Starting from Zero

With a speed that blurred vision, the Phantom Knight closest to me grabbed onto me, which caused the thing pulling on my ankles to pull with even more force, causing my entire body to be pulled straight in mid-air, the Phantom Knight at my arms while a red thing coiled around my legs in a tug-of-war with me being the rope.

A snap was heard. Scott had rushed forward and slashed the red thing in half, and the immense force that was pulling against my leg disappeared, causing both of us to fall and roll a few times. The very first thing I did after climbing up was to pull off the half of the red thing attached to me, which after looking at it clearly, it was a tongue. The red long thing was the Zombie\'s tongue! Those zombies were actually capable of utilizing ranged attacks, no wonder they were stationary in place!

"Go! Kill them!" I ordered the Phantom Knights to rush at the Zombie Horde. The 10 Phantom Knights went into formation and launched a powerful charge, which forced out a path in the horde. I brought my Companions and rushed in behind them. The 10 Phantom Knights formed a circle formation and protected us inside and would allow in 1 or 2 zombies at a time into the circle. My Companions and I were not High levelled enough to handle all of the Zombies at once, and could only fight in such a way!

The Phantom Knights started to slaughter the Zombies, a stab with the spear would instantly kill one, while I stayed in the center and watch my EXP bar jump and jump over and over again. I was already past Level 200 which was far higher than Lucky and the rest, thus I was the next in line for defense fighting the Zombies that leaked in, and when the Zombies were about to die, I would leave my Companions to deal the finishing blow. After calculation, this method was purely giving my Companions EXP, but the Phantom Knights on the outer circle were helping me get EXP, thus I did not consider it as losing anything, furthermore, the kills that my Companions got still provided with me with some EXP!

The 3 Dragons, Lucky, Epidemic, and Crystal, leveled the fastest, their high DMG allowed them to kill faster than the other Companions, which was normal considering their race. When I logged off at night, I was already Level 317.

Lucky, Epidemic and Crystal: Level 301

Phiona and Loong\'er: Level 289

Rosa: Level 288

Tank: Level 300

Aldeina: Level 299

Night Shade: Level 213

Dart: Level 210

Phantom: Level 208

Night Shade, Dart, and Phantom were not offensive Companions, thus leveling them was extremely troublesome, despite my meticulous care for them, their levels were still far from the rest!

When I got offline, I felt much more comfortable, the cramps in my muscles were no longer as severe. After dinner, I wanted to have a good sleep, but I could not fall asleep even after lying on the bed for a long time, I was actually not tired at all! I could no longer lie any further and decided to go back online to continue training until I got tired. I opened my eyes and took the Game Helmet by my bed and placed it on, and just as I was about to go online, I sat upright again.

I looked at my own hands in surprise, then looked up at the fluorescent lights on the ceiling. I saw the ceiling and the room around me as the same, the ceiling with fluorescent light was bright as the rest of the room, which meant that the lights were not switched on. I was in an underground base and was about 70-80 meters below ground where it was impossible for lights from the outside world to shine in, but I was able to see clearly even without the lights on! While I was in the Nurture Chamber, I had actually obtained Night Vision temporarily, but it disappeared after that and I did not bother about it anymore, but how did it come back! Furthermore, the Night Vision I was experiencing was far stronger than what I had in the Chamber, everything was not as blurred as before! I carefully looked around the room again, I could see everything clearly, but the world in my eyes was ash gray, the walls had some company posters which were now completely black and white, although everything was extremely clear, there were no colors!

I could no longer sit still. I took off the Game Helmet and jumped out of bed. I walked over to the room in the mirror and was shocked to realize that the mirror was empty, I could not see anything in the mirror. The mirror now looked like a steel board, it was gray with a hint of black and did not reflect anything in the room.

The ability to see comes from the stimulation of the light-sensitive neurons from light in the retinas of the eyes, which receives the image the cornea focuses on to. I was able to see inside the pitch black room meant that my eyes were able to receive all sorts of light apart from visible light, like infrared light, but such lights cannot be reflected in the mirror, that was why the mirror looked like a steel board! For there to be such a light deep underground meant that this unique light was on an ultra-wave, otherwise, it would not be able to possess such penetrative power.

In my excitement, I decided to look for the main researcher to inquire about it, and opened my room door and rushed out. Initially, I thought that there would be light outside, but upon leaving my room, I realized that the corridor was equally pitch black.

What\'s going on? Why are the lights not on!

The lights in the corridors were supposed to be on 24 hours a day, at the very most, the intensity of the light would decrease at night, but it would never be pitch black! We were in an RnD base and had our own small-scale nuclear reactor, it was impossible for us to have a power cut because our electricity was not transmitted from the electrical network outside! Furthermore, even if the 3 nuclear reactors had all stopped working at the same time, we had a reserve battery that could maintain the base for at least 1000 hours! It was impossible for it to be servicing at night as well!

