Chapter 269: Zombie Origins? (GT Bonus)
A huge thank you to Judy_brown for the Golden Ticket! Your support truly means a lot and keeps me motivated to continue writing and improving the story.
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At this moment, Vikram remembered something. Without hesitation, he activated another summoning circle.
The next second, Earth Mage Druid appeared.
Compared to its former Sprout form, its body had now become much larger and sturdier, covered in dark stone-like bark with glowing earth runes spreading throughout.
Vikram calmly pointed toward the ground. "Earthy. Open the path."
Earth Mage Druid nodded and placed both hands onto the floor.
The next moment, [Earth Domain Manipulation]
The entire ground began trembling violently. Cracks rapidly spread across the floor beneath them. Then, huge sections of stone and metal slowly separated apart like opening gates.
An underground tunnel gradually revealed itself beneath the fortress.
The surrounding Team Members couldn’t help but stare. Even after witnessing Vikram’s summons many times, their versatility still felt absurd.
Without hesitation, the group immediately descended downward carefully.
The deeper they went, the colder the atmosphere became.
Soon afterward, they finally reached the underground levels.
And the moment they entered, everyone’s expressions changed instantly.
Before them stood an enormous underground research facility. Bright laboratory lights illuminated endless metallic chambers. Rows of experimental containers filled the surroundings. Inside them, human beings floated motionlessly while pipes continuously pumped blood and strange green liquid into their bodies.
Several bodies showed horrifying mutations. Others had already become unrecognizable.
The entire underground facility looked like a nightmare hidden beneath Ashveil.
Multiple computer systems and research machines were still operating. However, the central laboratory itself looked partially emptied. Several important devices were clearly missing. Storage containers stood open. Research transport systems had recently been activated.
Vikram slowly narrowed his eyes.
They were late.
Seraphina had already escaped.
And unlike Federation intelligence, the real Seraphina clearly wasn’t an ordinary Baroness.
She was something far more important.
A Count-level Vampire directly serving a Vampire Princess.
Rohit quietly muttered, "They evacuated the important things."
Deepak nodded seriously. "But not everything."
Vikram slowly walked deeper into the laboratory and began examining the remaining research records carefully — documents, mutation charts, blood analysis reports, and experimental notes.
As he continued reading, his expression gradually became more serious.
Because from the surviving information, Vikram finally discovered several extremely important details.
Details important enough to potentially change humanity’s understanding of the war itself.
And the moment he fully realized what those details implied, even his breathing became slightly heavier.
Meanwhile, while everyone was still reeling from the horrifying discoveries in the underground laboratory, a sudden "CRACK..." echoed through the chamber.
One of the nearby experimental containers shattered without warning, sending glass fragments exploding across the floor. The team members instantly tensed, weapons raised and senses on high alert.
Something slowly crawled out from the broken container. At first glance, it still resembled a human, but only barely. Its skin was an unnatural pale-gray, with dark, swollen veins pulsing visibly beneath the surface like rotten roots. Its eyes were cloudy and lifeless, completely devoid of awareness, while patches of its flesh appeared partially decayed.
Yet the body continued to move with a sickening persistence. Its motions were stiff, jerky, and almost puppet-like as it rose to its feet and began shambling across the laboratory floor, releasing low, broken wheezing sounds. The atmosphere grew thick with dread.
At that moment, Bushra instinctively stepped forward. "Wait... Maybe he’s still alive. I’ll heal him."
As a healer, her first instinct was always to save lives.
However, before she could take another step, Vikram raised his hand sharply. "Don’t."
Bushra froze immediately, and everyone turned toward him in confusion.
His gaze remained locked on the pale creature. Unlike the others, he recognized it instantly, that appearance, that unnatural movement, and that dead-yet-living aura.
There was no mistake.
It was a zombie.
For a brief second, even Vikram felt a chill run down his spine. This confirmed something terrifying: the vampires were creating zombies. Or at least, they were trying to.
Suddenly, the creature twitched violently. Its cloudy eyes locked onto the group of humans, and its face twisted into a grotesque expression of primal hunger.
Rohit instinctively stepped back. "What the hell is that thing?"
Vikram’s expression grew darker. He could tell this wasn’t a fully formed zombie, its mutation was unstable and incomplete, like a failed prototype.
Parts of its body still retained human characteristics, while others had already transformed completely.
The vampires were clearly still experimenting, trying to perfect the process. But the real question remained: why?
Vampires already possessed blood powers, physical superiority, and control over humans. So what possible purpose could these creatures serve?
Without warning, the incomplete zombie lunged violently toward the group. Before it could get far, Earthy appeared. And created an earth spike, which pierced its body.
"SHHHK!" The creature’s body collapsed lifelessly to the floor. Silence once again filled the underground facility.
Vikram stared quietly at the corpse, his mind racing. The experiments. The mutations. The disappearing Barons. The hidden laboratories. The blood manipulation research.
And now... zombies. Slowly, the pieces were beginning to connect. But instead of answers, the emerging truth only raised even more terrifying questions.
As the pale creature collapsed onto the laboratory floor, the atmosphere inside the underground facility grew increasingly heavy. Several team members stared uneasily at the corpse, instinctively sensing danger even though they didn’t fully understand what it was.
Vikram’s expression remained serious. After personally confirming the existence of these experimental creatures, he no longer held any doubts, the vampire experiments were directly connected to the creation of zombies, or at least something extremely similar.
