CFM Chapter 2

The spoilers were very long. After the blogger cursed out a string of censored words, they posted several excerpts from the original text:

【The gray sky merged with the deep sea. Yu Zong sat on a black reef with a profound, indifferent stillness reflected in his deep-set eyes.

His hands were covered in blood, and the person standing before him was now barely clinging to life. The man’s breathing was faint as he glared at Yu Zong with hatred. Before seeing this monster with his own eyes, he would never have believed that beneath such an exceptionally handsome exterior lurked a bloodthirsty devil.

Night fell, and the last trace of warmth belonging to humanity drained from the world. Bloodshed and filth were everywhere. Humanity no longer felt fear, nor did it feel joy because everyone had already been buried beneath the yellow earth.

The sun rose. The bloodthirsty zombies were also crushed to pieces, reduced to dust.

The world was like a lightless prison. After destroying everything, Yu Zong could only feel that it was all meaningless. The heart that had been sustained by hatred began to crumble.

So, what was the point of being alive?

He lowered his head and narrowed his eyes slightly, gazing at his fingertips with lazy delight as they slowly pierced into his chest. As if engaging in an act of self-torture, he crushed his still-beating heart.】

The protagonist had never sought to rule the world or establish supremacy. Even on the eve of humanity’s extinction, humans had never abandoned their research into merfolk. The once-glorious world had descended into darkness.

After reading the spoilers, You Guan felt an emptiness in his heart. In the parts he had yet to read, he had no idea how much torment the protagonist had endured.

The pent-up frustration was unbearable, leaving him unable to sleep no matter what. At four in the morning, he climbed out of bed with dark circles under his eyes and, with genuine emotion and utter humility, sent two deep-water bombs along with two comments:

【Wuwuwu, the little merman has it so rough.】

【Please, please give us some sweet scenes!!】

It had to be those two comments, no doubt about it! What sin had he committed? Was there something wrong with sending tips and leaving comments, too? You Guan gathered his thoughts, his brows furrowed in solemn concentration.

At this point, arguing with the system had become a secondary concern. The most pressing problem was how to get out of this godforsaken place.

Night Owl was a small base. Its defensive fortifications weren’t strong. With the crowd packed tightly together up ahead making noise nonstop, it was only a matter of time before they attracted the zombies.

“Something’s not right.” Wang Qiutian suddenly tugged at You Guan’s sleeve beside him. “You Guan, listen.”

The zombies’ roars were coming from just outside Gate 1, causing everyone present to fall silent and freeze. The person leading the group took out a communicator and called the higher-ups, hoping to confirm whether there really was a rescue team outside. The only response he received was the crackling of static.

“It’s over. We’ve lost contact with them.” His eyes were vacant. The hand clutching the communicator trembled uncontrollably.

The leader’s words sent everyone into a panic. You Guan clenched his fists and tried hard to recall how those dozen or so people in the original story had managed to escape.

Fuck, he remembered!

The survivors had all been high-ranking members of the base. They had deliberately told the others that the rescue team was waiting outside Gate 1 to lure the zombies over here, while they themselves successfully escaped through a concealed emergency passage!

What a bunch of bastards.

You Guan cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted, “There is no rescue team outside! There are only zombies! We’ve been tricked!”

“Bullshit! My third uncle personally told me where the rescue team would be. Would he really deceive his own family?!” The leader was a research assistant. Thanks to his family’s powerful connections, his position at the research institute wasn’t particularly high, but his status was. These staff members, who had no idea what to do, all listened to him.

At his words, almost everyone sided with him, glaring at You Guan with hostility. “I think you’re just trying to get us out of the way so you can get on the vehicle first.”

As soon as the sarcastic remark fell, Wang Qiutian stepped in front of You Guan.

“Believe it or don’t.” With that, he grabbed You Guan and walked away.

You Guan followed behind him in a daze. “Xiao Wang, you believe me?”

Wang Qiutian kept walking as he replied, “No.” He glanced back at You Guan and said in a distant tone, “Might as well try our luck. It’s not like we can get out through the main gate anyway.”

You Guan: “…”

Fortunately, the system wasn’t just a pretty ornament. Just as the two turned around, it projected a map into its host’s mind. Countless red dots representing zombies were clustered outside Gate 1, separated from the little green dots representing humans by just a single wall.

