Chapter 100 – Blood Pack Technology (2)
We are going down the emergency stairs.
The destination is the middle-tier development department. I can’t even remember how many hundreds of stairs I’ve taken so far.
There was nothing we could do because all the elevators were out of service. One had its rope completely broken and was stuck, and the rest seemed to have been physically fixed to the lower floor.
It’s not a good idea to take the elevator in this situation anyway.
You never know when it will stop, and ding! Who knows what will greet us when the door opens with that sound?
It is safer to go down the stairs in the corner of the building. But this method has a drawback.
I’m so fucking stressed. Not only is it difficult physically, but also mentally.
[Jinsu.]
He stopped at Artemis’ warning and aimed his gun at the fire door. I was the only one armed with a 5.56 mm assault rifle. This is because my current arms and shoulders cannot handle a 12.7 mm combat rifle.
The seven rice cakes hold their breath in the same posture they were going down. Well, six of them don’t normally breathe.
After waiting for a few seconds, I could faintly hear something.
It was the sound of footsteps. It sounds like a soldier waking up at dawn and dragging his slippers on his way to the bathroom. There is no peculiar sound of the infectious agent.
“There’s no way that thing is a survivor.”
He said it in a whisper.
[0%.]
After about 30 seconds, Artemis lifted his guard. So we go down the stairs again.
I want to go home
There were sometimes graffiti on the walls to brighten the atmosphere, but there was nothing pleasant about it.
Silently descending hundreds of stairs in a dark, narrow space while armed is a blood-curdling task.
When I pass by the fire door on every floor, I get nervous that a monster might come out after kicking it.
With the gun pointed, move as far away as possible and move backwards. This fire door is okay.
Zombie
Another graffiti. ‘Zombie’ written in black pen, with a large X drawn in red pen.
Not a zombie
Something is different
Right next to it, there is graffiti written next to it kindly correcting that it is not a zombie. A somewhat empty laugh comes out.
The next fire door was stopped by Artemis.
“Keueeeeek!”
The roar of the infectious agent.
Tung!
The sound of something gently hitting the fire door.
The squad members aim their guns at once. Is the thing on the other side of the door an ordinary walker? Is it one? Do they even now we’re here? Or did you accidentally bump into it while passing by?
Slowly, beads of sweat begin to flow from my forehead. I don’t know if it’s because I’m nervous or because my muscles are strained from silently climbing hundreds of stairs.
“Keeeeek!”
“Keueeek-!”
It seems like there are more than just one or two infected entities beyond the door. It suppresses the desire to immediately open the door and start shooting. Unpredictable situations must be avoided as much as possible during infiltration missions.
[It went away. You can go now.]
Go down again. One floor, two floors, three floors, and again Artemis’ warning.
This was repeated while descending dozens of floors.
Thanks to this, when I arrived at my first destination, the floor where the development department was located, I couldn’t help but burst into laughter.
“Where do these bastards sell drugs?”
When I opened the fire door and entered the hallway, I saw corpses lying on the floor in a mess. Human corpses and infected bodies.
It doesn’t move, and the decay is advanced, so it looks like it’s really dead.
There are also traces of battle damage, such as gunshot wounds, as if the soldiers guarding this place had been incapacitated.
But I can see it with my eyes.
A helmet-type gas mask equipped with a vision correction function automatically tracks carbon dioxide emissions from the respiratory tract when a corpse is discovered.
Among the corpses, there were objects sporadically emitting carbon dioxide, albeit slightly.
When a hand signal was sent, each member assigned one person to take aim. Like a machine, the process of coordinating who would target whom was omitted.
The heads of the walkers who were pretending to be dead exploded all at once.
Puck! Not this, Kwasik! It shattered like a watermelon dropped from the rooftop with a sound effect.
The powerful firepower of the 12.7 mm was convenient because it did not require confirmed kills, but it also had its drawbacks. The point is that the penetration power was too good.
Wow!
A loud noise was heard. The bullet that broke the head and penetrated cleanly through the concrete floor seems to have even shattered the ceramics in the lower floor.
Keeeeek-!
Crumbling-!
The screams of the infected organisms could be heard across the floor, as if they were stimulated by the sound.
They probably don’t know what’s going on, so they won’t come to our floor right away, but they’re annoying anyway.
Geeing.
The shoulder cam is looking at me. I gave her a ‘what can I do?’ Look.
“Not everything can be good.”
Because it’s not like a game surrounded by invincible objects. In reality, if you get something, there is always a price to pay.
“They were defenders.”
Walker’s corpse, with its wart-like mouth, was wearing a military uniform. There is nothing left above the nose where the thumb-sized bullet passed through.
“Do you see this?”
