So Cai Yuanhan began trying to strike up a conversation with Chu Tian. He had never met Xiao Ziran, so he naturally assumed that Chu Tian was the leader of this group.
But Chu Tian had no time to deal with him right now.
He knew perfectly well that this was not a victory, much less the end.
This was only the beginning!
Something even larger and more dangerous had yet to arrive.
But it was coming soon!
He gathered all of his own people and said, “We’re going back into the city. Remember that abandoned shopping mall we passed on the way here? We’ll go there. The city is probably going to descend into chaos soon.”
Chu Tian looked up at the dark, oppressive sky, which seemed to be brewing an approaching storm.
“If we get separated along the way, everyone meet there!”
Everyone answered in unison.
So they all climbed back into their vehicles and drove in the direction they had come from.
Pei Qianxing was also squeezed into the doctor’s vehicle.
At this point, Chu Tian, Quan Xiaoyu, Li Nan, and Bai Mingxi were once again in the same car.
Chu Tian brought up the matter of having the other three enter Quan Xiaoyu’s space once more.
This time, Quan Xiaoyu did not argue.
But his heart was breaking.
When Chu Tian repeated his plan, Quan Xiaoyu felt as though even breathing had become difficult.
“No! I don’t agree!”
Bai Mingxi, sitting in the back seat, nearly jumped to his feet.
“If you want to stay and fight alongside everyone else, I have no problem with that! But I’m staying with you too!”
“Xiao Bai, stop fooling around!” Chu Tian snapped.
“I’m not the one fooling around! You are! What gives you the right to make us hide while you go out there and die? What gives you the right?! Anyway, I refuse! Xiaoyu, say something!”
But how could Quan Xiaoyu speak at this moment?
If he did not devote all his attention to suppressing the grief inside him, he was afraid he would lose control and take everyone into the space to hide.
And that was something Chu Tian would never allow.
“Bai Mingxi! Do you want more combat power? Are you determined to stay by my side and hold me back? And why are you putting Xiaoyu on the spot? Aren’t you thinking about Xiao Nan? He has to think about Xiao Nan too! If all of you follow me, what happens to Xiao Nan?”
Bai Mingxi froze.
Just moments ago, he had been furious that Quan Xiaoyu had not said a single word at a time like this.
So much for all that love.
In the end, wasn’t he just afraid of dying?
But the moment Chu Tian mentioned Li Nan, Bai Mingxi immediately understood.
Chu Tian must have already used Li Nan’s life—and his own—to convince Quan Xiaoyu beforehand.
“All right. Xiaoyu can take Xiao Nan and leave. But I’m staying with you. Xiao Tian, we’ve been together since we were kids. If we came together, we leave together. Anyway, I absolutely won’t abandon you!”
As Bai Mingxi spoke, there was even a pleading note in his voice.
His words made Quan Xiaoyu completely break down.
Tears rolled down his face in an instant, and he finally could not hold back anymore.
“Chu Tian, let me take Xiao Nan, Xiaoyu, and Xiaoning somewhere safe. Then I’ll come back for you, okay?”
His tone was almost pleading as well.
Before Chu Tian could refuse, Li Nan spoke first.
“I’m not leaving either. I’m staying with you.”
“No!”
The three people in the car almost shouted in unison.
“Why not?”
Li Nan, who had been quietly listening to the adults’ conversation all this time, finally became agitated.
This was the first time anyone had ever seen him like this.
“You’re all going to stay together, so you’re just going to leave me behind by myself? Brother Xiaoyu is my only family! If all of you are gone, then why should I stay alive? What gives you the right to abandon me?!”
“I’m sorry, Xiao Nan.”
Quan Xiaoyu lowered his head and apologized sadly.
Bai Mingxi was about to say something, but suddenly Chu Tian slammed his hand down on the steering wheel and, for once, cursed.
“Fuck!”
“Everyone stays! Prepare for battle with everything we’ve got! Who the hell said we’re definitely going to die?!”
Chu Tian had finally made his decision.
“Bai Mingxi, keep your gun with you. Take Xiao Nan and protect him! Xiao Nan, don’t let Xiaoyu and Xiaoning leave your side. They can fight, and they can protect you. Xiaoyu, you’re staying with me. When the time comes, wait for my command before you act.”
Chu Tian immediately assigned everyone their roles.
The two people in the back seat finally shouted their answers with renewed determination.
“Understood!”
“I’m sorry.”
Quan Xiaoyu quietly apologized to everyone.
If he had been more resolute, Bai Mingxi and Li Nan would not have had to take the risk alongside them.
But Chu Tian reached out and touched his cheek, using his thumb to wipe away the tears that had not yet dried.
“You idiot. I thought it through. You’re so stupid that sooner or later, someone’s going to trick you if I’m not around. I might as well let you stay with me.”
At the City Gate
Half of the city wall had already collapsed.
The enormous centipedes waved their disgusting, terrifying feelers as they crawled over the ruins of the wall.
The city’s defenses had been completely crushed.
