I Transmigrated as the Protagonist and Was Kidnapped by the Villainous Omega - Chapter 36

Dragon Domain:

The man in the white uniform carried two giant hammers on his back and surveyed a team of vanguard soldiers with a frown. He waved his hand, prompting everyone to follow him and quickly board the vehicle.

“General Ya Zhi, I don’t think searching like this is going to get us anywhere,” a soldier driving the vehicle said, his face etched with bitterness. He cautiously tried to persuade him, “District 11 is huge. Even General Chao Feng herself has given up looking. Why are we so insistent…?”

This is especially concerning since, during the last mission, more than half of the vanguard soldiers who were deployed died.

“What do you know?” Ya Zhi roughly interrupted, glaring. “I’m not looking for her.”

Although that item was officially owned by Chao Feng, didn’t she lose it during a battle? If so, whoever found it would own it! There weren’t so many rules in this world!

He had been searching on and off for over three months. No matter how vast District 11 was, there would eventually be an end to the search. Ya Zhi was already quite obsessed with that treasure. No matter how much manpower or time it took, he’d dig three feet deep if he had to, just to find it!

******

The heavy iron door had just been pushed open a crack when a pungent, rotten smell instantly poured out. A grayish, withered claw suddenly clamped onto Ling Yuexi’s wrist.

The change happened too suddenly; no one had time to react.

In that instant, Su Cheng’s heart fiercely clenched. Su Cheng’s eyes narrowed, and without any hesitation, she swiftly pulled her blade from its sheath.

This move was even faster. Ling Yuexi hadn’t even seen what was happening, only a flash of silver light before her eyes. The pressure on her wrist loosened, and the gray claw fell to the ground.

Sensing the presence of living humans, the zombies inside the cracked door rushed forward with fury, their dozens of hands swiftly tearing open the large door.

“Go, quick!” Pulling her behind, Su Cheng alone blocked the front. At this point, she couldn’t hide anything. She swung her blade without reservation, fending off the first wave of rushing zombies.

What was going on?!

This shelter was clearly where they had stayed before. How could it be holding so many zombies?

Straining to sever a head, Su Cheng’s strength was still a bit lacking. Her eyes fell upon the corpse, and she couldn’t help but gasp.

The clothes these zombies were wearing were actually… vanguard soldier uniforms?!

Ling Yuexi stumbled a few steps and pulled out of the danger zone.

What had just happened in that moment?

A hint of surprise and doubt flashed in her eyes. She looked up and saw that the person’s swordsmanship was incredibly skilled; every strike was precise and hit vital points. There was no way it could have been learned in just a few days.

“Why haven’t you left yet?!” Su Cheng had bought quite a bit of time, assuming Ling Yuexi had already run far away. To her surprise, when she looked back, Ling Yuexi was still standing there, stunned.

Her strength was too weak now. The zombies in the shelter were former vanguard soldiers; among them were Alphas and Betas, much stronger than the zombies outside. Now, swarming forward like a beehive, even with her excellent swordsmanship, she couldn’t hold out much longer.

“Let’s go together.” The situation was urgent, leaving no time for detailed thought. Ling Yuexi immediately opened fire and strode forward, pulling Su Cheng with her to retreat.

A zombie dragged her arm. As Su Cheng hurriedly turned around, the gun slung over her shoulder was yanked hard by a zombie behind her.

Her whole body staggered back several steps. Almost instinctively, she immediately shook off Ling Yuexi, one hand tightly gripping the gun, wrestling with the zombie, while the other relentlessly slashed.

With that pause, more and more zombies caught up, threatening to overwhelm her.

“Let go!” Seeing this, Ling Yuexi’s pupils contracted sharply, her heart leaping into her throat. “Cheng Su!”

She had been wondering how to destroy this gun on the way here, but now she was desperately protecting it.

Su Cheng didn’t understand herself either—why she was always so contradictory.

It seemed it had been like this ever since she first met that person.

“Some things, even if I told you, you wouldn’t understand.” The night before they set off, she told Tang Jin, “Right now, I can only choose the safest path…”

Only she knew what the original book’s ending was.

Ling Yuexi hated Dragon Domain so much, and Hong Xiu Zhao’s power would only grow stronger later on. Besides, after all this time, in that person’s eyes, she was still just a plaything…

When happy, she could embrace and kiss her; when she was displeased, she’d use her as a target. Her life wasn’t worth a penny.

Other transmigrators apparently managed to convert villains, but now, it seemed she probably couldn’t…

What should she do?

She couldn’t move, but the gun could.

The first attempt failed, and although she was almost falling at that moment, the gun never left her hand.

As for why, she hadn’t thought about it deeply.

Now it was a second chance, but what was she doing…?

