Chapter 129: Not a Long-Term Solution

"Currently known information about the situation."Xie Xi continued: "The aberrations have been completely eliminated by us, the entire industrial area is sealed by the fog, but the unknown information includes the types, numbers, and cultivation levels of the mist creatures. Su Zhan, you just said you observed the outside perimeter—did you gather any useful intelligence?"

"The mist creature type is Corroders."

Su Zhan spoke with a mix of truth and deception: "But I couldn't observe their strength up close, so I don't know that. As for numbers, there weren't many when I returned, but now it's impossible to say."

Everyone nodded upon hearing this, clearly understanding the characteristics of these mist creatures.

Feng Jue leaned against the wall with his sword: "We wait."

"I agree."

Liu Ziming nodded, covering his nose: "We have so many civilians to protect—taking the initiative is too risky. It's just... the smell here is unpleasant, but we'll have to endure it. There's no other way..."

Xu Hao added quietly: "And... we have no idea how many of those things are still hiding in the fog..."

"This method should work for now."

Su Zhan pointed to the food beside the secret room's cages.

A large pile of compressed biscuits.

These supplies were prepared by the aberrations to prevent these survivors from starving to death.

Conveniently located right beside the cages holding them, within easy reach.

"These provisions can last at least three days."

Su Zhan glanced at the survivors huddled in the corner: "Compared to running around outside, this is indeed the safest place. As for the stench... we'll just have to endure it."

Hmm... this odor is like being in a pit latrine...

No, even a pit latrine isn't this foul!

Xie Xi's expression showed hesitation, but she finally nodded.

Seeing this, Su Zhan raised an eyebrow slightly.

He roughly understood this wealthy young woman's thoughts.

Given Xie Xi's personality, she would prefer to go out and battle the mist creatures.

After all, she took this mission not for academic credits but specifically to enhance her practical combat abilities and advance her cultivation through real combat.

But now there were so many survivors in the secret room.

She couldn't just abandon the survivors and take her team out to fight.

Actually, Su Zhan would also prefer to go out and fight.

That way he'd have opportunities to absorb the life essence of the mist creatures.

As for the survivors...

They would have to accept their fate.

So why didn't he do this?

A real man cares about his reputation.

His teammates were still here.

Doing that would make him appear too cold-blooded.

Moreover, if these survivors exposed his behavior after getting out...

It wouldn't create a good impression.

"So, the plan is..."

Liu Ziming lowered his voice, making a zipper-closing gesture toward his mouth directed at the survivors: "Maintain absolute silence and wait for the fog to dissipate on its own."

The survivors nodded silently upon seeing this.

Just at that moment.

"Thump!"

A dull sound came from above, as if some heavy object had crashed onto the central factory floor.

The survivors huddled together in terror, but no one dared to scream.

Xie Xi's Destruction Scythe quietly rested across her knees: "They... are looking for us."

Su Zhan scanned the survivors and reminded them again in a low voice: "Remember, no matter what you hear, don't make a sound."

The secret room fell into dead silence.

Even breathing became barely audible.

Only the horrifying sound of heavy objects contacting the ground above could be heard.

"Thump."

Another dull sound.

This time closer, as if it had landed right on the factory floor directly above their heads.

Dust rained down from the ceiling of the secret room.

Dust particles floated in the air, making people slightly squint their eyes.

The survivors desperately covered their own mouths.

Some buried their faces in their knees, shoulders trembling violently.

Some pressed their foreheads against the wall, cold sweat dripping from the tips of their noses.

Others kept their eyes tightly closed, hands clasped together, silently praying continuously.

"Scrape... scrape..."

A new sound joined in.

Like flesh being dragged across rough ground.

Sometimes pausing, sometimes scraping urgently several times.

Xu Hao unconsciously moved closer to Feng Jue.

Liu Ziming's fingertips glowed with faint purple lightning, which he immediately extinguished, afraid the light might reveal their position.

"Screech..."

The sound of metal deforming came from above.

As if some iron door in the central factory had been violently torn open.

"Crash..."

