Zayn took his backpack and minibags before getting out of the car to face the masked soldiers. The entire fifteenth squad was also forced to join in, but their current situation felt like that of prisoners.
"Is this an order from higher-ups? What is your objective?" Steven gave some eye signals to his subordinates.
"Shut up and follow us. You can defend yourself where you need to." A masked soldier remained adamant.
"Do you want to compete with us on skills and mechanics? You are not the only one with weapons here. If your clauses are not feasible, don't blame us if this will become a bloodbath." Rico took out his rifle and his comrades too.
Twenty-three soldiers prepared their weapons to threaten the opposing soldiers.
"Hehe, killing some bad humans isn't bad. You are part of the anti-zombie squad, but we are a special squad. If you are not equipped with a warrant to restrain our activities, then you are in for a crime." Rick aimed his machine gun at the masked soldiers on the side.
"..." The masked soldiers were silent for a moment. They thought it would become a lose-lose situation if they exchanged fire here.
The other party also has a complete arsenal, but that doesn't mean they would give in.
"You are under the felony charge of treason. We are assigned to arrest you and conduct an investigation regarding this matter. Please follow us there for further details and questioning." The squad leader answered differently than before.
"Treason? What do you mean by that?" Zayn raised his eyebrows.
He did his job as a scientist so that humanity could fight back against the aggressiveness of zombies and mutated animals, but what he got were accusations of treason? It did not need a brain cell to process the current situation was so fishy.
"Please cooperate and drop your weapons or this will not end well for you." The squad leader gave the command firmly.
"My apologies, but that won't happen as long as you still aim your guns at us. We will still be holding our rifles and you have to put your guns down. With that, we will be good at digging into the roots of this problem. Everything might just be a misunderstanding." Steven shook his head.
"Do you wish to go against the superior's orders?" The squad leader frowned.
"My squad has been separated from the military and assigned only to assist scientist Zayn with his research and field tests. When his safety is compromised, there is no room for discussion. Please be cooperative and we will respond positively to you." Steven grinned, not giving in to something he wasn't sure about.
"..." The squad leader raised his hand to signal his subordinates to lower their weapons.
After that, Zayn decided to follow the masked soldiers with the escort of the fifteenth squad. He had to make sure of the clarity of this slander accusation. The number of the opposing soldiers was thirty, while his people were only twenty-three.
They were not in a favorable situation either because they might have been branded as criminals on base. No one could tell for sure what crimes they committed to receiving this treatment.
Some soldiers thought their secret little treasure was a factor. However, they immediately put that thought aside because there was no way a little treasure from the expedition's loot would trigger this kind of arrest warrant.
Five people were already waiting there when they entered a hall in the abandoned building. Zayn gave Rico and Steven eye signals.
The fifteenth squad immediately took their position to face the opposing soldiers if needed.
"..." Zayn could smell the distinctive smell of something strange in this room. Angie also looked uncomfortable and seemed ready to attack even though she didn't put any offensive stance.
"Haha, Zayn, my friend. It's been a few days since we met huh. You look quite exhausted from your field test mission. Are you well?" A masked man in a white robe walked into the hall.
"This voice, you are Quinn Gordon, one of the troublesome little boys who often annoys Angie. What are you trying to gain by doing this?" Zayn frowned.
"Is that the only impression I have of you? It hurts so much to know my role as a scientist is simply ignored by you." Quinn shook her head.
"Stop the crab. What are you trying to achieve? What do you mean by criminalizing us? What crimes have we committed?" Zayn waved his hand in dismissive.
"That should be crap, not crab. Nevermind, you committed a grave crime and created a horrific chain effect. Scientist Zayn and the rest of the fifteenth squad are suspects in the death of Professor Tyler Lloyd. Suspect Zayn was the last person to meet Professor Tyler in intensive research on type II anti-zombification serum." Quinn spread his arms.
"Professor Tyler died? What is the cause? He is wise enough to take a break between his busy times. So, it's unlikely he will fall from exhaustion. Then, how about anti-zombification serum type II?" Zayn pursed his lips. He felt sad because Tyler was a good man.
