Chapter 70 Construction

Zhou Yan's words were like a bucket of cold water, instantly extinguishing the unrealistic fantasies in Wang Huan's heart.

The word "swim" was used very cleverly; this single word, a simple description of an action, directly and clearly depicted everyone's predicament.

They had no boats, nor any watercraft.

They had no weapons and no ability to protect themselves in front of the merfolk.

The muzzle of the Benelli shotgun in Zhou Yan's hand was already aimed at Wang Huan.

The dark, hollow muzzle stared at Wang Huan, exuding a strong, lethal aura.

The fake smile that Wang Huan had managed to conjure up instantly stiffened; he could clearly feel the "indifference" radiating from Zhou Yan.

It was a casualness that suggested he might pull the trigger at any moment.

He had no doubt that if he dared to say one more word, he might be eating a shotgun shell in the next second...

Wang Huan didn't speak; he gave a few sheepish laughs and subconsciously shrank back, trying to hide himself behind the others...

But in his lowered eyes, a flash of extremely venomous light flickered.

"Damn it... you'd better not let me find an opportunity!"

Although he was completely unconvinced in his heart, his face wore a humble expression.

This sense of humiliation from being coerced by force made him understand even more clearly that in front of someone with absolute power, bowing one's head and admitting defeat for the time being was the only choice—a real man knows how to bend and stretch!

Zhou Yan didn't even need Bai Qi to notice Wang Huan's series of reactions; he could see for himself that this kid was not convinced.

Zhou Yan had seen plenty of this kind of bastard; as long as he was given the right opportunity, this trash would definitely cause trouble!

His gaze didn't linger on Wang Huan, sweeping instead over the other anxious survivors.

"Gather on the 6th Floor!!"

No one dared to resist. Even knowing that the merfolk were hiding under the water near Building 17, they didn't dare to oppose Zhou Yan. They could only convince themselves to trust Zhou Yan, believing that he would use the gun in his hand to provide them with protection...

Like a herd of driven sheep, the dozen or so people, under Zhou Yan's escort, walked silently down the stairs.

For a moment, the air was filled only with messy footsteps and heavy breathing...

No one spoke...

On the 6th Floor,

The murky water surface was close at hand, emitting a strong, earthy, fishy smell. Occasionally, the "splash, splash" sound of water could be heard from afar, a bit like large fish breaking the surface, but everyone knew in their hearts that it was the merfolk...

In the corridor of the 6th Floor, and throughout most of the rooms on the 6th Floor, were the composite boards used for decoration that the girls had previously dismantled, along with some woven materials torn into long strips—these were the construction materials they had used to lay the Floating Bridge before.

This group of people breathed a sigh of relief; having ready-made materials actually reduced their workload...

They clumsily moved the materials. Wang Huan had been designated as the "temporary commander" by Zhou Yan. Didn't he like to stand out? Then let him command!

This kind of person had a little bit of cleverness, but not much...

Using him temporarily was quite appropriate.

The crowd tried to tie together door panels and items with buoyancy, such as empty buckets and plastic bottles.

Everyone was the same; while working, they nervously watched the movement on the water surface, afraid that some merman or mutated fish would suddenly leap out of the water!

Real water work was far more difficult than imagined...

Although the current wasn't too fast, the materials with uneven buoyancy were hard to control. The makeshift ropes made from bed sheets and quilt covers were of questionable quality, and after being soaked by the rain, they often slipped.

The wooden boards bobbed up and down on the water, making it hard for people to stand steady. From time to time, some unlucky soul would lose their footing and fall into the water, triggering a burst of terrified screams before scrambling back up in a sorry state...

Wang Huan was the most terrified of all. He wasn't so stupid as to be pleased with himself for being assigned the job. Zhou Yan's attitude was very clear: if this job wasn't done well, he would, in all likelihood, be eating a bullet...

He had to command the crowd in construction, watch out for safety on the water, and endure the gaze of Zhou Yan's cold eyes; it could be said that he was the person under the most pressure right now.

They had no experience, progress was slow, and efficiency was low.

