As the countdown sounded, Luo Xiaole felt the frozen sensation around her body gradually thawing.
The Lurker at the door kept emitting a chilling sound of fingernails scraping.
The crowd downstairs also let out terrified screams that echoed one after another.
The Lurker let out an excited roar, its sharp claws scraping the ground as it rushed downstairs.
Those inside the room heard the Lurker's sounds fading away from the door.
"Are we... safe?" The mother's voice trembled, her eyes filled with the shock and relief of having survived.
Luo Xiaole's countdown ended.
Her expression was even a little stunned.
During those five stiff minutes, she had imagined several scenarios of how the Lurker would break in and how she would defend and attack.
She hadn't expected that Chen Xiaolin's single howl would resolve it.
Had this crisis been resolved just like that?
All eyes, like spotlights, fell on Chen Xiaolin, who had just let out the zombie roar.
Luo Xiaole once again confirmed Chen Xiaolin's qi vortex.
It was still grayish-white, but this time it seemed to have reached a magical balance between white and black.
The grayish-white qi vortex was still spinning steadily like a Tai Chi diagram.
Chen Xiaolin leaned against the door, relieved.
He felt as if he had walked a circle at the gates of hell, and he had broken out in a cold sweat.
"Chen Xiaolin, how do you feel?" Luo Xiaole blurted out.
Because she distinctly saw that Chen Xiaolin's lips were no longer a colorless pale.
The faint reddish hue on his face, as if from a fever, seemed to have faded in an instant.
Chen Xiaolin was startled. He touched his forehead. The burning hot temperature was gone, and the sensation of alternating hot and cold throughout his body had vanished without a trace.
His illness was cured?
He was overjoyed.
"Can you let me see your neck?" Luo Xiaole wanted to confirm again.
Chen Xiaolin himself pulled open the collar of his clothes to show her.
As expected, the extremely faint wound was no longer oozing blood strangely. It had already begun to scab over with very fine scabs.
Beneath it, fresh flesh could be seen growing in a short period.
Luo Xiaole smiled with relief, "You're fine now."
"He's better already? But he just let out a zombie roar..." Luo Shu was astonished.
"I think he's in a state that's half-human, half-zombie. He has zombie aura on him, but his consciousness hasn't disappeared. That's why the Lurker smelled a kindred spirit and didn't find us, and left directly," Luo Xiaole boldly stated her guess.
"Is he... still in danger?" Zhou Xiaojun also came closer.
He increasingly felt that Luo Xiaole's predictions were always almost accurate.
A sense of trust had slowly accumulated.
"No problem for now." If he were to turn into a zombie, the qi vortex wouldn't be stable and would have turned black long ago.
"Thank... thank you..." Chen Xiaolin felt ashamed facing Luo Xiaole.
At the time, he had only listened to Zuo Ran's one-sided story and looked down on Luo Xiaole, thinking she was a selfish slacker in the group.
But he hadn't expected that on the bus, she was the only one who believed him and took the lead to speak up for him.
Given his condition at the time, if he had been kicked off the bus, he would have surely been torn to pieces by the zombies behind them by now.
Luo Xiaole waved her hand, indicating it was nothing.
She had always only cared about her own goals and had no interest in interpersonal relationships.
If she felt she could save someone, she would lend a hand. If she felt uncomfortable with someone, she would stay away.
After all, there were plenty of people who didn't like her, and there were plenty of people she didn't like.
Did disliking someone mean she had to kill them, and liking someone mean she had to elevate them to the heavens?
What was the difference between that and the despicable person who had locked Chen Xiaolin in?
The screams from downstairs seemed to tear through the sky.
Luo Xiaole frowned. These few Lurkers seemed to be even more difficult to deal with than the previous ones.
Soon, the sound of intense gunfire erupted from downstairs, and even a cannon was fired.
"Boom!" A wall downstairs seemed to be blown apart by the fierce firepower, followed by another round of intense shooting.
After a long while, the firepower gradually subsided.
It seemed the Lurker that had run downstairs had been dealt with.
At this moment, in the office building, Cheng Ge stood by the window, furious.
"Who opened the gap in the protective shield and let the mutated zombies in? Damn it, they're almost destroying the base!"
Zuo Ran stood by, his lips pursed, feigning ignorance.
"What an idiot! Now the zombies outside are surrounding the base, and there's such a mess inside. If I find out who it is, I'll skin him alive!"
"Report! Boss, the officer sent me to inform you that witnesses saw at least two mutated zombies, but they only killed one. Other mutated zombies have lost track. The officer wants you to start an investigation and increase vigilance."
"Is this ever going to end!" Cheng Ge was enraged. He spat,
and fiercely smashed the milk cup in his hand.
The base was destined to be no longer peaceful.
...
The next day.
"Xiaole, this base is too weird. When can we set off for Luocheng Base?" Nie Yuan rested his chin on his hand, worried.
"Miss your family?" Luo Xiaole understood.
Nie Yuan nodded heavily.
But they both knew that the base was now sealed off like this, with weapons and guards everywhere at the entrance, and their abilities had all been rendered useless, as if separated by something.
It was as if they couldn't leave even if they wanted to.
They ate a little more of the food Luo Xiaole and Luo Shu had brought back yesterday to fill their stomachs.
Then they unanimously decided to act separately today.
Zhou Xiaojun and Nie Yuan went down to the sports field to try to exchange supplies with others, focusing on gathering intelligence on the base's situation in the past few days.
Chen Xiaolin and Lin Xia's bodyguard went separately to observe areas where the base's defenses were weaker.
If the base remained sealed, they at least needed a direction to break out.
As for Luo Xiaole and Luo Shu, they would continue to go out to collect food. Luo Xiaole herself was also thinking about collecting more weapons to strengthen them.
Lin Xia and the mother and son stayed here to take care of Mo Shen.
The strongest combatant couldn't be left unprotected.
Everyone was diligent and set off for their respective "battlefields."
...
Third time's the charm. Luo Xiaole, having found weak points in the protective shield twice before.
She now had some understanding of the mobile patterns of these weak points.
In just a few minutes, she and Luo Shu had reached the weak point.
Just as she was about to signal Luo Shu to use her ability.
The protective shield was suddenly pulled by something. The thin green circular area twisted twice.
As if it had legs and could run, it began to move rapidly upwards.
"It's escaping! Chase!" Luo Xiaole bolted after it.
Luo Shu couldn't see the protective shield and could only follow Luo Xiaole upstairs, utterly confused.
Soon, Luo Xiaole and Luo Shu reached the 6th floor. Above that was the top floor of the dormitory building.
Would this circular gap run all the way to the sky?
Luo Xiaole ran, panting, and took a deep breath, following the circle along the corridor to the 7th floor.
Suddenly, a sound of sharp claws scraping the wall came from the corridor.
Wait... Luo Xiaole held her breath and concentrated.
This sound seemed somewhat familiar.
"Hoo hoo..." The low growl of a zombie could be heard faintly.
Luo Xiaole's pupils contracted.
It was the Lurker from last night!