Vol 4: Chapter 4-2 & 4-3.

Zheng was out of strength. If it wasn’t for the acceleration buff on him, he would be running at a jogging pace. It was then that he realized how important that buff was. This buff increased his speed by a constant rate instead of a percentage. It wasn’t too obvious when he was running at normal speed, but now that he was weakened, it showed its importance.

Zheng finally reached the clocktower before the ghosts got to him. He sliced open the door and then ran inside the tower.

The huge ghost had completely recovered by now. She stood up from the ground and began moving toward the tower slowly. Zheng was panting heavily and realized the air around him was getting cold. The world through his eyes was bloody red due to the blood energy circulating inside his body. He could also make out several green and white shadows on the top of the tower. His senses told him that the little ghosts were waiting there.

Since he didn’t have the Qi to activate the ring’s force field anymore, he put the knife back into the ring and took out his submachine gun. However, he didn’t have the time to change the magazine on the gun at this time. He only had half a magazine of bullets to help him reach the top… The blood energy was his last hope. He wouldn’t want to waste it unless he was forced to.

“Ah!”

Zheng cried in desperation as he pulled the trigger against the ghosts crawling down from the top…

—

On another building far away from the top, Zero was lying on the roof in exhaustion. The Gauss sniping rifle was right in front of him, yet there was no one that could use it. Yinkong was standing next to Zero waving her hands against the ghosts crawling toward them.

She wasn’t skilled with firearms but being able to unlock her genetic constraint and the training as an assassin enabled her to fight in close range as good as Zheng. She took out the gunpowder from the bullets then wore the shells on her fingers. This enabled her to kill the ghosts with her hands.

The two of them were being surrounded as numerous ghosts crawled in from all sides. If it wasn’t for Yinkong’s attacks in the unlocked mode, they would have drowned in a sea of ghosts.

“How’s it? How much have you recovered? Enough to take aim?” She asked urgently without turning her head.

Zero struggled to sit up from the floor and muttered. “No, my vision is blurry. I am falling asleep. I can’t snipe under this condition… Give me one or two more minutes…”

Yinkong paused for a moment but when she started moving her hands again, her movements were not as smooth as before…

—

Jie and Tengyi weren’t much better off than the other two parties. They were the first ones to encounter the ghosts since they were at the edge of the park. Fortunately Jie reacted in time and opened fire at them immediately. Then Tengyi also started shooting in a spin with his pistol.

“Are we going to die? Jie, are we going to die?” Tengyi spurred out the words in panic as he shot.

Jie suddenly turned around and punched him, knocking him to the ground. He shouted, “F*ck you! Aren’t we still alive? If you want to die then run into them! Don’t talk next to me!” Then he turned to the ghosts again.

Tengyi was dazed for a moment and then also started shooting again. He said to Jie who was on his back. “Jie, if I make it out alive, I will pay you back this punch. F*ck… my teeth are falling out.”

Jie laughed then said, “If we can live… if we can all live, I don’t give a f*ck about a punch…”

“Zheng… our lives are all on your hands. Don’t fail!”

—

Zheng didn’t know how many more stairs were ahead of him, nor how many more ghosts were at the top. He couldn’t turn back anymore. The stairs behind him were also filled with ghosts. He could only continue going up until he broke away from this nightmare… If he didn’t want to die, then he had to reach the top!

Zheng kept running up the stairs as he sprayed at the ghosts. His legs couldn’t handle the running anymore, if it wasn’t for the last bit of willpower holding him up, he probably wouldn’t be able to raise his feet. It had already been a long time since he went into unlocked mode. This was the longest duration since he’d gotten this ability. Just like in Alien, his genetics were on the brink of breaking down… He had no way to go back now!

He finally reached the top before the gun ran out of ammunition. He kicked open the metal door leading to the rooftop as he emptied the remaining bullets. The huge ghost was looking right at him behind the door and her hand was reaching for him.

“Ah! Go to hell!”

