Just minutes earlier, the survivors in the stadium witnessed what true "efficient slaughter" looked like. The moment Chu Wenhai received the order, his entire body transformed into a black afterimage. His explosive power, exceeding human limits, allowed him to scale the vertical wall as if walking on flat ground, effortlessly leaping over the three-meter-high riot barrier. The School Security Captain hadn't even had time to pull the trigger of his old revolver when Chu Wenhai's rifle let out a muffled single shot.
"Pfft!"
The bullet precisely pierced the captain's glabella, splattering a mix of red and white. The captain's body toppled from the high platform like a puppet with cut strings.
"Drop your weapons, kneel, or die, you scum." Chu Wenhai's metallic, electronic voice was amplified by the loudspeaker, echoing through the empty stadium.
The remaining school security guards and gym teachers looked at this monster, clad in black armor, eyes glowing blue, like a pitch-black demon. Then they looked at Miller and Reed outside the door, who were holding rifles and executing tactical movements with extreme professionalism. Their psychological defenses instantly crumbled. They naturally assumed these were special forces sent by the government, and one by one, they dropped their weapons, covered their heads, and knelt.
"Clear! Secure the scene!" Miller and Reed quickly stormed in, their gun barrels coldly pointing at anyone who tried to look up.
Lin Xuan then walked into the stadium with Wang Peng and the others. Wang Peng, chest puffed out, stomach protruding, carried a blood-stained steel pipe. Seeing the security guards, who usually acted high and mighty, now kneeling on the ground like dogs, he felt an unprecedented thrill. He even deliberately kicked the head of a nearby survivor, swaggering and spitting.
"Ding! Mission complete: Take over the stadium shelter."
"Reward issued: Biomass +100. Special character: Karen Parker has been deployed."
Just then, Lin Xuan noticed an out-of-place figure standing up among a group of kneeling students in the center. It was a foreign woman in a pristine white lab coat with short, neat blonde hair. There was no fear in her eyes; instead, she gazed at Chu Wenhai behind you with scrutiny and disgust.
"You are Karen Parker?" Lin Xuan walked up to her.
"Hello, Commander." Karen pushed up her glasses, then her gaze fell upon Chu Wenhai's iconic equipment. Her pupils contracted slightly. "Black Watch? I didn't expect to see these top-secret troops here."
The surrounding survivors, hearing this conversation, all showed expressions of "just as I thought." They began to whisper: "See, I knew this young man was from the military. They're here specifically to protect this foreign expert."
Lin Xuan didn't explain to those around him, simply having the original person in charge clear out a clean office for her. He signaled Wang Peng to take his men to guard the twenty-odd survivors, while Miller and Reed stood guard outside the office door, prohibiting anyone from approaching.
Inside the office, Lin Xuan sat in the office chair, Chu Wenhai stood like a statue behind him, and Karen Parker sat opposite you.
"Now, explain it to me." Lin Xuan looked at Karen, then at Chu Wenhai. "What exactly is Black Watch? And what kind of world are you talking about with the blacklight virus and Gentek?"
Karen Parker let out a self-deprecating laugh and began to describe the once-desperate world in a flat tone: "Gentek was a company specializing in biological weapons research, and Black Watch was a top-secret, totalitarian military organization that existed to cover up Gentek's failed experiments and clear infected areas. In our world, New York was completely consumed by a virus called 'Blacklight.' It wasn't these slow-moving zombies; it was a nightmare that could rewrite DNA and instantly transform the human body into a killing machine. They could rapidly evolve and consume organic and inorganic matter."
Chu Wenhai added, his voice cold: "Our duty was to quarantine, incinerate, and eliminate. If an area's infection rate exceeded the warning line, we would drop nuclear bombs without hesitation. Civilians? In Black Watch's dictionary, civilians are just potential biomass carriers."
Listening to their accounts, Lin Xuan's heart was in turmoil. He had thought his system was merely a summoning aid, but he never expected it to be connected to such a terrifying civilization.
Lin Xuan opened the summoning list, looking at the flickering "Prototype: Alex Mercer" at the very top. The astronomical biomass requirement now seemed perfectly reasonable.
"Mercer..." Lin Xuan murmured, just as he was lost in thought.
"Dr. Karen, put away your cheap personal emotions and prejudices." Chu Wenhai stepped forward, his heavy tactical boots making a grating creak on the wooden floor, his electronically synthesized voice filled with disdain.
