“Digging at the wall! Look closely at where they’re digging,” Pei Qianxing answered.
Xiao Ziran looked carefully in the direction he indicated and finally noticed the mounds of dirt piled up beside the rats. It was only because it was so dark that everyone had failed to notice them. Pei Qianxing, who had been watching the rats from atop the wall the whole time, was the only one who had spotted it.
“How deep is the foundation? How long will it take them to dig through?” Chu Tian asked Pei Qianxing. Since he was originally from the base, he should know.
“The foundation was dug five meters deep when it was built, and the wall is one meter thick. At their current speed… ten minutes, I’d say.” Pei Qianxing’s voice carried a hint of despair.
He genuinely had no idea what to do. Ten minutes. Once the giant rats poured into the city, the consequences would be unimaginable. Even if he ran back now to warn everyone, he wouldn’t make it in time.
“Oh.”
Xiao Ziran merely responded with an “oh,” then flicked his wrist. Three vines shot out simultaneously, piercing straight through the heads of the three brown rats.
Of course, only Xiao Ziran could see their colors. To everyone else, they simply saw three rats that looked no different from the others suddenly die, after which the rats’ digging immediately slowed down.
“So, we bought ourselves a little time, right?” Xiao Ziran said.
“And then what?” Pei Qianxing asked. Even if they had bought some time, what could they possibly do with it?
“And then?”
Xiao Ziran smiled. With a wave of his right hand, the green plants closest to the city wall began growing wildly, then started strangling the giant rats.
The fireballs in Quan Xiaoyu’s hands began flying out as well. Working together with the doctor, he launched the first wave of attacks against the swarm.
Pei Qianxing was stunned by Xiao Ziran’s sudden surge in ability and his completely recovered physical condition. He stood there for quite a while without coming back to his senses.
It wasn’t until Chu Tian patted him on the shoulder.
“Brother, take me back into the city. I’m going to bring more people over.”
Against mutated beasts—especially something like this, which attacked in a massive swarm—there was very little Chu Tian could do himself. He needed to hurry back and get everyone organized and make the necessary preparations before the battle.
After seeing Chu Tian off, Pei Qianxing finally joined the fight as well. However, he could no longer force plants to grow and fight, so all he could do was wave his vines around and launch limited attacks.
The weakness of his attacks made Quan Xiaoyu and Xiao Ziran glance at him in surprise several times, but neither of them said anything. They simply continued throwing themselves into the battle.
After a while, Chu Tian arrived with all his team members. Xiao Ziran turned around and pulled everyone who could fight up onto the wall one by one. Even the team members without abilities joined the battle with their guns.
Li Nan was left at the foot of the wall. However, the two little ones in his arms, Xiaoyu and Xiaoning, were unwilling to sit out. They began yapping excitedly.
They seemed unusually excited, as if they had caught the scent of prey. They struggled eagerly in Li Nan’s arms.
Li Nan understood perfectly well that they wanted to join the fight, but—
“No. You’re too small. It’s not time for you to fight yet.” Li Nan held them tightly.
“Arf, arf! Arf-arf-arf!”
Xiaoyu and Xiaoning protested at the same time, sounding as though they were presenting a very compelling argument.
“No!”
“Arf!”
“You two!”
“All right. How about I take them up?” Chu Tian said. “As long as they stay on the wall, they’ll be safe.”
Ever since they had discovered that they could use their mental power to communicate briefly with Chu Tian, whenever Li Nan refused to let them do something, they would start pestering Chu Tian instead.
The two little troublemakers had given Chu Tian such a headache that, after warning them sternly, he finally agreed to take them upstairs.
“But what if…” Li Nan hesitated. What if they jumped down? They hadn’t even grown up yet.
“They just promised me that once they go up, they’ll listen to me and absolutely won’t fool around.” Chu Tian rubbed his brow. The two little creatures were still relentlessly making a racket inside his head. Only he knew how maddening that was.
“Then… all right. Brother Tian, protect them.”
With no other choice, Li Nan let go.
The instant he loosened his grip, the two little creatures shot straight into Chu Tian’s arms and immediately began yapping excitedly again.
Chu Tian didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, but he still answered Li Nan, “Don’t worry. They’re not stupid.”
With that, he immediately turned around and left.
Li Nan and the few people without combat abilities were left behind, watching anxiously.
On the city wall, the battle changed dramatically once everyone joined in. They managed to hold the base of the wall, preventing the giant rats from continuing to dig.
In truth, everyone’s main advantage was their superior position. They were standing high atop the wall. No matter how many giant rats there were or how sharp their teeth were, if they couldn’t reach the people above, there was nothing they could do.
