30: Chapter 30 Can Druids Use Tooth-to-Tooth?

Hu Jinsi stared at the floor plan splashed with blood on the wall, his gaze lingering for a moment on the line "S.T.A.R.S. Office" on the 2nd floor, before moving to the torn blank space on the 3rd floor. He bared his teeth, his knuckles unconsciously tapping the police pistol at his waist: "Looking at this setup, we're destined to just mess around in the 1st-floor lobby and the basement. That SWAT office on the 2nd floor, the name alone is terrifying. Heavily armed zombies that don't even show a sliver of skin, what are we supposed to fight them with? Lin Rui, I doubt that rifle of yours could even penetrate the body armor they're wearing."

Lin Rui was using a strip of cloth torn from a zombie police uniform to wipe the rotting blood from the edge of his tower shield. He didn't even look up at the remark, his fingers tracing the dents on the shield's surface: "If we can't go up, we can't go up. We didn't have enough time to clear the whole police station anyway, so we'll explore as much as we can. Our team never went for first place; staying alive is more important than anything."

Su Wan sat with her back against the wall, holding her lyre, her fingers unconsciously plucking the strings, emitting a few scattered tremolos. She looked up at the 2nd-floor label on the diagram, imagined those zombies with even their eyes hidden behind riot masks, and couldn't help but shrink her neck: "Agreed. Those SWAT zombies on the second floor—just thinking about them makes my scalp tingle. Our current equipment struggles against ordinary zombies in body armor, let alone those heavy-duty types."

The trio spent an hour clearing the offices and press room on the west side of the first floor. Overturned desks, shattered computer monitors, spilled coffee stains, and a few zombie corpses in civilian clothes formed a standard apocalyptic office scene. The harvest was meager: in the command room's weapon cabinet lay two firearms, a standard-issue rifle and a submachine gun, both marked with glaring grey text when the panel popped up—Cannot be taken out of the instance.

"Can't take them out, and we won't have time to use them tomorrow morning anyway." Hu Jinsi weighed the submachine gun, then casually tossed it back into the cabinet. The sound of metal clashing echoed in the empty room. "Useless. Let's leave it here for whoever is fated to find it."

He glanced at the instance countdown on his panel, then at the dim, hazy sky outside the window: "It's not even three in the afternoon yet. We won't go to the second floor, but we have to check the basement. We can't come to the police station and not even step into the first basement level."

"What about the headlamp battery?" Su Wan tapped her headlamp; the indicator light was flashing yellow.

"Conserve it." Lin Rui finished checking his own headlamp, his brows slightly furrowed. "That trip to the sewer this morning consumed most of the battery. Only keep one light on when we're not in combat. Jinsi, you use rixats elegy to light the way."

Hu Jinsi drew his magic short sword. A faint, ghostly blue light rippled from the blade like a mass of congealed cold fire, illuminating a five-meter radius around them. This light was softer than the headlamp but sufficient to see the accumulated dust on the edges of the steps and the cobwebs in the corners, and it wouldn't attract the attention of distant zombies.

The stairwell leading to the first basement level was like a light-devouring mouth. Spiral concrete steps extended downward, the walls covered in a layer of slick moss; stepping on them felt like entering the digestive tract of some giant creature. Hu Jinsi walked in front, holding his short sword in front of him, the ghostly blue light casting his shadow long against the wall. Lin Rui followed half a step behind, his tower shield held horizontally across his chest, the edge of the shield brushing against the wall and scraping off a layer of white wall dust. Su Wan walked at the back, holding her lyre in her arms, her police light crossbow slung across her back, glancing back at the path they had come from every few steps.

"Wait." Lin Rui suddenly lowered his voice, his gaze falling on the blind spot of the ceiling at the stairwell corner. "There might be an ambush at the entrance. Lickers love to get stuck in places like this."

Su Wan immediately understood what they meant. Her face fell, and her fingers unconsciously gripped her backpack straps: "You want me to wear that?"

"Just for five minutes." Hu Jinsi held up a finger, his voice hushed to a whisper. "We'll take it off once we confirm the entrance is safe. Doesn't the negative effect have an interval? You don't wear it for more than fifteen minutes, then rest for fifteen minutes; now is the perfect time to use it in a safe environment."

