They eventually descended into a deep pit below. From that point on, there was no further contact.
It appeared Claude and his assistant were now dead as well, and no one knew what lay at the bottom of that pit.
Javier was intrigued.
"Lin Ye, take the remaining soldiers topside. Krauser and I will investigate below. Be prepared for anything." After hearing Javier's words, Lin Ye simply nodded in obedience. He had no desire to go down there.
The soldiers prepared ropes and began to ascend. Once the first ones reached the surface, they helped the others climb up.
"Be careful. I'll be waiting for you up there," Lin Ye said before beginning his ascent.
Once everyone had gone up, Javier and Krauser entered the elevator. They activated the switch, and the wooden structure began to descend slowly.
No one knew how deep the shaft was. The elevator went down for several minutes before finally reaching the bottom. Once out, the two looked around cautiously.
A greenish mist filled the air. It was impossible to tell if it was toxic. As a precaution, they put on their gas masks and continued onward.
They walked down a narrow passage until they reached an opening ahead. When they passed through, the sight that greeted them left them speechless.
They had arrived at a platform surrounded by glowing crystals that lit the entire space with a soft, magical radiance.
Green spores spread across the floor, and a long corridor stretched out in front of them, fading into the distance.
"It's so beautiful here," Krauser whispered, mesmerized.
"The more beautiful a place is, the more dangerous it tends to be. We need to be careful," Javier replied seriously.
Krauser nodded silently, understanding the gravity of the situation.
The two jumped down from the platform and began walking through the corridor. The scenery around them was breathtaking — almost surreal. As they advanced, they carefully observed every detail. For a brief moment, Javier wondered if they had reached the center of the Earth.
The corridor seemed endless. They walked for more than ten minutes, but the end was still nowhere in sight.
"Sir, look ahead," Krauser said, pointing to something in the distance.
Following his gesture, Javier spotted two bodies lying on the ground.
They approached cautiously. One of the bodies had decomposed into bones. The other was disturbing — half of the body had turned into a skeleton, while the other half still retained a human appearance, as if decomposition had been halted midway. The contrast was grotesque. And yet... the body appeared to be alive.
As Javier and Krauser watched, the corpse suddenly opened its eyes and stared at them. The two immediately stepped back in shock.
Krauser drew his pistol and was about to fire, but Javier stopped him with a quick gesture.
"How is this guy still alive?" Krauser asked in disbelief.
Javier furrowed his brow, studying the corpse. "Maybe the spores on his body played some kind of role."
Indeed, glowing spores covered parts of the creature's body.
That being — now more dead than alive — could no longer speak. It didn't show emotion. The skeletal half of its face made that impossible. But one of its eyes still worked, and it watched them, darting back and forth, as if begging for help.
"He looks like he's in terrible pain... and I have no idea how long he's been like this. Krauser, end his suffering. Use a knife — no gunshots. We don't want to attract... anything else," Javier said, his voice heavy.
Krauser silently took out his combat knife and approached the body. He paused in front of the agonizing figure, stared for a second, and murmured:
"Rest in peace."
Then he plunged the blade into the creature's head, ending its misery.
After the silent act, Javier noticed a journal lying beside the body. He picked it up and quickly skimmed through it. The name on the cover confirmed his suspicion — it was Professor Claude's journal. The body next to it belonged to his assistant.
The pages of the journal revealed the rest of the story.
After Claude and his assistant descended, they had also followed the corridor to the end, where they found the vampire lair. According to the journal, thousands of them lived in that underground darkness.
They had planned to blow the place up to contain the threat, but were discovered before they could. During their escape, both were gravely wounded and took shelter there, where they slowly died — alone, with no way out.
---
(End of chapter)
I am back my loyal subjects, I was on a trip to literally the other side of the country to solve some issues and I forgot to let you know here hahaha
"Hmph. If you really want to be useful, then entertain me, try to throw those pathetic power stones at me. Let's see if even your insolence can amuse a king."