Chapter 82: Hidden Door
The imnse force of the tightly packed zombies pushed the Warrior Sprout back several steps, its feet scraping against the tal floor.
But before the horde could gain montum, the Guardian Sprout suddenly charged straight into the middle of them, its shield slamming forward with overwhelming force.
The impact was brutal. Several zombies were knocked off balance instantly, their bodies colliding into each other in a chaotic ss.
That was all the opening needed. The Warrior Sprout moved again.
Its blade flashed. One swing, a head fell. Another step, another neck severed.
Its movents were clean, efficient, almost emotionless. Every strike was lethal, and every motion flowed into the next without pause.
At the sa ti, the Guardian Sprout continued to disrupt the formation, smashing zombies aside, pinning them down, or forcing them into positions where they couldn’t even defend themselves.
Within less than a minute, the two of them had already taken down nearly ten zombies.
Behind them, the Archer Sprouts did not stop for even a second. Their arrows flew one after another, each shot precise and fatal. Twelve more zombies dropped before they could even approach.
It looked like the wave was about to end, when suddenly, at the far end of the corridor, beyond the broken inner door, another group of zombies appeared.
More than a dozen.
They gathered there, drawn by the noise, their hollow eyes locking onto the living.
Vikram didn’t hesitate.
He raised the M416 and fired.
The rifle roared again, bullets tearing through the newly appeared group. With his accuracy and the narrow space working in his favor, the zombies fell rapidly.
Heads burst, bodies collapsed, and within monts, the entire wave of nearly fifty zombies had been reduced to just four remaining figures staggering forward.
"Boss, we’ve run out of arrows. What do we do?" one of the Survivors asked nervously.
"What else?" Alex replied before Vikram could speak, glancing at him for confirmation. "There are only four left. Go up and finish them yourselves."
For Alex, this was no longer just a fight. It was a test. Compared to Vikram and the Sprout Team, they had done almost nothing. If they couldn’t even handle the last few zombies, then they weren’t even qualified to stand here.
Vikram observed this silently. Then he nodded. This was indeed a good chance.
With Healer Sprout and Light Mage Sprout present, injuries wouldn’t be fatal. Training them now would be far more valuable.
Without warning, he stepped forward and pushed the four Survivors directly toward the approaching zombies.
The four of them staggered for a mont, but quickly reacted, pulling out their alloy knives as the zombies lunged at them.
The narrow corridor instantly turned chaotic.
Four Survivors, against four zombies.
Claws swung wildly, while blades struck back in desperation. The sound of tal cutting into bone echoed repeatedly, harsh and unsettling.
Vikram, Alex, Sunil, and the others stood behind, watching.
Sunil’s face remained expressionless, but inside, his heart was sinking. In less than half a day, everything had changed.
His subordinates had shifted their loyalty.
Even Alex, his most trusted man, now looked at Vikram as the true leader. And he could do nothing.
The fight continued.
The reason it dragged on was clear.
Among the four remaining zombies, two were noticeably stronger.
Exquisite-grade.
Their bodies were tougher, their movents slightly faster, and even when struck, they didn’t fall easily.
The Survivors struggled.
Their blades landed, but not decisively. Slowly,the pressure began to build.
Just as the four Survivors began to lose ground, their movents growing more desperate under the pressure of the two Exquisite-grade Zombies, Vikram finally gave a signal.
Instantly, the Warrior Sprout and Light Mage Sprout moved.
They stepped directly into the chaotic fight without hesitation. The timing was perfect.
Both sides were already entangled, the Survivors barely holding on. In that split second, the Warrior Sprout’s blade flashed.
A clean arc.
One of the Exquisite-grade Zombies didn’t even have ti to react, its head split in half like a waterlon, the two halves sliding apart as its body collapsed instantly.
Before anyone could process it, another zombie had already locked onto the Warrior Sprout. It crept forward from behind, its sharp claws raised, aiming straight for his back.
But just as it struck, a blade t it head-on.
With a sharp gust of wind, the Warrior Sprout’s weapon sliced through the incoming claws. The zombie’s arm was severed instantly, falling to the ground like sothing soft and useless.
Yet, it didn’t stop. Without hesitation, the zombie leaned forward, opening its mouth wide and biting directly toward the Warrior Sprout’s neck.
For a mont, the Warrior Sprout tilted its head slightly. Almost... confused. It didn’t understand. After all, it wasn’t human.
It wasn’t even a normal plant. This kind of attack, ant nothing to it. So instead of retreating, it simply raised its blade again.
And slashed.
The blade pierced straight through the zombie’s face, driving deep into its skull. Thick, dark blood splattered outward as the force of the strike pinned the creature directly against the wall.
The struggle ended instantly.
With the two Exquisite-grade Zombies eliminated, the remaining ones no longer posed any real threat. The four Survivors, now relieved of pressure, quickly regained their footing and finished off the last two zombies with coordinated strikes.
Soon, all enemies were down. The corridor fell silent again.
The already narrow passage was now completely filled with corpses, the stench of decay growing even heavier.
"Hoo..."
At that mont, the Light Mage Sprout stepped forward.
A soft glow spread from its body, covering the four Survivors and the Warrior Sprout. The light flowed over their wounds, healing cuts, sealing injuries, and most importantly, purifying any traces of infection from scratches or contact.
Within monts, everyone was restored.
