The Sea-Watching Mode of Old Store Street

Upon hearing Tom's name, Huangmao was surprised and exclaimed, "What? Tom? You mean that little rascal Tom? No way!"

Liu Lian carefully scrutinized Huangmao's expression and speculated, "Do you know Tom?"

"He's tall, thin, looks malnourished, and has a penchant for handicrafts. He's a tough guy with a kind heart. I hope the Tom you know isn't the one I'm talking about. But with a unique name like that, I doubt there's another one," Huangmao explained.

Pointing at Huangmao, Liu Lian exclaimed, "Brother Hao... Ouyang Haotian... Oh my... You're the good friend of An Ge mentioned by Tom, Ouyang Haotian?"

Everyone stared at Ouyang Haotian as if he were an alien, leaving him bewildered. "You... all heard about... me... from that guy?"

All nodded in unison.

Slapping his forehead, Ouyang Haotian muttered, "That jerk! Why didn't those ants just bite him to death while he was asleep?"

"What are you saying?" Little Mei, Tom's number one fan, expressed her indignation at his cursing behavior. "I won't allow you to curse An Ge!"

"Still calling him An Ge... It feels so awkward. Rest assured, that jerk Tom is tough as nails. Everyone on Flight 0036 died in the crash, but he won't. But... you were all saved by him?" Ouyang Haotian inquired.

Everyone nodded, including Li Zexin, albeit reluctantly admitting it.

"It's really a different world now. Even the stubborn rock An is capable of taking care of people. Before, he used to stutter when talking to strangers, but not anymore. I heard from Little Mei that he's now the leader of your team. Damn, animals have mutated, and now even An has mutated. When did he acquire leadership skills? Hey!" Ouyang Haotian exclaimed dramatically.

Observing Ouyang Haotian's flamboyant demeanor, Liu Lian was astonished. These two had completely different styles. How did they become good friends?

"Are you sure An Ge is okay?" asked Liu Lian.

"Don't worry. Even a tiger couldn't kill that stubborn rock. Oh, it's getting dark. The long-awaited heavy rain is probably coming. If that guy is still lounging around in some corner, he'll be woken up by the rain. Anyway, you guys can't do anything right now. Why not tell me the story of how An led you out of the siege?" Ouyang Haotian suggested.

Looking out the window at the dark clouds looming over the city, Little Mei murmured, "It's raining heavily now. What about An Ge?"

Once the dark clouds settled over the city of Senchuan, the heavy rain would pour down in an instant.

The whole world would be dim, and raindrops would fall swiftly. Large raindrops splattered upon the ground, leaving large watermarks wherever they landed. Soon, the raindrops became denser, and the area was filled with the cacophony of rain falling like frying beans. Water splashed up from the ground in dense sprays.

"Ouch!"

Tom struggled to lift his head, awoken by a heavy object hitting him on the head. His hand came away wet, and he felt a sharp pain spreading throughout his body.

He sat up, feeling intense pain in his chest and right leg. He tried to stand but stumbled and fell into the rain.

In front of him lay the wreckage of a large aircraft.

"Precursor...," he recognized the aircraft. He vaguely remembered the last moment before losing consciousness, when the aircraft spun and crashed into a wall, with the pilot yelling, "We're crashing!" before he blacked out.

Tom struggled to his feet, feeling the intense pain in his chest and right leg. He was unable to do much more than simple movements, but fortunately, the injuries did not hinder him too much. He assessed the aircraft's interior, first finding Uncle Wu Zun's body.

Uncle Wu Zun's abdomen had been torn open by something, but his face showed a peaceful expression.

"Uncle is at peace now. He can meet his wife in the afterlife," Tom sighed, closing Uncle Wu Zun's eyes.

The two pilots were in the cockpit, their seat belts preventing them from being thrown out during the crash, but also rendering them immobile as corpses.

Tom noticed another black body on the other side of the cabin. Limping over to it, he saw that the head was missing, leaving only a headless body.

"Don't know if it's Number 3 or Number 4, or maybe Number 2... sigh..."

Tom checked the body and found the handgun still in its holster, but without bullets. The heavy machine gun in the cabin had been bent and rendered useless by the crash.

Returning to the cabin with the handgun, Tom searched around and found his backpack intact, with some crystals and gems inside. The smaller ones were probably thrown out during the crash.

As for the large red crystals taken from the bodies of the two mutated rats, they had been tied with thin ropes beforehand and placed in the cabin by Li Qiang when they boarded the aircraft. Now, they were still there.

Tom searched the plane but found nothing left inside. Most of the smaller items had been thrown out during the crash.

"What time is it now? How long have I been unconscious?" Tom, unable to understand the time or the location of the crash, suddenly remembered the watch on his left hand. He quickly pressed the screen, which displayed "April 15, 09:36."

There was also a line of text below: "The concealed protection program for the awakening stage has been activated. Protection countdown: 01:12:"

"We boarded the plane at around three in the morning on April 14th, and then Ah Huang attacked the aircraft, and we crashed... It seems like I've been unconscious for more than a day. I wonder how Li Qiang is doing." Thinking of Li Qiang, who was thrown out of the cabin first, Tom felt a sense of loss. He had watched Li Qiang being thrown out of sight but had been unable to do anything to save him.

The concealed protection program may have helped him remain undetected by ants, mosquitoes, and other creatures, so during his more than one day of unconsciousness, not only him but also the other bodies nearby had not attracted any other creatures.

Looking at the increasingly heavy rain and the growing amount of water on the ground Tom realized he had to move quickly. If the floodwaters rose too high, he wouldn't be able to escape.

Luckily, the red crystal tied to his right hand's ring protector was still there. Tom stuffed the empty handgun into his backpack, slung it over his shoulder, and activated four times his normal strength. He held one large red crystal in each hand and limped into the rain.

The area where the Precursor had crashed seemed to be a long wall extending beyond Tom's sight, likely the outer wall of a special residential area in the city. Last night, Uncle Wu Zun had mentioned it was a rental community built by local residents who had united for rehousing, specifically for middle and lower-income workers who came to Senchuan for work. To emphasize "safety," the area was surrounded by high walls.

This particular wall belonged to a remote area near Uncle Wu Zun's home. However, due to the high walls, it separated a large area, making it necessary to take a long route back to the square refuge in the city center.

Tom squinted at the large white "demolition" character on the dilapidated wall of an adjacent old building, confirming his guess. He was indeed on Old Store Street.

This presented a serious problem. The street's infrastructure was very old, relying mainly on natural drainage. During heavy rains, it would enter a "sea-watching mode," with the only hope being that the water would flow to the end of the street, accumulate enough, overflow the embankment, and flow into the river below.

Tom looked at the two large crystals in his hands and then gritted his teeth, wading into the street. The road was even lower than where he had stood before. Going down, the water reached his belly button, making it even more perilous than before. But Tom couldn't wait for death; he had to fight, fight until he collapsed from exhaustion or escaped from this place.

Across the street was an alley leading to a large area of old buildings, where many tenants lived. It was indeed a very old rental building. However, there were stairs there, open stairs. Tom could climb them directly to avoid the floodwaters and avoid drowning. He vaguely remembered there was an old Chinese medicine hall there, in one of the rented rooms on a certain floor. Perhaps there would be an old Chinese doctor who could save his life.

So Tom had to fight desperately. Wading through water up to his waist, he struggled to cross the street and reached the other side. Looking at his watch, it was now "10:56," and he had been walking for over an hour.