Hyperthermal Hell || Apocalypse Paradise #1 [Complete]

45: I'll Bless and Protect You Even If I Become a Ghost

Ever since the apocalypse descended on the world, this was the first time Lin Sanjiu had seen so many duoluozhongs. Griselda had just blurted out that warning when her voice was drowned out by the intense buzzing sounds of delight from the duoluozhongs. Numerous duoluozhongs climbed out of the windows of the buildings along the two sides of the road, waving their mouthparts in mid-air. Their saliva flew everywhere, falling like viscous raindrops on the group. To Lin Sanjiu, this scene was like a swarm of bees moving in and out of their hive.

It was impossible to count the number of duoluozhongs around them, nor did they have the time to. The only thing that was certain was that even if all six of them died, there would not be enough blood to go around.

"This is bullshit! This is considered a 'small group'?" Gao Fei was appalled as he cursed softly. He was not the only one; in fact, all six of them were stupefied and at a loss for a moment.

Under the cacophony of buzzing noises, the closest duoluozhong nimbly started climbing down from the window. Just as they saw it easily scale down two stories, Septimus reacted first, shouting, "Shouldn't we start running?" Subsequently, he turned and started to run. Unexpectedly, he had only taken a few steps before he nearly collided into Griselda, who had rushed over and blocked his path. She gave him an icy stare and showed no sign of giving way.

"None of you are allowed to run back to the Oasis!" Xu Xiaoyang yelled from behind him.

"If so many duoluozhongs follow after us, no one in the Oasis will survive!" Xu Xiaoyang said, turning pale. No one could tell whether she was anxious or angry, but she continued with a command. "I want you all to get in there and lead those duoluozhongs away from here!"

Other than Griselda, the remaining four people couldn't believe what they were hearing. Gao Fei looked at the road ahead of them and stammered, "Team... Team Leader, you gotta be kidding, right? The buildings are all filled with duoluozhongs!"

Lin Sanjiu could feel her heart pounding furiously. Her eyes swept the surroundings—on their left, just 50 meters ahead, a few duoluozhongs had already reached the first floor of their building. Xu Xiaoyang snorted, and Griselda immediately threatened all of them. "Anyone who tries to run in the opposite direction will have to go through me!"

Saying that, her slender fair arm visibly swelled up like a balloon. Her enlarged arm muscles burst open her sleeves as thick green veins appeared on them, creating a stark contrast with her slender build. Even when teaching Tie Dao a lesson, Griselda had not displayed this strange transformation; she appeared to be very serious about her words. Gao Fei gulped with a face of dismay. For a moment, nobody spoke. Just then, they heard a "thud" and noticed that a duoluozhonghad jumped down to the ground.

"It doesn't matter which direction we run. Let's just go!" Lin Sanjiu finally shouted, unable to hold back any longer. She dragged Septimus along with her and continued. "I'll make sure that he doesn't run back to the Oasis, okay? The duoluozhongs over there are coming!"

Seeing that they could not drag this out any longer, Xu Xiaoyang looked to Griselda and said, "Go!" With that, the latter drove her leg into the ground and sprinted toward Xu Xiaoyang. Griselda carried Xu Xiaoyang in her arms and dashed forward. The rest of them wasted no time following behind them, exerting all the strength they could muster.

Griselda maintained her left arm in that outrageously muscular form. As she ran, she swung her arm at the duoluozhongs who reached the ground, sending them flying into the air, one by one. With her opening the path, the rest only had to concentrate on running. They did not know which direction they were running toward, but they continued to run out of that street, with Griselda leading the way. Unfortunately, there were more and more duoluozhongs in front of them, and gradually, Griselda could no longer manage them herself. Finally, even the duoluozhongs from behind caught up to them. As if they were trapped in a swamp, their progress became slower and slower.

A duoluozhong suddenly jumped off of the awning of a small convenience store and right into the middle of their group. They heard an explosive cry from Hu Changzai as he leaped forward and rolled toward Lin Sanjiu. Since he did not have an enhanced body, he could be considered the weakest among them. She took a quick glance and noticed that the duoluozhong had scraped off a piece of flesh from his calf, leaving behind a deep bloody wound.

Without a second thought, she released her grip on Septimus and threw out a card. The card turned into a police baton in mid-air and fell heavily on the duoluozhong. It backed off and fell to the ground. After that, she hauled Hu Changzai up by his collar. "Place your arm on my shoulder! Try to bear with the pain and keep up!" she shouted. Hu Changzai's face was drained of color as he tried his best to reposition his weight on his uninjured leg. Stumbling and staggering, he managed to run for a while with Lin Sanjiu's help. Unfortunately, he was heavier than her. While panting heavily, she realized that both of them were now a long distance away from the group. At this point, they couldn't even see Griselda, who was leading ahead.

Seeming to notice this, a duoluozhong slowed down and suddenly made a creepy hair-raising sound. It turned back and headed toward the two little "lambs" who had fallen behind.

"I can't... can't go on. You should just run without me. Thank... thank you," Hu Changzai said in a hoarse voice. Putting on a brave face, he uttered, "I'll bless and protect you even if I become a ghost..."

"Don't spout nonsense if you don't know how to talk!" Lin Sanjiu rebuked with a gruff voice. A large drop of sweat rolled down her forehead, passing through her eyebrow and went right into her eye. She suddenly felt a burning sensation in her eye and resisted the urge to clean it away as she looked around nervously.

Under the darkness of the night, the numerous shadows vaguely merged together to form a sea of duoluozhongs. She could see that the number of duoluozhongs surrounding them both was gradually increasing, and a heavy putrid stench now hung in the scorching air around them. They were not totally surrounded yet, but they did not have much time left.

"We have no choice! Let's head to that building!" Lin Sanjiu gritted her teeth as she dragged Hu Changzai and ran toward the gray building not far from them. It looked as if there weren't many duoluozhongs in the building, so she made a decision to just try her luck.

'Since the duoluozhongs have all climbed down from the buildings, it should be safe, right?'

In desperate times, even a small glimmer of hope would grant a person extraordinary strength to fight for their survival. Looking up at the short building, Hu Changzai bore with the intense pain and blood loss as he scrambled after Lin Sanjiu. The two of them rushed forward, almost in a frenzy. Lin Sanjiu turned two cards back into two metal rods and handed one of them to Hu Changzai. They swung their weapons and attacked continuously as they made their way forward.

Almost losing sense of their rationality, the two of them, who were surrounded by the sea of duoluozhongs, seemed to be driven only by their primitive survival instincts. They were not guided by their numbed brains but by the pure instinctive movements of their muscles. Just when Lin Sanjiu thought that they would never reach the building, they found themselves right in front of the large door of the building, all covered in blood.

The glass door that confronted them slowly cleared Lin Sanjiu's blurry mind. She wiped off the blood on her face and saw that there was a dusty, almost illegible sign beside the door: Shenghai Municipal Public Security Bureau (Long Hua Subdivision).