Under the stark white lights, Ye Chen felt as if he had plunged into an ice cavern, the surroundings frigid and desolate, until, at that moment, he suddenly realized that the woman in red before him, Zhang Fangting, was not breathing at all! Even with Ye Chen's composure, a few beads of cold sweat trickled down his forehead.

He took a step back, holding the fire axe defensively before him, and stated coldly, "Are you human, or a ghost!" "What do you think?" The woman in red curled her lips into a cryptic smile. In the silent corridor, a cold wind suddenly blew from an unknown source, gently lifting her smooth silken hair, revealing the other half of her face hidden beneath it...

Ye Chen’s pupils constricted as he involuntarily retreated a step. Half of the woman in red's face was devoid of flesh, revealing a skeletal structure, the half-curved mouth locked in a sinister grin, appearing eerie and terrifying.

"Impossible!" "Absolutely impossible!" "It's only the second month; no one should have reached the Ghost God Realm yet!" "Who exactly are you!" Ye Chen strode forward, swinging the fire axe. The figure of the woman in red flickered, but instead of evading, she was struck, her body instantly severed into two halves.

A head, draped in long hair, was flung high into the air, finally falling and rolling to Ye Chen’s feet like a ball. "Once you're in here, you can't escape..." The half-mouth beneath the severed head grinned ferociously, and strangely, no drop of blood flowed from her bisected corpse.

"Not a ghost..." Ye Chen let out a breath of relief. He glanced at the headless body of the woman in red and immediately noticed that the blood around her neck was already dry—she had clearly been dead for a long time.

Ye Chen frowned, then turned his attention to the severed head lying nearby. After a moment of contemplation, just as he was about to approach for a closer look, he heard the sound of footsteps coming rapidly down from upstairs.

Bai Long and Mo Feng were descending quickly from the stairwell. Upon seeing Ye Chen, they paused briefly, then broke into looks of elation.

"Found him!" Bai Long exclaimed excitedly, "The serum storage is on the fourth floor; there are many blood types inside." Ye Chen's eyes brightened. "Lead the way, quickly." Bai Long smiled and nodded, glancing at Mo Feng.

The two turned and took the lead, with Ye Chen closely following. The severed head on the floor suddenly had a sly, malicious glint appear in its eyes...

Reaching the first basement level, Ye Chen glanced into the surrounding rooms. He saw numerous single compartments, each containing a corpse covered with a white sheet.

However, the long-haired, pale-faced girl from before was nowhere to be seen. He shook his head, falling back in step behind Bai Long and the other, eager only to secure the serum and leave this bizarre hospital as soon as possible.

As he ascended to the next floor, he failed to notice that the bodies lying in the morgues were beginning to sit up, twisting their necks mechanically, issuing low, chilling laughs as they watched his retreating back. Not long after, they reached the first-floor corridor.

The lights were all a sickly white. Bai Long and Mo Feng led silently ahead.

Perhaps due to the cold, eerie atmosphere, even the usually lively Bai Long remained quiet throughout the walk. "Hm?" After walking a short distance, Ye Chen suddenly felt someone following him.

He turned to look back; the corridor was empty and desolate, nothing there. He frowned, wondering if he was being overly suspicious.

"What is it?" Mo Feng asked curiously. Ye Chen shook his head.

"Nothing, let's go." Mo Feng gave him a look and turned to resume leading the way. The three traveled up the stairs to the fourth floor.

A large, vivid red character ‘Four’ hung on the wall, seemingly dripping blood. Ye Chen started in surprise, but upon closer inspection, it appeared to be just an ordinary character, nothing special; he must have imagined the blood.

"Let's go!" Mo Feng led the way. Ye Chen nodded, then casually observed their attire.

Bai Long held no flashlight, only a fire axe, and Mo Feng likewise had no pistol. Ye Chen frowned.

"Where are your flashlights and handguns?" Mo Feng and Bai Long exchanged a look, then suddenly burst into laughter, a grating, cawing sound that sent chills down the spine. Ye Chen’s heart leaped.