You Guan felt that he still had to try to save them. “We can’t just stand by and watch them die.”

So the two stood at this end of the corridor, planning to shout to the people at the other end together. As luck would have it, just then, a response came through the leader’s communicator, clearly informing him that the rescue team was fighting desperately against the zombies outside the gate and that they had to open it to provide support.

The password was entered. A glimmer of hope shone through the slowly widening gap in the door. The leader’s delighted smile froze.

A pale hand reached toward his face and gouged out his eyes. Before the pain could even spread, sharp teeth bit his neck.

Blood gushed out, painting a bright red arc across the white gate.

Time seemed to stop at that moment. Everyone held their breath. They were stunned, utterly unable to understand how the people who had come to rescue them had turned out to be zombies.

The researchers had no means of defending themselves. Realizing there was no way out ahead, they began sprinting in the opposite direction. The sound of their stampeding feet undoubtedly guided the zombies, leading them all the way into the depths of the research institute.

“Climb up!” You Guan shouted at the oncoming crowd. Then, using Wang Qiutian’s shoulders as a foothold, he climbed onto the ceiling. It took every ounce of his strength just to barely pull Wang Qiutian up after him.

The others also realized that hiding was better than running around aimlessly. They rushed into the laboratories on either side, climbed onto the desks, and reached for the ceiling.

The zombies quickly smashed through the fragile door panels and lunged inside. Those who arrived later found no room, so they stepped on their companions’ bodies to climb up.

One zombie’s head poked into the space above the ceiling. Attracted by the soft rustling of fabric, it snarled and squeezed its way up. Its limbs bent outward at impossible angles, preventing it from crawling properly, so it twisted its body and dragged itself forward instead.

Those who had thought they had narrowly escaped danger were terrified by the sight. They kept urging those ahead of them, “Please, can’t you hurry up?!”

Their voices were loud enough that even You Guan, who was crawling at the very front, could hear them. He could feel the ceiling trembling violently beneath his palms. And as more zombies squeezed into the space above the ceiling, the suspension cables struggled to bear the weight, letting out a creaking, mournful groan.

The ceiling panels around the middle of the corridor began to sag, threatening to give way at any moment.

You Guan thought miserably: No way. Don’t tell me I’m a cannon-fodder character who’s going to die as soon as I appear?

“They lied to us! They lied to us!”

Hearing the cries from behind, You Guan couldn’t help turning his head to look. The person at the very back had been dragged away and killed by the zombies. The female researcher who should have been second to last was so terrified that she had gone numb, doing nothing but repeating those words.

“Bro, you’re not thinking of going back to save someone, are you? If you turn around, everyone will die!” Wang Qiutian kept pounding You Guan’s butt, afraid he might do something irrational.

“I’m not!” You Guan was crawling at the very front. If he went back, everyone would have to make way for him or retreat. That would be tantamount to suicide.

Seeing that her team had abandoned her, the female researcher’s slender body trembled uncontrollably. She knew perfectly well that she had to move immediately, but her limbs were weak and powerless. All she could do was watch helplessly as the monster crawled closer to her.

Just as she resigned herself to her fate and was about to close her eyes, a force struck from below, smashing a huge hole into the suspended ceiling. The zombie fell straight through it.

The female researcher opened her eyes in surprise and saw a face with sharply defined features. She stared with her mouth agape in disbelief. “Yu Zong…”

The man was taller and more powerfully built than an ordinary person. He had pitch-black eyes. An electronic ring encircled his long, slender neck. He wore a white lab coat and black trousers, with nothing underneath. It was obvious that he had thrown them on hastily in an emergency.

The researcher wasn’t dazzled by his looks. Instead, fear appeared on her face.

Yu Zong was the most mysterious and most heavily protected research subject in the institute. All research involving him was handled entirely by the director. They had witnessed his strength, speed, and transformation into his merman form. These were things an ordinary human body could never withstand. Yu Zong was human and a merperson. He was the most perfect combination of both species’ genes.

Remembering the brutal way he had fought when locked inside the zombie cage, she shrank back and turned her face away, murmuring, “Thank you.”

Yu Zong kicked away a zombie that had just grabbed his thigh, then used the strength of his waist and abdomen to flip himself up.

