Plans Can't Keep Up With Change

Beside the newsstand, space twisted and rippled violently like water. A purple-black vortex, roughly twenty meters in diameter, suddenly tore into existence, and a chaotic, bloodthirsty aura instantly permeated the air!

"Awoo!!!"

Accompanied by a low, gravelly roar, a black shadow shot out from the vortex like an arrow released from a bow.

It was a hideous monster that resembled a wolf, yet it was twice the size, covered in dark green scales with a protruding, bony tail.

The moment it appeared, its turbid, dark red eyes locked onto the pedestrians nearby who had been frozen in shock by the sudden pressure.

Without a moment's hesitation, it pushed off the ground with its thick hind legs, transforming into a dark green blur of death as it lunged toward a young girl who had just stepped out of the convenience store next to Hongfu Restaurant, a drink still in her hand.

"Ah!!"

The shrill, desperate scream was cut off halfway.

Squelch! Crack!

As sharp claws tore through flesh and massive jaws snapped bone, blood erupted like a fountain.

The girl's body was shredded like a rag doll, and the thick, metallic scent of blood exploded across the street.

"Ah!! What is that thing?"

"A monster! There's a monster!"

"Run!"

Screams, wails, and the frantic blaring of car horns shattered the brief calm, plunging the street into instant chaos.

A second monster surged out of the nest. The moment it landed, it pounced on a middle-aged man who had collapsed in terror, its sharp claws dripping with green slime as it slashed viciously at the man's throat.

People near the windows of the banquet hall stared blankly at the scene, only snapping out of their stupor to let out terrified shrieks.

"Monster! There's a monster outside!"

"It's eating people!"

"Call the police! Hurry, call the police!"

Panic spread like a plague, and the once-festive banquet hall erupted into total pandemonium!

"Roar!"

"Awoo!"

More terrifying monsters poured out of the black-purple hole like a broken dam, swarming toward the pedestrians and vehicles on the street.

Screams and cries pierced the sky, and from the first-floor lobby of Hongfu Restaurant came the heart-wrenching sound of shattering glass and chaotic, agonizing screams.

Clearly, monsters had smashed through the main entrance.

Lin Yi stared fixedly at the hellish scene outside the window.

He knew what these monsters were.

Corrosive Abyssal Wolf.

A type of low-level Abyss Beast, the most basic unit of a Micro Nest. In the future, they would be nothing more than cannon fodder, but in the early days of the apocalypse, they were the primary cause of casualties.

Among the friends and family he had specifically gathered, nearly half had been killed by these Abyssal Wolves in his previous life.

Lin Yi whipped his head around, looking at his panicked relatives and parents, his gaze finally locking onto the doors of the banquet hall.

From the floor below, the roars of the Abyssal Wolves and the screams of dying humans were already audible, growing closer by the second.

"Xiaomeng! Xiaomeng is still outside!"

A scream laced with tears tore through the chaos of the banquet hall.

Lin Yi turned abruptly to see his aunt, her face pale as a sheet, trembling as she pointed toward the closed banquet hall doors. "She—she said she was going to the restroom just now, and she hasn't come back!"

Xiaomeng!

Lin Yi's heart sank.

He remembered now; just before the staff performance began, he had caught a glimpse of his cousin, Zhou Mengmeng, slipping quietly out the door.

But he had been about to go on stage for his speech and hadn't been able to stop her.

He had assumed that at her age, if her mother let her go out alone, she was almost certainly going to the restroom. The restroom was at the end of the hall, and there was plenty of time.

But she hadn't returned.

Only now did Lin Yi realize he had fallen into a blind spot. He had ignored the differences between men and women; women were naturally less convenient in such matters, and he had forgotten that during the peak lunch hour at a hotel like this, the women's restroom was prone to queues.

In his previous life, Xiaomeng had been back in the countryside on holiday, luckily escaping this initial slaughter, but today... Could it be that his "graduation banquet," intended to protect everyone, had instead pushed her into the abyss?

No!

He had to act immediately!

Lin Yi forcibly suppressed his churning emotions; he knew this was no time for regret.

In his original plan, he had intended to pose as a hot-blooded youth to save people; saving his own cousin was even more justifiable.

But before he could move, he saw his uncle grab a chair, his eyes bloodshot, ready to charge toward the door.

"Uncle!!!"

Lin Yi saw this and let out a sharp shout! He immediately leaped off the stage, rushed in front of his uncle Zhou Jianjun, and blocked him firmly.

"Uncle, I'll go!"

Not giving his uncle a chance to speak, Lin Yi said in quick succession:

"Those aren't wild beasts, they're monsters! You have no weapons and no protection; rushing out there is just suicide!"

Zhou Jianjun was slightly stunned at these words, but his fists clenched until they creaked, and he still struggled to push forward.

"I have armor! I have a club!"

"There's no time to waste!"

Lin Yi practically growled, the increasingly clear roars of monsters and dying screams from downstairs providing the most direct annotation for every word he spoke.

"Guard this place, Uncle!"

"Block the main entrance, seal it tight! Only leave the side door, and wait for me to return."

Lin Yi enunciated the words "guard this place" with heavy emphasis.

"Guard this place."

Zhou Jianjun repeated the words subconsciously. His bloodshot eyes were fixed firmly on the door that separated them from hell, and while the veins on his hand gripping the chair bulged, his strength wavered.

He took a few heavy breaths, as if finally recognizing the cruel reality, and nodded with difficulty at Lin Yi, squeezing a single word from his throat: "Fine!"

This was not cowardice; with Zhou Jianjun's experience as a veteran, he knew clearly that a human with weapons and protection and one without were practically two different species.

Given the power those monsters displayed, rushing out without protection meant that even if he reached his daughter, he would have no chance of survival if he encountered a monster on the way back.

Staying here to secure a safe retreat and letting someone stronger go save his daughter was a cold choice, but it was the superior one.

Suppressing his uncle had taken less than half a minute, but to Lin Yi, it felt incredibly long.

His gaze swept across the room like lightning. His parents were huddled together, faces deathly pale; his mother's hand gripped his father's arm tightly, her lips trembling as if she wanted to stop her son from taking the risk, but his father pressed down firmly on her shoulder.

His aunt was slumped in a chair nearby, tears streaming down her face as she looked at him, her mouth moving as she muttered something unintelligible.

Meanwhile, Chen Yu and a few other classmates who were barely keeping their composure were still shouting futilely into their phones, "There are monsters killing people, help! We're at Hongfu Restaurant. Come quickly!"

Most of the other relatives and guests had already lost their wits, frantically dialing their phones.

Calling the police was the only way to seek help from the outside right now.

Lin Yi took a deep breath. The air, thick with the scent of blood, brought him no calm; instead, it scorched his lungs.

Then, he turned abruptly. His brand-new alloy combat boots landed heavily on the smooth floor, and without a backward glance, he pulled open the doors of Fujin Hall and charged out.