No matter how fast Captain Zhang decided, he could not be faster than the swarm already beating toward them. Given the situation, even if Captain Zhang made no decision, they still could not rush to help Brother Li or Dr. Wang. As the insects closed in, the civilians who had just been pulled from danger cried out at once. "Insects. The insects are still here."
"They eat people. I do not want to die."
Captain Zhang snapped, "If you do not want to die, run. Run out of the base. The ships are outside. Board now."
The moment they heard there were ships outside, they needed no more directions. People bolted for the exit, so fast it left dust behind.
Those in protective suits kept firing on the swarm sweeping in from afar.
Lan Jin's lightning ability was strong, but the targets were tiny. She could not zap them one by one. With people all around, she could not use the ability whip either. For the moment she was forced to switch to a gun. The difference between the two was not something a few words could cover. In short, everything about it felt wrong.
No matter how hard everyone fought, the insects fell far slower than they arrived.
Lao Gao shouted, "Use fire. Fire works. It is faster."
Several fire ability users stepped up beside Lao Gao. Flames swept out and, for a moment, they burned a corridor through for the civilians behind them.
Fire held for a time, but it could not last. Lao Gao grew fed up, gathered a cluster of small ability charges, and tossed them into the swarm. The instant a charge touched one insect in the air, dozens upon dozens around it burst to pieces and rained to the ground.
The shattered bugs were truly disgusting. Thank goodness for the suits. If any skin had been bare, Lan Jin would have been the first to run.
…
Those ability charges were no weaker than the base built explosives. After Lao Gao blasted several times in a row, the creatures that had forced Brother Li and Dr. Wang to call for help converged on them.
When Lao Gao saw the huge many legged things climbing the base buildings, he swore before he could stop himself.
One after another, more multi legged mutant creatures sprang out from who knew where. Some had fully become monsters. Some were still half changed, with unknown human remains still clinging to them.
Lan Jin took one look and felt a chill. She shouted to Lao Shi, "How many people does your base have. How many are dead."
One question and everyone understood at once. Those who had died were not simply gone. They were somewhere in the dark, waiting to hatch these things. If so, the situation was fatal.
Captain Zhang roared, "Run. To the ships. Do not look back."
Ability users tried to hold off the small insects, but civilians had no protection. Many had already been injured. Should the injured be allowed aboard. If they were turned away and something happened, who would answer for it. In truth, in this chaos there was no way to check who was hurt and who was not. There was no way to stop them one by one for inspection.
Captain Zhang watched the fleeing backs and felt his heart drop. It was over. Once these people boarded, those ships might be lost. The road ahead would be forced to end. Whether any of them lived was not certain.
Even so, they had to break the crisis in front of them. At the very least, they could not let everyone die here.
…
As the fully hatched and half hatched creatures gathered, Lan Jin could finally go all out.
She had been constrained for too long. Now lightning lanced down again and again. Mutants clinging to walls went rigid, gave off a strange cry, and dropped from the high floors without life.
It was easy. With the lesson from last time, Lan Jin used only the lowest power. Even that cleared every large creature in sight.
Lan Jin let out a breath. "Big ones really are easier. I will hold here. I will not let any large mutant get out. But running does not help. The ships may not be safe either."
In other words, front and back were both dead ends. The only path was to wipe everything out, then they could be truly safe.
Once the civilians reached the ships, Captain Zhang turned back and led the nearby squads deeper into the base.
They split again into two teams. Lan Jin's four person squad, Zhou Zhiye, the Shen siblings, and others followed Captain Zhang to rescue Brother Li. Lao Shi took the people originally from the J City base along with those who had trained with them to rescue Dr. Wang.
In the fierce fighting, there was no avoiding noise. Finding positions by sound was not hard. Soon they located Brother Li's group.
However.
When they entered the room that had been breached by mutants, wrecked sight everywhere was no exaggeration.
A team of more than forty lay scattered across the floor. Only a few in twos and threes still fought with pistols and blades against several large mutants, with little effect.
Their protective suits were torn. Blood streamed onto the ground. Everyone knew that even with rescuers here, it was too late. They would mutate sooner or later.
Corpses littered the room. Lan Jin could not hurl lightning into that mess. She used the Violetbane Ring to manifest a whip instead. The first crack took a mutant off its victims and turned it toward them.
Then all the ability users surged forward together. In short order the creatures were put down.
The danger was gone, but so were the people.
Everyone rushed in. Some tried to comfort, some tried to bandage. It was useless.
Captain Zhang moved among the fallen and found Brother Li. Brother Li already lay on the ground, a hole punched through his chest. Pain rolled off Captain Zhang even through the suits. Everyone felt it.