A wave of heat blasted the wall.
Cracks appeared, shards of bricks crumbling down—that was their only warning. The wall buckled, debris raining down in chunks, smoke and dust rising up in a deadly cloud. The entire high wall collapsed with a deafening roar.
Xiao Bai barely registered the sudden pain at the back of his head before he slumped forward, unconscious.
“Xiao Bai!” At the other end of the field, Haung Shuyin could only stare in shock. She watched as Chu Chenli ran towards the collapsing wall without hesitation. His foolish bravery was driving her insane.
“Chu Chenli!”
Chu Chenli paid no mind to her desperate shouts, lifting up the fallen wall panels.
He didn’t detect the metallic tang of blood, so whatever injury Xiao Bai sustained probably wasn’t too serious. But if he was trapped under the debris for too long…that was best not to think about.
The wall panels and bricks weren’t a problem for him, but the constant falling debris was troublesome. His eyes narrowed.
—How troublesome.
His impatience grew, and with it an unseen breeze that dispelled the dust and sent it swirling in all directions.
The large pieces of brick were seemingly unaffected by the breeze, but appeared to suddenly change their course, as if blocked by an invisible barrier. But the barrier didn’t seem to be fully formed—the serrated edges of shards left cuts on his face.
The stinging on his face didn’t deter him in the slightest. He continued to dig.
Soon, he saw the head trapped under a stone slab.
“Xiao Bai?” Chu Chenli’s fingers skated across his neck, searching for his pulse point.
Found it.
So he’s just passed out, after all.
Chu Chenli shoved the remaining stone slabs aside and pulled Xiao Bai out.
Just as he was about to stand up, he felt a gust of cold wind, then a chilling presence behind him. Almost at the same time, he heard Huang Shuyin yell in warning.
“Watch your back!”
A half-human wolf-like monster leaped over the ruins of the high wall, aiming straight for Chu Chenli’s neck.
Chu Chenli’s gaze swept over the dark silhouette of the monster. Gritting his teeth, pulled Xiao Bai out of the ruins and tossed him towards Huang Shuyin.
A second later, sharp, foul-smelling fangs sank into his shoulder.
Chu Chenli’s vision whited out with pain, and he failed to suppress a groan. He turned his head and wished he hadn’t. This close with the monster, he could see the monster clearly, bulging veins standing out against its eyeballs, like it was filled with pus and waiting to burst.
Its black fur was matted, texture too coarse to be fur, instead resembling dense squishy spikes.
Disgusting.
Fighting the wave of dizziness threatening to drag him into unconsciousness, Chu Chenli grabbed the monster’s neck with his left hand.
The monster was too large. Hen was struggling, unable to get a good grip around its neck.
It let out a painful whine. Increasingly agitated, it sunk its teeth deeper into Chu Chenli’s shoulder, thrashing and swiping with its claws.
“Use this!” A dagger, less than two fingers in length, soared through the air, headed straight for him.
Fortunately, Huang Shuyin’s aim was true, and the dagger clinked on the ground, bouncing twice before landing near Chu Chenli. He reached out to grab it.
He focused and the blade extended magically, decapitating the monster.
But in that brief moment he reached out to grasp the knife’s handle, he let down his guard. The monster sunk its claws into his waist.
Blood spurted everywhere.
The monster’s claws jerked.
There was a crash.
The monster’s body thudded on the ground.
The dagger was thrown to the ground with a soft “clang”.
Unnoticed by anyone, the blade was covered in cracks, as if a light touch would shatter it.
Chu Chenli yanked the monster’s head out of his shoulder and tossed it aside. Blood gushed from the wound.
He showed no signs of pain or distress. He simply wiped the blood off his face.
His cold gaze swept beyond the high wall. Though it had already erupted into chaos, everyone was rushing in the same direction.
No one had noticed what had happened in the training ground.
Huang Shuyin finally reached Chu Chenli, her heart pounding.
She couldn’t react in time. When the monster appeared, she had thought that Chu Chenli would be finished.
On the ground, the monster’s claws twitched slightly, spasming inward.
Huang Shuyin quickly pulled Chu Chenli behind her.
Chu Chenli lowered his head to look at the monster. A storm was brewing in his gaze.
The monster’s body spasmed more violently, as if it was trapped in a narrow, transparent box that was getting smaller and smaller. It curled up, its struggles becoming weaker.
Then—
Boom.
The monster’s body erupted in a ball of flames.
It was an incomprehensible scene. Huang Shuyin stood with her mouth agape, momentarily forgetting to follow up with another attack.
