Countless soldiers formed a circle, holding shields and guns. All the people who hurriedly ran out of the sports hall were blocked in the square outside. They shouted anxiously, “Let us out! Let us out!”
Fear and panic were evident on people’s faces, their expressions contorted in terror.
The leader of the military stood on a vehicle, holding a megaphone, and coldly declared to the hundreds of people in the square, “Stay where you are, don’t move. Anyone who moves will be shot immediately.”
Screams from inside the auction house continued, accompanied by gunshots and explosions, creating a constant state of panic.
Everyone who ran out had witnessed the auctioneer being pierced by something strange. The scene was extremely bloody. The woman’s face became rotten rapidly after being stained with blood, clearly transforming into a monster.
Those who managed to escape outside had no idea what was happening inside but were desperate to leave this dangerous place.
Bai Qingqing was squeezed in the crowd, surrounded by a sea of people, making it impossible to find Fu Chen and Cheng Rui.
Conversations among the people reached her ears.
“Did zombies get in?”
“Wasn’t there supposed to be strict screening when entering the city? How did she get in?”
“That woman who was pulled out didn’t show any signs of mutation. What’s going on?”
Bai Qingqing recalled what she had seen and found it particularly strange. The woman who suddenly killed the auctioneer should have undergone thorough checks. It wouldn’t be possible for her to go unnoticed if she were a zombie.
After breaking free from the cage, she used blade-like structures similar to plants to pierce through the auctioneer, instantly killing him.
However, the woman’s aura didn’t resemble that of someone with superpowers. It was only after the auctioneer turned into a zombie after a dozen seconds that the audience was scared and started running.
The cold words of the military officer undoubtedly intensified the fear in people’s hearts. Among the buyers attending the auction were not only commoners but also individuals with high social status. They shouted angrily at the military.
“We’re not infected! Let us out!”
“You bastards! You have no right to keep us here! Do you want to kill us?”
The military looked at the people coldly, as if they were looking at lifeless objects, devoid of any emotion.
They had received orders from higher-ups that mutated zombies had appeared in the auction house. If they couldn’t control the situation inside, they were instructed to eliminate everyone in the auction house using lethal weapons.
The people argued ferociously, until a gunshot echoed, and a well-dressed man’s head exploded.
That man happened to be not far from Bai Qingqing, and blood splattered onto her clothes, a horrifying sight.
The gunshot amplified the panic among the people. Many of them started crying and begging for mercy, saying, “We’re really not infected. Please let us leave.”
Bai Qingqing’s scalp tingled as she looked at the soldiers suppressing the crowd and the dark cannon barrels in the rear. She realized that today, regardless of infection or not, no one would leave this place alive.
Bai Qingqing never expected to encounter such a crisis. Her spatial ability required a fifth-tier level to escape into it, while her control over plants and animals ability was only at the second-tier level, with no mutated plants or animals in the vicinity that she could control.
If Fu Chen and Cheng Rui didn’t find her quickly, she would face a life-threatening situation.
Suddenly— “Get away! Ahhh!”
From the rear of the crowd came sharp and terrified screams. Bai Qingqing saw the leader standing on the vehicle raise his hand in a gesture, giving the order, “Take action!”
Bai Qingqing’s pupils constricted, and she immediately moved backward.
As soon as the military officer’s words fell, gunshots rang out. Cold and merciless gunfire swept through, and people fell one after another. The air was filled with a mist of blood, and the square echoed with piercing screams of agony.
The scene was like a hell on earth, and Bai Qingqing had no time to contemplate the scene before her. She looked around, searching for a chance to survive.
The most dangerous place often turned out to be a temporarily safe zone.
Just as she retreated near a large pillar close to the sports hall, a person suddenly rushed over. Their rotting face and red eyes were exceptionally terrifying—it was a mutated zombie!
Bai Qingqing pulled out a Tang sword from her space and swung it, beheading the zombie directly. But her arm was suddenly grabbed, and she turned her head sharply.
Cheng Rui was holding her arm and said in a deep voice, “Follow me.”
Bai Qingqing breathed a sigh of relief, finally joining one of the members of the Thunder Squad. After all, they were the protagonists, so staying by their side should offer some safety.
Gunfire continued to mercilessly mow down the humans outside, followed by blazing flames. Those who were hit but not yet dead were engulfed in flames, emitting a sizzling smell of burning flesh.
Bai Qingqing’s face turned pale. The mutated experience in Zhou Village was already terrifying, but it paled in comparison to the scene before her, which was truly shocking.
“Don’t look,” Cheng Rui said with a cold expression, grabbing her and swiftly moving away.
Humans running frantically for their lives, terrifying zombies, and chaos all around. People were being bitten continuously, and others were mutating.
Bai Qingqing stumbled along with Cheng Rui as they broke through for more than ten minutes, gradually becoming physically exhausted.
Taking a glance at the girl whose face had turned pale and was breathing heavily, Cheng Rui said something offensive and then simply lifted her onto his shoulder with one hand.