Su Wan pulled the Wail Resonator, wrapped in two layers of tarpaulin, from the depths of her backpack. The dark purple nerve bundles writhed slightly in the dim, ghostly light, and the pale auditory ossicle in the center shone with a sickly luster, like an organ just removed from a petri dish. She took a deep breath, as if about to swallow a live cockroach, closed her eyes, and hooked the earpiece onto her left ear.

The world changed instantly.

The surrounding noise—the distant groans of zombies, the sound of wind in the ventilation ducts, even the rustling of the three's clothes—all receded, replaced by a chilling "silence." Su Wan "saw" the contours of air vibrations: there was no hidden heartbeat in the stairwell, none of that sticky muscle-contracting sound peculiar to Lickers, nor any abnormal fluctuations caused by air currents being disturbed by a massive body. The entrance was empty, and there was only a slight ripple of dust being stirred by a breeze in the blind spot of the ceiling.

"...No ambush." She took off the resonator, her face pale, and hurriedly stuffed it back into the deepest part of her backpack, her fingers still trembling slightly. "But that feeling is too disgusting, like having bugs crawling in my eardrums. I'd rather face three Lickers than wear that thing for another fifteen seconds."

"Good job." Lin Rui patted her shoulder, his voice low. "Let's go."

The three continued downward. When they reached the fifth step, Hu Jinsi suddenly stopped, his left hand raising abruptly, his body reacting as if he had been electrocuted. His 20 points of Perception were like a taut net, capturing that trace of abnormal airflow above his head—something was clinging to the recessed ceiling at the corner of the stairs. Its muscle fibers were slowly contracting, and the sound of dripping saliva was so light it was almost masked by his heartbeat, but it couldn't escape his ears.

"Retreat." He lowered his voice, his right hand reaching backward. "Molotov cocktail."

Lin Rui fished a bottle of Scorching Fire Glue from the side pocket of his backpack, pulled out the cotton plug, and handed it over. Hu Jinsi took it, struck his flint against the sword, and the flame licked the mouth of the bottle. He didn't throw it at the stairs, but swung his arm around and smashed it hard against the blind spot of the ceiling diagonally above him!

"Boom!"

The Molotov cocktail exploded at the corner of the ceiling, waves of fire rolling out with the Scorching Fire Glue. A pale figure let out a sharp hiss, fell from its hiding place, rolled twice on the steps, and was covered in flames. It had the signature exposed brain tissue and long, scarlet tongue of a Licker, but its size was a circle smaller than an ordinary Licker. Obviously, it had been forced out of its stealth state by the fire and was painfully twisting its reverse-jointed limbs.

Lin Rui didn't give it a chance to regain its stance. Standing above the steps, he drew his spear from behind his back, pulling his arm back like a full bow—

"Whoosh!"

The spear pierced through the air, accurately pinning into the Licker's shoulder, [-11]. The beast felt the pain, and just as its long tongue was about to shoot out, Lin Rui had already jumped down from the steps, [Tactical Roll]! The heavy armor made a dull sound in the narrow stairwell. The moment the roll ended, he was already at the Licker's side, his left-hand tower shield pressing down on its head, and his right-hand short spear stabbing into its jaw from beneath the shield's edge!

"Puchi!"

[-14]

Hu Jinsi followed closely behind, his right-hand brass knuckle bone blade chiseling into the Licker's temple. The armor-piercing effect of the bone blade tore through the exposed muscle fibers, [-13]. Su Wan stood above the steps, firing her light crossbow in rapid succession, the bolts pinning into the Licker's spinal joints, [-6]. The trio's coordination was like a precision-tuned machine; there were no shouts, no gunshots, only the dull thuds of flesh being torn and the crisp sounds of bones breaking. The Licker didn't even have time to let out a second hiss before it dissolved into points of light, leaving no drops behind.

Hu Jinsi leaned against the wall, panting twice, and gave a "safe" signal to those behind him. The ghostly blue sword light illuminated the path downward again, leaving only a puddle of black, flame-scorched marks on the steps.

The corridor on the first basement level was long, narrow, and straight, with mottled brick walls on both sides. Overhead, pipelines were exposed, dripping condensation that gathered into a small stream on the floor. The light from rixats elegy illuminated this passageway clearly, leaving no blind spots from the floor to the ceiling; the three only needed Lin Rui's headlamp to sweep forward to confirm the end.

