Marvel's Death Merchant

"Then you must also remember..." The father's eyes were almost closed as he asked, "When someone is about to turn into a zombie, which part of their body should you shoot to stop them from becoming a zombie?!"

"...Yes, Dad, I remember..."

"I want you to do this now!" The father was resolute. He knew that even if he died, he didn't want to be a walking corpse or a zombie. More importantly, he didn't want to hurt his daughter.

"Zoe, I love you!" were the last words her father uttered.

"Dad...I love you too!!!" Zoe picked up the gun from her father's hand.

"I'm sorry... I'm sorry..." Zoe pointed at her father's head and closed her eyes.

"Bang!" A gunshot rang out. The Left 4 Dead world was becoming increasingly complete under the control of the Mechanical Emperor. (To be continued...)

Chapter 155 The Complete Virtual World (1)

Following the plot of Left 4 Dead, the Machine Emperor will send Leon into this world at the appropriate time. Bill and his group obtained enough food and ammunition during the day and went into the small house. When they left, they turned the house upside down and took everything that could be used.

The morning sun was still warm, but the air was no longer as fresh; a slightly damp air carried a faint smell of blood. The world was the same as before, but not entirely the same…

"Where should we go now?" Louis asked, puzzled.

“Just follow this old man,” Francis said with a smile. Bill seemed to have unknowingly become the group’s source of emotional support and pillar of strength.

“There are too many people carrying things on the street now, we should try to avoid contact with them as much as possible. Let’s go over there.” Bill pointed to the entrance of the intercity subway station next to them.

“Not bad, there are at most a few hundred inside, while there are tens of thousands outside.” Francis mocked Bill’s decision.

"Do you have a better route?" Bill was clearly annoyed by Francis's sarcasm.

Everyone fell silent. "If no one objects, let's go. Hopefully, this damn virus didn't break out during working hours," Bill said, frowning.

The four of them cautiously entered the subway station. It was very dark inside, with only a few emergency lights on, making it possible to vaguely see that there was a path ahead.

“Be careful, there’s only one road here, you shouldn’t get lost, right?” Francis joked.

"You should mind your own business," Zoe replied with a smile.

The road ahead was utterly dark, which was not surprising, as they were underground, beneath the city, in a place where sunlight never reached. They walked on tracks where trains once ran. They proceeded cautiously, step by step, everything around them eerily quiet. It was almost frighteningly quiet. It was as if the sounds of drunken revelry around them were the sounds of their breathing and heartbeats. The group walked a little further.

“Wait. What’s that?” Bill said.

Something seemed to be blocking the road ahead. Bill switched on the tactical flashlight of his M16 assault rifle. Everyone was stunned when the flashlight beam illuminated the object. Two trains had collided and were now blocking the road.

“Oh, f***!” Louis muttered to himself.

But Bill was the most nervous at this moment, because he least wanted to see the train. The presence of the train meant the existence of those things, and although Bill knew it was unavoidable, he didn't expect it to come so soon.

“Let’s go take a look,” Bill said to the other three.

So the four of them boarded a train together. The carriage was in a mess, with bloodstains everywhere, but strangely, they didn't find anything that could move.

"Where did those things go?" Zoe asked, puzzled.

“You wouldn’t want to know,” Bill said seriously.

The four people walked forward in the train carriage, each of them extremely nervous. Suddenly, an unusual sound came from a corner.

"Waaah..." A little girl's sobbing came from a corner of the train.

“There are survivors,” Louis said.

Bill was also very puzzled; this shouldn't have happened, so he was unusually vigilant. "Let's go up and check it out. You two stay here and cover us," Bill said, pointing to Louis and Francis.

The unlit carriage was incredibly oppressive. Using the tactical flashlights on their guns, the two slowly approached the source of the sound.

"Waaaaah..." As the sound grew clearer and clearer, echoing in the cramped carriage, it became increasingly eerie.

"Is anyone there?" Zoe walked towards the source of the sound. Suddenly, in a corner, the beam of a flashlight shone on a girl's feet.

