Chapter 138

Chapter 138

As the instructor finished, everyone rushed towards the door. Yan Bubu was about to turn back and call Binunu, but found it already waiting beside him.

In the corridors and on the stairs, quantum beasts appeared out of nowhere, rushing alongside the guide students.

"Chen Wenchao, Yan Bubu, which evacuation site are you two headed to?" Wang Suizi asked loudly while running downstairs.

"My dad lives in the residential area on the second level. I'm heading there. What about you?" replied Chen Wenchao.

Wang Suizi said, "I'll also go to the residential area. It's closer to the checkpoint, and I want to go to the first level to find my aunt."

Yan Bubu thought for a moment, "Then I'll go to the welfare institute."

There was no time for personnel allocation, and everyone chose their destination voluntarily. Many students had relatives, so they naturally wanted to go to the residential area, meaning fewer people were willing to go to the welfare institute.

"Okay, take care then."

"Yeah, you too."

No one had the time to ask what exactly was happening; everyone was too busy rushing down the stairs.

The playground was filled with guides running in every direction. Several trucks were parked outside the academy gates, ready to depart as soon as they were filled with people.

Three trucks bound for the residential area had already left, fully loaded. Of the remaining three by the roadside, one truck driver leaned out and called, "Hurry, anyone going to the welfare institute, get on!"

Yan Bubu immediately ran to the back of the truck, quickly climbing in along with Binunu.

"Any more going to the welfare institute? Any more?" Without time to delay, an unfamiliar instructor called out a few times before jumping onto the truck, "Go, drive."

The driver started the vehicle, and the truck headed towards the welfare institute.

Inside the truck, no one spoke. The piercing sound of the alarm continued, each blare tightening an invisible grip on everyone's heart.

Logistics personnel on the truck began distributing equipment to the guides: firearms, ammunition, first aid kits, and other items.

Just as Yan Bubu put on his helmet, a strange voice came through the loudspeaker, "A mutated species of beetle capable of corroding Gigantum metal has appeared beneath the central city, extensively damaging the pillars supporting it. The situation is extremely critical, and everyone must evacuate as quickly as possible. Please remain calm and follow the military's organized evacuation. If you see elderly or children nearby, please lend a hand..."

Yan Bubu heard someone nearby ask, "Who's speaking? I've never heard this voice before."

Another person replied, "Probably one of the supreme governors, either Ran Pinghao or Chen Sizhe."

"I've heard this voice before, it's Chen Sizhe, the governor of the Eastern Allied Forces."

Yan Bubu's body swayed slightly with the movement of the vehicle. He appeared calm but was still very anxious inside and missed Feng Chen terribly.

If Feng Chen were sitting beside him now, he wouldn't be afraid of anything.

But knowing that Feng Chen was not beside him, but rather at the safe mines outside the central city, brought him a sense of relief.

Yan Bubu glanced at Binunu standing in front of him and gently pulled it into his embrace.

Binunu, unusually compliant, allowed Yan Bubu to hold it, burying its face in his head.

"Are you missing Sasa too?" Yan Bubu asked softly.

Binunu stood still, and Yan Bubu reassured it, "Don't worry, it and my brother are both safe."

After about ten minutes of speeding, the truck screeched to a halt at the entrance of the welfare institute, leaving long tire marks. The students jumped off before the truck fully stopped, and Yan Bubu also leaped down, rushing into the welfare institute.

Inside, cries filled the air as nannies and caregivers were hurriedly sending children to the trucks outside. They held children in both arms, with more clutching at their clothing. Still, many children were left unattended, standing on the lawn and crying loudly.

One caregiver, like an octopus, was not only covered in children but also led a line of them as she walked out. As she passed by, she called to the guide students, "Inside, there are still many inside, some are even still asleep."

In such a situation, the older children naturally took on the responsibility, leading the younger ones out. However, many more children remained inside the building, some standing at windows looking out blankly, while others were wailing loudly.

"Quick, get those children down," the director ordered, with two children under his arms and sweating profusely as he headed to the truck, "There are many more in the rooms upstairs. We need to get every single one out, no one left behind!"

The guides, along with their quantum beasts, rushed into the building. Yan Bubu and Binunu were among them.

