Chapter 26: Teresa

[Bonus for doing so dispensed now:]

[Host can manifest the storage portal within a 10 meter range.]

Alex was delighted for the unexpected bonus but he didn’t have time to celebrate.

He glanced at his friends to check on how they were doing.

Riley, Terry and Brian were able to take down the other lizard without too much of an issue.

And behind him, Eddy had taken care of Lin, with both of them unharmed.

But Lin’s face was getting paler, and while he was in pain, Alex could see that Lin was trying very hard not to keep it in, making sure that the others weren’t affected by him.

"Here take some of these." Alex walked over to Lin and handed some painkillers to Lin.

It was the best he could do right at the moment.

Lin popped the painkillers into his mouth and gulped down a mouthful of mineral water that he had with him.

Even swallowing the water caused some pain for him.

"Argh." He groaned softly with pain while he held his hand onto his chest where it hurt the most.

"If everyone is ready, we better hurry." Alex said to the others and they nodded their heads at him.

When they walked past the pile of wax like substance, all of them looked away, afraid that they would see something gruesome within it.

They walked up the emergency staircase and it was strewn with bodies of those who didn’t make it.

Most of the bodies were now bloated and the putrid smell made it difficult for them to breathe.

"I can’t take it anymore..." Terry gagged and he covered his mouth when he felt whatever was left in his stomach churning.

The others agreed and Alex nodded his head to it.

They started sprinting up the stairs as fast as they could to get to the floor where the surviving researchers were.

And fortunately, they didn’t meet with any mutated beasts along the way.

When they got out from the emergency staircase, all of them took in deep breaths and panted.

It was an unpleasant experience they didn’t want to go through again.

They would take a moment for a breather if they could.

But Alex sighed when he sensed some beings coming in their direction.

Red glowing dots could be seen in the distance and as they got closer, he could see that these red glowing dots were the eyes of white mice.

These white mice were larger than usual but they seemed to have stopped mutating beyond that.

Squeak.

The dozens of white mice, in their bloodied coat of white fur, lunged at Alex and the others.

Alex swung his baseball bat at the white mice that were coming at him and he smashed it into the wall, flattening it.

He didn’t stop and he turned around.

With his baseball bat, he slammed it down at the white mice that were in front of his feet.

One by one, these white mice were smashed into a mangled mass of flesh, bones and blood, leaving them unrecognizable.

A few of the white mice leaped and lunged at him but he was ready for them.

Thud.

He swung his baseball bat and hit onto all of them, sending them hurling in the air to the side.

Splatter.

They splattered onto the wall and left bloodied red spots on it before they fell onto the ground.

Another bunch of white mice came at him and he stomped onto their bodies with his feet.

With the strength that he had at the moment, they had no chance against him.

In rapid succession, they were all flattened with bits of their fur and flesh stuck onto the sole of his boots.

When he was done with them, he glanced around but there weren’t any more of the white mice coming at him.

Alex wished that there were more as they were relatively easy to deal with compared to what they’ve encountered so far.

A familiar sound erupted in his mind again and information panels with words appeared in it.

[Congratulations Host for killing off 22 mutated beasts.]

[Dispensing rewards now:]

[100x bottles of water.]

[100x MRE ration pack.]

[20x packets of MRE ration.]

[All items are stored in your storage space now.]

[Current status: 172/200]

[Day 2 of 3 for SSS Level Storage Ability.]

He was getting closer to the target of 200 kills.

And it was most likely achievable with one more day left.

Alex and the others didn’t stop as they were used to encountering these mutated beasts by now.

They continued walking down the corridor, made a turn and they had to go through some barricades that got in their way.

When they finally cleared all of it, Alex sensed some movements at the end of the corridor.

"Look." Terry pointed at the end of the corridor where it was barricaded with many different items.

Someone had opened the door and moved some of the items that were on top away.

Then, a woman’s face popped out from the opening.

"Who are you?" She asked and Alex stepped forward.

"We were the ones who have sent you the message using the drone earlier.

"And we have gotten what you requested for." He took off his backpack from his back and opened it, showing what was inside to the young woman.

The woman glanced to her side for a moment before turning back to Alex and said, "Come quickly, it’s not safe out there."

Alex and the others walked over, and those who were hiding inside started to move the barricade aside.

Soon, the barricade was removed and there was the woman together with a few other younger men and women standing behind her.

"Welcome to our research lab. I’m Teresa, the head of research here." The woman who spoke with Alex introduced herself.

Alex nodded his head at her and said, "I’m Alex, student from the school of engineering, and these are my friends."

He introduced his friends and Teresa quickly gestured for them to enter the lab.

The other young men and women proceeded to barricade the entrance again.

"Any discoveries you’ve made so far?" Alex said while he lifted his arm, showing the contents of his backpack to Teresa.