'So that's how it is...'
Shen Feng's eyes narrowed inside the building, and he sprang into action.
The fire and slaughter had drawn away most of the Skinners from the Epidemic Prevention Center. The vast majority had left, with only a few hundred remaining on the lower levels.
The top floor, where Shen Feng was, was now completely clear of Skinners.
He stepped out of the research lab. The corridor outside was empty, save for a few stone figures still standing motionless.
Shen Feng quickly took the elevator down to the Epidemic Prevention Center's underground warehouse.
All the Epidemic Prevention Centers were built and retrofitted to the same specifications, so the armories were all in very similar locations.
Huicheng's cache of weapons and ammunition was likewise in its underground warehouse.
He grabbed a dozen grenades and two anti-personnel mines from the warehouse, packed them in his bag, and returned to the top-floor research lab. Shen Feng used a piece of wire to hang the pins of several grenades on the interior doorknob. After closing the door again, he used a thin thread to pull the wire taut.
After a moment's thought, he casually hung the former director's ID card on one of the stone figures. Only then did he get back into the elevator and head for the underground parking garage.
By now, the sounds of gunfire and roaring could be heard from outside the building. The Brain Apes were busy clearing out the last of the Skinners in the surrounding area.
As far as Kuafu was concerned, victory was already in his grasp. He felt no need to have his people rush in, preferring instead to maintain an air of elegance.
An elegance reminiscent of humans.
Shen Feng's mind felt exceptionally clear. He should have been filled with anger and fear after witnessing such a bloody slaughter, yet he felt not the slightest emotional ripple.
By the time the first Brain Ape entered the Epidemic Prevention Center, Shen Feng had already slipped silently into the underground parking garage. He moved like a Ghost, not even triggering the sound-activated lights.
Soon, the sound of the Brain Apes' footsteps filled the air, but this time, their movements were far more reverent.
For many of the Brain Apes, their first moments of self-awareness had occurred within the walls of an Epidemic Prevention Center.
This was the birthplace of their conscious memory, a Holy Land in their hearts.
The thousand-strong force of Brain Apes didn't even cheer. They kept their voices to a minimum, even when speaking amongst themselves, as if afraid to disturb this Holy Land enshrined deep within them.
The Epidemic Prevention Center. Their Garden of Eden, their paradise... and also their Hell.
"Wuzhiqi. Stone Eye. Changmao. You will each, take three hundred soldiers. Go and purify, the building, of the remaining Skinners." Kuafu's eyes glinted with intelligent light. "Feifei, you are responsible for, external security. The rest of the apes, with me!"
"Remember. Do not, damage, anything, in the Epidemic Prevention Center! This is, the land of hope, for the rise, of the Ape Race!"
"Yes, Kuafu!" a chorus of Brain Apes replied. They had always held their leader in the highest reverence.
In the beginning, the Brain Apes had attacked and killed one another. It was Kuafu who united them, made them understand the awesome power of intelligence, and gave them the concept of an Ape Race.
Afterward, Kuafu gave them the identity of civilization's successors, taught them the meaning of survival, and finally ignited the spark of life within them.
Although the elevators were still operational, Kuafu was cautious. He didn't use them, instead leading several hundred Brain Apes directly up the stairs to the top-floor research lab.
Gazing at the sealed doors of the research lab, Kuafu felt a thrill of excitement.
He had previously consulted records in other, still-operational Epidemic Prevention Centers. He knew that what he needed was right here in Huicheng!
Now, it was all finally within his grasp!
A Skinner's corpse lay in the corridor. Kuafu paid it no mind, instead turning his attention to the standing stone figures.
He soon found an ID card on one of the stone figures—it belonged to none other than the director of the Huicheng Epidemic Prevention Center!
Picking up the ID card, Kuafu took a deep breath to calm his frayed nerves. He walked over to the side of the alloy door and inserted the card into the slot.
"Lead Researcher, Jin Hui."
The dust-covered scanner suddenly lit up, displaying the portrait of an old man with a white beard and hair—the owner of the card.
Kuafu frowned. 'Something's not right...' The stone figure he had taken the card from was clearly a middle-aged woman...
The alloy door slid open abruptly. With it came a sharp PING, as if something had been pulled loose.
The Brain Apes crowded at the entrance filed in, rushing into the long-awaited research lab.
"This is wrong! Get down! Get out!" Kuafu roared, simultaneously tackling a young Brain Ape beside him to the ground and taking cover behind the alloy wall.
BOOM! The dozen grenades and two Claymore mines detonated simultaneously. Over one hundred thousand steel ball bearings rained down, unleashing horrific carnage in the narrow confines of the research lab and corridor.
The tightly packed Brain Apes didn't even have time to scream. Just like the Skinners they had hacked to pieces, they were riddled with shrapnel!
Not one of the dozens of Brain Apes who entered the lab survived; some were blown to smithereens. Out in the corridor, nearly every ape was wounded. The howls of the critically injured turned the area into a living Hell.
A steel ball grazed the corner of Kuafu's eye, drawing blood. He slowly got to his feet and surveyed the hellscape before him, his eyes burning with a fire that could incinerate worlds.
His face a dark mask, he strode into the research lab. He paid no mind to his own shattered glasses or the chunks of flesh and severed limbs littering the floor. He went straight to the damaged refrigeration unit, pried it open, and began to search for something inside.
Soon, he found a dented metal canister labeled "Liquid Nitrogen." It had been completely ruptured by the blast. It was empty.
All that remained was a shattered label that read: "Pangu."
"Hu...man...!" Kuafu snarled, squeezing the word through his gritted teeth. A wave of immense regret washed over him for not having used all his strength to hunt down that single human.
His enemy had not only dealt a devastating blow to the Ape Race, but had also stolen his last hope!
'That human... he knew about the Pangu Virus, and he took it!'
'It was as if that human was mocking him, proving that humans were the most cunning and ferocious beasts on the planet!'
"Tend to the wounded! Notify, all apes, immediately! Hunt! Hunt the human! At any cost! Even to the ends of the world! ROAR!!!" Kuafu bellowed.
"No. I will kill him with my own hands. I will personally grind him into a pulp!"
With that, he strode over to the previously ignored elevator, took two guards with him, and stepped inside after pressing the button.
As the most intelligent of his kind, he had already regained his composure. The Epidemic Prevention Center had a massive arsenal. He would use it to arm his apes to the teeth and tear that human to shreds!
They soon arrived at the underground parking garage.
Their heavy footfalls caused the remaining sound-activated lights to flicker on one by one, revealing the various vehicles stored there.
The most eye-catching of them all was a Defender-3 armored vehicle!
'This is it!'
The human's earlier actions had, in fact, reminded him that the armored vehicle here was still operational.
Kuafu strode to the armored vehicle, threw open the hatch, and climbed inside. This roaring, steel warhorse was far superior to any steed of flesh and blood. Today, he would use it to hunt down that malevolent human!
Just then, the black barrel of a Shotgun emerged from the darkness and pressed against his forehead.
"Don't move," Shen Feng said.
~
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