97

Overload

Chapter 97

Following the rope, Ji Yushi slid all the way down.

He knew that Tang Qi and Tang Le had gone to the 116^th floor unsuccessfully and had already encountered zombies while Zhou Mingxuan and Duan Wen were also overwhelmed by them when they went down afterwards so he could only reluctantly determine that the control room wasn’t on the 116^th floor. At this moment, Duan Wen very bravely hung from the railing on the 116^th floor and jumped down to the 115^th floor, accurately joining Li Chun who was shooting at the zombies. They had already begun to search the next floor.

Everything was developing the way Ji Yushi remembered. He could even clearly remember their next set of actions and what their next words would be.

Amidst the intense gunfire coming from each floor, Ji Yushi calmly watched on. He did his best to stay clear minded without being disturbed by his memories.

When he slid down from the 122^nd floor to the 119^th floor, he heard a loud explosion. The shaking made him subconsciously come to a stop.

“What’s going on?!”

Song Qinglan who hung from the rope above him suddenly asked.

Ji Yushi looked back only to see that a giant hole had formed on the 119^th floor railing. A large group of zombies fell from it like dumplings.

Dust and smoke scattered. The situation behind the railing couldn’t be seeing clearly.

Ji Yushi accidentally inhaled some of the dust and smoke and couldn’t stop coughing, “…..Cough, cough, cough!!”

This scene was something that never happened in Ji Yushi’s memory.

If he really wanted to use the ‘role playing’ analogy to describe his current situation, then this was a plot point outside of his expectations.

Song Qinglan who had just experienced death and rebirth also discovered this. This development clearly wasn’t something he remembered and that was why he asked that question.

Ji Yushi coughed until his eyes were red and teary.

Just as he was about to answer, he saw through the smoke and dust a tall figure slowly appear.

That person had broad shoulders and he domineeringly held Shen Mian in his hands. The red energy magazine was glowing.

It was another Song Qinglan!!

Ji Yushi instantly understood that this was the Song Qinglan from the earlier cycle. It was only after they were all annihilated on the 119^th floor, that their current cycle started. In other words, he had met with the Song Qinglan from the previous cycle—-This was about to create a paradox. It meant his current self and his teammates may soon disappear!

The other party also saw him. That cold expression changed slightly.

One hung in the air while the other stood in the opening in the railing.

There was only about a two or three metre distance between them.

This Song Qinglan was clearly the same as the one above him at this moment.

But strangely, those seemingly bottomless dark eyes made Ji Yushi feel that there was something different. A faint electric current seemed to rise from the depths of his heart, making the tips of his fingers numb.

The Song Qinglan above him was still saying something but Ji Yushi couldn’t hear him anymore.

At this moment, all the gunfire, zombie growls and curses coming from the teammates from every floor and from every cycle sounded very distant.

How could this be?

Why was the Song Qinglan from the previous cycle reacting differently from his memory?

Could it be that he actually wasn’t from the previous cycle? But why was he on the 119^th floor?

The other party was in a dangerous situation. After only staring at him for two or three seconds, a new wave of zombies appeared behind him, and he had no choice but to direct his attention to them.

Everything seemed to have slowed down in Ji Yushi’s eyes.

He sensed that he was disappearing.

Starting from his feet to his calves, it spread all the way up.

As the other party caught his breath and turned to look back, his expression suddenly changed when he saw this scene and he subconsciously shouted something.

At this moment, Ji Yushi, along with all his other teammates in this cycle, had completely disappeared.

*

[1470.08.05 02:41:31]

When Ji Yushi opened his eyes, garbled characters appeared again on the transparent panel before him. It was the same time and space coordinates as the one on his communicator.

Again.

He numbly accepted this fact and only took few sips of the nutrient solution delivered over by the robotic arm. He felt like he was now becoming immune to the sequelae of traversing.

That scene from just now appeared in his mind. What was going on with those developments that weren’t following the original plotline?

