133: Chapter 133 God Can't Control This Place

Elena felt like she had lost all sensation in her feet.

She was running barefoot along a forest trail littered with gravel and dried branches; with every step, a piercing pain shot through her nerves straight to the top of her head.

But she didn't dare stop, nor did she even dare to breathe too loudly.

The luxurious villa behind her, once a symbol of power and desire, was now a massive incinerator, the screams and explosions within torn to pieces by the sea breeze.

"Almost... I'm almost there..."

Elena tightly gripped the Glock she had scavenged from a dead guard. She could see the silhouette of the pier's jetty in the distance; as long as she could hijack a speedboat and escape into the high seas, she would survive.

Suddenly, the bushes ahead and to her side shook violently.

Terrified, Elena instinctively raised her gun.

A man wearing a bright Hawaiian shirt stumbled out. If one ignored the section of his large intestine hanging outside his stomach and the half of his cheek that had been torn away, he looked just like a tourist who had just finished a party.

"Stop! Don't come any closer!"

"Hawaiian Shirt" let out a guttural roar, his hollow eyeballs staring fixedly at the pulsing vein in Elena's neck as he lunged forward.

"Go to hell!"

Elena squeezed her eyes shut and frantically pulled the trigger.

Click.

The expected gunshot did not ring out.

Click, click.

Elena was stunned. She had no idea that she needed to disengage the safety, let alone that the slide had partially jammed because the gun had been dropped on the ground earlier.

"Hawaiian Shirt" was already upon her, the stench of decay so foul it made her want to vomit.

"Help!"

Elena fell to the ground, scrambling backward with both hands and feet.

But that scream served as the perfect assembly call. Over a dozen more pairs of eyes lit up in the surrounding shadows. Those monsters, dressed in expensive suits and custom gowns, were closing in from all directions.

A female zombie in high heels was moving incredibly fast, scraps of meat still stuck under her fingernails, her face less than half a meter from Elena's.

Elena closed her eyes in despair and hurled the pistol like a rock.

At that very second—

Pfft, pfft, pfft—!

A series of muffled, rhythmic shots exploded through the forest.

Elena felt several gusts of scorching air graze past her ears. Immediately after, the female zombie's head burst like a watermelon hit by a heavy hammer, splattering red and white matter all over her face.

Then came a second shot, and a third.

Every muffled thud was accompanied by a monster falling. These creatures that had made Elena feel suffocated were as fragile as a row of toppled bowling pins before these invisible bullets.

In just five seconds, the dozen or so zombies besieging her had all been turned into piles of rotten meat on the ground, each bullet having accurately struck between the eyes.

Elena was dazed; she wiped the blood from her face and turned her head.

The figures emerging from the darkness felt surreal to her.

They wore all-black combat gear, with the Red and White Umbrella Logo printed on their chests and arms. Each wore a full-protection helmet, their red visors glowing in the dark.

Marcus walked up to Elena and looked down at her.

"This is the USS. You are safe now."

Elena stared blankly for a long moment, then as if grasping at her last hope, she lunged forward and grabbed Marcus's trousers.

"Please! Save them!" Elena cried out hoarsely. "There are still many people in the dungeon; they're all locked up, and the fire is coming! Please, go save them!"

Marcus looked down at her but didn't speak.

He raised his hand and tapped rapidly on the tactical tablet on his left arm.

A 3D building model appeared clearly on the screen, dotted with dozens of densely packed, flashing red points.

"Medic, take her away."

Marcus gave the cold command, then pressed his earpiece, his voice as steady as if he were reading a manual: "This is Alpha. One survivor found at coordinates 14-22. What is the cleanup progress for Sectors B and C?"

Static crackled in the earpiece, followed by a calm female voice: "Bravo reporting. Cells in sectors one through nine have been cleared. Sixty-two victims successfully rescued. We are proceeding to sector ten."

"Charlie reporting. We have reached the basement level three data center. Thermite has been deployed; detonation expected in three minutes."

Marcus nodded slightly after hearing the reports. "Move faster. Those idiots from the Coast Guard will be here in twenty minutes."

By this time, several USS Soldiers had stepped forward. They didn't offer gentle words of comfort as Elena had imagined; instead, they injected her with a Sedative and hoisted her off the ground like a small chick.

In her daze, Elena saw other soldiers taking silver spray cans from their backs.

They sprayed a pale green liquid onto the zombie corpses on the ground.

"Sizzle—"

A piercing corrosive sound rang out.

The once hideous and terrifying corpses, upon contact with the liquid, melted and dissolved as rapidly as ice cubes dropped into strong acid.

In less than ten seconds, only a few puddles of pus emitting a faint lemon scent remained; not even a fragment of bone was left.

This extremely efficient method made Elena shudder with fear.

"Are you... are you angels sent by God?"

Elena forced her eyelids open to ask before the medication took full effect.

"God doesn't rule here."

Having said that, he waved his hand, signaling the soldiers to take Elena toward the pier.

There, a massive, all-black transport boat had already lowered its ramp.

In Marcus's earpiece, Chen Feng's voice rang out leisurely.

"Marcus, that Eastern European girl is quite interesting. Take her back for evaluation and ask her what she thinks. See if she has the potential to be trained as a laboratory assistant or security personnel."

"Understood, Boss."

Marcus responded while observing his surroundings.

Deep in the jungle, the low growls of Hellhounds could occasionally be heard. Those killing machines that had been released were now crouching obediently in the shadows, waiting for the order to retreat.

"Boss, Epstein's boat has already fled five nautical miles out. Do we need to sink it?" Marcus asked.

Chen Feng had already evacuated to the submarine and was issuing commands from its command center.

"Sink it? No, our friends will handle it for us."

"Now, it's time for the curtain call."

Marcus put away his tablet and took a detonator from his waist.

"Understood."

He slammed down the red button.

Boom—!

A dull, massive explosion rumbled from deep beneath the villa in the distance.

Immediately after, the entire hilltop seemed to collapse downward by several meters. A pillar of blue-purple fire shot into the sky; it was the High-energy Thermite instantly vaporizing all traces of organic matter.

Whether it was the zombies, the raw virus solution, or the filthy evidence left behind by those in power, at this moment, all was turned to ash.

"Withdraw!"

Marcus took a large stride onto the transport boat.

Accompanied by the massive roar of engines, the transport boat cut through the sea's surface and quickly vanished into the night.