Followed by the sound of collapse.

Countless steel bars and iron plates crashed to the ground, making the walls of the secret room vibrate slightly.

One survivor shuddered violently, a half-sob escaping their throat before being forcefully swallowed back.

Their nails had already dug into their thighs, blood soaking through their pants.

Su Zhan placed both hands on the sword hilts behind his back.

He saw Xie Xi gripping her Destruction Scythe tightly.

This wasn't fear, but suppressed fighting spirit.

And what about himself?

The feeling was mutual.

The sounds in the darkness grew increasingly clear.

"Creak... creak..."

Su Zhan guessed.

This was the sound of the Corroder's six bone whips dragging across the ground.

Suddenly, the dragging sound stopped.

Everyone in the secret room.

Everyone's breathing halted along with it.

"BOOM—!!!"

An ear-splitting loud noise.

The metal door at the secret passage entrance was completely torn apart.

The Corroder's three-meter-tall massive body got stuck in the doorframe, its rotting skin scraping against the concrete, but it just couldn't get through.

"Ah—!!!"

The survivors completely broke down.

Piercing screams exploded within the confined space.

"Help!"

"They're here! They're here!"

"I don't want to die! I don't want to die!"

"Didn't you say we'd be safe if we stayed quiet!? Why did they still find us!?"

Su Zhan remained silent.

He didn't blame the survivors for losing control.

Because at this point, maintaining silence no longer served any purpose.

But he was also puzzled.

Why could the Corroders find them?

Logically, they hadn't made any sound at all.

And from what he knew about mist creatures, Corroders didn't have exploration methods like smell, thermal imaging, or sonar to locate prey.

Strange, very strange.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

The Corroder was madly hacking at the walls around the doorframe with its bone whips.

Concrete chunks fell like rain, the entire secret passage shaking violently.

Its three eyeball tentacles wriggled excitedly, as if thrilled at seeing prey.

"Maintain formation."

Xie Xi's Destruction Scythe already glowed with a dark red light: "Xu Hao, protect the civilians."

Feng Jue held his Startling Swan Sword ready.

Liu Ziming's palms crackled with purple lightning.

But Su Zhan immediately countered: "Our position is already exposed. More Corroders will keep coming. If we wait for them to widen the entrance enough to accommodate their size, we're all finished. We can't hold this position—everyone retreat through the secret passage!"

He pointed at the Corroder frantically widening the entrance.

The monster swung its bone whips, large chunks of concrete crumbling away.

The passage opening had already been widened to 1.5 times its original width. It only needed to increase the height or simply collapse the ceiling for the Corroder to get in.

"Go!"

Xie Xi didn't hesitate, making an immediate decision: "Everyone to the secret passage!"

The survivors scrambled and stumbled toward the exit.

Xu Hao's figure flickered among the crowd.

Teleporting those with mobility issues several meters forward with each jump.

"Crash!"

Another load-bearing wall was shattered by the Corroder.

The passage opening could now accommodate half its body entering.

Three eyeball tentacles danced excitedly, its foul breath spraying onto Su Zhan's back as he covered the retreat.

"Purple Thunder!"

Liu Ziming turned and threw out a lightning net, temporarily sealing the passage.

Everyone took advantage of this brief respite to rush into the winding escape tunnel.

From behind came the angry roars of the Corroder, along with the thunderous noise of more bone whips joining the destruction.

It was calling its own kind.

"Hurry!"

Su Zhan also ran into the escape tunnel.

This escape passage was complex and maze-like, with a height of only 2 meters and width allowing only three people to run shoulder-to-shoulder.

The terrain limited the Corroders.

While this could buy them some time, it wasn't a long-term solution.

I'm afraid what comes next will still be everyone fending for themselves.

We'll protect the survivors if we can.

If we can't protect them, there's nothing to be done.

After all, we can't sacrifice our own lives for these people, right?

The next second.

The entire secret passage suddenly shook violently!

The worst-case scenario had occurred.

Other Corroders were digging through from different directions—the entire underground network was about to become their hunting ground...