Xiao Fan and his group arrived at the entrance of the cafeteria and stopped.
Xiao Fan did not knock on the door right away. Instead, he opened the map with a slight frown.
He made some new discoveries.
He discovered that there were more than a dozen survivors inside this cafeteria. What's more, there was also a purple dot inside, representing a mutant beast!
Annie had told him before that purple dots stood for mutant beasts. He couldn't believe there was actually a mutant beast inside this cafeteria!
Previously, he did not detect any mutant beasts here since the coverage of the radar from his power station was limited and could only cover most of the cafeteria. The mutant beast was likely in the corner outside the radar's range. But now that they were near, it must have been discovered.
The map showed that these survivors had all gathered near the window, a seemingly problematic positioning.
With more considerations in mind, Xiao Fan called Wang Zhan and Li Long over.
"You two go and knock to see what they say."
Wang Zhan and Li Long went over and knocked on the door.
"Anyone there?"
"Who is it?" A voice responded from inside.
Infantry soldiers were the most basic combat units in the Red Alert system. They were decent in combat IQ but not very good at communication.
Fortunately, Xiao Fan had anticipated this and told Wang Zhan what to say.
Wang Zhan spoke, "We are ordered to look for survivors. How many of you are in there?"
"There are more than a dozen of us," a man pushed to the front by Zhou Meng answered from inside.
Wang Zhan continued, "Then let us come in and take a look."
"Sure, sure, but the door is blocked. Come in through the window."
Wang Zhan and Li Long came to the window. One window opened and the curtain lifted, revealing this man's face.
"You...military comrades, you are finally here. Please come in quick. We have food here. Let us make you guys something to eat first since everyone must be starving."
The man spoke unnaturally. Wang Zhan did not respond. He came to the window, pretending to enter the room. The old man retreated back and Wang Zhan suddenly reached out, pulling down all the thick curtains and quilts inside!
The light entered and several panicked faces were revealed!
There were both men and women. All of them were holding knives in their hands, surrounding the window with uncertain looks on their faces.
Zhou Meng was hiding under the window sill holding a meat cleaver. Seeing the situation exposed, he immediately felt things had gone bad and yelled, "Black Wolf, go!"
A black shadow suddenly leapt out from the window, baring its fangs and pouncing at Wang Zhan.
The mutant beast was extremely fast. This Tibetan mastiff was comparable to a half-grown lion in speed, moving so quickly that people could barely react.
Although Wang Zhan was prepared, he still did not expect the mutant beast to be so ferocious. He did not even have time to fire his gun and could only roll away embarrassingly. His arm was scraped by the mastiff's claws as he narrowly dodged its lethal strike!
If his reaction had been 0.1 second slower, he would have been killed on the spot!
Furious after the missed strike, Black Wolf wanted to continue chasing and killing this human. Zhang Chao and Liu Da Hua behind opened fire.
Gunshots rang out continuously. This Tibetan mastiff was quite valiant itself. Moving as quick as lightning, except for the first shot by Liu Da Hua that hit its abdomen, the rest all missed. It howled and swiftly retreated back.
Seeing Black Wolf injured, Zhou Meng was immediately frightened out of his wits. He decisively pulled over a female nurse to shield himself, yelling at the outside, "Soldiers! Mind your own business and get lost immediately, or I will kill the hostages here! There are over a dozen of them!"
Zhao Xin also pulled over that man, pressing a sharp knife against his throat while shouting loudly, "Get back! Go far away!"
That man was the one who had lured Wang Zhan and Li Long to enter earlier. Currently, his legs were trembling wildly in fear and he cried hoarsely, "Don't do anything reckless! Soldiers are supposed to protect civilians. You want to save us but can't harm us. I'm the CEO of Tianyuan Group. I'm loaded and even know a deputy commander in the Shenhai Military Region. If a single hair falls from my head, I'll report all of you and have your military uniforms stripped!"
The other survivors all clamored as well, telling Xiao Fan not to act rashly and that they had barely managed to survive the apocalypse and did not want to die because of the recklessness of these soldiers.
Xiao Fan's eyes narrowed slightly. He did not intend to enter the room just yet.
That Tibetan mastiff was very powerful. Although it was not seriously injured, the limited space inside gave the enemies an advantage in the dark while they would be exposed. Charging in recklessly would inevitably lead to casualties.
Seeing these two threatening the hostages, Xiao Fan was about to say he was not actually a soldier so they could kill whoever they wanted. But suddenly, an idea came to him and he said, "Don't harm the hostages. We'll leave."
"Go, go far away and don't come back!"
Xiao Fan kept silent. He had Li Long support the injured Wang Zhan while Liu Da Hua and Zhang Chao covered their retreat as the few of them withdrew back towards the underground parking.
Seeing Xiao Fan's group disappear, Zhou Meng and Zhao Xin finally relaxed.
"I was still doubtful of their identities earlier, feeling that their uniforms seemed a bit different. But now I'm certain they are soldiers."
