The Threat of Gem Testing

Seeing the rat with red glinting eyes, Tom knew it was definitely a mutated rat. Whether it had mutated to eat humans or due to ingesting gems, that remained unknown, but he leaned towards the former.

Perhaps it was the scent emitted by the mutant orange cat that kept the mutated giant rat from entering the building; otherwise, the people who had escaped earlier would have likely become its prey.

"What's your name, kid?"

"I'm Xiao Bao. My mom calls me Xiao Bao."

Tom glanced around the room. There were many crude children's drawings on the bedroom wall, and various toy cartoon stickers filled the room. It was evidently Xiao Bao's bedroom, so where were his parents?

"Xiao Bao, where are your mom and dad?"

The boy blinked and then his eyes reddened, "Mom got eaten, eaten, dad too... waaaah," he burst into tears before finishing the sentence.

Tom quickly comforted him, "Xiao Bao, don't cry, don't cry!" He was afraid Xiao Bao would wake up the big fat cat. Even if Xiao Bao could communicate with it, there was no guarantee the cat wouldn't eat him once awake.

Having finally pacified Xiao Bao, Tom refrained from asking what had eaten his parents. Perhaps it was rats. If the orange cat could communicate with Xiao Bao, it at least had some intelligence and wouldn't have eaten Xiao Bao's parents.

Since he couldn't persuade Xiao Bao, Tom had no choice. His purpose here was to find a soldering iron for circuit modification, and now was the perfect opportunity to ask Xiao Bao where the toolbox was.

Xiao Bao was shrewd enough. He agreed to show Tom the toolbox only if Tom made him a set of Bumblebee armor. Unfortunately, Tom's current armor didn't fit Xiao Bao, or else he would have given it to him directly.

Reluctantly, Tom promised to make Xiao Bao a set of Bumblebee armor in exchange for showing him the toolbox.

Tom could have searched on his own, but being shrunken, the house seemed too vast. Unfamiliarity with the surroundings would cost him time. Moreover, children were usually whimsical. If their demands weren't met, they might even wake up the orange cat, which would be troublesome.

After taking Xiao Bao's measurements, Tom carried his backpack and went downstairs with him.

On the second floor, Liu Lian was flirting with Zhao Yingying, paying no attention to her technician status. Meanwhile, Li Qiang, looking frustrated, stood guard at the staircase leading to the second floor, wary of people coming up from below.

Seeing Tom coming down, Liu Lian felt a bit embarrassed, but Tom didn't mind. He gathered the three of them together and briefly explained the situation on the third floor.

Learning that there was a surviving child on the third floor, as well as a mutant cat, Li Qiang couldn't wait to leave the building.

Ordinary cats were already formidable predators to small animals, let alone mutants.

After hearing that the child could communicate with the orange cat and that a mutant rat was outside, Li Qiang completely lost his composure. He was torn between leaving, which was risky, and staying, which could also be dangerous.

Liu Lian and Zhao Yingying stayed on the second floor. Their task was to pick a clean corner in the warehouse on the second floor and build a shelter using available materials. If the people from the first floor did come up, they could at least use the terrain to their advantage in defense.

Tom, accompanied by Li Qiang, went downstairs to the toy section. He remembered there was a smaller Bumblebee toy there, suitable for making armor for Xiao Bao.

Compared to the bright paradise of the second and third floors, the first floor was dimly lit because the switches were out of reach for the small-sized people. However, the dim light didn't hinder Tom from seeing things.

When Cheng Fuhua approached, Tom immediately noticed.

"Manager Cheng, hello."

Cheng Fuhua nervously looked around before whispering, "Mr. An, Qiang, you must leave here quickly. Zheng Shiyi and the others have some sinister plans; they have their eyes on the gems and armor on you guys!"

Li Qiang chuckled upon hearing this, "Hey, Cheng, are you switching sides or just being a snitch? Hahaha!"

Cheng Fuhua, feeling anxious, was irritated by Li Qiang's mockery, "Qiang, instead of making jokes, you should know that Zheng Shiyi has a history of injuring people in the countryside. Given the current situation, they think the police won't care, and they're planning something nasty against you guys."

Tom looked into his eyes and asked, "Manager Cheng, logically, you have eight men while we only have three. You have the numerical advantage. Why did you come here to inform us?"

Cheng Fuhua smiled bitterly, "Zheng Shiyi is unreliable, and those so-called bosses, Li and Zhang, are even more unreliable. Your building has been burning for a whole day, and there's been no activity around it. Probably, others are too busy to care about here. With so many threats around, Zheng Shiyi and his gang even plan to send those two outsiders to find Mr. Shen from Haiwei Group for rewards. Does money matter when you're shrunk? Compared to that, I think Mr. An, you are more reliable."

Li Qiang burst into laughter, "Cheng, you've got an eye for talent! No wonder Uncle Seven often praises you for being good at selecting and managing personnel."

Cheng Fuhua continued to smile bitterly, "Qiang, you don't need to belittle me. In nicer terms, I'm the manager of the clubhouse, but in harsher terms, I'm just a lackey. I'm forced by circumstances."

Tom looked around and noticed several shadows, so he drew out his sword and waved it, "Come out, I've already seen you."

