CFM Chapter 4

“Alright, you’re still very handsome. Besides, you’re a grown man. Why care so much about your appearance? You weren’t like this before.”

You Guan had been sitting up for nearly ten minutes, and Wang Qiutian had been rambling on for the entire ten minutes.

Afraid that his host might give himself away, 250 took the initiative to explain: 【The original host was not what he appeared to be. In reality, he was very slovenly and often went half a month without bathing. He only bothered to clean himself up when meeting his ex-boyfriend or when his ex-boyfriend came to the dormitory.】

“…” You Guan shot Wang Qiutian a sidelong glance. “The past is the past, and the present is the present. I’m not the same as I used to be. You need to learn to tell the difference.”

“Alright, alright.” Wang Qiutian smiled apologetically, taking it all in stride.

You Guan calmed himself and noticed that Yu Zong wasn’t in the cultivation room. He Huanhuan, who had her back to them while tending the fire, seemed to have guessed what he wanted to ask. Without even turning around, she said, “He’s being kept in solitary confinement in another room.”

Everyone knew that solitary confinement was useless against Yu Zong.

But he had just gone berserk. It wouldn’t be safe to let him stay with the others again.

A hoarse voice filled with excitement rang out. “Youzi.”

You Guan smacked his lips. He wanted to eat some, too, but unfortunately, there weren’t any. That voice called out “Youzi” once more, and a dark figure stopped in front of him.

He raised his head and saw an unfamiliar face.

Fortunately, Wang Qiutian reacted in time. “You actually have the nerve to show your face here!”

When Chen Feng saw You Guan here, he thought he was seeing a ghost. It took him a long time to make sure it was really him before he decided to approach. He had to admit that even after everything he’d been through while fleeing, You Guan’s face was still quite attractive. But he wasn’t interested in men. Just thinking about how affectionate You Guan used to be toward him made him feel so disgusted that he wanted to throw up.

Seeing that You Guan seemed quite familiar with the rescue team members, Chen Feng decided to put up with it. “Is your head alright?” He put on a worried expression and reached out to touch You Guan’s forehead.

You Guan leaned back to avoid him, then stood up so that their eyes were level. This face was only average, really. How had it managed to make the original host so utterly infatuated?

“Do you need something?” He furrowed his brows, looking thoroughly displeased by the other man’s presence.

“It’s nothing. I just came to see how you were doing.” Chen Feng smiled awkwardly. Unaccustomed to the other man’s distant attitude and expression, he found all his explanations and excuses stuck in his throat.

“If you have nothing to say, then get lost.” You Guan’s words left Wang Qiutian so stunned that his jaw nearly hit the floor.

Chen Feng was equally dumbfounded. “You…”

You Guan turned and walked away, joining He Huanhuan in tending to the burning branches.

He Huanhuan lifted a piece of wood to make the fire burn more vigorously. “Who’s that guy?”

“My ex-boyfriend.” You Guan felt a little embarrassed. After saying that, he hastily tried to save face. “I was blind back then.”

He Huanhuan chuckled, then suddenly remembered something and warned him seriously, “Don’t let anyone else know you like men, especially at Falcon Base.”

“Why?”

“You don’t know? The research institute at Night Owl Base is actually managed directly by Falcon Base. In the beginning, Yu Zong was an experimental subject at Falcon Base. But because his danger level was too high, he was temporarily transferred to Night Owl Base. Right now, Falcon is preparing a new project. According to Captain Luo, it involves using men as gestational carriers to gain a deeper understanding of merfolk’s reproductive capabilities.”

The first time humans discovered a merfolk was sixty years ago.

The mythical “merfolk” had been discovered in an ancient glacier dating back to prehistoric times. His corpse was soon excavated. No one had expected that the merfolk would come back to life after the outer layer of ice melted.

