On the way to basement one, Zayn encountered a room containing a large tube reactor that had been disabled.
He confusedly looked at it as he couldn't figure out what it was. Still, he didn't slow down his running pace because a furious, powerful humanoid zombie was chasing him from behind.
"Let's confuse the monster." Zayn put a mini smoke bomb into the entrance of the reactor room as he ran. He then walked away from there and went up the stairs to the top floor.
*Bam*
A small explosion occurred, and a thick cloud of smoke that smelled like rotten farts spread throughout the room and corridor.
*Swoosh*
The skeleton zombies came approaching at high speed. It covered its skull face reflexively while looking left and right in confusion. It lost track of its target.
Even so, the skeleton zombie immediately entered the reactor room to check.
Meanwhile, Zayn and Angie have arrived at basement one. Several small zombified animals came blocking the vicinity, but Zayn could still overcome them and continued his run.
"Eh?" Zayn suddenly stopped when he found a shining hole in the wall. Sunlight came in from there, clearly heading towards the outside world.
"Please wait here for a moment. I'll make sure it's safe there or not." Zayn put down Angie, who he was carrying like a sack of potatoes.
He then crawled into the hole and peeked out. He was blinded by the sudden change in light intensity, but he could see it was pointing outside. There was no danger out there either.
Therefore, he immediately returned to pick up Angie.
"Let's get out now. You go first. I'll watch over you from behind." Zayn gave a gesture to hurry.
"..." Angie nodded in understanding and crawled into the hole.
'Hopefully, that monster doesn't come after us again.' Zayn looked left and right before entering the hole, following Angie.
At that moment, he widened his eyes and immediately averted his gaze. Angie's bottom half was clearly visible before his eyes. He knew that a tight suit couldn't cover their private parts adequately. Even so, it was still better than wearing nothing.
Their upper half was covered by the lab robe, but the lower half didn't have that kind of luxury. Especially if peeked from below.
Zayn shook his head to eliminate the dirty thoughts and ferocious beast within him. He was a man with dignity and had to keep Angie's purity.
After they both left, Zayn held Angie's hand again before they ran away.
"..." Zayn looked back once as he ran away.
He could see a mostly buried underground building, making it look like a small hill. Several large trees flourished around the building, and the roots hid the monster's lair. At a glance, no one could tell there was a dungeon under those trees.
"Roar!"
A loud roar sounded from the side. Zayn was shocked and alarmed by the sudden warning. He looked to the side and found a giant estuarine crocodile with black scales staring intently at him.
That ultra-dangerous monster immediately rushed after those humans for daring to enter its territory.
"Holy!" Zayn goes freaking out once again. He hurriedly carried Angie onto his shoulders like another sack of potatoes, then rushed off as fast as possible.
*Rumble* *Rumble*
The giant estuarine crocodile knocked down several trees in its pursuit. However, its speed was still impressive enough to catch up with its prey.
At that moment, Zayn suddenly had an idea. He immediately climbed the tree through the roots that propagated like an agile monkey. Surprisingly, he didn't have any trouble even though he was carrying a 'burden' on his shoulders.
Zayn jumped onto a tree branch and hid among the leaves. He then breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the ultra-dangerous monster losing track of him. "Phew..."
"???" Angie was used to being carried here and there when her human wanted to run fast. Although, she still didn't understand why her human would often take her to run away whenever they encountered such a giant beast.
"We'd better escape by jumping from branch to branch, hmm... It seems, it's achievable because the trees here are so dense. We don't have to jump far. Just don't slip and fall. Can you do that and follow me?" Zayn stroked his chin while analyzing their escape route. He then asked Angie.
There was an ultra-dangerous monster waiting for them down there, and they couldn't possibly take the ground path to escape, after all.
"???" Angie just tilted her head. She had no idea what Zayn wanted her to do.
"I'll show it to you." Zayn demonstrated his desire for their escape method by walking on a tree branch and jumping onto a nearby tree branch. He then did that to another one and waved his hand at Angie.
Angie nodded in understanding and walked carefully through the tree branches. She then jumped onto another tree branch, following Zayn's instructions. She was good at it, but she was careless enough not to notice that the moss was slippery.
She slipped and was shocked when she realized she was about to fall.
"!!!" Zayn swiftly caught Angie's hand and pulled her up. He then hugged her to make sure she didn't fall again. "That was close. You are lively and agile, but I forgot you can be quite clumsy sometimes."
His heart almost stopped beating when Angie nearly fell. Maybe she would be devoured by the ultra-dangerous down there if he failed to catch her in time.
"..." Angie looked up and smiled sweetly. She then put her hands on Zayn's chest and listened to his heartbeat.
Zayn weighed a few things in mind, then decided to carry Angie again on their run.
However, he carried her in front like a princess, not a sack of potatoes anymore.
They weren't in too much of a hurry. Zayn only had to be careful not to slip and fall. He needed to escape from that giant black estuarine crocodile as quickly as possible.
*Rustle* *Rustle*
Zayn had only been a few hundred meters away, and he suddenly heard the noise of the leaves from behind. He looked back to check, and a creature shot through the thick leaves and slashed its large claws at him.
It was the previous skeleton zombie. That humanoid monster was still chasing Zayn out of rage for revenge.
Zayn widened his eyes. He knew the fatal attack would take his life instantly if he were beheaded. Thousands of ways to save his life crossed his mind, but he couldn't find a single scenario where he would survive.
He knew that Angie was still in his arms. He might be able to use her as his meat shield, but he would never do such a heinous thing because Angie was a precious comrade. She often helped him in his research, and she always accompanied him.
If there was someone who needed to sacrifice, then it was him. He would save his and Angie's lives because he had promised to find her proper clothes to wear.
"!!!" Zayn gritted his teeth and moved his left hand as fast as possible to block the sharp claws. He would sacrifice his hand and create momentum to save his life.
The strong desire to protect his life and the precious one pumped Zayn's adrenaline to awaken the little monster within him. The black liquid that had been dormant for a long time was suddenly awakened and merged into Zayn's heart.
It instantly spread throughout Zayn's body, focusing on his hands. Black nerves spread out and wrapped around Zayn's hands, turning his entire arms jet black in an instant.
*Bam!*
The sharp claws hit Zayn's super hand, producing a loud crashing sound. However, the impact sent him flying into a tree trunk. "Ghak!"
Zayn felt the pain in his back. Yet, he didn't even have time to question why his hand could block that sharp claws because he would fall down now.
"Guh!" Zayn endured the pain and hugged Angie. He turned around so she wouldn't get hurt.
*Rip*
"!!!" Zayn felt excruciating pain in his back. The sharp twigs and leaves tore the skin off his back. Fresh blood flowed out, but his bleeding suddenly stopped.
His super regeneration would take effect, but not effectively, because his primary focus was on survival.
"Guh!" Zayn landed on the ground. He endured the pain and immediately stood up.
He couldn't escape from this skeleton zombie in the open like this now because his opponent was blessed with godly speed. So, he had no choice but to fight this skeleton zombie.
"Please go hide there. I'll do something about this." Zayn pushed Angie to hide behind a large tree. He then took a few steps forward.
The skeleton zombie landed on the ground in surprise. Its godly speed attack was successfully blocked by its target's black arm.
"!!!" Angie turned around and peeked out. She widened her eyes when she saw the wound on Zayn's back.