"Oh? How is Master so sure?"
Zhou Meng grinned, "Isn't it obvious? If they weren't soldiers, how would they be afraid of us taking hostages? As long as we have these people under control, our position is almost invincible."
Zhou Meng then turned to face the survivors, "See that? Those soldiers don't even have a way to rescue you all. You should understand clearly what you need to do now."
The survivors all nodded. When facing Zhou Meng, they completely lacked the courage they had when confronting Xiao Fan's group.
Some people were just like that, acting arrogantly and spouting righteousness when facing their protectors. But when dealing with villains, they would become utter cowards.
Zhou Meng immediately went to bandage Black Wolf. Thanks to this dog today, otherwise those soldiers would have definitely charged in and killed them.
Moreover, that injured soldier was certainly doomed. Black Wolf's claws carried the infection ability.
Five people total outside, soon to be four. If that infected soldier turned into a mutant and bit another person, there would only be three left.
Perhaps by this time tomorrow, he could lead Black Wolf to kill off the remaining few and accomplish his goal anyway.
Therefore, he did not even consider escaping at all. Victory was firmly in his grasp.
lanned to earn money steadily and take life at a slower pace. But he never expected... his father's remarriage, and the stepmother bringing along a dependent, would completely disrupt his life's plans...
transmigrates into the world as the sect master of the Heavenly Yan Sect, which is on the verge of being wiped out. He binds a system that grants him cultivation power based on the number of disciples he has: for each disciple, he automatically gains a year's worth of cultivation every single day! Take one disciple: every day he gains 1 year of cultivation power. While others struggle through a year of bitter training, he gets the same just by sleeping through a single night. Take ten disciples: every day he gains 10 years of cultivation power. Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Nascent Soul—he breezes through all bottlenecks without lifting a finger. Take one hundred disciples: every day he gains 100 years of cultivation power. Even a Soul Transformation Venerable before him can’t survive a single blow. Take ten thousand disciples: every day he gains 10,000 years of cultivation power! With a wave of his hand, he topples empires. With a single step, he crushes the sacred grounds of the universe. ... While others fight tooth and nail for secret techniques, Lin Yan casually hands out Nascent Soul-level cultivation manuals as beginner textbooks. While others strain to find talented recruits, Lin Yan opens his doors to anyone—so long as they’re human. In just three short years, the Heavenly Yan Sect went from a backwater sect made up of three crumbling huts to a sacred land that every cultivator under heaven would kill to enter. ... One day, otherworldly demon gods invade, with a million demon soldiers pressing down upon the realm. Lin Yan, yawning, rises from his lounge chair and glances at the system panel: [Current Disciples: 1.28 million] [Daily Cultivation Increase: 1.28 million years] He waves his hand casually, and the countless demon soldiers are reduced to ashes in an instant. “So noisy… interrupting my fishing.”
end. Thus one must continue to cultivate, and become a saint or great emperor, in order to prolong one's life. Chen Xia, however, completely reversed this. Since his transmigration, he has gained immortality, and also a system that awards him with attribute points for every year he lives. Thus between the myriad worlds, the legend of an unparalleled senior appeared. "A gentleman takes revenge; it is never too late even after ten thousand years." "When you were at your peak I yielded, now in your old age I shall trample on you." - Chen Xia
e bizarre and supernatural had descended. The previous emperor was a thoroughgoing tyrant; no longer satisfied with human women, he had set his sights on a stunningly beautiful supernatural entity. He met his end in his bedchamber, drained of all his vital essence. As the legitimate eldest son and crown prince, Wang Hao was thus hastily enthroned, becoming the young emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty. No sooner had he awakened the "Imperial Sign-In Intelligence System" than he was assassinated by a Son of Destiny—a classic villain's opening. The Great Zhou, ravaged by the former emperor's excesses, was in national decline. The great families within its borders harbored their own treacherous schemes, martial sects began to defy the imperial court's decrees, and border armies, their pay and provisions in arrears, grumbled incessantly against the central government. Fortunately, the central capital was still held secure by the half-million Imperial Guards and fifty thousand Imperial Forest Army who obeyed the court's orders, along with the royal family's hidden reserves of power, barely managing to suppress the realm. As the Great Zhou's finances worsened and supernatural activities grew ever more frequent, the court sat atop a volcano. Ambitious plotters everywhere dreamed of overthrowing the dynasty, and even some reclusive ancient powers emerged, attempting to sway the tides of the world. At the first grand court assembly, the civil and military officials nearly came to blows, fighting tooth and nail over the allocation of fifty million taels of silver from the summer tax revenues. The spectacle opened Wang Hao's eyes—the Great Zhou's bureaucracy was not only corrupt but also martially proficient, a cabinet of all-rounders. Some officials even had the audacity to suggest the emperor release funds from the imperial privy purse to address the emergency. Wang Hao suddenly felt weary. Let it all burn.