Ji Yushi had no clue.

His fingers tightened unconsciously around the nutrient solution. He didn’t allow himself to continue to dwell on this and very quickly opened the door of his capsule.

The sky was still very dark.

One by one, his teammates all came out of their capsules.

Ji Yushi subconsciously looked at the tallest one. The other party behaved like usual, completely different from the one he saw on the 119^th floor. He didn’t notice his assessing gaze at all.

After a few brief words, Song Qinglan said to everyone, “This time we will go to the 116^th floor. Tang Qi and Tang Le will go down first and take the lead and the others will follow. Everyone will take turns, any objections?!”

Everyone, “No!!”

The 116^th floor?

Ji Yushi was frozen. Didn’t they go there just now?

Song Qinglan didn’t notice anything and just looked over, “Advisor Ji, you will go down last. Firstly, it is because you carry the most mental burden and require rest and secondly, it is because only you can do the calculations required to figure out the order of turning off the energy transmitters. With every cycle, you will need to do everything you can to survive.”

Seeing that Ji Yushi’s reaction was a little strange, Song Qinglan frowned, “What’s wrong?”

Everyone looked over at their Advisor Ji with concern.

With everyone’s attention on him, Ji Yushi could only say, “I’m fine.”

Except for him, no one else had any impression of their previous cycle. This included Song Qinglan.

Moreover, it seems that ever since he saw the other Song Qinglan who came from a different, yet to have developed plot point, everything was now a little different.

Was there something wrong with his memory, or had things changed?

Ji Yushi didn’t know the answer. He originally wanted to tell the others about the change, but he was no longer certain.

Tang Qi and Tang Le went down the rope.

The rest of the teammates followed behind them one after another.

Everyone ignored the danger before them and used their own blood and flesh to once again advance ahead and pave a path for themselves.

Ji Yushi took out another two pills from his medicine box. He once again crushed them with his teeth and swallowed it.

Song Qinglan just happened to witness this scene when he turned around, “Advisor Ji, you don’t find it bitter?”

Ji Yushi’s expression was calm, “It’s alright.”

Once you do it enough times, you no longer find it bitter.

As soon as he was done speaking, Ji Yushi buckled himself to the rope and slide down.

122, 121, 119…..

When he passed the 119^th floor, he didn’t even give it a glance. Without looking, he knew that those floors were all replaying their previous bloody battles from their earlier cycles.

The small squad scattered across different floors. Reaching the 116^th floor, Ji Yushi suddenly curled up his legs and then stretched it out. Relying on his strength and flexibility and using a posture that looked very dangerous but was also done with great ease, he hooked onto the 116^th floor railing. As soon as he landed, he saw Duan Wen ahead being pursued by zombies.

Ji Yushi quickly took out Diamond Bird and shot the zombies in the head one after another.

His marksmanship was extremely accurate. He almost didn’t need to stop and think before he shot. This time, he was so fast, Duan Wen was unable to react.

Zombies fell to the ground. Duan Wen was covered in blood, “I’ll go to the left!!”

Splitting up was the fastest way.

Li Chun who should be with Duan Wen was probably no more. Ji Yushi didn’t say much and just nodded and went in the opposite direction as Duan Wen.

The Guangyuan Group building was of a cylindrical shape, so the inner courtyard was also a circular structure. It made it very difficult for one to evade and defend. The zombies on the higher floors had completely mutated and were able to easily read their intentions. It was not uncommon to find them charging at them from behind.

Ji Yushi threw a few energy grenades. He didn’t try to save any of his equipment. The Diamond Bird in his hand seemed like it had a life of its own. Wherever he went, blood and brains splattered.

He had formed a bloody path, but he still felt that it wasn’t enough.

Lying in the blood and flesh was a laser gun. It belonged to Zhou Mingxuan.

Ji Yushi picked up the laser gun and fired rapidly.

