Trembling At A High Altitude

Thanks to the merit Li Teng established, he hadn't been assigned any outdoor mission at the camp ever since.

Considerable progress was made in the research on aliens.

It was primarily discovered that the transformation of normal humans into mutated corpses was caused by a certain alien virus.

After experiments, a vaccine originally used against a certain contagious disease was found to be effective against this alien virus.

If this vaccine was administered, encountering that alien virus would no longer turn someone into a mutated corpse.

This particular rescue and resettlement camp had obtained a batch of about several dozen vaccines.

After all the mid-and-high-ranking camp officers were immunized, only eight remaining doses of the vaccine were left.

A box of 10ml vaccine was sufficient for ten people, with each person receiving 1ml. To prevent normal losses like residual medicine in the syringe, the manufacturer would overfill the vial by 1-2ml. This overfill was called the remaining dose.

However, among the camp's ordinary survivors, the number was well over a hundred.

Distributing the eight remaining doses among more than a hundred people became a difficult issue.

To ensure fairness, a proposal for drawing lots was suggested.

But it was opposed by some.

After a discussion by the mid-and-high-ranking camp officers, it was finally decided to distribute the eight remaining doses through competition.

The specific method of competition involved all one hundred or so people lining up at the camp's north side, and once the order was given, they were to race toward the vaccine injection site at the south side of the camp.

Only the first eight to arrive would qualify to receive the remaining doses of the vaccine.

Some thought this method unfair.

However, the proposer of the plan explained that, in these apocalyptic times, among these ordinary survivors, only the strong deserved to survive. Hence, they must be tested this way.

A new mission was released on Li Teng's wristwatch, demanding that he must be injected with the remaining dose of the vaccine to successfully complete all his assignments and return to prison.

It seemed he had to participate in the race after all.

The injection time for the remaining doses was the next morning, but the exact start time was not disclosed.

Thus, to not miss the chance to fight for the remaining doses, over a hundred survivors had no choice but to run through the night to the south side of the town to seize a good starting position.

"Are we being treated like dogs?"

"This is too much."

Even if they ran over at night to secure positions, the chance of grabbing one of those eight spots remained slim, and the survivors complained loudly.

When dawn broke, several staff members arrived, roughly maintained order at the scene, and then shouted, "Places, ready, go!"

The chaotic crowd surged toward the vaccine injection site situated on the south side of the camp, and Li Teng bolted ahead without any issues due to his speed.

But several survivors around him, apparently with a plan in place, forcibly grabbed Li Teng to allow others to get a lead.

Enraged, Li Teng flung one over his shoulder, then delivered a fierce kick, incapacitating two men instantly, before he sped up to chase down the other survivors.

The two runners ahead, seeing Li Teng catching up, one of them tried to grapple Li Teng. Anticipating this, Li Teng threw a punishing punch that sent the man flying without any pause, charging into the lead.

The other one, noticing Li Teng had overtaken him, immediately pulled out two ping-pong ball-sized stones he had prepared and hurled them at the back of Li Teng's head.

Li Teng, as if having eyes on the back of his head, dodged the stones aptly, stopped, and delivered a spinning kick that sent the man flying into a nearby wall.

With no more obstacles ahead, Li Teng took the lead, the first to reach the vaccine injection point, and successfully received the remaining dose of the vaccine.

Behind him, the competition among the other hundred or so was fierce, with attacks flying and even many women tumbling and ending up in embarrassing positions on the ground.

Getting a vaccine was so difficult, let alone competing in a race. Such tragedies could only be seen in a society collapsing at the end of the world.

Having completed the injection of the vaccine, Li Teng also successfully completed his prisoner task and returned to the prison, where his sentence was reduced from twenty years to nineteen years.

To Li Teng's surprise, Yang Shunli had also managed to get the vaccine and returned to the prison with him.

However, his girlfriend, a woman named Dong Qi, did not return with him.

Li Teng did not know what had happened, and he had no interest in finding out.

He knew that those who went on the mission with him would eventually die.

Yang Shunli looked very upset and did not talk the whole way back. After returning to prison, he went to his own cell.

