Air Raid Siren

In a basement, the lights glowed dimly. The table was covered with empty premium canned food containers, along with several nearly drained bottles of red wine.

Tang Hai sat in a tactical recliner, his expression somewhat grim.

"Yuming, those two young Espers from today... I can't shake the feeling that something's off about them."

Feng Yuming lounged with one leg crossed over the other, eating canned fruit as he spoke casually. "That woman is a bit troublesome, but I watched her. She's actually very weak and only forcing herself to hold on. She shouldn't pose much of a threat. Besides, she went into the cave herself now—she can't run."

"Is Big Yellow ready?"

"Don't worry, Uncle." Feng Yuming smiled. "With the equipment from these convoys, we'll be able to leave this hellhole soon."

Tang Hai's face darkened slightly. "That Black Flood Dragon convoy isn't so simple either. We need to be patient tonight."

Feng Yuming nodded. "Uncle, later on, I'll see if I can keep a few women behind. We'll have something to play with on the road. The boys have been holding it in for far too long..."

Tang Hai gave a derisive snort. "The prettiest little girl is the most dangerous one. You dare keep her?"

"Tch!" Feng Yuming said disdainfully. "Espers aren't gods. No matter how strong she is, there are only two of them. I'll have plenty of ways to deal with her when the time comes."

"Oh, right."

Tang Hai's tone sharpened. "There may be other Espers too. We need to keep watch, like that big guy. He doesn't look easy to handle either."

"I know. He's probably a strength type, but one burst from a machine gun will leave nothing whole of him." Feng Yuming sneered, clearly not taking it too seriously.

The uncle and nephew discussed matters back and forth, clearly certain of everyone's fate as they waited to harvest the spoils.

At that moment, although the hundreds of survivors and dozens of vehicles in the sentry post's courtyard were on high alert, they had no idea that a man-made disaster was silently brewing.

Inside the armory, Lin Xian told Kiki about what he had discovered earlier.

"Another backup power source? What does that mean?" Kiki rubbed her sleepy eyes.

Lin Xian said gravely, "That power system is independent. It supplies electricity to the base's defense systems and... the overhead lines of a short branch railway."

Kiki frowned. "A branch railway? You mean Tang Hai's group plans to escape by train!?"

"That's possible. Judging by the power supply method and voltage load, the distance should be limited. It can't go very far."

"So they don't need to go very far." Kiki finally understood, her eyes widening. "They just need to get out of the fog, or... Beiwan Station?!"

"Then if they have this, why do they still need to..."

As she spoke, Kiki suddenly froze. Gritting her teeth, she said, "Oh my god, that bastard! Then we need to leave, now!"

With that, she immediately prepared to get up, but Lin Xian grabbed her. His expression was grave as he said, "Leave? Where would we go? If we leave now, the other convoys will definitely panic too. That'll only make things more troublesome."

"But if we stay here, aren't we just waiting to die?" Kiki asked in panic.

Lin Xian looked at her intently. "Do you remember something you said earlier? You were actually right."

"What did I say?" Kiki asked, confused.

"If we run now, even if we escape the fog, it'll still be nighttime."

Kiki suddenly understood. "Oh. You mean they might strike before dawn."

"Even earlier than that. So we still have time."

"Time for what?"

Lin Xian dragged over a filthy sleeping bag. "To sleep."

"Are you crazy?!!"

Kiki stared at Lin Xian as though he had lost his mind. She reached out and touched his forehead, frowning. "Did the stink in here knock you unconscious? At a time like this, what are you sleeping for?"

"We have to sleep."

Lin Xian looked at her seriously.

"You need to rest first. Once you've recovered some energy, you'll be able to help and work with my plan later."

With that, he pulled Kiki over and told her a bold idea.

Lin Xian was certain Tang Hai would not act too early. First, as Kiki had said, he would wait until the night was half over. Second, he wanted the others to grow exhausted and let down their guard late at night. No matter what, Lin Xian had to prepare for both possibilities.

Only if Kiki recovered some of her energy would they have a greater chance of breaking out.

Kiki's expression changed slightly when she heard Lin Xian's plan. "What about Sha Sha and the others? Should we...?"

Lin Xian shook his head. "We can't worry about them now. Even if we tell them, they won't be able to help, and they might alert the enemy."

"Don't say anything else. Go to sleep!"

Kiki furrowed her brows, then followed Lin Xian's instructions. Enduring the stench in the room, she leaned back on a sleeping mat and began to rest.

Lin Xian said nothing more. He placed a hand on the generator unit and activated Mechanical Devour!

Devour Progress: 1%

Lin Xian watched the slowly advancing progress bar in the light screen as fine beads of sweat began to seep from his forehead.

He roughly guessed the true intentions of Tang Hai's group, and cold sweat poured down his back. Compared to this, his initial bit of vigilance had been far too naïve...

It was Lin Xian's first time devouring such an enormous generator set. Together with the energy storage equipment, this 1900KW diesel generator set could practically provide backup power for an entire residential complex. The difficulty of devouring it was immense.

Moreover, he had already expended a great deal of stamina. He did not know whether he could hold out until this massive thing had been completely devoured.

