Hearing this, Long Gan turned sharply, "Stay put! We need to assess the situation first. This is no ordinary incident; it's not guaranteed you'd make it out safe."

Zhuo Hao ignored them, focused only on one thing: among those possibly trapped, Shao Qi must survive. He'd sacrifice himself if it meant saving Shao Qi.

Chapter 172: Breaking the Siege (Part 1)

Zhuo Hao tried to contact Shao Qi and the others via earpiece, but there was only silence. Even the earpieces of those outside seemed to have malfunctioned.

Regaining his composure, Zhuo Hao directed the remaining five, "Each of you, search from a different angle. Look for an entrance. Have faith that they're just trapped. Call out if you find anything."

"It's a pity we don’t have a life detector," said Old Chen, anxious, "Captain Zhuo, I could fetch one from the vehicle outside the city. This way is too slow. We also need to inform others to be on alert. If this was an ambush, we're unprepared."

Standing atop the debris, Long Gan used his glasses to scan the surroundings. Though the thicker walls remained opaque, there was no sign of anyone else. Could this have been a mere accident?

"No need," Zhou Hao declined his suggestion and began searching from the front.

Long Gan whispered a few words to him. Zhou Hao nodded, advising him to be cautious and to pay extra attention to a few others. He suspected there was a traitor among them.

Inside the supermarket, Zhou You and Shao Qi had heard a ticking sound before the explosion. They immediately called out to their team members scattered in various shops. Before they could evacuate, the explosion occurred. Zhou You instantaneously raised a barrier of inner strength. As the scorching heatwave approached, everyone thought they were done for; the explosion was so close and so powerful that even with full armor, they believed it wouldn't save them.

However, after the heatwave passed, they found themselves alive. Zhou You stretched the protective shield to its limit, draining all his energy. After the explosive force disappeared, Zhou You, with closed eyes, fell backward. Shao Qi caught him just before a building collapsed. He quickly released his Qi to shield everyone and rolled with Zhou You into a dark little room. Another five followed, while others found their own hiding spots.

Someone turned on a flashlight. Shao Qi tried to transfer energy into Zhou You, but their energies repelled each other. He then resorted to pouring an energy supplement into Zhou You's mouth.

Perhaps the taste was too strong; Zhou You opened his eyes, and half of the liquid dripped out as he tilted his head.

"Drink it. You've overdrawn your energy," Shao Qi said, his face stern.

Zhou You slowly sat up, took another energy supplement, and drank it willingly. The off-putting taste had only startled him earlier; if it was beneficial, he wouldn't reject it no matter how unpleasant.

Everyone was concerned about Zhou You's condition. The blast's force was overwhelming, and they all knew that if Zhou You hadn't shielded them, they would be dead.

"What's the situation now?" After consuming the energy supplement, Zhou You felt a bit more energized and noticed how everyone was clustered together, making the air feel thin.

With a grave face, Shao Qi said, "The explosion caused the building to collapse. We're trapped here. There were more collapsing sounds from outside, and we don’t know the condition of others."

Miao Miao's face turned pale, "This space is so confined. We need to find an exit quickly, or we might suffocate."

"The oxygen in our masks will last about half an hour. We are in the center of the second floor, which seems to be a storage room for cleaning supplies. It'll be challenging to dig our way out in any direction."

Shao Qi made a quick decision, "Let’s blast our way forward, but make sure to throw the explosive a few meters ahead to remove the rocks blocking the door."

Zhou You sat cross-legged, meditating to restore his energy, while the rest began removing the rocks at the entrance with their weapons.

A young man joked, "Never thought I'd use my cherished sword for digging one day."

"My precious blade is also being used for this for the first time. Surprisingly, it's more durable than a spade," another chimed in.

Everyone's weapons were made of advanced materials, far stronger than ordinary steel. They were overqualified for digging, but it made the task faster. They quickly carved out a passage, but a couple of collapses almost buried them.

"Boss, we might not want to use explosives. It could cause more collapses," Miao Miao observed, looking worriedly at the overlapping stones above them.

Shao Qi inspected the surroundings and agreed. He instructed, "Turn on all the high-beam flashlights and check for others nearby. Then, let's all dig in one direction. We seem to be about ten meters from the edge."

Everyone sprang into action. Using the flashlight beams and sounds to locate people, they managed to find several individuals. Some were severely injured; despite their protective gear, they couldn't withstand the force of the large stones that had fallen on them.

In the rubble, Zhou Hao found an old speaker, previously used for the supermarket's announcements. He checked it and found its parts intact. Connecting it to a power source, he heard static.

Just as he was about to test it, a scream echoed nearby, followed by a panicked shout, "Ah! Mutated beasts!"

He hastily left the speaker and jumped atop the debris, scanning the area. To his horror, they were surrounded by mutated beasts, and more were charging towards them from the distance. Could the noise from the explosion have attracted these creatures?