The Scourge

“HP-11! You dealt a thrust injury (weak point strike) to the ‘screeching horror’, triggering a critical hit!”

Dark red blood splattered into the air. The golden-haired girl, who had been motionless just a second ago, suddenly lunged. Her index and middle fingers pierced through the steel partition, stabbing into the thin monster’s eye socket like sharp blades!

“Holy crap...” The players below were dumbfounded.

The screeching horror rolled on the steel partition in pain. Xu Xiaoyou moved swiftly, grabbing the partition's guardrail with both hands to flip herself up. She pinned the zombie down, strangling its neck with one hand while raining punch after punch onto it before it could react.

“HP-3! You dealt a striking injury to the ‘screeching horror’!”

“HP-7! You dealt a striking injury to the ‘screeching horror’, triggering a critical hit!”

The screeching horror tried to howl. Finding no objects nearby to grab, Xu Xiaoyou shoved her hand directly into its mouth, jamming its jaws open. With her other hand, she reached into her jacket pocket.

When she pulled her hand out again, a sharp scalpel spun between her fingers, reflecting a cold, sharp glint.

The screeching horror was caught completely off guard by the golden-haired girl's sudden outburst. It hadn't expected her to strike with such ruthless decisiveness.

Its body froze for a moment, unable to move. Seeing the sharp edge of the scalpel closing in, it struggled with all its might.

The violent struggle caused the steel partition to shake. The impact of the ‘Stonecrusher’ alerted other zombies in the water storage room. The rusted, long-neglected guardrails gave out with a brittle snap, forming a steep trapezoidal slope.

The girl and the zombie slid down together!

“Doctor!”

One of the team members cried out in alarm.

The group tried to step forward to help, but the severed guardrail collapsed entirely. It felt as if a single step would send the whole section plummeting.

The massive steel plate was torn from the wall by sheer force, and the mortise structures snapped one by one. Rivets flew through the narrow corridor like bullets. The entire section of the steel walkway collapsed, crashing down in front of them and forming a barrier that blocked everyone on the other side.

In the middle of her rapid fall, Xu Xiaoyou instinctively reached out and grabbed a broken guardrail. The sharp iron sliced into her palm. The stinging pain made her brow furrow slightly. Below her, the monster clung to her tightly, driven to madness by the scent of fresh blood. It suddenly opened its mouth and bit her calf!

“HP-91! The ‘screeching horror’ dealt a thrust and slashing injury to you, triggering a critical hit!”

Pfft—

“HP too low. You have entered the ‘critically injured’ state. All attributes reduced by 90%. Mental power and health regeneration disabled!”

“You are infected with ‘Akabane syndrome’ and have gained the ‘Akabane secret poison’ effect. You will experience weakness in your limbs, persistent high fever, dizziness, nausea, and mental confusion. You are transforming into a ‘mutant’. Inject serum immediately!”

The moment she was infected, a chaotic jumble of words rushed into Xu Xiaoyou’s consciousness. Her thoughts felt as if they were being dragged into a bottomless quagmire by countless hands, and a sense of debilitating weakness flooded her limbs.

Xu Xiaoyou remained calm, glancing down. The screeching horror was climbing up toward her with a ghastly grin!

“Doctor... it hurts so much...”

“You’re the one who turned me into this...”

“I’ve become an ugly monster. I can never go back to my mother now...”

“It’s all your fault!”

The syllables gurgling in the screeching horror’s throat turned into a piercing shriek. In an instant, it penetrated dozens of nearby carriages. In the shadows, countless wandering walking corpses lifted their heads and began to stir restlessly.

“It’s all your fault!!”

Xu Xiaoyou lifted her leg and kicked the screeching horror hard in the face several times.

The transport team members aimed their guns at Xu Xiaoyou and the screeching horror suspended in mid-air, their fingers hesitating on the triggers.

In such a chaotic situation, even a top sharpshooter couldn't guarantee they wouldn't miss. Furthermore, the steel partition beneath them was also teetering on the edge of collapse!

“Don't fire!” Caitlin roared.

But it was too late. The zombies, which had been slow-moving before, were now drawn by the commotion. Like athletes, their eyes flashed crimson as they sprinted toward the noise with distorted limbs.

In the panic, a transport team member raised his weapon and sprayed the crowd of corpses with bullets.

The noise drew in more and more wandering zombies. From the front and back carriages, they surged in like a tide, their distorted, rotting faces filling every corner.

This crisis erupted so suddenly that it caught everyone off guard. Before the transport team could even prepare themselves, they were surrounded by a sea of zombies. Pale, festering arms occupied the upper level of their vision like a suffocating spider web.

Their living space was being compressed and seized. The players waved their weapons, shouting about showing off in front of Dark Gold Rose, only to be frightened back by the clawing corpses.

“Caitlin, if this continues, we’ll be completely surrounded!” Gru roared. The iron nails tied into his fist bandages acted like brass knuckles as he punched out, shattering a zombie’s head.

“Those monsters are running over from the nearby carriages. If we don’t leave now, it’ll be too late!”