Based on Xiao Ziran’s observations, aside from the three brown giant rats they had killed earlier, there were no other rats with abilities.
So rather than a battle, this was more like a straightforward massacre.
Xiaoyu and Xiaoning were brought to the top of the wall by Chu Tian. They excitedly bounced around a few times before Chu Tian immediately shouted at them to stop.
Hearing their “awoo” sounds, Xiao Ziran turned around. When he saw Chu Tian carrying the two little creatures, he immediately said, “Why did you bring them—”
He hadn’t even finished saying “up here” when he clearly saw the two little creatures.
One was ice-blue, the other fiery red.
At the same time, their colors were somewhat different from those of humans. A layer of light also surrounded each of their bodies.
“What?”
Before Chu Tian could fully express his confusion, the two excited little creatures opened their mouths and let out another “awoo” toward the swarm outside.
This “awoo” was completely different from the ones they usually used to torment them!
The moment Xiaoyu opened its mouth, a fiery serpent burst forth, surging forward with overwhelming force. It swept into the swarm and immediately took down a huge swath of rats.
Xiaoning opened its mouth, and a rain of ice arrows came falling down, producing equally spectacular results.
For a moment, everyone’s attacks stopped.
Everyone was completely stunned by the results.
How old were these two little things? Their power completely eclipsed that of all the ability users present!
If they grew up, just how terrifying would their combat strength become?
After unleashing one wave of attacks, the two little creatures immediately strutted around Chu Tian, seeking praise and showing off.
Chu Tian didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. In any case, his own role in this battle was fairly limited, so he simply decided to become the two little creatures’ babysitter and direct them in battle.
It was practically a matter of pointing them at a target and watching them strike. Every attack wiped out another swath of rats. The feeling was incredibly satisfying.
Chu Tian thought this was even more exhilarating than fighting himself.
Outside the city, at the main city gate.
The darkness today was unnaturally oppressive. A huge dark cloud hung over J City without moving an inch.
The city gate had already been completely closed. Unlike usual, after shutting the gates, the soldiers had also set up numerous heavy weapons along the city wall.
The people outside the city began to panic. The unusual atmosphere finally made them realize that they were in danger.
Some strong men could no longer stand it. They ran to the city gate, attempting to pound on it and force their way inside.
“Please! Something’s wrong with the weather! Let us hide inside! Just for one day! We promise—we’ll leave immediately tomorrow!”
“Open the gate! Open it! Help us!”
“We’ll only hide for one day. Please!”
The answer they received, however, was a burst of gunfire.
It was only a warning shot at first, and none of the bullets struck anyone.
Some people immediately began cursing, calling the people inside heartless and accusing them of refusing to save those in danger.
Others started pounding on the gate, using whatever tools they could find.
Fear gave people courage.
But it was useless.
They were met with another burst of gunfire.
This time, there was no mercy.
Anyone who had been attacking the gate was shot dead without hesitation.
Finally, some people backed off. They returned to their temporary tents, nervous, terrified, and frantic, yet completely helpless.
Some wanted to run, only to discover that there was nowhere to go. The safest place was right behind them, yet they could not get inside.
After the fear came desperate madness.
The first victims were the women selling sex. They had no one to rely on, and in a place like this, they became targets for the men’s rage and frustration.
They had already been people whom society looked down on. In a place without rules or punishment, the ugliest side of human nature was exposed.
The women’s screams rang out, filled with pain and despair.
There were no pleas for mercy, because they were never even given the chance to plead.
The danger had not yet arrived, yet they had already begun their shameless slaughter.
Despair spread outside the city.
Fang Jin was the only ability user outside the city, as well as one of the few people there who owned a car.
When those people first tried to break down the city gate, he had already taken two drinking buddies and fled by car.
However, barely ten minutes later, they came speeding back.
Fang Jin drove all the way to the city gate before finally slamming on the brakes.
The soldiers on the wall immediately raised their guns and went on alert, afraid that the people outside might be trying some new trick.
They had seen the chaos outside.
They sympathized with the vulnerable people being brutalized, but there was nothing they could do.
Fang Jin jumped out of the car and shouted breathlessly at the guards on the wall:
“Don’t shoot! Don’t shoot! They… they… they’re coming! There are so many of them… so, so many… Hurry and let me in! I’m an ability user! I can fight! Please, let me in! They’re almost here… They’re almost here!”
Fang Jin wailed incoherently, tears and snot running down his face.
The two men who had traveled with him looked much the same. They couldn’t even form coherent words anymore, only frantically pounding on the city gate over and over.