"Standard horror movie scene." Hu Jinsi muttered, the bone blade on his right hand still dripping blood. "Long, narrow corridor with dripping water sounds; directors love using this kind of footage to scare the audience."

"Don't scare yourself." Lin Rui held his short sword horizontally in front of his chest, his gaze locked on the fork at the end of the corridor. "Parking lot on the left, kennel on the right. Which way?"

"Kennel." Hu Jinsi didn't hesitate. "We agreed before coming down: if we can avoid fighting around vehicles, we will. Cars are the most unstable factor in the Raccoon City instance—alarms, oil leaks, zombies playing dead—it's all trouble."

Pushing open the iron gate, a thick, fishy smell of dogs rushed toward them, mixed with the stench of rotting flesh and chemicals, making their eyes sting. In the dim space, more than a dozen pairs of scarlet eyes lit up simultaneously. Zombie dogs. They were a circle larger than ordinary dogs, their fur almost entirely shed, their exposed muscle fibers covered in pustules, their jaws protruding forward, teeth yellow and black, saliva dripping from the corners of their mouths, gathering into sticky puddles on the ground. They didn't bark—their vocal cords had long since rotted away, and they could only emit low, rumbling sounds squeezed from their abdominal cavities, like a group of evil ghosts with their throats strangled.

"Door-blocking tactic." Hu Jinsi stepped forward, standing in the center of the door frame, the bone blade of his brass knuckles gleaming with a pale light in the darkness. "You two provide output from behind, don't get close."

He took a deep breath, centered his energy, lifted his right leg like a crane extending its neck, and guarded his chest with his left arm—

[Spinning Crane Kick], activate!

Pivoting on his left foot, his body rotated suddenly. The bone blades of the brass knuckles drew pale arcs in the rotation, his leg shadows turning into a blurred ring, and the whirlwind from his energy made the air in front of the door frame hum. The zombie dogs in the kennel had just rushed to the door when they were caught in this whirlwind. The armor-piercing effect of the bone blades tore through their exposed muscles and fragile skulls, [-10] [-9] [-11] [-8]. Three seconds ended, Hu Jinsi spent another point of energy to continue it, rotating for another three seconds, twisting the three subsequent zombie dogs into the death vortex as well.

Within six seconds, the zombie dogs in front of the door frame were shredded into pieces on the ground. Those that tried to rush up afterward were picked off one by one by Lin Rui's short spear and Su Wan's crossbow bolts. The battle was so quiet it was almost eerie, with only the wind from the rotation and the dull thuds of flesh being torn echoing in the kennel.

When he stopped spinning, Hu Jinsi stumbled, steadied himself against the door frame with his right hand, and fished an orange-flavored candy from his pocket with his left hand to pop into his mouth—of course, to the others, he said he was taking Qi-recovery powder. Sucking on the candy, he gave an OK signal to those behind him, his voice still a bit shaky: "Wiped out."

After the points of light dissipated, mutated dog teeth, rusty dog tags, and an item that caught the trio's attention were left on the ground.

[Wolf Totem]

[Type: Neck / Artifact]

[Restriction: Druid / Other classes with shapeshifting skills]

[Effect: When wearing this item, when you use "Wild Shape" or "Shapeshift" spells, you can add Wolf or Hound to your transformation list and gain the following bonuses: Double Bite (Bite attacks can apply force twice), Rabid Howl (Consume stamina/spell slot to howl, causing hostile beasts/humanoids within 10 meters to have a chance to fall into panic for 1 turn), Zombie Trait (Transformation forms gain immunity to toxins and diseases).]

[Item Description: The skull of a mutated zombie dog, with teeth polished into a necklace, wrapped in a faded police leash.]

Lin Rui picked it up, weighed it, and spun it around: "A mini-artifact for Yi Chun at level 11. Druid's Wild Shape combined with this will be insanely powerful."

"Sun Yao is going to have one more animal to take care of." Su Wan laughed, imagining the Summoner holding her summoning book with a distressed face. "Will she need to prepare bones for the Druid then?"

