The lights went out in an instant, the ground beneath their feet trembling slightly. A gale howled outside, dark clouds pressing down over the city. Endless darkness swept in, making it impossible to tell whether it was day or night. Fine dust rained down, mixed with fist-sized rocks.
“Watch out!” Shi Yuxing grabbed the doorframe and pulled the person beside him. A falling rock large enough to split a skull open grazed Lin Anran’s pant leg and crashed at his feet. Lin Anran stared at the stone, sucking in a sharp breath, his feet feeling like they were treading on cotton. “I—I almost died just now.”
“Pull yourself together, Dr. Lin. Your brother and those children still need you.” Shi Yuxing steadied himself, turning to exchange glances with the two alphas. “You two help too. We have to get everyone out.”
Lin Anran snapped back to reality—yes, his brother was still in this disaster. In the blink of an eye, Shi Yuxing turned to see Lin Anran shoot off like an arrow.
The aftershocks of the earthquake frayed everyone’s nerves. The noise was chaotic—footsteps, screams, cries for help all jumbled together like a symphony from hell.
Da Ling crouched down and carried those who couldn’t stand on his back. Xiao Zhou scooped up lost, sobbing children who stood frozen in place. Shi Yuxing helped elderly people toward the exit. Just as he was about to step out of the shelter, the young doctor seemed to sense something and looked back. He caught sight of a believer with bandaged feet, clutching a cross to his forehead, curled up in a corner of the stairs. Shi Yuxing’s gaze darkened. He handed the elderly person off to someone else and called out: “Hey—can you stand?!”
The believer looked up sharply, eyes wet, as if grateful that someone had finally noticed him. He bit his lower lip, looked down at his crippled legs, and shook his head in despair. Red liquid seeped through the bandages. He thought he would be buried here.
“Wait for me—I’m coming over!” The believer nodded gratefully, the cross around his neck swaying as he used his hands to move his body out of the corner and crawl toward Shi Yuxing. Just as Shi Yuxing started toward him, a strong hand grabbed his wrist. He was about to shake it off—
“Crash—BOOM!” The ground in front of him split open in an instant. A mound of earth rose up—something terrifying was emerging from below.
A roar exploded by his ear: “RUN!!!”
A powerful arm wrapped around his waist. Shi Yuxing’s eyes flew wide open. The believer reached out toward him with his mouth open, tears streaming down his face—an expression more agonizing than despair, the bottomless abyss of crushed hope. Shi Yuxing noticed that the believer’s mouth was empty—he had no tongue. The cross’s glint vanished in an instant. In less than half a second, Shi Yuxing’s gaze shifted to the person beside him.
The man in gold-rimmed glasses had a taut expression as he pulled Shi Yuxing tightly into his arms. A powerful blast wave radiated outward from the shelter—thick dust roiled, birds scattered in fright.
The alpha spun him 180 degrees, and the two crashed heavily to the ground, sliding some distance. The gold-rimmed glasses tumbled away, the lenses shattering into fragments.
The entire building collapsed into ruins. Dust shot out over a dozen meters. The massive shockwave sent those nearby flying several meters.
Shi Yuxing opened his eyes and saw the glasses’ remains. He turned in panic and met Gu Lingzhou’s frowning, lip-pressing expression. The alpha’s forehead was beaded with fine sweat, his brows pressing down over his eyes—clearly in great pain.
“Gu Lingzhou, are you okay?” Shi Yuxing braced himself against the alpha’s chest, trying to get up. But the blast seemed to have affected one of his muscles—his calves trembled badly. The man beneath him shakily pushed himself up. A strong scent of fir pheromones filled Shi Yuxing’s nose. “Wait!” Shi Yuxing’s pupils contracted sharply. His sharp eyes caught the large patch of blood on the ground. He reached out and touched Gu Lingzhou’s back—blood, all blood!
“It’s fine.” The man sat up, palms against the ground, still managing a smile. He wasn’t that old and decrepit yet.
The dust around the ruins slowly cleared. Amid the rubble, half of an incongruous black creature was exposed. Shi Yuxing helped the alpha to his feet, unsteady. Many others who had been caught in the blast were just getting up—they all saw it too.
Everyone held their breath, staring. Gravel rolled from near the Zerg’s body. Shi Yuxing watched for nearly ten seconds—the thing didn’t move at all.
“The Zerg seems to have been crushed to death!” someone shouted. Everyone let out a collective sigh of relief. The shelter building had three stories—that much weight coming down could indeed crush a Zerg. But it also meant no one survived. Shi Yuxing stared at the Zerg for several more seconds before looking away in dismay. The alpha beside him tightened his arm around his shoulder. “You did your best.”
Shi Yuxing lowered his head, his tone full of self-blame: “If I hadn’t called out to him, do you think he might have survived hiding in that corner…”
“The ‘triangle of life’ isn’t reliable. Even if he hid in a corner, the falling steel and concrete might not have formed a triangular space.”
