It was already dark when everyone finished checking the information and preparing the supplies.
Xiao Lou looked out the window. The streetlights were still on, indicating that the Zerg hadn't yet managed to disrupt the city's electrical system. He asked Yu Hanjiang, "Should we head to the east of the city tonight, or wait until dawn?"
Yu Hanjiang thought for a moment and said, "Let's go and find out the habits of the Zerg first. We don't know yet whether they will rest or become more active after dark."
After all, this kind of insectoid race is unfamiliar to everyone, and it's uncertain whether they are more aggressive at night. What if they are insects that are more excited at night? Traveling at night is practically suicide. Knowing yourself and your enemy is the key to clearing the game.
Yu Hanjiang glanced at everyone and said, "A few of you with fast movement skills, come with me to scout ahead."
Liu Qiao, Ye Qi, Long Sen, and Qu Wanyue all raised their hands. Shao Qingge said, "I copied the teleportation card, so I can go too."
Xiao Lou has the speed-boosting shoes that Yu Hanjiang gave him. However, Xiao Lou's running speed is too slow. Even with a five-fold speed boost, he might still not be able to outrun the bugs. Yu Hanjiang thought for a moment and decided to copy another displacement card so that he could take Xiao Lou with him.
Yu Hanjiang looked at Shao Qingge and said, " CEO Shao, copy a Lightness Skill Card for me."
Shao Qingge rubbed his temples helplessly: "My skill costs 5 million to copy a card, and it can only be copied twice in one secret room. Moreover, you can't copy the same card."
Yu Hanjiang calmly said, "It's okay. We can earn more money back in the main city. Clearing Spade 8 is the priority."
Since the captain had said so, Shao Qingge felt justified in indulging in his extravagance and gave him another copy of Liu Qiao's [ Light as a Swallow ].
After everyone prepared their cards, Yu Hanjiang said decisively, "This scouting mission is mainly to investigate the habits of the Zerg. Everyone has Invisibility Cloak and movement cards, so try not to alert them, and especially avoid direct confrontation. Once you've investigated, leave; don't linger in battle."
After saying that, he simply gestured to everyone, walked to the entrance of the decoration company, and opened the iron gate.
The eight people quickly slipped out the door, and Lao Mo locked the iron gate behind them.
Outside, the streetlights illuminated the entire city.
The streets were deserted, most of the small shops were closed, and although the shopping malls were open, there was not a soul in sight. In just one day, the once bustling and prosperous city center had almost become a ghost town.
The rustling sound of rats gnawing on garbage bags could be heard from time to time. Yu Hanjiang looked around alertly. Not far away, a fat rat saw them and immediately ran away, disappearing around the garbage can.
Nearby, stray cats and dogs were rummaging through the trash cans for food. They were used to seeing people coming and going and were not afraid of humans. When they saw Yu Hanjiang, the stray dog even barked twice, but showed no signs of attacking them.
Yu Hanjiang lowered his voice: "It seems that the Zerg only infect humans and have no effect on these animals."
The eight people walked quickly forward.
Some of the people who were sunbathing and taking photos in the square at noon today died on the roadside after being infected; their eyes bled visibly, and the ground nearby was stained with blood. Others became infected and went on to bite other normal humans.
At this moment, the huge square was empty, and a cold wind blew by, making everyone shiver.
Yu Hanjiang said, "They must have been systematically invading the entire city and hunting down the native inhabitants. There are no more prey in the square, so they have moved on to other areas. The nearby residential areas, shopping malls, commercial centers, food courts, and other places with high foot traffic will definitely see a large number of mutated insectoids emerge. Everyone must be careful when they move around."
Ye Qi quickly took out the flute from the card holder and looked up.
The moment he looked up, a Zergling suddenly swooped down from the sky—it had been perched on a streetlamp at the edge of the square. The night was too dim, and it was dressed in a pure black suit, almost blending into the darkness. However, its scarlet eyes emitted a chilling light in the darkness, staring straight at Ye Qi.
Ye Qi cursed inwardly and immediately blew the flute. The Zerg was indeed frozen in place by the sound. Yu Hanjiang pulled a Type 17 pistol from his card holder, attached a silencer, and blasted the Zerg's head apart with a single shot!
Xiao Lou clenched his fists nervously: "Won't it fuse and upgrade?"