So he took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down. Fortunately, Mechanical Devour had already reached LV2, and its efficiency had improved considerably compared to before.

Second by second, time passed. Before long, it was already five in the morning.

After several consecutive days of extreme tension, many of the elderly, weak, women, and children among the survivors had fallen asleep. Even the men keeping watch were starting to lose focus. Some began washing their faces with clean water, while those who had the means drank coffee to fight off the crushing drowsiness.

Under the night sky, fog shrouded the outpost's high walls. The surroundings were utterly quiet, with only the faint rustling of insects to be heard.

Even the occasional crying child was quickly hushed by their mother, afraid of stirring up some trouble in the darkness.

Everyone shared an unspoken understanding. They all waited quietly for daybreak.

Wooo—

But just then, a piercing air raid siren suddenly blared, growing ever more intense and instantly breaking everyone out in a cold sweat!

"What's that sound?!"

"An air raid siren? Fuck!?"

"What's going on?!"

"Who did this..."

On the Black Flood Dragon convoy's side, Qian Yu, who had been taking a short nap, jolted awake. His eyes widened, and he immediately cursed in fury. "This is bad, those dog bastards!" He decisively grabbed the radio. "Everyone, stay alert!"

"Where's that old beast?"

"Haven't seen him since last night." Old Eagle stood up through the roof of another vehicle with a gun in hand, constantly searching for any sign of Tang Hai's group. Yet not a single person was in sight.

The air raid siren soon drew countless zombies toward them. Howls and shrieks rose from all around, sending chills down everyone's spine.

"We've been had!" Qian Yu roared. "No wonder that bastard deliberately invited everyone into the air-raid shelter. He was playing hard to get!"

"Should we hide in the air-raid shelter now?"

"Hide my ass. It's definitely locked already!"

He had expected Tang Hai to pull some kind of trick, but he had never imagined the man would be this ruthless—setting off an explosion inside his own shelter? Was that even something a human could do?

Quite a few convoys realized what had happened as well. Chaos instantly erupted throughout the compound, with countless curses directed at Tang Hai. Every vehicle started its engine.

Some of the smaller convoy members got out of their vehicles and ran toward the air-raid shelter.

At that moment, when the Black Flood Dragon convoy opened the outpost gates, they discovered that the outside had somehow been filled with chevaux-de-frise and marble barriers. Qian Yu took one look and cursed furiously. "Obstacle-clearing team, clear the way, now!"

Vrooom!

The modified heavy truck slowly lowered the steel plow mounted at its front, then slammed on the gas and charged out through the gates.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Amid a string of explosive crashes, the truck instantly smashed open a route.

"Brother, are we leaving too?"

In the pickup on the other side, Lou Shasha, who had been startled awake, looked anxiously at the chaotic crowd and called out.

"They..." Lou Ye looked toward the air-raid shelter, hesitation on his face.

"Should I go call them?!" Lou Shasha shouted.

"Not yet!" Lou Ye grabbed her and looked out the window. "They... have powers."

Lou Shasha nodded, saying in a flustered voice, "Okay, then we'll wait for them."

At that moment, the dozen or so survivors preparing to rush into the air-raid shelter had just reached the iron gate when a flash of fire suddenly burst forth, followed by a massive explosion!

BOOM!

The fireball illuminated the entire outpost compound, instantly swallowing those survivors.

"This is bad!"

"What about Sister Kiki and the others?!"

"Graaah!!"

The shrill howls of the zombie horde soon surged in from all directions. Gunfire began erupting around them. Lou Shasha's little face turned deathly pale with anxiety, but after waiting for a long time, there was still no sign of Lin Xian or Kiki.

At that moment, Lou Ye made a swift decision and stomped on the accelerator.

"Brother!!"

"We're leaving first!"

If they hesitated any longer, neither of them would be able to escape. With that decisive choice, the pickup's engine roared, and it shot out of the outpost.

Countless zombies, grotesque mutant corpses, corpse hounds, and black centipedes now poured into the outpost through the fog like a tidal wave. A van that failed to start was instantly swallowed by the horde. Another SUV crashed into a concrete barrier amid the chaos. Left with no choice, the people inside grabbed their guns, got out, and ran toward the air-raid shelter while firing back.

But before they had taken more than a few steps, corpse hounds lunged out of the darkness and knocked them to the ground.

"Ahhh!!"

"Help..."

"Wife, run! I'll fight you beasts to the death!!"

The air-raid shelter had been completely blown apart, and countless zombies swarmed inside, immediately triggering a wave of agonized screams.

Shrill cries echoed through the valley. In the darkness, a string of headlights sped through the mist. All convoys followed behind the Black Flood Dragon convoy as they fled frantically. Monsters and zombies lunged at them from every direction. The moment one vehicle lost control, it set off a chain of crashes before being swallowed by the horde.

Qian Yu's armored vehicle drove behind the path-clearing truck, his eyes bloodshot.

"Vehicle No. 4! Vehicle No. 4! Respond!"

"Fuck!"

"Wu Songlin, have you found a route?!!"

"We can only get out through the city. We'd have to turn back to take that side road!" the underling shouted over the radio.

"Damn it!"

"Boss, I think something's wrong," the underling suddenly said.

New author seeking follows and recommendations!