171: Chapter 171 This looks like a zombie?

On the Indo-Pacific Ocean,

As he hauled the last net onto the boat, a middle-aged man named Ibrahim Mahmoud smiled after checking the day's catch; he was in luck, as this trip would fetch quite a few Molo Francs.

Seeing that the sky had already darkened, he decided to head back.

While passing by Ruang Island, which was occupied by that company, Ibrahim looked at the brightly lit port in the distance with envy. There were so many large cargo ships there; just one could support the entire village of Shiramita, yet this company owned hundreds of them.

During the day, Ibrahim had gazed at this island from afar countless times. It was completely different from what he remembered. Compared to it, even Great Molo Island, where the capital was located, looked like a garbage dump.

The most conspicuous feature was the white spire in the center of the island. Ibrahim swore to Allah that it was the most incredible creation he had ever seen.

"So rich," Ibrahim muttered to himself. "No wonder the whole island belongs to them."

Bang—

At that moment, Ibrahim felt something hit his fishing boat with a dull thud.

"Damn fish, don't break my boat."

Ibrahim cursed, stood up, and walked toward the source of the sound. Leaning over, he used his flashlight to look at the pitch-black sea. He found that his boat was fine, but some strange flocculent material was floating nearby.

What is this?

Ibrahim was puzzled. Having lived off these waters since he was a child, he wasn't afraid. He reached out and grabbed a handful from the water.

An extreme stench wafted from his hand. It wasn't the smell of rotting seaweed or the fishy odor of dead fish; this putrid stench hit him right in the head. Ibrahim's stomach churned, and he almost vomited.

Enduring the nausea, Ibrahim looked at the object in his hand. It was slimy and had some black hair on it, like a person's sloughed-off scalp.

The flashlight beam trembled as Ibrahim identified it carefully. It was indeed human hair, stuck to grayish-white skin tissue with bits of flesh still hanging off the edges.

"Oh Allah..." Ibrahim threw the thing back into the sea in terror. He might have hit a corpse soaking in the ocean. Sure enough, he dimly saw a pale figure beneath the water.

What terrible luck.

Ibrahim hurriedly started the boat and left the area.

But he didn't notice a rotting hand gripping the gap at the stern at the last moment. The corpse was dragged along by the small boat, bobbing in the wake, its hollow eye sockets staring fixedly at Ibrahim's back.

After returning to shore and putting away his catch, Ibrahim went home with lingering fear. He scrubbed his hands vigorously with soap until the stench finally dissipated.

A middle-aged woman saw him like this and asked, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

Ibrahim shook his head; there was no need to mention it to his wife.

After dinner, Ibrahim relieved his stress in bed with his wife as usual and fell fast asleep afterward. He didn't take what happened that evening to heart; after all, encountering such things on the ocean wasn't that bizarre.

Rustle, rustle.

Ibrahim was awakened by a strange sound. It seemed like something was scratching at the door of his shack. Ibrahim was startled, wondering if there was a petty thief.

His wife was sleeping soundly beside him, unaware of anything. So Ibrahim picked up a wooden stick, held his breath, stepped barefoot on the ground, and moved silently toward the door.

Reaching the door, just as Ibrahim was about to launch a surprise attack on the thief outside, he suddenly smelled a familiar putrid stench.

That smell! It was the corpse from the sea!

Ibrahim was instantly frozen with fear, but the commotion at the door grew more intense, even waking his wife.

The middle-aged woman turned on the light and looked panicked. "Ibrahim? What's outside?"

Suddenly, a gap was forced open in the door, and a rotting, pale hand thrust through, clawing wildly.

Then, the fragile wooden door was completely forced open.

Ibrahim also saw the figure outside.

Its build was even taller than Ibrahim had imagined. A tattered uniform clung tightly to its bloated body, which constantly dripped turbid liquid. There were festering wounds all over its face and head.

What kind of monster is this? Ibrahim was scared out of his wits and staggered back, knocking over the fishing net rack leaning against the wall.

"Go out the back! Go get help!" Ibrahim shouted back at his terrified wife.

The peaceful night of Shiramita Village was awakened by screams.

The villagers gathered outside Ibrahim's house, whispering as they watched the figure struggling and roaring inside the fishing net.

"What is that thing?"

"Is it a sea ghost brought by Ibrahim?"

"Allah protect us, it's moving! It's really moving!"

At this time, the village elder, an old man with white hair and beard, walked to the front of the crowd supported by two people. He gasped at the sight but forced himself to remain calm. Raising his cane, he shouted in a trembling but authoritative voice, "In the name of Allah! Whatever you are, leave this house! Leave our village!"

The figure in the net struggled even more violently. If people hadn't been pulling back and managing it, it would have lunged forward several times.

A young man in the village stared for a long time and suddenly said, "This looks like a zombie?"

"You mean those zombies from the movies?!"

Although the village was backward, it wasn't isolated. Reminded by the youth, some young people keen on new things quickly realized that, as he said, the monster in the net was very much like a zombie.

Someone retorted, "Nonsense, it's clearly a sea ghost!"

"It's true!" The youth's face was pale as he pointed at the monster in the net. "Look at its clothes! And its appearance... it's exactly like the ones in posters and videos! They don't feel pain, they can't be killed, they can only be burned or shot in the head!"

"If you get scratched or bitten by it, you'll turn into one of them."

The crowd erupted.

In the commotion, two of the men holding the net let go. The net suddenly slackened, and the zombie instantly broke free from its final restraints, lunging at the crowd with a putrid stench.

But before the zombie could take more than a few steps, a large-caliber bullet blew its head apart.

A loud roar approached from the distance, and a violent downdraft pressed from above, making it almost impossible to keep one's eyes open. A black attack helicopter hovered low over the village, its searchlight emitting a blinding beam that lit up the area like daylight.

Someone saw the planet logo on the helicopter; it was that company in their country!

—

Lin Fang frowned as he watched the real-time footage on the screen. In the video, Zhou Hui was gathering the villagers under the pretext of giving out money, preparing to erase their memories.

"Xiao Hei, how did it get out?"

Having just returned from Titan, he received a message from Xiao Hei. Lin Fang initially thought a real-life resident evil was about to unfold, but whether it was their luck or his, things weren't too bad.

Xiao Hei: [Boss, there is a 95% probability that this zombie was hidden in the mountains to the west. After we opened the underwater port to the outside world, it flowed out into the ocean along with the seawater.]

Several trace maps appeared on the screen.

Lin Fang nodded in praise. "Xiao Hei, you handled this very promptly."

[It's because the Boss taught me well.]

Lin Fang smiled and asked another question, "Are there any results from the Renault team's research?"

This was a scientific team Lin Fang had scouted from around the world. They had a deep understanding of brain-interface technology, so Lin Fang had given them the data for the immortality External Neural Electrode a while ago.