The unbearable cold that humans could not withstand was, to merfolk, a protective layer that suspended their lives. The humanoid creatures’ tolerance for extreme temperatures sent scientists into a frenzy of excitement, prompting them to excavate even more frantically. One after another, three more merfolk were found in different locations.

They possessed higher intelligence than most humans. Once in the water, their swimming speed was 1.5 times that of the sailfish, the champion of short-distance swimming. The strength of their tail fins was astonishing, allowing them to effortlessly send a massive iron block weighing five hundred jin flying through the air.

These were only some of the abilities humans had uncovered. Just as they were preparing to continue their research, all four merfolk died by suicide at the same time in different locations.

They tore the fins off their own arms, pulled out their fish bones, and used the sharp ends to cut their own throats.

The scientists unanimously believed that they must have used some means beyond human perception to communicate with one another precisely without anyone knowing.

With no living specimens left, there were still the corpses.

They dissected the merfolk corpses, preserved their genes through freezing, and continued their research day after day. It wasn’t until the apocalypse began that they accidentally discovered a certain segment of zombie genes that was remarkably similar to that of merfolk. And so, the “Merfolk Project” was born.

Studying merfolk was not only intended to help humanity evolve more effectively, but also to uncover the secrets behind a powerful weapon capable of fighting the zombie virus. The scientists firmly believed that this virus, which had revived from ancient glaciers, would ultimately be eradicated by humanity using the oldest weapon of all.

In the chapters You Guan had read, it had been explicitly stated that the Merfolk Project had reached a bottleneck, and reproduction was the only way to break through it.

Who could have imagined that the advantage of men having better physical constitutions than most women would become a full-blown tragedy in these times?

You Guan shut his mouth and nodded vigorously. Anyone who disliked men would be taken away and forced to undergo pairing, let alone someone whose body had a history of being attracted to men.

What if the higher-ups suddenly had a brainwave and came up with some ridiculous idea of having men cultivate feelings for merfolk so they could manipulate them emotionally?

At night, while everyone was fast asleep, the person on watch suddenly shouted, “A zombie horde is coming!”

Luo Junming sprang to his feet in one swift motion. He grabbed his gun and rushed out of the cultivation room before climbing to the top of the tallest tower. The temperature was very low that night, and every breath came out as a cloud of white mist.

Luo Junming snatched the binoculars from a team member. On the other side, a dense mass of zombies was running toward them.

“They’re coming because of the sudden drop in temperature.” He handed the binoculars back to the team member and quickly returned to the cultivation room, kicking over the burning bonfire. “The zombies are here. Nobody make a sound, and don’t move!”

Zombies were a type of mutated organism. Seeking advantages while avoiding danger was the instinct of every living creature.

When faced with freezing temperatures, they instinctively moved toward warmer places. Luo Junming and his team had encountered situations like this many times during missions.

He Huanhuan patted You Guan on the shoulder to signal that he shouldn’t worry. Then, carrying an assault rifle, she joined the other team members at their designated firing positions.

The botanical garden was enclosed by high walls on all four sides. Some of the plants inside had adapted to the apocalypse’s climate and grown unusually lush, making the area warmer and more humid than the outside.

In less than ten minutes, the zombies had entered.

They approached the cultivation room, where some residual warmth still lingered, pressing their noses against the glass walls and sniffing around. The people inside huddled together, covering their mouths and not daring to make even the slightest sound.

A bead of sweat rolled down Luo Junming’s temple. He gestured for every team member to remain on high alert.

As long as they held out until the next morning, the zombies would leave on their own if they failed to find any prey. Then they could go out and find a vehicle to take everyone back.

Time trickled by in the tense atmosphere, until at last a faint glimmer of dawn appeared on the distant horizon.

Watching the zombies gradually leave the area illuminated by the sunlight and wander off in different directions, everyone finally felt their taut nerves relax.

Chen Feng could no longer hold in the urge to pee after a whole night. He found a corner to relieve himself. Just as he undid his pants, he saw a pair of white eyes staring straight at him.

