Compared to the information they’d just received, the three of them were no longer so surprised upon hearing that the girl was the Doctor’s daughter.
He had gone through all that trouble, even risking contamination of his own body, to develop the Cure—surely, it was for the sake of the girl before them.
With the Doctor’s abilities, he probably could have left with the people from the Outside World long ago, safely departing this City.
Bai Nian glanced at Li Qian, wanting to ask her intentions.
“The Doctor wants us to take Xiao Na and leave this City,” she spoke up.
The three of them were stunned, and their first thought was whether this would still count as completing the mission.
But thinking about it, as long as they brought the Confidential Document, it shouldn’t be against the rules.
“I know your mission. This is my only condition.”
The Doctor, looking a bit frail, said from the side.
“You want Xiao Na to leave this world with us, don’t you?”
Bai Nian suddenly asked, exposing his true purpose in a single sentence.
The Doctor did not hide it; he simply nodded.
“We’ll need to discuss this,” Zhang Kun said seriously as he looked at him, then glanced at Li Qian, signaling her to leave the room first.
The Doctor gave the four of them a look, nodded, and didn’t seem to mind.
They all left the room together, heading to the third floor and finding a random spot to huddle together.
Zhang Kun was the first to speak, his face grave.
“Li Qian, you should know the rules of the Hunter Guild. We can’t bring a Disaster out with us.”
“Team Leader, I know, but Xiao Na is different…”
Li Qian hurriedly explained.
“Leaving aside whether she can even get through the Gate this way—what about her strength? Who will vouch for her?”
Zhang Kun questioned.
“We risked our lives going into the Disaster Gate for what? Isn’t it to quell these disasters, so we can have a home behind us? Now you want me to bring her out myself—I can’t do it.”
This time, Zhang Kun’s attitude was uncharacteristically resolute, his tone allowing no argument.
“But we can’t even defeat her. If we try to snatch it by force, we have no chance…”
Shi Gao chimed in weakly.
“Then we’ll take her down with us. Her strength has long surpassed the Third-Tier Gate. The four of us for one of her—not a loss. This Gate will be cleared by others eventually!”
Zhang Kun spoke firmly, and the group fell silent.
For the first time, Bai Nian saw the resolve and courage a true Team Leader should possess in him.
“The first rule of the Hunter Guild: Hunters who enter the Disaster Gate must be ready to sacrifice themselves at any time!”
He emphasized, his gaze fixed on Li Qian.
He knew she was the one softening.
Li Qian had no way to refute him, because Zhang Kun was right.
She wasn’t afraid of dying either; she just pitied Xiao Na.
Bai Nian, standing by, seemed to think of something and asked doubtfully, “Since the Doctor can develop a drug to reverse the Zombie infection, shouldn’t eliminating these creatures be easy for him?”
“Xiao Na was infected by the Zombie Virus while she was still alive and has survived by relying on Inhibitors. But her physique seems different from others—the virus spread in her body at an extreme rate. The Doctor has been working on a Cure to completely eradicate the virus, but time was too short. In the end, before Xiao Na fully transformed into a Zombie, the Doctor injected her with this semi-finished Cure. The virus wasn’t entirely eradicated; instead, a portion remained and fused with her body, ultimately resulting in a Mutation.”
Li Qian explained to everyone.
In truth, what the Doctor has developed so far is only a semi-finished product that can completely cure an infected person.
But just then, she changed her tone and continued, “Actually, the Doctor told me he can develop a Cure that completely eradicates Zombies.”
“Then why not?”
Shi Gao asked in confusion.
Eliminating all the Zombies was essentially the same as destroying this City; it should also count as clearing the stage.
After all, if all the Zombies were gone, the Confidential Document would be worthless.
“The people from the Outside World don’t care about this City at all. What they want is the Doctor’s technology.”
Li Qian, of course, knew what the other party was thinking—she had thought the same way at first.
“With this document from the Doctor, the Experts outside could also develop a Cure to eradicate Zombies. By then, they might mass-produce cases like Xiao Na, creating one artificial bio-monster after another.”
Bai Nian analyzed, and Li Qian nodded in agreement.
But of course, the Doctor had his own private reasons—he didn’t want his daughter to die here.
“The key to studying this Cure is Xiao Na, who’s perfectly fused with the Zombie Virus,” Li Qian added, “but Xiao Na would die.”
“No wonder…”
The group finally understood.
“So between sacrificing Xiao Na to wipe out the Zombies, and sacrificing himself to let Xiao Na live, the Doctor chose the latter,” Bai Nian said calmly.
It was only natural—the Doctor wanted Xiao Na to survive.
That was the root of his negotiations with them.
The Doctor knew far too much; Bai Nian and the others had no way to judge whether the Confidential Document was genuine.
Even if all four of them joined forces, they couldn’t defeat Xiao Na.
Looking at it this way, it seemed they had no other choice.
The only gamble they could take was that Xiao Na wouldn’t follow them back to the real world.
The group fell silent, and all three looked to Zhang Kun.
As Team Leader, the final decision was his.
“Who?!”
Bai Nian suddenly cried out, breaking the silence.
She spun around and saw a figure lurking in the darkness at the doorway.
Startled by the shout, the figure stepped forward of her own accord.
“Xiao Na…”
Li Qian looked surprised.
“Did you hear everything just now?”
Xiao Na nodded, extending her hands and gesturing anxiously back and forth.
“You’re saying you don’t want the Doctor to die?”
Li Qian interpreted, a grave look appearing on her face.
“The Doctor won’t agree to that.”
At those words, Xiao Na became even more agitated, her gestures so frantic that even Li Qian couldn’t figure out what she was trying to say.
“You’re saying you can make the Cure?”
Bai Nian stepped forward, interpreting her hand signals.
Upon hearing this, Xiao Na nodded repeatedly.
Li Qian beside her immediately looked delighted.
“Bai Nian, you can understand?”
“Can you use hypnosis to communicate with her?”
Shi Gao asked at this moment. He’d long known that her hypnosis wasn’t the kind people normally thought of.
“Let me try.”
Bai Nian stepped forward.
“Xiao Na, can you take off your hat?”
She reached out and pulled down the wide, black hood, and in that moment, they finally saw her face.
A very ordinary little girl—aside from her unnaturally pale cheeks, there was nothing odd about her.
Bai Nian met her gaze. In truth, she hadn’t held any hope for hypnosis.
After all, survivors infected with the Zombie Virus couldn’t be hypnotized, let alone someone like Xiao Na, who had fused with the virus.
But in the next second, she felt her consciousness start to blur, the surrounding scenery rippling in an instant.