“There is no such thing as ‘the safest path,’” Tang Jin said, twirling the prayer beads in her hand, her voice imbued with a faint scent of sandalwood. “Buddhism emphasizes introspection; the first step is to see oneself clearly.”

“Su Cheng, for these problems that trouble you, why not ask your own heart?”

Her own heart…

These chaotic thoughts flashed by in an instant.

Her clothes were torn in several places, and she was being dragged deeper and deeper into the chaos, but the hand gripping the gun held on tight…

So what on earth was her heart thinking about?!

In a few breaths, the zombies completely surrounded Su Cheng. Countless withered claws menacingly attacked her, overwhelming her. Her ears were filled with the monsters’ roars. A strong stench of decay filled the entire street.

In the midst of the chaos, Su Cheng seemed to hear someone calling her—a heartbreaking cry.

“Cheng Su!”

Her chest violently shook.

Her gaze sharpened, and the blade in her hand suddenly glowed with an eerie blue light; its dark patterns were shimmering.

At the same time, somewhere in District 11, deep beneath the surface, a similar-looking Tang Dao also began to glow with a faint light.

Her scarlet eyes snapped open. She didn’t know how many times it had happened, but it reached out for the blade trapped in the crevice, only to fall short, always just by a bit…

The withered claw was less than a centimeter from Su Cheng’s eyes. At that moment, Su Cheng clenched her teeth and unleashed a powerful blade swing. A semi-circular blue light swished, instantly severing the zombie in front of her. Seizing the opportunity, she yanked her long gun back, twisted sideways, and lunged backward, breaking through the encirclement.

The next second, Ling Yuexi, who had rushed over, fired several shots and scooped up Su Cheng, who had fallen to the ground.

The four Betas also returned to help. They fought as they retreated. Whenever they encountered zombies, Ling Yuexi delivered a headshot with one bullet, and Su Cheng took off a head with one slash, working together with incredible synergy.

…

After running for a long time, they finally outran the zombies before their strength gave out and hid in a derelict building.

They sealed all the doors and windows, leaving no trace of light.

They were utterly exhausted. They had been running for most of the day without food or water. Everyone was struggling.

“…Let’s rest first.” Su Cheng turned on a small flashlight, found an empty spot, and panted, “There are too many zombies wandering outside. We’ll just have to wait.” Just as she was about to sit down, her arm was tightly grabbed and forcefully yanked upward.

“Do you know what you were just doing?!”

The smiling mask had been removed at some point. Ling Yuexi was now glaring at her, with red eyes, her lips even trembling slightly.

Startled by her appearance, Su Cheng felt flustered and weakly said, “…I am protecting your gun.”

Yes, protecting the gun.

At the cost of her own life.

Ling Yuexi didn’t even sneer, her face tight as she gripped Su Cheng tightly.

Didn’t this person understand?

No matter how important a gun was, it was just an inanimate object. How could it compare to a human life?!

She had almost lost her…

“Did I need you to protect it?!” The thought of that perilous moment just now filled Ling Yuexi with dread, her body trembling uncontrollably from anger. Her grip on Su Cheng’s hand grew tighter and tighter. “What’s your grade?! What grade are those zombies?! Do you think knowing some sword techniques, using Chao Feng’s blade, makes you comparable to an S-grade?! Are you that overconfident?! Do I have to spell it out for you?!”

“You’re clearly a damaged Alpha. Don’t you have any idea what you are?!”

In her desperation, harsh words spilled out.

“Uh, um, Boss, please calm down first…”

“Right, right, none of us are hurt, and Cheng Su had good intentions, didn’t she…?”

“Shh, quiet, quiet…”

The few Betas had truly never seen her lose control and scold someone like this. After a moment of hesitation, they bravely tried to interject a few words of advice.

In the past, when the Boss got angry, she wouldn’t say a word, just smash things directly. Now, her mouth was like a machine gun, and a few sentences had them all stunned.

“Hey, Cheng Su, why don’t you say something?” One of the Betas quietly nudged the dazed woman, whispering, “You’re usually pretty talkative. Just humble yourself with the Boss and apologize properly.”

With her face pale, Su Cheng hung her head and said nothing, remaining motionless and lost in thought.

“I don’t need your good intentions!” Ling Yuexi snapped at her, shoving Tang Jin’s injectables into her hand. She turned away, brows furrowed, her voice chilling. “…And I don’t need you to protect me.”

It was her fault and her own.

She shouldn’t have come to District 11 in the first place. How could she have trusted her so easily?

Seeing Ling Yuexi leave, the others could only pat Su Cheng on the shoulder, shake their heads, and find places to rest.

“Don’t you have any idea what you are?!”

Those words pierced her heart with precision and cruelty.

What she said… was actually right.

She really didn’t have any idea what she was.

What had she done since transmigrating here?

She seemed to have done many things, yet she also seemed to have accomplished nothing.

