Leon, serving as a bodyguard, has been constantly protecting by his side; he is not optimistic about this speech event, not to rally votes but to persuade these people to support the bill banning the emergence of artificial human legions.
Helena is on the phone with her sister, caring deeply, "Deborah, how are you living over there?"
Deborah and her girlfriends were discussing a company project with Eddie last night; still half‑asleep and not fully awake, she says, "Hello, sis? I'm fine, *huff*, so sleepy."
"Oh dear, Deborah, you stepped on my hair!" a girlfriend muttered.
"Oh, sorry, sis. Is there something? I'm very sleepy; Eddie only left this morning, I saw him off to the plane." Deborah is now both sleepy and exhausted; she had known Eddie was so overbearing, she wouldn't have been duped.
"What are you doing? What time is it, still sleeping?" Helena was speechless; is this how one works? Today is still a workday.
"Just resting, I was so sleepy last night. By the way, sis, I'm not planning to return to the Federation this year, *huff*, you can come over during the holidays, I'll take you to good food and fun places," Deborah mumbled.
Having worked here for so long, she has learned some secrets—secrets that cannot be spoken of.
"I'll come over, take care of yourself," Helena nodded and hung up, seemingly unaware that Deborah was preparing for pregnancy.
Outside Tall Oaks, Nikolai had led a group of armed locals to seize the areas beyond the city.
"Today is the first step of our revenge against the so‑called Federation high‑command; the relatives of the clan members are in this city—let fear spread and turn them into our kind!" Nikolai gestured.
His subordinates boarded a truck and drove it into the city.
These trucks will travel to predetermined points in the city and open their rear doors.
The sealed Lotus Creatures inside will emerge, releasing the stored massive C-Virus toxic gas. After releasing the gas, the Lotus Creatures gradually turn to ash, vanishing without a trace, leaving no evidence.
Simmons could never have imagined that his planned terrorist attack had been discovered by Nikolai, who even replicated it himself.
Although the city's security level was raised by one tier, the strictest enforcement remained near Ivy University, where Benford was scheduled to give his speech.
Chapter 605: Human Purgatory – Tall Oaks
It happens to be spaced three kilometers apart; three kilometers is the effective range for the gas release. Beyond three kilometers it may fail, or it may not.
Nikolai's idea is to use the Lotus Creatures—monsters developed by Simmons's team—to strike at the creators, making them feel despair and pain.
Standing before a church, the cold‑blooded mercenary Nikolai would never believe in any god. "Colonel Sergei, I have taken care of the tasks you assigned; soon this place will become a human hell! Hehe, and I will also perform the final ascension ceremony!"
Nikolai's life is already near its end; the wars of his past left many injuries, and as he aged those internal wounds resurfaced, and he can no longer endure them.
If it weren't for the forced support of medication, without others hunting him, he would have died.
The belief that keeps Nikolai alive is revenge against the Western Federation.
Those damned Federation dogs caused the destruction of his hometown; they must pay!
Simmons is currently on a plane heading to the South India oil field for investigation; he has received intel that terrorists will act in Tall Oaks.
President Benford is also in Tall Oaks; he must alert the guard corps.
But after a moment's thought, Simmons gave up. He was never fond of Benford; once on stage, the policies always catered to family interests, supporting enterprises that weren't family‑owned.
The crucial point is to stop the family from selling artificial human legions—this new generation of weaponry, made using cloning principles, is cheap and effective.
A single order can earn billions; how could they possibly ban such profit? Have they had their heads kicked?
If a top leader diverges from the Federation family's direction, just replace them; after all, someone else is doing the assassinating this time.
If someone is willing to do this for Simmons, why wouldn't he gladly do it?
"Reassign the family's guards and tell Flaka that he can proceed," Simmons ordered, seemingly preparing to deal with the guard corps.
Inside a special Osprey armed helicopter bound for Tall Oaks, Jill and Rebecca were dancing together in performance costumes.
Eddie was sipping wine, admiring the scene; three bodyguards were unusually guarding at the same time. Hilda's daughter was entrusted to Manuela for care, since they were all born around the same time.
Jessica was still busy with her tasks, unafraid of others' mockery; they were sisters after all, and she hadn't slacked.
"How much longer until Tall Oaks? *huff*, this journey is really fun," Eddie said, sipping wine comfortably. "Wasn't the early struggle just to achieve a comfortable life?"
Now he has a wife and a daughter; it looks like he's a life winner—what else does he need to strive for?
Other people's are always the best? That's not good; it's a bit unethical.
"There are still thirty minutes; you have enough time to do what you want," Alexia said, checking her watch. She also traveled around with her husband.
Meanwhile, Tall Oaks began to fill with massive amounts of toxic gas; a city of nearly five hundred thousand people instantly fell into a pale purple haze.
Many citizens were unprepared; upon inhaling the haze, they felt terribly ill.
They kept coughing, even collapsing with limb weakness, unable to move, watching helplessly as their life force drained away.
Within minutes, the C-Virus rapidly invaded bodily tissue, commandeering parts of the host's memories and experience, retaining a degree of intelligence.
These virus‑infected citizens, after dying, mutated within minutes and reanimated as zombies!
The zombies rampaged, attacking all living beings; still‑breathing citizens were seized and instantly killed by former comrades.
Communications across Tall Oaks collapsed instantly; aside from a few citizens hiding inside buildings, everyone outside without any barrier was transformed into zombies by the C-Virus gas.
Zombies roamed everywhere, frenziedly tearing at others; mutated zombies were everywhere as well.
Ordinary zombies lunge, run, and bite. Mutated zombies evolve in bizarre ways: some become enormously strong, overweight zombies; others are as swift as Lickers, turning into Crimson Head Zombies.
Ivy University was also filled with massive toxic gas; staff outside the campus had already turned into zombies.
"Danger! Put on gas masks; the gas is toxic, be careful. Find a safe route and escort His Excellency the President out!" Leon reacted quickly, shouting for colleagues to help.
Helena took out the gas mask Deborah had given her, a piece of cutting‑edge technology that can fully block the toxic gas.
Leon swiftly escorted Benford into an office, while Helena stayed behind to command the attacking zombies.
Large numbers of zombies will hunt for the living; as long as the target isn't infected with the C-Virus, they will swoop down to bite and devour.
If they obtain abundant flesh and blood energy, even trace amounts of the C-Virus may continue to proliferate, eventually turning the zombies into an entirely new species.
That species would certainly no longer be human, as it incorporates massive amounts of animal and plant genes.
Gunfire erupted quickly; many in the city possessed firearms, so they wouldn't be powerless against the zombies.
When communications collapsed, the outer troops showed no response, perhaps not having received Simmons's orders, merely watching the city fall into panic.
The C-Virus gas arrives quickly and dissipates just as fast.
In just a little over ten minutes, the toxic gas will evaporate, leaving no trace in the air.
But the entire city has become a hell.