As night fell, two or three guards stood watch near the steel gates of the safe zone. The spotlights on the watchtower swept across the darkness, their harsh white beams tearing through the shadows in front of the perimeter.
One soldier above spotted a silhouette approaching the gate, less than twenty meters away.
"Target sighted!"
The soldier's voice rang out with tension. Gun barrels were raised in unison, safeties clicked off, and infrared lasers locked onto the figure walking from the distance. The figure was lean, the pace neither fast nor slow, yet appearing at the most sensitive hour.
"Halt!"
"Hands up!"
The silhouette stopped at the boundary of the light. A suit of dark green armor, stained with dried blood and dirt, became visible. A faint, metallic stench wafted over with the wind, causing several guards to instinctively tighten their fingers on their triggers.
A soldier frowned, his voice turning cold. "Still wandering outside the walls at this hour? Where did you come from?"
There was no immediate answer.
In that moment, the muzzles adjusted their aim slightly lower—enough to take him down instantly if anything went wrong.
Then, the figure slowly raised a hand, but not in surrender.
Between two fingers was a dark gray metal tag, its cold surface reflecting the spotlights. Engraved on the tag was a simple but unmistakable symbol: the emblem of the Commander-in-Chief, accompanied by a brief code that was impossible to forge.
"——!"
The lead soldier froze.
He stepped forward, signaling the men behind him to lower their weapons slightly. He stared at the tag, his pupils contracting.
"A Commander-level passage tag?"
The atmosphere at the gate suddenly slackened.
Another soldier swallowed hard. "Impossible... someone is returning with that thing at this hour?"
Thuong Sinh finally spoke. His voice was slightly hoarse but clear. "Thuong Sinh. Independent mission complete. Requesting entry."
No excessive explanations, no justifications—just a brief sentence, identical to the way he had survived three days of life and death outside.
The guard stared at him for a few more seconds. His gaze swept over the dried blood on the light blue shirt, the blood-soaked bandage over his right eye, and the sword hanging at his hip that hadn't even been wiped clean.
Finally, he took a deep breath. "Open the side gate."
The heavy grinding of metal gears echoed. The side steel gate slowly opened just enough for one person to pass.
However, a hand reached out to block Thuong Sinh before he could step through.
"Wait."
The guard's voice deepened, no longer open to negotiation.
"Body check. We need to see if there are any signs of infection."
The muzzles that had just been lowered were raised again, though this time they didn't aim at his head, but locked onto his torso at close range. An invisible pressure immediately descended.
"Strip your gear."
"Slowly."
Thuong Sinh said nothing and showed no sign of irritation. He understood why this regulation existed.
The sword was removed first and placed on the metal ledge beside the gate.
The Green Snake Skin Armor was taken off, the dark green snake leather stained with dried blood and gray dust laid bare under the lights.
Jacket, bag, item by item—all were set aside.
Finally, he was left in only his thin military undergarments.
The guns never strayed half an inch from his body.
A soldier stepped forward wearing specialized gloves, his gaze cold but focused. He checked the wrists, arms, sides, and back—not a single inch of skin was missed. A handheld light scanned the skin closely, searching for bite marks, unusual bruising, or any signs of mutation.
The air was so quiet that only Thuong Sinh's steady breathing could be heard.
No bite marks. No signs of infection.
But when the soldier checked the chest and rib area, his movements hitched for a very brief second.
His eyes flickered—so slightly that an unobservant bystander wouldn't have noticed.
The soldiers behind him immediately tensed. "Problem?"
The checking soldier instantly withdrew his expression and took a breath. "No."
"No bite marks."
He stood up, but his eyes didn't dare meet Thuong Sinh's for long, as if he had just confirmed something he shouldn't have.
No one asked further, until another guard's gaze stopped at the blood-stained bandage over his right eye.
"That bandage."
"Open it."
The voice was not loud, but it left no room for refusal. Thuong Sinh hesitated for a split second, then raised his hand and slowly unwound the wrap.
The cloth fell away, a faint scent of dried blood wafting into the air. Under the white light, the wound stretching from forehead to cheek revealed itself—a clear, sharp claw mark. It had been treated; there were no signs of rot or abnormal swelling.
More importantly, the right eye was still there.
The pupil dilated normally. Though the gaze was weary, it was sharp and alert—not cloudy, not bloodshot, with no signs of anything unusual.
The soldier stared for a few seconds before finally nodding. "Just a wound."
The atmosphere finally truly eased.
"Put your clothes back on."
"Open the gate."
The sound of the gears echoed again, smoother this time. The gate opened wide, and the warm light from within spilled out, enveloping the figure standing between two worlds.
Thuong Sinh re-wrapped his eye, put on his coat, took his sword, and stepped through.
No one asked him what he had encountered.
After Thuong Sinh had disappeared from view, the tension on the guard post settled.
A young soldier lowered his rifle and turned to the man who had performed the check. He asked in a low voice, "Why did you freeze earlier? What did you see?"
The soldier remained silent for a few seconds, his eyes fixed on the spot where Thuong Sinh had vanished.
"Those injuries... they should have made a man collapse at least three times. But he stood there, acting as if nothing had happened."
The young soldier went quiet for a moment before whispering, "Then what did he meet out there?"
The checking soldier shook his head, his gaze heavy. "I don't know."
"I only know one thing: if even after all that he still returned alive... then the world out there is no longer a place that ordinary people can understand."
