S.C.I Mystery Series Volume 5 Chapter 184

Special Files – Witches 31 – A Strange Development

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Zhao Jue exited the elevator and ran into Hao Ling, who had her hands in the pockets of her white coat, emerging from another elevator.

Hao Ling greeted Zhao Jue, "So late, Professor?"

Zhao Jue nodded. It had been a long time since someone called him professor; it sounded quite strange.

As Zhao Jue was about to turn right, Hao Ling curiously asked, "Where are you going?"

Zhao Jue pointed ahead, "Building seven."

Hao Ling pulled Zhao Jue, who was about to walk forward, back. "That door is closed. At night, only the emergency room door is open. To get to building seven, you have to take a detour. Also, do you have a work permit? Without it, you can't access the inpatient department's elevator."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Jue immediately looked displeased – What a hassle!

Hao Ling signalled that she had a work permit and offered to lead the way, suggesting they could also grab a late-night snack in the cafeteria.

Zhao Jue followed Hao Ling.

Hao Ling's work permit had a cute little yellow chicken pendant hanging from it, swinging adorably.

Zhao Jue asked her, "Why do you have a chicken pendant?"

Hao Ling smiled, "My baby was born in the year of the rooster."

Zhao Jue nodded in understanding.

Like most new parents, Hao Ling couldn't stop talking about her baby. She even took out her phone to show Zhao Jue baby photos.

Zhao Jue had seen the baby before. Hao Ling and Lan Qi were a beautiful and handsome couple, and their child was super cute. Every family photo was filled with happiness.

Zhao Jue enjoyed looking at the photos. Chatting with Hao Ling, they walked out of the emergency room and detoured to the inpatient department at the back.

While looking at the photos, a sudden ding interrupted them. Hao Ling received a message on her phone.

Zhao Jue wasn't trying to peek, but a line of text suddenly appeared on the screen. With his high intelligence, sometimes even a glance at something he didn't want to see was enough to make it unforgettable.

The message Hao Ling received, paired with the pitch-black surroundings, seemed quite fitting.

Hao Ling froze, doubting her eyes, and stopped to read the message carefully.

The message was from her work group chat, stating – Emergency situation, three bodies are missing from the morgue. Surveillance shows they left on their own! The police have been alerted. All personnel should return indoors, avoid going outside, and keep doors and windows closed.

There was also a video attached, marked "Do not share."

Hao Ling and Zhao Jue stared at the message for about three seconds. The content was so bizarre that they both wondered if it was some kind of prank – April Fools' or Halloween?

Zhao Jue reached out and played the video.

It was footage from the morgue's hallway surveillance camera. The door on one side of the corridor burst open, and three people with awkward movements stumbled out.

These three bumped into the corridor wall, then, in a bizarre posture with hands flailing in front and legs in a semi-squat, stumbled forward. They looked like frogs having a seizure...

"What on earth is this!" Hao Ling exclaimed in shock.

"Where is the morgue located?" Zhao Jue asked.

Hao Ling, startled, pointed to a building ahead, "Over there... in the basement."

"The basement?" Zhao Jue pointed to a building diagonally opposite, "Is that the thoracic inpatient department?"

"Yes..." Hao Ling didn't finish her sentence before Zhao Jue quickened his pace.

Holding her phone, Hao Ling followed while looking around, "Professor, are there zombies? Is it dangerous?"

Zhao Jue, seeing Hao Ling walking faster than him, asked, "Do you really believe in zombies?"

"I think these people might be suffering from drug-induced motor dysfunction. They might be able to be saved if we find them quickly." Hao Ling said as she headed towards the morgue building, but Zhao Jue directed her towards the inpatient department instead.

Hao Ling turned and followed, asking Zhao Jue, "Will those zombies go to the inpatient department?"

Zhao Jue, amused, asked, "Aren't you afraid? Shouldn't you go back to your office?"

