The Good and Bad Results of the Explosion

As Tom speculated whether it was Little Xuan's ability that made his armor so tough, he faintly heard Bozi's angry cursing beside him, "Damn it, is the cannon still not ready? Tom's been eaten, you bunch of idiots. Forget it, hurry up, I'll attract its attention!"

It seemed that this dog had tangled with Tom in its mouth. During the following moments, Tom didn't feel its attention diverted. It continued its repetitive steps of shaking, pressing down to bite, then picking him up to shake again. The dog's mouth secreted a large amount of saliva, drenching Tom, and his helmet was covered inside and out with sticky saliva.

"What should I do?" Tom asked himself. "Right, the Termite Type-0 Cannon!" He remembered that he hadn't fired his Termite cannon yet.

The dog's longest canines, gripping him, left enough space between its upper and lower jaws for Tom to push the cannon barrel down, aiming at the dog's tongue.

At such close range, for Tom, who was fixed in the mouth and facing the tongue, the shockwave from the cannon blast would also reach him. But now wasn't the time to worry about that. He pulled down the face mask to protect his face. With his right hand on the cannon barrel, one of the conductive needles on the armguard inserted into a socket on the cannon body, and the energy from the big red crystal was directly conducted into the Termite cannon's projectile. With his left hand, he pressed down on the lower part of the cannon barrel, and another conductive needle from the armguard plugged into a socket, resonating with the yellow gemstone at the back of the cannon.

"Puff!" A muffled blast sounded, and the dog's tongue was pierced by the 1.6mm projectile, equivalent to a cement nail nailed to its tongue. Tom's ears also buzzed, and the strong shockwave shook him violently, disorienting him.

The intense pain made the dog spit him out. He rolled and hit the wall, and his helmet, loosened by the impact, flew to the side, exposing his head.

Bozi saw him unscathed and spat out, overjoyed, then loudly asked Ma Zai, "Is the cannon ready?"

But Tom couldn't hear their response. In his world, there was only endless headache and buzzing in his ears.

Three members of the security team, sweating profusely, had just secured the Termite Type-2 cannon on the table. The uncle who could resonate with the yellow crystal answered loudly, "It's ready."

Bozi, facing the howling dog, fired another shot and then loudly ordered, "Fire!"

"Boom!" With a dull sound, a 5.4mm iron ball, propelled by repulsion, smashed into the dog's head, making it even more painful than before.

Tom stood up and watched the dog rolling on the ground, biting its teeth. Although the cannon looked powerful, it was just like being shot by a pistol bullet for the dog. As long as it didn't hit a vital spot, it would recover after struggling a few times, and then it might even provoke its greater ferocity.

But what now? Tom realized he had no weapons to cause effective harm to this big guy. Even the Termite Type-2 cannon only temporarily stunned it. His Termite Type-0 cannon had just taken advantage of its tongue.

And the ammunition was exhausted; there was nothing left to shoot. What to do?

"Wait, the ammunition? The iron ball can be used as ammunition, but what about the red crystal? The energy from the yellow crystal will repel the iron ball filled with the energy of the red crystal. But what if it encounters the red crystal?"

Tom didn't know. But there was no other way now. Watching the dog still rolling on the ground, he knew time was running out. Once the dog recovered, it would either launch a more ferocious retaliation or flee. The next time it came back would be even more terrifying.

So he activated the speed mode, dismantled the yellow crystal from the back, and held it in his hand, then dashed toward the still-rolling dog.

When Tom reached it, the big dog smelled his scent, snarling at him angrily.

Tom stopped in front of it, unfastened the crystal metal backpack on his back, opened the mouth, and continuously activated the big red crystal in one hand, while forcibly stuffing the activated yellow crystal into the opening with the other hand.

The big dog didn't understand his intention, but in anger, it opened its mouth wide to bark at him.

"Now's the time!" Tom gritted his teeth and threw the metal backpack over.

As the backpack slipped from his hand, he lost his strength, and his whole person was imprisoned in the 500-gram metal armor.

This dog had had an owner, and subconsciously, it opened its mouth to catch the thrown object. As it received it, it swallowed it.

The air suddenly quieted down. Tom waited quietly for the reaction of the crystal backpack, while the big dog seemed to be still lost in the act of being fed it had been trained to do. Memories of being fed by its owner seemed to have surfaced momentarily,

 leaving it stunned on the spot for a while.

And Bozi, having just loaded the bullet, was also puzzled by the confrontation between the man and the dog. He had been busy loading just now and hadn't seen Tom throw away his backpack, nor did he know that Tom was now immobilized. He thought Tom had successfully communicated with the big dog.

For five or six seconds, the big dog finally came to its senses, angrily opening its mouth to bite Tom.

"No effect, it's over this time," Tom thought despondently. He had exhausted all the means at his disposal, and he had no way to turn the situation around. With no helmet protection, he would surely lose his head to the dog's bite.

But just as the mouth was about to bite Tom, there was a loud "boom!" The dog's belly exploded, and a shower of flesh and blood filled the air, raining down. Meanwhile, Tom, closest to the explosion, was also thrown by the shockwave. He only felt his ears buzzing continuously, and then everything went black, and he lost consciousness.

"Boom!" The powerful explosion blew off one side of the third floor of the Haiwei Mini Industrial R&D Department's laboratory building. The entire lab was in chaos, with smoke and flames everywhere, and even two passing corridor workers were blown away.

Outside the restricted area, Liu Lian and Ouyang Haotian were just discussing their recent experiences when the explosion's shockwave rushed out into the corridor, covering them and two nearby guards with a face full of rubble and dust.

