Chapter 139

Chapter 139

The truck wound its way up the mountainous road, the driver pushing the accelerator to the floor. Several times on the turns, the people inside nearly got thrown out. Normally, there would have been complaints, but now everyone was silent, just wishing the truck would go faster, even faster.

"Do you think it could be those beetles…" Ding Hongsheng, standing beside him, asked.

Cai Tao muttered quietly, "I doubt it, how could it be so fast? I bet it's just a zombie outbreak in several rental spots or resettlement areas."

Halfway through the journey, people who had run down from the mountain top appeared on the road. They must have been the first to evacuate the central city when the alarm sounded, and upon reaching there, they slowed down, shouting to those on the truck, "Don't go back, the alarm has been raised, everyone must evacuate."

People on the truck also asked, "What exactly happened?"

"Beneath the central city, there are many beetles, and the Jujin metal pillars are collapsing one after another. Now all the emergency exits are open, and there are military personnel everywhere, urging everyone to evacuate the city as quickly as possible."

More and more people were running towards the foot of the mountain, and the truck was unable to proceed, so it stopped.

"Let's just follow these people down the mountain, we have to evacuate anyway, no point going up," said the driver, jumping off the truck.

An engineer said, "Hurry and drive, my family is still in the city, I need to go back and check on them."

"We can't drive anymore, and what can you do if you go back? By the time you get there, your family might have already evacuated."

……

While they were still talking, Feng Chen and the black lion had already jumped off the truck, pushing through the people running downhill and heading straight up the slope, grabbing onto vines and shrubs to climb upwards.

Ding Hongsheng and Cai Tao also reached the bottom of the slope and unhesitatingly followed him.

The road was filled with a surging crowd, and other trucks were forced to stop. Engineers might stay put, but the sentinel trainees knew their duty and had to return to the central city.

"What do we do? How can we get up there?" A sentinel student, jostled by the crowd and sweating profusely, asked.

Another sentinel, looking around, spotted Feng Chen and his companions climbing up the slope and pointed out, "Let's go! We climb up the mountain too!"

More and more sentinel students chose this route, avoiding the downward flow of people and returning to the central city in the shortest time.

Feng Chen took less than ten minutes to climb to the mountaintop. Directly in front of him was the central city, the massive steel city still brightly lit and standing firm on the wilderness. But three-directional bridges had been extended, connecting to checkpoints on the opposite mountain walls. Even the never-opened second-floor passage had its bridge extended, with a massive crowd streaming towards the checkpoints on the opposite mountain like ants.

"Hurry, move faster, everyone run, keep running!" This was the eastern city gate, where soldiers were stationed at both ends of the bridges of the upper and lower levels, shouting through megaphones, their voices strained to the limit.

Although Ding Hongseng and Cai Tao didn't know what exactly had happened in the city, seeing it still standing made them breathe a sigh of relief.

"Brother Feng, it doesn't seem like anything major," said Cai Tao, somewhat bewildered. "Is it a zombie outbreak? But there are no gunshots."

Feng Chen didn't respond, his eyes fixed on the area below Central City, his expression tense and almost harsh, showing no sign of relaxation. Hei Shi, too, was on edge, growling softly.

Ding Hongseng's expression was grim: "The fact that everything seems normal makes the citywide emergency evacuation more serious. It's possible that the worst has already happened."

"The worst…" Cai Tao suddenly thought of something and asked in horror, "Is it that the beetles have suddenly erupted?"

Following Feng Chen's gaze towards the giant metal pillar below Central City, he saw zombies crawling on it as usual. It looked no different from before, but subtly, something seemed amiss.

Indeed, the gaps between the colossal metal pillars had widened significantly, and their number seemed reduced. The still-standing pillars swayed under the zombies' agitation.

"Is it a beetle outbreak? Did they and the zombies break the pillars?" Cai Tao asked anxiously.

Feng Chen, pushing past people who nearly collided with him, ran towards the checkpoint on the hillside: "Regardless of whether it's a beetle outbreak, we need to get into the city now."

The checkpoint was packed, and the bridge connecting to Central City was crowded with people carrying all sizes of luggage, shouting the names of their loved ones, reminding each other not to get lost, while squeezing forward in the throng.

Although the bridge was congested and soldiers were constantly urging people to throw their luggage off the bridge, no one was willing to part with their belongings, be it a dusty blanket roll or a chair missing a leg, especially in these times of scarcity.

Feng Chen pushed against the flow towards the bridge. In a few minutes, he had only moved about ten meters. More and more sentinel students reached the top of the hill and descended to the checkpoint, squeezing forward behind him.

"Make way, we need to enter the city for emergency rescue, move!" the sentinels shouted to the people ahead.

The people on the bridge responded helplessly: "We can't move either, we want to, but it's jammed up front."

At the bridgehead, there were several hand-pulled carts laden with luggage, blocking the bridge that could accommodate two vehicles side by side.

Suddenly, Hei Shi burst out, clearing a path through the crowd and dragged one of the carts away from the bridgehead. After dropping it near the checkpoint, he went back for another.

