pjbooks Chapter 244 Death in the Ventilation Ducts
Chapter 244 Death in the Ventilation Ducts
Deep inside the underground research institute, red alarm lights flashed frantically.
"Quick! Quick! Second squad, block the exit! First squad, follow me!"
Amidst the piercing alarm, security captain Davis, carrying an assault rifle, led the way out of the alloy door of the special isolation room.
The first thing that catches the eye is the mess on the ground.
The specially made bulletproof glass in the laboratory was shattered all over the floor.
There wasn't a drop of blood on the ground, only a few chemical protective suits riddled with holes from being corroded by strong acid, and a smell similar to sulfur.
Dr. Smith, the head of the base, slumped in a corner. He seemed completely lost, muttering incomprehensible words under his breath.
"Dr. Smith!"
Seeing this, Davis rushed over and grabbed him by the collar. "Doctor, what happened!"
Smith was suddenly lifted up, as if he had been awakened. He pointed in horror at the shattered louver above the wall.
"They're in...they've gone into the pipes..."
"They're not dead! They're all alive!"
"What do you mean you're not dead? Explain yourself more clearly." Davis frowned as he listened to this nonsensical statement.
"Those monsters, those monsters didn't die, they deceived everyone..."
Upon hearing Dr. Smith's words, Davis's expression changed drastically.
Although he hadn't participated in the previous battle with the monster, the monster's terror had long exceeded his comprehension.
However, now...
Dr. Smith actually told him that the monster wasn't dead?
Even more terrifying, the monster crawled into the ventilation system?
What a joke.
It's important to know that the ventilation system here is shared with the entire Department of Defense.
The thought of a monster roaming around inside the entire Department of Defense ventilation system made Davis's face turn extremely ugly.
Without hesitation, I pressed the earpiece:
"Command center, command center, this is the experimental facility's security..."
However, all he received in response was the static crackling from his headset.
The communication signals were blocked!
Seeing this, Davis's heart sank.
"Captain, something is dripping down from above."
Just then, a teammate behind him suddenly spoke up to remind him.
Davis subconsciously looked up.
A drop of viscous black liquid dripped down from a crack in the ceiling where everyone was.
And coincidentally, it landed on the mask of the team member who was speaking.
stab.
The mask was instantly burned through, leaving a hole.
"ah--!"
The team member screamed, dropped his gun, and tried to remove his mask.
The intense burning pain caused him to instantly cover his face and fall to the ground, rolling around frantically.
Under everyone's watchful eyes, the black, sticky liquid seeped into his face through the hole.
"Fire!"
Seeing this, Davis gave the order without hesitation and pulled the trigger first.
In an instant, gun barrels spewed fire.
The dense hail of bullets riddled the team members on the ground with holes.
However, a bizarre scene unfolded.
No blood flowed from the bullet holes in the fallen team member's body.
Furthermore, the skin and flesh around those bullet holes quickly turned black and melted, and then visibly healed.
Then, to everyone's astonishment, the soldier stood up straight.
The mask fell off, revealing half of a completely torn face, with countless tiny black tentacles waving wildly inside the mouth.
"Fuck!"
Davis felt a chill run down his spine.
The newly mutated team member didn't give anyone a chance to react before lunging at the person next to him, moving so fast that he left afterimages.
The black tentacles inside the mouth shot out and pierced the chests of the two security guards.
The two security guards who were stabbed didn't even have time to scream before their bodies quickly withered, their skin cracked open, and two fresh clumps of black, rotten flesh emerged from their bodies, lunging directly at the others.
"Retreat! Retreat!"
Seeing this, Davis did not hesitate and immediately issued the order.
The group retreated while firing.
The bullets only managed to break apart the black chunks of flesh.
But the scattered pieces, once on the ground, immediately came together again.
This thing is completely immune to physical irritation.
In less than a minute, the entire twelve-person security team was wiped out.
Davis was cornered against the wall, watching helplessly as clumps of black mud climbed up his body along the wall.
Suddenly, a feeling of suffocation washed over me.
Then came the excruciating pain of shattered bones, followed by a complete loss of consciousness.
However, he stood up again three seconds later.
He picked up the assault rifle from the ground and straightened his tactical vest.
A pure black glint flashed deep within his eyes.
He pressed the headset button and reported to the director in Davis's original voice:
"Command center, isolation room secure. Alarm triggered false. No abnormalities detected."
"Received. Continue patrolling," came the reply through the earpiece.
Davis grinned and strode out of the isolation room with several other teammates who had also been parasitized.
At the same time. In the banquet hall on the first floor of the Ministry of National Defense.
The place was brightly lit. Long tables were laden with caviar, steak, and fine champagne.
A group of high-ranking officials gathered here, their faces beaming with arrogance and triumphant smiles.
Although this victory was sudden, it undoubtedly demonstrated their strength to the world once again.
"To the glory of the US!" The security chief raised his glass.
"For glory!" the surrounding officials echoed.
General Sterling stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, gazing at the night view of Washington, D.C., and exhaled a long puff of cigar smoke.
The pressure of the past few days almost drove him crazy, but thankfully the monster was finally physically exorcised.
However, just when everyone was all smiles and relaxed.
A tooth-grinding scraping sound and a strange smell came from the central air conditioning vents on the ceiling of the banquet hall.
Those who noticed the sound instinctively looked up at the ventilation duct...
Sudden.
Clang.
The huge metal louvers that were originally hanging on the vents suddenly fell down and smashed onto the dining table.
The sudden turn of events startled several female officials, who screamed in fright.
"What's going on? Where's the security?!"
The security chief even yelled at the crowd outside the venue.
However, before the security personnel arrived, something fell into the ventilation duct.
A dark, muddy object about the size of a human head.
It also emitted a pungent, fishy odor.
"Shit..."
"What the hell is this thing?"
The people standing around looked at the lump of black mud with blank expressions.
But at that moment, the clump of black mud suddenly exploded.
The splashed black liquid instantly turned into sharp points.
"Puff puff puff—"
Several important officials standing at the front were unable to dodge in time and were pierced through the body.
The sudden turn of events left the entire room in a deathly silence.
However, a sharp, terrifying sound ripped the roof off the entire banquet hall in an instant.
"Monster! Monster is coming!"
"Shit, it's those damn monsters, they're still alive..."
The politicians, who were once glamorous and impeccably dressed, turned into headless flies in an instant, frantically pushing and shoving each other as they ran towards the door.
However, there must be more than one ceiling vent in the entire banquet hall.
boom! boom! boom!
As the blinds burst open.
The entire banquet hall felt as if it were raining.
Countless large and small black sludge particles fell from the sky, crashing onto the crowd.
The moment it comes into contact with the human body, the black mud immediately displays an extremely terrifying aggressiveness.
They ignore clothing, melt directly through the skin, and burrow into the human body.
The infected person doesn't even have time to cry for help before their body is completely drained within seconds, turning them into a new source of pollution.
General Sterling drew his sidearm and fired several shots at the mass of black mud rushing towards him. The bullets pierced the mud, leaving only a few small holes, which instantly healed.
"Guards! Help!" General Ster shouted.
Only then were the banquet hall doors forced open.
The Navy SEALs stormed into the garrison building.
"Fire!"
A dense hail of bullets covered the entire banquet hall.
But those monsters were not afraid of bullets at all. Even if they were pierced, they could still move through the crowd, parasitize, split, and multiply.
What were originally dozens of clumps of black mud had multiplied into hundreds in the blink of an eye. The corpses of politicians littered the ground.
Under the cover of a group of special forces soldiers, General Ster frantically retreated towards the door.