Chapter 3: Alive

Zhou Yu took note of its healing speed, it was around 13 seconds.

That’s to say, he only had a window of 13 seconds!

After he made his decision, he dutifully raised his gun without any second thoughts. Aiming at the monster’s tail, he held down the trigger and was accurate enough to fire continuously at the same spot.

The monster screeched, its sound was almost enough to shatter the ceiling.

Zhou Yu felt a terrible pain in his head as if something in his brain was buzzing. But, he couldn’t change that, so he continuously changed his position to make sure he stayed outside of the range of attack of the monster’s tail. The stream of bullets went uninterrupted.

The monster’s muscles were very special, if it were an ordinary creature then it would’ve long become a pool of mud, but its tail was still hanging there. Even though it was almost severed, it never detached from its body.

Zhou Yu’s ammunition clip was already empty.

It was now! If he missed it then there wouldn’t be a next time!

Zhou Yu conveniently threw away his gun and rushed towards the monster at his fastest speed.

He knew that if he approached its limbs then the best scenario was to be swatted away, although it was more likely that he would be slapped into mush like Chen Chong.

Zhou Yu stepped onto the monster’s abdomen with one foot. Sure enough, the monster trembled, it wanted to use its tail to attack Zhou Yu. But, its tail only powerlessly swept along the floor without lifting up.

Zhou Yu suddenly sat on its back, and before he could be thrown off by the monster, he forcefully stuck his dagger in the monster’s back.

The monster immediately raised its head and let out an extremely enraged howl. Zhou Yu was about to be thrown off from its back, he could only clamp down tightly using his legs.

Almost ten seconds had passed, he couldn’t continue to waste time.

It didn’t seem like this organism had a brain, or maybe its brain didn’t grow in its skull. Zhou Yu pulled out the handgun in the holster on his thigh, and let out a violent stream of bullets aimed at the monster’s neck. He used up all of the bullets in a few seconds.

The monster painfully threw off Zhou Yu. His vertebra had practically been shot through by Zhou Yu. It made a hateful and angered sound, the foundation of its nimble agility had been shaken.

Zhou Yu just happened to fall near Chen Chong. Taking Chen Chong’s gun, he started to shoot again at the monster’s tail that was already half-healed and had started to lift up!

There were no more weapons he could use nearby, Zhou Yu couldn’t manage the ammunition clip and directly threw the gun aside. Picking up a steel pipe that the monster than smashed aside, he charged forwards while shooting once at the monster’s belly.

The monster came at him from the angle of the shot. Zhou Yu’s consciousness at that second was incomparably focused. He tightly gripped the steel pipe in that moment of life and death and ruthlessly stabbed it into its belly where it had been shot by the bullet.

Zhou Yu knew that the monster’s belly was very developed, so he concentrated all of the strength in his body, the muscles on his back practically taunt enough to split, and put all of the energy he possessed in his life into his moment.

The steel pipe pierced through the monster while its tail raised up and quickly pierced through Zhou Yu’s abdomen.

Zhou Yu should have felt fear, once the barbs on its tail raised up, all of Zhou Yu’s organs would be pierced through. He would die more miserably than Chen Chong.

But just then, the acute pain caused Zhou Yu to become clear-headed. The thought of death became something not worth mentioning and was discarded.

He had already come to this step, even if he wanted to dodge, it was too late. Since it was already like this, why not give this monster one truly terrible blow?!

Zhou Yu frantically pushed the steel pipe in deeper. The blood dripping down from his abdomen didn’t exist to Zhou Yu.

He tensed up his arms and walked forwards step by step, allowing the monster’s tail to penetrate him while also pushing the steel pipe in his hands deeper and deeper. The monster started to struggle, at its speed, it could’ve easily avoided it, but it seemed like it was afraid of moving around. It only drew back quickly, even its tail recoiled. Blood immediately started to gush out of Zhou Yu. Right then he knew that he had definitely stabbed a vital region of the monster. Even if he died, he had to pierce it through!

“Ah—” An angry snarl followed Zhou Yu, the monster was about to break away from his area of attack. Zhou Yu spared no effort to sprint and leap into the air, his right foot firmly kicking in the steel pipe. It passed through layers of flesh as if it struck something soft. Only a tearing sound was heard as if brain tissue was leaking out from the monster’s wound.

It staggered and lost balance. Zhou Yu also fell to the ground, blood pooling around him and underneath his body. He coldly stared down at the guy in front of him until it toppled over with a crash and no longer responded.

At this time, Zhou Yu slowly closed his eyes as well.

He knew that bleeding out this much blood meant that he was going to die soon.. but when his consciousness started to fade, he seemed to have heard the engine of a helicopter.

By his ear was the rhythm of some device, and it also seemed like people were talking.

