Xiao Ziran had just led his people in closing the door when a large black bird suddenly went “BANG” and slammed into the freshly shut rolling shutter door.
Then, immediately afterward came a continuous series of sounds—
“Bang, bang-bang, bang-bang-bang-bang-bang…”
The aluminum-alloy rolling shutter was nearly dented inward after just a few minutes of repeated impacts, but fortunately, it did not break.
The windows were not so lucky. They were merely ordinary tempered glass, and after five consecutive strikes from the giant bird, they shattered all over the floor. Everyone had no choice but to gather separately in front of several windows, unleashing their abilities while bullets fired from their guns flew among them, launching defensive counterattacks to prevent the black birds from breaking through the doors.
This shopping mall had already been cleared out by people during the early stages of the apocalypse. It was completely empty now. Anything useful had long since been carried away.
“Captain! There’s a warehouse inside. It’s very large and empty. It’s completely enclosed, with only one very thick security door.” Old Wu ran out from the back and shouted to Xiao Ziran, “If we can’t hold this place, we might be able to hide in there.”
Old Wu was responsible for surveying the terrain. While everyone was defending the building, he had already been checking all around the interior of the shopping mall.
“Take me to see it.”
Xiao Ziran immediately responded. This was indeed good news.
“I’ll leave things here to you for now.”
Xiao Ziran had only taken two steps when he turned back and said to Ouyang Jing.
Ouyang Jing nodded, his eyes still fixed on the scene outside the window.
“Don’t worry.”
Xiao Ziran followed Old Wu and quickly found the warehouse. After observing it for a while, he nodded and was just about to instruct Old Wu to call the others and slowly retreat inside when he suddenly noticed a flash of red light in the innermost corner of the warehouse.
Xiao Ziran’s heart stirred, and he immediately walked toward the point of light.
Before the apocalypse, no one would have been unfamiliar with such a red light. It was merely an ordinary indicator light, similar to the blinking red light on a surveillance camera.
What was this?
As he waved his hand to signal Old Wu not to speak, he slowly approached the location of the light.
In the darkness, the red light flashed again.
Xiao Ziran could finally confirm that it was not an illusion.
This time, Old Wu also noticed the strange light.
How long had it been since they had seen a light after the apocalypse?
Electronic devices?
They seemed like memories from a previous life, distant and unfamiliar.
So when the two of them found that tiny light bulb and followed its wire, they forcibly smashed through the corner of the wall, only to discover a huge ventilation system that was still operating nonstop.
Yes, behind the wall should have been the outside.
However, in reality, there was a small compartment behind the wall. A huge machine had been installed inside it, with one end leading outside and the other connected underground.
The section connected to the underground even faintly revealed some light.
Xiao Ziran and Old Wu exchanged a glance.
Xiao Ziran’s eyes were filled with thought, while Old Wu’s were full of confusion and inquiry.
“Search everywhere. There might be a door!”
Xiao Ziran spoke decisively.
This was far too abnormal!
Ten days after the apocalypse began, S City had completely lost its electricity.
Although he had never been to the Cai family’s residence, even Yuan Long’s place was lit by candles.
Then exactly what kind of person—or what kind of existence—could build an underground space during the apocalypse and maintain a continuous power supply twenty-four hours a day?
Therefore, no matter what, Xiao Ziran was determined to go down there and investigate.
J City Inner City.
Countless people fled from their homes, only to be immediately attacked by the black birds. Those who hid back inside buildings were immediately assaulted by the giant rats.
Crying and screaming, accompanied by the smell of blood, filled the entire sky above the city.
But at the same time, other scenes besides slaughter were also unfolding throughout the city.
A child being protected in his mother’s arms suddenly released flames from his hands at the moment his mother fell, burning the giant rats inside the house.
A couple being chased through the streets saw one of them suddenly fall. As the fallen person was snatched up by a black bird, the other suddenly burst forth with unprecedented speed, rushing forward and pulling their lover back into their arms.
A man holding a wooden stick and protecting his elderly parents while fleeing managed to knock away a giant bird, only to discover that his mother had been bitten by a giant rat.
He anxiously swung the wooden stick, but the stick suddenly seemed to have gained a life of its own. It grew incredibly long, and from several meters away, the man slammed it down onto the giant rat…
Similar things continued to happen throughout this hellish scene.
It was as though, in the midst of despair, God had once again given humanity hope.
North City.
Quan Xiaoyu closed his eyes.
He stubbornly refused to hide inside his spatial dimension and survive alone at the final moment.
Fine.
Since there was nowhere to hide, then everyone could die together.
After all, if everyone died, he did not know how someone like himself—alone and not particularly clever—could possibly survive in an increasingly dangerous apocalypse!
The expected tearing apart never came.