Thuong Sinh did not head to the dormitory to rest, nor did he stop at the medical station.
The first place he went was straight to the Command Center. The command building, located deep within the safe zone, was an old administrative tower reinforced with steel and anti-climb netting. There were two layers of security at the entrance; red lights scanned him, identifying the gray passage tag in his hand.
Beep.
The door opened.
No one blocked him, and no one questioned him. The tag alone said everything.
The interior hallway was much quieter than the outside. The concrete walls were coated in light gray paint, and the fluorescent lights on the ceiling hummed softly. Maps were pinned to the walls, covered in dense notes marking red and black zones—danger areas, lost communication zones, and abandoned territories.
Thuong Sinh walked at a steady pace, each step firm. At the end of the hallway, before a thick metal door, four faded black-painted words were engraved: "COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF OFFICE."
He raised his hand and knocked.
Knock. Knock.
Two brief sounds.
Silence reigned inside for a few seconds.
"Come in."
The voice was deep, slightly hoarse, not loud but possessing authority.
Thuong Sinh pushed the door open. The room inside was brighter than the hallway, with a large desk in the center covered in documents, maps, communicators, and monitoring screens. On the wall hung a map of the old city, circled and crossed out countless times.
Behind the desk stood Ly Hong Quan, one hand propped on the edge of the table, the other holding a cup of cold water. In his military jacket, with silver hair spreading to his temples, his gaze was sharp but couldn't hide his exhaustion.
His eyes rested on Thuong Sinh—on the blood-stained bandage over his right eye, the sword at his hip, and the frayed, blood-spattered light blue shirt.
Ly Hong Quan said nothing, didn't ask what he had met, but slowly set down the water cup.
"You're back."
Thuong Sinh stood straight, not offering a military salute, but bowing his head slightly. "Reporting. Reconnaissance mission complete."
Ly Hong Quan narrowed his eyes. "Three days."
"Correct."
"Returned alive."
His voice dropped a beat.
Thuong Sinh didn't answer, just stood still.
After a moment, Ly Hong Quan continued, "Take a seat."
He pulled up a chair and sat opposite the command desk. The moment his body touched the seat, the exhaustion accumulated over three days began to surge, but he kept his back straight, his gaze unwavering.
Ly Hong Quan observed him for a few more seconds before slowly asking, each word clear: "Outside... what has it become?"
The room fell silent.
Thuong Sinh took a deep breath. This time, he didn't keep it brief; he started from the first day.
From leaving the safe zone, the southwest direction, each ruined block, the first low-level and mid-tier zombies. He spoke of having to bypass crystals and corpses to escape, speaking calmly, without exaggeration or added emotion.
By the second day, his voice grew a bit deeper.
The zombies were no longer just stumbling, unconscious corpses; there were those that knew how to ambush, how to track the scent of blood, how to wait until he was weakened to strike.
Ly Hong Quan didn't interrupt. He merely flipped a map on the desk, using a pen to circle several areas Thuong Sinh mentioned. With each circle, his gaze grew heavier.
Then Thuong Sinh spoke of the third day.
His voice slowed.
He spoke of the old square, the feeling of being watched from above, the winged zombie, its speed far exceeding normal perception, its dark red eyes that didn't rush to kill, only hunted.
When he mentioned the words "mutated," the pen in Ly Hong Quan's hand paused.
"It wasn't like the mid-tier zombies I've encountered before," Thuong Sinh continued. "It flies. High reflexes. Clear predatory intelligence. And it devours others more frequently."
The room grew increasingly silent.
Thuong Sinh spoke of the wound to his right eye. Of the decision to run instead of fight. Of the moment he severed the wing, then drove the blade into its head. Of the abnormally large crystal in the monster's heart.
When he finished, only the steady hum of the ventilation system remained.
Ly Hong Quan leaned back in his chair. He said nothing.
His gaze rested on the city map on the wall, where the red zones were growing in number. The southwest route Thuong Sinh had traveled now appeared like a long, cold laceration.
"Mutated mid-tier zombie..."
He repeated, his voice low, as if speaking to himself.
His fingers tapped lightly on the table, a slow, steady rhythm.
If Thuong Sinh's words were true, the things breeding out there were no longer just "random mutations"—they were evolving.
Ly Hong Quan looked up at Thuong Sinh again. This time, his gaze was no longer just evaluating an individual, but looking at a harbinger.
"Are you sure?" he asked. "Not an isolated case?"
Thuong Sinh replied instantly, without hesitation: "I cannot be certain of the numbers. But I am certain of one thing: if there is one such creature, there will not be only one."
Ly Hong Quan remained silent for a long time. Finally, he stood up, turned his back to Thuong Sinh, and looked out the small steel-shuttered window at the safe zone lights.
"Only three days," he whispered, then turned back. "You have done very well."
It wasn't a polite compliment but a conclusion.
"Go rest," Ly Hong Quan continued. "Tomorrow, I will call an emergency meeting."
He paused, his voice lowering, "What you saw... we must prepare for something even worse."
Thuong Sinh stood up. He bowed his head once more, said no further words, and turned to leave the command room.
The metal door closed behind him. In the long, cold hallway, his footsteps echoed steadily. Outside, night had completely fallen, and somewhere in the ruined streets far from the safe zone, things like that monster had perhaps also begun to open their eyes.