Chapter 452 Darkness Returns (Fifteen)
The moment the last ray of sunlight disappeared, the world seemed to fall into an endless abyss.
Despair spread like a tide.
Inside the quarantine zone, the power system began to flicker, and the pale lights went on and off like fireflies struggling to survive.
At first, there were only low moans coming from the cage, like the whistling of the wind blowing through a withered tree.
But soon, the sound became sharp and distorted, like metal rubbing against glass, piercing the eardrums painfully.
"Ah—my eyes!" The middle-aged man in the cage covered his face, black viscous fluid seeping from between his fingers.
His eyes are gone.
The skin around the eye sockets slowly closed, becoming smooth and flat, and mucus dripped from the cracks, making a hissing sound of corrosion on the ground.
"So hungry...so hungry..." The thin woman huddled in the corner, her teeth beginning to grow longer, protruding from her lips like serrations.
Her fingers grew long and thin, her nails sharp as blades, scratching the ground with a harsh sound.
Under the lights, the skin of the infected began to peel off, revealing the writhing black muscles beneath.
"Police officer... Waaaaah... Help me, I'm so scared..."
A little girl's spine twisted like a snake, and her limbs stretched out at bizarre angles, like a giant spider.
Some people grew wings, but their feathers were rotten; some became multi-legged monsters that crawled like centipedes; and others melted into black liquid that seeped from the cracks in the iron cages and gathered on the ground to form a viscous swamp.
These scenes were captured entirely by surveillance cameras.
Command post.
On the screen, distorted images of the infected flashed by frame by frame, like an absurd nightmare.
The officials sat around a huge conference table, their eyes glued to the screen.
The air seemed to freeze.
In the corner, a civilian official was slumped in a chair, documents scattered all over the floor.
His lips trembled, as if he wanted to say something, but no sound came out.
Commander Zhong's fingers tapped the table unconsciously, the rhythm getting faster and faster, until with a "bang," his fist slammed onto the control panel.
“Commander…” the adjutant’s voice trembled uncontrollably.
The scene was terrifying.
Commander Zhong closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
When he opened his eyes again, his gaze had turned icy. "Pass the order: if the mutant breaks through the cage, open fire immediately!"
"Sir! There are still hundreds of thousands of people there!"
“They are no longer human.” Commander Zhong’s voice was as hard as iron. “They are monsters. If we don’t give up the quarantine zone, the entire city will fall sooner or later.”
This is a racial war.
A true commander requires absolute rationality and is willing to pay any price for victory in war.
Even if it might cause the deaths of the vast majority of people, he would do it as long as it was conducive to the victory of the war.
The adjutant lowered his head; his mother was also in the quarantine area.
For a long time, so long that Commander Zhong's gaze lingered on him.
The adjutant slowly raised his head, saluted, and said, "Yes, sir!"
A voice came from the communicator.
A roar like that of a wild beast echoed through the air.
The surveillance video suddenly flickered, and the signal began to become intermittent.
"Reporting to command, this is area A02, quarantine point 13 has experienced a riot!"
"Report... A riot has broken out in Sector B24. Requesting further instructions!"
"Fourteen new infected individuals have been discovered in Zone C of the safe zone..."
Messages kept coming in, touching a nerve with everyone.
"May the Bodhisattva protect us..." someone whispered a prayer while clutching a lucky charm in their arms.
“There are no more gods.” The adjutant’s eyes reddened as he turned and walked toward the door. “We are all alone.”
His figure appeared exceptionally lonely under the pale light.
Outside the door, alarms blared, and red warning lights stained the corridor crimson.
Are we the only ones?
Commander Zhong looked at the big screen, where the image had switched to the defense lines of each district.
There stood a group of transmigrators dressed in combat uniforms.
*
The sentries have all been deployed.
Xie Tu's communicator kept transmitting reports from various groups, his voices filled with tension and determination.
At the foot of Zhongshan Mountain.
With high defensive fortifications erected and Zheng Shao leading the camp's sentries to guard the area, they were determined not to allow any mutant to break through the defensive line.
"Zhongshan is safe for the time being; no mutant species have been found."
In the safe zone.
The sentries of Groups 11 and 12, driving infantry fighting vehicles and carrying assault rifles, vigilantly surveyed their surroundings.
Behind them were several quarantine zones and residential areas where people were hiding in their homes.
"Groups 11 and 12, all in position. Everything is normal here, and we are ready to respond to any emergencies!"
Buffer.
This area serves as a buffer zone against the impact of mutants; once the defenses are breached, the safe zone will be directly exposed to danger.
"Groups 9 and 10 are in position. A few mutants have appeared, but no Sentinel or Guide mutants have been found."
Xie Tu did not respond.
Xiao Yunzhao was playing with the communicator in his hand.
Compared to the fourteen tense sentries around her and the trembling soldiers behind her, she looked relaxed, her legs dangling in the air, completely out of place with the tense atmosphere around her.
At this point, no one cared anymore.
Why bring a child to such a dangerous place?
Before everyone, the entire quarantine zone, with its 580,000 infected individuals, had all undergone mutations, resembling a gigantic, sinister abyss.
The howls emanating from the mutants rose and fell, sending chills down one's spine.
Countless cages have been broken through.
The soldiers gripped their weapons tightly with both hands.
Once they take off their military uniforms, they are just young men in their early twenties, living in a peaceful era. When have they ever encountered such a terrifying scene?
It's ten thousand times more terrifying than the battlefield!
When the first batch of mutants broke free of their cages, howling black figures appeared all over the streets.
Upon receiving the order from his superior, the officer shouted sternly, "Fire!"
With a command given.
A barrage of shells rained down on the oncoming mutant.
The deafening gunfire echoed through the oppressive streets of the quarantine zone.
The first wave of mutants at the forefront were hit by the powerful firepower, their bodies instantly riddled with holes, black blood splattering out and spreading across the ground like ink.
However, these terrifying monsters seemed completely insensitive to pain.
Even with severe physical injuries, it continued to charge forward driven by instinct and frenzied bestiality.
The sentries didn't move.
Going out at this time would undoubtedly expose oneself to artillery fire.
Xie Tu held Xiao Yunzhao protectively in his arms, his eyes sharp, constantly monitoring the battlefield situation.
The first day is the safest.
Because of prior preparations, the mutants were temporarily unable to break through the defense line under absolute firepower suppression.
Be careful of the Sentinel and Guide mutants.
Even he couldn't tell whether these two types of monsters actually existed in this contaminated area.
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