No one had noticed that there was actually a hole in the corner of the wall, with a zombie’s head stuck in it, its face turned upward.

Chen Feng couldn’t hold back and let out a piercing scream that shook the heavens. Everyone turned to look at him.

Luo Junming wanted nothing more than to kill him on the spot. Gritting his teeth, he ordered, “Everyone, take your positions and stay alert!”

A team member in the tower reported over the communicator, “Captain Luo, they’re coming back!”

The zombie horde had returned after leaving. Everyone had to get up and prepare for battle. You Guan and Wang Qiutian each grabbed a crowbar, while the others scrambled to find whatever they could use as weapons and gripped them tightly.

Only the higher-ups who had left the research institute earliest and boarded the vehicles were huddled together like quails, so terrified that they had no idea what to do.

After decades of weathering, the joints connecting the glass walls of the cultivation room were no longer secure. Now, with countless zombies pushing and crashing against them, the walls began trembling precariously in an instant, threatening to collapse at any moment.

You Guan thought of Yu Zong, who was in the confinement room. If the protagonist died, wouldn’t this world be doomed all over again? And this time, there wouldn’t even be another chance to start over.

He ran up to Luo Junming. “Where is Yu Zong?”

Yu Zong was wearing handcuffs and shackles. If the zombies discovered him, he would have absolutely no ability to fight back.

“He’s in the corrugated iron shed on the east side. As long as he doesn’t make any noise, he’ll be fine for a while.” After speaking, Luo Junming suddenly remembered something and jerked his head up to look at the ceiling.

There was a skylight overhead, and beneath it was a spiral staircase with half of its steps broken off, which had been installed back then to make maintenance easier. In front of the staircase was a water pipe used to distribute water evenly for irrigation.

The water pipe extended from the top of the skylight all the way to the third floor of the low building on the east side, firmly embedded in the walls.

Luo Junming came up with a plan. He got everyone to move whatever objects they could find nearby and stack them directly beneath the ladder. Then he waved his hand decisively. “Everyone, line up and climb that ladder!”

To protect the valuable personnel, the eight scientists were naturally the first to go. They climbed up one after another, each gripping the two thick water pipes with both hands and sliding across to the other side.

When it was Wang Qiutian’s turn, he simply couldn’t bring himself to climb up because he was afraid of heights.

You Guan wrapped his hand around Wang Qiutian’s fist and comforted him. “Would you rather be scared to death or bitten to death by zombies? Maybe being a zombie wouldn’t be so bad, either. You wouldn’t feel pain or have any worries. Every day, all you’d have to do is exercise and forage for food. What a blissful life.”

He Huanhuan burst out laughing. “Xiao Guan, the way you put it, I’m almost tempted to quit, too.”

You Guan: “…”

“I’m sick of this! Are you going or not?” Chen Feng came out from the back of the line, still carrying the bag he’d looted from the original owner. “Wang Qiutian, if you want to die, don’t drag everyone else down with you. Hurry up and get out of the way.”

Without waiting for Wang Qiutian to react, he cut straight in line. He stepped onto the makeshift platform, rose onto his tiptoes, grabbed the spiral staircase, and climbed up.

Chen Feng’s attitude gave some people a sense of “encouragement”. The orderly line descended into chaos as everyone scrambled to get up first.

With a bang, a bullet passed between the two people making the biggest fuss and struck a concrete pillar.

Luo Junming raised his gun and barked, “Anyone who doesn’t want to wait in line can leave with us at the very end.”

The chaotic line quickly fell back into order.

You Guan secretly admired him. As expected of Falcon Base’s top soldier. One sentence was all it took to settle the matter. Luo Junming was extremely popular among readers. They praised him for being manly, capable, and exceptionally strong in combat.

He was just as popular within the novel itself. Residents of Falcon Base had once said, “The very existence of Luo Junming represents absolute safety.”