Hao Ling firmly shook her head, "Obviously it's safer to follow you!"

Zhao Jue pulled open the inpatient department's door, nodding at Hao Ling, "You're a good doctor, with good judgement."

Hao Ling, excited by the compliment, ran to open the elevator door with her work permit.

Zhao Jue pressed the elevator's up button.

The elevator, originally at the -2 level, opened at the B level, empty inside.

Zhao Jue entered the elevator, pressed a floor button, and asked Hao Ling, "Is the parking lot connected below?"

"Mhmm." Hao Ling nodded.

"Can you get there directly from here?"

"Not directly. You have to go through the main building in front and then turn." Hao Ling drew a zigzag.

Zhao Jue raised an eyebrow slightly upon hearing this, muttering, "That's lucky."

Hao Ling didn't quite understand, but by then the elevator door had opened.

The inpatient department's duty doctor was waiting, with several nurses huddled together, whispering. When the door opened, everyone looked tense, eyes wide as they stared at the entrance.

After Hao Ling entered and locked the door behind her, the medical staff finally relaxed.

The doctor on duty led Zhao Jue to meet Zhou Hao, while the nurses surrounded Hao Ling, chatting about the zombie incident.

The nurses were quite excited, chattering about how SCI was evil, since they came to the hospital, strange things happened one after another. Some even said it was because of Xu Lie, who previously encountered mummies and now zombies...

The doctor on duty was quite worried and asked Zhao Jue, "Those aren't real zombies, right? Is your SCI investigating a new drug that causes hallucinations and aggression, affecting the central nervous system and causing zombie-like motor dysfunction?"

Zhao Jue found the "your SCI" comment pleasing to hear. Moreover, like Hao Ling, this doctor seemed more excited than scared.

Sure enough, the doctor, looking thrilled, asked, "What if they break in? Should we prepare? The only weapons we have are scalpels!"

Zhao Jue smiled, "They won't get up here. Just get some stretchers ready to bring them up from the basement."

With that, he entered the ward.

......

Meanwhile, in the basement, Xu Lie and Chen Mi both wore expressions of shock as they dragged the dazed Su Feifei along, staring at the three "zombies" emerging from the shadows of the parking lot.

From Xu Lie's somewhat "professional" perspective, the atmosphere was perfect for filming a horror movie.

In the pitch-black parking lot, three... or rather, three zombies with pale faces, covered in wounds, some still bleeding, and foaming at the mouth, emerged from the darkness. Their twisted forms and beast-like growls were terrifying.

Xu Lie tugged at Chen Mi.

However, Chen Mi's attention wasn't on the three "zombies". Instead, he occasionally glanced at Su Feifei.

Su Feifei was unusually calm, showing not a trace of fear, but rather a hint of disdain.

Xu Lie and Chen Mi knew Su Feifei might be suffering from dissociative identity disorder, so was this one of her more formidable personalities taking over?

The three peculiar zombies stumbled towards them.

Xu Lie whispered to Chen Mi, "Why are they so injured? This battle damage makeup looks too real. Did they attack someone before?"

Chen Mi didn't think these figures who couldn't even walk steadily had any real combat power, "Maybe they just stumbled their way here..."

Before he finished speaking, one of the zombies crashed into a fire extinguisher cabinet on a nearby pillar.

With a loud bang, the cabinet was knocked askew, and the zombie's shoulder visibly deformed.

Everyone frowned – Was the shoulder dislocated? But the person seemed to feel no pain and kept moving forward.

Xu Lie and Chen Mi exchanged glances, realising these three might be tough to handle – If they didn't feel pain, how could they be stopped?

Xu Lie thought fighting zombies barehanded was risky, who knew if they would bite... Looking around, he spotted two metal pipes in a corner, probably left over from some pipe replacement.

Xu Lie ran over, picked up a pipe, and came back holding it.

Chen Mi looked speechless at Xu Lie holding a thick aluminium pipe – What use was something so bulky yet light?