Shi Yuxing knew he was just trying to comfort him, but a life had still been lost before his eyes. He pressed his palms together and closed his eyes, making a praying gesture. “I hope you go to heaven.” Shi Yuxing wasn’t a believer, but at this moment, he wished this mute could find peace. Perhaps the man had waited until the very end for salvation from a god—but unfortunately, God had been one step too late.
“Wife!” A piercing voice came from behind them. Xiao Zhou rushed over and threw his arms around him, nearly knocking Shi Yuxing off balance. Chest against chest, the heat seeped through the fabric. Xiao Zhou was breathless. “Wife, are you okay?!” His hands landed on Shi Yuxing’s shoulders as he checked him over left and right. Finally, he noticed one arm stained red and grabbed it in a panic. “Your—your arm! What happened? Why is there so much blood? Doctor, I need a doctor!”
Shi Yuxing pulled his hand free. “I’m fine. This is Da Ling’s blood.”
“Oh. Then it’s fine.” Xiao Zhou’s tense nerves relaxed as he blinked.
Shi Yuxing: “…”
Da Ling: “…”
Da Ling frowned. “What do you mean by that?”
“Nothing, really. It’s just,” Xiao Zhou shrugged and pursed his lips, “it’s—well, isn’t it great that Wife isn’t hurt?”
The implication was clear: Then you’re fine.
The shelter survivors regrouped and headed in another direction. They had to find a new place to hide. Among them were the injured, the disabled, young children, and the elderly—even a small Zerg encounter could be fatal.
Lin Anran spoke up: “Luckily the aquarium is nearby. That’s a silver lining.”
Lin Wuyang pointed at a figure not far away. “That looks like your pretty colleague.” Lin Anran looked over—sure enough, Shi Yuxing was being led by the hand on both sides.
“Are you really okay?” Shi Yuxing turned to Da Ling, examining the wound on his back. There was no time to disinfect or bandage it properly—the exposed gash looked horrific. To put Shi Yuxing at ease, Da Ling gripped his hand tighter, their knuckles and rings clinking together—it hurt a little. Shi Yuxing assumed it was because his back injury was too painful and let him transfer that pain to him. After all, he’d been injured protecting him.
The aquarium was empty inside. The glass panels on both sides of the corridor were all shattered, leaving puddles of water and scattered glass shards on the floor. The only light came from dim natural daylight.
“Uncle, where did all the little fish go?” At some point, a child had grabbed Lin Anran’s hem. Lin Anran paused and turned around with Lin Wuyang. The little girl with the plushie looked at him with big, hopeful eyes.
“Can you stop following my brother around?”
Lin Anran turned and softly warned him: “Wuyang, she’s just a child—don’t talk to her like that.” Lin Wuyang curled his lip and rolled his eyes.
“Those little fish should have all returned to the sea,” Shi Yuxing interjected. “The aquarium has emergency drainage systems connected to the ocean. All the fish here should have gone back.”
The little girl, held by Lin Anran, looked at Shi Yuxing: “Big brother, did they go home?”
Shi Yuxing hadn’t expected her to say that. He paused for a second, then nodded. “Yes. They went home.”
“Then when are we going home?”
The echoes of footsteps reverberated through the long tunnel, landing on everyone’s hearts. Their conversation was heard by all. The adults fell silent; the children started fussing, wanting to go home.
Just then, the ground trembled again. The sensitive ones either crouched down with their heads covered or ran toward the light at the end of the tunnel.
“Hurry! Don’t stay where you are—the building’s unstable and could collapse at any moment!” The soldiers protecting them urged.
Shi Yuxing and the others were the first to burst out of the tunnel. In the open square ahead, several Zerg hovered menacingly in midair. They all retreated a step in fear. The soldiers fired off a few shots—but the wasps evaded the bullets, not a single one hit.
Panic spread. Everyone retreated back into the tunnel. The wasps’ stingers glinted coldly. Shi Yuxing’s pupils shrank to pinpoints—a stinger was coming straight for him. “Watch out!” The person beside him pulled him close. Unexpectedly, a powerful jet of water struck—slamming the wasp to the ground. Shi Yuxing, nestled in the alpha’s arms, turned his head. Several young people had somehow connected a fire hose and opened the valve, spraying water skyward. All the Zerg hit by the water crashed to the ground with heavy thuds.
A few more gunshots rang out. Thick, foul blood flowed from the fallen wasps. The three Zerg on the ground lay still.
Lin Anran stared in horror at the man gasping for breath, gun raised. “G-General? But you’re not—” He then looked at the two people beside Shi Yuxing and slowly let out an “Ah?”
Gu Lingzhou’s chest heaved violently. The moment he’d received word of the shelter’s collapse, he’d come charging over, practically radiating killing intent.
Bloodshot veins surrounded his dark pupils. The terrifying expression on Gu Lingzhou’s face made Shi Yuxing swallow hard and guiltily step out of Da Ling’s embrace. He remembered the message he’d sent to Gu Lingzhou—”I’ve been at home all along”—and his heart pounded wildly.
His heart rate was even higher than when he’d seen the Zerg.
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