“Heart rate, normal.”

“Pulse, normal.”

“The wound has healed well, there are no signs of infection so far. The estimated time for a complete recovery is two months.”

Zhou Yu knitted his brows, was it a doctor speaking?

“Very good, when he wakes up, I want to talk to him.”

The voice sounded very gentle, but it also contained a hint of something lofty and apathetic.

Zhou Yu slowly opened his eyes. He was met with a bright ceiling. The nearby rays of light were blinding for Zhou Yu, he couldn’t help but squint a little.

He was in a hospital room, around him were various monitoring devices. Two doctors wearing white coats were standing at the other end of the bed, they were in discussion.

Not too far away, a man in a black suit wearing glasses frames clearly noticed that Zhou Yu was awake. His lips slowly revealed a smile when he walked to Zhou Yu’s side not too quickly or too slowly. Pressing down on one side of Zhou Yu’s pillow with his hand, he lowered his body and said, “Hello, Captain Zhou.”

Zhou Yu looked into the other person’s amber eyes.

“Where is this?” Zhou Yu asked.

He voice was slightly hoarse, and his abdomen felt a dull pain. It seemed like the area impaled by the monster had already been treated. Zhou Yu wondered which doctor was this skilled, his internal organs had been torn through many times, and he suffered from heavy blood loss, yet now he was still alive, and it seemed like his condition was stable.

“Where do you think this is?” The other person slightly smiled.

Just now, the two doctors turned their way and started to approach them to check on Zhou Yu’s body.

At that moment, Zhou Yu suddenly took hold of the other man by his neck. He sat up and used one hand to press him against his body, ready to snap his neck at any time.

“This is the Juli Corporation!” Zhou Yu said in a low voice between gritted teeth.

Also, the two people in white coats weren’t doctors, they had the same ID passes as the researchers around their waists.

“Captain Zhou! Please don’t act rashly! We’re here to help you!”

The two researchers had extremely nervous expressions, it seemed like the guy Zhou Yu had under his hand was an important person in Juli Corp.

“You saved me? To me, you’re the elites of each field, but how come none of you have any sense of cause and effect logic?” Zhou Yu lifted up the corner of his lips to show a cold smile. “Who bred that monster? Who hid the truth and sent my team to carry out some “hostage rescue” mission? Where is that researcher who lost his mind? When we got there, everyone in the research center was dead already, no? We were only pawns sent there to kill the monster and to clean up the aftermath. Am I right?

The man Zhou Yu was pressing down lightly chuckled.

“Zhou Yu, you really are interesting.”

“You think it’s funny that I can snap your neck at any moment?” Zhou Yu raised his brows.

“No, I think that anyone who can kill that monster is interesting. When we found you, you had already suffered massive blood loss, and you were only a step away from hell. The medical team that Juli Corp sent gave you blood transfusions the entire journey, knowing that you wouldn’t make it to the hospital. They directly operated on you on the helicopter. From this, we sincerely wished for you to survive. In light of our good faith, can we have a proper conversation now? I can answer all of your questions.”

Zhou Yu looked down at the man.

In any case, there was nothing to lose. He let go of him.

The other person straightened up and fixed his collar. The other two researchers let out the breaths they were holding.

“Hello, Zhou Yu. I am Song Zhi, the person in charge of Juli Corporation’s “Nibelungen” project.”

“Der Ring des Nibelungen”. This name made Zhou Yu’s heart shiver.

“I heard that Juli Corp only recruits from the elite of the elites, so which international top-rate university does Mr. Song have a Ph.D. from?”

Zhou Yu said with half a sneer.

He’d always been indifferent about bigwigs, and he had no sympathy for this guy’s false pretenses.

Song Zhi didn’t mind and smiled. “Does having a status mean anything to me? I told you my name to make it easier for you to address me and to converse with me. First of all, I need to clarify a point. The news you received that an insane researcher had taken the other researchers hostage was true. Juli Corp did not make up that story.”

Zhou Yu didn’t speak, he only stared into Song Zhi’s eyes, waiting for him to continue.

“He was in negotiations with Juli Corp, demanding that we terminate “Der Ring des Nibelungen” project. After being rejected by Juli Corp’s top brass, he flew into a rage and released that monster. What came after that was the situation you went into. But, it was true that when your team had carried out the mission, there was no one left alive. Juli Corp was going to send a more experienced team to take care of that monster in the research center, but your superiors were under great stress and probably wanted to get rid of it as quickly as possible, so they sent your team. They didn’t tell you what your real objective was, because “Der Ring des Nibelungen” is an absolute secret.”

Song Zhi’s gaze became deep and cold, Zhou Yu couldn’t see any trace of wavering or avoidance in his eyes.

He was telling the truth.