Under the strong smell of blood, Ji Yushiâs eyes were covered and he couldnât see anything, but his brain automatically began to replay the scene he saw just now.
It was just a glance.
But his brain had involuntarily noted down all the details.
It was still the same marble-like floor like outside, white and smooth, but blood covered most of his field of vision. Mixed together with that blood was something white and sticky and to the far left of the pool of blood, there was something thin and flesh coloured. It was someoneâs right earâŠ..If he moved his eyes a little, he could see white skin and muscles. That was someoneâs thighâŠ..Following that was a mass of red that looked like intestines as well as scattered teeth and if he looked a little further, there was a calf wearing a black boot.
Ji Yushi only felt a strong bout of nausea.
He couldnât be mistaken.
That was his own calf.
As for ear and other pieces of flesh in the pool of blood, they belonged to the teammates who were still standing next to him.
In other words, he had almost witnessed the complete annihilation of Team 5.
âGrrrrr!!â
Ji Yushi heard it. It was the sound of a zombie rushing over from the end of the corridor. Before it could reach them, it was killed with a âbang!â.
The gunfire came from next to him. Song Qinglan who was covering his eyes from behind had fired a shot with one hand.
The people around seemed to find it unsettling. They all quickly scattered away.
âWhat is that?!â
âInsect legs?â
âSlimy and sticky, itâs liked a damned spider web!â
Ji Yushi followed Song Qinglan along for a few steps before he finally removed the hand in front of his eyes.
Everyone in the team was pale, their expressions also very ugly.
Even if they knew that their future selves would continue to pave the way for their present selves, seeing firsthand how that path was formed was something they couldnât imagine.
âWarned you a little too late.â Song Qinglan suddenly spoke, âNext time, Iâll try to be faster.â
Ji Yushi was stunned. It took him a while to realise that Song Qinglan was talking to him.
The other partyâs cold and stern face showed sincere concern under the bright lights. It was concern from a captain towards their teammate, but there was also a trace of emotion that Ji Yushi couldnât decipher â The same kind of emotion he had seen in his teacherâs eyes when he was young. Because of this, he was a little surprised.
âThank you.â He said.
Song Qinglan, âTeam 5 split up. Half of them are at the Golden Crow No. 1 base. Donât think too much, there is no âyouâ there.â
This time Ji Yushi was really surprised.
But Song Qinglanâs expression was still natural: âSo treat it as if you hadnât seen it.â
Duan Wen was still standing at the entrance to that large room. His psychological endurance seemed to be pretty good. He suddenly shouted, âCap Song! This Old Zhou seems to still be alive!â
Song Qinglan, âHaving lasted until now, he must have something to say. Iâll go over.â
As he said that, he strode over to that room without any hesitation.
One of the teammates couldnât handle the sight and had ran away to throw up. This time it wasnât Li Chun, but Zhou Mingxuan.
Anyone who saw themselves dying so tragically wouldnât be able to stay completely calm.
Ji Yushi wondered: What exactly happened here?
Why was Song Qinglan able to control his emotions so well despite having clearly seen that scene? Was it to comfort him, fearing that he would not be able to complete the next task?
A minute or two later, Song Qinglan quickly left the room filled with blood, leaving a trail of bloody footprints on the floor.
His tone was sharp and cold, âHurry and move on! Close the corridor gates now!â
Please read this from kk translates
No sooner said than done, as soon as Song Qinglan said that, everyone heard noises coming from the direction they had come from. It didnât sound like it belonged to a zombie, let alone the sound of human footsteps!
At the end of the corridor, a black shadow the size of a car had appeared.
It was injured. Covered with brown and black markings and hair as well as possessing eight legs that span almost two metres in length, it faced the crowd and bared its fangs.
âFuck! A spider!â
Everyoneâs scalp went numb. Someone yelled this out amidst the confusion and they all quickly turned around and ran in the direction pointed out by Song Qinglan.
The corridor gates were about ten metres away from them. It was just a short distance but at this moment it felt like it stretched endlessly into the distance.
Although that spider was injured, it still relied on the instincts it had been blessed with. It completely ignored the walls and ground and rushed towards them with an unimaginable speed.
âBang, bang, bang!â
The team opened fire, but the giant spiderâs abdomen and back were covered with hard armour, making it difficult for the bullets to penetrate.
The giant spider landed to the ground. The ground was covered in blood, making it difficult for it to maintain its balance using its five legs. It suddenly slipped, giving Tang Qi who had already reached the gates the opportunity to push down the hydraulic lever.
âHurry!â
âCap Song!â
The moment the last of them rolled past the gate, the giant spider had also reached the gate.
The gate blocked air and sound completely but everyone still seemed to hear a loud âbang!â when the spider rammed itself against the thick glass barrier. Its mouth was wide open and white sticky fluid slid down the glass.
Li Chun cursed, âWhat the hell is this?! Was this also something they have been researching?!â
âWhite-tailed spider.â Ji Yushi spoke up, âA commonly indoor spider. Carnivorous. Generally speaking, it hides in dark spaces or in crevices and comes out at night to catch cockroaches, mosquitoes, flies and other insects.â
âHow can something so big hide in a crevice?â Tang Le cried out, âI was almost bitten to death by that!â
Ji Yushi was almost all-knowing. His teammates were no longer surprised by his explanations that would appear from time to time.