The people outside the city had all been wiped out early in the battle.
More than a dozen enormous centipedes, each twenty meters long, climbed over the city wall, crawled across the bodies of countless soldiers, and entered the city.
Black smoke still clung here and there to their bodies.
It was the residue of the humans’ artillery fire.
Yet the bombardment had barely harmed them.
Their shells were as hard as iron armor, shielding them from most of the damage. Human weapons were simply powerless against them.
Yuan Long stood at the very front line of the defense.
He neither retreated nor left.
He stood there firmly, still organizing the resistance.
But the artillery fire was completely ineffective against those terrifying behemoths.
Almost all of the ability users in the city had been taken away by Cai Yuanhan.
The resistance they could put up was pitifully weak.
Eventually, some people could no longer withstand their fear and began to run.
More and more people abandoned the resistance and fled deeper into the city. Yuan Long was powerless to stop the fear from spreading.
The centipedes drew closer and closer.
Only Yuan Long continued standing there resolutely.
Until the moment one of the centipedes’ sharp feelers impaled him and flung him into the air.
Instead, he felt at peace.
The only thing he still worried about was his son, who did not even know whether he would make it out alive…
Inside the City
The large number of soldiers who had been mobilized and were running through the streets had already alarmed the residents.
Ordinary people in the apocalypse were like frightened birds.
Any disturbance was enough to send them into a panic.
Some people locked their doors tightly and trembled in hiding, seeking shelter in places they believed were safe.
Others packed up their valuables and began preparing to flee.
Still others came anxiously out onto the streets, trying to find out what was happening.
Dark clouds pressed down overhead.
On a night without electricity, humanity had lost its light.
The only source of illumination came from the soldiers running through the streets with torches in their hands.
That faint glow was the only sense of security the survivors in the city had left.
But this instinctive dependence on light could not truly help them escape danger.
Within the oppressive clouds, something suddenly began pressing toward the city.
Only the people outside could feel that faint, sinister wind.
“Flap!”
A mass of black suddenly plunged into the city from above, slamming into people and buildings with tremendous force.
“Ah—!”
Someone screamed.
Yet until the moment he died, he had no idea what had happened.
A flock of enormous black birds dove from the sky and attacked the people in the city.
Crying, running, screaming—
it all happened in an instant.
And ended just as quickly.
If you thought only the people outdoors would be attacked, you were wrong.
With nothing more than a slight turn in the air, the birds easily smashed open locked windows, squeezed their bodies through, and entered the buildings.
At the same time, the iron covers over the city’s underground drainage pipes were blasted into the air one after another.
Countless black giant rats crawled out from below and charged toward people’s homes.
The defenseless inner city was now undergoing a hellish, brutal massacre…
Northern City
Chu Tian mercilessly shook off Cai Yuanhan and his group and led his people back into the city.
Cai Yuanhan had never been treated like that before, and his face immediately flushed red, then pale with anger.
But given his status, he could hardly chase after Chu Tian and demand an explanation, could he?
Just after he ordered everyone to continue retreating out of the city, a mental-type ability user came running over nervously to report.
“Reporting, Commander! I can sense a large group of objects about one thousand meters ahead, moving toward us at extremely high speed. Should we continue retreating?”
The mental-type ability user’s face was pale, as though he had seen something unspeakably terrifying.
“What is it?”
Seeing his expression, Cai Yuanhan became somewhat nervous as well.
The corpses of the dozen or so enormous zombie dogs they had just fought were still lying nearby.
“Reporting! I can’t determine that yet. But there are a huge number of them! An enormous number! And they’re moving incredibly fast!”
The mental-type ability user swallowed before continuing.
“I… I recommend that we retreat into the city as well and find buildings where we can take shelter or establish a defensive position.”
Cai Yuanhan fell silent for a moment.
Then he suddenly remembered that besides being the leader of that group, Chu Tian was also an exceptionally powerful mental-type ability user.
Thinking about how Chu Tian and his people had been so eager to retreat just now, Cai Yuanhan finally made his decision.
“Change of plans. We’re retreating into the city! Find a safe place and establish a defensive position!”
“Yes, sir!”
Someone immediately responded and turned around to relay the new orders.
The mental-type ability user who had made the report also let out a heavy sigh of relief.
When the vehicles heading out of the city suddenly turned around and drove back in, Yuan Shaohua, who had been hiding in one of the cars at the rear without showing himself at all, suddenly shouted:
“Why are we going back?! Why aren’t we running anymore? My dad said the city is dangerous now! Hurry and run!”
However, these people were not subordinates Yuan Long had assigned to Yuan Shaohua.
No one paid him the slightest attention.
He said a few more words, and finally an impatient ability user in the front seat pressed a gun against his forehead.
“Kid! Shut the hell up! If you make one more sound, I’ll blow your stupid head off right now! Understand?”
Yuan Shaohua finally realized that these people were not his father’s subordinates.
Terrified, he nodded repeatedly.
Sure enough, he did not dare make another sound.