Hu Jinsi stared at the skull necklace, a picture suddenly flashing through his mind: Yi Chun transforming into a huge wolfhound, racing alongside another hound, both beasts' heads spinning at high speed like two biological drills, slamming into the enemy, while shouting some move name—Fang Over Fang.

"Pfft..." He couldn't help it and laughed out loud, his shoulders shaking violently.

"What are you thinking about?" Su Wan leaned over curiously.

"Nothing, nothing." Hu Jinsi clutched his stomach, laughing until tears almost came out, his voice intermittent. "Just thinking about the scene of Yi Chun transforming into a hound... Hahaha... It's too vivid... His taciturn personality, turning into a dog... Hahaha..."

Of course, he couldn't say he was thinking of "Fang Over Fang." That image lingered in his mind: a Druid version of a human-dog combo technique, the animal companion and the transformed Yi Chun charging side-by-side, spinning as they collided with the enemy. The level of "chuunibyou" was off the charts, but applied to Yi Chun, that taciturn guy who usually couldn't even speak a full sentence, it was absurdly outrageous.

Lin Rui and Su Wan looked at each other and smiled, assuming he was having another intermittent episode of craziness, and didn't press further.

There was a narrower passage next to the kennel, extending toward the detention center. The three moved along the wall, encountering three zombies in orange prison uniforms along the way, which were silently dealt with by Lin Rui's short spear and Hu Jinsi's brass knuckles. The dull thud of the spear tip piercing the back of the neck and the crisp sound of the brass knuckle bone blade chiseling through the skull were both kept to a minimal range. The iron gate of the detention center was open, revealing rows of empty cells inside, with torn prison uniforms and dried bloodstains scattered on the ground, and deep claw marks left on the iron bars.

"Nothing of value." Lin Rui scanned the area, his gaze falling on a black stain in the corner of a cell. "It's all been searched."

The exit at the other end of the detention center led to a staircase going up. Pushing open the door at the end—they had actually returned to the west corridor on the first floor of the police station, right next to the press room they had cleared an hour ago. The three looked at each other, and Su Wan sighed: "We circled back. This design is really lazy."

"Time is running out." Hu Jinsi glanced at his panel, then at the sky outside the window, which was gradually slanting westward. "Return to the underground parking lot entrance for one last round of exploration. Finish up and we're done."

Pushing open the parking lot's fire door, a damp, cold air mixed with the scent of gasoline, rust, and rotting flesh hit them in the face like a muffled punch. This was a typical early municipal underground facility, completely clashing with the aesthetic of Water Blue Star. The ceiling was low, and the exposed concrete pillars were covered in mold spots and dried blood handprints. A few malfunctioning fluorescent lights flickered overhead with a buzzing sound, providing a dim, yellowish light that barely allowed for visibility, with blue electric sparks occasionally popping from the tubes.

"Rare to have lights." Su Wan looked up at the dying light tubes, her voice tinged with a wry smile. "Although it's about the same as having none, at least we don't have to feel our way in the dark."

The ground was scattered with broken glass, abandoned police barricades, and overturned shopping carts, the wheels still spinning slightly as if something had just touched them. The dead silence was punctuated by the sound of dripping water, the screech of metal from afar, and faint, low growls. Near the entrance, the door of a police armored vehicle stood open, its interior in shambles; blackish-brown blood was splattered on the seats, and half a broken pair of handcuffs hung from the steering wheel. The rolling shutter door leading to the main street was locked tight, the frame deformed; it had clearly been sealed from the outside, with not a sliver of daylight penetrating the cracks.

"Prepare for combat." Lin Rui drew his tower shield from his backpack. He had been using a round shield in the narrow corridors, but now that it was more spacious, the tower shield's defensive area offered an advantage. In his other hand, he gripped the rusty one-handed hammer seized from a Kobold overseer, the dark red bloodstains on the hammerhead having formed a hard crust. He lowered his center of gravity, the edge of his shield raised slightly. "I hear something crawling in the ventilation ducts."

Hu Jinsi sheathed his rixats elegy, fitted the brass knuckles onto his right fist, and extended the bone blades between his fingers. Su Wan raised her light crossbow, cradled her lyre in front of her, and rested her fingertips on the strings, ready to buff the two of them at any moment.

The battle erupted without warning.

