Chapter 388: Whispers of the Deceased

A bizarre scene unfolded beside the pitch-black camp.

A group of dead men covered in gruesome wounds looked utterly terrifying under the dim lights and eerie wasteland wind. Yet they enthusiastically, almost excitedly, crowded around Lu Xin, bustling towards the distant tents.

Along the way Lu Xin noticed signs of a fierce struggle everywhere, marked by patches of bloodstains.

Even the tents were splattered with large sprays of blood, and severed limbs and chunks of flesh lay scattered nearby.

“Mr. Lone Soldier, please have a seat.”

The Captain offered to invite Lu Xin inside the tent, but Lu Xin politely declined with a smile.

So the Captain readily unfolded a portable canvas chair and placed it outside the tent for Lu Xin.

Beneath the chair lay a severed hand.

Lu Xin glanced at it then calmly kicked the severed hand aside.

After sitting down Lu Xin found himself surrounded by a circle of men.

Each bore horrifying wounds. One was missing an arm, the stump ragged and uneven. Another had lost a leg, thick blood dripping from the wound, managing to stand only by leaning on a teammate’s shoulder.

Their faces were deathly pale from blood loss, some even taking on a ghastly, bluish tint.

This pallor lent their enthusiastic smiles an indescribable, unsettling gloominess.

“What happened to you?”

After a moment’s silence, Lu Xin asked the one with the severed leg, a smile on his face.

The man seemed confused, giving Lu Xin a questioning look.

His eyes were dry and dim, so Lu Xin inferred this micro-expression from the slight tilt of his chin.

Lu Xin offered a concerned smile. “I saw you struggling to walk, you almost fell.”

“Ah…”

Hearing this the man seemed a bit embarrassed, glancing down at his leg, severed just below the knee.

The person beside him chuckled. “This guy was running around wildly last night and accidentally twisted his ankle.”

Lu Xin slowly nodded.

So they genuinely didn’t realize they were dead, not even understanding the extent of their own injuries.

The one with the severed leg said he twisted his ankle… Did the one missing a hand just sprain his wrist then?

And the one with half his head missing probably just bumped it accidentally.

The one whose intestines were spilling out might just think he has a bit of diarrhea…

…

His gaze slowly swept over the group of dead men, Lu Xin’s expression suddenly turning serious.

“Tell me first, what exactly is the situation at that Observation Post?”

…

Seeing Lu Xin turn serious, the armed soldiers were startled and instinctively snapped to attention.

The Captain reported, “Mr. Lu, when we arrived here, our colleagues at the Observation Post…”

His throat bobbed slightly, and he lowered his voice before continuing, “…were already dead. Faced with our panic they seemed scared and even asked us what was happening. That’s when we realized something was wrong and confirmed they hadn’t yet discovered they were dead. We didn’t know what kind of pollution this was, so we didn’t dare investigate directly.”

“After discussing it, we decided not to expose the truth to them or make direct contact. Instead, we immediately pulled back to monitor the Observation Post.”

…

No direct contact, and they hadn’t told the people at the Observation Post they were dead.

Lu Xin mentally noted this, gave a slight nod, and asked, “Did anything happen while you were monitoring them?”

The Captain paused, a look of intense concentration on his face.

Then he slowly shook his head. “No.”

…

Something definitely happened…

Lu Xin sighed inwardly.

If nothing happened, how could they all be dead?

Judging by their wounds—some from guns, some from knives—an extremely brutal fight must have occurred earlier.

But… they’ve forgotten?

Amidst the expectant gazes of the dead soldiers, Lu Xin calmly rose to his feet.

He didn’t rush to give an answer, instead taking a walk around the camp first.

The dead men seemed somewhat afraid of him and didn’t dare disturb him.

After circling the area, Lu Xin reached a conclusion: these men likely killed each other.

Although he hadn’t formally studied forensics, he could make a general judgment.

It had rained recently, leaving the ground wet and soft, yet only their Jeep tracks were visible nearby, ruling out outsiders initiating the fight. Furthermore, the scattered shell casings, bomb fragments, grenade pins, and even the daggers embedded in their bodies all appeared to be from the same set of standard-issue weapons, further excluding the possibility of external attackers.

But why did the apparent simplicity of the situation make his heart feel even heavier?

…

*Crackle…*

A burst of static suddenly crackled from the left arm of his glasses frames.

Immediately followed by a tense voice, “Mr…. Mr. Lone Soldier, can you read me?”

Lu Xin adjusted his glasses slightly. “Loud and clear,” he replied softly.

It was the Researcher from before, his voice tight with anxiety. “How are you doing now?”

“I’m fine.”

Lu Xin answered quietly, glancing at the armed soldiers around him. “They’re very cooperative, quite welcoming actually.”

The Researcher choked for a moment, apparently unsure how to respond.

After a brief pause, he instinctively lowered his voice. “Can they hear me talking right now?”

Lu Xin glanced at the nearest armed soldier, about three meters away, and shook his head gently. “No, you can speak freely.”

The Researcher let out a breath, keeping his voice low. “We… we didn’t dare regroup with the main team. We need to prevent the possibility of having been contaminated ourselves, given the close proximity earlier. Reckless contact could spread the pollution to them. So, right now… right now, we’ve found the safest place we could to wait, temporarily… Just now…”

His voice trembled slightly as he forced the words out, “Just now… was what we saw… an illusion?”

Lu Xin shook his head gently, glancing at the wounds on the armed soldiers. “I don’t think so!”

“*Hiss…*”

The Researcher sucked in a sharp breath. “So, you mean the same thing happened to them as the people in the Observation Post?”

Lu Xin nodded slightly. “Yes.”

