Chapter 184: Chapter 183: Dead Black
The dozen or so infected nearby had now reached Shen Feng, gathering below the shuttle car.
Even after witnessing Shen Feng casually blow the heads off two of their own, these infected showed no fear. Instead, with smiles on their faces, they spoke to Shen Feng from below:
"Sir, is there a problem with your car? Do you need our help? SLURP..."
"The gun in your hand seems to belong to that police officer. It’s illegal for ordinary citizens to carry firearms, so please be careful. SLURP..."
"I’m a doctor at this hospital. Are you in any trouble? SLURP..."
If you ignored the bloodstains on their faces and bodies, and the constant sound of them slurping, these people would seem like a group of good Samaritans.
Of course, everything they were doing right now was driven entirely by their craving for human flesh.
Perhaps they no longer even understood the meaning of their own words, their reactions driven purely by instinct.
Shen Feng ignored the infected. With a single leap, he jumped straight to the hospital’s second floor and entered through a window.
The infected who had gathered around immediately rushed to the main entrance, only to find it locked from the inside. They could only pound on it desperately.
Shen Feng moved quickly down the hospital corridor. The inside of the hospital was in a state of chaos, with bloodstains everywhere. It had clearly just suffered a catastrophe.
’It makes sense, when you think about it. As soon as patients with abnormal behavior are discovered, the hospital is inevitably the first place they are taken.’
And a crowded, mixed place like this was also the perfect channel for infection.
It would start with one patient, quickly spreading to more, until the first ones infected completely lost control and began their flesh-eating journey.
Those who were nimble and fast naturally escaped at the first opportunity. As for the rest... who knows what happened to them.
"CRUNCH... CRACK..."
"SLURP..."
"SNAP..."
The sounds of bones being crushed, flesh being torn, and blood being slurped filled the air. A group of infected were crouched in the second-floor hallway, feasting on several victims.
They were like a pack of hyenas on the savanna, surrounding a zebra carcass.
Some of these infected wore patient gowns, others wore doctors’ white coats. They had all clearly been people from this hospital.
The victims, for the most part, were dressed similarly.
Shen Feng pursed his lips.
’This is a goddamn infection speedrun.’
’In a hellish environment like this, getting infected earlier might actually mean less suffering.’
’Those whose constitutions caused the disease to manifest later would just end up as dinner for the others.’
Although Shen Feng’s footsteps were light, the infected still noticed him. An infected doctor in a white coat was the first to look up.
The moment he saw Shen Feng, he first looked startled, then an embarrassed expression appeared on his face. He quickly wiped his hands and mouth and said with a smile:
"Sir, do you need any help?"
He spoke with a standard Tokyo accent.
The other infected also noticed Shen Feng’s presence and all began to drool.
Even though they were already eating, the sight of fresh prey still made their mouths water.
’But this person is wearing a strange protective suit. It’s quite an eyesore.’
"There’s no one else here now! We... we can eat directly!" An infected man wearing glasses suddenly flashed a bizarre, hideous grin and lunged at Shen Feng.
The other infected seemed to realize this in an instant.
With no one else around, they no longer needed to be polite.
A pack of infected roared furiously and charged at Shen Feng.
Shen Feng’s face was impassive as he instantly pulled the trigger.
"BOOM!"
"BOOM!"
"BOOM!"
Shen Feng was now extremely skilled with the Shotgun. A continuous series of gunshots rang out, each blast shattering a head.
In the blink of an eye, only one of the infected remained, and an empty click came from the Shotgun. It was out of ammo.
The remaining infected was the doctor in the white coat. He charged at Shen Feng with two scalpels in hand, a savage grin on his face.
Shen Feng waved his hand. A tentacle instantly shot out from the Nanomechanical Cluster on his body’s surface, binding the infected man tightly. He dragged the man behind him like a sack of potatoes as he continued on his way.
’His incubation period must have been short. He’ll make a good test subject.’
The farther he went, the more infected he encountered. He hadn’t had many Shotgun shells to begin with, and he quickly ran out.