The grille of the ventilation duct on the left suddenly blew off with a harsh, metallic tearing sound. Two zombie dogs leaped out from the duct, their foul-smelling saliva spraying in an arc through the air, their sharp claws lunging directly at Su Wan's face. At the same time, the driver's side door of a wrecked car on the right burst open, and a zombie in a police uniform lunged at Lin Rui's flank! Further away, from behind pillars, behind shopping carts, and even from under the chassis of the armored vehicle, seven or eight more zombies crawled out, like a swarm of startled cockroaches, swaying as they closed in.

"Heroism!" Su Wan plucked the strings rapidly, and the stirring melody echoed through the parking lot. Hu Jinsi and Lin Rui simultaneously felt a surge of heat pour into their limbs; the boost to their Strength and Agility caused their muscles to tense instantly, and their reaction times quickened by half a beat.

Hu Jinsi did not immediately activate Spinning Crane Kick; his Qi pool was limited, and on the surface, he had to conserve it. He met the first zombie dog rushing at him, driving the bone blades of his brass knuckles into its eye socket. The bone blades pierced the armor and tore through the fragile eye tissue, [-14]. His left fist followed with an uppercut that shattered its jaw, [-8]. The zombie dog collapsed, and he seized the opportunity to stomp on its spine, crushing it, with rotting blood splattering onto his boots.

Lin Rui held his tower shield in front of him, thrusting his one-handed hammer out from beneath the shield's edge, aiming specifically at the zombies' temples. A zombie in a police uniform lunged onto the shield, its claws scraping against the Kevlar layer, only to be smashed by his hammer, its brains splattering out, [-15]. However, the hammerhead got stuck in the gap of its bulletproof helmet, and he had to spend half a second pulling it out with force. This brief moment of rigidity allowed another zombie to claw at his ribs from the side, its nails screeching harshly against his police uniform.

"Left!" Hu Jinsi roared. He lunged forward, his brass knuckle bone blades tearing open the zombie's carotid artery, [-13]. Rotting blood sprayed onto the tower shield, splashing a patch of dark red spots.

Three zombie dogs lunged at Hu Jinsi simultaneously. He took a half-step back, centering his Qi in his dantian; he couldn't conserve it any longer.

[Spinning Crane Kick], activate!

Using one foot as an axis, he began to spin abruptly. The brass knuckle bone blades turned into a pale white ring during the rotation. The three zombie dogs were swept into the whirlwind just as they reached him, the bone blades tearing through their skulls and chests, [-10][-11][-9]. The three seconds ended, and he spent another point of Qi to extend it, spinning for another three seconds and dragging the two subsequently rushing zombies into the vortex of death.

The environment of the parking lot was fraught with danger. The fuel tank of a wrecked car was leaking, with gasoline pooling on the ground, only half a meter from Hu Jinsi's rotation path. Su Wan was quick-eyed and deft; she nailed a crossbow bolt into the head of a zombie dog attempting to crawl toward the gasoline puddle, [-7], preventing it from starting a fire. The broken glass area was on the right, so Lin Rui deliberately led the battlefield toward the open area on the left to avoid making noise while moving and attracting more enemies. The faulty circuit overhead suddenly sparked with blue electricity, and a zombie happened to be ignited by the sparks, turning into a human torch, but Lin Rui knocked it down with a hammer, preventing the fire from spreading to the gasoline puddle.

"Don't scatter! Group the monsters!" Lin Rui roared, pushing his tower shield horizontally to knock two zombies back to the open space beside the armored vehicle.

The three of them stood back-to-back in a triangle, confining the zombie swarm to the open space by the armored vehicle. Lin Rui's tower shield and one-handed hammer were responsible for holding the front line, each hammer strike accompanied by the dull thud of a skull shattering. Hu Jinsi used his brass knuckles and Spinning Crane Kick on the flanks to harvest clustered targets, the sound of the wind created by his rotation echoing through the empty parking lot. Su Wan's light crossbow fired precise shots from the rear, occasionally adding a [Faerie Fire] to illuminate hidden enemies in the shadows, the ghostly blue flames clinging to the zombies, leaving their silhouettes with nowhere to hide.