The corridor was vacant and no one was around. Fortunately, I had regained my night vision and need not worry about the darkness. As I moved through the corridor, I suddenly recalled that the main researcher\'s room was not far from mine. I continued moving and suddenly felt that I had stepped on something. I was barefooted, thus I could feel it clearly! I bent down and took a look at the object. I jumped in shock, it was a bullet casing, the bronze body was still warm which meant it was shot not long ago!

A thought flashed past my mind - We were under attack. Dragon Fate did not allow guns in the base if someone had used a gun inside, it was not a personnel of Dragon Fate. Furthermore, the bullet casing was not from Dragon Fate, although I did not know gun parts, the code written on the bullet casing was not the usual codes used by Dragon Fate, Dragon Fate no longer used such numbers anymore!

After my dinner, the base was still functioning normally, and the only time-lapse was when I laid on the bed for an hour, which was most probably the time where the intruders had infiltrated in. I ran in the direction where I found the bullet casing and noticed a black patch on the ground which was most probably blood. Without color, I was unable to differentiate it, thus I used my finger to touch the black patch. It was sticky and had a strong smell of iron, it had to be blood!

I no longer dared to advance further, it was too dangerous and I had nothing on me, but the other party had a gun. Since they had somehow disabled the light system, they definitely had night vision equipment which meant I held no advantage in terms of night vision! After considering the situation, I turned around and ran back to the main control room. For the longest time, Dad always repeated the words of \'Preparedness averts peril\', thus the base had 3 systems in place. The first system was the main system which was most commonly used, the second system was the backup system, but very few people inside knew of the third system, an emergency countermeasure system, aside from Dad and I, the number of people who knew about it were the few high-rank Researchers.

The Third System\'s main control room was on the level below the resting area. I sprinted over, and suddenly realized that my speed was unusually fast, but it was not the time for me to study such a thing. I had to focus on getting to the System core.

Very quickly, I arrived at the Third System\'s Control Room. As this Third Computer room was built as an emergency facility, the doors to it were manually operated, otherwise, if there were no electricity, no one could get in! I entered the 2 square meters room and jumped onto the only available chair, and locked the high-pressure doors from the inside. I was safe! The circle of electronic equipment was not switched on, and only the large screen in the middle had the words \'On Standby\' flickering.

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There was only one power switch on the workstation, all other controls were handled via voice. Designed by Dad, there were no keyboards, thus even the most powerful Hackers can never hack into the system. I pressed on the power switch and a clear female voice spoke up:

<….Connection Complete, Functionalities of Main Facility ordinary, Electrical System have been damaged, Automated Repair Bots have been dispatched.>

I was dumbstruck, the system was older than I thought, I did not recall having approval with my own Identity! "I am Sairin, son of Dragon Fate Chairman!"

A mechanical sound sounded out, the workstation suddenly had a robot arm that had locked down on my arm. A needle pricked into my arm and drew a bit of blood, which then retracted back into the workstation.

"Restore the power, but do not activate the Lighting System."

"Activate internal CT scan, find all signs of life."

"Scan all of them and find the people that have no nerve implants placed by Dragon Fate!"

"Are they together?"

"Switch on thermal imaging and show me the people at D35!"

The surveillance monitor immediately revealed five figures. The red outlines of them were not clear, but I could recognize them as people. The five of them were in stealth with guns in hand. The computer immediately detected the gun model and revealed them on the side of the screen, revealing the model numbers, manufacturing location and data about them. Following that, the computer scanned out shapes of blades on the five targets\' back, which looked like Ninjatos*!

"Computer, what are they carrying on their backs?"

"What! They\'re Ninjas! Who are they! Display the two at the entrance."

The screen changed, revealing the two men at the entrance. "Am I able to connect to the unit outside?"

"Yes!"

A second voice suddenly spoke up in the room which sounded like a middle-aged man.

"Hello! I am Captain Long\'an of the LCHS Unit (Dragon Fate Emergency Response Force), who am I speaking to?" The Captain knew that the communication came from inside the Base, but did not know who it was.

I knew Long\'an, he had brought me in once before. "I\'m Sairin!"

"Oh, it\'s you, Young Master! Are you alright?"

"I\'m fine! I\'m already at the Main Control Hub and have obtained control of the entire Base Systems, so listen to me. Get your men to the entrance and get prepared, I will open the gates for you. There are two intruders behind the doors with hand grenades and SMGs** with them when I open the doors, I will instantly illuminate the corridor with the strongest light to blind them for a few seconds, take that time and take them down, best is if you can capture them alive!"

"Alright! Please give me a moment!" I waited for a moment before Long\'an came back: "Alright, I will do the countdown, when the countdown ends, then open the doors and illuminate the corridor."