Everyone in this world seemed to have a clear goal: Hu Ziyuan had been devoted to Tang Jin for ten years, Pupu was always obsessed with mechs, Shi Yunqi was dedicated to improving weapons, and Ling Yuexi… she simply followed her heart.

Everyone else seemed to know exactly what they wanted and were constantly striving for it.

But what about her?

She wanted everything, yet dared not bear any of the costs.

She was such a coward.

She feared that, despite her knowledge of the future, she would cause harm to everyone by failing to grasp the present moment. She was afraid of truly falling in love, only to receive no reciprocation from that person.

She was afraid of getting hurt, and she was afraid that the people she cared about would get hurt.

She seemed to be afraid of everything; every choice was made with hesitation and indecision.

Sliding down against the wall, Su Cheng’s chest ached…

Having expended too much energy, the four Betas quickly dozed off after sitting down. After who knew how long, Su Cheng waited until they were all sound asleep before quietly approaching Ling Yuexi.

That person was sitting alone in the corner, brows furrowed, resting with her eyes closed.

“…Xi Xi, I’m sorry.” Su Cheng knelt beside her and softly apologized, “It was my fault.”

Ling Yuexi’s eyelids twitched, but she remained silent with her eyes closed.

After calming down, she also realized her words earlier had been harsh, but she didn’t regret them.

She wanted that person to remember this lesson!

A cold hand gently took hers. Ling Yuexi initially didn’t want to respond, but after a long moment of stillness, she slowly opened her eyes. “…Are you hurt anywhere?”

“Yes.”

Hearing this, Ling Yuexi panicked. She had seen Su Cheng looking lively earlier and assumed she was fine. She immediately rummaged through Su Cheng’s pockets, urgently asking, “Why didn’t you say so sooner! Where are the injectables I gave you just now?”

Those were special medicines developed by Dragon Domain. If injected within 24 hours of a zombie bite, they could prevent infection. Once that time passed, not even a god could save them.

The entire Hong Xiu Zhao currently had only five doses, all of which were from Tang Jin.

“…Xi Xi, we’ll be fine.” While Ling Yuexi was rummaging for the injectables and about to inject herself, Su Cheng raised her hand and chopped down on the back of her neck.

“Trust me.”

In the second before losing consciousness, Ling Yuexi seemed to hear three extremely faint words, ethereal as an illusion…

Gently helping Ling Yuexi lean against the wall, Su Cheng placed the golden Desert Eagle (gun) from her waist next to her hand and returned the remaining medicine to her pocket. Taking off her own jacket, she draped it over Ling Yuexi, then stood up and walked outside alone.

This was her mistake; it was up to her to fix it.

A damaged Alpha couldn’t beat those zombies, but what about… an S-grade Alpha?

******

Meanwhile, at the entrance to District 11, Ya Zhi and his team’s vehicle found their path blocked by a gathering of zombies. He sniffed the fading exotic scent in the air, a hint of confusion rising in his heart.

Motioning for the others not to follow, he dismounted the vehicle, let out a roar to the sky, and in the next second, charged into the horde. His two massive iron hammers swung relentlessly. In just moments, he alone had pulverized hundreds of zombies into bloody, shattered remains.

Black bl00d and filth splattered all over him, and Ya Zhi reeked of decay. He looked like a demon crawled out of hell, even more terrifying than the zombies…

“It really is something from Dragon Domain.” Kicking away a bothersome limb, Ya Zhi bent down and picked up a Lure Pheromone Pill from the ground, grinning sinisterly. “So, she’s here, is she?”

Those who could bring this item to District 11 were undoubtedly some of the people from Dawn. With Suanni being captured and the others remaining in Dragon Domain, who else could it be besides Chao Feng, who had been missing?

He had disliked that person for a long time.

He had always resented Chao Feng. Although not S-grade, Ya Zhi’s strength was far superior to that of an ordinary A-grade Alpha. In his eyes, he was the strongest in Dragon Domain.

Moreover, he had coveted that person’s tangdao for a long time…

The Twin Blades of Nirvana, reportedly a family heirloom of Chao Feng’s.

“This is a godsend, ha ha ha!” Ya Zhi threw his head back and laughed, a touch of madness in his eyes.

He had originally intended to find the blade she had lost, but unexpectedly, this person had come to District 11 alone?

This was a rare opportunity. Why not seize it and take the one she held now?!

He had brought so many people; was he still afraid he couldn’t beat her?! Once he completed the task, he would eliminate everyone, but who would then be able to spread the word?

Even if Qing Cang questioned him, it wouldn’t matter!

Chao Feng, oh Chao Feng, don’t blame me.

“Vanguard soldiers, heed my command!” With a loud roar, the people behind him responded in unison. Ya Zhi shouted, “Search District 11 with all your might! Those who find Chao Feng will be richly rewarded!”