“Zhan Lan! Northwest direction, linear scan, there’s something over there!” Zheng Zha roared softly within their minds.

Zhan Lan’s voice returned shortly after, a murmur escaping her lips: “The moment I perform a linear scan, this school falls outside my range. I just spotted some Lurkers and Zombie Dogs, and one enormous Zombie Dog—I’m worried they might attack you.” Zheng Zha let out a heavy breath: “We can’t worry about that right now. Let’s observe the situation over there first. I estimate we’ve already been scanned.”

Nearly a hundred kilometers from Zheng Zha and his group, ten men and women materialized out of thin air atop a modern skyscraper. Several zombies already occupied the rooftop, and they quickly shambled toward the newcomers like flies drawn to fresh meat.

Crack-crack-crack! A few gunshots rang out, and the skulls of the approaching zombies instantly exploded, their bodies rapidly igniting. Within ten seconds, the corpses were reduced to ash.

Eight men and two women—this team consisted of ten members, all clad in identical, form-fitting black uniforms, right down to their standardized boots. From sheer presence alone, they radiated a far greater intensity than the members of the Central Continent Team.

A man and a woman stood hand-in-hand, both closing their eyes and gazing in a specific direction. After a moment, the man finally spoke: “Captain, the direction is confirmed. The location is ninety-three kilometers from here. Aside from our eight team members, the Central Continent Team is with several plot characters. Additionally, we’ve detected the presence of Mummy Guards, preliminarily confirming they possess the Tome of the Dead.”

A man squatting near the ground looked down and spoke flatly: “The Tome of the Dead? Just the Mummy Guards shouldn't pose a threat. He shouldn't have the power to summon the Sphinx yet, let alone the Death Squad. Do they have a mind controller? What is their strength level?” The man replied: “Yes, a mind controller has been confirmed, but only one, and their power is only equivalent to Amyia’s, slightly weaker than mine. Their skills confirm the presence of Mind Chain and Psychic Scan.” The man remained crouched, murmuring: “That strength is still considerable. With Mind Chain, your fine control maneuvers will be extremely difficult. Chu Xuan, analyze their combat strength. Tom, link the visual feed to everyone’s consciousness.”

Standing beside this man was an ordinary-looking man wearing glasses, his expression one of profound indifference. After the image appeared in his mind, it took him a long while to finally speak softly: “In terms of combat power, they have four main combatants from the Central Continent Team. According to ‘Main God’ intelligence, one of them is among the four who have unlocked the third stage of the Genetic Lock, so his strength is naturally significant. Preliminary estimates suggest a melee specialist with a few magical skills. Compared to his close combat prowess, what about that girl beside him, Zhao Zhuikong? Is she also an Assassin?” Standing next to the bespectacled man was an extraordinarily handsome man, about one meter seventy-eight tall.

He had maintained a faint smile, which intensified when he saw the girl. He now asked with curiosity: “How did you know she belongs to the Assassin lineage?” The man named Chu Xuan gently adjusted his glasses and said coolly: “Her movements share about seventy percent similarity with your walking gait—a habit cultivated over years that one cannot easily change. So, she is also of the Assassin lineage? As a melee threat, I advise against engaging this girl head-on; it would be better to use ranged weapons on her…” Zhao Zhuikong immediately laughed: “Wait. Leave her to me. She’s my dear little sister. Give her to me.” Chu Xuan nodded: “If you are certain. Next is the man with the longbow. Did you notice? He is constantly trembling, yet he occupies a position clearly within the ranks of their escorts. What does that imply? It implies he is afraid, yet his comrades trust his power. This is a man with weak willpower but immense strength. If possible, attempt to subdue him. Furthermore, in this world, anyone still using primitive weaponry is either an idiot or possesses formidable combat ability. I prefer to believe the latter. Aside from the previous three, he is the one we must pay the most attention to.” “Finally, this last person: Cheng Xiao. As my duplicate, he retained all memories prior to entering the ‘Main God’ space. His origins are a mystery; even I do not know his background. However, his strength is considerable. In melee combat, even those who have unlocked the first stage of the Genetic Lock are no match for him. This is a character born with internal energy (Neili). Unlike our internally reinforced power, his combat techniques are entirely derived from his Neili. Therefore, in close quarters, he ranks third, only behind the Central Continent Team Captain and the Assassin.” “As for the others, the woman with her eyes closed is clearly the mind controller, and the little boy holding a staff is preliminarily estimated to be a reinforcement specializing in legendary-tier magic. Insufficient data for further inference.” The squatting man continued: “Thank you for your work, Chu Xuan. This ‘Main God’ mission is to escort Jill, Angie, Alice, Jason, and Carlos out of the city. But they are all currently with the Central Continent Team, still inside the elementary school. What about the impending nuclear strike tomorrow? Is there any way to stop it?” Chu Xuan thought for a moment and replied calmly: “There is no way to stop it, nor is it necessary. The current time is 4:00 AM. Given the time and the sheer size of the city, they cannot possibly evacuate before the nuclear attack tomorrow. Yet, they are still inside the school completing the ‘Main God’ mission. I can only conclude they have altered the timing of the nuclear strike beforehand—in other words, they have made contact or struck a deal with the Umbrella Corporation. If we follow this line of reasoning, the people we face may no longer be just the Central Continent Team, but also mercenaries dispatched by Umbrella, perhaps even attack helicopters. Considering we have two extra members and we are the Devil Reincarnation Squad, I believe that once we initiate an attack, they will likely split up to flee. This would neutralize the team cooperation combat strength of both sides, resulting in a greater net loss for our team.”

