Chapter 58: Terror in The Basement
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Some of them looked at Zhang Hongtao doubtfully. “You?”

Shen Chen didn’t even intend to bring his three buddies along with him, so what was Zhang Hongtao trying to do by volunteering himself?

“You don’t have to force yourself to go,” Shen Chen said calmly while glancing at him.

But Zhang Hongtao replied earnestly, “The person who designed this hotel is a good friend of mine. I’ve seen their design plans, and I’m the only person around who knows where the backup generator is located. If I don’t come along with you, Shen Chen, you won’t be able to find it, even if you search for it the entire night.”

Shen Chen raised his eyebrows. “Looks like I have no choice but to bring you along, then.” He then turned to Guo Yuan and said, “You’re around the same size as Zhang Hongtao. Pass him your weapons and protective suit.”

“Boss, since you’re bringing someone with you, you might as well let us come along, just in case…”

“That’s enough.” Shen Chen waved his hand. “End of discussion.”

Seeing that Zhang Hongtao had already gotten ready, the two of them left the room under the watchful eyes of the crowd. Everyone was feeling a mixture of anticipation and worry.

The beam from the torchlight flickered as it lit their way down the staircase. In the dark, the staircase was like the gaping jaws of a flesh-eating monster waiting to be fed.

Fully armed, the two of them slowly made their way down the stairs. Zhang Hongtao couldn’t stop his legs from trembling. It was his first time attempting something so dangerous, and the fire axe in his hand was starting to feel heavier and heavier, and it kept threatening to slip out of his hand.

“Don’t be nervous. I’ll walk in front of you. It’ll be fine,” Shen Chen said flatly, the Black Blade in his hand glimmering in the light from the torchlight.

Zhang Hongtao swallowed his saliva, feeling a little better. “Too bad the elevators stopped working. We have to go down quite a few levels!”

Shen Chen didn’t reply, merely smiling in response. The two of them continued making their way down slowly. After some time, they finally reached B1, the first level of the basement.

There was a carpark on level B1. It was shrouded in darkness, and zombies could be heard gnashing their teeth. Hearing the sound echoing in the dark was extremely disturbing!

Shen Chen and Zhang Hongtao leaned against the blast-resistant door. Zhang Hongtao was already covered in goosebumps and was shaking uncontrollably.

The torchlight was turned off, and for the first time Zhang Hongtao realized how frightening darkness could be. He was like a drowning man trying to grasp at anything and everything that could save his life.

Shen Chen’s voice rang in the darkness. “You’re going to stay here for a while. Don’t wander around on your own, and please, whatever you do, don’t turn on the torchlight. Wait for me to return.”

Although Shen Chen spoke quietly, Zhang Hongtao heard him loud and clear. He somberly nodded in response and held on more tightly to the fire axe.

After a while, not hearing any movements next to him, Zhang Hongtao couldn’t help but panic. Fear overwhelmed him like a venomous snake wrapping itself around his heart, and he was unable to shake it off. “Shen Chen… Shen Chen? Are you still here?” he asked in a low whisper, but the darkness beside him suggested that Shen Chen had long left his side.

From some distance away, he could hear zombies howling excitedly, but the howling didn’t last for long. It soon stopped, and the sound of bodies dropping to the floor followed.

A large chunk of Zhang Hongtao’s anxiety finally dissipated. The darkness had heightened his sense of hearing. It was really comforting to hear the bodies falling to the ground.

Meanwhile, Shen Chen was roaming around in the carpark with his eyes shut. He had no reason to fear the dark. In fact, to stop his eyes from instinctively trying to find a light source in the dark, he deliberately kept his eyes closed, instead relying on his ears to find the zombies.

In his previous life, Fourth Tier neo-humans usually had more evolved brains. Or, rather, there was a specific area in their brains that was more developed, which meant that they were better equipped to make use of their sixth sense to determine the zombies’ location and the direction in which they were located. Their sixth sense was somewhat similar to the feelers or antennae on an insect.

It was a strange sensation. One could close his eyes, yet still be aware of his surroundings, even without depending on his sight.

Shen Chen was currently doing the kind of training one had to engage in before reaching the Fourth Tier: developing one’s sixth sense by using the “antennae” in one’s consciousness, relying on sounds to approach zombies in the dark.

He was extremely familiar with such training in his past life. Even though he now had to repeat the training, since that area of his brain had yet to develop, he was still able to perform the basics. What would be extremely difficult and frightening for the average person was merely regular training to Shen Chen.

Shen Chen fearlessly made his way around the carpark, the zombies’ howling indicating to him their exact location. His mind had already made a mental sketch of the carpark based on the sounds. There were approximately two to three hundred vehicles, with a few carelessly scattered across the carpark.

There weren’t many zombies roaming around, but some had been trapped in the cars and were ramming themselves against the car doors, going “dong dong dong” in the dark.

With a slash of his Black Blade, the foul stench of blood assaulted his nose, and a wet patch formed on his clothes. Subsequently, there was the sound of zombie corpses falling to the floor.

Shen Chen had walked for about fifty to sixty meters when, all of a sudden, his expression changed. Shen Chen immediately turned around. His whole body was tense!

Meanwhile, in that moment Zhang Hongtao was shaking as he held onto his fire axe. Every muscle in his body seemed to be quivering, and his lips had turned blue. It felt like he had been waiting in the dark for almost a century, waiting for the only person who could bring him out of the darkness.

Zhang Hongtao suddenly felt a tap on his shoulder. His scalp tingled, and his forehead broke into a cold sweat. Letting out a scream, he leapt about a meter away, but a happy expression soon appeared on his face. “Boss, you’re back!” Zhang Hongtao said ecstatically as he turned on the torchlight.

But he stopped making happy sounds! What he was looking at was the smelly and rotten face of a zombie, and its horrible eyes were staring straight at him!

“Arghhhhh!” A piercing scream ricocheted in the empty carpark basement, resulting in terrifying echoes.

Zhang Hongtao haphazardly raised his fire axe. His legs crumpled beneath him, and he fell to the floor like a pile of mush, his entire body shaking from head to toe.

He failed miserably at wielding the fire axe, and could only watch as the zombie pounced on him like a hungry predator. Its bloody jaws were already opened incredibly wide and were about to reach the bridge of his nose. It desperately tried to reach the softest part of Zhang Hongtao’s body, his neck, and its disgusting drool was already dripping all over his face and neck.

“Arghhh! Save me!!!” Zhang Hongtao struggled with all his might, but the zombie was much stronger. It held Zhang Hongtao in a death grip! The blackened teeth in its mouth became visible as it tried to bite Zhang Hongtao on his neck!