Yu Hanjiang stared coldly at the man in the suit lying on the ground and said, "The premise of fusion is having a partner for him to fuse with. Within a hundred meters, there is only one Zerg. I want to see if he can kill them when he is alone."
The man lying on the ground was probably a senior executive of a company before he was infected. He was dressed in a suit and carrying a briefcase. After Yu Hanjiang shot him in the head, blood flowed all over the ground. Sure enough, just like the man who was shot in the head in the supermarket, countless black spider-like things crawled out along the blood.
However, since there were no other parasites around for them to fuse and upgrade, and they could not directly infect Xiao Lou and the other three, the insectoids quickly deflated as if their strength had been drained, and after making two squeaking noises, they fell silent.
Ye Qi was initially disgusted by these things, but after seeing them a few more times, he got used to them. He stared at the group of things curiously and said, "They're not moving at all, they look like they're dead, right?"
Xiao Lou pondered, "It seems that lone Zerg are easy to kill. As long as the Zerg are driven out of a human's body, they can't survive. We can think of a way to..."
Separate them by tribe, and defeat them one by one.
Of course, this method is only useful in small-scale skirmishes. Once you encounter more than twenty Zerg units moving together, it becomes difficult to kill them one by one.
Yu Hanjiang analyzed, "This kind of insectoid should be a social animal, the more the better, one or two alone are not a threat."
The others nodded in agreement.
Today in the supermarket, the large number of Zerg has caused a lot of trouble for everyone in terms of upgrading and fusion. If there were only one or two, it wouldn't be so scary, since they can't upgrade by self-fusion and would only face certain death.
The conclusion that they were social animals sent chills down everyone's spines.
The square was empty, which seemed to confirm Yu Hanjiang's speculation—they were probably hiding in those buildings, staying together in groups, and the few scattered on the street were probably lost and had not kept up with the main group.
This means that once you encounter the Zerg, their numbers will be terrifying!
Xiao Lou asked, "The night doesn't seem to affect them?"
Yu Hanjiang said, "Most insects prefer to come out at night. I estimate that the night will not only not affect their movement, but will make their eyesight and hearing more acute. If Xiao Ye hadn't been prepared, this one might have already pounced on her."
Ye Qi looked at the dark mass on the ground with lingering fear and said, "It was probably watching us the whole time, waiting for us to get close before suddenly attacking. Luckily, I reacted quickly!"
Humans are accustomed to being active during the day and resting at night, but small animals like cockroaches and rats, including this unknown insectoid species, prefer the darkness. The night is far more dangerous for the Challenger.
Crossing half the city to the East City District overnight is not a wise move; it would be better to act during the day. However, Yu Hanjiang still wanted to take the opportunity to investigate the Zerg's gathering place so that everyone could avoid the Zerg army when they acted tomorrow.
With that in mind, he decisively told his teammates, "Everyone put on the Invisibility Cloak. We have 30 minutes to check out the nearby shopping malls, food courts, and other places to see where the Zerg are most numerous, so we can determine our route for tomorrow."
Ye Qi suggested, " The Zerg won't be able to see us after we put on the Invisibility Cloak, right? The cloak only lasts for 30 minutes, which might not be enough time to search all these places. Should we just split up and act separately?"
Xiao Lou was a little worried: "If we split up and encounter danger, we'll be vulnerable to infection because we're outnumbered and outmatched."
Ye Qi said seriously, "I have an invisibility card and a teleportation card. The Zerg can't see me or catch me, so I should be fine. At worst, I'll just run away if I encounter a large number of Zerg."
Liu Qiao chimed in, "Me too. I can wear the Invisibility Cloak and use my Lightness Skill to jump on the tops of buildings. No matter how fast they are, they can't beat me finding a landing spot in 3 seconds."
Long Sen said, " Wanyue and I are also capable of protecting ourselves. Before the bugs find us, we can directly activate the Invisibility Cloak and use Long Jump Master to run away. We can jump 8 meters at a time, and the bugs can't catch up with us."
Yu Hanjiang frowned and remained silent.
Ye Qi scratched his head, his clear eyes full of seriousness: "Although we are not as strong as Captain Yu, we can't always rely on Captain Yu for protection, can we? We also want to help out a little."
Liu Qiao said seriously, "That's right. We're only in the A-grade secret room now. We'll have to go through the S-level secret chamber. If we don't even dare to scout the A-grade secret room, are we just going to hide behind Captain Yu the whole time we get to the S-level secret chamber?"