Seeing this, Alex’s eyes lit up.
He imdiately understood the true value of the Light Mage Sprout. If a zombie outbreak ever truly spread, this one unit alone could decide life and death.
At that mont, he felt even more certain. Choosing Vikram as his boss, was the best decision he had ever made.
Vikram, anwhile, had already returned to his calm state.
"Collect everything," he ordered casually.
The Survivors imdiately moved, stepping carefully among the corpses as they began gathering the dropped supplies.
Perhaps because of the sheer number of zombies, Vikram quickly noticed sothing off. The drops from more than a dozen zombies in the corridor were barely a third of what he would normally obtain from hunting the sa number of regular creatures.
"This is too much of a loss..." he muttered, watching his subordinates collect the materials. "They’re harder to deal with than normal creatures, yet they drop less."
No one dared to respond.
"Alright," he continued after a mont, his tone returning to calm authority. "Most of the things in this building should be dead by now. Push a little further, and we’ll take this entire place."
The others nodded imdiately.
Following his lead, they stepped forward and crossed the badly warped iron door that had been broken by the zombies earlier. As they moved inside, the full view of the inner office area finally revealed itself.
It was chaos.
Desks and chairs were overturned everywhere, scattered without any order. Papers littered the floor, most of them old and faded beyond recognition. In the center of the room, several zombie corpses lay sprawled, their decayed bodies blending into the already disturbing environnt.
Vikram’s gaze swept across the surroundings. There was sothing strange about it. A modern office setting, inside a ruin in the Wasteland.
But he didn’t dwell on it for long. Following his usual principle of wasting nothing, he began checking the desks one by one.
"Maybe I’ll even find sothing useful... a computer or sothing," he muttered lightly. "Wouldn’t mind playing a few offline gas."
But reality quickly disappointed him.
Every desk he checked contained nothing but useless scraps of paper. Even the furniture itself seed aged far beyond its appearance.
When he pressed his hand lightly against one of the desks, it collapsed instantly.
The wood crumbled like dust, falling apart into fragnts that no longer resembled anything usable.
Vikram clicked his tongue slightly.
Useless.
After searching the entire area without finding anything valuable, he finally turned his attention to Sunil.
"Sunil, where do we go next?"
Sunil hesitated for a mont before replying, "This... I don’t know either. We’ve only explored the outer parts before. This is the first ti we’ve even opened this section, so how would we know what’s deeper inside?"
He paused briefly, then added, "Besides, most of the zombies here are already dead. I think it’s better to start collecting supplies now."
His tone carried a subtle intention.
Retreat.
"Boss Vikram is also in a hurry to return, right?" Sunil continued. "It’s still early afternoon. If we focus on gathering materials, we can take back a large amount today."
Vikram didn’t reply imdiately. His eyes slowly moved across the room again.
Sunil wasn’t wrong.
The value here, was already imnse.
Every wall, every structure in this ruin was made from high-grade tal materials. Even if he stopped here and harvested everything, this trip would already be more than profitable.
However, no matter how rare these tals were, they could still be obtained slowly from the trading market. But this ruin... only had three days left.
If he stopped now, the real treasure inside might be lost forever.
Vikram’s eyes narrowed slightly.
At that mont, Alex stepped forward, clearly unwilling to let Sunil control the situation anymore. "Boss, this Sunil is too cowardly. Co with , I know where to go next. It’s the most dangerous place here... but with our team, it shouldn’t be a problem."
Vikram looked at him for a mont, then nodded. "Good. Lead the way. If we clear this ruin, I’ll make you the leader here, and increase your power."
Alex’s face lit up instantly. "Thank you, Boss! Thank you!"
Without hesitation, he turned and signaled everyone to move. The group quickly reorganized and followed him forward.
Behind them, Sunil’s face darkened.
Especially after hearing that Vikram planned to replace him with Alex.
Once this bastard leaves... I’ll make sure you regret this, he thought silently, his eyes filled with resentnt. But outwardly, he remained quiet, following the group without a word.
The path Alex led them on went deeper into the office section. After a short walk, they reached a section of the corridor where one wall appeared noticeably darker than the rest.
"Why bring us here?" Vikram asked.
"Boss... this is the place," Alex replied, pointing directly at the wall.
Vikram stepped forward and examined it carefully. The darker color wasn’t dirt, it was the wall’s natural appearance. When he ran his hand across it, almost no dust ca off.
The cold, dense tallic texture told him everything.
This wasn’t ordinary tal. The system scan activated imdiately.
[Tungsten Steel: Purple. Extrely high hardness, superior wear resistance, excellent high-temperature and corrosion resistance. Commonly used in high-precision and extre-condition applications.]
Vikram’s eyes flickered.
Epic-level material...
This alone was already a huge gain.
But then, another notification appeared.
[Ding. Hidden chanism detected. Internal hollow structure confird.]
Vikram’s expression changed slightly. A hidden space.
Just like the Wolf Spirit Ruins.
Which ant, the real core of this ruin... was behind this wall.
"So the boss is inside..." he murmured.
He turned to Alex. "How do we open it?"
"Chandan," Alex called.
Chandan stepped forward imdiately. There was no need for further explanation. Following the position Vikram had subtly indicated earlier, he placed his hand against a specific point on the wall.
Then, he pressed on it.
A dull chanical sound echoed from within the wall.
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