Secret

"I should say, you're the one Black Claw planted among us!" Clark spoke while signaling to the people around him. They formed a "品" shape, blocking the tunnel.

"He he, my mission is already complete. There's probably no valuable intelligence left in this cursed place. So, I'm leaving. I've been here before, just didn't expect zombie worms in the tunnel. I couldn't leave earlier. 

Now, I won't stay any longer!" Christopher's devices extended two wing-like structures from his back, directly emitting a scorching heat wave, causing everyone to feel a bit weightless.

"That's an acceleration device, stop him!" Michael recognized the apparatus on Christopher's back and urgently shouted.

Unfortunately, Christopher's acceleration was too fast. Before everyone could react, he had already ghosted past them.

"Shoot! Quickly shoot!" Michael yelled loudly. "He's not strong in combat, the acceleration device on his back only helps him move quickly, hurry!"

The zombie worms blocked the passage, and Christopher didn't want to risk fighting them. He had been waiting for Clark and the others to eliminate the worms before making his escape.

Everyone fired simultaneously, but they couldn't hit Christopher.

"No, he's too fast, he's disappeared!"

"Want to compare speed with me?" Clark looked at the dark tunnel and said to Sophia, "Don't stick with me this time, girl. I can't let this guy escape!"

Surprisingly, Sophia nodded sensibly and let go of Clark's hand.

Clark transformed into a streak of light and disappeared before everyone's eyes.

Looking at Christopher, after effortlessly shaking off Michael and the others, he rushed toward the opening, seemingly about to escape.

But at that moment, he felt a cold sensation on his back.

A dagger, already inserted into his back at an unknown time.

Christopher winced in pain, his body staggered, about to fall to the ground. After struggling for a few moments, he managed to steady himself.

"How could you catch up so quickly? This is impossible!" Christopher's eyes were bloodshot, blood oozing from the corners of his mouth. He stared at Clark in astonishment, knowing he couldn't escape and choosing not to.

"How I caught up is not important. You're going to die!" Clark kept his gun aimed at Christopher.

"Ha ha!" Christopher laughed, "I've been observing you, knew you had some skills, but didn't expect you to catch up. There must be a secret about you."

"Regardless of whatever secret you have, it's no longer relevant to you!" Clark was about to pull the trigger after saying this, but he witnessed a sinister smile on Christopher's face.

Christopher opened his mouth wide to an exaggerated extent, almost occupying half of his face. Clark could even faintly hear the sound of his jawbone cracking. A golden insect slowly crawled out of Christopher's mouth. The insect was about the size of a goose egg, with a round body and a pair of pitch-black eyes staring at Clark.

Clark opened fire immediately, flames spraying to envelop Christopher. Before the flames touched him, Clark noticed from Christopher's exaggerated expression that he seemed to be smiling at the corners of his mouth.

Boom!

The flames engulfed Christopher, burning him to ashes. However, the golden insect remained unaffected. It flew directly out of Christopher's body, hovered in mid-air for a moment, and emitted a beam of light from its two dark eyes. It scanned Clark as if performing a CT scan, then flew away.

The small insect was too fast; Clark couldn't react in time, and it disappeared without a trace.

"What the hell was that?" Clark was confused about the situation. However, it was evident that the creature had collected his image data, which was definitely not a good thing for him.

Christopher's body quickly turned to ashes, leaving nothing behind.

"You died too easily." Clark holstered his gun. With these clues cut off, where should he go to inquire about the whereabouts of Olivia Turner and Emma Kensington?

At that moment, a spherical drone flew over from the sky, emitting a buzzing sound. It somewhat resembled the unmanned drones from Clark's memory.

After circling around Clark, the small drone projected a screen, revealing someone familiar to him—Richard.

"Ha ha, you actually managed to come out alive!"

"This is a pre-record video. I'm sure you have many questions, but I don't have time to explain everything. After escaping from the fortress through the river, I created this little device, hoping that if you survived, I could provide you with some useful information as a way of repayment!"

Clark looked at Richard, feeling a complicated mix of emotions. He wasn't sure how to evaluate this person, seemingly both good and evil. At least he had helped Clark in critical moments.

"Firstly, after we left, the fortress you were in might face an attack from Black Claw. If you encounter certain individuals, don't resist because you won't be a match for them."

"Of course, by the time you see this video, you may have already encountered some of these people. If you're alive, it means you made the right choices. Here's another piece of advice: there may be Black Claw spies inside the fortress, known as 'Ears.' Do not kill them, or it will cause big trouble. Each Ear has a zombie-repelling bug in their body.

 Once an Ear dies, the bug will attract all nearby zombies, causing a zombie horde. You won't be able to handle it!"

As Richard spoke, his previously relaxed expression became somewhat serious.

"That's all I can tell you for now. Whether you survive or not depends on you. If we happen to meet again in the future, I might share more about Black Claw, and you probably want to know the fate of your friend!"

As he finished speaking, the screen was cut off. Immediately afterward, the spherical drone exploded in mid-air, as if it had never existed.

However, the information conveyed just now was crucial for Clark.

The little bug, if it's really a corpse worm, then the nearby zombies should be quickly driven over.

These black claws are truly disgusting. After losing the eyeline, such a malicious trick is left behind!

Before long, Michael and the others also arrived. Clark selectively shared the information he had just obtained.

"Damn black claws, even in death, they want to take a bite out of people."

Michael, enraged, picked up his gun and fired indiscriminately, setting ablaze a large area of the nearby forest, creating a wall of fire.