Greedy Giant

Cats are fast, and mutated cats are even faster.

However, Tom was right by the door, and just before it closed, he leaped into the gate.

The shelter was brightly lit, providing a sense of reassurance.

The heavy iron gate closed smoothly, accompanied by the loud thud of Ah Huang's claws pounding on the gate.

"Boom!"

Everyone was scared pale, fearing that the gate couldn't withstand the attack of the giant beast Ah Huang and would collapse, leaving everyone tonight to become Ah Huang's supper.

However, despite Ah Huang's second unwilling blow, the gate remained unmoved, and everyone cheered immediately.

They were safe; this shelter provided them with enough security.

Li Qiang and Xiao Mei joyfully helped Tom up, accidentally touching Tom's injured arm, causing him to grimace in pain.

"I'm fine, I'm fine! Quick, check on Liu Lian!"

After escaping danger, Tom's first concern was Liu Lian. Ah Huang played with him, so he didn't use much force. But Liu Lian's blow could have been fatal; it was definitely not gentle.

Zhao Yingying burst into tears, and Tom saw that the plastic armor on Liu Lian's chest was cracked, with a deep wound that stained his clothes red with blood.

"First aid, first aid!" Tom instructed Li Qiang to press firmly on Liu Lian's wound with a cloth, then hurriedly searched for any first aid supplies.

Since it was a shelter, there should be provisions for casualties, including first aid supplies.

Sure enough, he found a first aid kit on a white box near the door.

He squatted down, opened the first aid kit, which contained clean gauze, disinfectant alcohol, medical needles and threads for stitching wounds, and several bottles of topical and oral medications.

Tom closed the first aid kit, picked it up, and ran to Liu Lian.

Tom had some experience with wound treatment. After all, things were chaotic in the orphanage, and he often had to deal with wounds himself.

Fortunately, the protective gear bore most of Ah Huang's blow, so it only slashed Liu Lian's chest without injuring his organs. Tom cleaned the wound with alcohol, stitched it up, and then checked a few bottles of pills, finding some anti-inflammatory and antibacterial drugs, which he gave to Liu Lian.

Liu Lian was still unconscious, which was fortunate; otherwise, he might have passed out from the pain during the stitching.

Zhao Yingying brought some purified water and gave Liu Lian a few sips.

"First aid can only do so much; we'll have to see how he fares from here on out," Tom sighed and walked to the side of the door.

There was a large monitor by the door, showing the situation outside the gate.

There were hidden cameras outside the shelter's gate, allowing those inside to observe the surroundings.

At that moment, the orange cat Ah Huang was engaged in a fierce battle with a black rat. Watching the epic battle between the giant cat and the rat through the monitor almost felt like watching a Hollywood sci-fi blockbuster.

Ah Huang's speed was incredible as he continuously swiped at the rat with his claws. However, while a swipe from him could send Liu Lian flying, his attacks on the rat seemed to have little effect; he even swiped rapidly multiple times. Despite having numerous old wounds, the rat was unfazed by Ah Huang's strikes, charging at him head-on and engaging in a fierce struggle.

The two figures wrestled for a while before finally separating, with Ah Huang unexpectedly turning to flee.

Cats eat rats, but now, a cat was being driven away by a rat, which was truly astonishing to everyone.

Seeing Liu Lian's breathing stabilize, Tom finally breathed a sigh of relief, instructing Zhao Yingying to take good care of him before he could focus on exploring the shelter.

The entrance to the shelter was a hall, very spacious. Tom felt like the entire shelter was contained within this hall alone. The hall's height was almost the same as outside, about 30 centimeters. It was quite open, with some boxes on both sides and a large circular statue in the center.

Approaching it, Tom realized it was a giant globe.

In front of the globe was a strange platform with nothing on it but a frame.

At this moment, a middle-aged man walked over. "Don't bother studying it; I've been here for two hours, and there's nothing here. Don't know who buried it underground secretly."

"Uncle, what do you mean? Buried underground? Are you saying this shelter wasn't here before?" Tom inquired.

The man nodded, "No, this used to be our village square. Thirteen years ago, when the square was renovated, it received some funding. At that time, several places were modified, including here."

"Uncle, are you a local? I'm Tom, living nearby," Tom asked.

The man, with a kindly face and a slightly plump figure, replied calmly, "I'm Wu Zun, indeed a local. I've grown up here since childhood. Never expected such a day."

"Wu Uncle, do you know when this shelter appeared?" Tom inquired further.

"My house is across the street. The ants were bothering me so much I had to escape. Yesterday afternoon, I didn't see this thing on the window at all," Wu Zun replied.

The buildings here were all single-family homes, with the homeowners living on the top floor and the lower floors rented out, as Tom was well aware.