The Researcher’s voice sounded strained. “Then, Mr. Lone Soldier, do you have any leads for the investigation yet?”

“Not yet.”

Lu Xin said softly, “Right now, I can only tell that they likely killed each other, leading to this result…”

“You can give me some suggestions!”

…

“Alright…”

The Researcher seemed to be making an effort to stay calm as he spoke in a low voice:

“If their cause of death is confirmed, then there are two main questions we need to figure out:”

“First, what force caused them to kill each other?”

“Second, what allows them to still walk around like living people, even work, despite being dead…”

“Mr. Lone Soldier, be careful! What if they’re just pretending…”

…

“It’s alright, I know what I’m doing.”

Lu Xin replied softly, then ended the conversation and started walking forward.

The armed soldiers seemed to find Lu Xin somewhat mysterious, keeping their distance while he was talking.

Only after confirming Lu Xin had finished his call did they slowly approach.

Hope flickered on their deathly stiff faces…

…hope like that of living people.

They truly saw him as their hope, believing his arrival meant their problems could be solved.

…

“I’m going to check the Observation Post first!”

Lu Xin said quietly and turned towards the Observation Post tent.

The armed soldiers immediately tensed up as if facing a great enemy, following closely behind him.

The Observation Post was located about a hundred meters west of their tents. Lights shone from within, and someone waited outside the tent.

As Lu Xin walked across the slippery ground, the person sitting outside the tent spotted him and quickly knocked on the canvas.

People came out from inside, looking uneasily and worriedly at Lu Xin and the soldiers with him.

Lu Xin observed them carefully, a feeling of strangeness settling in his heart.

There were seven people in this Observation Post. They too, undeniably, looked dead.

And they had clearly been dead longer than the armed soldiers whose wounds were still fresh.

Some already showed patches of lividity.

One person’s body was already decaying, with maggots crawling inside. He occasionally scratched at it as if it were just a rash.

Another’s head had swollen, stretching the skin into a translucent film.

A heavy stench of decay hung around their tent, and the dim light cast a green glow in their eyes.

The group of armed soldiers behind him had stopped.

Although none raised their guns directly, it was obvious they were afraid of the people inside this Observation Post.

The dead were afraid of the dead.

…

“What… what’s wrong?”

Someone from the Observation Post couldn’t help but ask Lu Xin quietly.

From their perspective, it seemed these colleagues who had come to rendezvous with them were acting very strangely.

The people in the car that arrived earlier had reacted as if they’d seen ghosts the moment they saw them, backing away continuously. No matter what they said, the others wouldn’t dare come closer, retreating a hundred meters before stopping and refusing to move.

Later, when they heard gunshots and wanted to investigate, the others had yelled at them to stay back.

Now, someone in civilian clothes had arrived and wasn’t speaking either, just staring at them.

Are they treating us like we’re contaminated?

Seriously messed up. If we were contaminated, how could our thoughts be so clear?

…

“It’s alright.”

Lu Xin replied softly, his face showing a reassuring smile. “Nobody needs to worry right now.”

For them, worrying was useless now anyway.

After placating them, Lu Xin spoke softly into the channel near his glasses frame:

“I haven’t found any obvious Pollution Source or Mental Monster, nor any particularly clear clues. What should be the next step?”

This was the first time Lu Xin had encountered something like this, so he trusted the advice of the professional researchers.

The Researcher seemed to have calmed down considerably, speaking in a low voice:

“Right now, we need to rule out the possibility that we are under some kind of influence, causing us to see this bizarre scene.”

“Perhaps they are actually still alive, and some power is affecting our judgment…”

“Therefore, Mr. Lone Soldier, you could first collect some samples from them, bring them back for analysis to determine their actual state.”

“Then…”

He paused for a moment before continuing in a low voice, “There are two things that need to be done.”

“First, ensure they don’t spread.”

“Second, you can try, through logic or other means, to make them understand…”

“What?… Ugh…”

…

Just then, before the Researcher could finish his sentence, his voice suddenly filled with panic.

A muffled thud, followed immediately by chaotic noise coming through the channel.

This was followed by faint *crack* and *snap* sounds, and perhaps even a wet *squelch*.

A piercing gunshot rang out, then the sound of something heavy falling to the ground.

After that, a long silence, with only the faint whistling of the wind.

…

Lu Xin remained seated quietly, making no sound, nor did he hastily ask what had happened.

He waited silently for a long time, about thirty seconds, before hearing the sound of a microphone being picked up. The Researcher’s voice came through again:

“…Uhm, where were we?”

“Ah yes, you can try, through other means, to make them understand…”

He spoke with the same serious and cautious tone as before, “…the fact that they are already dead, and observe their reaction.”

The Researcher’s words still sounded so calm and earnest.

He sounded like he was genuinely trying his best to help Lu Xin analyze the situation and provide solutions. Without the noise in the middle, everything would have seemed perfectly normal. But now, the more normal his tone and words sounded, the more Lu Xin felt an indescribable sense of oppression.

He remained silent for a long time, only sighing softly when the person on the other end prompted him with a worried “Hello?”

“Is everything alright on your end?”

Lu Xin said softly, “I heard some commotion over there just now.”

The Researcher on the other end paused, then whispered, “Nothing’s wrong. What did you hear? Don’t scare me.”

Lu Xin let out a low breath. “It’s nothing. I’m just curious about your suggestion. Why tell them?”

The Researcher’s tone grew heavy as he spoke softly:

“Because right now, we don’t know what type of pollution we’re facing, how large the affected area is, or even how this pollution spreads. As for those who are contaminated, they might not even know it themselves.”

Hearing his words, a wave of sadness washed over Lu Xin.

He softened his voice as much as possible and continued, “And then?”