Shen Feng tore off a metal door and wielded the sharp metal panel like a greatsword. Wherever he passed, the infected he met were either flattened or split in two.
He finally realized that all the doors and windows in the hospital had been locked from the inside. Many of them bore bloody handprints from people struggling to get out.
Apparently, some of the first to be infected had secretly sealed the doors and windows, turning the hospital into their own hunting ground.
A sealed-off restaurant.
These infected were basically intelligent zombies, which was utterly chilling.
According to the information Jingwei had gathered from the still-accessible network, the hospital’s medical research department was on the sixth floor.
He pressed the elevator button. The doors jerked open to reveal an empty car, save for two skeletons that had been picked clean.
As if he hadn’t seen a thing, Shen Feng stepped inside and soon arrived on the sixth floor.
This wasn’t an inpatient ward area, so there were hardly any infected.
He casually finished off the few remaining infected. The sound of a news report came from the televisions lining the hallway:
"This is the NHK Television Station Kyushu Branch with an emergency broadcast! According to reliable sources, the Xia Pass area has fallen. The entire Tokyo and Kanagawa Regions have become quarantine zones, and the infection is spreading rapidly! We have just received word that, with the exception of the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries who was on inspection in Kyushu, all members of the Cabinet have been infected... Please look at the following footage..."
The scene then cut to the National Diet building.
But the usual scene of heated debate was gone. In its place was a group of people covered in blood, frantically devouring a group of victims!
Among the victims, a familiar face could even be seen.
The Prime Minister!
And the one leading the feast was none other than the high-flying Foreign Minister!
Of the original Cabinet members, half had now become infected, while the other half had become food for them.
The scene changed again. This time it showed a Cabinet official, covered in blood, on the phone informing his subordinates that the outbreak in the Tokyo Region was not serious and that there was no need to overreact. He even demanded that the minimal blockades be lifted.
Many citizens watching this on their televisions were so shocked their jaws nearly hit the floor.
The Cabinet, which was supposed to lead the country through this difficult time, had turned into a bunch of madmen!
A pack of Ogres!
This was practically a reenactment of that scene from World War II!
Just then, the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Yoshikawa Hiroshi, appeared on screen. Yoshikawa Hiroshi’s originally salt-and-pepper hair now seemed to have turned completely white:
"My fellow citizens, as you can see, the epidemic is extremely severe. We have now reached our most difficult moment. As the sole remaining member of the Cabinet, it is with a heavy heart that I assume the role of acting Prime Minister. I hereby declare that, from this moment on, the entire country is under a state of emergency. All transportation will be locked down, and I am dispatching the Self-defense Force and the Eagle Army stationed in East Japan to blockade the Tokyo and Kanagawa Regions..."
After Yoshikawa Hiroshi finished speaking, the screen immediately switched to the medical expert, Ito Sanroku.
Ito Sanroku, however, no longer had his initial panic. Instead, with a solemn expression, he explained the characteristics of the Evil Spirit Virus and the necessary preventative measures:
"...If you find someone constantly drooling and showing a particular interest in human flesh, please restrain them immediately and call the police... In the early stages of this virus, although the patient suffers from a loss of logic, they still possess strong camouflage abilities. Please be discerning..."
Now that the state of the central government had finally been confirmed, and with a new acting Prime Minister in place, the entire nation of Japan began to mobilize rapidly.
At the same time, the Eagle Country troops stationed in East Japan, using their bases as staging points, began to establish a security cordon around the Tokyo and Kanagawa Regions.
The Tokyo Region had well and truly become a quarantine zone.
Shen Feng nodded slightly. ’Although the spread of the epidemic in Japan is now difficult to control, it’s better late than never. They should be able to save Hokkaido, at least...’
Just then, a black shadow suddenly shot out from a nearby hospital room, pouncing towards Shen Feng!
"ROAR—" A frenzied roar echoed, unleashing a powerful electromagnetic pulse!
The Nanomechanical Cluster on Shen Feng’s body suddenly seized up, turning a dead, damaged black!