The copy has 0 error tolerance, and the last words on the ground are all wrong for me.

Chapter 539 Poisoning
Wu Chang looked at Fox, who was lying on the ground in the mental world, struggling to keep his rationality from being swallowed up by the extraordinary factors, and pondered this intelligence.

Judging from the conversation between Fox and Loki, Fox is not simply the head of an animal protection association; from the very beginning, she was Burton Pharmaceuticals' "insider" in Eindhoven.

According to Fox, she had been infiltrating Ein City for three years, but both Wendia and intelligence from within the Bureau stated that the zombie plague first appeared two years ago, and that the virus had only recently mutated further and broken out on a large scale.

If Fox's arrival was preparation for today, then the emergence and outbreak of the zombie plague is clearly inextricably linked to Burton Pharmaceuticals.

Even if it wasn't solely Burton Pharmaceuticals' doing, it still indicates that this was a man-made disaster, not a natural one.

In addition, Loki and his team made great progress in their research after returning from the shelter in Ain City, completing a fully evolved potion. This shows that their purpose for this trip was to collect some kind of material, rather than to purify the zombie plague.

To find out what happened during that time and why the Plague Source instance completely spiraled out of control, we'll probably have to go to the Ain City Vault.

Wu Chang activated the Condensation of Emptiness into Reality, and his consciousness separated from Fox's body, transforming into the image of him in her eyes.

A mysterious, majestic, and domineering figure whose physical form is indistinct.

Wu Chang squatted down, looked at Fox who was lying on the ground, and said:
"You really want to live?"

Wu Chang's will and inspiration overwhelmed Fox, and with the added intimidation of Long Wei, she was unable to resist Wu Chang's questioning and revealed all her thoughts.

"I want to live, and I want to go back to Burton Pharmaceuticals, become a regional president, and get revenge on the guys who got me into this mess."

The transformation of extraordinary factors after injecting evolution potions is somewhat like the process of players changing jobs. The person being transformed must have a firm anchor point of existence and be able to remember who they are during the transformation, so as not to get lost in it, become crazy or die from a loss of inspiration.

Fox's existence is anchored in survival, promotion, and revenge against her colleagues. It sounds boring, but her will is exceptionally strong, especially her strong desire for promotion.

Whether it was Loki's ability or her desire for promotion, she even accepted Loki's promises and did not hate Loki and the others, but instead focused on becoming the regional president.

He's truly a chosen one, so eager to improve.

Wu Chang said:

"If you want to live, do as I say and cooperate with my actions. After it's done, I'll find a way to let you live."

Faced with absolute pressure, Fox had no choice but to agree to Wu Chang's demands.

After explaining his plan, Wu Chang withdrew from Fox's mental world and released Fox from the Golden Kingdom.

Now is not the time to kill Fox. He only knows that Loki tampered with Fox and the zombie dogs to protect the Complete Evolution Potion, but he doesn't know how much he tampered with them.

Fox cannot die, at least not until the complete evolution potion is successfully created.

Not only that, he also needed Fox to stop Flash and Wendy from getting into the virus lab.

This is for their own good, fearing that they might be blinded by the complete evolution potion and delay their progress in conquering the erosion dungeon.

Back on the second basement level, Wu Chang gave instructions to the zombie dog pack, which immediately dispersed and acted strictly according to his instructions, without Fox's help in controlling them.

After completing all preparations, Wu Chang used Star Escape to return to the location of the starlight phantom.

Flash and Wendy were very obedient, staying put and not trying to explore anything on their own.

Being able to recognize one's own strength and stay put without causing trouble is already a victory over many people.

He waved to the two of them and said:
"Through my senses, I've roughly figured out the movement patterns of the zombies on the second underground level. They're moving now, and we must seize the gaps in their movements to get into the second underground level."

As he spoke, he took out paper and pen and briefly described the zombies' movement patterns to the two of them.