It was an unintentional act of excessive praise, but it also became a thorn in the side of Falcon Base’s leader.

So, after Luo Junming completed another mission, he not only received no commendation but was instead subjected to all kinds of deliberate obstruction.

“Hey, what’s wrong with him?” Wang Qiutian nudged You Guan’s arm and pointed toward the air beyond the glass.

You Guan snapped out of his thoughts and saw Chen Feng standing motionless outside the skylight. “He’s scared, I guess.” Both his legs were trembling so badly they could barely hold him up.

—

Chen Feng stared at the silver water pipe in front of him. After being pulled and tugged on repeatedly, it had become deformed, with the middle section sagging downward. Less than five meters below, a dense mass of zombies had gathered on the ground.

He closed his eyes and tried to calm his fear. Suddenly, a hand reached out from behind and shoved him forward. Fortunately, he managed to grab the pipe in time.

His dangling legs brushed against the hands reaching up from the zombies below. Terrified, Chen Feng screamed at the top of his lungs. His body swayed back and forth. But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t lift his legs.

With a dark expression, Luo Junming yanked down the person who was about to climb up, then turned to the person waiting by the skylight and snapped, “Get down.”

The man let out an unwilling snort.

Luo Junming fired a shot into the head of a zombie that had already grabbed Chen Feng. Startled by the gunshot, Chen Feng unexpectedly managed to calm down. He lifted his legs and hooked them around the pipe.

When he slid across to the other side, he discovered that his clothes were soaked through with cold sweat. Looking back down, he saw that the reinforced concrete structure and the iron door on the second floor had firmly kept the zombies outside.

He stood there with both hands braced against the balcony railing, showing no intention of leaving.

As soon as the man who had pushed him landed, Chen Feng swung his fist at him. “I’ll teach you to push me! I’ll teach you to push me!”

Caught off guard, the man took several punches before reacting. He seized Chen Feng’s incoming fist and struck him under the chin with his other hand.

The blow was so powerful that Chen Feng’s jaw was dislocated on the spot, and drool streamed from his mouth.

“You can push other people, but I can’t push you?” After saying that, the man kicked Chen Feng again.

With his jaw hanging open and unable to close his mouth, Chen Feng ran around begging for help. No one wanted to get involved, as though he were a filthy, stinking rat.

Wang Qiutian eventually overcame his fear and crossed over last. You Guan waited for him on this side. When he caught sight of Chen Feng approaching, he immediately turned his head away.

Chen Feng spoke in a muffled voice. “Help… me… help… me…”

The buzzing sound was as annoying as a mosquito. You Guan looked at him. “If you can jump down, pick up the bag, and return it to me, I’ll help you.”

The backpack full of supplies had fallen earlier and was now lying right beneath the zombies’ feet. Jumping down would be tantamount to asking Chen Feng to die.

Chen Feng stared at You Guan in disbelief. How vicious! Had all his previous obedience just been an act?

Those scientists looked down on everyone, their gazes treating him like garbage. The others, meanwhile, stood by with indifference, unwilling to lend a hand. Suppressing his displeasure, he grabbed You Guan’s arm, drool dripping from his mouth.

You Guan shoved him away. Just then, Wang Qiutian slid over. His bulky body slammed straight into Chen Feng, knocking him back two meters.

In Wang Qiutian’s eyes, You Guan had always been the one who gave everything and received nothing in his relationship with Chen Feng. Coupled with You Guan’s frail physique, this made Wang Qiutian feel a strong urge to protect him.

He shielded You Guan behind his back, like an overbearing mother hen protecting her chicks. “Get lost! Stay five meters away from us. Cross that line, and I’ll beat you up.”

You Guan peered over Wang Qiutian’s broad shoulder and narrowed his eyes at Chen Feng. Shameless bastard. May the original owner bless you with the retribution you deserve, sooner or later.

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