Chapter 8: Zombies

Mason appeared on the ground with a terrible smell, and in front of him was a scene that looked like a post-war ruin.

The scene in front of him was obviously attacked by some kind of explosive from the sky, and even the trail of this large train station had been destroyed.

Mason felt like he had stepped into a World War II battlefield.

He observed the surroundings and couldn't find any trace of life in this debris-filled ruin, which was as lonely as it had been abandoned for decades.

"Holy Shit"

The only woman in the team shouted in shock at the sight before her. This woman had short black hair, a thin waist, long legs, and a very stunning appearance.

She was looking at the old K, who was checking his crossbow, and she shouted angrily, "That's not what you said when you recruited me. Is this a world full of powerful magic? Bullshit. This is clearly a wasteland. This place is worse than the battlefield in Afghanistan. I feel like I'm back in a nightmare."

"Calm down, Miss Bette," Old K ignored her and said casually. "Believe me, this is a relatively peaceful world, which is very suitable for beginners to explore freely. In fact, if my old team members hadn't died in another damn chaotic world, I wouldn't have brought you here."

After speaking, the mysterious person coughed and loudly addressed the four people, including Mason beside him, saying, "I've been here many times before, and I completed my entry test here. I promise that as long as you listen to me, there won't be any problems. This time, our exploration goal is a magic academy destroyed and abandoned during the apocalypse. Hmm? Why are you making that kind of expression? Isn't it normal for there to be a magic academy in another world?"

Old K once again showed that disgusting and disdainful expression as if talking to a fool. He took out an arrow case and loaded his crossbow, calmly saying, "This world has a magic, but it is very weak. There used to be many magic schools here, but most of them have been searched by my colleagues.

The only one left is also the most dangerous. There are many good things in the ruins there, and our mission this time is to find one of them and hand it over to the organization to start reorganizing the K Team.

I guarantee that as long as you can survive until the end, each of you will get benefits beyond your imagination. The lucky ones will officially join my team and become E-level members of the Star Society. I will take you to the world I am conquering, and we can accomplish great things together!"

"By accomplishing great things, do you mean abandoning us in another world as you did to your previous team members?"

A tall and thin man asked in a cold tone, causing a sudden change in old K's expression.

This guy who spoke out of turn wore a tight black bodysuit with a red spiral emblem on the chest and a heavy black cloak with green patterns inside. He had golden hair but covered the upper half of his face with a strange semi-covered mask, and his tone was very gloomy.

Mason felt this guy was strange because whenever he looked at him, he suddenly felt dizzy, as if a special force field surrounded him.

"Shut up, Count," old K sneered and said, "When I rescued you from Amanda Waller's prison, you didn't have so much to say. We aim to find a strange object called the 'Philosopher's Stone' in the abandoned Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry ruins. This is the highest paying, medium difficulty task on the Bounty List for this C-level world.

"Now, I'll give you some time to get to know each other. When I finish exploring, we'll set out. I remind you that the mini-bomb will explode immediately when it leaves the remote control's sensing range, which is three kilometers. So if you want to run, I suggest you run faster."

After speaking, Old K turned and left.

Perhaps this guy demonstrated his ability while walking to intimidate the team members. After taking three steps, his figure suddenly flashed and appeared strangely ten meters away. He took a few more steps and flickered again, causing the four cannon fodders to frown.

"Uh, hi, everyone. My name is Charles, and you can call me Kite Man. I come from Gotham and was brought out of Blackgate Prison by Old K. What about you guys?" The most talkative member of the team took the initiative to speak.

He wore a green jumpsuit and carried a special brown backpack on his back, with flying goggles on his face. Although tall, he always unconsciously touched his head when he spoke, making him seem very insecure.

"Cut the crap, I know you, Kite Man. You were once a lackey of the Joker's gang. You and the others spread like rats when the Joker was sent to Arkham. Those with any skills joined someone else, leaving you with no one to turn to. You ended up robbing a bakery and were caught by Gordon himself. Actually, I suspect you did it on purpose so that you could enjoy the delicious food in prison."

The hot-tempered girl, Bette, chewed gum and put her hands on her hips, ignoring the explosives hidden inside her coat. She looked down at Kite Man and casually mentioned his embarrassing story. Then, she looked at the other two people and asked, "Are you from the Suicide Squad? Not bad, buddy. What's your ability? Please don't tell me you can do magic tricks. We already have a useless Kite Man as our team pet."

"I know you too, Bette Sans Souci."

The man who looked the toughest glanced at her and said, "I heard you underwent human modification and can make anything you touch explode. After retiring, you joined a terrorist organization in Canada, and everyone in the circle calls you 'Plastique.' Amanda Waller is very interested in you, but that's not good."

The latter hesitated for a moment and introduced himself, "My code name in the Suicide Squad is Vertigo, but people in the circle call me Count. I do have noble bloodlines. As for my ability, I can cause all living creatures in my line of sight to enter an uncontrollable state of dizziness. If necessary, I can also interfere with electronic devices."

"Cool! You'll be a good partner," Plastique Bette seemed to have appointed herself as the leader of this four-person team, and Count and Kite Man had no objections.

Then the three of them looked at Mason, who had been silent all along.

Mason didn't care about their gaze and had no interest in introducing himself. Jokingly, he was rescued and not here to make friends. He was now thinking about the information Old K had just mentioned.

'Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry? Philosopher's Stone?'

Mason looked up at the sign of "King's Cross Station" swaying in the wind above the crack in the rubble that had been blown open. He felt that his assumption was probably not far off.

At this moment, a sense of relief and doubt surged through Mason's mind. He was relieved that he had some knowledge of this world, which could be advantageous for him.