She didn’t dare try now.
The flames didn’t seem to spread, quietly licking away at the monster’s corpse.
No one in the base had this kind of ability.
No one could completely and spontaneously wield such power.
Huang Shuyin was more inclined to believe that some new technology in the laboratory had caused an accident. But for whatever reason, she still involuntarily turned her head to glance at Chu Chenli.
She nearly jumped in fright.
Chu Chenli was covered in blood, his face as pale as paper. He swayed, on the verge of collapsing, seemingly weaker than when he was asleep. He looked like every breath he took might be his last.
“Sorry,” he murmured softly, “Xiao Bai…”
Before finishing his sentence, he collapsed.
Huang Shuyin instinctively supported him, but felt dampness as soon as she touched his clothes—only then did she notice the wound on Chu Chenli’s abdomen.
Huang Shuyin paled in an instant.
Forget about accidents, forget about the anomalies.
Human lives were always the first priority!
Huang Shuyin glanced at Xiao Bai, still out cold on the ground, gritted her teeth, and hesitated for a second. She decided to just simply pick up Chu Chenli, then drag Xiao Bai with her other hand. She trudged her way to the medical department.
To her relief, she ran into others just as she left the training ground.
One of them was Xiao Bai’s roommate, who recognized him immediately. “Xiao Bai? What happened to you?”
Huang Shuyin tossed Xiao Bai to him, saying, “Take him to the medical department first.”
Instinctively raising his head upon hearing a voice, Xiao Liang flinched in shock upon seeing Huang Shuyin, a response dying on his lips. Regaining his composure, he hurriedly picked up Xiao Bai and trailed behind Huang Shuyin.
Huang Shuyin pinned him with a look. “What happened?”
Xiao Liang shook his head and replied in a low voice, “Heard there was a problem with the experiment. Everyone from the base, except for the medical staff and some guards, were called over to help.”
Huang Shuyin remembered the lab’s most recent attempts at upgrading the security system and promptly felt a headache building behind her eyelids.
She had initially thought it to be an invasion of mutants, but it turned out to be caused by their own mistakes after all.
It would be best if there were no mutant invasions happening soon, it would be too annoying otherwise.
Thinking about this, Huang Shuyin felt a sinking feeling, realising that her days ahead might lack the tranquillity she once enjoyed.
The two of them silently made their way to the medical department, going against the flow of people.
By the time they stepped into the medical building, the medical staff, already informed of the news, were waiting at the door, with Dr Du among them.
Seeing Chu Chenli being the first one brought back, Dr Du’s face stiffened. However, seeing him covered in blood, he said nothing, just nodded to the nurse behind him, indicating to her to quickly take them for treatment.
“What happened?” Dr Du was blunt.
“Encountered a mutant,” Huang Shuyin frowned. “It looked like the one that escaped from the laboratory. The lab exploded?”
“I heard it was from outside,” Dr Du said with a somewhat solemn expression. “The area containing mutants probably got breached.”
Professor Huang practically lived in the laboratory. Now, with the problem originating in what essentially was her father’s second home, Huang Shuyin couldn’t help but worry.
Sensing her concern, Dr Du said, “You’re not needed here. Go check on him. Maybe you can lend a hand.”
Huang Shuyin looked in the direction where Chu Chenli had just been taken away.
Dr Du frowned, “Afraid I’ll kill him? Don’t worry. He lives as long as Commander Ye wishes it so.”
Huang Shuyin rubbed her nose awkwardly and mumbled, “I wasn’t doubting you.”
Dr Du flicked his hand at her, gesturing for her to leave. “That kid is lucky. Today, Guan Chi is also here, consider his life saved.”
Guan Chi was the one with the best first aid skills in their base.
Only then did Huang Shuyin feel relieved. She turned back to Xiao Liang, reminded him to take good care of Xiao Bai, and then turned around to run towards the direction of the laboratory.
Meanwhile, in a corner of the laboratory, Professor Huang emerged from the ruins, unscathed. He carried a tablet with recorded data, his glasses crooked, but with a joyful expression.
“The energy of this kind of stone is stronger than I imagined!” Professor Huang exclaimed excitedly. “And it does indeed have strong lethality against mutants. What does this mean? Not just a protective shield! We also have weapons! We can make more weapons, allowing even ordinary people to have more self-defence capabilities!”
However, the people following him found it difficult to smile as they looked at the debris around them. Having ventured half into the laboratory, even the protective shield had a hole blown through it. Clearly, they tried to conduct experiments outside, but unexpectedly, the impact reached the interior of the base.
