Girls' Frontline: My Apocalypse with Dolls

Page 271

Aside from the rubble on the ground, all that can be seen are some still intact computers and a number of electrical facilities, suggesting that this is a server room or similar place.

Luo Fan hung the flashlight down on 416 and put on his mask: "Let's go down and take a look."

"Ah."

A second after responding, the three of them jumped down into the server room and immediately began to monitor their surroundings.

This is the only entrance, and they need to ensure the safety of this area first.

The flashlight beam shone eerily on the wall, and apart from the peeling plaster, nothing else could be seen. The place was not large; it was only a few steps away from the entrance to the server room.

There were no zombies here; it was unusually quiet, and there wasn't even a corpse or blood to be seen...

"Safety."

There are no rooms that need to be confirmed separately; a quick glance around reveals the entire server room.

Not long after, another landing sound came from behind. The others had also arrived safely and entered the server room through the gap.

Mondragon moved a chair to block the server room door, and the group discussed the next steps on the spot.

"So, what should we do next?"

Luo Fan glanced at the time; it was already 10:40 PM. At this hour, the Night Demons would probably not be in their lair.

Yustov did not answer, but walked directly to the corner and removed a steel plate from the wall.

"Here, the ventilation duct, we'll go through here."

Klose whispered a reminder, then nimbly climbed into the ventilation duct on the wall.

...Since they've already explored most of the route, why can't they retrieve the contents themselves?

Luo Fan had no idea what had happened here, but since they were already familiar with the place, taking out some resources from here shouldn't be too difficult. Why would they need their help to solve the problem?

But since we're already here, we can't ask too many questions now; we can only see what their plans are...

The ventilation duct wasn't too narrow; they could easily climb in. At least an adult male could easily crawl through the duct, let alone the girls.

"...Be careful, you have to climb up here."

Klose, who was at the front, whispered a reminder to them, then adjusted his posture and climbed to the top.

Then I realized that it was a vertical pipe, about a meter high. Climbing up was not difficult; I just needed to adjust my posture.

The ventilation ducts are not completely sealed, and you can occasionally see into the mall below through the gaps beneath you.

Luo Fan took a closer look and, like in that restaurant, many zombies were sitting on the ground, seemingly in a deep sleep.

However, the panting of the dogs continued, meaning that the Night Demon had not completely left...

But that's not all...

"If I heard correctly..."

Luo Fan suddenly murmured.

"What did you hear?"

Mondragon continued crawling, but Lovan in front of him suddenly stopped, pressed his ear to the gap, and looked strange.

"Huh...huh..."

"What, you recognize this monster too?"

Weiss asked the same question, and the entire team stopped in the ventilation duct.

Luo Fan nodded, wishing he could punch the ventilation duct, but he knew he couldn't.

"Damn it, I know it all too well, this thing almost kept me from getting home last time..."

The Nightmare's breathing sounded almost exactly the same as it had that time at Raccoon City Hospital...

He was absolutely certain he hadn't misheard; he remembered it all too clearly. Although it was somewhat similar to the Night Demon, Luo Fan could immediately spot the differences between the two.

However, the Dark Tide Squad consisted of girls who arrived later, and they were unaware of the threat posed by the Nightmare Domain.

"Girls, wait a minute! No matter what happens, you must remain quiet! Be extremely careful! If you make a noise, we might not be able to get out..."

The man's voice instantly turned low, making the already dusty ventilation duct even colder.

Klose paused for a moment, then continued crawling forward.

"It would be best if you understood the situation of this monster. In short, just keep quiet, or you'll end up like the previous people who came here."

It seems the locals have also suffered greatly at the hands of this monster. That's understandable; if they didn't know to remain silent when encountering a Nightmare for the first time, they would most likely die on the spot. At least Luo Fan and his group had a way to foresee the threat, but the locals would probably have to rely on their lives to survive...

Considering the tone of Klose's voice when he mentioned the monster and "the first few people who came here," they could probably guess what had happened.

Faced with this unknown threat, the only way is to risk one's life to find out just how dangerous these monsters really are.

390 Encountering the Nightmare Again

"We're here. Be careful not to kick the steel plate down when you come down."

Klose suddenly stopped, then removed a gap-filled section from beneath him and moved it aside.

After glancing down and seeing only a few scattered zombies and no obvious threat, Klose leaped down and officially entered the mall area.

One by one, everyone began to jump down. Klose, wielding a machete, chopped off the heads of all the slumbering zombies in the area cleanly and efficiently. Before long, he had cleared the area by himself.

Luo Fan shone his flashlight twice and could tell from the snacks and canned goods on the shelves that they had successfully reached the floor where the food section was located. The locals who had come here earlier had already scouted the way and even remembered the correct route of the ventilation ducts...

"Hey guys, go keep an eye on the doors while we pack these things up."

Kyle took a bag out of his bag, greeted Lovan, and then began collecting the few remaining food items on the shelves.

There was no other way; in this situation, all Luo Fan and the girls could do was guard the door for them, since they were here to ensure their safety.

"Okay, then hurry up."

Luo Fan pursed his lips and walked towards the shop window.

"This can't be rushed. Although this place hasn't been ravaged by others, it had already been looted by quite a few people before this incident. One store is definitely not enough; we need to search several stores."

Yustov's words poured cold water on Lofan's hopes; it seemed they would have to stay here with the Nightmare and the Night Demon for quite some time...

Okay, just keep quiet, it's not a big deal, right...?

