"Tap tap tap..."
The sound of hurried footsteps was drowned out by the terrified cries.
A figure with a ponytail was running swiftly down the street, her flaxen ponytail swaying slightly behind her head.
As the blurry afterimages of vehicles sped past on the roadside, she suddenly pushed off the cracked asphalt and leaped into the air.
As the figure flipped through the air, a long, cold, hard sniper rifle was already in hand.
What came into view was a terrified crowd and a chasing shadow...
"Bang--!"
The gunshot Rend the Sky, like a cold, hard verdict.
The next instant, a puff of dark red liquid gushed from the head of the shadowy figure.
The Sharp-Horned Rat froze for a moment, then crashed heavily to the ground and lay motionless.
The figure leaped up and landed simultaneously, knees slightly bent to cushion the impact; the movement was clean and crisp, without a single unnecessary movement.
She didn't even glance at the fallen prey or the stunned, dumbfounded crowd.
The flaxen ponytail traced a brief arc upon landing before straightening back to its vertical position.
The cold sniper rifle twirled in her hand before being neatly slung behind her back.
Without pausing or even adjusting her breathing, she exerted force again the very next second after landing.
"Tread..."
The footsteps sounded again, but quickly faded into the distance.
Only a rapidly shrinking silhouette remained on the street, accompanied by a deathly silence of shock.
A residential building.
A two-meter-long Sharp-Horned Rat was climbing up the wall, gripping its sides.
Just as it was gathering its strength to leap in, a blinding beam of flashlight suddenly shone on it.
"Fire!"
With a command given.
Several flashes of light appeared on a car parked by the roadside, and bullets rained down on the area around the monster.
The Sharp-Horned Rat instinctively turned its head to avoid vital areas, but the gunshot wounds to other parts of its body were still unbearable for it. It hissed and fell off the wall.
As the smoke and dust dissipated, the Sharp-Horned Rat did not rush over, but instead quickly scurried to the side.
"Team leader?"
"Chase!"
On the street.
The Wild Grass Squad is currently entangled with a Second Tier Sharp-Horned Rat.
However, perhaps due to a lack of combat experience, or perhaps because the strength of the Second Tier Calamity Beast exceeded their expectations.
They gradually found themselves at a disadvantage.
Just when everyone was about to give up, a series of clanging sounds suddenly appeared in the thick fog.
A tiny, indistinct black shadow bounced between the buildings.
The dark shadow rapidly approached the group with a series of impacts, eventually landing on the ground between them and the Sharp-Horned Rat.
At that moment, the members of the Wild Grass Squad saw it clearly.
It looked like a tangled ball of silk thread.
"Bang!"
The ball of thread leaped up and crashed into the Sharp-Horned Rat that was pouncing on it.
Then.
"Sizzle! Sizzle! Sizzle!..."
One after another, sharp awls pierced through the back of the Sharp-Horned Rat...
"There is a Tier 3 Sharp-Horned Rat in the south square of the high-speed rail station. Please be aware if you are in the vicinity..."
"A hunting party has been spotted at the city's central hospital. Please alert nearby areas..."
"There's unusual activity at the High-tech Zone Biomedical Park; the situation of the Calamity Beast is unknown..."
From the high-rise building, one message after another was transmitted out.
From near to far, from the known to the unknown.
During this time, Shen Heng would occasionally turn his head to look in a certain direction, then look at the map on the side, and finally report the answer.
After a long silence, as the last message was announced, Shen Heng abruptly turned off the microphone and then let out a heavy sigh.
"Would you like to rest for a few minutes?" A police officer standing nearby handed over a towel at the opportune moment.
The rat infestation is still raging, and everyone has their own things to do.
Therefore, after leaving two police officers to watch over the area, Fan Hong also left.
"Need not!"
Shen Heng took the towel and, while wiping himself, focused his attention on his mind.
My mind raced through the black-and-white city that had been constructed in my mind, one scene after another.
The situation is not as optimistic as imagined.
Although the Sharp-Horned Rat have indeed been eliminated, the number of people fighting against Sharp-Horned Rat has also been decreasing.
In just half an hour since the outbreak of the rat infestation, more than twenty combat teams composed of police officers and martial artists have been forced to withdraw from the battlefield.
Although more than sixty Sharp-Horned Rat have been killed, over one hundred and fifty Sharp-Horned Rat are still rampaging through the city.
Only about thirty squads remain, continuing to fight within the city.
There's nothing we can do; even now, it's only a little past six in the morning, let alone when the rat swarm breaks out.
At that time, the vast majority of people were resting at home.
The police can only organize and dispatch a few hundred people immediately.
A significant portion of them will be transferred to hospitals and other places where many citizens are unable to escape.
Only a couple hundred people could be sent out to participate in the resistance.
Now.
150+:30+
Fear, terror, and screams still echoed throughout Linhai...
Shen Heng let out a soft breath, sorted out the information about the Calamity Beast in his mind, and then bent down again.
The Origin Power was invoked as he spoke.
After a brief pause, the clear and calm sound rang out again over the Linhai.
It calmed the panic that gripped the city and soothed the people on the verge of collapse...
Emerald Garden Residential Complex, Building 3, Unit 201.
Xu Yuqin huddled in the dark room, her hands clasped tightly together, her knuckles turning slightly white from the force.
Her heart felt heavy, filled with both fear and uncontrollable worry.
"I wonder how Xiao Heng is doing now..."
She called Shen Heng the moment the citywide broadcast first came on.
The advice was to draw all the curtains and stay safely in the room, and to call him immediately if the Sharp-Horned Rat mentioned in the report appeared in the neighborhood.
Of course, they also received a promise that they would stay at the company and not go out.
Despite receiving such a promise, Xu Yuqin couldn't help but worry.
She wanted to confirm Shen Heng's safety, but she was also worried that contacting him would expose Shen Heng, so she dared not contact him.
Just then, gunshots rang out from not far away.
Xu Yuqin glanced hesitantly at the window, hesitated for a moment, then carefully moved to the window and cautiously lifted a corner of the curtain.
A thick fog blanketed the area; nearby trees, fences, and streets were still visible, but distant objects were completely obscured.
Has another Calamity Beast gone to the neighboring community?
Xu Yuqin sighed softly.
For a moment, I didn't know whether to be happy or unhappy.
It seems to be because the Emerald Garden Residential Complex is next to a renovated, high-rise community with a larger population.
The Sharp-Horned Rat didn't visit this old, run-down neighborhood; instead, it headed towards the neighboring neighborhood.
This has happened once before; this is the second time.