66: Chapter 66 Ancient Ruins Erupt!

Some were rushing out from the streets, some were jumping directly from the windows of collapsed buildings, and a few larger ones were crashing through, trampling over abandoned cars, their roars making everyone's eardrums numb.

Ma Dachun's face turned pale at the sight.

"Did we poke a beast's nest or something?!"

Those few teams had been running for their lives, but when they swept their gaze and saw Lu Cheng standing at the edge of the woods, their eyes lit up instantly.

It was just like a drowning person seeing a lifebuoy.

"Help us!!"

"Brother! Help us out!!"

"There are too many behind us! We can't hold them off!"

"Quick! Help block them!!"

Lu Cheng's mouth twitched as he listened.

"Damn..."

He instinctively wanted to complain, but he didn't take a step back.

Run? Run my ass. These are all points delivered right to our doorstep. It would be a waste not to take them.

He swung his hand, shaking off the foul blood from his fist, and spoke directly: "Positions!"

Su Wan, Xia Xi, and Ma Dachun moved almost simultaneously.

The four of them instantly took their stances.

Su Wan took the left, responsible for slaying the fastest individuals.

Xia Xi took the right, watching the flanks and high-altitude attacks.

Ma Dachun guarded the rear, preventing any stragglers from rushing into the back row.

Lu Cheng stood in the very front, holding the line head-on.

"Teams rushing over, pass through the middle! Don't panic!"

With Lu Cheng's shout, those battered teams in front quickly followed suit, scrambling desperately behind them.

The first batch of beasts had arrived.

A wild boar-shaped beast with protruding tusks charged at them violently, making the ground shake.

Lu Cheng took a deep breath, and his internal energy roared into motion.

Collapsing Fist - Three Styles: Origin!

Boom!

His fist collided head-on with the beast's head, the explosive sound numbing the ears of everyone nearby.

The entire side of the boar-shaped beast's skull collapsed, its body sliding forward several meters from the inertia before finally crashing to the ground.

"Next!"

Lu Cheng stepped forward, blocking the front line directly.

At this moment, he alone held back the front of the beast tide.

Su Wan's sword light flashed continuously on his left, slaying the beasts that tried to bypass them.

The coldness drew white lines in the night, her sword strikes terrifyingly fast.

Every strike of Xia Xi's great hammer hit the beast's forehead with precision—white hammer in, red hammer out!

Ma Dachun, whose combat power was lacking, gritted his teeth and guarded the rear, occasionally having to protect a few wounded survivors who had just escaped.

"Don't shove! Don't shove! Understand orderly evacuation?!"

"You stepped on my foot, bro!!"

"Holy shit, left side, left side! There's one on the left!"

The scene was chaotic, but the four-person team's coordination became smoother and smoother.

These beasts were numerous, but their quality was uneven; for him, it was just a good opportunity to farm points.

The locator panel flashed continuously at the edge of his vision.

[Points + 3]

[Points + 4]

[Points + 2]

[Points + 4]

The battle lasted for a full ten minutes.

By the time the last beast was pinned to a broken wall by Su Wan's sword, the surroundings finally quieted down.

There was only the sound of heavy breathing left, along with the occasional scattered beast roar in the distance.

Those few teams that had escaped sat paralyzed on the ground, their faces full of expressions of survival after a disaster.

Someone took a long time to recover before looking up at Lu Cheng.

"Tha... thanks."

"If it weren't for you guys, we would have been done for tonight."

"Brother Lu... you are way too fierce..."

"Many thanks, many thanks!"

People from the several teams thanked them one after another, their tone very sincere.

They had been truly terrified just now.

Tonight's sudden change had come too quickly and too abruptly.

The ruins area, which was relatively stable during the day, went crazy after nightfall... beasts were rushing out in droves!

In many places, those kinds of monsters carrying pollution appeared, and communications were intermittent, making it so they could barely even find their way.

A student from No. 2 High School had a pale face, and his voice was trembling.

"We were originally camping in a ruined shopping mall building. In the middle of the night, the downstairs was suddenly full of roars... and then that kind of blue-purple smoke started rising from the ground."

"As soon as the smoke came out, the nearby beasts all went crazy."

"There were also a few fierce beasts whose skin was rotting, and they simply couldn't be killed..."

Another girl hugged her arms, her eyes red.

"My teammate was almost dragged away."

Just when everyone thought they could finally catch their breath...

Rumble!!!

A huge noise suddenly exploded from the direction of the former city district!

The ground shook instantly.

Immediately following was the second, then the third, the tremors getting stronger and stronger, making the rubble under their feet jump.