But Zhou Yan wasn't in a hurry. He actually hoped this time would be longer, using this process to grind away these people's wishful thinking, getting them accustomed to obeying him, making it more convenient and handy to manage them in the future.

The only good news was that at dusk,

The rain actually stopped...

The gloomy sky, those accumulated dark clouds seemed to disperse in an instant!

The afterglow of the setting sun painted a layer of dark golden halo over this somewhat hopeless water world.

The crowd didn't even work as silently as before.

At first, there were only faint snatches of conversation, but soon, the sounds of talking and laughing echoed over the water.

The sky suddenly clearing up after days of rain made everyone's mood inexplicably lighter. The dark clouds hadn't just oppressed the sky, but also everyone's mood...

Even Wang Huan, who had been keeping a deadpan face, had his commanding voice become much louder!

Opposite at Building 16, Wang Zeyu and Li Meng had been watching the construction at Building 17. Seeing that the weather had cleared, Li Meng led Wang Youde's team to start construction near Building 16, reaching out to connect with the Floating Bridge on the water.

In this way, the construction speed was greatly increased!

Zhou Yan estimated that the construction should be finished before dark!

"Put in some effort! Try to get it done before dark!" Wang Huan wiped away his sweat and shouted to the busy crowd, not forgetting to turn back to flatter Zhou Yan: "Thanks to your people, Brother Yan! This is truly brothers working with one heart! You guys are surprisingly in sync!"

Zhou Yan and Wang Huan had been talking on the side for a long time; the two of them already had some understanding of each other, but it was limited to the level of their "residence."

Hearing Wang Huan say this, Zhou Yan was quite speechless...

In sync, my ass! That was all something we had discussed beforehand...

Zhou Yan stood with his gun on a relatively drier platform, a wooden platform tied to a drainage pipe, used for command.

In the distance, a sound of water louder than any previous disturbance came, and at a spot near the Floating Bridge, water splashed into the sky!

A gray-black shadow of extreme speed, like a torpedo breaking out of the water, crashed straight towards the two people on the Floating Bridge.

"It's here!" Zhou Yan's pupils constricted. He understood that the merfolk would never pass up such a good opportunity to hunt, but he hadn't expected them to come only when the construction was about to end!

"Scatter! Run back! Don't come back all at once! The Floating Bridge can't bear this many people!" Wang Huan roared loudly at the panicked crowd huddled together.

The Floating Bridge instantly turned into a chaotic mess. People screamed in terror, instinctively wanting to escape the merman that had rushed onto the Floating Bridge, but there were too many of them, and in the mutual shoving, no one could escape back for a moment!

"Bang!"

Zhou Yan didn't hesitate in the slightest; while the crowd was away from the merman, he aimed and fired at it!

A shotgun is not like a rifle; you can't just aim and shoot.

The bullets this thing fires cover a large area!

If he didn't keep a safe distance from the merman, Zhou Yan might end up killing a few of his own people with that shot...

The pellets mostly hit the target, shattering the scales on the merman's body and sending flesh and blood flying!

The merman, feeling the pain, let go of the man it had pinned underneath, suddenly raised its head, and let out a roar towards Zhou Yan's direction.

"Roar!"

"Holy shit!" Wang Huan let out a strange cry and scrambled back through a window into the building of Building 17. He hadn't expected that this merman had evolved to such a degree?

A shotgun couldn't even kill it?

In reality, it was just that Wang Huan didn't understand the working principle of a shotgun; the further away the shotgun is, the lower the damage.

It was smarter; it knew that the one who had caused it harm was the man in the distance holding the black stick. It actually abandoned the panicked crowd right in front of it and, using all four limbs, charged towards Zhou Yan on the Floating Bridge at an astonishing speed!

The speed was shockingly fast!

The merman kicked off hard with its feet, its entire body lunging towards Zhou Yan!

"Bang!"

The immense power instantly shattered the merman's head, turning it into bloody mist that disappeared in mid-air...

The merman's body was also blasted backward by this shot, slamming heavily onto the water surface and splashing up a huge spray of water...