...

A few days later, a new mission was released.

This mission had a name.

It was called "Death Amusement Park."

Just by hearing the name, one could tell this script would be very bloody and terrifying.

Yang Shunli and Li Teng were still in the same group.

Along with them were six other people.

This time the mission was a group of eight people.

Four men and four women, four Asians two men and two women, two Caucasians one man and one woman, two Blacks one man and one woman. When everyone got together, inevitably, some conversation ensued.

Li Teng was very quiet because he felt there was nothing he could discuss with these people.

Yang Shunli was also very quiet; it was unknown if it related to his girlfriend's death.

The Caucasians and Blacks were very talkative, chatting loudly all the way, spitting saliva everywhere.

This helicopter flight was exceptionally long; after more than two hours, they still hadn't reached their destination.

The outside sky gradually darkened.

The wind started to blow, and it was strong, causing the helicopter to sway occasionally.

Those who weren't chatting generally fell asleep due to the helicopter's shaking.

The chatty Blacks and Caucasians gradually quieted down and eventually fell asleep as well.

Li Teng remained alert, maintaining sufficient vigilance even while asleep.

Thus, when the helicopter landed smoothly, he was the first to wake up.

Through the cabin window, one could see a huge amusement park not far away.

It was now nighttime.

The amusement park was bustling, all the rides were lit up and in operation.

After descending from the helicopter, they could even hear the screams of visitors in the amusement park.

In the coming days, once they entered the amusement park, they could not leave it.

They would survive until three days later when a helicopter would arrive at the rescue point to take them back to the prison.

If they accidentally died during this period... of course, they could not return to the prison.

After getting off the helicopter, they were given only two minutes to enter the amusement park gates.

The perimeter of the amusement park had nothing of interest to explore, so the eight of them charged directly toward the amusement park.

"Welcome! This way, please!"

Standing at the entrance of the amusement park was a greeter... no, a plastic model? An electronic puppet?

In any case, it was a plastic dummy, from which a welcoming voice emanated from a speaker inside its body.

The eerie smile on the face of the plastic dummy gave one a chilling sensation.

It was imaginable that surviving three days in this Death Amusement Park was definitely not going to be an easy task.

Everything became even more horrific upon entering the amusement park.

The amusement park was crowded with people.

The pathways were filled with visitors, and there were long lines at every ride.

The rides were also filled with visitors.

However, all the visitors, just like the greeter standing at the entrance, were made of plastic materials.

Inside them were speakers, and they were engaged in conversations; if one walked close to them, one could even hear what they were discussing.

The screams coming from the visitors on the rides also originated from the speakers inside them.

"The eight of you will gradually become tired, hungry, and sleepy in the amusement park. If you fall into a deep sleep due to extreme drowsiness, it is very likely that you will never wake up again.

"Mission Release: Find the Amusement Gold Coins in the amusement park. One Amusement Gold Coin can be used for one ride.

"Soon, a gold coin will appear in your hands. Make sure to recognize its features, and then start searching for it.

"Riding the amusement facilities will instantly rejuvenate you, preventing sleepiness, fatigue, and hunger.

"Depending on each person's physical condition and willpower, riding a ride can keep you alert for about an hour.

"To avoid falling into a deep sleep from which you may never awaken, make an effort to find the Amusement Gold Coins! Good luck!"

"Oh, and there's one more secret to tell you.

"That is, there is a moody and temperamental female ghost hidden in this amusement park, disguising herself among the crowd of visitors. She appears and kills at whim.

"Try your best not to touch her, otherwise... hehe, you might be tortured by her!"

A voice rang out in mid-air, clearly announcing the details of this mission or, rather, the rules of the game.

Right after the voice fell, a gold coin indeed appeared in everyone's hand.

It was about three centimeters in diameter.

Li Teng carefully examined the gold coin before his eyes. He could tell that the coin was made of pure gold, with a long-haired female ghost engraved on the front and two characters on the back.

Li Teng.

The others were also examining the gold coins in their hands; the Caucasians and Africans gathered together, studying the coins while murmuring among themselves.