When the jaw is struck with the muzzle, it becomes segmented, and long teeth protrude densely on both sides of the cracked jaw. On the other hand, the place where human teeth should originally be is empty.
For an instant, a white flash enveloped the entire building, making the teeth shine.
Kwak!
What followed was a sound of thunder that shook the heavens and earth. It made me aware of the weather outside that I had forgotten for a while.
Geeing.
I heard the sound of the shoulder cam lens extending.
[The teeth are hook-shaped and face inward. Is this your first time seeing this kind of thing? Once bitten, you won’t be able to get it off. Besides, this is… Jinsu, show me your upper teeth.]
He stepped on the chin with his shoe and opened the roof of his mouth with the muzzle.
[The upper teeth are all deformed too. This is a tooth structure that is neither herbivorous nor carnivorous. The purpose is not to chew, but to thoroughly hold and inflict pain. It’s different from other walkers. Do you see that?]
The tongue illuminated by the muzzle flashlight has dozens of suction cups on its surface.
“It’s structured as if it could suck blood?”
These guys are not the only ones. The walkers who pretended to be dead and then had their heads smashed had individual differences, but they all had segmented jaws like this.
[This is a research facility, not a production factory. However, we have large-scale production facilities in the basement to supply research materials. According to computer data from the CEO’s office, the artificial blood manufactured here is sufficient to meet all of Korea’s demand for blood packs.]
She seemed to know roughly what she was talking about.
“So, the blood stored in abundance here also influenced their mutation?”
[Maybe. This infectious agent has the characteristic of being strangely influenced by its surrounding environment.]
I couldn’t see where he had disposed of the firearm, but he was wearing a new military uniform and gear.
“He appears to be an active-duty soldier. Did he mutate on another floor and then move here? It’s annoying.”
[Is it bad?]
“It’s both good and bad, but the bad is bigger.”
He said as he walked, avoiding the beverage cans that fell on the floor.
[What does it mean?]
“The good thing is that if you search this place, you can get active-duty infantry equipment. But this was at the point when I acquired the US military equipment, but I ended up using it.”
If it were a unit assigned to a defense mission within a building like this, the organization would be obvious.
If it’s a personal firearm, it’s a shame because Shelter is already developing weapons that are higher compatible.
[What is bad?]
“If it is a joint defense system between active duty and reserve forces, the active commander has priority. As a reserve commander, I may have a significant level of security authority, but not 100%. Well, there will be no problem with accessing research materials and technology.”
On the wall illuminated by the lantern attached to the gun, the following was written in red pen.
There is no rescue team. If you want to die without pain, come to the underground clinical laboratory.
“Are you saying you’re going to order euthanasia?”
Well, there are probably drugs here that can be easily delivered with just one injection.
A soldier’s body, desiccated like a mummy, leans against the graffitied wall. Judging by the V sign on his green epaulettes, he appears to be a sergeant and a squad leader.
His final moments were recorded on his PDA. Unfortunately, since I am not an officer and am not provided with a cam, there is no video.
[Ta-ta-ta-ta-tang!]
As soon as it was played, a loud noise rang out.
A huge gunshot rang out as at least one squad was engaged in combat, and the cries of monsters came through the gap.
The sound of the gunfire was so loud that the screams of the infected were instantly drowned out.
However, the reassuring sound of gunshots did not last long. The gunfire became quieter every few seconds, as if using a remote control to turn down the volume one step at a time.
The empty space was filled with something else. The soldiers’ screams full of fear and pain.
[The road to the emergency exit is blocked! Please restore the elevator immediately!]
Someone shouted. It seems to be the squad leader’s voice from when he was alive.
[Not allowed. All roads to the underground clinical laboratory were blocked. Stick to your current position or withdraw on your own through the emergency stairs.]
The answer that came back was despairing.
[Quaaaaagh!]
When the gunfire decreased to less than half of the original amount, the sound of flesh being torn and bones being broken could be clearly heard.
The squad leader desperately prayed for the elevator to be restored, but it was no use.
The commander just repeated like a parrot that he should stick to his current position or use the emergency stairs.
[Tingrrrr.]
Finally, all the gunfire stopped. Only the sound of a few shell casings falling and rolling away remained like a farewell.
[Ah…]
The last thing heard after the brief exclamation was not a scream of pain.
[Jwaaaaap.]
It was an unpleasant sound, like something being sucked.
This is the end of the recording. The reclining body was laid straight down, and we continued moving forward.
“The underground clinical laboratory is also one of our targets. The completed blood technology will be in the development department, but the various human experiment records will be there.”
Now the development department is just around the next corner. But one of the crew members stopped, clenching his fist in the air. The bathroom right in front was the problem.