Xu Lie swung it and also found it too light...

Just then, there was a sudden whoosh sound...

Xu Lie and Chen Mi looked up to see Su Feifei throwing a bottle of mineral water at the leading zombie.

Su Feifei's throw was strong, the bottle hit the zombie's head with a bang.

The zombie's head tilted, and everyone heard a clear crack sound... as if some bone had broken.

Seeing it still running, Su Feifei got angry, opened her backpack, and took out a thermos to throw next.

Xu Lie and Chen Mi hurriedly stopped her, thinking her temper was too fierce – What if she killed it with the cup?

Bai Ye, standing in front, turned back to glance at the three of them speechlessly.

Xu Lie and Chen Mi quickly pointed behind him, the zombie with the tilted head was right behind him...

Bai Ye turned and kicked the zombie in the stomach.

The kick seemed neither too light nor too heavy, but Xu Lie, Chen Mi and the hot-tempered Su Feifei all took half a step back and saw the zombie lift off the ground, flying backwards.

Bai Ye grabbed its ankle with one hand and swung it like a rag...

They heard a series of crack sounds as the zombie was thrown into a wave-like motion.

Bai Ye let go.

With a thud, the zombie lay flat on the ground, all its joints dislocated. No matter how hard it struggled, it couldn't move.

Xu Lie tugged at Chen Mi – He had seen Bai Yutang use this move before, but Bai Yutang used both hands to grab the opponent's shoulders, while Bai Ye surprisingly did it with one hand!

Chen Mi nodded – This combat power was beyond human...

As they admired him, Su Feifei suddenly ran behind them, seeming a bit scared.

Xu Lie glanced back at her – Sister, you finally know fear?

But Su Feifei wasn't looking at the remaining two zombies, she was peeking at Bai Ye.

Chen Mi and Xu Lie exchanged a glance – Su Feifei didn't seem to have reverted to her original self, she was still the arrogant, bad-tempered personality who threw bottles... Was she afraid of Bai Ye?

Using a similar method, Bai Ye quickly incapacitated the other two "zombies".

Once the three "zombies" were down, Bai Ye squatted to examine them.

As expected, the three had multiple external injuries, with broken bones in their arms and legs, but they continued to struggle violently, as if they were manic.

Xu Lie and Chen Mi ran over, squatting to check, asking if they were poisoned or drugged.

At that moment, police sirens wailed outside.

Just as Bai Ye was about to stand up, a hand reached over.

Su Feifei squatted next to a "zombie", grabbed its hair, and forced its head to the side.

Xu Lie and Chen Mi shook their heads – This definitely wasn't Su Feifei...

After pressing the zombie's head down, Su Feifei pointed to its ear, signalling Bai Ye to look.

Bai Ye squatted down. Su Feifei turned the ear to reveal a string of numbers tattooed behind it.

Bai Ye took out his phone and photographed the numbers, then checked the other two, finding two more sets of numbers.

Meanwhile, the hospital's security personnel brought the police down.

The hospital had sent the video directly to the police, who, finding it so bizarre, dispatched the SWAT team with loaded guns.

Captain Xiao Fei, upon arrival, mistook Bai Ye for Bai Yutang in the dim light, calling out "Captain Bai..."

But he felt that something wasn't right, so he ran closer only to realise it was Bai Ye.

Seeing the three convulsing "zombies" on the ground, the SWAT team members were a little puzzled – What was going on?

Bai Ye asked the security personnel to call the emergency room staff to bring stretchers, sending the photos to Zhao Jue.

......

Standing in front of Zhou Hao's hospital bed, Zhao Jue glanced at the three photos he had just received on his phone and furrowed his brows slightly.

‿︵‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❉・ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ‿︵‿︵

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Translator Notes

Please feel free to comment any mistakes I made so I can improve and do better as I go through the book.

Translated: June 21, 2024 by Angel

Edited: December 20, 2024 by Soojin