The locals started checking prices, while Luo Fan and the girls stood near the shop entrance observing, occasionally taking a sip of water.

"commander……"

"Shh..."

Just as the hunter was about to ask a question, Luo Fan pressed his index finger against his lips.

"This is still not quiet enough, we need to be even quieter..."

Luo Fan reminded the hunter in a voice so soft it could almost only be read by lip movements.

Even a hunter like her wasn't exactly an expert in this area, and she was taken aback; it was the first time Luo Fan had treated her like this.

If she had a heartbeat, her heart rate would have been unstable for a moment, but her professionalism allowed her to adjust and speak in a very soft voice, as Luo Fan described.

"The enemy you're talking about, called 'Domain Nightmare,' has extremely high hearing, and even that volume just now could have given us away?"

“Yes, although I don’t know the actual numbers, it’s definitely not safe for us. To ensure absolute safety, this is the only way to communicate. But you’ve reminded me…”

Then, Luo Fan took out his phone and sent a message to the snipers outside.

"Due to the special internal situation, we must remain quiet. Do not contact me directly later. Send me a message if you need anything. I have turned on the screen."

This way, awkward situations can be effectively avoided.

We still can't pinpoint the location of the Nightmare. Based on our memory of the breathing sounds, it's probably several dozen meters away from them. It's very likely that it's not even on the same floor as them, so we can relax a little.

However, a few Night Demons were inevitable; Lovan had already seen two Night Demons pass by in the corridor through the window.

This place isn't as clean as Raccoon City Hospital. It only has Nightmares. There are still zombies and Night Demons here, but Nightmares rely solely on sound to locate their prey, so they should easily injure each other. For some reason, Nightmares are peacefully coexisting with the zombies here. Could it be that these monsters have developed other ways of distinguishing between their own kind and their prey?

Lofan lowered his head and fell into deep thought. The hunters stopped disturbing him and joined the others in their vigilance mission until Klose and the others finished their search.

Meanwhile, externally...

NTW propped the gun on the ground, observed the surroundings with his eyes, and took a sip of water to calm himself down.

However, he choked on the cold water shortly after it entered his throat and quickly lay back down to continue sniping.

"Gentlemen, there are people on the street, a six-man squad, military personnel."

Through the scope, she could clearly see a six-man squad slowly advancing down the street, seemingly heading towards the western block.

"Target located, clear view."

We can already hear Adeline switching the fuse...

Barrett sighed and said helplessly, "I can't see from this angle, you guys will have to figure it out yourself."

Even if their anti-materiel weapons have silencers, it's impossible to say they can take them out right now. After all, deaths are a minor issue; where they die is a much bigger problem...

"Wait, let's observe further... Where are they headed?"

"Can't tell."

NTW frowned. In another fifty meters, they would reach the Walmart where the commander and his men were.

Should we fire...?

She was certain that even if they fired, the military squad wouldn't be able to detect their location; it was too high and too far, and they would have to retreat immediately.

"Then let's give them a little heads-up..."

NTW released the safety, preparing to give the team a little scare.

But just as she put her eyes in front of the scope, preparing to shoot at the snow at their feet, what she saw was one of the squad members suddenly shattering and falling to the ground.

"???!"

The team instinctively became alert to their surroundings, but finding nothing, they immediately moved toward the abandoned bus not far away.

"Tsk, Adeline, you fired at them?!"

NTW only intended to scare them a little, but Adeline showed no mercy and made an example of them...

She said coldly...

"Have you forgotten what Kolensky said? Besides the military squad, there are also people wearing red-eyed gas masks, namely the commander and the Umbrella USS members I've already met. Both groups have already arrived here. Since the military has no way of knowing our identities, their primary suspects are the USS. This will exacerbate the conflict between the two sides, and we haven't lost anything."

After a thorough analysis, NTW could still hear the sound of Adeline pulling the bolt and ejecting the bullet through the headphones...

A crisp sound of something hitting the ground, and a mangled corpse on the floor...

"Okay, you have a point..."

This may not be the first time they have clashed with the military, but thankfully the military does not yet know who they are.

P.S.: Updates might be a bit inconsistent during this period. Final exams are coming up soon, so it's time to be mindful. I'll be updating more frequently once the holidays start.

391 ran away

"Finished searching, next location."

In just two minutes, they grabbed everything they could, not even the things they picked up from the ground.

The team's perimeter was extended to the outside of the store. While the zombies were still asleep, the girls dealt with them with knives, saving them the trouble of using silencers.

It's hard to imagine what this place is like during the day; it's probably as crowded as an amusement park on weekends.

This is the fourth shop we've visited so far. We haven't encountered any more Night Demons or Domain Nightmares along the way, so we're pretty lucky.

Lofan waved his hand, signaling everyone to move slowly to the left. Whenever they reached a suitable shop, they would stop and wait for Klose and the others to enter and search.

Indeed, no one has ever set foot in it; even he wouldn't like such a place.

"Could you guys please keep your voices down?! I can hear you all from outside!"

The crisp sound of the packaging bag being grabbed made Luo Fan suddenly panic; based on his experience, this volume was already in a dangerous range.

There was no response from inside the store, but the noise was definitely decreasing...

However... Luo Fan still turned around and went inside.

The five people glanced at him, not understanding his intentions, and continued to pack the food into bags.

"How much do you plan to take, and for how long?"

"I won't be greedy, just enough to last for a while. Besides, even though there's no fresh meat, it's like winning the lottery."