Caitlin was trapped in a dilemma. She looked at the approaching horde of corpses, then at the golden-haired girl swaying not far away. On one side was the immediate desperate situation; on the other was the light of hope for everyone on the train.

No one knew when this plague had broken out. Countless families on the train had been shattered because of it. Every day, numb refugees died of hunger or cold in dark corners. Every so often, bad news would come from the front line—a defense line had fallen, and the deaths of resistance soldiers were reduced to mere numbers. Their already meager living space was being squeezed once again.

Innocent children suffered through experimental torments, turning into twisted monsters. The members of the transport team risked their lives time and again to enter dangerous areas. Their companions lived one day and died the next just to obtain survival supplies. But how many people could those supplies actually save? It was just a drop in the bucket.

The night was long and endless. They didn't even know what they were fighting for. For a tomorrow where not even the outline of dawn could be seen?

No one knew for sure if their struggle had meaning. No one knew if, when that meaning finally materialized and the suffering ended, and flowers bloomed on every grave, they would be able to see it with their own eyes or feel those surging, passionate emotions themselves.

For every person born on the bottom floor of this train, hope was a distant word.

All they could do was use their lives to fill a bottomless hole, delaying the arrival of despair for as long as possible.

In the end, the hope in the eyes of the onlookers flickered out.

Zombies grabbed the partitions, stacking their foul-smelling bodies into long ladders in the darkness, constantly climbing up from the depths below.

The transport team members engaged in direct combat with the horde. Some swung their knuckles, smashing the zombies' lower jaws. Some pressed their gun barrels into the zombies' mouths and fired. Some raised their arms, only to have them bitten through by the zombies' sharp teeth, leaving gruesome bloody holes.

Some were tackled by zombies and let out blood-curdling screams. Others, after being clawed, resolutely spread their arms to grab several zombies, shouting as they pushed them and themselves over the guardrail and into the bottomless darkness.

They built a wall with their flesh and blood, holding onto the light before dawn until they received the order to retreat, even though the flame behind them was weak and tiny.

At that moment, she noticed the doctor's briefcase on the floor nearby. Inside were the newly developed vaccines and serums!

There was no time to think. Like a swift rabbit, Caitlin lunged through the gaps between the rotting arms of the zombies. She rolled repeatedly to dodge several lunging corpses and performed a slide to avoid a falling steel beam. Finally, she leaped forward, clearing the collapsed rebar. She flipped over and shielded the briefcase in her arms, then shouted back:

“I’ve got the briefcase! Retreat!”

“What about the doctor? Without her, the follow-up vaccine research...”

“The vaccine research has entered its final stages. We can only place our hope in them. If we stay trapped here, we’ll all die!”

“As for that woman.”

Caitlin looked coldly at the doctor in white.

“She got what she deserved. Let her repent for her sins in hell.”

Before long, the transport team members retreated from the carriage. The frenzied horde swarmed into the gap, and the sound of their roaring gradually faded away.

As expected, Xu Xiaoyou had been abandoned.

Finally, her strength was exhausted. Her fingers loosened, and she fell into the darkness.

...

After an unknown amount of time, Xu Xiaoyou woke up.

She had fallen to the very bottom of the water storage carriage. Before the disaster, this was a place only maintenance workers would visit. The atrium, dozens of meters high, was trembling and receding, soon occupied by a blinding white light.

Her face covered in dust, she lay on the ground. A buzzing sound rang in her ears, and her skull felt as if it had been pierced by a steel nail. Her vision was blurred and unfocused. She could clearly sense that many of her bones were broken. She tried to get up, but the sharp pain forced her to abandon the idea.

She caught a faint glimpse of a red figure above her. It looked very tall, with explosive muscles tightening like steel cables. It was like a chariot, a master's hound, or a gorilla. Xu Xiaoyou couldn't quite make out the monster's silhouette.

But that crimson skin reminded Xu Xiaoyou of the final description in the diary—the monster Dr. Xu had seen in the savage settlement.

It wore a black fasting mask. Standing beside it was a petite, red-haired girl. The girl's body was covered in crimson crystals, growing from her wrists to the back of her neck. Brilliant cinnabar-red flowers bloomed vividly, merged with her skin.

That girl gave off the feeling of... a walking Akabane camellia incubator.

The red-haired girl turned away after a brief look at her. The mountain-like monster beside her breathed heavily, the thick breaths passing through the mask and turning into a steaming hiss. It followed the girl as they left.

Xu Xiaoyou’s consciousness faded into darkness again.

In the chaos, time passed quietly. Her consciousness fell into a pot of boiling soup. Everywhere her senses reached was bubbling, churning, and burning. A feeling of weakness traveled through her entire body. Countless people seemed to be whispering into her ears.

She wanted to open her eyes, but her body was completely out of control. Crimson patterns started from her heart and spread to her neck, then to her jaw. Once it reached her brain, she would die—at least, the Dr. Xu in this dungeon would die.

“Doctor... why are you here?”