Zheng activated all his blood energy and sprinted out onto the roof and into the ghost’s chest… where Kayako’s main body was at…

———

In the chest of the huge ghost was a middle aged woman (not Kayako) with a twisted face and body. She screeched as Zheng touched her then dispersed into thin air.

After the first ghost was gone, the others started crowding up on him. Though the blood energy was powerful enough to kill them with just a touch, the amount of energy was draining too fast. It was already at 60 percent after only a few seconds.

Jie and the others saw that the ghosts emitted a green light when Zheng touched them. This was the light they gave off when they were dispersed but the intensity of this light was slowly dying off. Which signified the amount of blood energy still remaining. At the same time, he had corroded a hole in the chest.

“… Zheng! Is it you in the ghost’s chest?”

Zheng was concentrating intensely then he suddenly heard Yinkong’s voice through the device. He shouted in reply. “It’s me… If I die, then run as far as you can. The time is almost up. Ok, don’t talk to me. I don’t have the attention to spare!”

Yinkong said calmly, “… Why did you jump in there? Did you… find out the Ju-On’s weak point?”

“I… shit, yes! I found its weak point! Kayako’s main body is probably in the center of the chest! Don’t talk to me, I can’t get distracted!” Veins were surfacing on his forehead as he shouted.

“Zheng… This is Zero. I don’t know if I can lock onto the target, but it’s worth a try. I only have enough stamina to make one shot… It’s too bright around you, when the light dims down more, give me a signal!”

Zheng fell into a silence. He didn’t know how to respond because the light meant that he still had the energy to corrode the ghosts. Once this light disappeared, he would be overwhelmed by the numerous ghosts.

“Zero… you only have one chance. When the light disappears, shoot through my left shoulder. That’s where the main body is!”

“… Ok!”

Once it was decided, Zheng didn’t try to preserve his energy anymore. He moved forward as best he could and corroded all the ghosts on the way. Within a few seconds he was approaching the Ju-On’s main body.

“Chu… Chu Xuan!”

Suddenly, he stopped upon seeing one of the ghosts. Unlike the others, this ghost didn’t have the twisted face and body. He just looked like a normal person. If it wasn’t the pale green skin, he would had looked identical to the real person.

Zheng didn’t corrode Xuan immediately. He had a sense of respect for this man. And strangely, Xuan didn’t jump at him like the other ghosts. Instead, he walked around Zheng and blocked several ghosts behind him. He even felt as if Xuan nodded at him as he went past Zheng…

“Was that an illusion? Or… Xuan! I am going to avenge you!”

That was the last ghost in front of him. The only one left was a human-sized Kayako. Zheng channeled all the energy to his left hand and struck her. As the blood energy invaded her body, she showed an expression of pain for the first time. She twisted her body trying to evade his fist but Zheng ignored the ghosts coming at him from the back and just continued channeling the energy into Kayako. She slowly became smaller and smaller as the energy corroded her from inside…

When the first ghost reached Zheng from the back, he had already spent every last bit of energy. The ghost started absorbing his life force but Kayako’s size had also reduced to one fifth already. Just one last attack… to eliminate her!

“Zero! Now!”

With a loud bang, Zheng felt a force enter from his left shoulder and started moving toward his hand. Then the bullet exited his palm and struck Kayako, eliminating her. The huge force crushed his arm completely and also opened a large hole in the huge ghost’s chest.

Zheng then heard a woman wailing faintly, and was shortly joined by the wails of numerous men and women. The ghosts that created the huge woman gradually disappeared and Zheng started falling from midair. A pair of strong arms caught him before he reached the ground.

“… We made it… Zheng, we… uh? I also received a reward…”

Zheng felt that he heard the voices of his comrades. In this moment… he felt he was standing at the same height as Xuan… Perhaps his comrades will sometimes become a burden, or a relentless leader can save the majority of the group. But supporting and depending on each other, entrusting his life to the hands of his comrades… was the team that he hoped for!

By the time he woke up, he was inside a beam of light. His whole body was itching and in pain. But he was also getting invigorated along with the pain.

He turned his head to look down. A little girl was staring at him. Her eyes were filled with tears but under those tears was a smile.