The building had four floors. The first and second floors were classrooms and activity rooms, while the third and fourth floors were dormitories. To avoid repeating searches, the well-trained guide students, without needing orders, charged straight to the top floor and quickly dispersed to search downwards floor by floor.

Since it was not a sleeping time, they found only seven or eight children on the third and fourth floors, who were then escorted away by two guides. The others then proceeded to the second floor.

The second floor was an activity room, still crowded with children.

"Quick, come with us," the guides called out. The older children followed, crying, while the younger ones stood still. Larger quantum beasts picked up a child and ran downstairs, while smaller ones nudged the children forward.

These children were mostly recovered ordinary people, unable to see quantum beasts. Feeling themselves being lifted into the air, they stopped crying, looking around in amazement with wide eyes.

Yan Bubu also picked up two children, instructing Binunu, "You go check the next activity room. I'll drop these kids off at the truck and come back up."

Binunu immediately went to search the unexplored adjacent activity room, while Yan Bubu rushed downstairs with the children.

As each truck was filled, it headed towards the checkpoint. Three trucks had already left. Yan Bubu placed the two children on a waiting truck and immediately turned back to run into the welfare institute.

Just as Yan Bubu reached the second floor, he heard the instructor's voice through the walkie-talkie: "The search of the first and second floors is complete. The emergency passage on the second level of the central city is now open. Everyone at the welfare institute, evacuate immediately and escort the vehicles to the emergency passage."

Hearing the command, the guides who were still searching hurriedly descended the stairs. Yan Bubu quickly went to the activity room to call for Binunu.

The first room inside the activity room was a hall filled with various toys, but Binunu wasn't there. It must have gone to the adjoining room.

"Binunu! We need to go!" Yan Bubu rushed into the next room, where he saw a large pit filled with colorful balls. Binunu was stepping through the balls, almost submerged, struggling to get out while dragging a little girl with it.

The girl had been playing in the ball pit, which is why she wasn't noticed by the guides. She couldn't see Binunu and didn't understand why she was being pulled along. She was neither crying nor making a fuss, just looking surprised.

Yan Bubu stepped into the ball pit and picked up the little girl, telling Binunu, "Let’s go, we need to get out of here."

The pit was filled with balls, making it difficult to walk, especially for shorter individuals. Binunu, unable to reach the bottom, wobbled a few steps before plunging into the pile of balls, frantically throwing them around in frustration.

Yan Bubu reached out to help Binunu, but before he could reach the edge of the pit, a deafening sound from afar shook the windows, sending a buzz through the glass. This was followed by a series of thunderous explosions, more terrifying than the sound of bombs.

"Run——"

Someone's shout came from outside the window, and a dreadful thought flashed through Yan Bubu's mind. But as soon as the thought formed, he felt the ground beneath him give way, and he, along with a heap of balls, started to sink.

The sound of balls rustling and the creaking of the collapsing building filled Yan Bubu's ears, overlapping with the sensations from an earthquake he had experienced as a child. Fear engulfed him, leaving his mind blank.

But this moment was brief; he quickly came to his senses. As he fell with the balls, he tightly held onto Binunu and the little girl, an image flashing in his mind.

If he were to continue falling straight down, he would be crushed by a falling concrete slab directly above him.

The screen went black.

If he jumped half a step to the right, he would avoid the falling slab, but the broken wall beside him had a jagged steel bar that would pierce his waist.

The screen went black again.

……

Amidst the sounds of the building collapsing, Yan Bubu's world turned dark. He stepped on a horizontal beam with his right foot and lunged to the right. As he hit the ground, he rolled backwards, curling into a ball and shielding both the little girl and Binunu in his arms.

Following the thunderous sounds, chunks of debris and mud rained down overhead. Yan Bubu remained motionless in his curled position.

The sounds of collapse lasted a full half-minute before gradually subsiding. Yan Bubu immediately switched on his headlamp.

Waving away the dust, he saw that he was surrounded by concrete slabs, with two overhead leaning against each other, forming a triangular angle where he was precisely positioned.

There was a hole just big enough for one person to crawl out of to his left. He let Binunu go first, then passed the little girl to the hole. Once Binunu pulled the girl out, he carefully crawled out of the hole, lying flat on the ground.

