DDT - Chapter 16
Chapter 16: Zombie King × Little White Flower (15)
Chi Junluo charged toward the duplex at top speed. Guided by the basic layout of the research institute provided by the Heavenly Dao in her mind, she kicked the wooden door, sending it flying, and burst into the small building. The housekeeper, a level-three ability user, had no time to react. He only saw the door detach from its frame like a small cannonball before a blur shot past him, smashing a hole in the outer door of the elevator that led directly to the institute, which had been disguised as a storage room. The blur flew straight into the elevator shaft.
Housekeeper: (⊙o⊙)……
The housekeeper was stunned.
Chi Junluo's immense mental power had already spread out, and with the map from the Heavenly Dao in her mind, she tore through everything in her path. First, she broke through the password-protected door at the bottom of the elevator shaft, instantly triggering the alarm. Then, she rushed into a long corridor, darting through it, turning, going straight, turning again. She was about to reach the research center.
However, the feedback from her mental power sent a jolt of alarm through the sprinting Chi Junluo. Seeing the heroine, Yi Shuhan, about to inject a beautiful golden liquid—tinged with a black mist invisible to the naked eye—into her arm, Chi Junluo's eyes turned red with urgency. She pushed her powerful mental energy backward, accelerating and smashing through the thick metal door with a single punch from her right hand.
A familiar voice, arriving just in the nick of time, cut through the space and reached Yi Shuhan's ears, telling her to stop.
The rapport she had developed with Chi Junluo over the past few days made her obey reflexively. Yi Shuhan abruptly dropped the syringe in her hand.
An afterimage shot in from the doorway and snatched the syringe filled with the golden reagent from the floor.
The figure flickered a few times before stopping behind Yi Shuhan. It was the hastily arrived Chi Junluo.
It all happened too suddenly. No one had time to react. Yi Shuhan was even more bewildered, staring at her now-empty hands.
Yi Mingchang was the first to snap out of it. His face changed dramatically, turning so dark it looked like ink could drip from it. "Who are you?! How dare you trespass in the Advanced Research Institute!"
Chi Junluo was furious. Her face was cold as she stared at the reagent in her hand, which looked magnificent and colorful on the outside. She could clearly sense the dense zombie virus mixed within it. To her, the reagent was as black as sludge from a sewer!
And yet, this heroine didn't understand a thing! How could she believe whatever anyone told her?!
"And who are you?! Daring to harm Shuhan!" Chi Junluo narrowed her eyes, glaring at the sinister-looking Yi Mingchang not far away.
"Sister Chi, this is my father. He means no harm, please don't misunderstand him. This is an ability user modification reagent; it won't hurt anyone." Still in the dark about the truth, the heroine Yi Shuhan turned to face Chi Junluo, still trying to defend her father.
"He's your father?" Chi Junluo sneered upon hearing this. "An ability user modification reagent? You believe such childish nonsense? Shuhan, the more vibrant and beautiful something appears on the outside, the more dangerous it is!"
Seeing Yi Shuhan's confused and disapproving expression, still not believing her, Chi Junluo sighed softly. After all, she had only known the heroine for a few days. A mysterious woman with an unknown background versus a biological father she had relied on for many years—anyone would choose to believe their own family, right?
But, even if this person was the heroine's biological father, as long as he had any intention of harming the heroine, he would be classified as a villain!
Whether in this world or in future worlds, the life and safety of this unlucky heroine would always come first!
Sensing Chi Junluo's inner thoughts, the Heavenly Dao applauded excitedly! That's the spirit, kid!
The heroine can live without a father, but she can't live without her life!
Chi Junluo let out a cold laugh, waved the golden reagent in her hand, and took a step forward. Yi Shuhan's gaze followed Chi Junluo's movement, and her sharp eyes suddenly noticed several researchers taking a step back, their faces slightly pale.
Yi Shuhan looked at the reagent with some confusion, then back at her father.
Yi Mingchang was about to go mad with rage. His plan had finally reached this stage. He was on the verge of successfully advancing the experiment to its third phase. The reagent, specifically tailored for Yi Shuhan, was about to be injected into her veins! He was so close! So close to success! But someone had shown up out of nowhere to ruin everything!
At this moment, Yi Mingchang was so angry he could have ground his teeth to dust.
"Shuhan, don't listen to this woman's nonsense. Be good, come here. Dad has more modification reagent. If you're willing, you can soon become a new and outstanding ability user!" Yi Mingchang coaxed, trying his best to soften his expression and play the emotional card. "Shuhan, are you really going to listen to this woman who just popped out of nowhere? Trust Dad. Dad loves you, how could I ever harm you? You're my only daughter! We've depended on each other for so many years, don't you trust your father?"
