Players, Please Board the Train

Chapter 633: The Special Defense Department Falls (4)

But it wasn’t over. There were far more Mutants outside than they had anticipated—an almost endless stream. Mutants jumped in through the room’s windows, charging into the living room in an unbroken tide. There were so many of them that they even started fighting each other as they came through!

Zheng Liang and the others didn’t have any large defensive items, so they had to drag the sofa and table over to block the hallway entrance, creating some distance to give their items room to work.

But they had underestimated the Mutants’ abilities. If they could shatter the glass of the dimensional train, wooden furniture was nothing. The sofa and table were knocked aside, and the Mutants surged toward them in a crush of bodies. A few items that worked on single targets couldn’t reverse the situation. At this point, they had no choice but to kill their way through!

Zheng Liang and the others swung their weapons and fought the Mutants hand-to-hand, but in the increasingly cramped space, they had little room to maneuver.

“We have to get out!” Wen Xuelin shouted loudly. She didn’t even know how much black water had been splattered on her; her face and clothes were filthy. “We still haven’t been poisoned—the antidote might be enough to get us to a safe place!”

The other three agreed with the suggestion and loudly asked for Xu Huo’s opinion.

Xu Huo signaled for them to take the stairs. “There aren’t many players outside. The stairs are relatively safe.”

They retreated to the door. Once outside, Xu Huo used the door to create some distance, swept his hand across the floor, and slashed the ground twice with his sword before closing the door.

The room was packed full. He had pulled out the steel bars from the floor and cut through the wall’s edge. With the Mutants leaping and scrambling around, the floor couldn’t withstand the force. A few seconds after the door closed, a crashing sound came from inside.

Xu Huo and Zheng Liang’s group didn’t stop. Even if the Mutants fell to the floor below, it wouldn’t be a fatal injury.As they went down the stairs, Mutants kept coming in through the windows, but not in large numbers.

“Lucky the people near the headquarters evacuated early. Otherwise, this place would be a living hell right now!” Brother Liang said with a grim face.

The others looked pale. The evacuation near the headquarters had been pure chance, but the rain had covered such a massive area—what would the other places look like?

The issue of Special Defense Department players turning into Mutants could even be set aside for now. How many people were actually active in the field? And most of them were wearing protective suits, covering their eyes, ears, mouths, and noses completely. But what about the ordinary people?

How many people lived on a third of the city’s land? And this rain had directly affected the drinking water supply!

“Emergency notice from the Special Defense Department: Do not come into contact with tap water in any form. Drinking, boiling, or washing can all cause infection! Do not use water! Do not use water! Do not use water!”

“It is known that some citizens and stray animals become wildly aggressive after infection. All citizens, please close all doors and windows and do not go outside! Close doors and windows, do not go outside!”

Emergency broadcasts sounded throughout the city. Xu Huo and his group heard them too, but in the heavy rain, the announcements came and went, as if they were being swallowed by the curtain of rain.

They took shelter in the security guard room of a residential building. Through the surveillance monitors, they could see fast-moving shadows darting through the rain. Occasionally, some would stop in the street, their unnatural postures making it obvious they were people who had mutated.

“There are a lot of players near the headquarters,” Brother Liang said. “Looks like the Special Defense Department is in deep trouble this time too.”

“In less than ten minutes since we came down, the surveillance cameras have shown thirteen uniformed Mutants. They’re all Special Defense Department players. With a large number of members suddenly turning into Mutants, the department’s internal situation must be pure chaos,” Xu Huo said with a grave expression. “Once the Special Defense Department falls apart, ordinary players have almost no chance of breaking out.”

“The Special Defense Department and the military have locked down the headquarters area and organized large-scale evacuations. But those people haven’t even fully walked out of the rain zone yet. The earliest Mutant attacks must have happened within the main group. By now, even the soldiers maintaining order might have fallen. The Mutants will soon come rushing back from the blockade line.”

In other words, until the Special Defense Department and the military could organize a new force to suppress the Mutants, staying put was the safest option.

“These Mutants have very sharp hearing. We can’t move to another location for now,” Zheng Liang said. “We’ll have to hide here for the time being.”

“What’s going to happen to the world?” Wen Xuelin asked everyone, a hint of uncertainty in her voice.

No one could answer that question. But if even the players were so lost, what about the ordinary people who were almost completely helpless against the Mutants and the black rain?

The entire city was panicking.

The most direct consequence of the panic was that people in areas without rain began fleeing in droves, causing a massive collapse in the city’s traffic. This severely slowed down the military forces heading to rescue the Special Defense Department headquarters, as they had to clear the way with armored vehicles the entire route.

There were also small-scale incidents of people hoarding water and food, but those were quickly brought under control.

Some individuals with malicious intentions tried to stir up trouble, but they didn’t cause any significant waves either.

None of this was the most urgent issue, of course. The Special Defense Department’s collapse was the thorniest problem. Not only had they lost their ability to control the players, but they were also stuck trying to manage the mutation happening among their own members.

Minister Fan’s phone had been blown up with calls, but there was nothing he could do about the current situation. Everyone capable of taking action had already been sent out, but often, a player who had just mutated would suddenly appear in the rescue teams, catching people off guard and killing them. Rescuing people and controlling the mutated players wasn’t the only problem—trust had also broken down among Special Defense Department members.

By now, even the temporary Command Room was surrounded by Mutants. Minister Fan and a few team leaders were trapped inside, their hearts pounding from the sounds of battle and roaring outside, while simultaneously being overwhelmed with problems. Orders had come from above: even if it meant sacrificing the entire headquarters, they had to try their best to keep the mutated players within the Blockade Perimeter.

“Trading the lives of Special Defense Department members for time…” Minister Fan’s forehead veins bulged with anger, but he was powerless. They had thought the evening’s events were almost over—who could have predicted this sudden twist?

“All those people we’ve worked so hard to train… half of them are going to be lost this time.” Team Leader Lü let out a long sigh.

“Half would be a good outcome.” Team Leader Chang said in a low voice.

Just then, a landline phone on the table rang. Minister Fan pressed the speakerphone button. “Go ahead.”

“We just gave an antidote fungus to a mutated player as an emergency dose. They’ve returned to normal. The research institute is now extracting effective components from their blood.” Jiang Qiao brought good news. “But it will take some time.”

“We can buy time. What we’re afraid of is not having an antidote.” Minister Fan said. “Tell the research institute to give it their all!”

“Understood!” Jiang Qiao had barely hung up when Nie Xuan called in. “David Pierce is in a disturbed mental state, but he gave us an important piece of information. Country Y has a high-grade item related to rain. There’s been talk within their organization that this item is currently in the city.”

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