Chapter 539: Illusion and Zombies

Chapter 539 -365: Illusion and Zombies

Step 1: Contextual Analysis

Literary genre: This appears to be a Chinese fantasy/supernatural web novel, specifically in the xianxia or urban fantasy subgenre. It contains elements of horror (zombies/corpses), supernatural abilities, and exploration of mysterious facilities.

Language style: The language is descriptive and action-oriented, with elements of martial arts combat and supernatural phenomena. It has a slightly formal tone with vivid descriptions.

Tone: Serious, tense, and mysterious. The text creates an atmosphere of danger and suspense.

Plot keywords: research facility, undead creatures, illusion/mirage, supernatural powers, spiritual energy, ruined facility, mysterious woman

Characters:

– Wu Liangchen () – Male, protagonist, possesses spiritual powers and combat abilities

– Old K (K) – Mentioned but not present, gave the protagonist a map to the facility

– Erya () – Female, appears in an illusion/mirage at the end, seems to have an affectionate relationship with the protagonist

– Wu Mengchan () – Female, appears to be the protagonist’s sister who appears in the illusion

Step 2: Integrated Translation and Polishing

Now I’ll translate the text while applying all the required polishing rules:

The text describes Wu Liangchen exploring a mysterious Research Institute 734, encountering undead creatures that regenerate when attacked, realizing he’s trapped in an illusion, breaking free, and then encountering another illusion featuring people who seem important to him.

The structure consists of short paragraphs with action and internal thoughts. I’ll preserve this structure while making sure the English flows naturally.

I’ll pay special attention to:

– Consistently using the glossary terms

– Marking inner thoughts with single quotes

– Translating onomatopoeia into English equivalents

– Ensuring all meta-textual references match the English translation

– Avoiding Chinese characters or pinyin in the final output

Here’s the full translation:

Wu Liangchen’s gaze sharpened as he unhesitatingly went forward to meet them.

This time he didn’t use his fists, but instead drew the blade from his waist.

These animated corpses looked so disgusting that even though Wu Liangchen’s fists were powerful, he didn’t want to touch these things.

After several flashes of his blade, he precisely severed the necks of all the animated corpses.

But then something bizarre happened.

Countless fleshy tendrils grew from the severed necks, reattaching the falling heads, and then they lunged toward Wu Liangchen again.

“Hmm?”

Wu Liangchen grunted softly, then struck again.

This time, instead of simply cutting off their heads, he hacked the animated corpses into pieces.

But the result remained the same.

These animated corpses quickly recovered and continued their relentless attack against Wu Liangchen, showing no fear of death.

Something wasn’t right!

The recovery ability of these corpses defied logic. Even the most tenacious mutated creatures couldn’t regenerate after being chopped to pieces.

An illusion?

This thought flashed through Wu Liangchen’s mind.

Everything had felt strange since he entered this hall. The brightly lit research facility, those seemingly normal researchers, and that arrogant fat supervisor… thinking about it now, they were all full of logical inconsistencies.

If this was an illusion, then these unkillable corpses were its manifestation. To break through, simple killing would be meaningless. He needed to find the core of the illusion, or rather, break the “rules” maintaining it.

He took a deep breath and ignored the howling corpses surging toward him. Allowing their rotting claws to reach for him, he remained perfectly still, focusing his mind and heightening his Perception Power to its limit.

The power of Magic circulated within him, and his eyes seemed to glimmer with faint light.

He was searching, searching for the “anchor point” of this illusion.

“BOOM!”

At that moment, Wu Liangchen abandoned his passive defense and highly concentrated his Spiritual Power into an invisible spike, suddenly expanding it outward in all directions! This wasn’t a physical attack, but a pure eruption of will!

“WHOOM—!”

The entire hall seemed to tremble. Those corpses that had been frantically lunging at him suddenly froze. The rotting flesh on their faces began to fall away, their bodies crumbling like weathered sand sculptures, disintegrating into dust.

The scene before his eyes cracked like a broken mirror, then completely collapsed.

The brightly lit hall disappeared. In its place stood genuine ruins. Thick dust covered everything, and the air was filled with a strong smell of decay and faint radiation. Broken instruments, overturned lab benches, and… white bones scattered across the floor.

This was the true face of Research Institute 734.

Everything before had indeed been an illusion.

Wu Liangchen stood amidst the ruins, his expression calm. He roughly understood that the previous illusion was perhaps some lingering, powerful Spiritual Power, or perhaps a special device that automatically activated upon detecting an intruder, trying to trap them in false perceptions.

He collected himself and began searching through the ruins according to Old K’s map. The underground structure of the research facility was quite complex, with winding passages, many of which had collapsed and become blocked.

Wu Liangchen carefully avoided unstable structures and potential traps, while sensing the energy fluctuations around him. He vaguely felt that somewhere deep in this research facility, something even more dangerous was hidden. The feeling was like having a pair of invisible eyes watching him from the darkness.

After passing through a long, dark metal corridor covered in cobwebs, a heavy alloy door appeared ahead. The door was half-open, seemingly forced open previously.

Wu Liangchen pushed the door open and walked in.

This should be the core area of the research facility. The space was smaller than the outer hall, but relatively well-preserved. Various large experimental devices of unknown purpose stood silently, covered by a thin layer of dust.

In the center of this area, in front of a main console, Wu Liangchen saw a figure.

It was a woman.

She wore a faded, old hospital gown, her black hair cascading like a waterfall down to her waist, concealing her face. She stood quietly with her back to the entrance where Wu Liangchen stood, completely motionless.

Wu Liangchen’s eyebrows twitched as his vigilance rose to the extreme. Finding a living person in such a place was highly abnormal.

He slowly stepped forward, trying to approach her.

Just as he took his second step, the scene before him suddenly changed!

The pungent stench of decay and the cold touch of metal disappeared, replaced by familiar bustling voices and a faint mixture of food aromas and the sweaty atmosphere of a city street.

Wu Liangchen was startled to find himself standing on a familiar street in Dinghai City!

Not far away, steam rose from a wonton stall, and a pretty young girl was looking at him with surprise, her eyes immediately reddening.

“Brother Xiaowu, you’re back!” Erya’s voice was choked with tears, filled with endless longing and grievance.

Beside Erya, another ponytailed girl whose features somewhat resembled Wu Liangchen’s widened her eyes, then broke into a brilliant smile. “Brother! You’re back!”

It was Wu Mengchan!

Everything around him felt incredibly real—the warmth of the sunlight, the humidity in the air, people’s chatting voices, the aroma of food…