Chapter 54: Roaring Flames + Gasoline Cans

"Quick, quick, block the door!"

"Hurry up, hurry up, those terrifying things are going to catch up in a second."

"Damn it, don't step on me, you bastard!"

"Yang Long, where is Yang Long? Come over here and use your metal powers to seal the door!"

The leading man shouted in a panic.

"Boss, I... I've consumed too much magic power. If I keep casting this, I won't have any strength left to protect myself."

Behind him, the man named Yang Long wore a miserable expression.

"Stop talking crap and get to work! Once those things rush in, you'll be dead anyway."

Hearing this, Yang Long's face turned ashen.

Ultimately, he gritted his teeth, unleashed his innate talent, extended his right hand, and pushed toward the heavy door.

Instantly.

Every piece of metal in the hotel vibrated violently, and then all of them flew toward Yang Long.

All the metal railings, along with seven or eight metal doors, flew to the entrance and fused together.

They formed a thick, solid metal barrier.

Seeing this, everyone finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"Big Brother, there are people upstairs!"

Suddenly, a woman pointed toward the location of Lin Yu and his group on the sixth floor.

Everyone looked up.

They were all Evolvers; the lowest among them were at level eight, there were over thirty level-ten Evolvers, and the leading man had even reached the first tier.

Their spiritual perception was no longer comparable to what it had been before the apocalypse.

Even in the dim light, they clearly spotted the sixth floor at a glance.

Standing there were one man, two women, and a child.

"Ignore them. Don't make a sound." The leader glanced up, withdrew his gaze, instructed the group, and said no more.

Hearing this, the others fell silent as well.

One by one, they tiptoed toward the stairs, not daring to make the slightest sound.

On the sixth floor, the four of them silently watched the scene unfold.

"It looks like they've run into something unimaginably terrifying," Liu Shiyun frowned and said.

"Shh, don't speak!" Lin Yu suddenly felt the ground tremble and hurriedly interrupted.

The others felt it too and collectively held their breath.

The vibration of the earth grew increasingly intense, sounding as though thousands of troops were galloping past.

"Squeak, squeak..."

"Chitter, chitter..."

A rumbling sound echoed, accompanied by countless squeaks and the gnashing of teeth, creating an immensely eerie atmosphere.

Downstairs, the seventy-plus people had long since stopped in their tracks, staring fixedly at the entrance, not daring to make a single sound.

Some of them tightly covered their mouths, their faces turning pale as large beads of sweat seeped out from their foreheads.

"Thud, thud..."

"Boom!"

Suddenly, a massive impact echoed.

It seemed something had accidentally crashed into the barrier door formed by the condensed metal.

Everyone's heart leaped into their throats. It felt as though they had stopped breathing and their heartbeats were about to halt entirely.

"Could it be a rat tide?"

Listening to the sounds, Lin Yu found them remarkably similar to the noises made by rats, and a realization suddenly struck him.

In his past life, a massive rat tide had broken out in Wa Town, beneath Tianhai City, consisting entirely of mutated, infected rats.

There were easily thirty to forty thousand of them, each possessing the strength of a level-eight or level-nine entity and growing as large as small dogs.

Wherever they passed, not a single living thing was left.

Whether they were zombies, humans, or other mutated beasts, all perished in their jaws.

It was said that the disaster was only quelled later when they encountered a tier-three mutated tiger that killed the rat king.

"Why would they appear here, though? And judging by this commotion, the number must be well over thirty or forty thousand."

Lin Yu felt a deep shock in his heart.

Could it be the butterfly effect?

In this lifetime, did the mutated rats fail to encounter the mutated tiger and instead march all the way to Tianhai City?

At this thought, the hair on Lin Yu's body stood on end.

Zombie-mutated rats and ordinary zombies were two entirely different concepts; their bodies grew larger and their speeds were much greater.

They attacked all living creatures outside their own kind, their teeth were incomparably sharp, and they carried toxins.

Wherever the rat king passed, other rats would heed its call and join the horde. As long as they consumed zombie flesh and blood, ordinary rats could undergo rapid mutation.

No one knew how many rats existed throughout the entire Tianhai City.

Once these mutated rats engaged in slaughtering zombies and feeding on zombie flesh and blood, to what extent would they grow?

Level ten? Or first tier?

Hundreds of thousands of level-ten zombie-mutated rats—just thinking about it made one's scalp tingle.

Once it snowballed into infinite growth, this would become a catastrophe far more terrifying than ordinary zombies.

Listening to the intermittent impacts against the door, Lin Yu's mood grew extremely heavy.

It seemed these rats were merely passing by at the moment; due to their sheer numbers, some occasionally crashed into the door rather than actively trying to break in.

In a short while, once the rat tide outside passed, they would be temporarily safe.

However.

What would happen after that?

Lin Yu fell into deep thought. He still hadn't found his younger sister, and there was no way he would just flee like this.

Yet, facing a rat tide of such staggering scale, even he had no choice but to run.

"Bang!"

At that moment, a piece of metal on the door was blasted away.

Following that, four or five more pieces were blown off, immediately revealing a small gap.

"Ah!"

A scream pierced through the lobby.

The appearance of the small gap broke a person's psychological defenses, and they cried out in terror.

"We're done for!"

In that instant, everyone's minds went blank, leaving only this single thought.

Finished, they were dead for sure!

"Damn you! What are you screaming for?" The leading man's face was painted with despair as he glared furiously at the person who had cried out.

He rushed straight toward the man and snapped his neck with a single grab to cut off his voice.

However, everything was already too late.

His scream had attracted the rat pack outside.

Immediately, a relentless series of thudding impacts rang out as the zombie rats began launching active assaults on the door.

"Let's go!"

Lin Yu exchanged a glance with Liu Shiyun, shouted aloud, and leaped straight down from the sixth floor.

The three women did not hesitate for a second and jumped down right after him.

While still airborne, Liu Shiyun waved her hands, and countless gasoline canisters flew out from her infinite space, landing ahead of time right in front of the front door.

Having experienced a great deal together with Lin Yu, the two had developed an extraordinary tacit understanding.

Moreover, she was exceptionally clever; a single glance was all it took for her to grasp Lin Yu's intentions, prompting her to drop the gasoline canisters instantly.

Right at that moment, the door finally gave way, smashed open directly by the charging zombie rats.

"Flame Roar!"

The moment he landed in the first-floor lobby, Lin Yu did not hesitate, unleashing a fierce column of fiery energy.

Boom!

Boom! Boom!

The flames struck the gasoline canisters, triggering a massive explosion. The dozen or so zombie rats that had just rushed inside were instantly blown to pieces.

Following that, raging infernos ignited, blocking the main entrance.

"So powerful!"

The terrifying strike left everyone in the lobby shaken, while simultaneously kindling a sliver of hope within them.

With plenty of gasoline, the fire burned fiercer and fiercer.

The zombie rats outside had originally been running forward in pursuit of their king's call.

The earlier collisions against the door were merely driven by the sound and an instinctive urge to rush in and feed on humans.

Now blocked by the surging flames, they instinctively sensed mortal danger.

After roaring in frustration, they abandoned the assault and sprinted forward to catch up with the main horde.

The blazing inferno now served as the sturdiest of gates, deterring the zombie rats from advancing even an inch further.

Yet Lin Yu knew that all of this was simply because the rat king had not given the order.

If the rat king commanded an attack, they would charge headfirst through a mountain of blades and a sea of fire without a shred of fear.

Liu Shiyun and the other two walked to Lin Yu's side, staring at the roaring fire as they sank into deep contemplation.