"What about your tenants?" Tom asked.

At the mention of this topic, Wu Zun's face grew grim. "Dead! All dead! Those outsiders never paid attention to cleanliness; there were so many rats and cockroaches. I saw many ants when I went downstairs, one of them even carrying a human leg. So, I hurried back home. When I saw this shelter today, I thought it should be safer here, so I jumped down from the building before 10 o'clock and came here."

"What about your family?" Tom could tell that the three men in the shelter weren't from the same family.

"Alas, my wife was bitten to death by rats. My son and daughter are still abroad. I hope they're safe," Wu Zun replied with a hint of anguish.

Was the shelter built in advance?

Tom became more certain of the conspiracy to shrink the entire city's population. It must be a very large organization that had been preparing for a long time. But since it was for the gemstone, what was the purpose of building the shelter?

Tom looked at the platform in front of the globe, which indeed had nothing on it except for a square in the middle, resembling the switches one would press in movies.

"I've tried pressing that square before, but nothing happened," Tom said.

He had a special idea in mind and placed his palm on it.

To his surprise, as soon as his palm touched it, the square lit up. Then, the previously bright hall suddenly dimmed, with the lights extinguishing in succession around the globe, plunging the entire hall into darkness.

"Hey, is it possible that the fuse was blown because of the cat and rat fight?" Li Qiang exclaimed loudly.

The globe began to rotate, emitting light from its surface, causing the dark hall to flicker, making it seem as if they were in a nightclub.

Seemingly excited by the scene, Li Qiang, who seemed to have frequented nightclubs, immediately exclaimed, "Where's the music? Let's relax!"

The music started playing, and the brief drumbeats immediately got Li Qiang excited, prompting him to start dancing. "Tom, come on, let's dance! We're still alive!"

However, the drumbeats quickly became denser, and the rhythm slowed down. Meanwhile, the light from the rotating globe became faster, turning the gate into a light screen.

Text appeared on the light screen, while images appeared on other walls.

The text was large enough to be clearly visible from the farthest corner of the hall.

Curiously, everyone looked at the words on the light screen.

"In six days, God created the world. On the first day... On the second day..."

The surrounding images resembled murals, depicting the content of these words.

Li Zexin recognized the text: "This is the miraculous creation of my Lord in the Bible."

Li Qiang glanced at him, "So, Mr. Li, you're a believer after all!"

Li Zexin immediately made the sign of the cross on his chest and murmured softly.

"Cut the crap! Even if we survive this, it's the will of your God," Li Qiang retorted.

"This is indeed a test from the Lord for me. Non-believers may have escaped temporarily, but soon..."

"Stop arguing!" Tom interrupted Li Qiang and Li Zexin's quarrel as the text on the light screen changed.

"The greedy giant, demanding endlessly from Mother Earth, only for its own luxury and enjoyment, thus angering the gods and invoking divine punishment."

"The giant falls, its corpulent body returning to Mother Earth."

"The giant's muscles turn into ores hidden in caves."

"The giant's blood becomes black water buried deep underground."

"The giant's brain becomes fierce winds driving all things in the world."

"The giant's heart becomes plants covering the entire world."

"In six days, Jehovah created all things and mankind. The descendants of the giant grow in six days, experiencing trials. Only by learning to use the legacy of their giant ancestors can they pass the test and return to the Eden of the gods on the seventh day."

"Descendants of the giant, if you want to survive in this malicious world, you must remain humble, live in harmony with Mother Earth, and make good use of the legacy left by the giant ancestors to redeem yourselves and evolve."

Everyone looked puzzled, knowing about Jehovah but suddenly encountering a greedy giant was baffling.

Tom felt he had grasped something, but he couldn't quite understand it.

Suddenly, Liu Lian's nonchalant voice sounded, "What greedy giant? Why doesn't he mention the attacking giants, heh heh."

Zhao Yingying happily pounced on him.

Tom squatted down, "How come you're awake? Are you okay?"

Liu Lian coughed a few times, causing his facial muscles to twitch from the pain. "Hmm... you guys are so loud; even the dead could be woken up."

"You've lost too much blood, and the wound is too long; don't talk too much."

"Help me sit up and take a look. It's hard to read lying down."

Tom helped him sit up. "Say less."

"Mm-hmm... I won't die. Ores, black water, heh heh..."

Tom watched with Liu Lian. These few sentences seemed to vaguely point to something, but he couldn't quite understand it. Why would the people who built the shelter leave such cryptic words inside? Who were they?

As the text finished, a symbol appeared in the center of the screen.

A yellow rhombus with a symbol of a fish inside, peculiarly, the fish seemed to have two legs.

A fish with two legs?

Tom's heart shook.

Wasn't this the pattern he often saw on the back of the shadow in his dreams?