【Mission Triggered: 1/3】
【Mission Details: A majestic force seems to have emerged within Longevity Town, attracting the Zombie King and prompting him to take his vassals to investigate firsthand.】
【Mission Requirement: Survive the zombie horde.】
【Countdown: 2:59:55】
Lin Luyao looked up and found herself in a gloomy alley.
The ground beneath her feet was no longer dirt mixed with gravel, but bluestone paving slabs.
Before her was a dead end.
At the end of the alley sat a large rectangular garbage can.
The garbage inside was overflowing, and much of it had spilled onto the ground.
To Lin Luyao's utter astonishment, she spotted a cat.
A completely normal cat, looking exactly like the ones in her own world.
This prompted her to take a step toward the cat involuntarily.
Hearing the commotion, the tabby cat whipped its head around, jumped backward, and pinned its ears flat.
Upon seeing Lin Luyao clearly, the tabby cat let out a fierce hiss at her, then leaped onto the garbage can without looking back, used it to bound up to the top of the wall, and vanished in the blink of an eye.
"Dong, dong, dong—"
Just as Lin Luyao was feeling a sense of regret, she heard the sound of a bell ringing from afar.
The chime seemed to shatter a thin film draped over this world, allowing boisterous human voices and chaotic footsteps to flood into her ears all at once.
She glanced back, her gaze sweeping past the bustling figures rushing back and forth outside the alley, past the dense cluster of buildings, and landing on the tallest tower.
The bell on the tower was swaying slightly, emitting a distant, resonant chime.
And that pointy spire was virtually identical to the rooftop she had spotted from afar on the highway.
"It's the warning bell!"
"Hurry back and pack your things, run!"
"Run! The monsters must be coming!"
"Ah! But, but where can we run to?"
Vivid, lifelike human beings bustled back and forth in the plaza outside the alley, their words filled with panic and bewilderment.
Lin Luyao was somewhat stunned by the current situation.
She had guessed that she might run into many terrifying monster NPCs, but she hadn't expected to see members of her own kind again, let alone in such a considerable number.
Judging by their words and actions, they didn't seem to be players like her.
Lin Luyao hesitated for a moment. In the end, she didn't rush out rashly. Instead, after making sure that the tricycle had not come with her into this space, she turned around and walked toward the garbage can.
When that cat was rummaging through the trash below, she had noticed those few styrofoam boxes that had fallen to the ground.
As it happened, she had won 10 seeds in the gachapon shop and had been worrying about what container to use for them. She could just put them into her portable backpack and find some soil to plant them in after she got back.
Fortunately, she always kept her wits about her and kept the backpack filled with food and water strapped to her back; otherwise, if she had run into this ghost place empty-handed, she might not have made it out unscathed.
The garbage can was only a few steps away from Lin Luyao.
As she walked, she worriedly pondered: Where should she hide when the zombie horde rushed into the town?
She certainly didn't believe ordinary residential buildings could withstand a massive zombie horde.
Since that so-called warning bell had rung, did it mean the zombie horde had already entered visual range?
If she left the town at this moment, would she end up exposing herself instead?
The styrofoam box was lifted, and the items inside spilled out.
【Congratulations to the player for triggering a special mission: Chaos Energy Crystal】
【Mission Details: Realizing the danger, Doctor Kant was the first to leave with the crystals in his laboratory. Unfortunately, he failed to escape his pursuers in the end. In his panic, he could only toss the Chaos Energy Crystal into the garbage can beside him.】
【Mission Requirements (Choose one): A. Deliver the Chaos Energy Crystal to the laboratory, and before everyone in the laboratory evacuates, use the Chaos Energy Crystal to trade for the qualification to board the escape transport vehicle.】
【B. Rescue Doctor Kant and hand the Chaos Energy Crystal over to Doctor Kant.】
【C. Hand the Chaos Energy Crystal over to the Zombie King and gain the Zombie King's approval.】
【Mission Time Limit: 2:30:00】
"...?"
Lin Luyao looked at the styrofoam box she had just picked up, unsure whether to hold on to it or put it back. Eventually, she sighed resignedly, opened the black cloth bag that had fallen out of the styrofoam box, and glanced inside.
【Chaos Energy Crystal (Blue): An unpurified energy crystal containing multiple forces within.】
If not for the corroboration of the floating nameplate, Lin Luyao would never have guessed that this bag of stones was any sort of energy aggregate upon seeing it.
Thinking of the dungeon details she had seen earlier, she had a bad hunch.
Could the zombie horde currently facing the town be related to this bag of Chaos Energy Crystals?
Lin Luyao put the bag of crystals back into the styrofoam box, then tried putting the styrofoam box into her backpack. Fortunately, the operation went smoothly without any restrictions.
After finishing all this, she tried summoning her equipped weapon, the Pig-driving Spear. Seeing that being in the dungeon posed no obstacle, she finally felt completely at ease.
Lin Luyao put the Pig-driving Spear away once more, then sprinted out of the alley, intending to first figure out the location of the laboratory and the pros and cons behind each option before making a choice.
Meanwhile, Gu Xinghe and the others looked around their motel room and quickly calmed down after a moment of panic.
"Isn't this different from the zombie dungeons we went to before?"
Mao Ruigang stood by the window, poking his head out and looking around.
The town residents below were already in a state of utter chaos.
Many people were running out of town with large and small bundles, and behind many doors came the sound of wooden boards being hammered, as if they were temporarily reinforcing their living quarters.
"No, this is the zombie dungeon we cleared before."
Gu Xinghe picked up a promotional pamphlet resting on the motel bedside table, her tone heavy.
On the cover of the pamphlet, the prominent name of Longevity Town was particularly striking.
The pamphlet briefly introduced several tourist attractions in the town.
Aside from the natural scenery selling longevity and health preservation, the very top of the list was none other than the experimental zone that claimed to have developed various longevity products.
The experimental zone was not open to tourists for visits.
However, several restaurants stood within full view of the experimental zone at a distance.
Tourists could choose to dine at those restaurants to secure an opportunity to view the experimental zone from afar.
They had seen a similar promotional pamphlet in the previous dungeon, except that those text materials had been worn down by time, leaving behind only a few fragments.
Much of the content had long since become unrecognizable beneath a cover of blood and filth.
Yet Gu Xinghe could be certain that these two vastly different dungeons took place in the exact same location.
"This is the past, and the previous dungeon is the future."
Mao Ruigang shuddered involuntarily as he thought of the town from the previous dungeon, which was utterly reduced to broken walls and filled with a gloomy, ghostly aura.
"Senior Sister, what should we do now?"
Chen Caidie's face was somewhat pale.
The last time they entered a dungeon, they had been prepared.
To say the least, everyone had prepared a weapon that could at least be considered handy.
But entering the dungeon this time was far too rushed; they hadn't even parked the car steadily before they were already transported here.
Looking at the ceaseless countdown, she felt nothing but anxiety.
"I wonder how the van is doing. What if that guy Wang Dongqiang chases after us again and drives our car away directly?"
Mao Ruigang felt equally anxious inside.
Previously, Senior Sister Gu kept saying they should find an opportunity to arrange a vehicle for all four of them, but he had felt resistant to the idea, not wishing to separate from everyone.
Yet encountering such a sudden event now, he finally understood that having four people share a single vehicle made upgrade points easy to accumulate, but also left them vulnerable in many areas.
Once something went wrong, it was far too easy for the entire team to be wiped out.