Chapter 26

Ma Le brought Jelli back to Anderson's house, letting him stay in Anderson's room. Jelli didn't mind the messy room and started cleaning it up diligently. The young man was exhausted from the day's events, and the shock of seeing his brother killed right in front of him. After a quick shower, he fell asleep quickly.

Ma Le sat on the sofa watching TV, but his mind was preoccupied with the remaining days: there were less than two days left before he could return. He might get a follow-up task after submitting the current one in the morning. Now that he knew how to get to the infected area, he decided to act on his own, which would be more convenient. He also planned to look for Lauren's uncle and aunt...

The next morning, the sun shone warmly on his face. Ma Le stretched lazily, realizing he had fallen asleep on the sofa the night before. After washing up, he opened the fridge and suddenly noticed that it was full of expired and spoiled food. It didn't matter to him, but Jelli was a normal person and couldn't eat such things.

Ma Le pushed open Jelli's door; the young man was still asleep. Ma Le left him $2,000 and a note, telling him that he had to go out to take care of some business and might not return that night. He said the house was temporarily his to stay in and to use the money freely. Then, Ma Le changed into a light outfit, put on his backpack, and went to find Dr. Lagrange to submit his task.

When Lagrange saw the twenty full test tubes, he was amazed at Ma Le's efficiency and thanked him repeatedly, but didn't offer any substantial reward. Ma Le consoled himself that he had already received a generous reward, even if he couldn't see the Miracle Badge...

Ma Le asked if there was anything else he could help with. Lagrange waved his hand cheerfully and said that the experimental materials were sufficient and they just needed to wait for the results. Ma Le asked when the results would be available, and Lagrange told him that all the steps were prepared. If the theory on the disc was correct, the results could be out in a few hours. If the theory was flawed, it might take months to figure out anything.

Ma Le prayed that the theory would be correct, said goodbye to Dr. Lagrange, and went for a walk on the street. Manhattan in the midst of the disaster wasn't as desolate as he had imagined; many people were still busy. Although the infection was terrifying, it was currently limited to half of Manhattan Island, and the military had largely controlled the situation (at least in the eyes of the general public). So, in the eyes of the people, the crisis would be over in a month or so, and life and work would continue. But only Ma Le knew that in the second part of the story, two years later, Manhattan had become a completely infected area, a hell on earth overrun by mutated monsters.

As he walked down the street, Ma Le faintly smelled a strange odor. It wasn't fishy, stinky, sour, or sweet, but it was uncomfortable to smell. He hadn't noticed it before when he was eager to complete his task, but now it became increasingly unpleasant. Ma Le entered a fast-food restaurant, where the smell was much lighter, and he couldn't help but take a few deep breaths of fresh air.

He ordered breakfast and sat at a window seat. To be honest, after absorbing that powerful monster last night, the energy he gained was enough to last him a week without eating. But after living as a normal human for over twenty years, the habit of three meals a day was hard to break.

Ma Le sipped his coffee and watched the scenery outside. Suddenly, he noticed something strange. The fast-food restaurant was close to the infected area, and not far from the window was a double-layered barbed wire fence. Logically, there should have been zombies roaming outside the fence, but Ma Le didn't see a single one. Instead, the ground was littered with zombie corpses.

Were they killed by the electric fence? Ma Le wondered, but it didn't seem right. There were no burn marks on the bodies, and not all of them were near the fence. How did these zombies die?

After finishing his breakfast, Ma Le chatted with the server about the zombies outside. The owner looked out the door, shrugged, and said, "I don't know, sir. Last night, those damned zombies were still wandering around, making disgusting noises. This morning, when we opened the store, we only saw these corpses. But it's good news, isn't it? The only good zombie is a dead zombie!"

Ma Le smiled, left a ten-dollar tip, and walked out of the restaurant to the barbed wire fence, where he closely examined the zombie corpses. The zombies had no obvious head injuries, and their bodies were neatly arranged, as if they had tripped and fallen and never got up again...

"Could this be...?" Ma Le suddenly thought of a possibility: in the original game, there was an important plot where Blackwatch developed a "Bloodtox" that could effectively suppress or even kill the Blacklight virus, a powerful weapon against the infection. In a later chapter, Blackwatch installed emitters across Manhattan to spread Bloodtox in the air, killing most of the zombies and forcing many powerful mutated creatures to hide underground...