Realizing that there was an explosion in the test area, Liu Lian and Ouyang Haotian's faces changed drastically as they followed the two guards rushing inside, shouting, "Xiao Mei!"

The laboratory where the explosion occurred was strewn with debris, with several staff members lying in pools of blood, their internal organs and limbs scattered everywhere. Some people's upper bodies were directly crushed into minced meat. The two guards immediately vomited and staggered out, while only Liu Lian, who had experienced bloodshed with Tom, and Ouyang Haotian, with good psychological resilience, endured their nausea as they frantically searched for Xiao Mei's whereabouts.

Just now, Xiao Mei and another awakened individual were conducting a test with the yellow crystal in this laboratory. Now, with such a powerful explosion, both Liu Lian and Ouyang Haotian had bad feelings, but they still searched everywhere with a glimmer of hope.

Finally, Liu Lian found Xiao Mei in the corner of the wall and called out loudly for Ouyang Haotian to come over. Haotian picked up Xiao Mei and headed out, while Liu Lian rushed out anxiously, hoping to find someone to help. Due to the loud noise of the explosion, everyone in the building was frightened, and they all ran out, rushing to check the situation amid the blaring of the alarm bell.

Liu Lian was the first to rush down to the first-floor infirmary, where he called for the first aid doctor and nurse who had just rushed out. They met Ouyang Haotian carrying Xiao Mei on the stairs and immediately conducted an examination on the spot.

"Heavy head injury, weak heartbeat, there are no suitable facilities here, we must send her to the hospital for emergency treatment as soon as possible!" The first aid doctor made an on-the-spot judgment, and Ouyang Haotian picked up Xiao Mei again, quickly followed the nurse's guidance, and got into a car, heading to the nearby hospital.

As soon as they entered the hospital, they could see nervous doctors and nurses running out. It seemed that the explosion at the research building had alarmed this side, and the hospital was dispatching personnel to assist the medical staff in the building. Although they were a bit neglectful of Xiao Mei when she was brought in, as soon as they learned that Liu Lian and Ouyang Haotian, as well as the critically injured Xiao Mei, were awakened individuals, they had to take it seriously. They immediately arranged for the best personnel on-site and sent Xiao Mei to the best operating room.

Liu Lian and Ouyang Haotian anxiously waited outside the operating room, nervously awaiting news from inside.

From morning until afternoon, the two didn't see any doctors come out of the operating room. They only saw wave after wave of doctors in white coats entering, and Ouyang Haotian recognized two famous neurology experts from Senchuan City.

Haiwei Mini Industrial had made full preparations for the micro-apocalypse, gathering elite talents from all walks of life in various capacities, in addition to shelters, weapons, and materials. They occasionally invited famous experts, doctors, and scholars to their industrial city for lectures, experience exchanges, and accommodation under the guise of seminars and commendation meetings. So when the micro-disaster broke out, these fortunate elite talents who stayed in the industrial city naturally worked in the shelters.

Although various signals couldn't be transmitted after the micro-disaster occurred, wired telephones could still be used if they were short-distance, albeit barely, reverting to the point-to-point single-line communication of the telegraph era.

The news of the explosion at the research building naturally first reached the nearest hospital telephone room, then was transmitted to another nearby telephone room, and spread out level by level. So the hospital only learned of the situation first, dispatched doctors and nurses to assist in treating the injured.

It was after 6 pm when Shen Jiayi, the general manager of Haiwei Group, hurriedly arrived outside the operating room. Liu Lian and Ouyang Haotian were already physically and mentally exhausted, and seeing a cold and beautiful woman arrive, they didn't have the energy to pay attention.

"Liu Lian, right? I remember you," Shen Jiayi said expressionlessly.

Liu Lian glanced at her, feeling a bit familiar, thought for a moment, then immediately realized, and rushed up to grab Shen Jiayi, only to be directly pressed to the ground by the accompanying special security personnel.

"Let go of me! What kind of damn lab is yours? An explosion can still happen!" Liu Lian shouted angrily, leaving Ouyang Haotian bewildered as to how Liu Lian had provoked this woman. However, recognizing the people from the special security department, he didn't dare to act rashly.

Standing nearby, the assistant general manager Bai Tingting said, "Liu Lian, calm down. The research department has always been cautious, and accidents like this are unexpected. You should also understand that those miraculous crystals have various effects, and you have benefited from them yourself. Unexpected accidents can happen to anyone. Moreover, when signing the assistance agreement, this situation was also declared. You signed it, which means you agreed."

"You... You're vampires who eat people without spitting out bones!" Liu Lian cursed loudly, leaving Ouyang Haotian to realize that the ice-cold beauty in front of him was their big boss, General Manager Shen Jiayi.

"Let him go," Shen Jiayi said expressionlessly.

The two bodyguards hesitated for a moment but chose to obey the order. Although they let go of Liu Lian, they still stood by, ready to act again if Liu Lian made any out-of-line moves.

After being pressed to the cold tile floor, Liu Lian calmed down a bit. Although he was still angry, he also knew he couldn't act recklessly.

At this moment, the lights in the operating room went out, and several doctors walked out. As soon as they saw Shen Jiayi, they respectfully said, "Manager Shen."

Shen Jiayi nodded in acknowledgment. "You've worked hard. How is the patient?"

"The shockwave from the explosion caused serious injuries to the patient, with severe internal bleeding, which has been stopped. However, her brain suffered a severe blow, and we have used the best methods available. But the effect is unclear. She is still in a coma. It's possible she will wake up tomorrow, but it could also be half a year, a year... or even longer. I'm sorry, Manager Shen. We did our best."