“Ah!” Bai Qingqing didn’t expect him to be so rough, hastily grabbing onto his back.
There were more infected individuals inside the sports hall, but these mutated zombies were easier to deal with compared to the military surrounding the outside. Cheng Rui used his superpower to kill the mutated zombies while searching for a place to hide.
However, before they could find a hiding place, two mutated individuals with blue and purple faces suddenly rushed out, using their superpowers to attack Cheng Rui.
Bai Qingqing noticed that these two were the superhumans who came out of the auction house and killed the mutated woman earlier. They had actually become zombies themselves?
No, that’s not right. Those who were bitten by zombies and mutated would have their faces rot instantly, but these two didn’t turn into zombies. Instead, they gave her a peculiar and eerie feeling.
Cheng Rui had to deal with the two mutants, so he had to let her down.
The movements of the two mutants were horrifyingly fast, and Cheng Rui was surprisingly not gaining the upper hand in the fight against them.
Bai Qingqing held a gun to assist Cheng Rui in his attacks. Due to the enemies’ speed, either her shots missed or hit other parts of their bodies. Not hitting the head didn’t cause any pain or damage to the mutants.
Her palms were sweaty, and she had to divert her attention to deal with the approaching zombies.
Superpowers couldn’t be used continuously, so under the relentless assault of the two mutants, Cheng Rui could only take Bai Qingqing and escape toward the auction house for a rest.
The mutants pursued them relentlessly, like controlled puppets. Cheng Rui threw her into a room and instructed, “Hide here. I’ll lead them away.”
Bai Qingqing nodded and closed the door tightly, finding a corner to hide in.
She couldn’t be of much help; in fact, she would only be a burden and create chaos. All she could do was pray that Cheng Rui could deal with the two mutants.
Bai Qingqing tried to calm herself down and told herself that Cheng Rui would be fine.
She recalled the events from entering the auction house to the auctioneer being killed, and encountering superhumans who were mutated but not zombies.
Those two superhumans were somewhat similar to the woman in the auction house; it seemed like they were under some kind of control. What exactly caused them to mutate?
If this type of mutation initially went undetected and had a certain incubation period, it explained why the auction house didn’t detect that the woman was a mutant.
Compared to the instant transformation into zombies, this type of mutation was even more terrifying.
Were there any other mutants in the city that hadn’t been discovered? If there were, this place would no longer be a safe zone, and everyone in the city would die.
She didn’t know how Fu Chen and the others were doing. She hoped they could safely escape from the auction house.
Time passed slowly, and Bai Qingqing had never felt time drag on so long.
Suddenly, there was a knocking sound at the door. Before she could get up to check, the door was kicked open, and armed soldiers stormed in.
The glaring lights swept over, and Bai Qingqing quickly stood up and raised her hands. “Don’t shoot.”
The soldier scrutinized her and asked, “Are you alive?”
Bai Qingqing showed a frightened expression and replied, “After the incident at the auction house, I’ve been hiding here.”
The soldier forced her to go out and walked her to the sports hall square. She noticed many other survivors who were being controlled, gathered at the square, and forcibly loaded into vehicles.
The people looked numb, and no one spoke as they were crowded into the vehicles.
Whether they lived or died was determined by a single decision from the higher-ups in the city. Regardless of infection status, anyone present at the auction house was taken away.
After a while, the vehicle stopped at a place resembling a prison area. The survivors from the auction house were all forced out of the vehicles and led inside one by one.
They were gathered in a place similar to a basketball court.
“You will be quarantined here for a few days. If there are no signs of infection, you will be released,” a soldier announced.
“How many days exactly?” someone couldn’t help but question.
The officer had a cold face, not immediately killing them, which was already the greatest mercy. As for what would happen in the end, that was up to the higher-ups.
The only fate for these survivors from the auction house was to be eliminated. Keeping them here was just a show for the civilians in the city, to prove that Wucheng wasn’t indiscriminately killing innocent people.
The officer didn’t answer, and silence filled the scene. This prison might be their graveyard.
Bai Qingqing could only hope that Fu Chen wouldn’t abandon her, his little sister, and quickly find her and rescue them. If Fu Chen didn’t show up, she would have to expose her spatial ability to ensure her survival.
Bai Qingqing was locked up with several other people. She looked out through the window at the pale moonlight, feeling heavy-hearted.
After a while, she saw a soldier escorting a girl past the cell. She ran over and called out to her, “Bai Tiantian.”
Bai Tiantian immediately turned her head, her mouth wide open in surprise. “Qingqing.” She gripped the iron bars of the cell. “How did you get caught too?”
“What about Shen Mingxuan and Xiao Yang?” Bai Qingqing asked in succession. “You didn’t see them?”
Bai Tiantian shook her head.
“Go quickly, don’t linger,” the soldier urged.
Bai Tiantian didn’t know where she was being taken, but Bai Qingqing knew the reason. She lowered her voice and said, “Make sure they bring me along.”
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