A deafening sound rang out, and everyone looked up in astonishment.

The upper part of the skyscraper suddenly burst into a dazzling burst of fire, as if it had been torn apart by an angry beast.

The flames carried a deadly aura of destruction, followed by a deafening explosion that shook every inch of the air and made hearts stop beating.

As the explosion continued, countless sharp stones and shards of glass rained down from the building's dome, shattering the surrounding space.

Witnessing this sudden turn of events, everyone's face turned ashen, and terror filled their eyes.

The moment the explosion occurred, Xiao Jin and Cen Nian simultaneously displayed extraordinary reaction speed.

The two ran one after the other without even blinking, turning around and running to find cover.

After a brief moment of stunned silence, the others quickly came to their senses, and their survival instincts drove them to act swiftly.

Some people didn't hesitate to crawl under the cars parked on the roadside, using the metal sheets as a defense, while others relied on the strength of their legs to run as fast as they could into the distance.

Amidst the chaos, Wan Sha appeared remarkably calm.

She gently raised her hand, and a bridge made of stones and mud quickly and firmly enveloped her entire body beneath it.

Immediately afterwards, a series of "cracking" sounds came from the ground, the sound of the remaining stones and glass shards falling to the ground.

"What happened? How could there be an explosion?" In his excitement, Liu Chong even used his local dialect.

Xiao Guo, who was lying under the car, covered his mouth and nose and said in a muffled voice, "I don't know either, but they said they would send someone to pick us up, but the agreed time is not now!"

Xiao Jin's eyes were sharp. Seeing that the danger had temporarily passed, he walked out of the house with Cen Nian.

She looked up and squinted slightly, vaguely seeing several indistinct figures on the edge of the rooftop.

Without hesitation, Xiao Jin quickly pulled out a telescope from his spatial storage, held the telescope close to his eye socket, and looked up at the top of the building.

"How is it?" Cen Nian asked.

His words drew everyone's attention, their gazes fixed on Xiao Jin, anxiously awaiting her answer.

A moment later, Xiao Jin slowly lowered the binoculars. The light flashing in his eyes was complex and difficult to discern, seemingly somewhat strange.

"Is the higher-ups... planning to have the researchers evacuated by helicopter?" Her voice was soft, but everyone could hear it clearly.

Upon hearing this, a look of surprise flashed across Xiao Guo's face.

He didn't remember mentioning this, so why did Xiao Jin know the details of the evacuation? "How did you know?" he asked instinctively.

Xiao Guo's reaction already proves that Xiao Jin guessed correctly.

Xiao Jin raised her chin: "I saw it through the binoculars."

There's a helicopter on the building's rooftop. Although we don't know what happened, the evacuation team should have arrived beforehand.

Arrived ahead of schedule?

After everyone realized what was happening, their first thought was, "Great!" Especially Xiao Guo, who had thought he would have to spend the night in the building.

I was just about to say, "Then let's go up there quickly!"

Xiao Jin then added, "But the support personnel were fighting with another group, and they were the ones who caused the explosion."

Xiao Guo was immediately confused. Another group of people? What other group of people?

But what Xiao Jin said next almost made Xiao Guo faint.

"Those guys are here to steal the helicopter!"

"What?" Liu Chong shouted, his lips twitching.

He finally understood why Xiao Jin had that expression.

Professor Chen and his group, who had just arrived, were alarmed: "How could this be? How did they know there was a helicopter here!"

After he finished speaking, he looked at Xiao Jin and the others with suspicion.

After all, only the people who 'issue' and 'accept' such dangerous missions know the details.

Seeing Professor Chen's suspicious gaze, everyone was immediately furious.

This old man, we risked our lives to save you time and time again, and you still dare to doubt us.

"Teacher, the helicopter can't be stolen!" Shi Lei chimed in with a long face. "If the helicopter is really stolen, how are we going to get to the official safe zone?!"

The space froze for a moment.

Everyone's faces were grave.

"No, we have to go up and help!" one of the superhumans shouted.

Suspicion aside, now is not the time to dwell on that; the helicopter absolutely cannot be stolen.

They've already rescued the person and are just about to hand them over. A large amount of contribution points is right in front of them, so how can they give up now?

The others shared the same thought.

Xiao Jin and Cen Nian exchanged a glance, their expressions revealing something only they could understand.

Just as they got off the bus, the two of them received a side quest.

[Ding—Player has been detected to have reached a key location. Side quest will be automatically triggered: Heist the Helicopter (3000 points and 1 Enhancement Stone will be awarded upon success).]

Mission Description: The capital's safe zone has been overrun by level 6 zombies, forcing those in power to flee for refuge. Project Ark has officially commenced.

Meanwhile, a helicopter carrying bacterial and viral research experts will fly directly from Linhai City to the Ark at sea, and players must carry an important objective to the Ark base.

(Note: If there are no research experts on board the helicopter, the Ark Armed Forces will destroy all uninvited individuals who approach.)

Once the mission was announced, everything became clear: the capital's safe zone had been breached by zombies, and all those in power had fled.

The so-called Ark base is likely a cruise ship. Given the limited space on a cruise ship, only national elites, high-ranking government officials, and important figures can board.

Professor Chen, a bigwig in the research institute, certainly needs to be taken away as soon as possible.

Xiao Jin and Cen Nian need to seize the helicopter and also take Professor Chen with them. To put it bluntly, Professor Chen is their human pass; without him, the two of them wouldn't be able to board the ark.

Therefore, the person fighting the handover personnel above must undoubtedly be a player.

As the traitors in the group, Xiao Jin and his companion did not make any rash moves, but instead followed discreetly behind the group.

The group ran into the building, only to find the ground covered with torn and mangled zombie corpses.

The zombies inside the building have all been cleared out!

The further they walked, the more alarmed they became, and their breathing became increasingly heavy.

Soon, they saw different corpses ahead, which were clearly not zombies, but normal humans.

The dead men were wearing uniform combat attire, clearly government personnel, and lay lifeless on the ground, their limbs twisted in agony.