Noticing that the woman wasn’t moving, he spoke in a low, impatient voice. “Are you waiting here to die?”

—

The zombies in the corridor were piled on top of one another. The few at the top stretched their heads up frantically, their fingers clawing long scratches into the ceiling.

Terrifying sounds pressed close against their palms and knees, making everyone’s heart pound with fear. You Guan looked back. In the dim light, he couldn’t make out anything, but he caught the look of mortal terror on everyone’s faces.

He had no time to figure out whether they were afraid of the zombies or something else. Following the map’s directions, You Guan successfully reached a spot near the exit. He lifted the ventilation duct cover, grabbed the duct, and slid down. The moment he raised his eyes, he saw a horde of zombies directly ahead, separated from him by tempered glass.

His heart lurched violently. Just as he was about to turn around, something hard and cold pressed against his lower back.

“How do you know about this passage?”

“…”

The person who had arrived was male. His voice carried a vicious edge, as if he was someone who had seen blood. Most likely, he was part of the rescue team. You Guan licked his lips and pondered how he should make up an explanation.

The route marked on the map by system 250 was the escape route used by the base’s upper management. It was also the safest route, allowing them to reach the exit in the shortest possible time. As an utterly ordinary mermaid caretaker, there was absolutely no way You Guan could have known about it.

What should he do? If he sold out the system, he would be sent to the dissection table for a craniotomy the very next second.

“I told him.” Someone jumped down and landed right in front of You Guan.

Given You Guan’s height, his gaze landed right on the man’s Adam’s apple.

The protruding cartilage bobbed up and down as the man spoke, exuding an indescribable sensuality. His gaze swept downward. The man had broad shoulders and sharply defined collarbones. A filthy white lab coat was casually draped over him. The unfastened collar revealed well-defined pectoral muscles and part of his abs.

Who knew a white lab coat paired with a battle-worn look could be so damn sexy?

Soon, You Guan noticed that the man who had threatened him seemed rather casual toward the stranger, yet there was also a contradictory hint of caution in his attitude.

“So it’s Yu Zong.” The man put away his gun and said with a smile, “You’re finally back. Come on, let’s go. The doctor and the others have been waiting for a long time.”

Yu Zong nodded and brushed past You Guan.

You Guan nearly exclaimed in surprise, his face full of disbelief.

Wasn’t he supposed to be a pretty little mermaid? Why was he so tall and imposing from the moment he appeared?!

Sensing the young man’s gaze, Yu Zong turned his head and glanced at him out of the corner of his eye. Because of the dim lighting, You Guan couldn’t make out his face. He only heard him ask, “What?”

“It’s nothing, it’s nothing.” You Guan waved his hand, his gaze once again sweeping over the man from head to toe.

What a pair of long legs. They must reach up to his waist, right? Although his arms were hidden beneath the lab coat, judging from his bone structure and overall build, they should be quite muscular.

This was one cool dude, and nothing about him was small.

“250, are you there? What exactly is going on? Did I arrive too late? Has my pretty little mermaid reached adulthood? And where’s his tail?” You Guan steadied Wang Qiutian as he climbed down. Among the people who came down after him was the female researcher who had been rescued. She was currently stammering as she recounted how Yu Zong had appeared.

You Guan caught a few words of her account, then raised his eyes and saw that the light on Yu Zong’s neck ring kept flashing.

The novel had mentioned that it was an explosive and monitoring device used to monitor the merperson’s physical data and movements at all times.

【Everything must be based on the actual situation.】

【Yu Zong is currently the only experimental subject capable of switching between merperson and human forms at will. His body is an enormous treasure with many areas that can be researched and developed.】

【Additionally, I must remind the host that this world has already been destroyed once. The ending of the novel you saw is absolutely real. Every world has a chance to start over. But because the protagonist is the central entity that sustains the world, his mental power is too strong for us to completely erase the negative emotions he carried over from the previous world.】

“…” You Guan, “Speak human.”

250: 【His hatred toward this world has been accumulating all along.】

You Guan thought that was impossible. He was clearly such a kind, adorable sweetheart. “He just helped me out of a tight spot, and he even saved a female researcher.”

250: 【What can be seen with the naked eye is merely the surface. I don’t believe anyone would dare guarantee that their heart houses only angels and no demons.】

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