“Xia Li, are you going to ruin us? We finally escaped from that hell.”

“Who cares about her? Let's go...!”

In her daze, she felt a wet sensation on her lips. Her lips trembled slightly as she instinctively sought that moisture. The cool sensation trickled into her dry throat.

A few strands of dark red hair drifted across her heavy vision.

Xu Xiaoyou’s heart was suddenly gripped by a pair of large hands. She snapped awake and, almost at the same moment, reached out to seize the throat of the person in front of her.

“Hey!”

Not far away, several thin figures holding weapons ran toward them. The small girl being throttled had tears in her eyes, struggling with her hands and feet.

The wet handkerchief she had been holding fell to the ground, covered in dust.

“Doctor...”

“Akabane?”

Xu Xiaoyou whispered subconsciously. Finally, she recognized the thin little girl and loosened her grip.

It was Xia Li, whom she had seen in the laboratory.

Xia Li wasn't afraid after being released. Instead, she stepped forward with concern for Xu Xiaoyou, grabbing her hand. “Doctor, are you okay?”

At that moment, the companions from a distance arrived. One boy wearing a Night Owl mask gripped a water pipe, his face full of wariness as he approached. “This person... this person is infected!”

The big sister in the Owl mask quickly pulled Xia Li back upon hearing this. “Stay away from her! Have you forgotten who caused us to turn out like this?”

“Have you forgotten John and the others who turned into monsters?”

“It’s all her fault!”

“The doctor... the doctor just wanted to save everyone,” Xia Li said in a barely audible voice, as if a single harsh word would break her.

“You think those people are any good?”

“They just want to use us. No one has ever cared about our feelings!”

“Salvation is brought by the sacrificed. People cheer for the salvation, but no one ever feels gratitude toward the one who was sacrificed for it!”

“Besides, this disaster was caused by this woman herself!”

Xia Li spoke with a trembling, tearful voice. “But I can’t just watch the doctor die.”

Owl held Xia Li’s face, looking seriously into the young girl’s eyes.

“We are your family, Xia Li. Listen clearly: only we care about your feelings and give you warmth. As long as we are by your side, home is still here. We will overcome all difficulties and go to a warm place where flowers can bloom.”

“Don't you want to see flowers blooming on the ruins? We'll go see them together.”

“This person is just trouble, a scourge. Why bring her along?” Night Owl’s tone was dissatisfied.

“Night Owl!” Sparrow, who had been silent, warned in a low voice.

“Scourge...” Xia Li whispered the word. “What is... a scourge?”

“It’s someone who brings bad luck to those around them, someone who brings misfortune again and again!” Night Owl looked coldly at the girl with dark red hair.

“Anyone who gets close to a scourge gets hurt.”

“Night Owl, stop saying things like that!” Owl turned and glared at Night Owl.

“Am I a scourge...?” Xia Li’s voice was tiny. Owl shook her head and gave her a hug.

“You’re not a scourge. None of us are. We are family—family who have shared the same tragic experiences and are moving toward the same goal.”

“Family?” Xia Li chewed on the word, trying to understand its meaning.

“Don't listen to them, Tsubaki. Don’t eat their sugar-coated poison. They’re lying to you,” Xu Xiaoyou said in a casual tone.

“What are you saying, you woman?”

“Doctor?”

“Through the pipes ahead and further on is the noble carriage. They want to take you to the people of the Traidy family in exchange for their own lives.”

“Because you’re the only experimental subject with complete immune antibodies. The family needs you. They want to get ahead of everyone by developing vaccines and serums to control everyone on the train.”

“Come to my side. I’ll take you back,” Xu Xiaoyou said.

Upon hearing this, Xia Li looked up in disbelief. She clearly saw a flash of wavering in her companions’ eyes.

Because of the long-term suffering from experiments and living in a world of lies and deceit, Xia Li had suffered from a severe borderline personality disorder since she was a child. She suffered from an extreme lack of belonging and security.

For her, any bit of distrust was unbearable, even if it came from her closest family and companions.

“You piece of...” Owl’s eyes burned with anger.

“I’m just stating facts.” Xu Xiaoyou leaned against the wall, forcing herself to stand up. She placed her hands on Xia Li’s bony shoulders. Her enticing voice echoed in the little girl’s ears like poison.

“Look at their wavering gazes. Think carefully. Am I wrong?”

Xia Li tilted her head and asked, “Big Sister, what the doctor said... is it true?”

“Don't listen to her nonsense! Get Xia Li away from this madwoman! Do it!” Owl shouted.

Sparrow and Night Owl approached with metal pipes and sharpened iron rods, but they stopped in their tracks under the golden-haired girl's threatening gaze. In those calm, beautiful eyes, they saw a lurking viper coiled on a tempting red apple, raising its head to hiss.

“One moment he calls you a scourge and says he wants to abandon you, and the next he’s willing to drag the team into trouble for you. Don’t you find it hypocritical?”

Xu Xiaoyou tilted Xia Li’s face up from behind.

“Now, you are the scourge.”