Zheng Shiyi walked out from the corner, hands spread out, eyes narrowed into slits, "Cheng, what do you mean by this? Are you playing both sides?"

Apart from Zheng Shiyi, several others stepped out, totaling four individuals who blocked both directions.

Cheng Fuhua realized that Zheng Shiyi had already exposed him. He relaxed and said, "Zheng Shiyi, you heard it. Nobody outside can help us. It's better to find a safe place to survive. Money and gems mean nothing..."

"Damn it! That guy surnamed Li dared to deceive me. I'll castrate him later. But before that, you, little lackey, and these two idiots, I'll deal with you first!"

Tom was annoyed by the situation. With mutant rats outside the house and a mutant cat upstairs, he was planning to appease the little guy upstairs first and get the soldering iron to modify the electric cars. But now, this group downstairs was causing trouble.

"There are rats outside and a cat upstairs. They could attack us at any moment. I don't have time to play your games of theft and robbery!" Tom's arm emitted a red glow as he swung his hand down, chopping off the head of a plastic dinosaur.

"Huh, just noticed it now, but now it's clear to me. It must be the ruby on your arm causing trouble. Brothers, get him! Cut off his arm! Let's see how arrogant he is then."

Seeing the hesitation in the other three security guards, Zheng Shiyi felt annoyed. Immediately, he waved his hand, and the steel nail he held rushed towards Tom.

Tom knew that mere intimidation wouldn't deter these people blinded by greed. So, when the steel nail came flying, he used his arm's strength to flick it away, three times stronger than Zheng Shiyi's, enough to flick the nail out of his hand. Then Tom closed in, grabbed Zheng Shiyi's arm, and twisted it.

"Ah!" Along with Zheng Shiyi's painful cry came the sound of bones breaking. Tom's strength was greater than Zheng Shiyi had anticipated.

The other three security guards hesitated, which irritated Zheng Shiyi even more. He immediately waved his hand and ordered them to attack.

Tom had no interest in playing mind games with them. He strengthened his arm, dragging Zheng Shiyi, who had his arm twisted, all the way to Li Zexin and Zhang Feng. The two men, who had just been cuddling the female technician, were nearly paralyzed with fear.

Tom dumped Zheng Shiyi, who was pale and sweating from the pain, in front of them and asked in front of everyone, "Zheng Shiyi, if you dare to scheme against us again, I'll break your legs too. Do you understand?"

Tom didn't expect his strength to be so great, and Zheng Shiyi deeply regretted it. He didn't expect Tom to be so direct, not giving them any chance to beat around the bush. When asked, he immediately nodded, afraid that his legs would really be broken if he delayed.

Seeing Zheng Shiyi yield, Tom didn't care whether he was genuinely scared or pretending. "Li Qiang, tell them what we've been through and what we're going to face."

So Li Qiang began recounting from the moment they encountered ants in the rental building, to the ants devouring flesh and blood, which terrified the two outsiders and the female technician. Then he spoke about killing the ants, igniting diesel, and escaping for their lives. Cheng Fuhua was panting as if he had experienced the terrifying ordeal himself.

When it came to the mutant mosquitoes sucking Chen Jianbin dry in one gulp, Tom threw the hollow spike he had been carrying in front of them with a loud clatter. Cheng Fuhua picked it up, waved it a few times, and confirmed that it wasn't man-made.

After talking about killing the little rat and saving Zhao Yingying, Tom said, "Mutant ants, cockroaches, mosquitoes are all so dangerous. Faced with mutant rats, or even cats, in our current state, it's like being at death's door. That's why I wanted to find the soldering iron, modify those four electric cars, and if necessary, drive away. But you guys, still thinking about stealing gems for money?"

Although Cheng Fuhua was mentally prepared, he was still very scared after learning about the threat of mutant creatures. "Now the entire city's people have shrunk, everyone is too busy to care about themselves. Even if you get a lot of money, what's the use? The end of the world is here. Money is just a pile of waste paper, not even as good as a piece of cloth! That's also why I want to join Tom. None of us have his strength. If we don't stick with him, what do we do when faced with rats?"

"But... what if we can use the gems ourselves?" Li Zexin was still unwilling. Hearing that gems could enhance strength, he was eager to try.

"Yeah!" Zhang Feng echoed, "Since gems can grant superpowers, Tom should share his gems with us. More people mean more strength. We can't let him be the only superhero."

Li Qiang sneered, "Huh, all seven of us tried before. Each one could use them. You think superpowers are so common just because everyone shrunk?"

"That's not necessarily true. If you can't use them, it's because you're useless. We have... excellent lineage. Maybe we can obtain even stronger superpowers!" Li Zexin said discontentedly.

"Right!" Zhang Feng chimed in again, "You should let Tom share the gems, and we can take turns trying them out. If he teaches us how to use them, it proves he's sincere for everyone's good. Then we can all listen to him. Whatever he asks us to do... as long as it's beneficial, we can do it."

"Yes!" one security guard said, "Otherwise, if he asks us to be cannon fodder and runs away himself, what do we do? If he refuses, we all fight! Death in the rat's mouth is death, death in your hands is still death!"

Li Qiang was dumbfounded. This was pure palace intrigue.