Hyperthermal Hell || Apocalypse Paradise #1 [Complete]

50: Sorry, I Destroyed Those Buildings

"What's with these tremors?" a man in a singlet, with a face full of sweat, asked. "It's been shaking for a while now... as if there is an earthquake. Then, the sounds of explosions..."

"Yeah. It's weird that the tremors come one after another, inconsistently..." the man sitting opposite him grumbled. Changing the subject, he said, "It is so boring just sitting here and watching the door day after day. I wonder when we can go outside and patrol the perimeter."

One of the other men sitting at the door immediately laughed. "I bet you just want to go out to look for some cigarettes! I know you—"

Before he could finish his sentence, a man who appeared to be their leader interrupted. "There are people approaching. Stay alert!"

The guards stood up noisily and cast their gazes outward. The lights at the entrance of the Oasis radiated out like a fan shape, from bright to dark. Within the area where the darkness crept into the light like ink on paper, there were indeed a few silhouettes. The first person they saw was a long-haired woman. She was covered in blood and grime, and looked rather unpresentable. She was also carrying a young girl on her back. It was Griselda. Xu Xiaoyang straightened her back and waved toward the people at the entrance.

"They are from the previous small squad. Check the number of people first!" the leader yelled.

"We have already confirmed that. There are three people. That's the quota for this group!"

Seeing that Griselda and Septimus were getting close, the leader made a gesture and commanded, "Okay. Open the door!"

The metal door slowly opened just when Griselda reached the door. Xu Xiaoyang, having not fought during the whole journey, was still very clean. Right then, she called out to the guards at the door. "Quick! Inform the executives to come over! A large group of duoluozhongs may be coming toward here from Longwood Road!"

The guards were startled when they heard this and quickly turned to their leader, who hesitated for a few seconds. But before he could speak, a gush of sand hit his face, and he looked up promptly. At some unknown point in time, an imposing whirlwind of sand was formed, and it now headed toward the entrance of the Oasis. Even though it was still some distance away, the combination of strong wind and sand hit them in just mere seconds. The sand lashed at them, scratching their skins, and making it difficult for them to even open their eyes.

Within the blink of an eye, the whirlwind was right in front of them. Xu Xiaoyang and the others noticed this abnormality, so they rushed through the doors quickly. However, they were not fast enough. They had just stepped into the compound when the impact of the wind struck them, causing them to fall to the ground. As they tried to get up and were about to witness the whirlwind destroy their metal door, it stopped in front of the door as if it had a mind of its own.

The howling wind grazed the metal door as the guards and the others stared bewilderedly at the whirlwind. Gradually, sand fell from mid-air as if the whirlwind had lost its core structure, revealing two people right in the middle. When they saw the two people clearly, Xu Xiaoyang's group of three gasped. She exclaimed, "They're still alive?"

The two people who walked out of the dust devil were indeed Lin Sanjiu and Hu Changzai. The corner of Septimus's eyes twitched for a second. Among the three of them, he knew the most about Lin Sanjiu's ability. Before this, he had looked down on her ability. He thought that the only reason she managed to survive till today was because of her Keen Senses and her athleticism. That's why, when the two of them were surrounded by duoluozhongs, he had been confident in the assumption that she would not make it back. 'Does she have the ability to control sandstorms now? Did she just develop a new ability?'

"Pff... Augh! Thuk! Thuk!"

Just when everyone was still eyeing them in astonishment, Lin Sanjiu's behavior stood out. Like a cat with an aversion to water, she started spitting profusely while dusting sand off her face. "Hu Changzai, what kind of rotten idea is this? There's sand in my eyes, mouth, and ears!"

"In the movie, the energy repulsors don't stir up this much sand..." Hu Changzai's condition was not much better than Lin Sanjiu's. The lens of his glasses were covered entirely by sand.

Even though Iron Man could fly, the Pygmalion Choker could only fulfill one ability. Consequently, in order to move quickly and eliminate as many duoluozhongs as they could, Lin Sanjiu tried to manipulate the air around them to create a forward thrusting air current. But they hadn't expected the horrible side effects...

"Isn't that obvious! Anyway, are the five minutes up? Huh...? Team Leader? Septimus?" Lin Sanjiu lifted her head, unaware of what had happened. "Why are you here? Wait... isn't this the Oasis? We're back at the Oasis?"

The ground of people at the entrance stared at them, dumbfounded. Xu Xiaoyang finally spoke. "What happened to you? How did you survive?"

Lin Sanjiu, who was covered from top to bottom with sand, just like a terracotta soldier, chuckled at her words. "I think I may have overdone it a little. I destroyed a majority of the buildings from the Oasis to Longwood Road... You don't have to worry about the duoluozhongs. Most of them are either dead, or have fled. There aren't many left."

Almost as if to prove her words, a tall building in the distance crumbled to the ground. The crowd was stunned. Septimus was the first one to react. He gave Lin Sanjiu an evil eye and said, "Please give us a warning before you do such a thing next time!" Then, he sighed as if he was relieved. This drew glares from Xu Xiaoyang and Griselda. Lin Sanjiu continued chuckling as she pulled Hu Changzai toward the door.

"Sir, the number of survivors exceeded the quota... What should we do?" one of the guards whispered to their leader anxiously. "They're coming in soon. Should we stop them?"

"What nonsense! Look behind!" their leader chided as if he was speaking to a group of idiots.

The man turned to look and realized that the open space in the factory compound was now filled with a large group of people, pointing their fingers and stretching their necks, trying to find out what had just happened. Xu Xiaoyang's warning had created quite a commotion. That was made worse when everyone saw that horrifying dust devil heading their way. Even though Lin Sanjiu already stopped its advancement, the building by the entrance was already dyed yellow by the sand.

"Besides... Do you have the confidence to defeat that woman? Bring an executive over right now!" the leader instructed quietly. "We are not going to take the blame for this."

Enlightened, the man replied, "Oh, I will go right now."

Their conversation was overheard by Xu Xiaoyang and the others. Xu Xiaoyang called out angrily, "Uncle Chen!" At the same time, the guards turned and found Chen Jinfeng standing behind them, with a grim expression.