Many things suddenly clicked into place, and he quickly stepped back two paces, stating gravely, "Who are you?" A sinister smile spread across Bai Long's lips. "Naturally, your good friends!" A deep chill spread over Ye Chen.

He was almost certain that the Bai Long before him was not the same one who entered with him. This meant that Mo Feng beside him was also someone else.

Realizing this, his limbs instantly felt cold. "Hee-hee..." An unpleasant, mocking cackle echoed sharply.

Bai Long and Mo Feng sneered, and suddenly, numerous figures emerged from the quiet wards, all staring coldly at Ye Chen, including a few zombies whose faces also wore cryptic smiles. "Seeking death!" A cold glint flashed in Ye Chen's eyes.

He darted forward, instantly closing the distance to Bai Long and the other two. The fire axe in his hand swept out like a submerged dragon, impossibly fast, severing both their heads before they could react, sending them falling to the floor like balls.

In that fleeting moment, Ye Chen caught a glimpse of their severed necks—no blood flowed; both were corpses that had been dead for a long time! At this, the hundreds of figures surging from the surroundings gasped in surprise, clearly unprepared for Ye Chen’s unexpected power.

Their faces contorted into savage expressions as they roared and lunged forward. "Die!" "All of you, die!" Ye Chen's eyes were icy, radiating a bone-chilling coldness.

The fire axe in his hand danced like swirling snowflakes, flying everywhere. With every strike, a figure collapsed.

Three minutes later. Ye Chen stood in the center of a pile of corpses, his chest heaving, drenched in sweat, breathing heavily.

"You can't escape..." the severed heads on the ground hissed mockingly. Ye Chen swept them with a cold gaze, then gave a chilling laugh.

"If I'm not mistaken, you must be the 'Black Snail Worms,' right?" At these words, the expressions on all the heads on the ground changed drastically. Ye Chen's gaze turned even colder.

The Black Snail Worm was a peculiar creature born in the apocalypse, a type of Dark Organism. The Black Snail Worm resembled a cockroach in size, about the size of a finger.

In isolation, it was not powerful, possessing strength only equivalent to one person, but it wielded terrifying control and extremely strong spiritual energy. Black Snail Worms favored burrowing into the heads of other creatures, consuming their brain matter and cells to obtain memory fragments, thereby gaining control over the host's memories.

They used the host's skull as a lair, connecting their own countless tentacles to the head's nervous system and other points to control the creature's body! The Black Snail Worm was an incredibly mysterious creature with immense control capabilities, able to perfectly mimic the sounds, mannerisms, and appearance of any creature it heard or saw!

It could control every inch of the host's cells, allowing for movement, repositioning, and thus altering the creature's outward appearance. The Black Snail Worms were highly communal, capable of establishing a mental network among themselves, like a wireless signal.

Any single Black Snail Worm could share what it saw and heard with the others, as if hundreds of worms shared a single brain. "Playing God!" Ye Chen sneered, walking over and crushing a nearby skull underfoot.

The skull was completely hollow; the blood had become drinking water for the Black Snail Worms, and the cells, their food. As it shattered, it split into several pieces of cranial shell.

At that moment, an inconspicuous black insect slowly crawled out from within the shell fragments. It resembled a cockroach but lacked any hard carapace, appearing instead slick and covered in tentacles.

As soon as the Black Snail Worm emerged, it scrambled urgently toward the distance. Puff!

Ye Chen stomped it, crushing it into a pool of bloody paste, then turned back, coldly watching the remaining heads. He rushed forward swiftly, killing them one by one.

Soon after, all the Black Snail Worms hidden within the skulls were eliminated. Having done this, Ye Chen searched every room, looking for the serum storage.

However, this floor was not where the serum depot was located; besides the patient rooms, there were only a few chemotherapy units. Ye Chen considered this, then turned back toward the lower floors, deciding he needed to find Bai Long and Mo Feng first.

Against ordinary zombies, their abilities might suffice, but against cunning and insidious Black Snail Worms, they risked falling into a critical situation. ...

Thunder and rain—the network only just connected, what a tragedy...