"Black Watch isn't here to clean up after Gentek's botched 'garbage' experiments. We exist to maintain homeland security from viral interference! As for Gentek, we were merely fulfilling our duty—executing those who knew too much and tried to drag all humanity into the abyss as traitors."
"Fulfilling duty?" Karen let out a shrill, piercing laugh. She abruptly stood up, her white lab coat swaying violently with her movement. "So you gunned down Alex Mercer at Pennsylvania Station? Then kidnapped me? If it weren't for you barbarians who only know how to pull triggers, pushing him to desperation, he never would have shattered that test tube containing the 'Blacklight' prototype! You yourselves created the Manhattan tragedy; your greed and stupidity gave birth to that monster!"
"That was necessary damage control!" Chu Wenhai violently swung his right hand, his fist cutting a sharp whoosh through the air. "Mercer stole the military's top secret; he tried to escape with the virus! If he had left the station, the infection would have spread even faster. We killed him to end the threat. Who could have known that the damned virus would devour his corpse and reassemble into a completely new, inhuman monster?"
"So you blockaded all of Manhattan? Trapping millions of civilians in a cage, watching them turn into rotting walking dead, and then using that as an excuse for your inhumane live experiments?" Karen's eyes were filled with disgust. "Don't portray yourselves as heroes, Commander Chu. Black Watch is no different from Gentek. You're both playing with fire, except you hold the torch that will burn everyone to death." Karen slammed the table and stood up, confronting Chu Wenhai with agitated words.
Lin Xuan sat in his chair, fingers gently stroking his chin, listening to the two argue with great interest. Through their mutual bickering, a clear and terrifying picture was pieced together in his mind. It was a world even crazier and more desperate than the apocalypse he was currently in.
"Enough." Lin Xuan spoke calmly, his voice not loud, but carrying an unquestionable authority.
The argument ceased abruptly. Chu Wenhai immediately reined in his killing intent, respectfully retreating to the side; Karen also took a deep breath, calming her agitated chest, though a stubbornness still lingered in her green eyes.
Lin Xuan looked at Karen, his tone calm: "Dr. Parker, I don't care who was right or wrong in your world. What we need now is a way to completely eradicate the virus, so before that, both of you need to put aside your past prejudices."
Lin Xuan waved his hand, signaling Miller and Reed outside the door to enter.
"Miller, Reed, take Dr. Parker to her quarters. Find a lounge for the doctor, ensure her safety, and also make sure no one disturbs her research. As for experimental equipment, I will have the survivors scavenge for it."
"Understood, sir." Miller and Reed exchanged glances, then walked to Karen's side, one on each side.
In the corridor outside the office, away from Chu Wenhai's oppressive "black can," the atmosphere eased slightly. Miller walked along, muttering under his breath: "Hey, Doctor, don't mind that lunatic in black. From what I know, Black Watch's reputation was already infamous in Manhattan. They're a bunch of 'baby killers.' For the sake of the so-called 'greater good,' they'd even bomb a nursery."
Reed chimed in, his tone carrying the Marine Corps' characteristic gruffness and disdain for Black Watch: "Exactly, 'baby killers' is the most fitting nickname for them. They're only good at slaughtering civilians and covering up the truth. If it had been us Marines at the station back then, we definitely would have controlled Mercer first, instead of shooting wildly and causing the virus to leak. Those guys have no brains, only kill orders."
Karen listened to the two Marines' complaints, and a barely perceptible curve finally appeared at the corner of her mouth: "It seems that no matter which world, normal soldiers despise those executioners hiding behind masks."
Back in the office, Lin Xuan turned to look at Chu Wenhai, who still stood like a stone sculpture.
"Chu Wenhai, what is your assessment of Dr. Karen Parker?"
"She is merely a weak civilian, Commander." Chu Wenhai's voice was devoid of any fluctuation. "She once fell in love with the monster named Mercer, so her judgment has long been clouded by emotion. But in Black Watch's view, any risk that could threaten the continuation of the species must be physically eliminated. If you give the order, I can go and remove her head right now and 'extract' her knowledge directly from her cerebral cortex."
Lin Xuan felt Chu Wenhai's pure, extreme malice and waved his hand: "No, she is still useful. This world needs people like her. Now, I have 100 biomass... I want to see."
He opened the system panel, looking at the substantial balance, his eyes gradually deepening.