The call was suddenly cut off.
Meng Chao was so agitated that he cussed loudly.
Fortunately, three seconds later, Xiao Fanghua took the initiative to call him.
“I’m sorry, Meng Chao, the signal here isn’t good. You know that the whole city is in chaos tonight, right? Did you need me for something?”
Meng Chao grabbed the communicator tightly and said anxiously, “Big Sis Xiao, why are you at Noble Descent Hotel? Your body—”
“I’m fine. My estimated due date is next month. I can eat whatever I want and sleep whenever I want, it feels pretty good,” Xiao Fanghua said with a smile. “Today, Professor Lu Tianxing is going to come to Noble Descent Hotel to give a talk, and he’s a transmigration expert I admire greatly.
“He’s also the person in charge of Project 101. I came here to learn about the newest development of transmigration technology. Once I absorb that information, I’m going to go back to school to tell the children about it!”
“Ah…” Meng Chao gasped for breath and asked, “How’s it going on your side? Is it safe?”
“Are you talking about the monsters and zombies?” Xiao Fanghua’s tone became stern. “I heard that zombies have appeared in the southern part of the city, and there’s quite a lot of them. The entire city is on alert, and all the residential areas, offices, and hotels have been fortified. Noble Descent Hotel has also completed its fortification.
“Nothing has happened for the time being, so we’re very safe. If something happens, we will immediately head to the underground shelter. Don’t worry.”
There was no way Meng Chao could not be worried. He asked, “What about the elites? I know that today is the day for the transmigration technology conference. Many experts and investors are attending. They’ve definitely brought a lot of bodyguards with them, and there are also plenty of powerful fighters among the core members of Blue Home as well, right?”
“Well…” Xiao Fanghua hesitated for a moment. “There were originally a lot of powerful fighters over here, but they flew away just now.”
“What?!” Meng Chao cried out. “Where did they go?!”
“The southern part of the city. I heard that the situation in the south is very intense and complicated. Zombies are also creatures that you must nip at the bud during the early stages of their infestation by pouring a large amount of firepower and resources into the operation so that you can prevent an even more devastating crisis, no?” Xiao Fanghua said,
“It has been decades since Dragon City ran into a large-scale zombie horde. When everyone heard news about zombies appearing in the south, our fighters became really worked up. They hurried over to provide reinforcements. Only Old Zhao stayed back because I’m almost going to give birth. He’s worried about me, so he stayed behind.”
“So, you’re saying that the only person in Noble Descent Hotel who can be considered somewhat of a fighter is Zhao Feixuan?” Meng Chao felt troubled. “What about the specialists? Since Professor Lu Tianxing is the leader of Project 101, his cultivation realm must be high. What’s the fighting strength of their entire group?”
“Professor Lu Tianxing is a Deity Realm superhuman, but he’s not a fighting-class superhuman. Since his brain has to use up a lot of spirit energy, there’s a limit as to how much he can strengthen his limbs and body. If he ran into something dangerous, he would only have the strength of a fighting-class superhuman at Heaven Realm. But he can protect himself perfectly fine.”
Xiao Fanghua then asked curiously, “Meng Chao, you sound really anxious. What exactly is going on?”
“Listen, Big Sis Ya, you have to trust me,” Meng Chao said gravely. “There is currently concrete proof that a monster commando squad is prepared to attack Noble Descent Hotel. Their goal is all the members of Project 101!”
This time, it was Xiao Fanghua’s turn to cry out in surprise. “What?!”
“Don’t be anxious and don’t panic. Right now, go and look for Zhao Feixuan immediately and have him contact all members of Project 101 so that they can leave Noble Descent Hotel immediately.” Meng Chao paused for a moment before he said, “Have everyone scatter as they flee. The further they run, the better!”
“I… Okay, got it.” Xiao Fanghua’s voice seemed to be quivering a little, but she was not panicking too much. “I’ll head to Old Zhao right now and have him bring all the experts to the underground shelter.”
“No! You mustn’t go to the underground shelter!”
‘If the Ultimate Sandworm at the underwater tunnel was just Gao Ye’s copy, then his real body must be lurking under Noble Descent Hotel. He might be waiting for the transmigration specialists to head to the underground shelter and fall into the trap on their own!’
“If possible, have them jump out of the windows or run down the fire exit,” Meng Chao said. “The specialists should know how to fly, right?”
“Well… I think so?” Xiao Fanghua said uncertainly. “But Noble Descent Hotel has just been fully fortified. All windows are blocked by armor that is several inches thick. Only fist-sized embrasures are left. It’s impossible for them to escape through the windows.”
“…” Meng Chao sucked in a deep breath and gritted his teeth. “Then, look for the person-in-charge to get rid of the fortification. If Noble Descent Hotel is fortified to the point of becoming a turtle shell, then it’s no longer your fortress, but a cage. The enemy wants to trap all of you inside and get rid of all of you in one go!”
Right after he finished speaking, Meng Chao suddenly heard a really sharp sound from across the area.
“What happened?” He felt as if someone had just squeezed his heart.
“I don’t know. The ground just trembled violently. The lights in the building suddenly went off. I’ll go check… I think it’s a power outage.” Xiao Fanghua’s voice quivered even more.
