Chapter 523: The Pilot Vine

[I will not help you interfere with the command network.]

Little Vine moved from his neck to the control surface.

It touched several glowing symbols randomly.

The aircraft tilted.

Lu Tao fell sideways.

"Little Vine, don’t touch that!"

The vine quickly pulled back.

The alien stared at it.

It seemed more frightened by the possibility of the vine flying the aircraft than by its earlier threats.

[Move it away from the controls.]

"Then cooperate," Leng Pan said.

[The High Command will execute me.]

"You should first survive long enough to meet them again."

The alien looked around.

No one appeared willing to help him.

Even Lu Tao, who was usually easygoing, was watching him without sympathy.

Finally, the alien lowered his head.

[The false signal requires a compatible energy source.]

"We have the crystal."

[If you expose the core, the command network will detect your real position.]

"We are not exposing it."

[Then the signal cannot be created.]

Leng Pan took out a small bottle.

Inside were several black grains left after she destroyed the parasite hatchlings.

"The queen absorbed the crystal’s energy for months. Would these remains carry a similar signature?"

The alien’s eyes widened.

[Where did you get those?]

"You don’t need to know."

[They are biological waste.]

"That is not an answer."

The alien looked at the bottle again.

[The signal would be weak.]

"Could the aircraft amplify it?"

[Possibly.]

"Then try."

The alien clearly did not want to, but Little Vine had moved back towards him.

He touched several sections of the control surface.

A compartment opened beside the navigation panel.

[Place the sample inside.]

Leng Pan did so.

Blue light swept across the black grains.

The aircraft produced a low humming sound.

[Residual core energy detected.]

[Signal strength: three percent.]

[Amplification available.]

The alien selected another symbol.

[Select transmission point.]

A marker appeared on the map.

Lu Zhen moved it towards the abandoned quarry.

"Place it here."

The alien confirmed the location.

[Transmission duration?]

"How long would the zombies need to reach the quarry?" Ouyang Jin asked.

"Seven hours," the alien replied through the translator.

His use of spoken human language surprised everyone.

"You could speak our language this whole time?" Lu Tao asked.

The alien froze.

Lu Tao stared at him.

"You pretended not to understand us?"

The alien looked back at the controls.

"Seven hours," he repeated.

Lu Tao moved towards him.

Little Vine tightened first.

There was no room for Lu Tao to add another threat.

"Set it for eight hours," Leng Pan said.

The alien entered the instruction.

[False core signal activated.]

On the map, a blue point appeared inside the quarry.

The closest zombie formation stopped.

For several seconds, it did not move.

Then its red route changed.

The entire group turned west.

"It worked," Su Yan said.

The second formation slowed.

It appeared undecided between continuing towards Qinghe and following the core signal.

A minute later, it also changed direction.

Two of the three zombie groups began moving towards the quarry.

Only the northern formation continued towards Qinghe Base.

"How many remain on the original route?" Lu Zhen asked.

The navigation system displayed the number.

[Undead units approaching Qinghe Base: 38,700.]

That was still a large army, but it was far better than more than one hundred thousand.

"What will we prepare at the quarry?" Vanish asked.

Leng Pan looked towards the captured weapons and the aircraft’s storage compartments.

"We could set a trap using alien explosives."

The prisoner’s face changed.

[The aircraft does not carry explosives.]

Lu Tao looked at him.

"You answered too quickly."

[It carries no explosive weapons.]

"Then what is inside the locked compartment at the back?" Assistant Yao asked through the communication system.

His aircraft was flying several kilometres behind them.

The prisoner stopped talking.

Assistant Yao continued.

"We found six cylindrical devices marked with the same warning symbol as the weapons."

The alien’s silver markings darkened again.

Leng Pan looked at him.

"Are you sure the aircraft does not carry explosives?"

[Those devices are energy charges.]

"What happens if they are overloaded?"

The alien remained silent.

Lu Tao smiled.

"That means they explode."

"They could destabilize a large area," Lu Hao’s voice came through the communicator. "If placed inside the quarry, they might bring down the rock walls."

"We don’t want to bury the crystal residue with the zombies still outside," Leng Pan said. "The charges should be placed after most of the horde enters."

"Who will activate them?" Janna asked.

"Remotely," Lu Tao said.

The alien shook his head.

[The charges cannot be activated outside the aircraft network.]

"Then the aircraft can activate them," Lu Tao replied.

[It must remain within ten kilometres.]

Everyone became quiet.

Leaving one captured craft near the quarry would mean risking it.

More importantly, someone would need to fly close enough to activate the charges.

"I can do it," Vanish offered. "I can stay invisible while placing them."

"The zombies might still sense you," Leng Pan said.

"Then Sonny can come with me."

Sonny looked at him.

"Why did you volunteer me?"

"You are good at hiding."

"That does not mean I enjoy being surrounded by a hundred thousand zombies."

"It is closer to eighty thousand now."

"That is not comforting."

Despite his complaint, Sonny did not refuse.

Lu Zhen shook his head.

"No one is going to the quarry alone. We will warn Qinghe Base first. After they begin preparing, we can decide how to deal with the diverted zombies."

Leng Pan agreed.

They could not create a complete battle plan while flying blindly towards a base that might attack them on sight.

The aircraft continued forward.

Qinghe Base soon appeared on the horizon.

It had been built around a former industrial park.

Tall concrete walls surrounded warehouses, factories, and temporary shelters.

Watchtowers stood at regular intervals.

The base was far larger than the village they had left.

From the air, they could see people moving along the walls and military vehicles travelling between defensive positions.

"They have already seen us," Ouyang Jin said.

Red lights flashed across the base.

A warning siren followed.

Several anti-aircraft weapons turned towards them.

"We should stop approaching," Leng Pan said.

The aircraft slowed.

Lu Zhen used the communicator to search for an open human frequency.

Static filled the cabin.

Then a stern voice came through.

"Unidentified aircraft, state your identity immediately."

Ouyang Jin took the communicator.

"This is Ouyang Jin of the Dominion Squad. We have urgent information concerning an incoming zombie army."

The other side became quiet.

A different voice answered.

"Dominion Squad? Prove it."

Ouyang Jin provided his former military identification number.

There was another pause.

"You are approaching in an alien aircraft."

"We captured it."

"That is convenient."

"It was not convenient at all," Lu Tao muttered.

The base did not hear him.

Ouyang Jin continued.

"Nearly forty thousand zombies will reach Qinghe Base in less than eleven hours. Another eighty thousand have been diverted west, but they could return."

"How would you know their exact movements?"

"We have access to the alien command network."

The voice on the other side became colder.

"Or you are part of it."

Weapons locked onto the aircraft.

A warning appeared across the control panel.

[Hostile targeting systems detected.]

[Defensive response available.]

The alien prisoner smiled.

"If you activate the defence system, the humans below will think you are attacking."

"No one asked you," Lu Tao said.

The aircraft spoke again.

[Incoming projectile detected.]

A missile shot from Qinghe Base.

It was heading directly towards them.