The leader was a tall and upright young man. When his eyes fell on Lu Sheng and the others, he immediately smiled with delight.
"Lu Sheng!"
"Huh? You know us?" Zhang Xiaojuan was taken aback for a moment.
Everyone stared at the team leader for a long time, and finally Sun Tiantian asked hesitantly, "Wu Hainan?"
"Long time no see!" Wu Hainan flashed a bright white smile and immediately called to the people around him to help Lu Sheng and the others deal with the black beetles that had been frozen stiff.
After more than a year apart, Wu Hainan was completely different from the image that Lu Sheng and the others remembered.
Previously, whether at the Yunshan Base or the Oasis Group, Wu Hainan had always given the impression of a somewhat greasy, elegant young nobleman.
The man before her had sharply defined features, and his skin was tanned to a healthy wheat color. His meticulously styled Korean perm and dye had been replaced by a buzz cut that clung to his scalp, with two thin scars near his ears.
"A greasy scumbag transformed into a domestic tough guy." Zhang Xiaojuan circled Wu Hainan a few times, finally marveling at the transformation.
"Where have you been for the past year or so? How did you end up in the shelter?" Xiao Yu couldn't help but ask curiously.
After Wu Hainan left Oasis Group in a daze last time, there was no news of him since, and they thought he was gone.
Wu Hainan laughed heartily, "During that period, I couldn't find a purpose in life, so I wandered around for a while before joining the Songbei Refuge."
“We also traced the source of the parasites to Zhoushan, and came here specifically to eradicate them completely.”
"These are my brothers who have shared life and death with me."
Wu Hainan is much more cheerful and outgoing than before, and has successfully shed her former grease.
The team he led consisted almost entirely of seventh-level ability users, indicating that the Songbei Shelter had assembled an elite force to deal with the situation.
The good news is that there are survivors who managed to escape from the Songbei shelter, and the target has been more precisely identified.
"According to our information, all of these parasites originated from the same nest, and the lair of these monsters is in the air-raid shelter below the Zhoushan refuge."
"At the beginning of the monster invasion, almost everyone in the Zhoushan Refuge temporarily went into the air-raid shelter to avoid danger, which happened to lead them into the monster's lair."
“Air raid shelters usually have only one entrance and exit. Once those parasitic monsters control the exit, the shelter members become birds in cages for these monsters.”
Su Zheng nodded in sudden realization, "No wonder we've hardly seen any people who escaped from the Zhou Shan shelter. Otherwise, such a large base couldn't have been completely wiped out."
"So much time has passed, are these people still alive?" Sun Tiantian asked softly.
But Ma Dongmei looked at Wu Hainan warily, "Since the monsters have blocked all the entrances and exits, how could there still be survivors who escaped to Songbei Refuge?"
"Is your information reliable? Don't tell me you're trying to lure us all in and kill us all."
Wu Hainan glanced at Ma Dongmei with admiration, "The survivor on our side has a special shapeshifting ability. He took advantage of the monster sealing the door to turn into a small animal and escaped. Luckily, he wasn't parasitized."
"Moreover, we have no other choice now. We can no longer allow the parasites to multiply. We must take immediate action."
As Wu Hainan was speaking, a chubby boy next to him grabbed his arm and shook it, "Brother, I'm hungry, I need food."
"Will you starve to death if you skip a meal?" In front of Lu Sheng and the others, Wu Hainan scratched his head awkwardly, grabbed the chubby boy by the collar, and dragged him aside.
"Yes, bro, I'm really hungry." The chubby boy, named Pan Zhi, patted his round belly with a pitiful expression.
Wu Hainan looked annoyed and nodded apologetically to Lu Sheng and the others, "Wait a moment, sorry."
He then led Pan Zhi to the door and deliberately punched the parasitic rabbit that was staring intently at them from outside.
With a few simple and brutal punches, Wu Hainan sent the plump, slippery parasite flying out of the rabbit's head, which he and Pan Zhi easily caught.
Pan Zhi somehow got hold of a metal skewer used for lamb skewers, and with a few quick slurps, he skewered the parasites he had caught and handed them to Wu Hainan.
Wu Hainan sighed, released a ball of flame from his palm, and quickly roasted the string of parasites until they were crispy on the outside and tender on the inside.
Pan Zhi also delicately sprinkled a little chili powder, and the air was immediately filled with the special aroma of burnt protein.
"It smells so good...it smells like roasted silkworm pupae..."
Shi Nian swallowed hard and sniffed deeply.
Zhang Xiaojuan quickly covered Shi Nian's mouth, "Be good, listen to me, we won't eat it, that thing is dirty, it's bugs."
The chubby boy finished the skewers in a few bites, and only then did Wu Hainan lead him back to the crowd, explaining to everyone with a slight apology.
“Pan Zhi had a parasite burrow into his thigh. Although we found it in time and removed it, it left him with aftereffects and he needs to be fed regularly.”
"Hello, brothers and sisters, you can just call me Xiao Zhi." Pan Zhi noticed Shi Nian, who looked like a doll in the crowd, at a glance and warmly reached out to greet her.
Shi Nian blinked her eyes twice, gave him a disdainful look, and hid behind Xu Yi, only showing half of her fluffy little head.
"Teacher Xu, he eats insects."
Pan Zhi: "..."
It's the sound of a heart breaking.
“Pan Zhi was actually quite thin before, but since he developed this aftereffect, he has to supplement his protein intake at all times. Regular meat doesn’t keep him full for long, but he later discovered by chance that this parasite can provide him with energy for about half a day.”
“Then he eats insects too.” Shi Nian’s crisp voice rang out mercilessly.
"That's true." Wu Hainan couldn't salvage the situation, so he simply gave up on treatment.
After the brief interlude, the atmosphere between the two groups became more harmonious. After exchanging a few simple pleasantries, they continued their journey into the shelter.
Wu Hainan was the first to walk and was the first to find the entrance to the underground.
The long tunnel was dark and damp. As soon as Lu Sheng and his group entered, strange squeaking sounds came from inside.
Soon, a group of humanoid creatures, their steps unsteady and their faces pale, staggered forward.
"Today, it's either them or us who die!"
Wu Hainan shouted and led his men to rush forward immediately.
The pitch-black corridor was illuminated by the glow of various supernatural powers. In the flickering vision, disgusting tentacles emerged from the parasite's chest cavity and engaged in a fierce battle with Wu Hainan and the others.
The scene instantly descended into chaos.
"This brother... he's reckless..." Zhang Xiaojuan stared at Wu Hainan's fighting back and pursed her lips awkwardly.
"Rebuilding faith after its collapse requires a difficult process." Xu Yi adjusted his glasses. "Humans are actually very fragile creatures."
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