"Don't go up there—this guy has been taken over by the Chilami. Punching won't do any good. If you get bitten and the mutant cells are injected, you're done for."
Su Ming warned Chen Tong.
"You two stop arguing—that guy seems to have targeted us."
Mink said in a panic to Su Ming and Chen Tong.
Su Ming and Chen Tong immediately looked warily at the parasite-infected Zhou Kang, who was staring intensely at them with dark red eyes. Then, his mouth split open, and black blood started oozing out drop by drop.
Right then, Zhou Kang charged at Su Ming and the others.
Just at that moment, a rough voice came from behind.
"Move aside!"
Su Ming and his group instinctively scattered.
They then saw a burly dorm supervisor, wielding a kitchen knife, charging toward Zhou Kang.
"Don't go, Auntie Li!"
Su Ming immediately warned her.
Auntie Li didn't listen to Su Ming, and with a single vigorous chop, she landed the knife in Zhou Kang's head—half the blade sank in, something that would have been fatal to a normal person.
Unfortunately, Zhou Kang didn't fall. Instead, he seized Auntie Li by the neck.
"Ugh—help, help!"
Auntie Li's face turned crimson.
Seeing this, Su Ming and the others were about to risk rushing to her aid.
At that moment, Zhou Kang opened his mouth and aligned it with Auntie Li's. Then, a disgusting mass of black cellular material surged out of Zhou Kang's mouth and entered Auntie Li's.
Seeing this, Su Ming and the others immediately halted.
The struggling Auntie Li suddenly stopped struggling. Her eyes turned dark red and her skin turned black and swollen.
The student who had been bitten on the ground also shakily stood up.
The three infected individuals, including Zhou Kang, then turned their gazes toward Su Ming and his group, who instinctively backed away.
At this time, screams were continuously heard inside the dormitory building, and the external area was in chaos. Soon, a piercing alarm resounded throughout the Thirteenth District.
"Su Ming, I remember these things are afraid of fire. Does any of you have a lighter?"
Mink asked nervously.
"A lighter is useless. We need to figure out how to get a flamethrower. Now's not the time to talk about this. Hurry and run!"
Su Ming remembered that the school had fire sprayers ready because Chilami invasions weren't uncommon. So he promptly pulled Mink and Chen Tong and ran backward.
The parasite-hosted Zhou Kang and his companions frantically pursued them.
Su Ming glanced back, summoning every ounce of strength, his body bursting with unprecedented potential, and he ran for his life.
....
Thirteenth District·Administrative Office Building.
In a tidy and spacious office, a middle-aged man in a white shirt, black suit, and a red tie, with a resolute face and sharp eyes, sat at his desk approving complex documents.
Several administrative officials stood respectfully in front of him, quietly waiting.
Just then, he heard the alarm from outside and immediately stopped writing.
Thud-thud—
Accompanied by hurried footsteps, the slightly open door was pushed open. A burly man, muscles bulging in a black combat suit, hurried in.
"District Chief Xiao, something has happened!"
"Speak, Ye Wei."
"Thirteenth District has experienced an invasion of Chilami Larvae."
Ye Wei reported, panting.
"Larvae only. Just handle it according to the emergency procedures. Is there really a need to rush here in such a panic?"
Xiao Lie looked at Ye Wei calmly.
Ye Wei hesitated for a moment after hearing Xiao Lie's words, but eventually, he clenched his teeth and reported,
"Although it's just the larvae this time, their numbers are enormous."
"What are you doing? How come such a large number of Chilami has invaded, and you're only finding out now?"
Xiao Lie listened to Ye Wei's words, his calm face showing a trace of anger.
"The source of this outbreak came from the Yuanda Garbage Processing Plant in the Lower City District, where the piles of garbage had turned into mountains, providing cover for the Chilami."
Ye Wei immediately explained.
"What the hell is going on with the garbage plant, not noticing anything unusual and failing to report immediately, this is a severe dereliction!"
Many officials inside the office angrily accused.
In reality, due to fear of Mechanical Clan infiltration, the Thirteenth District had not installed many surveillance devices, thus there were many blind spots.
Moreover, since they could not rely on intelligent machinery, patrolling and guarding had to be manned.
Since it was manned, there inevitably were oversights, which usually were patched up, but this time, the oversight was exceptionally large.
"Enough, now is not the time to assign blame, first muster the forces to resolve this incident, and talk about the rest later."
Xiao Lie coldly interrupted everyone's accusations.
"Yes...."
Everyone hastily responded.
....
Mint Middle School.
Su Ming and his two friends gaspingly rushed out of the dormitory building in disarray.
"We finally got out, we're saved!"
Mink gasped.
"That's not necessarily true."
Su Ming sighed heavily.
Mink paused, then looked around, only to find that everything outside was in chaos.
Everywhere, there were people infected by Chilami parasites, frantically chasing uninfected students.
"Help!"
...
"Don't be afraid!"
At this moment, a security guard came rushing in with a portable flamethrower, spraying fire at the infected individuals.
"Ah~"
The infected individuals were instantly engulfed in blazing flames, emitting painful screams.
But the number of infected individuals was just too many, and the limited number of security personnel simply couldn't control the situation.
From the sky above, one could see infected rats emerging from various drains and blind spots around the campus.
Their crimson eyes fixed on the students scrambling everywhere and the security guards holding flamethrowers, quickly darting toward them.
Qian Feng, the head of security, noticed the attacking rats first and immediately swung his flamethrower at the incoming swarm.
"Everyone watch out for the infected rats!"
The many security guards, startled, lifted their flamethrowers and turned to spray fire at the rats attacking from all sides.
Zilah~
The searing flames swept over the rats, engulfing them and emitting a foul stench.
But the sheer quantity of the attacking rats was overwhelming, and these parasitic rats, concealed by nightfall, were hardly noticeable and moved even faster than the humanoid parasites.
Suddenly, one of the guards was caught off guard by a rat that leaped onto him, and he screamed in horror.
"Help!"
"Old Sun, shake it off!"
Qian Feng turned his head and immediately shouted.
Sadly, it was too late. The rat opened its mouth and bit into Old Sun's arm, with black cells oozing from its mouth and entering his body through the wound.
"Ah~"
Old Sun immediately emitted a pain-filled scream.
"Damn it!"
Seeing this, Qian Feng could only harden his heart and raise his flamethrower, aiming it at his former companion.