142: crisis

A luxurious villa district in Shangqing City.

There were a moderate number of Infected wandering in the villa district, with hideous faces and blood-red eyes, even more terrifying than zombies in movies.

In a detached villa, the large iron gate was blocked by a pile of beds, tables, chairs, and various other items.

Inside the villa, Lin Fei and the others sat in the living room on the first floor, all with grim expressions.

They had never imagined that the situation would deteriorate to this extent.

"There are only about twenty people left."

Zhou Kubo scanned his surroundings, a hint of sorrow flashing in his eyes.

"The entire Wildlife and Plant Administration Bureau, so many people, and in the end, only we remain."

Lin Meng also spoke with some despair.

"Don't give up, it's not time to give up yet."

Liu Ye frowned and advised.

"Brother Liu is right. Just a few Parasite. If they dare to challenge me to a one-on-one fight, I'll crush them!"

Brother Niu said proudly, if one ignored his tattered clothes and bloodstains.

"Little girl, your mentality isn't good. You little ones are still pretty good."

"When I, Old Man Zhang, went on missions before, what kind of desperate situations haven't I encountered? I've even survived eating rats to fill my stomach."

Old Man Zhang lowered his voice, still looking optimistic.

Lin Fei frowned and said, "Among us, there are only nine Awakened Ones: Old Man Zhang, Zhou Kubo, Sun Zeyu, Brother Niu, Brother Liu, Brother Fang, Brother Gu, Chen Xu, and myself. Additionally, there are four Field Operations Team members, Sister Lin, Dr. Du, Dr. Jia, and Brother Niu's eight fellow villagers."

"Moreover, ammunition is running low. With our strength, it's too difficult to get out. I checked the food here; it can sustain this many of us for three days at most. If we eat less, it might last longer."

"But because we're unsure about the safety of tap water, if we only drink bottled water, we only have enough for one day at most."

During these dangerous days, in one crisis, Lin Fei and Chen Xu also underwent Awakening.

Lin Fei's strength and speed far surpassed his previous levels.

Chen Xu's speed improvement was not significant, but his strength increased greatly, becoming even stronger than Lin Fei's.

"Indeed, what little brother Lin Fei said is correct."

Lin Meng also wiped away her tears and said.

"That little?"

Old Man Zhang frowned.

"Then we can only go to the surrounding villas to collect water."

Gu Xiong, dressed in professional attire, said.

Gu Xiong was a captain of the Field Operations Team and also an Awakened One, currently the strongest in the team alongside Old Man Zhang.

To be safe, everyone was currently not drinking rainwater directly.

"The oxygen in the oxygen tanks has run out."

Just then, Dr. Du said.

Everyone's expressions changed slightly.

These Infected by Parasite were even more troublesome than zombies in movies. Even if their heads were cut off, their heads could still bite, though they couldn't move.

To truly eliminate them, one could only dig out the Parasite from their brains and kill them, but this was almost impossible.

Besides that, the only way was to kill the Parasite with high temperatures. High temperatures of sixty or seventy degrees Celsius or more were difficult to achieve by any means other than fire.

They had carried several oxygen tanks, which allowed them to fight their way here.

But unexpectedly, the oxygen had already run out.

"Alright then, tomorrow morning, ordinary people shouldn't come. I, Old Man Zhang, will lead the team, with three more Awakened Ones. We'll go out and collect water."

Old Man Zhang stood up, holding a fire axe, and said.

"I..."

Gu Xiong had just opened his mouth.

"Gu kid, you don't need to come. Stay here and protect this place."

Old Man Zhang interrupted him.

"I'll come too."

At this moment, Lin Fei and the other Awakened Ones also shouted, no one backing down.

"Haha, you're all brave, but you two little ones don't need to come. Zhou Kubo, you're a Security Officer, you can come. Sun Zeyu, captain of the armed security team, you can come. For the last spot, Liu Ye, you come."

Old Man Zhang laughed as he looked at Lin Fei and the other, rejecting them, then successively chose three others.

"Remember, act according to my orders."

The next morning, before leaving, Lin Fei and the others offered their blessings, and Old Man Zhang's expression also became serious.

Lin Fei and the others escorted Old Man Zhang and the others to the large iron gate outside the villa.

"Go, be careful of any noise."

Old Man Zhang was the first to act, leaping up in the heavy rain, his palm touching the wall, he had already crossed the two-meter-high wall and arrived outside the villa.

Zhou Kubo, Liu Ye, and Sun Zeyu, all holding handy weapons, followed suit and climbed over the wall.

