"We have already asked for help. Well, what's your name?" asked the leading officer.

"Jiang Lius.h.i.+, s.h.i.+ Ying Squad," answered Jiang Lius.h.i.+.

Presently, the hall was filled with ordinary unarmed people. They had no way to fight back at all.

"Everyone, stay away from the windows. We'll hide here for a while. There should be no problems with that. Unfortunately, there are many injured amongst us," said the officer.

However, after completing his sentence, a loud sound came from the underground while the whole building started shaking. Many of the gathered survivors screamed in panic. 

"What happened now?" asked Jiang Lius.h.i.+ while staring at the ground. "What's this disturbance?"

A dozen survivors ran as the concrete floor covered with marble suddenly bulged, and a crack broke open.

The moment that happened, Jiang Lius.h.i.+ shot several times into the gap swiftly. Everyone was startled, and they all stared at the crack in panic. In that black crack, dirt, cement fragments, and shattered steel bars could be seen. After the intense gunshots, the crack stopped expanding, but many people saw a pair of bloodshot eyes flas.h.i.+ng in the dark hole before disappearing. Mutant beasts were even attacking from underground!

Many mutant beasts could drill their way through the ground. Although the people constructing the Jiangning Safety Zone had laid a deep foundation while building the city wall, the mutant beasts had found a way to attack from underground. At the same time, the paranormals guarding the city wall on a daily basis were entangled in a battle with the mutant birds, focusing all their attention on them so they could not protect the weak spots. 

What's worse, the mutant beats could follow sounds from the surface to move around. That's also the reason why they could attack the densely populated areas directly. Jiang Lius.h.i.+ estimated that many beasts should have started appearing in other areas too.

"What are we going to do now?"

Many survivors were worried. They had just escaped from the mutant birds' clutches, but now they had also to deal with mutant beasts lying underground. They had nowhere to go!

Everyone was worried that more cracks would appear under their feet, allowing the mutant beasts to drag them down. They had no place to hide now. As a result, many survivors climbed on chairs and tables, standing on them while trembling uncontrollably from fear.

Although Jiang Lius.h.i.+ would not allow any mutant beast to drill its way out of the ground, most of the survivors were still scared.

After some time, they all heard strange sounds coming from the ground.

"What are those mutant beasts doing?" asked the leading officer worriedly.

At that moment, Ran Xiyu transmitted in Jiang Lius.h.i.+'s mind, 'About a dozen mutant beasts are smas.h.i.+ng the underground reinforcements and destroying the building's foundation.'

Undoubtedly, the mutant beasts' intelligence had been improved! After discovering that Jiang Lius.h.i.+ posed a threat on them, they changed their tactics into destroying the buildings' foundation instead of devouring the survivors directly. In that way, the survivors inside would either have to escape outside, leading them straight into the mutant birds' clutches, or they'd have to wait for the building to collapse and kill them.

Despair took over the survivors' hearts, and some of them sobbed. 

"The residential area has been violently attacked, and a large number of mutant beasts and zombies are outside the wall. They can't support us at the moment. They told us to delay the monsters and wait until they can send a rescue team," said the soldier who was in charge of the communication device.

There were hundreds of thousands of people in the residential areas. Whether the wall could be protected or not directly decided the Safety Zone's future. In comparison, a building just with hundreds of people was naturally inferior to protecting the wall or the residential areas.

'Delay? How can we possibly delay them? If we dash out of the building, we'll suffer huge losses…but the mutant beasts are underground, and we can't attack them.' The leading officer became more desperate after thinking about that.

"There is only one way, we have to dash outside and break out of the encirclement. It's better than-"

At that moment, a female squeezed out from the ground and shouted, "Dash outside? It's very dangerous!"

Jiang Lius.h.i.+ turned to look at her and shook his head immediately. Naturally, that female was Wan Lan.

Earlier, Wan Lan was swimming in a sea of happiness as she had rejected Jiang Lius.h.i.+'s request. However, that happiness had not lasted long as the mutant beasts made their appearance.

As the mutant beasts had attacked the upper flood, she also had to escape hurriedly. She had also witnessed Jiang Lius.h.i.+ attacking the mutant birds, rescuing the survivors in the process. After that, she had holed herself in a corner, not daring to show her face. Currently, Jiang Lius.h.i.+ was a beacon of hope for the survivors, so was unwilling to make an appearance and cause trouble.

However, when she heard that no rescue team would come to aid them, Wan Lan could no longer stay hidden and wait. They could only wait for certain death now that the rescue team was unavailable. At the same time, das.h.i.+ng outside was also dangerous. She disagreed with the very idea. 

"It's the only way," the leading officer tried to explain.

"How could be possible? We are humans here that have the capacity to think about other ways. At least, your team is here…and Captain Jiang's team…" said Wan Lan. She didn't want to die.

When Jiang Lius.h.i.+ heard Wan Lan mentioning his team, he felt it was at least ridiculous.

At that moment, Wan Lan looked at Jiang Lius.h.i.+ and said, "Captain Jiang, there are many ordinary people here. You don't want to see them being killed, right? In their eyes, you're a hero. You're our only hope! On behalf of everyone here, I would like to express our grat.i.tude to you and your team. Thank you," said Wan Lan sincerely this team.

However, after listening to her speech, Jiang Lius.h.i.+ felt disgusted. It felt like he had eaten a fly.

"Oh, I'm really surprised by your change in att.i.tude," said Jiang Lius.h.i.+ indifferently.

Wan Lan was stunned when she heard that. Then, she smiled and said, "Captain Jiang, I simply followed the rules. We have to check all the materials first before they leave the warehouse. It's my responsibility. Pleases, try to understand Captain Jiang."

Although she hated Jiang Lius.h.i.+, she couldn't do anything now. Wan Lan added, "Captain Jiang, I actually have all the material you need. I planned to inform w.a.n.g s.h.i.+qi to inform you two days later to come and get them. There's a whole process which we cannot speed up."

When she noticed Jiang Lius.h.i.+ looking at her with a strange smile, Wan Lan bit her lips and said, "Well, since the situation has changed, I can give all the materials to you in advance. Although I will get punished, I want you to have them. After all, Captain Jiang, you've saved all of us."

Then, she looked at some survivors and shouted, "You, you, you and you. Go to the 3rd Warehouse and bring all the materials Captain Jiang needs!"

Wan Lan was really depressed as she had never planned to give those materials to Jiang Lius.h.i.+. But now, she had no other choice. For the sake of survival, she had to lower her head and do what was necessary.