Yi Shuhan was incredibly conflicted, but the scales in her heart gradually tipped toward her biological father. That's right, Chi Junluo was just an outsider. What did she know? She didn't even know her background. Although she had saved her, compared to her father, she was still more willing to trust her father.
Yi Shuhan looked at Chi Junluo with a troubled expression. "Sister Chi, are you overthinking things? My father doesn't want to harm me. I believe him."
Chi Junluo didn't blame the heroine for her choice. She just moved abruptly, rushing toward one of the researchers whose eyes were filled with a lecherous light.
The group of researchers only had time to see Chi Junluo's flickering figure. Before they could cry out or scatter, Chi Junluo was back in her original spot. The only difference was that the reagent in her hand was gone, leaving only an empty syringe.
Everyone was horrified! Suddenly, they heard a male researcher clutch his neck, fall to his knees, and start wailing, "Ahhh!"
The researchers scrambled away, keeping their distance from the man. A few of them had already activated their abilities.
Everything changed in a flash. In just a few breaths, the man was convulsing on the ground, vomiting filth. His pupils dilated, his veins bulged, and his blood vessels turned black at a visible rate. His skin became pale and even began to crack.
Yi Mingchang never expected his lie to be exposed so casually. He flew into a rage out of shame. Finally losing his temper, he raised his hand and sent out several wind blades, swiftly decapitating the man who had already turned into a zombie.
The head rolled across the floor, its face ghastly and its fangs sharp—clearly the appearance of a zombie.
Seeing this, Yi Shuhan finally came to her senses. When she processed what had happened, she stumbled back several steps to stand beside Chi Junluo. She looked at her father in disbelief, murmuring, "This is impossible, this is impossible…"
Yi Mingchang knew everything was exposed. He dropped his disguise and calmly turned back, his face grim and his eyes dark. He couldn't say a word. Looking at the face so similar to his wife's and thinking about how his experiment had been derailed, he felt an immense rage boiling inside him.
"Father, why… why would you do this?!" Yi Shuhan felt as if her entire life's beliefs had collapsed. The father she respected most wanted her dead. He had pretended to be affectionate just to trick her into giving up her life! The man who, in her memory, was dignified, accomplished, and elegant—the father she respected most—truly didn't love her. He truly wished she were dead!
"Why?" A mist formed in Yi Shuhan's eyes, and tears threatened to spill over.
"Why?" Yi Mingchang retorted with a cold laugh. "You're asking me why??? I want to ask you the same question, why?! Why did you have to come into this world?! Why was it you! Why did you have to take Ah Qing's life! Why did you have to take away Ah Qing's future?!"
"Ah Qing?" Yi Shuhan murmured. Wasn't that her mother's name? Her mother, Shu Mingqing, had died in a car accident nineteen years ago, leaving this world forever. She was only three years old at the time and still didn't know what had happened.
When she was little, she had asked her father why she didn't have a mother, where her mother had gone. Every time, her father's eyes would turn red, and he would say nothing. He would even be colder to her for the next few days. Over time, Yi Shuhan learned not to ask.
But today, why was he bringing up the mother she had no memory of?
"Yi Shuhan, you're an ungrateful wretch! You're a jinx! You're a scourge! Why wasn't it you who died?!" Yi Mingchang covered his eyes with his hand. An old man, with large tears rolling out from between his fingers.
Everyone present held their breath, listening as this desperate man slowly recounted the events of the past.
Back then, Yi Mingchang had just married the wife he deeply loved. He was in the honeymoon phase and just wanted to be with his wife. He didn't want children so soon. It could be said he didn't like children at all; he didn't want a third person intruding on the world he shared with his beloved.
But his wife, Shu Mingqing, adored children and kept pestering him, wanting one. Unable to resist his wife's soft pleas, they had a daughter, Yi Shuhan, in the second year of their marriage.
Although he didn't like children, she was, after all, the fruit of his and his beloved's love. His love for his wife extended to their child, and he gradually grew to love his daughter.
The year Yi Shuhan turned three, it was her first day of kindergarten. They could have had the driver take her, but Shu Mingqing felt it was a special day and insisted on driving Yi Shuhan to kindergarten herself. Yi Mingchang had urgent business at the research institute, so he had no choice but to indulge his wife's whim.
On the way to the kindergarten, a large truck lost control and swerved over from the opposite lane. It was about to crash into the passenger side where Yi Shuhan was sitting. At that critical moment, Shu Mingqing, disregarding her own life, wrenched the steering wheel, turning the driver's side to face the truck head-on.
And just like that, tragedy struck!
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