The battle lasted for about ten minutes. When the last zombie crawling out from under the armored vehicle's chassis had its skull smashed by Lin Rui's hammer, only heavy panting and the buzzing electrical sound of the fluorescent lights remained in the parking lot, the air filled with a pungent mixture of gasoline, scorched material, and rotting blood.

After the battle, the three sat down against the armored vehicle's tires for a short rest. Lin Rui's one-handed hammer was plastered with brains and bone fragments; he had to wipe the hammerhead with the sleeve of a zombie's police uniform, and the cloth strip was quickly stained pitch black. Hu Jinsi's Qi pool had only two points left; he sat cross-legged, his fingers unconsciously rubbing the prayer beads on his wrist, his back leaning against the cold steel plate of the armored vehicle. Su Wan's crossbow quiver was only one-fifth full, and there were a few strands of rotting blood on her lyre strings, which she was picking out bit by bit with her fingernails.

"Sort the loot." Lin Rui patted the door of the armored vehicle, the metal emitting a dull echo.

Hu Jinsi picked up a car key from where the light spots had dissipated; the metal teeth were already rusted, and the police badge was printed on the handle. "Car key. We're leaving tomorrow morning, what's the use of this?"

"Trade it out as intelligence." Lin Rui took it, looked at it, and tossed it back to him. "Next time a team comes in, knowing the location of the armored vehicle can save a lot of exploration time. Intelligence is also a resource."

"A number of worn-out police uniforms, two damaged police pistols, and three boxes of general-purpose ammunition." Hu Jinsi piled the items on the ground, categorized. "Keep the ammo for ourselves; the rest are goods to sell. Su Wan, do you want any police uniforms? Keep a few as replacements?"

"No." Su Wan pinched her nose and shrank back. "The stuff on them is too complicated—there's rotting blood, gasoline, and zombie dog saliva. I'd rather wear my school uniform."

"I'll keep a few sets." Lin Rui took three that were relatively intact and had thick fabric. "As lining to wear under armor, they're thicker than the school uniform, and they can keep out the cold when we go to the Cold Plains next week. That place is much colder than Raccoon City."

"One K9 bulletproof vest." Hu Jinsi dragged a mini-sized tactical vest from the back row of the armored vehicle; it had 'K9' printed on it, and the shoulder straps were thin, as if customized for a large dog. "Sell it to Sun Yao? A Summoner should need this for their summons. If her Dire Rat or pony wears it, at least they can take a couple more hits."

"Yeah, it won't be hard to sell." Su Wan nodded. "Classes with summons all need this kind of equipment; listing it on the exchange or selling it privately both work."

"The last item." Hu Jinsi dragged a shield from under the driver's seat of the armored vehicle; its surface was covered in cracks, the observation port glass was half broken, and the rubber seal on the edge had aged and fallen off. "[Damaged Riot Shield]. The item description says it will shatter if hit by a Heavy Strike. Lin Rui, keep it as a spare? At least it has an observation port, which is convenient for aiming when shooting, and it's lighter than a tower shield."

"Alright." Lin Rui accepted it and weighed it in his hand. "Half the weight of my tower shield, good for emergencies. If it really shatters, I won't feel bad about it."

"Let's go, the last shooting range." Hu Jinsi stood up, patted the dust off his backside, his brass knuckles still fitted on his hands. "Finish up and we're done; let's go back and eat."

The shooting range was at the end of the parking lot, behind a heavy, soundproof door. Pushing the door open, the inside was unexpectedly clean. There were no zombies, no bloodstains, only rows of target stands and shell casings scattered on the floor, with a faded "NO SMOKING" sign posted on the wall. In the weapon cabinet in the corner, a black gun barrel lay quietly, with two boxes of 9mm ammunition and a box of submachine gun rounds beside it.

[Suppressed Submachine Gun Barrel] [Type: Firearm Accessory] [Effect: Damage -1, firing sound audible only within 10 meters, cannot alert enemies outside the area.] [Note: Cannot be brought out of the instance.]

"Good stuff." Lin Rui picked it up to examine it, his fingers tracing the sound-suppression holes on the barrel's surface. "It's a pity we can't take it out, and since we're leaving tomorrow morning, we can only use it tonight."

"Keep it to have some fun tonight. Remember to grab that submachine gun from upstairs when we leave." Hu Jinsi swept the ammunition into his backpack, the corners of his mouth curling up. "Anyway, it's a waste not to use it."