Long Sen nodded vigorously: "That's right, that's right. Invisibility only lasts for 30 minutes. It's such a waste for eight of us to scout one place. Captain Yu, don't worry, with the cloak, we can protect ourselves!"
The others exchanged glances and nodded in agreement.
Yu Hanjiang thought about it carefully—they were right. He couldn't protect everyone all the time; everyone had to learn to protect themselves. They were only at Spade 8 now. If they couldn't even protect themselves, what would they do with the more difficult Spade J and Spade K?
It's time to train the team members' action skills and courage.
The Invisibility Cloak not only conceals your form but also your scent, remaining invisible for 30 minutes until you become transparent to air, making you undetectable to the Zerg. Add in various movement cards, and if you still can't escape... then you're really too weak!
Yu Hanjiang looked at his teammates.
Since his teammates were so courageous, Yu Hanjiang didn't want to dampen their confidence, so he simply said, "Okay, I'll assign groups now. Liu Qiao, Qu Wanyue, and Long Sen, the three of you all have cards that allow you to jump and fly. You'll be responsible for this large high-rise residential area on the east side of the plaza. Keep an eye on the Zerg's movements from the air. It's best if the three of you move together and look out for each other, and don't stray too far apart."
The three nodded immediately: "Understood!"
Yu Hanjiang continued, " CEO Shao, Ye Qi, Lao Mo, go and investigate the financial center and office buildings. These buildings house a large number of companies and banks. I need a rough estimate of the survival rate and infection rate of the office workers."
Ye Qi said, "No problem!"
Yu Hanjiang looked at Xiao Lou and said, "Let's check the shopping mall and food court."
Xiao Lou naturally had no objection and nodded.
Yu Hanjiang whispered instructions: "Be careful, if you encounter danger, use the teleportation card to retreat immediately. Find out the Zerg situation within 25 minutes and return here to regroup. Don't linger in battle. If you encounter a problem you can't solve, just drop a Luminous Pearl or Lantern to signal your nearby teammates!"
Everyone nodded vigorously: "Understood."
Yu Hanjiang waved his hand: "Let's move out!"
The eight people split into three teams, put on Invisibility Cloaks, and quickly infiltrated into the darkness, rapidly searching in three directions.
Even if the Zerg have no blind spots in 360 degrees,
Even with a keen sense of smell, they couldn't detect everyone's presence.
Unfortunately, the Invisibility Cloak card can only be used once a day, and each use only lasts for 30 minutes. Use it tonight to scout out enemy positions, and start planning its use carefully from tomorrow onwards. It can be a lifesaver in critical moments.
After his teammates left, Yu Hanjiang gently put his arm around Xiao Lou's waist and said calmly, "I'll take you away."
Xiao Lou's ears burned, and he asked, " Can the Lightness Skill Card make someone fly? I don't remember Liu Qiao's card having that skill..."
Yu Hanjiang said in a low voice, "You can't play cards, but I can."
Xiao Lou: "..."
With a slight exertion of his arm, he lifted Xiao Lou up.
Xiao Lou was so light that lifting him was much easier than running with a heavy sack on his back at the police academy. Xiao Lou only felt a tightening around his waist as the man's strong arms easily pulled him into his embrace, then activated his Lightness Skill Card and suddenly flew into the sky.
Xiao Lou: "..."
The wind whistled past their ears. With their Invisibility Cloaks activated, they couldn't see each other, but Xiao Lou could clearly feel the strength of Yu Hanjiang's arms around her waist as she flew with Yu Hanjiang's Lightness Skill around her waist. Xiao Lou felt her heart pounding like a drum.
Beneath his feet lay a dark city fraught with danger. Yu Hanjiang used the buildings above the city to levitate. The card "Light as a Swallow " had a 3-second cooldown to find a landing spot at the beginner level and an 8-second cooldown at the max level. When CEO Shao copied it, Liu Qiao's card was already at the max level, so he could levitate for a long distance.
The 8-second levitation flight could cover almost all the buildings on both sides of the street. With Yu Hanjiang's long legs, finding a landing point was quite easy. He was like a flying goose, lightly levitating and jumping on the buildings.
Xiao Lou suddenly had the illusion that he was filming a martial arts epic with Captain Yu.