He was writing for a while when he suddenly said:

"I can feel them moving, right now!"

Flash and Wendy didn't know how they could "see" the zombies' movements so accurately with their senses, but inspired by Wu Chang's confidence, they didn't ask any questions and immediately followed in his footsteps.

As they passed through the semi-contaminated area, they could vaguely see the shadows of zombie dogs. The zombie dogs were in groups of three or five, and their appearance showed that they were very resilient. This made Flash and Wendia have no desire to fight at all.

If you fail to kill the zombie dogs instantly and they bark, it will not only attract the special zombies on the second basement level, but also the special zombies on the first basement level and the first floor.

Just as Wu Chang said, during the zombie dog patrol, a path happened to appear, allowing the group to pass through it.

Because the gap was so small, the two of them didn't have time to think much before they arrived at the safe zone on the second basement level.

They glanced at the virus laboratory area densely packed with zombie dogs and, without Wu Chang mentioning it, voluntarily gave up exploring the area.

It's called a safe zone, but it's actually a zombie breeding ground.

The second basement level of the CDC originally had extremely strict protection levels, and entry was prohibited without wearing protective clothing.

But the survivor alliance didn't care so much. They had a certain degree of resistance to the zombie plague, and with limited space in the CDC, they managed to carve out an area on the second basement level to house the live zombies they had captured.

These zombies were bound by their limbs and their mouths were sealed, locked in huge iron cages like dogs.

They are all experimental samples, like zombie mice. Once the virus lab has achieved results, they can be directly sent there for experiments.

The scene Wu Chang saw in Wolf's mind, the zombie that underwent two experiments, originated from this place.

Adhering to the principle of efficient use of space, the zombie breeding area was also transformed into a small conference room by the Survivors Alliance.

A map of Ain City hangs on the wall, with a very conspicuous red circle drawn on it. The building in the circle is the Ain City Disaster Shelter.

In the background of the "Plague Source" instance, Ain City is known as an ominous city, which frequently suffered various disasters before the outbreak of the zombie plague.

To cope with these sudden disasters, Ain built a large disaster shelter four years ago to ensure that citizens have a place to take refuge in the event of another sudden disaster.

The city of Ain was slow to act, but it was quick to build disaster shelters, which were completed in less than a year and were larger than expected.

The disaster shelters may have been well-intentioned, but during this zombie outbreak, infected individuals carrying the zombie plague infiltrated them.

After the disaster shelter was closed, the zombie plague spread and fermented rampantly within it. When the zombie plague subsided and the survivors opened the disaster shelter, they found that it had been transformed into a large zombie lair.

This place has become the third and largest zombie nest in the city, after Ein University and the CDC.

Wu Chang observed the surroundings of the room, feeling around at the various facilities, and said:

"Judging from the signs of use here and the number of zombie cages, the Survivors Alliance has been staying here for a long time and conducting some kind of experiment."

“There are a total of thirty iron cages, which shows that they need a large number of samples for their experiments. Miss Wendia said that the Survivors Alliance once stormed Ein University and took away a lot of special equipment, probably for the experiments here.”

"However, whether it was due to an experiment going out of control or some other reason, some of the high-ranking members of the Survivors Alliance turned into zombies and continue to roam here."

Wendia frowned and said:
"While the situation at the CDC is strange, I don't think the resurgence of the zombie plague originated from there."

Wu Chang asked:
"What's the reason?"

Wendia said:
“I’ve dealt with Valentine before and know how strong he is. Karen and the others have become much stronger after turning into zombies. Even if the three of us join forces, we might not be his match, but we won’t pose much of a threat to Valentine.”

"He is the most powerful and strangest guy I have ever met. We even suspect that he has actually been infected, but the thing that infected him is something more powerful than the zombie plague."

"Given Valentine's personality, if he saw Karen and the others turn into zombies, he would definitely kill them immediately to prevent them from going out and causing chaos."

"Therefore, in my opinion, the anomaly here should have occurred after the main force of the survivor alliance left."