Instead, just before death descended, Quan Xiaoyu felt an extremely familiar mental fluctuation.
Yes.
A mental fluctuation!
A mental fluctuation belonging to Chu Tian!
Quan Xiaoyu often accompanied Chu Tian in his training. He was far too familiar with this mental energy fluctuation.
Perhaps because of the influence of his spatial dimension, although Quan Xiaoyu had not gained any psychic-type ability himself, he could sense the fluctuations produced when psychic ability users activated their powers.
Within a few seconds, the killing intent around them vanished completely.
That feeling of having the Grim Reaper’s sickle right at their throats also disappeared.
“Thud, thud, thud, thud—THUMP!”
It was the sound of enormous creatures falling to the ground one after another.
Quan Xiaoyu opened his eyes.
Within a radius of one thousand meters centered around them, all the monsters had collapsed onto the ground!
Seeing the countless fallen black birds, Quan Xiaoyu was overjoyed—
It had to be that Chu Tian’s ability had leveled up again!
He immediately turned around and began searching for the others.
Bai Mingxi was still in his original position, tightly protecting Li Nan in his arms. At this moment, the two of them were looking around in confusion.
Xiaoyu and Xiaoning were also completely unharmed. The two little creatures were happily hopping around at Bai Mingxi and Li Nan’s feet.
Quan Xiaoyu’s gaze turned to search for Chu Tian.
But he searched once.
Then again.
Nothing.
There was no Chu Tian!
Chu Tian was gone!
Quan Xiaoyu stood stunned for a moment before incredulously running toward the place where he had last seen Chu Tian.
Nothing.
There was no Chu Tian!
Still no Chu Tian!
He began to panic.
He quickly searched through the monster corpses, moving from one place to another.
At this moment, he unleashed his speed to its fullest extent. Bai Mingxi and Li Nan could only see a blurred shadow darting back and forth among the monster corpses.
Only then did the two of them recover from their shock and realize—
Chu Tian was gone!
“Xiaotian!”
Bai Mingxi could not help shouting.
“Xiaotian, where are you?”
As he shouted, he also began searching the surrounding area.
Li Nan picked up the two little creatures and followed behind Bai Mingxi, helping him call out.
“Brother Chu Tian! Brother Chu Tian, where are you…?”
“Chu Tian, where are you? Stop hiding. I know you’re here. Just now, I even felt your mental fluctuation. You were the one who saved us, weren’t you? Stop hiding. Come out quickly.”
Quan Xiaoyu muttered to himself as he continued searching among the corpses.
The area he searched kept expanding, and his strength continued to drain away.
Until even Li Nan and Bai Mingxi were almost unable to see him.
Only then did Li Nan finally shout:
“Brother Xiaoyu, where are you going? Brother Xiaoyu…”
“Xiaoyu! What are you doing? Come back!”
Bai Mingxi also sensed that something was wrong and hurriedly shouted after Quan Xiaoyu along with Li Nan.
Those two cries brought Quan Xiaoyu back to his senses for an instant.
That’s right.
There were Xiaobai and Xiaonan too.
He had to make sure they were safe!
He had to!
In the blink of an eye, Quan Xiaoyu appeared in front of the two of them again.
At such a close distance, even an idiot could see that Quan Xiaoyu was now mentally dazed.
It seemed that Chu Tian’s disappearance had affected him the most.
“Xiaoyu…”
Bai Mingxi wanted to tell him to calm down. He could also see that Quan Xiaoyu’s physical strength was already beginning to run out.
However, Quan Xiaoyu did not give him a chance to speak.
“Xiaobai, Xiaonan, don’t worry. I’ll take you somewhere safe. Go into the spatial dimension first. I’ll look for Chu Tian. Maybe his ability leveled up and he passed out somewhere. I’ll look for him, okay!”
After saying those few sentences, he did not give the two of them a chance to object. He took one by the hand, and in an instant, the two people and the two cats in Li Nan’s arms disappeared into thin air.
After placing the two of them inside the spatial dimension, Quan Xiaoyu felt slightly more at ease.
He told himself that he absolutely could not die.
He absolutely could not let anything happen to himself!
The lives of Bai Mingxi and Li Nan were now in his hands.
Chu Tian was still somewhere, waiting for him to find him!
Twenty minutes later.
He had searched the entire range of Chu Tian’s mental attack.
There was absolutely no trace of Chu Tian.
Quan Xiaoyu sat dejectedly on the ground, staring blankly at the sky that remained shrouded in darkness.
He decided to return to the shopping mall and look for the doctor.
That was the place where everyone had agreed to meet.
Perhaps Chu Tian had reached there first?
After making his decision, Quan Xiaoyu once again used up the final crystal core in his palm.
Only then did he have enough strength to get back on his feet and sprint toward the agreed meeting point at his fastest speed.