Everyone's expression changed at the same time, and they all turned their heads to look in that direction.

That abandoned city district in the distance was currently shaking violently.

A high-rise that was already tilting collapsed with a roar, large pieces of concrete and steel bars smashing downward, dust and smoke shooting into the sky.

Immediately after, several buildings nearby also began to crack, and the ground split open with gaps.

From the depths of those cracked fissures, blue-purple mysterious smoke was constantly surging out.

The smoke came out in waves, surging more and more, carrying a strange fluorescent glow that illuminated half the night sky, making it look cold.

"What is that?!"

"An earthquake?!"

"How could the city suddenly collapse like this?!"

"Look at that smoke!"

Someone shouted out involuntarily.

The next second, the tree shadows flickered.

The uncle who had been hiding in the trees earlier dropped back down.

This time, there was none of that relaxed attitude on his face from before, and his eyes were terrifyingly sharp.

Moreover, along with him, other soldiers who had arrived successively from other directions also appeared.

One, two, three... clearly, he was not the only observer.

Those military personnel who had been secretly protecting the other teams were no longer hiding, appearing one after another, their gazes fixed tightly on the trembling city ruins in the distance.

The atmosphere changed instantly.

Even the air felt tense.

After the uncle landed, he first glanced at Lu Cheng and the others, confirming that no one had any major issues, then turned to look at that blue-purple smoke, his face becoming increasingly ugly.

A soldier beside him swallowed hard and spoke in a low voice...

"This commotion..."

Another person stared into the depths of the ruins, his voice dry.

"Crustal collapse, pollution overflow, abnormal fluctuations in the Source Field..."

The few of them looked at each other.

They looked at one another in dismay.

"This is..."

"Ancient Ruins?!"

No sooner had the words fallen, the next second...

A shockwave suddenly exploded from the depths of the abandoned city district!

Boom!

The wind and waves, carrying dust, rubble, broken glass shards, and a foul stench, swept along the street, pushing horizontally over.

The withered grass at the edge of the woods was all pressed down, and several exhausted students were forced back half a step on the spot, their clothes flapping loudly, their faces scraped painfully.

"Get down!"

A soldier shouted in a low voice, raising his arm to block in front.

Lu Cheng also instinctively narrowed his eyes, his palm across his forehead, his gaze fixed tightly on that abandoned city district.

Blue-purple smoke surged upward in wave after wave, and the vibrations coming from deep within the ground became more and more chaotic, even the Source Energy in the air becoming restless.

Seeking Good Fortune and Avoiding Bad Luck was constantly sounding an alarm in his mind...

It was very dangerous.

Staying here any longer would be even more dangerous.

The uncle responsible for Lu Cheng's team had a completely darkened face.

He scanned the surrounding students and turned to look at the youngest of the soldiers.

"Xiao Chen."

That young soldier immediately stood straight: "Present!"

The uncle's voice was fast, without any hesitation.

"You and Zhao Bai are responsible for leading the students to evacuate to the safe point for this training."

A sturdy soldier nearby nodded: "Understood."

Xiao Chen couldn't help but ask: "Then what about you guys?"

The uncle was already checking his weapon, looking up toward the direction of the abandoned city district, his eyes full of coldness.

"A large number of students have gathered in the South District this time.

Once the beasts go completely wild, these children on the periphery will all suffer."

"We must clear out as many things rushing out as possible, at least block the gap."

After speaking, he looked at Lu Cheng and the others again, his tone noticeably softer.

"Listen to me well, follow them, don't try to be a hero, and don't look back."

Ma Dachun opened his mouth: "Uncle, you..."

"Less nonsense."

The uncle grinned, the smile very short, carrying a forced sense of relaxation.

"I'm still waiting to go back and celebrate my daughter's birthday."

Lu Cheng's heart sank abruptly.

Damn it.

Here we go again!

The uncle didn't give them another chance to speak, simply waving his hand and rushing toward the ruins with the other soldiers, their movements shockingly fast, their figures soon swallowed by the night and the dust.

Xiao Chen took a deep breath, turned around, and shouted:

"All students, assemble immediately!"

"The injured stand in the middle, those with full combat capability stand on the perimeter, prepare to evacuate!"

The scene became chaotic at once.

The several teams that had just escaped were already shaken, and now hearing about the Ancient Ruins eruption, their faces were paler than the next.

"Where is the safe point?"

"Is it far from here?"

"Will there be another beast tide coming?"

"My locator went haywire just now!"

Zhao Bai swore directly: "Shut up, all of you! If you want to live, follow us!"