If it were the usual situation, they might still be able to cheer up. But not long ago, they had detected signs of mutant activity outside.
What if an invasion happened during this period…
Ye Lanzhou sighed, clapped his hands to attract everyone’s attention, and consoled them, “According to yesterday’s reconnaissance results, aberrations won’t approach for at least three days.”
“Professor Huang is right. This is a good thing. Maybe this time we can directly keep the mutants outside the base without sacrificing so many people…Everyone, let’s work hard for these two days to help with the reconstruction.”
When the team leader said this, others gained some motivation.
When Huang Shuyin arrived, a group of people had already started clearing the rubble and tallying the injured sent to the medical department.
Most of these people were mentally prepared in advance, avoiding the impact timely. The most severe injuries were limited to a broken leg, with no life-threatening situations.
Huang Shuyin found her father in the crowd.
Professor Huang, upon seeing his daughter, took advantage of her being here, and directly asked her to help tally the items in the laboratory and prepare to move to a new place.
Huang Shuyin, with lingering fears, decided to show a bit of filial piety and stayed to help. It was rare for her to not turn and leave after seeing her father was safe and sound.
She was somewhat worried that her father might encounter a mutant attack.
With a silent sigh, she still decided to stay in the end.
The underground laboratory wasn’t severely damaged, but the sections above ground had been reduced to rubble. Fortunately, to the west of the medical department, there was an empty building that could be used for research until the reconstruction was completed.
Huang Shuyin was packing some experimental instruments into boxes. As she was about to pick one up and place it aside, she heard a “clink”. A short black dagger rolled to the ground.
Huang Shuyin paused, bending down to pick it up, asking, “What is this?”
On the other side, Xiang Renxi, who was also tidying up things, glanced over and said indifferently, “Abandoned experimental material. It’s useless now, you can just throw it away.”
–
In an abandoned building.
Chu Chenli lay on the ground, feeling the tremors from the footsteps that grew heavier. Young men and women were cowering in a corner, their faces filled with fear, huddled together.
As the footsteps drew nearer, they buried their heads even lower, as if by burying their heads in the sand like ostriches, the monstrous creature wouldn’t notice them.
They had nowhere else to hide.
Chu Chenli lay behind them, blocked by them in the shadows. Even if the creature discovered them, he would be the last one to be eaten.
This arrangement had a simple reason.
When he first entered this world, he was injured but saved two teammates who were almost killed at the beginning. Moreover, he was the youngest among them.
The creature outside never distinguished between the living and dead. Its mouth was a black hole, devouring anything it could swallow. Plants, cars, roofs…
And humans and animals.
Originally the size of a truck, it grew into a small mountain four or five stories high. Each rumbling step cracked craters into the ground.
Its rooster-like head smashed open the doors and windows of the abandoned building, its sharp mouth covered with fine, saw-like teeth gruesomely adorned with bits of flesh and blood.
`The metallic tang of blood permeated the space.
The young people, defenceless, held their hands tightly clasped over their mouths, their faces streaked with anguished tears. They dared not make a sound.
They were all good people.
Good people, with their once bright futures cruelly ripped away, their fates ensnared in this game.
Good people, who even after all the unimaginable pain they had gone through, remained kind, still stubbornly holding onto hope.
People like them didn’t deserve to die so easily.
His head felt fit to burst with anguish. He never liked crying, but couldn’t hold back the helpless tears staining his cheeks.
If only he could stand up.
If only he had a knife in his hand…
His fingers twitched, a glow flickering to life in his eyes, still moist with tears.
The creature’s beak touched the ground, and its body erupted into flames.
Immediately, it roared and rolled on the ground, howling in agony. Curiously, even though the fire was greedily devouring the creature’s body, it seemed to have no effect on its surroundings. Everything down to blades of grass was free of scorch marks.
The young people, their eyes still wet with tears, looked up in astonishment. Chu Chenli, who had previously been laying on the floor, now stood by the shattered window, looking down at the monster on the ground with indifference.
The firelight danced on his pale profile, throwing his features into sharp relief. His eyes were twin balls of fire, swirling and burning.
“No, I won’t allow you to harm them,” he murmured to himself.
His muttering faded into the sparks of flame, still dancing.
“…”
Chu Chenli woke up from the dream.
The night outside was cool, the room empty. There was no one around. No monsters, and no flames.
His memories were still blurry, but he’d started feeling tendrils of loneliness.
He was certain that he had lost something very important.
Perhaps even more important than Ye Lanzhou.
