Chapter 84

<84. The Mouse in the Jar (2)>

The atmosphere had settled down.

Oliver asked,

"I heard that the Fighter Crew and the mercenaries fled here after exploring the contaminated zone. How did you end up here, Mr. Arthur?"

Arthur, who had a golem prosthetic arm, lit a cigarette and replied,

"Hmm... I was fighting zombies with my group, and somehow ended up here."

"Can you give us more details?"

"......"

Arthur looked at Oliver for a moment before pulling out a map from his coat. It was more detailed than the one Oliver had, and he pointed to a skull mark.

"We went to this place and were attacked by a horde of zombies."

"Isn't that a dangerous area where zombies often appear?"

"Yeah. We didn't plan to go there, but we didn't catch as many zombies as we expected. So, we decided to take the risk, make a quick score, and then leave."

It didn't seem like a bad idea.

With the right equipment and numbers, they could handle a certain number of zombies.

However, that was only in normal circumstances.

"I was prepared, but when we faced them, it was worse than expected. We couldn't see any zombies, but suddenly they started shooting from the buildings and throwing bombs. They even emerged from all sides as if they were waiting for us."

It was as Oliver had suspected.

"We were caught off guard but managed to respond. The problem was that the zombie horde kept coming. Eventually, we were overwhelmed... and we fled. When I came to my senses, I was here."

"...Did Mr. Arthur come first, or did Mr. Hugh come first?"

The leader of the Goodman Mercenary Team, Hugh, answered,

"The first to come in were us, then those guys, followed by these problem solvers, and lastly, those guys. Ah, now you're the last."

Sam, who was maintaining his gun, said to Hugh,

"Wow... Were you always this kind?"

"No, tell him I'm smart, Black Mage. If we had stayed alone, we would have been overrun. We lacked both people and supplies, so how could we have held off that zombie army?"

He was right.

The only reason they had managed to hold out was because of the additional manpower and supplies from the new arrivals.

"But that won't last long. We're almost out of bullets and bombs."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

It was a pretty desperate situation.

Once the bullets, bombs, and morale were gone, all that would be left was their bare hands.

Of course, there were those with exceptional physical abilities, but even they would only last so long against the countless zombie army.

It was truly incomprehensible.

While others found the situation difficult to understand, it was particularly hard for Oliver to grasp.

He couldn't understand how so many zombies could be controlled so meticulously, and most importantly, why they were targeting the problem solvers so intensely.

Thinking about this, Joseph suddenly came to mind.

His teacher, who had gone to great lengths to lure him to his altar.

"Look, Black Mage. I'm asking you again. Use your powerful firepower to clear the zombies and open a path for us. I'll take responsibility for protecting you and will reward you afterward."

Hugh's words were sincere, and he seemed eager to escape this situation quickly.

Just as Oliver was about to say it might be dangerous, a mercenary who was on guard upstairs came down in a hurry and shouted,

"Captain, come up here quickly!"

"What? Why? Are the zombies attacking again?"

"No, it's not that... Just come up."

Hugh went up, followed by Knuckle Joe, Sam, Arthur, and many others. Oliver was included as well.

"What's going on?"

"More zombies have arrived. That's bad enough, but the problem is what I see among them."

"What do you see?"

"Remember the Duncan Forest battle?"

"Sadly, yes."

"It's similar to what we saw then."

"...Shit."

Hugh muttered a curse and went to the top of the building.

Mercenaries, problem solvers, mages, and black mages, all armed with heavy weapons, were on guard, looking at the same spot.

They were looking at a group of zombies, which, surprisingly, looked fresh, as if they had died recently. They were also equipped differently from the zombies they had encountered so far.

But it wasn't just their equipment.

These zombies possessed intelligence.

They had a faint sense of self, and Oliver couldn't quite define what he was seeing. It was a type of zombie he had never encountered before.

They were like zombies that had failed to be revived.

However, the others seemed interested in something else.

"Is that a Lich?"

Oliver followed the person's gaze.

Among the zombies, one was wearing a华丽的斗篷，有着像木乃伊一样皱巴巴、干瘪的脸。

Hugh对Knuckle Joe说：

“嘿……那是Lich吗？”

“不知道，Lich真的存在过吗？”

其他人也向周围的黑魔法师或魔法师询问那是不是Lich，这时，Oliver低声说道：

“那不像是Lich，更像是一个尸偶。”

“尸偶？”

“是的，通过黑魔法、机械装置和特殊加工制成的僵尸人偶，看起来是这样的。”

Oliver肯定地说。

他以前在对付傀儡师Glyp时见过他的作品，外面的那些非常相似。

那种操纵他人尸体的异样感。

Oliver的话没有引起异议，Hugh似乎也对这个话题失去了兴趣，继续说道：

“那么，你能一起清除那些东西吗？”

