Chapter 380

Chapter 380: Using Others to Kill

Upon hearing the orders from the two officers, the confusion on Wencheng’s face dissipated.

Even though several months had passed, the state of that Infected still lingered vividly in Wencheng’s memory.

He was reluctant to kill the already scarce humans, but he was even more unwilling to let more people die because of a moment of his mercy.

If his negligence led to a key individual becoming infected, it would spell an unimaginable catastrophe for this branch of humanity.

With his resolve firm, Wencheng turned his gaze to the soldiers quarantined in other rooms and spoke with a grave expression:

“Have you all understood? It’s time to act.”

“Click.”

As if in response to his command, the sound of all the isolation doors unlocking echoed through the halls.

The soldiers paired up, donning the protective suits placed outside the rooms and rearming themselves with various weaponry.

Bullets were loaded, pulses were set, and even the flamethrowers were primed and ready.

Under Wencheng’s command, the team sprang into action.

The isolation area was situated on the lowest floor, just above the section designated for biological cultivation, which remained closed due to the current abundance of food and the absence of embryo activation.

Thus, the space where the Infected could potentially hide was straightforward to search.

Wencheng led his team upward, meticulously searching each floor.

Haines and Vladimir had already activated the airlock; it was midnight, and everyone confined to their rooms remained unharmed.

The independent air circulation system would replace the original one, creating self-contained loops that would thwart any attempts by fleeing samples to escape.

Wencheng’s team methodically confirmed the safety of each laboratory and dormitory. Under the bright light, any traces of infection would be unmistakable; if any infection were to occur, the rest would swiftly detect it.

The faces of the people in the dormitory were etched with anxiety and fear. Like Wencheng’s team, they had been abruptly roused from deep sleep by the alarm but lacked the authority to venture out and conduct checks.

As for the researchers burning the midnight oil in the laboratory, they raised their hands in resignation, indicating that the leak of the experimental subjects was beyond their control.

After all, the current situation naturally led Wencheng and the others to consider this possibility. In such a dire emergency, if they were to be shot on the spot, they could only accept it as misfortune.

Wencheng and his team pressed on with their thorough search until…

In a laboratory on the twenty-second floor, bright lights illuminated every corner, revealing overturned reagents and shattered glassware.

A few figures trembled behind the laboratory bench, the sealed airlock offering them no means of escape; they were helpless against the impending danger.

A soldier was the first to notice this unusual scene, and soon Wencheng arrived on the scene.

A single glance was all it took for him to grasp what had transpired here.

In the center of the laboratory, a transparent container lay overturned on the ground, completely empty.

No wonder they needed the sealed airlock…

Wencheng silently concurred with Haines’s judgment.

Such an accident was something no one wished to witness, but since they had stumbled upon the initial scene, then…

At Wencheng’s signal, a soldier connected a fuel tank to a valve outside the room, and the sound of gas being injected began to permeate the laboratory.

The brief hissing noise was caught by a researcher in a state of shock inside the laboratory.

When she saw the fully armed soldiers at the door, her shock turned to terror, and she screamed as she lunged toward the entrance.

“Bang! Bang!”

Other researchers followed suit, three or four of them crashing against the specially made glass door, leaving not a single crack.

“Stop and listen to me! It wasn’t us! It wasn’t like this when we arrived at the laboratory…”

“Light it up.”

The head researcher was still shouting when Wencheng, expressionless, gave his command.

Flames devoured everything in the laboratory, and Wencheng led his team to the next room.

They had confirmed the leak’s location but had yet to find any alien creatures or Infected.

Wencheng could not accept the thought of those creatures roaming freely on their spaceship, nor could he imagine that as long as the alert remained in place, people would be trapped in their small rooms.

Hours passed, and there were no signs of alien creatures in any laboratory, warehouse, or dormitory.

Following the ventilation ducts, that creature could indeed appear anywhere. With the experience of losing team members in the past, Wencheng remained on high alert at all times.

The higher they climbed, the heavier the soldiers’ hearts grew.

They had reached the front third of the spaceship, an area reserved only for the managers, whether it was the workspaces or the lounge.

But the more exclusive it became, the calmer Wencheng felt.

Haines and Vladimir were at least safe now, so even if some unwanted events occurred, the entire team would not collapse immediately.

The group finally stopped in front of a conference room, from which strange sounds were already emanating.

Those sounds were not something humans could produce.

Target locked.

Wencheng’s hand rested on the door lock’s sensing area, and he turned to look at his subordinates, who were tense and ready for action.

The conference room did not have the pre-installed sterilization devices of the laboratory; here, they could only eliminate the targets themselves.

Wencheng’s lips moved slightly as he issued the final command before action:

“Be careful.”

In the next second, he completed the identity verification and charged into the conference room at the forefront.

At that moment, over a dozen people were convulsing on seats or around the chairs.

Wencheng recognized the captain, the first officer, the head of supply allocation, two biologists from the research team, and some unfamiliar faces.

Some of those faces still maintained human shapes, while others displayed strange expressions, as if something was using their eyes to look in this direction.

And beneath their skin, it seemed there were worm-like creatures continuously roaming…

“Open fire.”

Wencheng never imagined he would give such a decisive command.

Yet he did so, reasoning with himself—

Loyalty.

His loyalty to humanity was unwavering, and of course, he was equally loyal to his superiors.

Thus, the orders of Ms. Haines and Captain Vladimir must be strictly followed.

The high-temperature flames from the liquid fuel engulfed everything in the room, and the nature of the basic materials ensured safety by preventing the fire from spreading to other rooms.

The flames consumed the Infected, the tables and chairs, and the holograms and cameras above the room.

In another room, a few people sat around a table, staring at the notification board where the signals had disappeared, lost in silence.

After a long while, one person asked:

“Now, shouldn’t we give ourselves a new name?”