His shout was very effective, and the students immediately quieted down quite a bit.

Soon, more than thirty students were gathered back together and began to retreat toward the southern periphery.

Not long after walking out of the woods, trouble arrived.

In a broken street ahead, a few dog-like beasts covered in polluted blood suddenly darted out, followed by two larger wolf-like fierce beasts, their eyes red, black saliva dragging from their mouths.

"Look out!"

Xiao Chen rushed forward in a step, his long blade slashing horizontally, directly slicing down the one in the very front.

Zhao Bai also followed and charged up, his fist force exploding, smashing the other wolf beast and sending it rolling away.

But there were too many people for them to protect.

They had just cleared two on the left when three more jumped down from the windows of a ruined building on the right.

In the alley behind them, there was also the sound of claws scraping the ground, making one's scalp tingle.

"Ah!"

A girl was so scared she almost fell down.

Xia Xi smashed a small fierce beast that was pouncing close with her hammer and said, panting: "This won't work, there are too many monsters!"

Su Wan flicked her sword tip, the cold air sealing the throat of a Pollution Beast, but her gaze was already looking further away.

The distribution of beasts along this route was very chaotic.

In some places they clustered, while in others it was eerily empty.

Lu Cheng also noticed this.

After solving another cat-like fierce beast that pounced on him, Lu Cheng approached Xiao Chen directly.

"Which direction is your assembly point?"

Xiao Chen frowned at him while keeping guard: "Why are you asking this?"

"I can determine the path." Lu Cheng said very directly, "You just need to tell me the general direction."

Zhao Bai heard this and turned to look at him, his expression shifting.

"Your talent?"

Lu Cheng nodded: "Something like that."

Xiao Chen was still hesitating, but in the current situation, relying solely on the two of them to lead so many students to break through was indeed difficult.

Zhao Bai whispered: "I've heard of him, that Lu Cheng from No. 3 High School, Captain Ji mentioned him..."

Xiao Chen stared at Lu Cheng for two seconds and said quickly: "The safe point is at the southern temporary base, near the outer wall supply area.

Going in a straight line is the shortest, but you have to pass through two areas of ruined buildings and an underground passage in the middle."

Lu Cheng almost didn't even think about it, shaking his head directly.

"Don't go into the underground passage, and don't dive into the ruined buildings either."

"Follow me, detour to the southeast. The road is a bit longer, but the chances of survival are much higher."

Xiao Chen and Zhao Bai looked at each other.

Both had hesitation in their eyes.

The next second, another beast roar exploded ahead, and several beasts rushed out from the street corner, forcing the team into a commotion.

Zhao Bai slashed down one beast and gritted his teeth.

"Listen to him!"

Xiao Chen stopped wasting words: "Fine, Lu Cheng leads the way, everyone keep up!"

Lu Cheng turned and left, his pace fast but steady.

"Don't run around blindly, follow my turns."

"Those on the perimeter who can fight, stand out.

Don't all huddle in the middle, otherwise we'll be scattered as soon as we're charged."

As soon as these words came out, several students with decent strength nearby immediately reacted.

"I'll guard the left."

A crew-cut boy from No. 1 High School also gritted his teeth and stood out: "I'll guard the right."

A short-haired girl from Yangrong Girls High School carried her blade and walked to the back of the team: "Leave the rear to me."

Xia Xi carried her hammer and followed directly behind Lu Cheng's right: "I'll follow you."

Lu Cheng led the people on a detour.

He would stop for half a second at almost every intersection, scan with his eyes, and immediately change direction.

"This way."

"Don't enter that street, turn right."

"There's something in the building ahead, walk along the outer wall."

Even under the guidance of Lu Cheng's Seeking Good Fortune and Avoiding Bad Luck, they still encountered many monsters along the way.

The team stumbled forward.

Some people suffered minor abrasions, some had excessive consumption of internal energy, their faces pale.

But major injuries were almost non-existent.

When they finally saw the searchlights lighting up in the distance, many students' legs went soft.

"We're here!"

"That's the base ahead!"

"Quick! Get over there!"

The southern temporary base was built on a cleared open space, with alloy fences pulled around the perimeter.

Searchlights illuminated the surroundings brightly.

Machine gun positions and simple artillery were already set up.

The patrolling soldiers had tense expressions, and the air was full of the smell of gunpowder and machine oil.

A stationed soldier saw this group of theirs return and was obviously stunned.

"So many people came back together?"

Zhao Bai panted and said: "Thanks to this kid leading the way on the road, otherwise half of us would have been lost."