Ma Le also thought of the strange smell in the air. Could this be Bloodtox? He instinctively held his breath, clenched his fist, and found that his strength hadn't decreased. It seemed the toxin was ineffective against him, probably because his heightened senses allowed him to detect what others couldn't.

Ma Le wasn't worried about the effects of Bloodtox, but recalling the game's plot, he remembered the next major event! "Damn, not that!" Ma Le looked in the direction of Times Square and listened carefully. He could hear the distant rumble of machinery.

"Damn it! It really is!" As he spoke, the ground began to shake violently, and the road cracked. One by one, Hunters emerged from the ground, rampaging and slaughtering civilians on the street! Blackwatch and the Marines quickly gathered, forming small teams to concentrate their fire on the Hunters. Then, from the direction of Times Square, came a loud explosion, followed by the roar of some unknown creature, and then the sound of artillery fire!

The safe zones were no longer safe!

Seeing this, Ma Le realized that the plot had progressed to the final battle against the virus's source, Elizabeth! To understand Elizabeth, one must know the origin of the Blacklight virus, as she was the foundation of the Blacklight project!

When Blackwatch was established in the 1960s, they discovered the prototype of the Blacklight virus in primates. To study its effects on humans, they created an isolated town called Hope. They injected the virus into the town's residents, who initially showed no unusual reactions and continued to live peacefully. However, a few years later, a bio-infection broke out in Hope, with over half the residents turning into zombies, and the remaining survivors were forcibly isolated within the town!

After a year of isolation, Blackwatch entered the town to clean up. Out of the town's 400 residents, only one girl survived—Elizabeth Green! Elizabeth seemed to have a high compatibility with the virus. Not only did it not kill her, but it also mutated within her, significantly enhancing her physical abilities. Blackwatch's troops brought her back to headquarters for isolation and research, using her to cultivate the Blacklight virus. For decades, Elizabeth didn't age, sweat, or blink, remaining almost completely still until Alex arrived.

Alex, in his quest to recover his memory, investigated Blackwatch's secret files and discovered information about Elizabeth. To uncover the truth, he forcibly broke into Gentek's research facility and finally met Elizabeth. However, this monster in the form of a girl didn't reveal the truth to Alex; instead, she defeated him and ran into the streets, causing even more severe infections in Manhattan. Initially, the leak of the Blacklight virus only produced zombies, which the military could control. But Elizabeth created Hunters, large infected creatures capable of fighting armored vehicles, which greatly increased human casualties!

To combat the mutated creatures, Blackwatch developed Bloodtox and spread it in the air, killing many ordinary zombies. However, Elizabeth led a large number of mutated monsters underground, evading the Bloodtox. The military detected that Elizabeth's lair was beneath Times Square and used a massive drilling machine to inject Bloodtox underground, finally forcing all the mutated creatures to emerge! And Ma Le just happened to be there at this dangerous moment!

Now, Elizabeth should have appeared in Times Square. According to the plot, Alex should be among the Blackwatch forces attacking her. Ma Le wanted to go and see if he could benefit from the chaos, but he was also concerned about Dr. Lagrange's safety. According to the plot, the expert should survive, but with the current chaos, who knew what might happen.

The task was more important! Ma Le gritted his teeth, pulled out his Blackbow, and rushed to St. Paul's Hospital. There were a few Hunters jumping around the hospital entrance, and dozens of Blackwatch soldiers were fighting them with a tank. Ma Le took advantage of the chaos to run into the hospital and reached Lagrange's underground laboratory.

"Doctor! Are you okay, Doctor!" Ma Le rushed into the lab, and Lagrange seemed to have completed his experiment. Seeing Ma Le, he came forward and handed him a small box: "The theory on the disc is correct! This is the result of the research!"

"Doctor, forget about the research! It's very dangerous outside; we need to find a way to leave here!" Ma Le shouted, not wanting Lagrange to die there. Even from a practical standpoint, Lagrange was a mobile task-giver. According to Ma Le's memory, after defeating Elizabeth, there were almost no significant events for two days, and Lagrange would still be needed to issue tasks.

Lagrange firmly pushed the box into Ma Le's hands and said, "Take my research and go! I'm already a dead man. Even if I escape this time, I have no chance of survival!"

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