"Alright, but be fast, the base illumination is not flash grenade, at most, I can only render them blind for at most seven to eight seconds!"

"Not a problem!"

I spoke to the Computer: "Listen to his countdown, once it is over, open the entrance and on all the lights with the brightest intensity, even if it breaks the bulbs!"

Long\'an started the countdown: "3, 2, 1, GO!"

The two idiots at the entrance were still idling. When the lights suddenly switched on, it instantly dazzled and blinded their eyes. The doors instantly opened at lightning speed and although they could hear the doors open, they could not see anything, and could only rely on their memory and frantically shoot at the direction of the enemies.

The Emergency Response Force had two remote-controlled Robots that rushed in first and deflected the hail of bullets. When the bullets struck their metal bodies, the clanking sounds immediately came out. The remote-controlled robots swapped to electric guns and opened fire, which instantly caused the two blind intruders to faint. This electric gun was built on the theory of static electricity, a small current of high voltage could quickly knock a person out but was not fatal at all.

I watched everything unfold from the camera. The Security Force rushed in quickly after the Robots and stripped the two intruders until they were naked, then restrained them with tight knots.

"Young master, we have secured the entrance!"

"I saw everything! Get the two of them to the labs and let the researchers tranquilize them, don\'t wake them up for now. Send a few experts down, there are still 5 more at D35. D34 now has power, you can go there and save the researchers!"

"Roger that!"

I watched as a large group of people rushed into the base. The Remote Controlled Robots were too big and could not squeeze inside the base, thus Long\'an personally led 20 of his men with 3 [Spiders] into the lower levels to chase after the 5 Intruders. [Spiders] were robots meant for urban warfare made by Dragon Fate mostly used for reconnaissance. They were the size of cats with eight legs and could walk on walls. All of them were also equipped with many advanced sensors and an electric gun which had 3 shots.

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With me as a guide, Long\'an quickly caught up with the enemies, but it seemed that they were no longer needed. The five idiots actually drilled their way into the Biological Experimental Combat Field.

"Computer, restore all powers. Activate the power for the 5th Lab Field and seal the doors!"

With the lights on, I switched back to Optics Cameras and could finally see how the five intruders looked like.

F*ck, they are actually Ninjas, but now they are equipped with guns and not blades, seems like the modern ninjas also realized that their techniques cannot compare to guns!

Despite the sudden restoration of lights, the 5 Ninjas did not panic. They were obviously veterans but they were still temporarily blinded. They quickly readjusted themselves to the light and when they realized that all the doors around were sealed, one of them walked over to a door and started typing the code to open the door. The door instantly opened.

What the F*ck, how do they know the security codes to my doors?

"Computer, seal Door No. 4 of 5th Lab Field, and remove the power to the four doors."

Before the Ninjas could even feel joy from seeing the door open, the door closed again. He pressed the codes a few times, but the Door no longer reacted. How could the door react when there\'s no power to them. He quickly retreated and spoke to one of the other Intruders, from the audio feed, they were actually speaking in Jap. Those Japs did not have enough even after messing with me in the game, they actually came to find me in real life!

The few of them suddenly began using their guns to shoot at the door, but the bullets only recoiled off the walls, one of the stray bullets even injured one of them!

HAHAHA, Idiots, you deserved it!

They were in a Live Test Field with Doors specially reinforced to handle the creatures that fought inside, the walls were also reinforced, even if they had anti-ship missiles with them, they would never be able to shoot themselves out!

"Computer, release one Creature No. 2250 into the 5th Lab Field!"

"Confirm!"

The roof of the Lab suddenly opened and a metal enclosure was sent down to the 5th Lab Field. After the metal enclosure was placed on the ground and the robotic arm was retracted, the roof closed. The Japs looked at the enclosure anxiously, no one dared to approach it. The Metal enclosure suddenly sprayed out a mist, scaring the Japs to put on their gas masks. In truth, the spray was simply liquid nitrogen which was used to freeze the creatures.

Although I hated the Japs, after considering that I still had to eat the next morning, I quickly ordered the Computer: "Close the lab after 20 minutes and start the cleaning process." Test No.2250 was called the Meat Grinder, if I continued to stay and watch it get down to business, I would no longer be able to eat, thus I gave the orders and no longer bothered about the situation!

I left the room and closed the doors properly. Just as I turned, I saw a short guy looking and laughing at me. He was dressed in the Dragon Fate Security Force equipment, but the weapon in his hand was not manufactured Dragon Fate. I immediately knew that he was an undiscovered traitor! That was how the base was so easily broken through, there was a traitor from within.

Maybe he knew what had happened because he suddenly raised his gun at me and was about to open fire. At this crucial moment, I did not run because I knew I could never be faster than a bullet, thus there was no hope of running. Instead, I chose to attack the traitor because I knew that my body was stronger than an average person!