The squatting man slowly stood up, a hint of excitement in his voice: “Is that so? Good. Otherwise, this horror movie would become dreadfully dull. Zhao Zhuikong, your sister is yours to handle. I do not wish to hear of any incidents. Ming Yanwei, the man with the bow is yours. Pierce him with your arrows.” “Chu Xuan, you take Tom, Amyia, and Frodo. The four of you are to attack Cheng Xiao and the new Central Continent Team member beside him. Try your best to locate and kill the mind controller. Have Frodo manage to take down one or two more; he needs more Reward Points and Branch Storyline value to increase his strength, as he is a newcomer to the squad.” “I will handle this, along with Nochad and Francois. The four of us shall meet the Central Continent Team Captain. Chu Xuan, as the battle commander, you may coordinate any actions of the remaining members except for me. And as for the Central Continent Team Captain, he is a leader in his own right; his funeral cannot be conducted without proper respect.” The man turned his head. It was Zheng Zha, but a scar stretched hideously from the left side of his face down to the corner of his right mouth, looking like a centipede crawling across his features. This scar imparted a bloody resonance to his speech—the feeling of death itself. Zhan Lan closed her eyes for a moment, then opened them and relayed the information to Zheng Zha: “I only managed a preliminary detection of their location—about ninety kilometers away. The distance is too great for a detailed scan of all personnel. I only know there are eight men and two women; the Devil Reincarnation Squad consists of ten people. Damn, they’ve shielded their location.” Zheng Zha fell silent briefly: “Shielded? What about ours?” Zhan Lan hesitated for a moment: “Ours is shielded too. By compressing the psychic scan down to a seven-kilometer radius, that concentrated psychic field is enough to block their detection. But they have ten people—why are they two more than us?” Xiao Honglu’s voice cut in: “There’s nothing surprising about that. Think about it: if we haven’t lost a single rookie over several horror movies, especially after completing a fifteen-person difficulty movie, and then suddenly face a ten-difficulty movie, would the ‘Main God’ wipe out one of us? So, this shouldn't be an issue. Moreover, their location is to the northwest, while we are heading southeast toward the Umbrella Corporation tower. They shouldn’t catch up to us anytime soon. This is fantastic; their location is even better for our goals than we anticipated. We must seize this opportunity; we need to reach the Umbrella tower as quickly as possible!” Zheng Zha nodded, withdrawing his consciousness from the dialogue. Almost simultaneously, a sharp premonition of danger struck him. He immediately rolled outward, performing the same action as Zhao Yingkong and Alice. Only the mercenary reacted too slowly. A massive, dark-red figure plummeted from directly above him, instantly crushing the mercenary underfoot. Then, with a single rip of its claws, the mercenary was shredded into pieces. Around the three, several Lurkers appeared clinging to the walls and ceiling. Simultaneously, several Zombie Dogs emerged from the corner of the corridor, and behind them lurked a massive, lion-sized Zombie Mastiff. With a wild roar, the Zombie Dogs and Lurkers lunged toward the four.