Arriving at the twelfth floor, Su Changxing was surprised to find that this level was much more well-organized. At least the rooms were still filled with various items, unlike the lower levels that looked like they had been ransacked by thieves.
He originally thought there were no zombies on this floor, but as he passed by the restroom, he heard growling sounds coming from inside.
"Zombie?"
Su Changxing raised his steel saber and cautiously walked in, somewhat eager to try out his talents and see if cutting down zombies had any different feel.
But upon entering, he saw a zombie lying on the ground.
It was still alive, and on seeing Su Changxing walk in, it struggled frantically on the floor with a strong desire to attack but was completely paralyzed.
"Hmm? A gift of points."
Su Changxing paused for a moment, then raised his steel saber, and with one easy stroke split the zombie’s skull, executing it.
Previously, Su Changxing had to exert all his strength to kill a zombie in one blow, but with the addition of his title skill, he could now do it with less effort.
And preserving some strength made it relatively much easier.
"Was it fatally injured when it was human, but then turned into a zombie, and that’s why it’s like this?"
Su Changxing checked the zombie’s body but didn’t find anything special, so he turned around and left the restroom.
This floor had more items, but not many useful ones; they were mostly household and office supplies. However, in one room, he found two rusty wrenches.
A wrench could be considered a weapon, but it wasn’t useful for him. Su Changxing still posted them on the forum for sale.
Lucky Child: Found two rusty wrenches, can be used as weapons, 50 points each.
Because of his title, Su Changxing had the privilege to pin one of his posts.
The wrench sale post appeared at the top of all hot topics and was marked in blue, soon attracting a lot of replies.
Reply 1: So this is the power of a title, the big shot has presence.
Reply 2: Presence +1.
Reply 3: I have exactly 50 points, willing to trade.
······
In a certain underground garage.
A young man in a light blue trench coat, with delicate features, looked at his phone and complained:
"Wow, Captain, I can’t believe this guy is selling wrenches in a pinned post. Could he flaunt anymore?"
The middle-aged man beside him, with his hands in his pockets, leaned lazily against the wall and responded:
"It’s his right to use it however he wants. But it seems he must know the importance of points."
The young man put away his phone and smiled, "Should we capture him and pry out some information?"
The middle-aged man exhaled and retorted, "Even if you want to capture him, you don’t know his location."
"Then what should we do?"
"We can directly ask him."
"What if he doesn’t tell us?"
"We can negotiate terms. It’s like doing business; everything has its value."
"But Captain, you don’t do business."
······
In just a few minutes, Su Changxing sold the wrenches and earned one hundred points.
"The presence really does come with benefits, just like having a supreme VIP, and the traffic is vast, never having to worry about not finding buyers."
"Earning 100 points in one go is equivalent to killing 10 zombies. On reflection, trading to get points is faster, making everyone work for me."
After commenting and reflecting on the situation, Su Changxing carried his steel saber and walked towards the thirteenth floor, where he saw that the stairway between the twelfth and thirteenth floors was filled with obstacles.
He made his way through the obstacles and found that the thirteenth floor was not the top floor; he could still go higher.
The layout on the thirteenth floor was even more orderly than the twelfth, though covered in a thick layer of dust, indicating it hadn’t been visited in a very long time.
Su Changxing walked into the corridor, noticing that many rooms had bedding on the floor, or beds made of clothes and other soft items.
He also saw a room decorated with various posters, transformed into a bedroom with a lot of personal style.
Evidently, many people once lived here collectively, hiding from the apocalypse together.
"It’s strange, where did all these people go then?"
As Su Changxing walked around, he suddenly noticed something odd: this level had neither zombies nor corpses, and if these people had left, they should have taken their belongings.
Recalling the note left by someone earlier, he had a guess. Without looting the floor, he proceeded directly to the fourteenth floor.
Indeed, the fourteenth floor was the top floor, but its structure was different from the other levels, with an access control gate right at the stairway entrance, the sign above it bearing the words "Research Lab".
Since the power was already cut off, this access control was merely decorative.
Passing through the access gate and turning the corner of the corridor, Su Changxing saw a white metal door, emblazoned with a blue shield emblem.
That was the Shield Company’s emblem.
"So this company is actually a subsidiary of Shield Company, under its control, but nominally not part of Shield Company."
Su Changxing showed a mocking smile. He clearly remembered how many employees of this company wanted to transfer to Shield Company.
The door was ajar, and a stale odor wafted from inside, making one feel nauseous.
When the door was pushed open, Su Changxing witnessed a horrifying scene: in the small room lay several dried corpses in various positions, with a circle of utensils and rotting blackened food on the table.
He didn’t go in, staring blankly at the scene in the room. Zombies didn’t scare him, but at this moment, a chill ran through his heart.
A lot of information and clues pieced together like a puzzle in Su Changxing’s mind.
"These people never turned into zombies, they died when they were still human. They were tricked into eating poisoned food, and died without much struggle."
"And the perpetrator was that person who left a death note, Wang Laidong."
Su Changxing knew that no one wished for death; the instinct of life was to strive for survival constantly, even knowing they would soon become zombies, they would want to live until the last moment.
According to Wang Laidong, they were already showing signs of corpse transformation and would soon become zombies. But the others didn’t want to end their lives prematurely, so Wang Laidong poisoned them and then killed himself.
Finally, it was likely that only Wang Donglai remained. On the twelfth floor, he saw someone who had hanged themselves, so he followed suit, hanging himself nearby, and left behind a death note filled with deep despair before dying.
Su Changxing couldn’t evaluate his actions. Many things had no right or wrong, just different perspectives.
From the perspective of those poisoned, Wang Donglai had no right to decide their life and death, even if they were destined to become zombies.
Suicide was acceptable, but it shouldn’t be forced.
But from Wang Donglai’s perspective, he was merely killing some zombies that would harm humans in advance, even when humanity had no hope.
He had the deepest conviction as a researcher, which transformed into the deepest despair, and he spread this despair to others.