A moment later, the numerous members of the Rat Squad were assembled, and Xiao Qi led them forward at a brisk pace.
Before long, they arrived at their destination. A dilapidated general hospital came into view.
The complex was composed of five main buildings—not massive, but by no means small.
At that moment, Mila and several others stood by the entrance to the outpatient building.
Xiao Qi hurried over with her people.
"Sister Mila, we're here."
"Good. Take your team and comb through this hospital from top to bottom," Mila instructed her. "Keep your eyes open while you search—there might still be some corpse monsters inside."
"Understood. Fan out and search, everyone!" Xiao Qi immediately barked out the order.
Having grown wiser this time, Long Ming dashed straight toward Inpatient Building No. 5. He deliberately avoided the outpatient building's pharmacy, as the combat personnel had almost certainly looted it already.
Long Ming and the others quickly burst inside. The first-floor lobby was completely deserted, save for a few payment windows and an information desk.
Long Ming cast a quick glance over the area, then sprinted toward the stairs.
The other members of the Rat Squad caught on and hurried toward the stairwell as well.
Everyone scrambled upward, trying their hardest to shake off the rest of the pack.
In the end, Long Ming picked the seventh floor. He sprinted out into the spacious corridor; at a glance, both sides were lined with patient wards.
Long Ming bypassed the wards entirely, making a beeline for the treatment room up ahead.
Having spent years in and out of hospitals, nobody knew their layout better than he did.
Just then, Johnny and his crew charged up to the floor. Seeing Long Ming dash for the treatment room, they kicked into high gear and gave chase.
Long Ming's agility stat was fairly high, however, giving him a clear edge in speed.
"Fuck, how can that kid run so fast?" Johnny cursed under his breath, watching the gap between them widen.
"Beats me. Isn't he a newbie? Goddamn ghost!" Johnny's companion was equally dumbfounded.
Yet no matter how hard it was to believe, Long Ming was still the first to breach the treatment room.
"Dammit!"
Johnny and his crew were forced to halt outside the doorway.
Long Ming promptly raised his wristband to scan the medicines lined up on the treatment room's shelves.
Painkiller Injection x5
Effect: Rapid pain relief, lasts 30 minutes.
Medical Bandage x5
Effect: Stops bleeding.
Glucose Rehydration Fluid x3
Effect: Quickly replenishes stamina.
A broad grin spread across Long Ming's face as he decisively shoved the supplies into his backpack. This haul was a massive win.
Johnny and the others watched with undisguised envy as Long Ming packed away the medication. Still, they didn't try to contest the loot, turning instead toward the nurses' station to search.
Once Long Ming finished stowing his items, he stepped into an adjacent ward.
He rifled through the nightstand beside a hospital bed, but turned up nothing of value, so he moved on to the next room.
A short while later, he decided to give up on the wards altogether and darted back to the stairs, heading up to the eighth floor.
He reached the eighth floor in short order, but as soon as he stepped out, he caught the sound of someone already rummaging around inside. Bypassing the floor, he pushed on to the ninth.
Yet the moment he reached the ninth floor, Johnny and his companions caught up with him in a flustered rush.
"Bro, hold on a sec!"
"What's up?" Long Ming turned to look at Johnny, his tone calm.
"Look, bro, you've already scored a ton of good stuff, and we haven't found a single thing worth anything yet. Would you mind letting us have this floor?" Johnny asked politely.
"Sure, go ahead."
Long Ming didn't mind in the slightest, continuing past them up the stairs toward the tenth-floor rooftop level.
In his eyes, anywhere was fair game to loot; the ninth floor wasn't necessarily any better than the tenth. Besides, if he didn't give it up, he'd be forced to compete with them on the same floor. He might as well do them a favor.
"Thanks, man!" Johnny and the others called out gratefully toward his retreating back, clearly delighted.
Long Ming waved a hand dismissively and swiftly reached the tenth floor.
To his surprise, he found that the tenth floor was a storage area, cluttered with piles of obsolete medical equipment and random junk.
He patiently sifted through the piles one by one, but after searching for a good while, he still found nothing of value. The only thing he turned up was an old white-grade trophy, and a rather heavy one at that.
"Ugh, bad call!"
Long Ming sighed, tossed the trophy aside, and turned to leave.
After taking a few paces toward the exit, however, he suddenly froze.
His gaze dropped to the floor, where scattered bits of chipped plaster and broken concrete lay strewn across the tiles. Crucially, the debris looked freshly fallen.
Instinctively, he looked up at the ceiling overhead and noticed a small puncture in the plaster, revealing a pointed metal tip protruding downward.
A look of perplexity settled onto Long Ming's face. He inspected the sharp metal object carefully; from its texture and contours, it looked completely out of place in a hospital.
A sudden thought flashed through his mind.
His expression shifting slightly, Long Ming bolted toward the stairwell and charged for the rooftop.
***
Meanwhile, at the main entrance of the hospital...
Cao Jie, Qiao Shan, and several others stood guard with rifles in hand, yawning with boredom.
"Brother Cao, how much longer is this search going to take? I'm bored out of my mind!" Qiao Shan bantered with Cao Jie.
"What's the rush? It'll probably be a while yet. Wait—someone's coming!"
Cao Jie's sharp eyes caught two silhouettes sprinting through the distant fog toward the gates.
Qiao Shan and the others hastily raised their firearms.
"Don't shoot, we're on your side!" the two men shouted frantically, each wearing an armband bearing the Iron Fist Guild insignia.
"Haha, on our side?" Cao Jie and his men burst out laughing at the claim.
"Shit, run!"
The two Iron Fist Guild players took in Cao Jie's face and guild armband, and their expressions instantly twisted in horror. Snapping to their senses, they spun on their heels to flee.
*Bang! Bang!*
Cao Jie raised his weapon and fired twice.
One of the Iron Fist Guild players dropped dead on the spot, while the other collapsed to the pavement with a bullet through his leg.
"Sorry about that, but all of your people have already been wiped out," Cao Jie said smugly, sauntering forward. "Don't worry, though—I'll send you to join them in just a second."
"Fuck you! You big guilds only know how to bully smaller ones!"
"And what if we do?"
"Don't get cocky. You'll be crying your eyes out in a minute!" the downed man snarled viciously.
"Haha, with what? You guys?"
Cao Jie and his men chuckled, but in the next second, the smiles froze solid on their faces.
Out of the gloomy gray fog, silhouette after silhouette began to emerge.
"How is that possible? There are so many of them!" Qiao Shan was utterly dumbstruck.
As the figures drew closer, Cao Jie could finally make out their forms.
They weren't players at all—they were zombies!
Flying into a rage, he rounded on the wounded Iron Fist Guild member and spat, "Fuck! You bastards lured a whole horde over here!"
"Haha! Figured it out too late!" the man gloated triumphantly.
"What do we do?" Qiao Shan asked Cao Jie in a panic.
"Hold the line for now. I'll go inform Captain Mila!"
Leaving the instruction behind, Cao Jie turned and sprinted flat-out into the hospital grounds.
***
In the central open courtyard of the hospital...
Numerous members of the Rat Squad were gathering together.
Every face was alight with radiant smiles, and practically every backpack was stuffed to the brim.
"We made a killing this time!"
"What did you find?"
"A purple-tier scalpel!"
"Holy crap, you pulled a purple item?!"
"Heheh!"
Gasps of awe and excited chatter rippled continuously through the crowd.
Chapter 51