“Damn it, the enemy is preparing to attack! Big Sis Ya, go and look for Zhao Feixuan immediately! Have him escape with the transmigration experts!” Meng Chao thought about things and added, “Also, pay attention to your safety! You’re really important to Zhao Feixuan!”
“I-I kno—”
The call was cut off again.
This time, no matter how many times Meng Chao tried to call her, he could only hear the beeps signalling a busy signal.
Meng Chao stopped.
He mobilized all the muscles, bones, and cells in his body to bring out the strongest power to swiftly rush past the buildings.
He and Lu Siya moved like bolts of lightning as they cut through all of Dragon City in a diagonal line.
Then, at the fastest speed possible, they reached Starlake Region—the northwestern part of Dragon City.
Even if Meng Chao was refined by Red Radiance Jades and Blue Origin Crystals and had a body at the peak of Earth Realm, he was still over his endurance limit. His thighs and calves twitched nonstop, and he staggered. He fell on the rooftop of a forty-story skyscraper.
Since the inertia was too great, he tumbled until he reached the edge of the rooftop and nearly fell off the edge.
He nearly fell from more than one hundred meters high.
Fortunately, Lu Siya reacted quickly and grabbed his ankle from behind him. She yanked him back.
Meng Chao’s limbs were splayed around him, and he was spread-eagle on the floor.
He felt as if someone had stuffed two bombs into his lungs or like his lungs were filled with highly corrosive acid. Every time he breathed in, he felt a sharp pain.
He gasped for breath and climbed to his feet with great difficulty. Then, his gut churned, and he could not help but vomit a huge load of gastric with a groan.
“You’re spent,” Lu Siya frowned. “Just now, you fought fiercely against the Ultimate Sandworm in the underwater tunnel and nearly died with it, but you only laid in the medical cabin for half an hour. You haven’t recovered fully just yet, and you’re already running at the speed of a maglev train. You’re draining your spirit energy and life.
“If you don’t meditate and regulate your breathing, even if you manage to reach Noble Descent Hotel, it’ll be impossible for you to stop any monster.”
“I… I… I…” Meng Chao gasped for breath. Even after saying three “I”s, he still could not form half a sentence.
He clenched his teeth and injected a battlefield stimulant into his arm, then drank two tubes of high-calorie nutritional fluid. He punched his legs viciously after that and was finally able to recover some semblance of mobility and ability to speak.
He stood up while swaying and prepared to continue forward.
The recon high-speed 3D mobile gear he wore let out sizzling sounds—the sign of metal fatigue. Then, it went completely dead.
Meng Chao reached out to touch it, only to find out that the joints of the 3D mobile gear were burning hot.
The abrasions on dozens of sophisticated gears and transmission mechanisms were horrible.
If he did not switch out those parts, he would not be able to use them at all.
Lu Siya also removed her 3D mobile gear and tossed it to the side like some shattered metallic skeleton.
After traveling so fast and for so long, her 3D mobile gear was also unable to bear the strain and broke down.
The building under them was the one of the tallest skyscrapers in the area.
When they looked down, they could see all around them. Even if Noble Descent Hotel was shrouded in darkness, they could still see it.
Despite all buildings looking almost the same after they were wrapped up in thick armor once they completed the fortification process, there would always be sparks of light from the embrasures in the other buildings.
Only one nine-story building was completely dark.
In the current era, there was no longer any need for the citizens to travel long-distances and go to different cities. Hotels were really just restaurants. There were few rooms, and most of them were used for eating and drinking, business affairs, clubs, and as cultivation areas. That’s why most such buildings were not too tall.
Meng Chao saw Noble Descent Hotel’s signboard right away and breathed a sigh in relief. “Thank goodness. Looks like we made it in time—”
Boom! BOOM! BOOOOOOOOOOOM!
Before he could finish, a series of deafening explosions suddenly came from under dozens of buildings around Noble Descent Hotel. Then, a large amount of smoke and dust shot into the air like from a volcano eruption.
In the midst of the smoke, the ground split up and flames gushed into the sky. More than ten buildings swayed. The intersecting cracks on them were like demon claws, and they continued stretching up the walls of the buildings.
The windows of the buildings further away all shattered.
Even Meng Chao and Lu Siya had to face the force of the dust charging at them despite being approximately five hundred meters away.
“Damn,” Meng Chao said gloomily.
He could now understand why Gao Ye’s clone had shown up half a month before the plan.
This powerful explosion before them was not something that could be done with Gao Ye’s power alone, not even if he was a Supernatural Entity.
He had to have dug several tunnels under the foundations of the buildings around Noble Descent Hotel and secretly transported a large number of incendiary and explosive high-energy crystals like Red Radiance Jades, where he turned them into crystal bombs.
This plan required a lot of preparation, and it would have been very easy for the abnormal beast research department to discover it.
So, Gao Ye and the abnormal beasts behind him intentionally let out a clone to alert them. With three unsuccessful attacks, it attracted the full attention of the abnormal beast research department.
When Ye Xiaoxing led all the elite investigators of Group 9 after Gao Ye’s clone day and night in the southern part of the city, Gao Ye could calmly set up a fatal trap under the northwestern part of the city.