Wu Chang nodded slightly and said:
“I think so too, but my judgment is simpler. The zombie density at the CDC is too low. There are too few living zombies and zombie remains, and the buildings are too intact.” “If the zombie plague suddenly went out of control during the Survivor Alliance’s activities, turning them into zombies, there would be more than this number.”

"The second outbreak of the zombie plague came from a huge explosion, but there were no traces of an explosion underground in the CDC."

Wu Chang walked up to the map, pointed to the red circle drawn on it, and said:

"In my opinion, the Survivors Alliance must have made a breakthrough in the experiment and wanted to go to the disaster shelter to test its results, but the experiment went wrong."

"This accident led to the second outbreak of the zombie plague. Some of the members who remained at the scene escaped, but they were already affected by the virus. Even after returning to the CDC, they could not avoid the fate of becoming zombies."

"So, the root of the problem lies here: the Ain City Disaster Shelter."

Flash agreed with Wu Chang's conclusion, but his instinct as a player led him to turn his attention to the virus lab.

He said:
"What should we do here? Since the anomalies in the disaster shelter are related to the research being conducted here, should we try to infiltrate the virus lab to find out what they are researching and whether they have any contingency plans in place?"

Wu Chang nodded and said:
"If we were to normally complete the dungeon, we should follow the process you described, but things are different now, and time is of the essence."

"Even if we can find an opening to infiltrate the virus lab, and even if we spend a lot of time obtaining intelligence, the base will probably have already fallen. When the zombie horde returns, it will be a situation we can't handle."

"We can only abandon the clues here now and go directly to find the source of the mutation, and I will deal with it."

The strength demonstrated by the "Plague Source" instance has surpassed most of the beta-level instances that Flash has experienced. Not to mention him, even if he teamed up with the four base leaders, they might not be able to break through.

Faced with such a difficult dungeon, Wu Chang, a player who had just been promoted, kept saying that he wanted to solo the final boss. If it were anyone else, he would definitely think that this newbie had a weak will and had lost control of his inspiration and damaged his brain.

But when Wu Chang said those words, he began to believe them to some extent.

Although Wu Chang was a newcomer, his ability in conquering the dungeon was not only of a very high standard, but he also acted with extreme caution.

If it's this kid, he might actually have a solution.

Flash glanced at the time, ultimately choosing to trust Wu Chang, and said:
"Okay, then let's head to the disaster shelter."

The three of them left the CDC along the same route without any trouble, which made Flash and Wendy once again marvel at Wu Chang's strong intuition.

The disaster shelter is an underground facility built to combat various natural disasters, with one of its exits connecting to a subway line.

Wendy followed the subway line and soon arrived at the subway station near the disaster shelter.

Since the second outbreak of the zombie plague, the neighborhood near the disaster shelter has been surrounded by zombies, and Wendia has not been able to find an opportunity to get close and investigate.

At this moment, most of the zombies in Ain City went to attack Base 44, and the number of zombies in the city dropped sharply. This was the first time she had approached the disaster shelter.

Upon arriving near the shelter, the scene before her eyes shocked Wendy so much that she opened her mouth wide and almost cried out.

A row of steel crosses stood in front of the shelter, some nailed to zombies and others to ordinary people.

Wendy exclaimed in surprise because she saw two familiar faces on the two innermost crosses.

These are the leaders of the two most powerful survivor organizations, Thompson of the "Cult of Perception" and Fletcher of the "Awakened Power".

Their bodies had become partially zombified, and although their will was not as strong as Fox's, it was stronger than Wolf's, which allowed them to retain human faces, making them recognizable to Wendia.

But it is precisely because they retain human faces that everything becomes even more eerie.

There was no pain or ferocity on their faces, only terror and disbelief. The horror they had witnessed in their lives seemed to be frozen in their bulging, almost bulging eyes.