After flying for a short while, Yu Hanjiang chose to land at a shopping mall.
This four-story shopping mall will likely attract a large number of humans. If more than 80% of the people are infected, it will become a Zerg nest, and none of the remaining people will be able to escape. Yu Hanjiang just wanted to confirm whether the shopping mall was a Zerg gathering place. If it was, they could avoid this area when they retreated to the East City District tomorrow.
As they landed at the entrance of the shopping mall, Yu Hanjiang released Xiao Lou's waist and thought to himself, "Let's go in and take a look."
The two walked into the shopping mall together.
To their surprise, the first floor was completely empty.
The mall was brightly lit, yet not a single person could be seen. The clothing and beverage shops had their doors wide open, but the staff were nowhere to be found. The escalators were running as usual, going up and down, but there was no one on them; at first glance, it felt like entering Ghost City.
Like the supermarket, the temperature in the mall was very low, obviously because the heating had been turned off.
Yu Hanjiang's voice echoed in Xiao Lou's mind: "Come with me, let's go upstairs and take a look."
The two of them took the elevator upstairs together.
Second floor, third floor, fourth floor...
It was all empty; there wasn't a single person in sight.
Xiao Lou wondered to himself, "Such a large shopping mall should be packed with people at lunchtime. If it's attacked, the Zerg should spread rapidly. How come I can't see a single Infected? Where did they all go?"
Yu Hanjiang frowned and said, "Something's not right here. Be careful."
The two took the stairs to the fifth floor.
Looking around, Xiao Lou still couldn't see Infected. Just then, he suddenly felt a chill on his head, like it was raining. He looked up in confusion, and what he saw made him freeze, the hairs on his body standing on end—
All that could be seen was that the ceiling of the fifth floor was densely covered with people!
Some of them were dressed as mall staff, while others were customers—the elderly, the young, the children, and countless others—all of them were perched on the ceiling, motionless!
They huddled together tightly, one after another, their hands and feet gripping the ceiling, their scarlet eyes bulging out like insect eyes, greedily darting around.
The sight of a large number of humanoid Infected crawling on the roof terrified Xiao Lou. If these insects suddenly swarmed down from the ceiling, he and Yu Hanjiang would be instantly overwhelmed by the insectoids with no way to escape!
Fortunately, the two of them were wearing invisibility cloaks when they came in. If they hadn't used invisibility cloaks to conceal their bodies and scents, the consequences would have been unimaginable.
Upon seeing this, Yu Hanjiang's face darkened. He immediately grabbed Xiao Lou and whispered in his mind, "Run!"
Xiao Lou turned around and followed Yu Hanjiang.
His heart was pounding so hard it felt like it would jump out of his chest. This terrifying scene was more horrifying than any science fiction movie he had ever seen. The two quickly evacuated the mall, Yu Hanjiang leading Xiao Lou... With a burst of Lightness Skill, I arrived at the food court in the blink of an eye.
Unlike the shopping mall where all the Zerg crawled on the ceiling, in the food court, all the Zerg crawled on the ground... The whole street was filled with people, who moved slowly, their scarlet eyes scanning around, as if searching for any stragglers nearby.
What was once a bustling food street has been transformed into the territory of the Zerg!
Xiao Lou didn't know how to comment, but in his mind he said to Yu Hanjiang, "It seems that no one on the whole street has survived. We can't go this way when we evacuate tomorrow."
Yu Hanjiang nodded and said, "Go back as soon as possible, and don't disturb them."
The sheer number of Zerg is terrifying. This densely packed crowd is even more frightening than a train station during the Spring Festival. What's more, they're all crawling on the ground or ceiling. The scene is a nightmare for anyone with trypophobia, sending chills down your spine!
Yu Hanjiang quickly returned to the square with Xiao Lou. The Invisibility Cloak hadn't expired yet, so he didn't deactivate it. Instead, he placed a gathering lantern in the middle to summon everyone.
Shao Qingge, Ye Qi, and Lao Mo also returned. Ye Qi asked in a low voice, " Captain Yu?"
Yu Hanjiang's deep voice rang in his ears: "I'm here. How's the situation?"
Ye Qi arrived near Kongming Lantern and reported, "We went to the Financial Building. There are a lot of companies and businesses in this office building, and countless white-collar workers have all been infected. They are packed tightly together in the lobby on the first floor!"