To put it very simply, this spider had mutated due to some other reason.
Hearing Tang Le mention being almost bitten to death, everyone recalled their future selves ââ The tragic scene of Team 5. They all thought of a possibility. Could it be that Team 5 was annihilated by these spiders?!
âClang! Clang!â
The giant spider got up from the ground and proceeded to climb the gate using its five legs. With the abdomen pressed against the glass, a row of densely packed white spheres surrounded by spider thread appeared before them. They couldnât help but shudder. They very quickly realised that those were unhatched eggs.
âNot just this one.â Song Qinglan said solemnly, âContinue on ahead.â
âCap Song!â Ji Yushiâs eyes were still looking outside.
He only yelled this out and didnât continue.
Song Qinglan who looked back at him was also startled.
Everyone saw an incredible scene.
Outside the corridor gate, everything had changed right before their eyes.
Those bloody footprints on the ground no longer existed and the zombie corpses and rotten flesh piled up in the corridor had similarly disappeared. At a rate visible to the naked eye, everything had been restored to its original state. More than a dozen zombies wearing white chemical protection clothing wandered aimlessly around the corridor. There was no trace of that giant spider on the opposite side of the glass.
This chapter is scrapped from readlightnovel.org
Time seemed to have gone backwards.
All the traces left by Team 5 had disappeared.
Just like Ji Yushiâs analysis from earlier, once a paradox occurs, the points that have appeared or have yet to appear on the circle would be covered by this âextendedâ timeline of theirs, and the timeline for Team 5 would cease to exist.
Having managed to escape past the gate, they had all successfully survived.
This is was their numerous future selfâs ultimate objective.
But Song Qinglan had said that there was more than one giant spider.
It mustâve been a clue Zhou Mingxuan of Team 5 had left for him.
Please read this from kk translates
Everyone was still in shock. Before they could mourn for their future selves, they saw three similar sized giant spiders appear on the ceiling in the distance. They ignored the zombies and wandered around, their eight intact legs moving extremely fast. They very quickly concealed themselves in the dark again.
Ji Yushi knew that these spiders are quietly hiding away, using the hairs on their legs to detect vibrations in the air. If anything living came their way, they would suddenly appear and tear up the food that had sent themselves to them.
After a moment of silence, Song Qinglan said, âLetâs go.â
They had already passed through the corridor, reaching another open space.
This dome was more than a hundred metres high. It was too large for them to immediately find the control centre.
At this moment, a green light flashed on Song Qinglanâs communicator.
Duan Wen had at some point in time turned off the silence mode on the communicator.
Immediately afterwards, everyone heard Ji Yushiâs voice coming through the communicator. This included Ji Yushi himself.
âCap Song.â
A clear and cold voice sounded through the public channel for the first time.
It was Ji Yushi from Team B.
Probably because it felt strange calling out his own name, the Team B Ji Yushi chose to speak to Song Qinglan, âAfter going past the corridor gate, enter the first gate on the left, go down two floors, and after you follow the path for half a circle, you will see the control centre.â
From what everyone saw from the real-time holographic projection just now, Team B had already found the control centre and turned off the first set of energy transmitters.
The two bases were mirror images of each other. Team Bâs Ji Yushi was naturally as meticulous as Team Aâs, so he immediately thought of passing on the information to them.
Everyone was surprised.
This kind of experience was too strange. They were clearly standing in front of Ji Yushi who wasnât speaking but they heard his familiar voice travel through from the public channel. Even the tone of his voice was exactly the same.
Song Qinglan also found this experience very novel.
He looked at Ji Yushi who was looking quietly back at him, as if waiting for him to finish talking to âsomeone elseâ.
âHow is your situation there?â Song Qinglan asked.
âEverything went well.â
Another familiar voice also appeared.
Song Qinglan was startled as soon as he heard it. He almost thought he was listening to his own voice recording.
It was the other Song Qinglan.
The tone was casual and careless, but it also gave those hearing it an urge to beat him up, âExcept for a little too many zombies and half of the people from Team 5 disappearing, there were no problems. Weâre right now waiting for Advisor Ji to work out the order of turning off the energy transmitters. If weâre not careful and end up putting an end to our lives, how would we be able to go over and help you?â
Everyone: ââŠâŠ.â
Hearing the silence, the other Song Qinglan continued, âItâs too much for you to handle on your end, isnât it? It is said that the second base is filled with mutations of SSS-level difficulty.â
Everyone: ââŠâŠâŠâŠâ
Sure enough, no matter which Cap Song it was, they all have a knack for making the atmosphere be filled with the smell of gunpowder.
Gunshots sounded and it was followed by the sound of zombies falling. Li Chun of Team Bâs cursing became part of the background sound.
Ji Yushi of Team B reminded, âCap Song, fourth row, the sixth from the left.â
Song Qinglan of Team B, âAlright, Iâm coming.â
The call was cut off.
For some reason, Song Qinglan felt that the way the others looked at him was a little strange.
Ji Yushi also retracted his gaze. He seemed to be a little unaccustomed to the way he and Song Qinglan in Team B interacted.
Song Qinglan bent down the corners of his lips, âLetâs go. Our side is SSS difficulty.â