However, he was also puzzled about what could have happened to cause a London station to be bombed like this. Did the dark wizards succeed in their planned revenge? Did a world war between wizards and humans cause London to fall?

"Hey, kid! Everyone's waiting for your introduction," Plastique Bette said, feeling that Mason violated the authority she was trying to show. She spoke impolitely, and Mason turned his head to glance at her, shrugged his shoulders when he saw her aggressive pose, and pointed to his mouth with his hand, making a helpless expression.

"Oh, so he's mute," Bette said, feeling a little embarrassed. She glared at Mason and asked, "What's your ability?"

With a swoosh, Mason pulled out the explosive hunting rifle "Old K" from behind him and made an aiming gesture.

Bette lost interest in Mason and turned to chat with the only one she respected, Count Vertigo. However, at that moment, Kite Man, who was despised by everyone, came over and familiarly patted Mason's shoulder.

This guy whispered to Mason, "Don't pay attention to these freaks. They always think that power comes from abilities, but they don't know what real power is. When I followed the Joker, I knew too much about these things. They see us as a burden and will definitely make us go up and fight when something happens. I've seen this kind of thing too much, so we must help each other."

Faced with Kite Man's proactive gesture of goodwill, Mason, who pretended to be mute to avoid too much interaction with others, showed him a polite but distant smile.

Afterwards, Mason took out like a Spiderbot built from a drone and engineering explosives, along with a tablet for control, from his backpack. After some simple operations, the thing flew up and acted as a surveillance scout to enter the ruins in front of them.

This action made Kite man, who was watching from the side, blink his eyes. As a villain who had followed the Joker and seen the big world, he immediately knew that this low-key young man who pretended to be mute was even more powerful than Plastique had imagined.

But a few seconds later, the image transmitted back from Mason's surveillance tablet made Kiteman's eyes widen, almost screaming.

His heart pounding, he covered his mouth and looked at the monitoring screen.

The engineering bomb flew over the big pit formed by the collapsed platform stairs that led from the underground platform to the parking lot, where a group of wandering "people" were gathered.

The ground in that was stained with dirty coagulated blood, like a human hell.

As the drone approached, the faces of those people were revealed. They look like a Zombie.

Mason was also filled with doubts. He wasn't afraid of zombies but was confused about why a zombie apocalypse would happen in a world with wizards. These two things clearly have different styles.

"They're leaving."

Kiteman suddenly poked Mason's shoulder and whispered.

Mason turned around and saw that Plastique and Vertigo had obviously planned their actions and were walking towards the exit of the station, chatting and laughing, completely unaware of the danger around them.

He gestured to Kiteman to follow him and walked cautiously along a relatively safe route identified by the drone towards the train station's waiting room, where Platform 9 3/4, the platform to board the Hogwarts Express, should be. Old K should be there too.

That cunning guy said leaving time for the four newbies to get to know each other was just an excuse. This jerk was specifically giving the four newcomers a trial by fire, waiting for them to be scared by the zombies before diving in.

The man dressed in green, Kite Man, hesitated in place. Mason had gone in the opposite direction of Plastique and Vertigo, leaving Kite Man with a decision to make. Which side should he follow - the male-female duo who outclassed Mason on strength or the seemingly ordinary 17-year-old high schooler

Kite Man didn't hesitate for long. He chose to trust the strong intuition he had developed during his years in the Joker's gang and quickly caught up to Mason.

The two of them advanced through the dark and deserted ruins, sometimes hearing strange howls. They heard a violent explosion behind them as they followed the drone's guidance into the waiting hall. That must have been Plastique showing off her skills.

It seemed that she had finally discovered the zombies in the station and realized their current situation. Mason didn't stop but instead increased his speed. If the zombies were disturbed, they would quickly come to where the sound was, so he had to enter the magical platform immediately.

As expected, when they arrived at Platform Nine and Three-Quarters, they saw K leaning against a pillar, smoking his pipe while appreciating the silent Mason and Kite Man following behind him.

"Not bad." He grinned, blowing out a smoke ring before saying slowly.

"I've trained many rookies, and some fools always think they're invincible because of their abilities. The first rule of the Star Society is to fight with your brain, not your fists. You're naturally suited to join us, Mason. No wonder you were recognized by Batman as a young man. But we're a team, so abandoning your teammates is not good."

The hypocritical Old K snapped his fingers and turned around to lean against the pillar behind him, telling Mason.

"The wizards have put up a barrier here. I need some time to open it. Your mission is to protect me from being disturbed and rescue those two fools. Any questions?"

"Click."

Mason flicked off the safety and turned around to make a ready-to-shoot motion. He glanced at the nervous Kite Man beside him. He casually tossed him a mechanical engineering gun he had made last night, gesturing for him to step back a few paces.

"Don't disturb me while I'm fixing up."

After all the preparations were made, Mason looked at the video feed of the Spiderbots moving through the zombies. As soon as he saw Plastique and Vertigo being chased by many zombies, Mason decisively pressed the detonation button.

With a loud bang, the broken floorboard above the only path leading to the waiting hall collapsed as the engineering bomb stopped there and exploded. The explosion blocked the path of the zombies and the male-female duo, leaving only a thin space for them to move forward.

This move made Old K turn his head to look at Mason, but he didn't say anything and started to break the wizard's barrier on the platform.

Mason shrugged his shoulders and raised his gun, entering combat mode with a large number of floating aim assist frames appearing in his vision. The red crosshair trajectory was also activated, and "FPS mode" was initiated.

'Here comes the hero who blocks a bunch of zombies,' he thought, aiming at the fastest approaching zombie's disgusting head. He couldn't help but think, 'It's rare to have such a good opportunity to practice shooting. It seems that being abducted here is not all bad. By the way, will my shooting skills break through to Level 3 when I leave here with Old K's head?'

.....

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