While Li Teng was examining his own gold coin, he also glanced at Yang Shunli.

He found that when Yang Shunli looked at his own gold coin, his expression suddenly turned ugly. He clenched the coin tightly in his palm, seeming to exert much force, and sweat even trickled down his forehead.

"What does your gold coin look like?" Li Teng asked Yang Shunli.

"Ah!" Yang Shunli seemed to have been startled.

"What does your gold coin look like?" Li Teng showed his gold coin to Yang Shunli, wanting to know if everyone's gold coins were the same.

"Like you," Yang Shunli snapped back to reality but showed no intention of handing the Gold Coin over to Li Teng, his expression extremely tense.

"Relax. Not everything may be your fault," Li Teng guessed that Yang Shunli probably hadn't moved on from the death of his girlfriend, Dong Qi, and patted him on the shoulder.

"I...I didn't..." Yang Shunli nervously shook his head, then turned away, apparently unwilling to talk more with Li Teng.

Seeing him like this, Li Teng didn't initiate further conversation.

The Gold Coin in his hand would allow them to ride an amusement device once.

They were quite alert after disembarking from the helicopter, so they would have an hour of safety time without feeling hungry or sleepy, and after an hour, they could use the Gold Coin to ride an amusement device.

So, this meant they had two hours to search for Gold Coins.

As long as they found enough Gold Coins, they wouldn't fall into a faint from hunger, fatigue, or sleepiness.

However, as one might guess, Gold Coins were definitely not easy to find.

Moreover, there was a capricious female ghost in the amusement park, likely to kill people at any moment, which they also had to guard against.

"They've grouped up into five, should we four team up as well?"

A Southeast Asian woman approached Li Teng and Yang Shunli and suggested.

From her appearance and skin color, she seemed to be from Southeast Asia.

The five people she referred to as grouped together were two white individuals, two black individuals, and a woman from the Island Kingdom.

It was not at all surprising that the woman from the Island Kingdom had willingly grouped up with the white and black people.

That's because the Island Kingdom always considered itself part of the Western camp.

"Teaming up? If you don't want to die, perk up a bit, or else you might as well just find a place to hang yourself and end it all," Li Teng said to Yang Shunli.

"Teaming up," Yang Shunli nervously nodded.

"You can call me Aila, I'm from Xinjiapo," the woman introduced herself; Aila was clearly her English name.

It's possible she had only an English name, of course.

"Hello, Aila," Li Teng nodded at her.

Yang Shunli glanced at Aila and then lowered his head, seemingly sinking back into his own world.

"Okay, let's set out together to search for Gold Coins. It's definitely not good to be alone where there may be ghosts, so we must stick together!" Aila seemed to be a very sociable girl.

"You're right," Li Teng nodded in agreement.

The woman from the Island Kingdom had run off to team up with the black and white people. In fact, Aila could also have sought partnership with them as her country was pro-Western too, but since she preferred to come over and form a team with Li Teng and the others, Li Teng was naturally welcoming.

The group of five had apparently settled their plans too; they picked a path into the depths of the Death Amusement Park, deciding to look for Amusement Gold Coins in that direction.

"Since we're acting together, I have a suggestion. Once we find a Gold Coin, no matter who discovered it, we'll decide who keeps it by playing rock-paper-scissors.

"Of course, after winning a Gold Coin, you won't participate in the next round of rock-paper-scissors. The second Gold Coin will go to one of the remaining two people after a new round decides the owner, and the third Gold Coin will go to the one who lost in both of the first two rounds. What do you think?" Aila suggested a cooperative rule to Li Teng and his companion.

"I have no objections," Li Teng responded to Aila, then reached out and nudged Yang Shunli.

"I...I have no objections either," Yang Shunli spoke then lowered his head again.

"They chose that path. Since we have fewer people, let's not compete with them; let's take this path here," Aila pointed to another path leading deeper into the amusement park.

"Let's go," Li Teng showed no objections, patting Yang Shunli on the shoulder.

The three set off along that path deeper into the amusement park.