It was unknown if it was because his medicine was working, but in this chaotic state, he actually found pleasure in killing.

He had never had such a moment.

“Thud!”

Suddenly, someone landed beside him. Someone had jumped over to this floor and then fiercely pushed Ji Yushi against the wall.

He raised his head and saw a pair of angry eyes.

It was Song Qinglan.

He was more awake now. He noticed that his breathing was quick, and his hands were also trembling quite badly. It was due to the recoil from using guns for so long.

He had lost control.

The two looked at each other. Both didn’t say anything.

He thought Song Qinglan would let go of him and they would then split up to search the floor, but he still found himself pressed against the wall, unable to move.

Then, he noticed that something was different.

Those dark eyes in front of him contained completely different emotions. As if there was a volcano buried under the dark sea, just looking at it made him feel sad and in pain.

Those eyes overlapped with the eyes he saw during his final moments in 1439.

The other person seemed to have confirmed something.

The next second, he bowed his head down and kissed him

Ji Yushi’s mind was completely blank. His entire body trembled.

The temperature from his lips was very familiar. It made him feel like his body was electrified. Even his lips were trembling.

“Clang—–”

The heavy laser gun in his hand fell to the ground.

Song Qinglan kissed him fiercely. Using his hand, he pressed down the other person’s trembling, completely weak arms. Very soon, there was the metallic taste of blood.

Ji Yushi knew that his tongue was bleeding but during this exchange he had lost all sensation of pain.

There was noisy gunfire all around them. Waves of explosions sounded again and again.

The world was still in chaos.

But the heavy breathing of the two of them was very clear.

Song Qinglan opened the door next to them without raising his head. As he continued to kiss him, he pushed him in.

There may be zombies in the room but Ji Yushi didn’t want to pay it any attention. He heard the sound of bones breaking.

Song Qinglan had already used his bare hands to break a zombie’s neck.

Then, that big hand reached into Ji Yushi’s clothes, clasping tightly around his waist—-It was as if only with skin contact, as if only by touching his skin directly and feeling his warmth, could he be certain that he was real.

This kiss was very frenzied.

Song Qinglan hardly gave him a chance to breathe.

Their tongues hooked and entangled. He constantly licked his jaw, teeth and every inch of his mouth, sucking at his lips greedily and changing the angle with every turn of his head. All of it left Ji Yushi trembling and weak.

This kind of craving made it hard for Ji Yushi to hold back his tears.

His tears intensified the feverish kiss.

Ji Yushi shuddered. He couldn’t help but let out a sound. It sounded a little in pain.

Song Qinglan finally released him. Pressing his thumb on those swollen lips, he found that it was also trembling.

Their foreheads were pressed together. Neither of them could utter a complete sentence.

This kind of separation was something they didn’t want to experience anymore.

Finally, Song Qinglan took a deep breath and got ready to speak. But he only saw a wide-eyed Ji Yushi.

He was disappearing.

Within two minutes after they reunited, a paradox occurred.

He disappeared in Song Qinglan’s arms.

Song Qinglan held an armful of air. He ground his teeth.

After a long time, he finally cursed, “Fuck……”

He slammed a fist against the wall. His expression became cold again. He got ready to go out and once again search for Ji Yushi.

Their cycles were staggered. He would always die and the Ji Yushi belonging to the next cycle would appear.

Unexpectedly, as soon as he turned around, he saw someone standing at the door.

Ji Yushi’s black combat uniform was covered with zombie blood and flesh. He stood at the door looking at him coldly, “Song Qinglan, what are you doing?”

Song Qinglan’s heart went cold.

This was the Ji Yushi belonging to the current cycle. It was the Ji Yushi when nothing had yet happened between them.

Clearly, the other party had witnessed everything.

Song Qinglan suddenly felt that the situation wasn’t good, “……..”

He awkwardly tried to explain, “If I say that it’s not what you’re thinking, would you believe me?”