Upon closer inspection, it was indeed a generator, a small-scale one, not the household type Qin Shilei had initially imagined.
Looking at the various pipes and cables on the generator, Qin Shilei felt a headache coming on.
"I never expected it to be this kind of generator," Zhang Xiaoli said somewhat sheepishly.
This generator would likely be powerful, but it was far less manageable than a household model.
"Let's move it first."
Qin Shilei drew his Seven Star Sword, cutting through the pipes and cables, and then instantly stored the generator in his spatial ring.
Zhong Renhe's eyes flickered with surprise as he saw Qin Shilei pocket such a large object.
He said anxiously, "Quick, look for other exits. The zombies are already battering the door."
Zhang Xiaoli suddenly chimed in, "I remember. The physics lab on the third floor has a small generator."
"Alright, let's head out."
Qin Shilei went to the generator's exhaust port and with a few swift strokes of his sword, he broke open the large exhaust window.
"Let's go." Qin Shilei jumped out first.
Glancing at the room on the right, he realized with a flash of understanding, "This must be the diesel storage room."
He then proceeded to smash open the window and leaped inside.
"Brother Qin, hurry!" Zhang Xiaoli called out anxiously.
She glanced at the surging horde of zombies following Zhong Renhe, then turned and jumped into Qin Shilei's room.
"Damn it."
Zhong Renhe had no choice but to follow them in.
Upon entering, he saw Qin Shilei just storing the diesel tank into his ring.
He rushed directly to the door, opened it, and darted out.
At this moment, he was running at the front, with Zhang Xiaoli and Qin Shilei behind him, and the zombies who had just climbed in through the window trailing behind.
As Zhong Renhe burst out of the room, he spotted a road leading into the distance.
This road was likely built for fuel trucks to supply this room.
He broke into a run and headed for the distance.
However, Qin Shilei grabbed Zhang Xiaoli and they circled back towards the stairs in front of the laboratory.
Because Qin Shilei and Zhang Xiaoli were running at the back, most of the pursuing zombies followed them, with only a scattered dozen or so chasing Zhong Renhe.
The two moved with incredible speed, gradually leaving the zombies behind. They turned and re-entered the laboratory building, sprinting up to the third floor.
"Roar!"
A furious roar from a zombie suddenly erupted from within the laboratory building.
"This must be the mutated zombie commanding the others. Let's grab the generator and leave quickly," Qin Shilei said as he followed Zhang Xiaoli towards the physics lab.
About ten meters down the corridor from the stairwell, the physics lab was on the right.
"It should be here, why isn't it?" Zhang Xiaoli searched frantically within the laboratory.
"Further ahead seems to be another physics lab, let's go check it out," Qin Shilei said, pulling Zhang Xiaoli to the adjacent laboratory.
As they entered, they saw a household generator placed in the corner.
Qin Shilei stepped forward, touched it, and stored the generator into his spatial ring.
"Bang!" Zhang Xiaoli slammed the iron door of the laboratory shut and locked it.
"The zombies are coming. Should we climb down through the window?"
Zhang Xiaoli pointed at the window and asked.
Qin Shilei shook his head and replied, "After chasing us for so long, we can't just run away like this. You stay here, I'll go and kill that mutated zombie first."
To ensure their safety, he then moved some equipment to barricade the door.
After checking that nothing was overlooked, Qin Shilei crawled out through the overhead air conditioning duct.
"Roar!"
The mutated zombie let out occasional roars, as if directing troops.
This also helped Qin Shilei pinpoint its location.
After crawling for more than ten minutes, Qin Shilei was not far from the mutated zombie.
Meanwhile, Zhang Xiaoli's situation had become perilous.
Sounds of animals gnawing on something could be heard from beneath the laboratory's iron door.
"The door is quite thick, it shouldn't be bitten through, right?"
Zhang Xiaoli tried to reassure herself.
However, she didn't know that while the door looked solid, it was merely two layers of iron sheets sandwiching foam in between.
And the teeth of these zombie rats seemed exceptionally sharp, capable of gnawing through even iron.
Soon, a small hole appeared at the bottom of the iron door.
Through the hole, a little white mouse could be seen continuously gnawing.
"Ah, a mouse!" Zhang Xiaoli screamed in fright and scrambled to the farthest corner.
What to do?
Qin Shilei hadn't left a rope behind. She couldn't climb down through the window.
Climb up the air conditioning duct to find Qin Shilei?
But she had no idea where he had gone.
Besides, weren't rats supposed to be the best at burrowing? What if those damned little white rats came chasing after her?
The thought of mice chasing her from behind and crawling up her pants into her body sent goosebumps all over her.
"It's just a zombie, just a zombie."
Zhang Xiaoli kept encouraging herself and, trembling, she approached the iron door again.
Just then, the zombie rat finally gnawed a hole large enough to squeeze through.
Squeaking, it burrowed in.
"Die!"
Zhang Xiaoli closed her eyes, bent down, and brought her blade down.
After feeling the resistance, she slowly opened her eyes and looked at the ground.
Fortunately, the zombie rat had been cut in half.
But another zombie rat burrowed in.
Zhang Xiaoli had no time to be afraid. She quickly raised her cleaver and chopped down again.
Soon, a stream of zombies began to squeeze through, and Zhang Xiaoli simply kept chopping down with her blade.
For this game of "whack-a-mole," Zhang Xiaoli, who had already reached two stars, was performing quite well.
So far, no zombie had managed to evade her cleaver.
Third Floor, Chemical Laboratory.
A zombie, similar in appearance to a human, looked up at the ceiling with a hint of confusion.
Suddenly, a cover panel fell, and then Qin Shilei's head appeared in the opening.
"Roar!"
The mutated zombie leaped, its claws reaching for Qin Shilei's head.
Qin Shilei pulled himself back in the duct with his left hand.
Missing its attack, the zombie landed and leaped again, this time targeting the section of the air conditioning duct where Qin Shilei was.
Qin Shilei darted forward, head first, body trailing, and jumped down from the opening.
He flipped in mid-air, landing steadily on his feet.
As soon as he stabilized, a gust of wind came from behind him.
Qin Shilei took two steps forward, his Seven Star Sword instantly appearing in his right hand. He twisted and thrust backward.
The mutated zombie sidestepped, avoiding the blade's edge.
Qin Shilei used the opportunity to turn and face the zombie.
The zombie, apart from its sharp claws and blood-red eyes, looked almost human.
"Roar."
The mutated zombie let out a roar but did not attack again.
"You're summoning your minions, aren't you?"
Qin Shilei saw through its intentions at a glance and lunged with his sword towards the mutated zombie's head.
"Hiss!"
With a scream from the mutated zombie, Qin Shilei felt a sharp pain in his head, and a mouthful of blood spurted out.
At the same time, the mutated zombie's claws lashed out towards Qin Shilei's throat.
Is this a mental attack?
Qin Shilei cursed inwardly.
Watching the mutated zombie rapidly approach, Qin Shilei's head throbbed violently, and he found himself losing control of his body.
Was he going to be killed by such a zombie?