[A variant inside the women’s restroom.]
Artemis warned.
A naked female infected is standing with her back facing the wide open bathroom entrance, as if the door closer was broken. This is the first time I’ve seen it.
We could tell it was a woman through its long hair and body shape, and because its entire body was wiggling, we could tell it was an infectious agent.
The most impressive thing was the head. Would you say it’s like Medusa in mythology? The hair wiggles as if there are hundreds of earthworms attached to it.
Two members guard both sides of the hallway, and four people, including me, aim at the infected body. One remaining member grabbed the fire door handle. I plan to close it like this.
Squeak.
However, the door was probably not in good condition, so it made a lot of noise.
The infection turned on us, and something flashed through my head.
“Firing…”
But it was too late.
The three robots that were aiming with me opened fire, and the infected body dispersed.
It did not disintegrate after being shattered by bullets, but separated itself after receiving a lot of impact from the first few bullets.
Hundreds of separated larvae stuck to the crew member who was trying to close the door. I think it would look like this if you dyed a leech apricot color.
The operator should be thankful that he is not human.
This is because hundreds of larvae exposed their 1 cm long transparent teeth and viciously gnawed at his body.
Ting! Kigeek! Kigi Geek!
With a terrible sound, sparks erupted from every metal part of the robot.
If hundreds of dwarves riding on Gulliver’s body set-off fireworks, what would the scene look like?
According to the tactical algorithm designed by Artemis, the operator made the most rational decision.
Boom!
It jumped into the bathroom while carrying larvae. The open door was immediately closed by another member.
Meanwhile, the fifteen larvae that fell to the ground were torn apart by a barrage of bullets.
[I can’t take that out. If you use a grenade to blow yourself up, it will make too much noise. I have no choice but to just leave it as is.]
An unpleasant metallic sound was constantly heard beyond the fire door.
We lost one crew member like that.
The war against infectious agents is so damn true. Everything is new, and a split second can mean the difference between life and death.
It is too difficult to apply the experience gained in one battle to another.
Even robot soldiers who can share all experiences and do not even have the concept of pain, death, or fear are like this due to a momentary lapse in judgment.
[Access granted.]
The door to the development department opened with a dry system voice.
Fortunately, the interior was empty. Is it because of the expensive soldering from the beginning?
We split up and stood guard while Artemis downloaded his data.
[We have secured all the data related to improved blood. It has a lot of interesting technologies.]
Her voice is excited. It seems like he is already full of thoughts about applying the data.
“There is still an underground clinical laboratory left. As an expert in this field, I can tell you that there is something wrong with this type of research facility conducting experiments underground.”
Geeing.
I looked at Cam, who was staring at my face.
“And the process of bad research is tragic, but the results are useful.”
This is a place that was requisitioned when the infection war was in full swing.
War lowers ethical awareness but increases research efficiency. Whatever was down there, there must have been data that was hard to find.
[Is there an option to stop at this point and return? When we return from here, it will remain as the best input-output ratio of any expedition in history. It’s a new record.]
Artemis said in a coy tone. It appears that there is a sense of crisis in the current situation.
This is different from humans who act as if they have an extra life just because they have thick bones. It’s not my story.
The intended goal was achieved by securing blood technology. We’ve already lost a crew member, and the elevator isn’t working. If you go further down from here, securing an escape route becomes cumbersome.
As a reasonable person, it is not surprising that she wants to stop at this point.
“You know that’s not possible, right?”
I said, tapping his neck with the barrel of the gun. If not now, when can I come here again?
I really wanted to secure human test data from the underground clinical laboratory.
Research on immunity to various diseases and infectious agents would have been conducted at the time of conscription after the outbreak of the infectious disease war.
[If you are too greedy, you will be punished?]
She said sarcastically.
“I need to give you good support, so I don’t get punished.”
[Shut up and go to the emergency stairs, right?]
“Ah!”
Damn, I forgot about this.
[Are you stupid? You were having such a hard time a while ago and then forgot about it? When I get back, I’ll have to get tested for Alzheimer’s first.]
She said in a sharp voice.
“Suddenly I don’t want to go.”
[Should we call in a helicopter? Do you want to go to the rooftop?]
She said that in an instant, the blade became dull, and the color returned.
“No.”
I shake my head and head toward the emergency stairs.
[So, who will break your stubbornness? The withdrawal rendezvous point was changed to the ground. If the situation is urgent, you may be able to escape by hanging on to the ladder from the helicopter. The elevator area and route for each floor have been sent to the PDA, so be aware of them when entering each floor. If you have to, you’ll have to get out there and take a helicopter.]
As always, she had prepared an alternative for my stubbornness.