Old Mo added, "Their bodies were almost touching, it was really disgusting to look at."
Humans prefer to have some independent space. Crowded places, especially the way people squeeze chest to back, make them feel restless and uneasy. But the Zerg are different. They like to be close to their companions and like to squeeze into the same space in large numbers. Perhaps this makes them feel safer.
Xiao Lou analyzed, "They're probably squeezed together to make it easier to upgrade?"
Ye Qi's lips trembled slightly: "It's terrifying. There must be thousands of Infected in the lobby. It's like the entire Zerg in the office building are gathered together, like a Zerg convention. If we hadn't been wearing Invisibility Cloaks, going in rashly would have been a certain death!"
Yu Hanjiang asked in a low voice, " Where are Liu Qiao and the others?"
Ye Qi said, "It seems they haven't returned yet?"
Everyone was wearing an invisibility cloak, so they couldn't see each other and could only distinguish each other by voice.
Yu Hanjiang was worried that something might have happened to Liu Qiao and the others, but less than a minute later, he heard Qu Wanyue's voice, trembling slightly: "Is everyone there?"
Yu Hanjiang said, "Yes, how are things on your end?"
Qu Wanyue breathed a sigh of relief and said, "We originally planned to split up and jump up to check the situation of several residential buildings, but we didn't expect... all the infected in the entire community were concentrated in the square inside the community."
Liu Qiao said with a blank face, "Moreover, the loudspeakers in the square are still playing the songs that the aunties are dancing to. They probably didn't have time to turn them off in the evening. The community we went to should have more than 1,000 households. Roughly estimated, there are more than 2,000 infected people."
Long Sen cursed, "These bugs are so weird! Listening to square dance music, they lie motionless in the community square, like an illegal assembly. If there weren't no bugs moving, I would even suspect that they would be clapping and listening to the leader speak at any moment!"
Everyone: "..."
Long Sen's joke wasn't funny at all; it just gave everyone the creeps.
Zerg are social animals that like to stay together in large groups.
It now appears that few of the original residents of the Central Square area remain; high-traffic areas such as shopping malls, financial buildings, and food courts have all been infected.
In residential communities, some residents who didn't go out today might survive a few more days if they stayed at home with their doors and windows tightly closed. However, if they saw thousands of people huddled together in the square below from their windows, they would probably be terrified.
Xiao Lou said with a stern face, " Long Sen is right. There might really be a leader in the swarm who is rallying them."
Everyone looked at Xiao Lou, who took a deep breath and whispered, "They are gathering in groups, perhaps because a leader is giving them instructions for the next step, just like when an ant colony is moving, the queen ant gives the ants some instructions."
Ye Qi's eyes lit up: "That's right! What I saw in the financial building looked just like a swarm of insects having a meeting!"
It seems the Zerg will launch a large-scale operation tonight?
Just then, Yu Hanjiang suddenly shouted, "Danger! Everyone, evacuate immediately!"
As soon as he finished speaking, he immediately grabbed Xiao Lou's waist and used the Lightness Skill Card to fly Xiao Lou to the opposite street.
The other teammates also used their movement cards to escape.
The next moment... countless insectoids suddenly swarmed out!
A dense swarm of Infected creatures emerged from shopping malls, food streets, financial buildings, and other structures like a tidal wave. They crawled on all fours, using both hands and feet, frantically making their way towards the nearby residential areas. The sight terrified Xiao Lou and his companions!
It turns out that the Zerg wanted to completely occupy this area. Currently, there were only a few survivors in the residential area, and they didn't want to let any of them go. That's why they decided to send a large army to invade, and in the blink of an eye, they surrounded the entire residential area.
Yu Hanjiang's face was extremely grim: "Everyone, go back and pack your things, we need to leave here immediately!"
While the insects were attacking the residential area, they had to evacuate as quickly as possible; otherwise, by tomorrow morning, the city center would have become the insectoid domain, and they would have a very difficult time moving forward.
Realizing the serious consequences, everyone used their teleportation cards to quickly return to Lao Mo's renovation company.
Old Mo opened the door, and everyone went in, picked up their backpacks, grabbed insecticides, lighters, first-aid kits, and other supplies, and ran away under Yu Hanjiang's leadership!
East City District, a logistics hub, hopefully there won't be too many infected there...
Everyone was praying silently in their hearts.