Unfortunately, the subjects inside the containers had already reached irreversible mutation stages. There was no saving them anymore.
At that moment, Vikram calmly turned toward Earth Mage Druid. "Earthy. Destroy all of them. These people are already beyond saving."
Earthy nodded immediately and slowly raised both arms.
The next moment, massive stone spikes erupted throughout the underground laboratory with a thunderous "BOOM!" "CRASH!" "RUMBLE!"
One experimental container after another shattered apart, and the mutated subjects inside were completely crushed beneath stone and earth.
The entire facility descended into rapid destruction. Several team members looked away, understanding it was necessary yet still finding the scene cruel.
Vikram quickly moved deeper into the laboratory, searching for any surviving research information, documents, storage systems, research files, or data terminals.
Unfortunately, the truly important materials had already been removed by Seraphina before her escape.
Most of what remained consisted of incomplete records, damaged files, or intentionally corrupted data. Clearly, the vampires had prepared evacuation protocols long ago.
While Vikram continued searching, a familiar alarm suddenly echoed throughout the facility. "WARNING. SELF-DESTRUCTION ACTIVATED. ALL PERSONNEL EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY. TIME REMAINING: TWO MINUTES."
The underground laboratory began shaking violently.
"Again?!" Rohit shouted as several team members’ expressions changed.
Vikram’s face darkened. It was exactly like Bloodfang Stronghold, the vampires preferred destroying everything rather than letting hunters recover information.
Without hesitation, he shouted, "Everyone retreat! NOW!"
Nobody delayed. The entire group sprinted toward the underground exit while Earthy rapidly manipulated the pathways, opening faster escape routes.
Large sections of walls and floors shifted aside as huge explosions erupted behind them with deafening "BOOOOM!" "CRAAASH!" sounds.
Research chambers exploded, and fire spread across the corridors. Shade silently guarded the rear, ensuring no one was left behind.
After several desperate moments, the group burst out from the underground tunnel back into Ashveil Stronghold above.
The next second, a massive "BOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMM—!!!" erupted beneath the fortress.
The entire stronghold trembled violently as huge sections of ground collapsed inward, crimson flames exploding upward through the ruins. The shockwave rippled throughout the settlement.
Vikram and the others quickly retreated farther from the collapsing structure, breathing heavily. Once again, they had escaped only seconds before complete destruction.
Vikram silently stared at the burning ruins of Ashveil. Although they had lost most of the research, they had learned one terrifying truth: the vampires were trying to create zombies.
After escaping the collapsing underground laboratory, Vikram and the others quickly returned to the main battlefield area. The entire Ashveil Stronghold had already been partially destroyed by the continuous fighting between Team 11 and the vampire barons.
Burning flames spread throughout multiple sections of the fortress, while broken walls and collapsed pillars littered the battlefield.
The moment Vikram arrived, he immediately noticed something: the battle was already over. Several massive vampire corpses lay scattered across the ruined ground, including Dorina Blackwood, Cedric Thornheart, and multiple other barons who had been defeated.
Isha calmly stood at the center of the battlefield, her clothes covered in blood and dust.
Carol leaned against a broken wall while recovering her mental energy. Raghav sat nearby, laughing loudly despite his injuries, and Feiry’s flames still burned across parts of the fortress.
Isha walked toward Vikram. "We won." Her expression then grew slightly colder. "But not completely."
Vikram immediately understood. "Alaric escaped?"
Isha nodded. "That bastard ran away the moment the underground explosions started."
James added from nearby, "The barons also killed themselves before we could capture them."
Vikram wasn’t surprised. Not anymore. After discovering the hidden laboratories and zombie experiments, everything finally made sense.
The vampires weren’t simply protecting territories anymore, they were protecting secrets. And those secrets were important enough that barons willingly committed suicide, strongholds self-destructed, and higher-ranking vampires escaped instead of fighting to the death.
Everything pointed toward one conclusion: the experiments mattered more than the lives of the barons themselves.
Vikram quietly lowered his eyes and mentally opened his System interface.
[Main Mission] [Discover the Origin of Zombies]
The mission interface flickered for several seconds before new information appeared.
[Mission Progress Updated]
[You have discovered that Vampires are involved in Zombie creation experiments.]
[Current Objective Updated: Discover the complete process behind Zombie creation and identify the true origin source.]
[Mission Status: Incomplete]
Vikram stared at the updated details and slowly narrowed his eyes. Simply discovering the experiments wasn’t enough.
The System still considered the mission incomplete, meaning the vampires themselves were not the true origin, or perhaps they were only recreating something that already existed.
At the same time, the System had given him another important clue: the vampires were creating zombies through a specific process, and somewhere the complete truth behind it still existed.
Vikram slowly closed the System interface. For now, there was no point thinking further. Ashveil Stronghold had been destroyed, Seraphina and Alaric had escaped, and the important research materials were gone again.
However, this mission still wasn’t a complete failure. For the first time, they had uncovered the hidden connection between the vampires and zombies.
Isha walked beside him. "We should head back."
Vikram quietly nodded. The others were exhausted, several members were injured, and everyone had fought continuously for days. Soon afterward, Team 11 departed from the burning ruins of Ashveil Stronghold. Behind them, the destroyed settlement continued collapsing into flames.
Despite the incomplete answers, one thing was now certain: the war between humans and vampires was far more dangerous than anyone in the Hunter Federation currently understood.