"I hope they'll be alright."

Lin Fei said softly.

"Don't worry, you know Old Man Zhang's skill."

Brother Niu patted his shoulder and said.

"That old man is very formidable. With him leading the team, it's bound to be foolproof."

Chen Xu said.

"Everyone, come back. It's easy to attract attention here."

Gu Xiong said, calling everyone back inside.

Lin Fei and the others returned to the living room on the first floor and sat down, discussing their next course of action.

"According to the information I received, the entire Shangqing City has been sealed off, and no one is allowed to enter or exit."

"However, given our identities, perhaps we can leave. But first, we need to leave. We can head west, away from the crowds, and go around Dayang Lake."

Gu Xiong held a map, drawing a route on it as he spoke.

"These Parasite can infect other creatures, including fish. Leaving the city and traveling through the mountains and forests might not necessarily be a good thing."

The two doctors said at this point.

"That's also a thing?"

Gu Xiong frowned; they had only encountered human Infected these past few days.

"Haha! Boss Song sent me a message! He wants us to go towards Dayang Lake. He has already arranged for people to meet us there!"

Just then, Brother Niu jumped up, exclaiming in surprise.

"What? Isn't our internet here already cut off from the outside world?!"

Lin Fei and the others exclaimed in surprise.

"What kind of person is Boss Song? He has his own methods! I admire his..."

Brother Niu happily boasted for a while.

"Alright, when they return, we'll rest for a..."

Everyone said excitedly.

However, before they could finish speaking, they heard commotion outside.

With grave expressions, they went upstairs and looked out the window, discovering a group of people being chased by a large horde of Infected. They ran towards their location, banging on the iron gate, wanting to get in.

"They're survivors! Quickly prepare to save them!"

Gu Xiong's expression changed slightly, and he immediately jumped down from upstairs.

"Holy crap! Won't this be too dangerous? There are too many Infected behind them!"

Brother Niu cursed under his breath.

"Dr. Du, Dr. Jia, Sister Lin, the three of you hide. We'll go down to help! You stay here and provide us with firepower."

Lin Fei saw Gu Xiong starting to open the door and immediately arranged.

At this moment, he could only help. Otherwise, if the front line fell, and countless Infected charged in, he would also die here.

The people who had fled were a group of young men and women. Seeing Gu Xiong open the door, they rushed in without a word, heading straight into the room.

Behind them were hundreds of Infected!

"Quick! Help close the door!"

Gu Xiong shouted, but the Infected in front were already almost upon them!

"Kill!"

At this moment, Lin Fei arrived, holding a fire axe, and roared. His internal Qi surged, and he swung the axe, directly beheading an Infected!

At the same time, he kicked another Infected in front of him, sending him flying.

However, the number of Infected was too great; they swarmed forward.

"All of you, get lost, for Brother Niu!"

At this moment, Brother Niu roared, his arm muscles bulging. Holding an iron rod, he swept it like a storm.

Three or four Infected in front of him were struck, their bones broken, and their bodies fell backward, pressing onto the Infected behind them.

"All of you, get far away from me!"

Fang Chenjin and Chen Xu also held fire axes, frantically attacking the Infected in front.

The four Awakened Ones erupted together, and for a time, they managed to hold back the Infected.

With this layer of obstruction, Gu Xiong finally managed to close the iron gate.

But the next moment, the Infected began to directly charge the iron gate. There were too many of them, and their impact caused the entire iron gate to shake, teetering precariously.

"Quick! Push these furniture back to brace the door!"

Gu Xiong shouted, and everyone frantically dropped their weapons, pushing beds, sofas, tables, and other items back to block the large iron gate.

Upstairs, the four Field Operations Team members and Brother Niu's eight fellow villagers were sweeping the Infected outside the gate with rifles, but it had little effect.

"Sir..."

This group of young men and women ran directly upstairs, seemingly feeling safe because they saw the firearms.

But the few people had no time to pay attention to them. Noticing the dire situation, they were about to go downstairs to help block the door.

"Boom!"

The next moment, the iron gate actually collapsed, falling to the ground.

In an instant, at least a hundred Infected rushed in.

"It's over! Go! Run!"

Lin Fei and Chen Xu looked shocked and terrified.

"You go first. This crisis is ultimately the responsibility of our Wildlife and Plant Administration Bureau. We'll hold them back first!"

"You take these survivors and go first!"

Gu Xiong didn't look back. He was already holding a short knife, having charged into the midst of the Infected. With a swift movement of his knife, heads flew.