Chapter 275

A soft click echoed as Aria Bennett's fingertip traced the final arc across the control panel.

The laboratory plunged into dead silence.

Everyone held their breath, eyes locked on the supposedly "impenetrable" silver door.

Miles Sutton swallowed hard. "Lu, you really think this'll—"

Before he could finish, a mechanical female voice announced: "Biometric lock disengaged. Opening sequence initiated."

WHOOM.

The massive metal door slid apart.

Aria already had her pistol drawn before the mechanism finished grinding.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Three lunging zombies collapsed mid-leap.

Colonel Barrett's pupils constricted. He'd clocked it—Aria's draw had preceded the door's opening by 0.3 seconds.

"How did—" Lieutenant Carter began, then bit back his question.

Aria flicked her ponytail. "Those three have been pacing outside for thirty minutes on the surveillance feed."

Understanding dawned on the group.

The livestream exploded.

[WTF that prediction!]

[Aria GOAT!]

[That reaction time ain't human!]

Colonel Barrett gripped Aria's shoulder, voice thick. "Miss Bennett, you just saved humanity's last hope."

From the lab's depths came frantic footsteps. Three white-coated researchers stumbled into view, collapsing at the sight of armed rescuers.

"Dr. Emmett Shaw?" The colonel's tone turned urgent.

The eldest researcher pointed down the corridor. "S-safe room... 104° fever..."

Aria was already sprinting past them.

The safe room required palm-print authorization. When the door retracted, the entire team gasped.

A golden-haired man curled in the corner, his flushed skin alarmingly crimson. His lab coat clung to sweat-drenched shoulders, vomit staining the floor nearby.

"Move!" The colonel barked.

Aria knelt, producing a glass vial of fever reducer from her pack. The medicine glinted coldly under fluorescent lights.

"You packed that?" Miles gaped.

She snapped the cap open. "Pharmacy raid payoff."

As the liquid touched Dr. Emmett Shaw's lips, his eyelids fluttered.

The colonel exhaled sharply, personally hoisting the unconscious scientist. Before leaving, he bowed deeply to Aria.

"Move out," Lieutenant Carter ordered, checking his magazine. "Three sectors left to—"

DING.

Every wrist display flashed crimson.

[MAIN QUEST ACTIVATED: DR. EMMETT SHAW'S ENCRYPTED DRIVE]

[WARNING: THIS DECIDES YOUR FINAL FATE]

Aria's eyes narrowed toward a blinking red light in the lab's recesses.

There, smeared with bloody handprints, stood a secure vault.