Their eyes were a warning to Wu Chang and his group about how terrifying the thing that killed them was.

Recognizing the two survivor leaders helped Wendia think more clearly, and as she continued looking, she discovered more and more familiar faces hanging on the cross.

Some of them retain human bodies, while others have completely turned into zombies and need to rely on clothing, tattoos, or accessories to identify themselves.

After looking through them all, Wendia discovered that almost all the leaders of the organizations that participated in the Survivors' Alliance, regardless of whether they were principals or deputy leaders, were listed here, with only a few exceptions.

For example, the three Foxes who appeared at the epidemic prevention center, and Valentine, the strongest survivor.

Wendia, who had been invited and should have had a place among them, couldn't help but tremble slightly upon seeing this scene, murmuring:
"What's going on here?"

Looking at the steel crosses in front of the disaster shelter, Wu Chang seemed thoughtful, vaguely guessing what had happened here.

The presence of these people in the disaster shelter, and displaying them like this, is not only a demonstration, but also a declaration of war against certain individuals.

For example, Loki's raiding party.

Sensing that the other party's intentions were hostile, Wu Chang said to Wendia and Flash:
"The situation inside the disaster shelter is more complicated than you imagined. You'd better stay here; going any further in might be dangerous."

Wendia listened to the advice and stood still, no longer following, but Flash wouldn't stop. He said:

“We agreed before we came that if we really encounter danger, I will be responsible for getting you out of here.”

Wu Chang needed a witness, so he didn't try to dissuade him further and said:
"Don't blame me if you encounter danger."

Seeing that the two were about to take action, Wendy reminded them:
"Disaster shelters are the most dangerous zombie lairs in Ain City. Especially after the zombie plague got out of control, even though most of the zombies have left, the level of danger is no less than that."

"You must be very careful. If things become unmanageable, take the intelligence out first and bring more people to handle it."

Just as Wu Chang guessed, the crowd hanging at the entrance was a declaration of war. To facilitate entry for those being declared war upon, there were no guards inside the disaster shelter, and there were hardly any zombies to be seen.

Wu Changhe and Shan Guang activated their stealth skills, making it very easy for them to enter.

The interior of the disaster shelter was filled with signs of battle; bloodstains, bullet holes, and damage were visible everywhere on the walls, indicating that a fierce battle had taken place there.

The two went through the original entrance and exit channels and security checks to reach the huge space where citizens were being urgently accommodated.

At the entrance, they saw a middle-aged man who looked like a human standing there. His eyes were closed, and he was lifeless, as if he were already dead.

Flash didn't recognize the middle-aged man, but Wu Chang had seen him in Wolf's mental world. Standing in the center of the field was the strongest of the survivors, Valentine.

If nothing unexpected happens, he will also be the final boss of this erosion instance.

Flash didn't recognize his opponent, nor could he sense their strength through their aura, but he could tell from Valentine's stance that they were terrifyingly strong, and his intuition told him to run away.

He had never experienced this feeling with many max-level players.

He gently tugged at Wu Chang's clothes, signaling Wu Chang to run away, but Wu Chang held out his palm, signaling Flash to calm down and watch his performance.

The flash of perception was correct; Valentine was indeed exceptionally powerful. Wu Chang even sensed the aura of a divine seed within Valentine's body.

Although this aura is still very weak, so weak that it only represents one foot in the demigod realm, it is still divine.

With the nascent divine form and the rules of the Plague Source dungeon, ordinary max-level players are no match for Valentine. If Wu Chang wants to confront Valentine head-on, he must also reveal abilities that ordinary level 30 players do not possess.

Fortunately, he never intended to fight head-on from the beginning.

To make the flashlight visible, Wu Chang entered the deep sea and transformed into a five-meter-long black python. Due to the influence of his dragon bloodline, his current posture resembled that of a mythical dragon.

Then, to Flash's astonishment, he opened his dragon mouth and spat out poison gas toward Valentine's location.

(End of this chapter)