“Finally found it,” Zoe said over the radio. “Kid, how are you…” Zoe asked softly, letting out a long breath.

As she raised her flashlight, the scene before her stunned her: a girl appeared in front of them. But unlike a normal girl, her skin was grayish-white, and her hands had transformed into a pair of long, sharp blades.

"Ah, it's an infected!" Zoe thought to himself, but before he could react, the infected seemed startled and suddenly raised its head. Its blood-red eyes, illuminated by the flashlight, resembled will-o'-the-wisps from hell, ready to claim a life. Then, with lightning speed, it charged towards Zoe, emitting terrifying screams.

"Run!" Bill shouted. The sound was loud enough to shatter eardrums.

Without a second thought, Zoe immediately ran towards Louis and Francis. Bill, running alongside her, provided cover. He kept firing his M16 at the infected. A tongue of fire shot from the muzzle of the M16, instantly illuminating the previously dimly lit carriage.

Bill slammed the door shut between the carriages, hoping to stop the infected man's frenzied attack. At that moment, Louis and Francis arrived at Bill's side with a still-shaken Zoe.

The all-steel door looked so sturdy that the group breathed a sigh of relief. "Damn, come at me again if you dare!" Louis shouted at the door, as if provoking something.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!" A series of banging sounds came from behind the door. "Oh," Louis muttered to himself, "it's my bad luck again."

"Boom! Boom! Boom!" Another huge impact sound came, and a large dent was already punched into the metal door.

"Everyone get ready," Bill whispered, and then the sounds of bullets being chambered filled the air.

With a deafening crash, the door finally gave way, creating a small opening about 20 centimeters in diameter. A long, sharp hand, like a razor blade, began to claw its way in through the opening.

"Fire!" Bill shouted.

In an instant, guns of all types opened fire, all targeting the small 20-centimeter-wide opening. Overwhelmed by tension and fear, Louis fired while yelling, "Ah, die!" as if venting his terror. Bullets flew through the air, accompanied by flames, anger, and curses.

Ten seconds later, the banging sounds from the other side of the door gradually subsided, and the claws that had been waving around stopped.

"Cease fire," Bill shouted.

The gunfire stopped. "Load up," Zoe said from the side.

After the fierce battle, Louis collapsed onto the floor, utterly exhausted.

“This infected person seems different from the infected people we’ve seen before,” Bill said thoughtfully.

"Has the virus mutated?" Zoe asked, puzzled.

“Very likely, and quite normal,” Francis said.

Suddenly, a commotion came from deep within the tunnel.

"The infected have arrived?" Louis sprang to his feet.

"They must have been drawn here by the gunfire. Let's prepare for war," Bill said, looking at the three men.

"Hehe... I've got something to do again! Watch me take care of those nasty things," Francis said with a laugh. (To be continued...)

Chapter 156 The Complete Virtual World (2)

“They’re here, there must be several hundred.” Zoe pulled her head back out of the car window. “We’re going to have a big operation again, that’s great.” Francis was so excited that his face turned bright red.

Four men were in a carriage. They locked the door, and each man stood guard at a window. "Let's see who has the best aim! Hehe," Francis said excitedly.

The chilling voices emanating from the infected were getting closer and closer.

Suddenly, a group of blood-soaked, ragged people swarmed through the four windows, desperately trying to squeeze into the train carriage, but they couldn't get in. Only one head could fit through the small window, and what greeted him was a tiny bullet. Perhaps this is the best way to treat this virus?

The bodies beneath the carriages were piled up like this, but people were still frantically trying to squeeze in, as if they knew nothing of fear. Their eyes were vacant, blood gushing from their mouths. They looked incredibly frail, yet the virus seemed to be fueling their frantic attempts to squeeze through the high windows, as if it were giving them a constant source of energy. They were extremely agitated, their gray skin bulging with veins, a truly horrifying sight.

Suddenly, an infected person squeezed in while Louis was reloading. The four men were startled, but bullets from their guns instantly riddled the intruder with holes. This small mistake disrupted their original battle plan, and the infected person took advantage of the opening to climb in through the other three windows.