The three returned quietly to the back warehouse of the gun shop. The sky outside the window was still bright; in the distance, a few ordinary zombies were vaguely wandering on the street, dragging their feet through the smog. Lin Rui suddenly stopped, his gaze falling on the street corner, his right hand already gripping the submachine gun that couldn't be taken out of the instance.

"Try it?" He looked at the other two, his eyes full of eagerness.

"Sure, let's try it." Hu Jinsi shrugged, leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed. "Let me see the suppression effect."

The three crept toward the street corner. Lin Rui half-squatted behind a wrecked van and screwed the suppressed submachine gun barrel onto the submachine gun, his movements as skilled as if he were maintaining his own rifle. He took a deep breath, aimed at the zombie in the tattered suit twenty meters away, and pulled the trigger.

"Puff, puff, puff—"

The gunfire was suppressed into a dull sound, similar to thick cloth being torn, dissipating before it could spread ten meters in the air. Hu Jinsi stood ten meters away, his senses fully engaged—the sound was indeed faint; if not for intentionally listening, it would almost be covered by the rustling of leaves in the wind, and certainly wouldn't be detected by the zombie swarm in the distance.

The fire rate of the submachine gun demonstrated terrifying harvesting efficiency at this distance. The zombie in the suit was shot in the head and fell backward, followed immediately by the second and third ones beside it. The bullets chiseled a row of bloody holes in them; like wheat mowed down by an invisible sickle, they fell in rows, not even having time to let out a groan. After the magazine was emptied, a vacuum zone was cleared at the street corner, and seven zombies dissipated into light spots.

Lin Rui lowered the gun and looked at the smoking barrel, suddenly sighing with emotion: "It's really hard to imagine; if there were no threat from Lickers, how much fun could the people from the Gunpowder Squad have in the instance? Chen Yu's Firearm Expert combined with this kind of suppressed weapon, plus Li Hao's Molotov cocktails clearing the way, and Zhou Hao modifying guns on the spot... They could sweep Raccoon City into a vacant lot."

"That magazine you just fired," Su Wan said, counting on her fingers, her voice light and airy, "twenty-five Credit Points." (Background: Most of the supplies on Water Blue Star are obtained by exploring instances. Basically, all adults have awakened to become professionals, so there is no large-scale industrialized population or energy, which is why prices differ compared to reality.)

Lin Rui fell silent.

Hu Jinsi also fell silent.

The three stood in the smog of Raccoon City at dusk, watching the zombie corpses on the ground gradually turn into light spots, listening to the occasional lingering sound of a police car siren in the distance, and suddenly felt that the ending of this instance was absurdly quiet. The residual heat of the suppressed submachine gun barrel was still in Lin Rui's palm, but Su Wan's words were like a bucket of cold water, dousing that bit of excitement completely.

"Let's go back." Lin Rui put the submachine gun back into his backpack, his voice dull. "Eat."

In the back warehouse of the gun shop, the three sat around the emergency light. Dinner was canned food and jerky brought from their backpacks.

Lin Rui leaned against the wall, his bulletproof vest still on, the damaged police uniform outer layer stained with oil and rotting blood brought from the parking lot. He held half a cracker in his hand, his gaze landing on the pile of ammo in the corner that couldn't be taken out, his eyes somewhat vacant, as if he were calculating something, or as if he were thinking of nothing at all.

Hu Jinsi sat cross-legged on a cushion, not meditating, just chewing peas mechanically. His school uniform was completely ruined; he was wearing the damaged police uniform over that blood-stained Benevolent White Coat, his brass knuckles still fitted on his right hand, not yet removed, with uncleared fragments of dog teeth stuck in the gaps of the bone blades, gleaming with a pale white light under the emergency light.

Su Wan cradled her lyre, a spider silk brought back from the parking lot tangled in the strings; she was picking it out bit by bit with her fingernails, her movements slow and focused. The Wail Resonator was thrown into the deepest part of her backpack, as if touching it one more time would transmit some kind of disease.

No one spoke.

Only the sound of canned food spoons scraping the bottom of metal cans and the dragging footsteps of zombies in the distance outside the window intertwined in the dim room into a strange requiem. Tomorrow, they would leave this instance.