Ordinary people couldn't see Hei Shi and were jostled by this unseen force. Fortunately, the removal of several luggage-laden carts cleared the bridgehead.

Feng Chen quickly followed the path cleared by Hei Shi onto the bridge, with other sentinels closely behind him. But he had barely taken two steps when a muffled boom came from the direction of Central City.

The sound, accompanied by the ground shaking, even made the sturdy bridge creak and sway. The surging crowd halted, screaming and crouching while covering their ears, and the soldier shouting through the megaphone also fell silent.

In the distance, a row of colossal metal pillars was collapsing, and the city supported above them crumbled at one corner, like a stack of blocks losing its base.

Everyone fell silent collectively, turning into statues frozen in shock. Seconds later, the dam burst with simultaneous screams and wails. People on the bridge and those queuing at the city gates to get on it desperately surged towards the checkpoint.

"Don't push, don't push! It's just one corner that has collapsed, it's safe here, don't push."

The soldiers' commands were drowned in the tidal wave of noise. The panicked crowd surged forward heedlessly, with bags and luggage falling off the sides of the bridge, provoking the zombies below into relentless roaring.

Just as Feng Chen reached the bridgehead, he was pushed back by the crowd. He grabbed the bridge railing, struggling to push through, only to hear a series of thunderous booms from Central City.

Earth-shattering explosions accompanied by seismic tremors followed, as the colossal metal pillars buckled under the weight. What remained of Central City, previously hanging on, now collapsed piece by piece.

The searchlight at the very top of Central City also toppled, its bright beam sweeping over the zombie horde below before extinguishing silently.

Standing at the bridgehead, Feng Chen grabbed a megaphone from a nearby soldier and shouted towards the front: "The bridge is dangerous! If you're on the bridge, hurry over; if you're not on it yet, don't come up."

Only a small portion of people hesitated and stopped upon hearing his command, while many more continued to scream and rush onto the bridge.

As the colossal metal pillars snapped, Central City sank like a row of toppled dominoes.

Zombies on the ground were crushed flat, while those at the edges frantically surged inward. Although the colossal metal net surrounding Central City temporarily held them back, some sections were already tearing, allowing zombies to slip through.

In just a few seconds, the central city's connection collapsed, the collapse nearing the eastern city gate. Feng Chen continued to shout, "Don't go on the bridge, stop at the city gate, don't go on the bridge!"

Although some hesitated and stopped, many were still on the bridge. As the giant metal pillars at the city gate fell with a thunderous crash, the connection between the bridge and the central city was forcefully severed, sending those on the bridge plummeting down with screams.

Feng Chen felt a heaviness under his feet, discarded the megaphone in his hand, grabbed a falling person beside him, and leaped back to the mountain in one stride.

The zombies under the bridge, already agitated and restless, leaped high as people screamed and fell from the bridge, biting them in mid-air.

At the same time, the last gleam of light went out, plunging the entire city into darkness.

Although nothing was visible, cries of terror and agonizing screams filled the air, interspersed with the zombies' howls and chewing sounds, as if the world had turned into a boundless hell.

Feng Chen turned on his forehead light, illuminating the darkness with several more beams.

He shone the light downward, noticing that although the bridge's connection with the central city was broken, it still clung to the mountain side.

The bridge, now tilting downwards, hung precariously in the air. Those who were on the bridge had slid down its slippery surface, while others at the edges desperately clung to the railings, struggling to climb up.

Below, the horde of zombies resembled boiling water, frantically reaching and leaping up, trying to grab those hanging on the bridge.

"Help, save me, help..."

The pale beam of light swayed, illuminating the desperate faces on the bridge. Feng Chen, holding onto the left railing, slid downwards; Black Lion quickly followed, its claws screeching against the bridge surface, leaving white streaks.

Halfway down the bridge, Feng Chen grabbed the arm of the nearest person, commanding, "Let go."

The person clung to the railing as if it were a lifeline, terrified to release it, until Feng Chen roared again, "Let go!"

His command, filled with a daunting presence, shocked the person into releasing the railing. Feng Chen immediately pulled them aside and, amidst their screams, flung them onto Black Lion's back.

Black Lion, its claws firmly embedded in the bridge surface, leaped onto the ledge with the person on its back.

Seeing this, Cai Tao and Ding Hongsheng followed suit, sliding down the right railing and pulling those who hadn't fallen off the bridge onto the backs of the wolves and panther-like creatures, which then carried them up.

As there wasn't enough room on the railings for many people, a large group of sentinel trainees could only watch from the ledge, but they released their quantum beasts, positioning them beside the three sentinels on the bridge.

Feng Chen and Ding Hongsheng continually rescued people by placing them on the backs of quantum beasts.

As the people on the broken bridge were saved, intense gunfire erupted from the opposite side.

The first level of the central city had collapsed to the ground instead of hanging in the air. With the passage still open, zombies began to rush into the city.

"Fall back! Everyone, fall back, close the passage door immediately, fall back!"

Amidst the fierce gunfire, the doors to the passage on the opposite first level slowly closed and sealed.