Chapter Fifty-Three: The Deal is Struck, Gu Sha Makes His Move

Basement Level Three, inside the office.

Gu Sha and Director Chen had also heard the alarm. The two hurried out, only to be met by a flurry of reports as heavily armed soldiers rushed downstairs. Gu Sha glanced at Director Chen with a hint of mockery in his eyes.

Director Chen’s expression was awkward—he had just been boasting about the invincibility of the base’s defensive measures, and now, in the blink of an eye, he’d been proven wrong.

Yet Gu Sha didn’t utter a word of ridicule, for he knew that with the apocalypse having only just begun, the authorities’ understanding of evolution and supernatural powers was far from complete—if not woefully underestimated. In his previous life, information on this subject had surfaced often, and the authorities had paid a heavy price for their underestimation. So many disasters had occurred that the status of the extraordinary was eventually elevated to an unimaginable degree, shifting official research from technology to genetic evolution and the development of supernatural abilities.

Thus, the current situation was entirely understandable.

However, Gu Sha had little interest in these affairs. What occupied his mind was whether he could turn this incident to his advantage.

After a moment’s thought, Gu Sha immediately decided not to leave. He turned to Director Chen and said, “Director Chen, could you take me downstairs to have a look?”

Director Chen was momentarily stunned, but instantly recalled Gu Sha’s unfathomable strength. If anything uncontrollable happened, Gu Sha might prove pivotal. Without hesitation, he led Gu Sha down the stairs.

The underground base was enormous—dozens of times larger than Gu Sha had imagined and covering a vast area. The two soon arrived at the fifth floor.

But there, they could go no further. The corridors ahead were erupting with fierce battles—utter chaos reigned, and the upper echelons of the authorities had all arrived.

Director Chen led Gu Sha into a command room, where a group of officials were watching the carnage on the sixth floor through surveillance monitors. It was a scene of utter devastation.

Han Ze was barking orders into a walkie-talkie.

Gu Sha glanced at the screens, momentarily speechless. He simply couldn’t fathom where the officials got their courage from—how could they dare to detain so many zombie beasts in the underground base? By his rough reckoning, there were nearly a hundred such creatures on the rampage, with soldiers being slaughtered in droves.

“Reporting, sir!” came an urgent voice through the walkie-talkie. “We can’t hold them! More than one zombie beast has awakened supernatural abilities. There’s a Siberian tiger with lightning powers, and a hippo with water-based abilities. The two are working together—the hippo has flooded the sixth floor, and the water is conducting electricity. Shutting off the power is useless!”

“Moreover, these zombie beasts have incredibly tough hides—bullets are barely effective. We request permission to use high-explosive rounds!”

Han Ze’s expression grew dark. “What about the extraordinary squad? Can’t they break through?”

“It’s difficult,” came the reply. “There’s another zombie beast with psychic abilities hiding in the shadows. Some of our extraordinary have already been mind-controlled, and as for the special forces, any moment now they could be forced to turn on each other!”

The walkie-talkie crackled with chaotic noise and agonized screams. Han Ze clenched his fists and turned to the officials. “Evacuate the base and the surrounding area at once. Prepare for an artillery bombardment!”

“No!” someone immediately objected. “President Han, there are not only vital materials in this base, but several weapons depots—and, crucially… nuclear warheads. If they detonate, the consequences are unimaginable!”

Han Ze’s face twitched violently.

An elderly man spoke up, “President Han, under these circumstances, we must contain the zombie beasts on the sixth floor. We must not allow them to escape. There’s no time to evacuate the base’s contents. If those creatures reach the upper floors, we’ll be in dire trouble!”

Han Ze’s expression turned grim. Not only were there crucial documents and research, but just the presence of nuclear warheads meant there could be no mistakes.

He made a snap decision. “Withdraw all regular soldiers. Notify every extraordinary in the vicinity to assemble and join me!”

At that moment, chaos erupted outside the command room—gunfire, screams, and the roar of beasts echoed in a dense cacophony.

A panicked soldier burst in, shouting, “Leaders, it’s bad—several zombie beasts have broken through!”

The faces of the officials turned ashen.

Han Ze tossed aside the walkie-talkie, grabbed a massive broadsword, and dashed out the door—only to be confronted by several rampaging elephants.

These were mutated elephants, each several times larger than normal, their power terrifying. A single charge could topple reinforced walls, and the ground shook beneath their feet.

“Everyone, fall back! Extraordinary squad, forward!” Han Ze charged ahead, broadsword in hand.

He truly lived up to his reputation as a fourth-tier warrior, splitting open the skull of one mutated elephant with a single blow. But the zombie beasts were mindless—one kill did nothing to deter the others. Two more elephants roared and barreled toward Han Ze.

He barely managed to parry them, while the other extraordinary members sprang into action—but it was all too rushed. More zombie beasts had already burst from the passage.

The situation was perilous.

The faces of the officials were drained of color.

At that moment, Director Chen, covered in dust and debris, crawled out of the rubble and shouted toward Gu Sha, “Mr. Gu, please—help us protect the base!”

Instantly, all eyes turned to Gu Sha.

He stood with his backpack, leaning against a shattered column, watching the chaos unfold. Chen’s cry made him the focus of every gaze.

Han Ze, entangled in battle with the elephants, also caught sight of Gu Sha. His eyes lit up, and he shouted, “Mr. Gu, will you take this job? Save the base, and I’ll guarantee you seventy percent of the stored corpse nuclei!”

Gu Sha’s eyes brightened. Slinging his Tang sword from his back, he replied, “Deal. But any zombie beast I kill is my spoil.”

He wanted the corpse nuclei, but what truly interested him was the presence of several zombie beasts with awakened supernatural abilities—meaning they all possessed variant bones.

“Agreed!” Han Ze shouted.

Without further hesitation, Gu Sha charged forward, sword in hand. Most could only glimpse a fleeting afterimage as he darted past.

The next instant, Gu Sha landed at the passage, descending from above. Blade flashing, a beautiful arc of cold light swept through the air—moonlight incarnate—followed by a fountain of black-red blood. With a single stroke, he nearly severed an elephant’s neck, sending it crashing down.

In the blink of an eye, Gu Sha slid beneath the belly of another elephant, his sword splitting it open so that its entrails spilled forth.

But Gu Sha’s movements never paused—he weaved among the horde of zombie beasts, shattering skulls, lopping off limbs, decapitating heads.

In less than two minutes, all six zombie elephants at the passage lay dead!

Everyone on the fifth floor stared at Gu Sha in shock—especially the senior officials.

Only now did they begin to understand why Han Ze placed such value on the extraordinary. In that moment, their long-held faith in technological supremacy began to waver.

At the entrance, Gu Sha stood tall, his black windbreaker fluttering, Tang sword dripping with blood—like an undefeated god of war.

There might be another chapter this afternoon; I’ll do my best!

(End of this chapter)