Oliver集中视线，摇了摇头。

“不……这很困难。除了那些尸偶，还有隐藏的，加起来有七个。即使我们用轰炸清除小僵尸，尸偶也会出来阻止我们。一旦被拖住，更多的僵尸会从四面八方涌来，包围我们。”

虽然不确定，但大家本能地感到这确实可能发生，因此沉默了。

虽然不知道幕后是谁，但大家已经能感受到对方的实力。

Sam在子弹上施加黑魔法，问道：

“那些尸偶不能快速解决，然后冲出去吗？”

“尸偶比想象中强大，不容易对付。特别是下面的那些，看起来比之前见过的更精良。”

Oliver根据从Glyp的书中学到的知识说道。

“那该怎么办？等子弹和士气耗尽，僵尸涌来吗？”

“嗯……不是这样，但我们可以寻求周围守卫污染区的军人帮助吗？”

“不，那不可能。市防卫军非常小心，如果他们认为有危险，不会派我们去代替他们。”

“但是……现在的情况不正常吧？”

“当然，但他们会等我们都死了才行动。最重要的是，我们无法联系他们。污染区内的通讯不好。”

“你不是和Joe有联系吗？”

“那是因为我们在同一个污染区内。与外部的通讯很困难。”

Hugh插话说，展示了嘈杂的通讯设备。

确实，除了噪音，什么也听不到。

通讯中断，弹药和士气耗尽，不断涌来的僵尸。

整个情况没有任何有利之处。Oliver甚至考虑带着所有人强行突破。

如果这样，至少他可以独自逃走。

‘如果集中全力用黑套装逃走，会怎么样呢……’

“该死……那我们只能把命运寄托在地下室了？”

Hugh突然说道。

“地下室？”

“这栋楼的地下室有连接下水道的地下通道，现在有人在那边探索。”

Sam兴奋地说。

“真的？！”

“是的，但通道太深太复杂，大家都很吃力。甚至黑暗到分不清左右上下，感觉像是有人在搞恶作剧。”

“……”

由于外部逃生困难，大家的注意力转向了地下室。就在这时，楼下有人上来，满身灰尘，显得非常高兴。

“队长！下来看看！好像找到了生路！”

***

听到召唤，所有人都下楼了。

正如Hugh所说，楼下的确有地下室，灰尘很多，非常昏暗。

看起来不仅仅是年久失修。

地下室本身感觉像是一个过道，没有特定用途。在灰尘堆中，可以看到一群人。

大多数是佣兵和军人，其中有一个显得格格不入。

Oliver认识他。

最初向他介绍各种事情的人。

“Chevy……”

“哈哈……在这里见到熟人真好。”

Hugh说。

“把灯调亮点……看不清楚！”

灯光加强后，Chevy的脸清晰可见。他的脸上有淤青，看起来很奇怪。

“怎么回事？”

“我们在探索地下通道，寻找逃生路线时遇到了他。”

“你为什么会在那里？”

“嘿嘿……法师大人让我去搜索的。”

“那边的情况也不好？”

“是的……能活着已经很幸运了。本来是作为向导，但连这个也没做到……”

“他们在哪里？法师和德鲁伊？”

“在安全的建筑里恢复中。因为僵尸不断涌来，他们用尽了魔力……”

“看来你们的情况和我们差不多。”

Hugh沉思时，Chevy开口了。

“……如果可以的话，加入我们怎么样？”

“什么？”

“我来带路。大家都知道，现在情况很不对劲。僵尸从四面八方涌来，还开枪，先逃命再说。让我们合作吧。”

没有人反对或犹豫。

毕竟，被僵尸包围，合作求生是理所当然的。

“好吧……和法师合作，生存的几率会提高。但我们可以一起移动吗？”

“这可能有点困难。人太多，狭窄的通道会有限制。”

“那我们分批移动？”

“这也是个问题……谁愿意最后走？”

“嗯……那我们抽签？”

大家讨论着各种方案，Chevy插话建议：

“最好让有实力的人先走。比如Hugh先生、那边的黑魔法师，还有Arthur先生。法师大人现在很敏感，看到有实力的人会更愿意合作。你知道，年轻法师有多古怪。”

大家思考着如何移动，Oliver慢慢走到Chevy面前，停了下来。

大家都感到困惑。

“……？”

“法师大人在哪里？”

“……在某个建筑里躲着。避开僵尸。”

“能具体说说是哪个建筑吗？”

“嗯……我也不太清楚。”

“你不是对污染区很熟悉吗？”

“……熟悉，但不是全部。”

Oliver点了点头。

周围的人想问发生了什么，但Joe阻止了他们，似乎察觉到了什么。

“是吗……还有最后一个问题可以问吗？”

“……什么？”

“你是谁？不是Chevy，而是进入里面的人。”

“……”

大家都沉默了。

“这……你是什么时候发现的？”