Outside, the air was filled with shouts and running footsteps. With the entire city's power cut off, the view was shrouded in darkness, lit only by beams from headlamps swaying chaotically.

"Is anyone still in the building? Is anyone there?" someone shouted loudly.

"Did the central city collapse? Are the zombies coming in? Will the zombies enter the central city?"

"It seems like it's just sinking, and not completely submerged. Just a part of it sank, probably another area sank completely."

"So the zombies won't rush into the city, right…?"

"As long as the city walls hold, especially with the Gigantum metal net at the edge, we should be fine."

Amidst the chaos, Yan Bubu heard the instructor's voice through the earpiece, "All guide students, report your names. We have thirty-six guides in two vehicles. Report your names quickly!"

"Wang Chengfei."

"Liu Mingchi."

"Li Xin."

……

Choked by the dust, Yan Bubu coughed loudly as he crawled out of the rubble, holding the little girl led by Binunu and hoarsely reported his name, "Yan Bubu."

After all names were reported, with none of the thirty-six guides missing, the instructor yelled, "Quick, get the children onto the vehicles, and leave the central city immediately."

"Binunu, let's go." Holding the little girl, Yan Bubu ran towards where the vehicles were parked, only to hear the driver say, "No use, we can't drive. Many connections of the Gigantum metal plates have broken, and the plates are lifting up."

Yan Bubu had reached the break point of a Gigantum metal plate's connection.

The two metal plates were staggered, creating a gap about half a person wide. Through this gap, Yan Bubu could see the first floor. His headlamp illuminated a small area below, where he saw people running in panic, but no zombies were visible yet.

The instructor continued issuing instructions, "The central city is sinking. We need to leave quickly and head to the mountains via the emergency passage on the second level."

Some children had already been evacuated from the welfare institute, but many remained. The guides each carried a small child, leading the older ones, about ten years old, towards the emergency passage.

"I'll carry you on my back," Yan Bubu said, crouching in front of the little girl to lift her onto his back. Seeing a seven or eight-year-old boy standing motionless as if in shock, he went over and took his hand, "Come on, run with me."

The air was thick with choking dust. It was pitch black in the distance, with only occasional beams of headlamp light flickering. No one spoke; even the children were silent, except for the terrified cries and wails from the first floor, echoing up through the gaps in the broken Gigantum metal plates.

In just a few minutes, cries for help began to emerge from the first floor, indicating the dire situation there. But with so many children still around, everyone had to grit their teeth and keep running forward.

Binunu was scouting ahead, stopping when it encountered debris. Yan Bubu followed its lead, navigating around obstacles and continuing forward.

"Watch your step, especially be careful of falling through the gaps in the broken Gigantum metal plates," the instructor reminded everyone, "It's too dark to see clearly. Better to go slowly and be safe. It will take about half an hour at our speed to reach the emergency passage. Stay together and don't fall behind."

"Help me... help..."

"Husband, come quickly, husband—"

"Someone save me, please help me..."

As Yan Bubu ran past these gaps, he could hear the cries for help coming from below. Each voice was filled with terror and despair, reminding him of the girl bitten by zombies on his last mission at the rental site, begging for help repeatedly.

Carrying the child, he ran without stopping, wanting to block out the cries and not think about them. Yet, he felt something warm trickling from his eyes, running down his cheeks.

At the mine.

When the alarm sounded, everyone at the mine rushed to the truck parked by the road. As the driver started the vehicle, people followed, catching up and climbing onto the truck.

"What's happening? Is it a zombie incident?"

"This is a city-wide alert, not just for the first floor but the second too. Since the rebuilding of the central city, this is the only time it's sounded in years!"

"...What could it be? My wife is still in the city! What on earth is happening?"

"How should I know? My dad's in the city too… Driver, please go faster, as fast as you can."

……

Feng Chen stood at the back of the truck, silently holding onto the frame. His right hand, hanging by his side, was clenched so tightly that his knuckles turned white and his fingernails dug into his palm.

The black lion stood beside him, pacing restlessly and occasionally looking towards the direction of the central city, letting out long howls into the wilderness outside the truck.