The group panicked and began to fight back. But it was too late; more and more infected people flooded in, and the situation was out of control.

"Retreat." Bill pointed to the door behind him and said, "Which door to use!"

"I'll open the door!" Zoe ran to open the door, while the other three covered for her.

The door opened, but before Zoe could react, an infected person lunged at her from behind the door the instant it opened. They opened their bloodied mouths and bit her…

"Zoe!" Louis and Francis shouted at the same time...

In a relatively quiet room, Zoe slowly woke up to the snoring of three people. Facing the darkness, Zoe felt a little scared. Although she often watched very scary horror movies in college, compared to reality, they all seemed too unreal. Recalling the fight in the train carriage that afternoon, Zoe still felt a lingering fear.

“Zoe!” Louis and Francis shouted at the same time…

Zoe was pinned down by the infected, unable to move. She could only watch as the infected's blood-filled, foul-smelling mouth slowly approached her neck. Zoe was powerless. In that instant, she suddenly remembered many things: her parents, her brother, her teachers. She even remembered things she had forgotten from her childhood—how she had broken her toy car, who she had given her favorite things to. All the details of her life flashed through her mind like a movie in that instant… and now she seemed to see death beckoning her. "I didn't do anything wrong, so why can't I go to heaven after death and instead see death? Does God really not work?" Zoe was joking with herself. She had already calmly faced death because she had lived too hard and tiring a life; perhaps death would allow her to rest.

"Thank you for saving me again," Zoe said, very excited.

“Now is not the time to say thank you. Let’s say it when we’re safe.” Bill pointed to a door deep in the tunnel, an escape door used in case of a subway fire.

“We need to get there quickly!” Bill said.

So the group fought their way off the train and then sprinted towards the door at top speed...

Zoe stared into the darkness, recalling all the changes that had befallen her over the past few weeks, and tears welled up in her eyes. Zoe wasn't a weak girl; she was stronger than most girls and even boys her age. But even the strongest girl has a vulnerable side.

Suddenly, a pair of filthy hands reached out to Zoe, holding a tissue.

“Wipe it off,” Louis said.

"Did I wake you up?" Zoe asked, wiping away her tears.

"Heh, it just woke up on high alert. I thought it was one of those mutated infected mimicking a little girl's sobs again," Francis said with a laugh.

These four people care about each other because they all know that without the strength of a team, it is impossible to survive by relying on one person alone.

Bill also woke up during their conversation and glanced at the luminous watch on his wrist. The glowing hands told him what time it was.

“It’s already morning. We should get going,” Bill said to the other three.

The group tidied up their equipment and prepared to set off.

After a night of silence, most of the infected outside had dispersed. There seemed to be no infected people left outside the door.

“We try to go out in the morning; those things don’t seem to like the sun very much,” Bill said to himself.

They opened the door that had allowed them to safely weather the crisis, and outside was just as it had been when they arrived. There wasn't a single infected person, and all was silent.

“We can’t stay here any longer. It’s not safe here, and there’s nowhere for us to hide. If the number of infected people increases, we’re doomed,” Bill analyzed.

So the four of them proceeded cautiously, just as they had when they first arrived, searching for a path leading to the surface. The tunnel seemed to be a crystallization of endless darkness, and the road ahead appeared to have no end. The darkness was eroding their courage; even the slightest sound would frighten them. They concentrated intensely to cope with the unknown darkness and the unknown fear.

Suddenly, Louis seemed to have discovered something. "Look! There's a staircase!" Louis shouted, his heart filled with excitement and anticipation.

“It looks like a staircase under maintenance; it should lead to the ground floor,” Bill said, looking at the staircase in front of him.

“Let’s go up and take a look.” Bill led the three men toward the stairs.

They climbed up one by one, with Zoe leading the way and Bill bringing up the rear.

They lifted the metal cover blocking the top of the stairs, and the blinding sunlight instantly streamed into the dark tunnel, dispelling the gloom that had hung over everyone's hearts.

People who have seen the sunlight again stretch their bodies in the warm sunlight, as if they have reconnected with the world.