Matrix Survival: I Get A Random Chest Every Day

The gate opened to its fullest, temporarily resolving the crisis. Xiao Siyuan followed closely behind, displaying a similarly surprised and suspicious expression upon seeing the decapitated head.

"Why is it him?"

Li Zheng was still experiencing tinnitus and didn't hear what Xiao Siyuan said. He looked at Lu Li discontentedly and gestured for everyone to adjust themselves here for a moment.

Five minutes later, just as the tinnitus faded away, Li Zheng heard beastly growls resounding from the darkness.

Strangely, even though everyone had been adjusting here for five minutes, not a single monster had burst through the darkness to attack them.

Logically, Lu Li's shot should have startled all the monsters within the entire dungeon.

Xiao Siyuan squatted in front of the head, still studying it: "Strange, why is it him?"

He examined another monster's corpse, finding the appearance similarly familiar.

"You recognized them too." Li Zheng shifted his focus from the growls in the darkness to Xiao Siyuan.

"We teamed up a few days ago, how could I not recognize them?" Xiao Siyuan took out two pieces of white cloth and covered the two corpses.

Lu Li approached with his sniper rifle. "What are you guys talking about? This is all about him and you, aren't we running a dungeon?"

Zhan Zhouzhou, clutching her stomach with one hand and holding a weapon in the other, approached and lifted the white cloth for a look. She was shocked to find the two monsters had Earth-human appearances, specifically those of the Dragon Country. "Are these two players?"

"That's right, they are indeed players. Xiao Siyuan, Lin Fengjiao, and I teamed up with them for a dungeon a few days ago," Li Zheng nodded and explained to her.

Xiao Siyuan added, "I was the one who coordinated the members for that dungeon, as we were helping Li Zheng with tasks, so we brought players who ranked low on the power list."

"Those two drew lots to leave immediately after passing the dungeon and didn't even divide the spoils, which is why they left such a deep impression on me."

Lin Fengjiao suddenly remembered, "So it's them. I couldn't see at the time, but I heard them whispering privately that these dungeon difficulties weren't high, even the BOSS could be soloed, suggesting you two had ulterior motives for teaming up with them, so they left early."

"Ulterior motives?" Li Zheng nearly had his nose twisted out of shape with anger upon hearing this.

How could helping them clear a dungeon be considered ulterior motives?

Old Xiao treated them as teammates and even considered splitting the final loot equally, also ulterior motives?

It's like biting the hand that feeds you!

"I figured it out, they likely thought I could easily solo the BOSS, so they formed a team to clear the dungeon privately, only to be wiped out here," Li Zheng speculated.

"Look at this; don't the wounds here resemble the ones on that external body's neck?" Zhan Zhouzhou, at some unknown point, pulled up the sleeves of the corpses and pointed at several punctures.

Xiao Siyuan re-examined, concluding, "Indeed similar, a type of injury, but differing in size, indicating they weren't bitten by the same individual."

He looked at the corpses, then at the gate, and then at the chip still inserted at the door, feeling increasingly puzzled: "Strange, how did they get in with the door closed?"

Lu Li thought for a moment and said, "Is it possible that they didn't die here but somewhere else, were infected into zombies, and since they were awkwardly powered relatively, the terminal moved them here as a surprise for the gate opening?"

"That could be." Li Zheng and Xiao Siyuan exchanged glances, finding Lu Li's explanation reasonable.

Zhan Zhouzhou suddenly said, "Have you noticed something?"

"What is it?"

"They don't have Identity Cards." Zhan Zhouzhou pointed out, only for her lower abdomen to spasm suddenly, forcing her to bend over and bear the pain.

"Maybe they dropped somewhere in the dungeon, after all, the Identity Cards directly appear on the corpse post player death. After turning into zombies and walking around, it's natural for them to drop," Xiao Siyuan said, "maybe we'll even find two Identity Cards later."

"Let's finish the dungeon first; there's no need to waste time on two unfamiliar players, is there?" Lu Li urged with his sniper rifle. He wanted to end the exploration soon and practice shooting at ease.

"Not exactly wasting time; at least we know the virus here can infect players..." Even though Lin Fengjiao's face was covered in bandages, her expression turned grim, "I have a bad feeling. What if someone obtains the virus in this dungeon and spreads it?"

"Nothing will happen," Lu Li said nonchalantly, "The Matrix consists of sealed rooms, and those light screens block most objects from passing through—the virus can't spread, it would at most become poison, used to kill a few people."

"What if it's aimed at us?" Lin Fengjiao turned to Lu Li, her biomechanical eye adjusting focus as the lens rotated, "Can you guarantee you'd be safe from it without precaution?"

"..." Lu Li was at a loss for words.

Nobody carries a gas mask all the time; if someone sneaks into your room at night, releases the virus.

Anyone would fall victim.

"Moreover, according to the movies I've seen, such viruses usually have evolutionary attributes, and with enough nurture, even the strongest players might not escape unscathed," Lin Fengjiao said, turning to Xiao Siyuan, "Dr. Xiao, shall we retrieve some samples to devise an antidote?"

Xiao Siyuan pondered thoroughly and agreed with Lin Fengjiao, but shook his head, "No, it's too dangerous. My current equipment can't safely store this virus."

"Awoo!" Little Sakura, unaware of their conversation, had been keeping guard. Suddenly, she alerted everyone.

Li Zheng listened closely; the beastly growls from deep in the dark were gone, replaced by muffled running sounds.

"Something's coming; form lines!" He pushed Xiao Siyuan back, tossed the Mysterious Declaration to him, and warned Lu Li, "You better use a silencer or I'll smack the living daylights out of you!"

Sitting ducks and waiting ambushes were never the style of Li Zheng and his team.

Although the number of monsters rushing over from the darkness was unclear, instead of defending in place, they chose to confront the threat head-on.

Thud thud thud—

Thump thump thump—

The sound of two distinct footsteps echoed through the passage, and not even breathing could be heard amidst it.

With the Mysterious Declaration offering illumination, Li Zheng wasn't worried at all, even after entering the no-light zone.

Soon, an outline emerged at the passage's end.

Not of a monster, but another gate stuck midway.

A fifty-centimeter gap appeared between the thick metal panels above and below, with darkness still persisting beyond it.

But Li Zheng had already seen the zombie monsters moving back and forth in the darkness, looking for a way through the gate.