XG 173 - Look at me

"Yes! Please let me talk to your leader!" Max bowed ninety degrees.

"There is no leader in our base, only united leaders and people working for the same goal," Scot Lang explained as he sidestepped to avoid the bow.

Max does not really care if there was really a leader or not. As long as that person could make decisions, it was the only thing that mattered!

As soon as Max met those in charge of this base, he quickly said whatever he could about the temple and did not forget to emphasize the shaman's useful ability. If they did not think the elderly shaman is useful, they would just ignore his request for help!

"Please help them!" Max kneeled down and bowed his head low until his forehead touched the hard floor.

"Raise your head and stand up. There is no need to do this."

"I know you won't believe what I say and I have no proof now. But I promise that whatever I just said is the truth!" Max firmly gazed at the man he believed to be the leader of the base, with how the elderly man that had told him to get up could not answer his plea.

This young man was the only one in this room without wearing a lab coat and have an intimidating aura. He had to be the boss above the scientists!

Although Max had lived at Musihada base for a short time, he does not know much about the people inside the buildings where the survivors that pitched their tents outside longed to step in. The guards were surprisingly quite tight-lipped on what they were not supposed to say even if they were quite a chatterbox.

One of the little things he found out was that one of the founders was a handsome man with a successful vibe, matched with a beautiful wife and lovely daughter. This man before him suits that description, even if he looked much younger than he expected for someone with a teenage daughter.

"Send him to a room. We will discuss further after we settle our main issue." Chin Chun was quite good at judging people, and this man before him was not lying, even if he tend to exaggerate a bit about the shaman's capability.

But until Chen Yibo reads his mind, he shall reserve some doubt on Max's words.

Wong Xue Guo had finished sweeping all the zombies with their hearts and was dealing with the slow-moving zombies with the sword borrowed from Chen Yibo.

He was much better and faster with a gun than she could ever be.

Her shadow did nothing to the slow-moving zombies and only hands-on violence could stop them. Like others, she has some slight difficulty in adjusting which part of the zombie to target.

As a female herself, Wong Xue Guo did not hesitate to choose the female zombie as her next target. She belatedly realized she was followed. "You should not follow me."

"I'm aware of the danger and I can cope with it. Please allow me to assist you," Gen Lang said.

Such politeness was never experienced by Wong Xue Guo before, especially a sincere and non-intrusive one. Those that were polite to her were either done for her parent's sake, wanted to get something from her, or did it for formality's sake.

Gen Lang's politeness belonged to a servant that had no complaints to serve a master. His behaviour was done as if it was something to be expected from a butler.

The Wong family does not live a luxurious life and only has a housekeeper to manage the house. They compensate for it by hiring over twenty bodyguards just to guard a mother, a daughter and occasionally absent father.

"I will follow too," Chen Yibo said.

Wong Xue Guo does not even bother replying to Chen Yibo. I already expect you to follow me.

Even after she told him not to treat her well, he still acted the same way.

Anyway, it was their choice and she does not want to bicker against three guys, except for Kang Xunsu, who choose to stay out this time. It was more difficult than he envisioned to shoot and hold onto his crutch to keep his balance. His armpit was surprisingly sore, a spot that he had barely experienced before. Not letting the fatigue bother her, Nana insisted on following her and Smoker definitely followed his girlfriend.

Gen Lang was the first to attack first with his ability and shoved Ari backwards. He continued pushing as they dealt with the zombies that moved to protect Ari.

"So tough!" Wong Xue Guo grumbled under her breath as she needed to use more strength to pierce past the skull to get the brain. If she was not an Awakened person with enhanced strength, it would be even harder for her.

L.L was rather fierce, as he grabbed a zombie by its throat with bare hands to hold them still to shoot a few times at the same spot on its skull to pierce past it for the brain.

Ari was pushed until her back hit the wall, helpless against Gen's ability. She struggled to move forward and her bones let out cracking sounds from her resisting Gen's push. This was the first time being helpless after she got her new power. It made her angry, but what made her incensed was that it was a guy that pushed her around.

Sensing her anger, the zombies grew more violent, different from their previous monotonous movements.

"Look at me."

Never had Gen Lang not remained guarded and cautious while dealing with the female zombie, but that did not help him when his head moved without his permission. Despite his resistance, his body betrayed him to follow the female zombie's words and forced him to meet her eyes.

Darkness suddenly invaded his sight, just as terrified screams echoed around him. Gen Lang was pretty sure being blind was not reported as being the female zombie's curse.

"Calm down, that's my shadow!" Gen Lang heard Wong Xue Guo's voice.

Being females, Nana and Wong Xue Guo were forced to protect the temporarily blinded males from the attacking zombies.

When Ari spoke that sentence, Gen Lang was not the only person that was forced to look at the female zombies, but every male in the area. Reacting by instinct, Wong Xue Guo's shadow had only protected Gen Lang, L.L, Chen Yibo and Smoker, so the other males were cursed.

When she belatedly used her shadow to cover the other male's eyes, it was useless, as they had already made eye contact with the female zombie.

"It's dangerous being this way," L.L provided his feedback as he accurately shot a zombie next to him. Unlike L.L that have special training to fight without relying on sight, Chen Yibo and Gen Lang have trouble fighting while being blind.

"I'm not sure if it's safe to remove my shadow yet." Although relieved that her shadow could block the curse, she feels uncomfortable for failing to protect other people.

"The eye curse had passed. Remove your shadow!" L.L sounded rather desperate, which puzzled Wong Xue Guo.

"But what if you guys still follow her words?"

After most males got cursed by Ari's words that forced them to meet her eyes, their defence was involuntarily breached. Thus, they failed to avoid being bitten by the slow-moving zombies.

"Gooyoung!" Yeji smacked the zombie away, who was only interested in leaving a single bite before going for another fresh meat. She watched her husband suffer from the curse and zombie bite.

"He...lp..."

To her horror, fat, wriggling maggots crawled out from his nose and mouth. His flesh visibly shrunken and his hair turned white as his consciousness gradually lost, with only the thought of eating to replenish his energy.

Burdened with fear and powerless to help her suffering husband, she did not even realize her husband had turned into a zombie and attacked her. From the unrelenting bite, the zombified husband sucked all his wife's energy until she turned into a dry mummy before he loosen his jaw.

The mummified Yeji looked even more horrifying than Ari, and she immediately died from being sucked dry, where she was not even given the chance to see if she could turn into a zombie or not.