Chapter 665: A Test of Terrible Fate

Ahhhhhh!!!

A blood-curdling scream rang out instantly. Almost simultaneously, three Second-Stage Awakened who had just entered together let out a piercing cry of agony. Their screams, so tormenting they seemed to warp, left every Awakener in the Hall momentarily stunned.

“What’s happening?!”

“Wha—?! What’s going on?!”

Less than half a minute ago, they had watched in disbelief as these three awakeners were selected as part of the second batch like lucky winners. They were fine before entering, but as soon as they stepped in, it was as if they were being tortured!

Didn’t the Military say it would only bring a bit of pressure?! The first two even emerged without any issues!

Instinctively, the excited crowd fell silent; everyone gulped and fearfully glanced at the apparatus.

The screams continued! Some even noticed a faint whiff of blood.

The screams of the two men and one woman sounded as if some monstrous creature were devouring them alive!

Through Yenir’s mental detection, he clearly saw the three’s limbs beginning to contort—as if an invisible force was controlling them. In less than two seconds, amid the screams, there was a startling snap as one of the Second-Stage girls had her right leg twisted off before her eyes!

The change was so sudden that even the Rebels seemed caught off guard.

It wasn’t long before the colonel on the platform turned furious and glared at the representatives. Only then did the Rebels react, swiftly encircling the apparatus.

No explanations. No reasons.

Only after several researchers in white uniforms hurriedly switched off the machine did the three screams abruptly cut off, as though stifled.

“Damn it! You idiots! Didn’t I repeatedly warn you to get the calibration right?!”

Without bothering to explain to the terrified crowd in the Hall, the colonel roared with his mental power, his glare fixed on the researchers.

“Co—Colonel…!”

“We have no idea what happened! We calibrated it before coming; maybe the power button was accidentally pressed during transport?”

“I swear, I swear this won’t happen again!”

Faced with the researchers’ explanations, the Rebel high-up took a deep breath, unable to chide further on the spot.

He wasn’t worried about the three inside or even the malfunction itself. In fact, a problem was inevitable; at this early phase of placating these survivors, he couldn’t afford to raise too many alarms!

“Drag them out! And as you do, pump in stimulants immediately—find a way to revive them and act as if everything’s fine!”

After a deep breath and a swift briefing, the colonel forced a strained smile. He then raised his arm and addressed the frightened, huddled crowd below:

“Everyone, don’t be afraid! The mind resonance test just encountered a minor glitch!”

“One of our own accidentally cranked the resonance level too high. The intensity was meant for Second-Stage Peak Fighters. When applied to Second-Stage fighters, it can provoke adverse reactions.”

“Rest assured! I guarantee, with my integrity and as a representative of the Military, that no further errors will occur in the upcoming tests!”

The explanation was painfully forced.

At least the initial batch of ‘actors’ had indeed been Second-Stage Peak Fighters; logically, it was possible they simply forgot to reset the levels.

Even after that explanation, nearly ten thousand awakeners in the Hall remained tense—not as exuberant as before, but barely placated by the colonel’s words.

After all, these people didn’t know that the Military had already turned Rebel; they only trusted that the Military had no reason to harm them.

“Lord Yenir!? What is happening in there?!”

“Damn it, I knew something was wrong! Could they have released some monster that’s devouring these people alive?!”

Unlike Yenir’s flawless mental power, which could detect the machine right under the Rebels’ noses…

Ming Luo fixed his gaze on the apparatus surrounded by soldiers, straining to see if the awakened individuals being hauled out had been entirely devoured.

He knew that sound all too well—the agonized scream that accompanies the excruciating transformation as flesh rots away!

Yet, to his surprise, after a moment’s hesitation, Yenir subtly shook his head.

“There’s no monster in there—it was merely a test.”

“The earlier part was just acting. Now, the real test begins.”

Yenir exhaled softly, his eyes flickering with the images his mental power had captured. Just seconds ago, his shock came from detecting three zombie-like mind waves emanating from the machines!

Yes, zombies have mind waves too—not as dynamic as humans, but more like a primal, consuming hunger hidden within.

These creatures typically exhibit very low mental activity, yet when confronted with flesh, they become outrageously violent! Especially the higher-level zombie mutants, whose mental activity can rival that of awakeners!

After all, from the Second-Stage onward, the mutants begin to develop rudimentary intelligence!

But what baffled Yenir wasn’t the presence of zombies—it was that he sensed their mind waves, even though the machine contained no zombies!

This meant…

“These Rebels have actually mastered artificial zombie creation! They simulated—or extracted—the consciousness of zombies and forcibly implanted it into human minds during the test!”

Even Yenir couldn’t quite fathom what the Rebels were up to.

The three screams earlier were simply because their bodies began to twist uncontrollably, decaying like zombies—as if, in the midst of mutation, their flesh started to deform on its own!

Soon, with Yenir’s mental power far surpassing ordinary Third-Stage abilities, he instantly spotted the three individuals being hurriedly dragged out.

Although inside the machine, they had undergone preliminary treatment—one even appeared dazed, as if forced awake by some injection the soldiers had administered.

But Yenir still saw exactly what he had feared.

“Livor mortis… That’s the telltale decay of zombie-like flesh!”

Seeing his suspicions confirmed, Yenir felt no relief; instead, a deep, crushing despair washed over him!

It wasn’t the zombies that terrified him—it was the realization of an even graver threat!

This could be a catastrophe far more dreadful than the Sea Beast calamity!

No contact. No virus. No wounds! It could even bypass the gradual viral resistance awakeners develop as they ascend in level!

If the apparatus were even larger—if the Rebels didn’t even need this dummy machine…

Does it mean the Rebels have already mastered mass-infecting humans?! Just like at the onset of the apocalypse, when in a single moment over seventy percent of the population suddenly turned into zombies?