When he saw me pounce on him, he immediately pressed the trigger. Two of the bullets struck me. But I did not feel any intense pain and only knew that the bullet had struck me in the thigh. Without losing momentum, I rushed forward and grabbed onto the gun barrel and pushed it to the side against the enemy\'s force. Unexpectedly between the struggle, I actually bent the entire gun barrel! The enemy reacted faster than me, he quickly retreated and threw the deformed gun and armed himself with a dagger.

Before I could even react, he slashed down with the dagger. I extended my hand out instinctively to block, allowing the blade to slash my arm. Another miracle occurred, the blade was actually stuck in my arm! The depth of it revealed that the slash had cut into my bones. He had actually slashed through my muscles.

The injury on my left arm made me furious, but I still did not feel any pain! I raised my right fist and used all of my strength to punch his face.

Bang, his entire face was smashed, the headless corpse staggered in front of me as the blood splashed all over. It was only then when I felt the pain from my arm and thigh. Because of the pain, my muscles started to spasm which resulted in pulling the wound and increasing the intensity of the pain! Luckily, I only had to endure it or a few minutes before a group of security force ran over. The soldier in the lead saw the headless corpse and exclaimed: "Holy shit! Was this guy\'s head ran over by a train? You…."

I was unable to hear the words after that as I had fainted. When I woke up, it was already bright, I was back in a resting room, the only difference was that my Dad and other researchers were with me.

"How long was I out for?" According to the television programmes that I watched in the past, all the main characters that fought with the evildoers would faint for three to five days, thus I thought I had fainted for a few days.

"Around seven to eight hours!"

"Ah?" That equals to me having a good sleep! I suddenly recalled my thigh being shot at and immediately took a look at it. It had been wrapped in gauze but strangely, it no longer hurt. My arm was already bandaged up and I looked as though I was a severely injured person.

Dad took out a dagger and threw it on my bed. "Have a look." I took the dagger and looked at it, it was similar to the one that the traitor had used the last night. But the dagger\'s center portion seemed to have a broken piece!" This was the ceramic dagger used by the man that tried to kill you last night, who would have thought that your bones are actually so tough that the ceramic would break but your bone is still fine!"

"No way! This chip in the dagger was because of me?"

"Of course!"

"That\'s great, now I no longer need to fear my bones breaking!"

"Oh right, take down the bandage around your arm, the researcher said that B13 should have the cell rejuvenation capabilities, I want to see if your wound has been healed."

I took out the bandage and to everyone\'s surprise, my arm was actually as smooth as a boiled egg, there were no scars at all, much less any wound! I quickly removed the gauze off my thigh, and it was the same thing, there were no scars! B13 was actually so powerful!

After being questioned by my Dad over all sorts of things, I finally gained back my freedom. It was only after I returned to my room when I remembered that I had forgotten to ask about the strange night vision ability, but oh well, next time then! I quickly entered the game and appeared between the Zombie Horde and miasma. I chose to go offline here because this location was safe. I summoned all my Companions and Servants and rushed into the horde. Lucky, Epidemic and Crystal were already able to fight by themselves, the three Dragons all took their own spots outside of our leveling circle and trained by themselves, they were not afraid of the Zombies at all.

The other Companions continued to take shelter behind the Phantom Knights and trained along with me, which proved to be the fastest method. After training for a while, I started to get bored. I decided to move deeper into the horde. This Cursed Land was surrounded by a high-level Illusion along with a poisonous miasma zone and with so many Zombies for protection, it meant that there was something that required protection in here, and it had to be good stuff!

I got the 3 Dragons to bring up the rear and along with the Phantom Knights being responsible for opening a path, we fought our way inwards. After going through, I realized that the Zombie land was over 2 kilometers wide, and by the time we reached the end, it was already noon. I went offline for lunch, then continued to grind.

After the Zombie region was another black forest but this time, the height of the trees had dropped dramatically and the trees were closer to each other. The terrifying thing about these trees was that they had no leaves, but replaced with crooked creatures that looked as though they would pounce at any moment!

I was completely convinced by the creator of the area, this place was a truly haunted place!

"Master, the demonic aura here is very dense!"

"Demonic Aura? Isn\'t that good? You\'re all Phantom Knights, isn\'t it to your liking?"

"But what about you….?"

"Don\'t worry about me, after drinking the spring water from the Spring of Evil, I am now a completely evil character, demonic auras and evil auras are harmless against me, as long as there\'s no Holy Water, I\'ll be fine!"

The Phantom Knights actually laughed when they heard what I said, It was the first time hearing them laugh and it felt strange!

"Alright, let us continue moving forward!"

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(*) Ninjatos are short swords that are the preferred weapon for Ninjas and Shinobis, with length almost 10 inches shorter than ordinary swords.

(**) Sub Machine Guns