"How should I know? It's still being investigated, but that won't change any of the facts. You are the biggest suspect in the Professor Tyler murder case, my teacher." Quinn grasped his hand and emphasized his last sentence.
"You are his disciple but know very little about him. You have never visited him or helped him in our collaboration research. Why is that?" Zayn felt suspicious, and his heart told him that this man was a scheming, rotten person.
*Thud* *Thud* *Thud*
The sound of people falling to the floor could be heard quickly. Zayn looked back and found the fifteenth squad had already fallen unconscious. Grisella was also lying helplessly on the floor. Only Angie and he were still standing straight, unaffected by the weird scent that filled the room.
"Wait, weird smell. You're all wearing masks. This, knockout gas with almost instant sedation effect!?" Zayn immediately put a cloth to cover his mouth and nose. He also got one for Angie.
"???" Angie was clueless, but she copied what Zayn did.
"Haha, I'm surprised you didn't immediately faint. We will extract information and take over all your formulas from here on. Worry not, I will take very good care of your gorgeous lover. She is fit to be my third concubine, Hehehe... We shall become the world's saviour, haha!" Quinn chuckled like a villain.
"I see, so this was all your scheme? You didn't just annoy Angie, but are now doing all this? So, you are the one who killed your own teacher to take over and get everything. Do you think you'll come out all right after this? I shall never tolerate you anymore." Zayn took a few guesses and brought it up with some annoyance.
"You guessed too much. The world needs to know me, the young genius Quinn Gordon. Meanwhile, you are just a small human traitor who only cares about profit above all else. Men, knock him out. We'll interrogate him elsewhere." Quinn didn't want to beat around the bush anymore. The gas was already taking effect, so he immediately ordered his subordinate to work.
*Bam*
Zayn received a blow to the base of his neck. He fell down and was in pain but still conscious. He only pretended to faint to find an opportunity to turn things around.
The masked soldiers then carefully released Zayn's backpack and minibags.
"I'll take care of you later. Please stand pretty there, and don't do anything funny." Quinn pointed at Angie threateningly. He guessed she was already half unconscious and feeling scared, so he could ignore her for now.
He was more interested in Zayn's belongings because he couldn't find anything noteworthy in Zayn's laboratory. Zayn probably had everything handy, and those formulas were definitely in this backpack or those minibags.
"Let's see what's stored here, hmm..." Quinn opened the big backpack and took out a black plastic bag. He opened it and found it was just dough. However, upon closer inspection, was it cheese?
"Cheese? Why is he carrying so much cheese in his backpack? This is also cheese, cheese, and cheese!? Shit! Is he a cheese maniac or something!? So, where are my precious formulas!?" Quinn got annoyed and slammed the cheese on the floor, scattering it like something worthless.
*Snap*
Angie was previously wondering what these foolish humans would do. She was also curious about why her human suddenly pretended to faint on the floor. Might he make a surprise attack and turn things around with his trick?
Unfortunately, all that became clear when a lowly human messed up the cheese backpack.
These humans lowly wished to harm Zayn and her, including her cheese. These foolish humans could do anything stupid, and she would punish them accordingly, but not for her cheese!
Death! The only end that would await those who dare to commit a crime against her favorite food!
*Slash*
Angie swung her daggers, beheading three people at once. She didn't care about human scheming, as she couldn't understand. She just needed a straightforward move, namely killing the enemies.
"Eh?" Quinn seemed to see the world spinning before he fell to the floor. However, he was surprised when he saw his headless body was there. Yet, the world was soon shrouded in darkness.
*Splurt*
Fresh red blood gushed like a fountain. The three headless people soon fell to the floor with a thud.
Angie rushed to save her cheese backpack from the dirty human blood. She also dragged Zayn away before he was almost covered in a puddle of blood.
Yet, she slapped Zayn's back once. She knew he was still conscious because that light blow wouldn't knock him unconscious. He was her chosen human, after all.
The surrounding masked soldiers gasped at the sudden change in events. They never thought that the helpless-looking frail gorgeous girl was an assassin with immense battle power!
"The suspect put up a fight. Shoot them dead, leave none alive!" The squad leader immediately made a desperate decision because Quinn was dead. Whatever it was, he couldn't let the truth be exposed, and Zayn couldn't get out of there alive.