Once Luca confirmed that Renamon had merely fainted from shock, he handed her over to her assistant.
“You all wait here, I’ll go call for help,” he said, turning to the others.
There were too many people inside the stadium. Trying to safely evacuate them all by himself was out of the question. There were simply too many monsters outside, so Luca planned to return and call for reinforcements, asking Drumph to send people to take them back.
“Thank you so much, we really appreciate it!” A group of concertgoers who had been trapped there for so long now showed faces full of relief. After being stuck there in constant fear, they finally saw hope of escaping.
Luca waved his hand dismissively and didn’t pay much attention, stepping toward the exit. Donald and Darabont stayed behind to ensure nothing went wrong.
The monsters inside the stadium had all fled, and for now, the area was relatively safe. Luca wasn’t too worried and let the others go.
Soon, he arrived at the junction between the city center and the suburbs.
“What?! You cleared out the monsters in the stadium?” Coarmy asked, his mouth hanging open. Hadn’t Luca been out for just under two hours?
“It was nothing, there weren’t many monsters in the stadium,” Luca replied honestly.
Drumph, however, didn’t share the same optimism. “What about the monsters around the area?” he asked.
Luca thought back to the monsters he encountered on his way back. “About a few hundred thousand, not many.”
Compared to the millions or even tens of millions of monster hordes from his previous life, this number wasn’t that big.
But upon hearing the number, Drumph couldn’t help but flinch.
From Luca’s casual tone, Drumph had expected him to be talking about just a few monsters, not hundreds of thousands.
“Luca’s amazing!” Donlow remarked, her face showing admiration. Simply making it to the city center was something she could never have done.
Hairry, too, looked at Luca with even brighter eyes, filled with admiration. She had already decided that when she got home, she would replace the idol poster on her bedside table with one of Luca.
“What’s the big deal?” Fuzzsir scoffed, tilting his chin up. “If it were me, not a single one of them would have survived.”
The others chose to ignore Fuzzsir’s arrogant remark.
“Getting them all out won’t be so easy,” Drumph said after a moment of thought. “With our current military strength and firepower, we could only clear out a few tens of thousands of monsters at most.”
The monsters weren’t ordinary wild beasts—regular firearms couldn’t do much damage to them, so even if they outnumbered the monsters by several times, it would still be hard to guarantee a successful sweep of the hundred thousand.
Furthermore, they had only brought a force of just over 30,000, so rescuing the people seemed nearly impossible.
Coarmy also looked worried. “Drumph is right. We lost several thousand troops just getting into Celephais. And the number of monsters in the city is several times higher than outside. I think we need to reconsider the rescue plan carefully.”
Luca, however, wasn’t too concerned. “Don’t worry. I’ve found a safe route for you. You’ll only run into one or two thousand monsters at most. It’ll be easy to get everyone out of the stadium.”
Coarmy’s eyes immediately lit up. “Is that true? What safe route are you talking about?”
Drumph didn’t seem pleased, his expression turning wary. “You didn’t come up with some crazy idea, did you?”
If there was a safe route, they should have known about it already. Whatever Luca was talking about seemed highly dubious.
Luca shrugged. “If you don’t believe me, that’s fine. I’ve already saved the people, and I’ve told you the method. If those people end up dead in the stadium, it’s your responsibility.”
Drumph’s face darkened immediately. This little brat had no shame—he was already laying the blame at Drumph’s feet before they even started.
“Fine, we’ll go with your plan,” Drumph said, after a moment’s hesitation. There were simply too many people in the stadium, and even with some risk, he felt they had to try something.
Luca smiled at this response, waving his hand. “Get your people together and follow me.”
With that, he led the way, heading down a narrow alley.
Coarmy, Drumph, and the others exchanged glances. They didn’t know what Luca was planning, but they followed along regardless.
Before long, they reached what Luca claimed was the entrance to the “safe passage.”
“This is your ‘safe passage’?” Coarmy’s voice shot up several octaves as he stared at the sewer entrance in front of him, disbelief written all over his face.
At that moment, he was truly stunned.
What kind of mind would come up with such an unreliable idea?
Drumph didn’t speak, but his eyes narrowed as he glared at Luca. He had the sinking feeling that this guy was just messing with him.
Forget whether this tunnel could fit so many people—if they encountered monsters inside, they wouldn’t be able to handle them.
As Luca slowly opened the entrance to the sewer, he explained to the group, “This sewer used to be an air raid shelter and safe house built during the war. It’s quite large inside. It was abandoned later on and turned into a sewer, but even if there are monsters, there shouldn’t be many. Just follow me.”
After saying that, he jumped down into the sewer without hesitation, his smooth and confident movements making the others a bit puzzled.
Coarmy suddenly seemed to recall something. “I remember my former superior mentioning that Celephais was once a major military stronghold of the Northern Territory during the war. Later, to avoid disturbing the civilian population, they moved the military base to the mountains.”
“How does he know this used to be an air raid shelter?” Drumph asked, surprised. Even he hadn’t known this detail. Where did this kid learn it?
Coarmy shook his head. “Who knows? This kid has too many oddities about him.”
At that moment, they heard Luca’s voice calling from below. “How long are you planning to stay up there? If you take any longer, all the people in the stadium are going to be dead.”
Drumph sighed. “Alright, fine. Let’s take a leap of faith and trust him this time. If the kid dares lie about something like this, I’ll make sure to deal with him later.”
Though he said that, Drumph secretly hoped that Luca’s words were true. If this passage was indeed usable, evacuating the people from Celephais would be much easier.
Following orders, all the soldiers began to enter the sewer in an orderly fashion.
Although the stench inside the sewer was overwhelming, and the ground was covered with waste, the soldiers who had been sent here were some of the Northern Territory’s elite. This kind of harsh environment was still bearable for them.
“Stay close and try not to shoot,” Luca, who had been waiting below, said as he saw the group arrive. He led the way into the darkness without hesitation.
Drumph and the others quickly followed suit. At first, they didn’t notice anything unusual, but as they went further, it became evident that the tunnel was gradually getting larger.
Eventually, the passage widened to the point where it could easily accommodate several trucks side by side, and there were distinct tire marks on the platforms along both sides.
“Was this really an air raid shelter?!” Many of them were stunned. They hadn’t expected Luca’s story to be true. The more observant ones even noticed something peculiar—while the tunnel was completely dark, Luca seemed to know the way perfectly, anticipating every turn as if he had the entire path memorized. It was impressive, and the others couldn’t help but murmur in awe.
“I used to play here as a kid, so I’m pretty familiar with it,” Luca said casually, dispatching a wandering monster with ease. This place was actually the final refuge of Celephais in his past life.
After Celephais fell in Luca’s past life, the surface was overrun with monsters. This place became the last stronghold, and all the surviving humans stayed here for months.
Luca had been one of those survivors, so he was naturally quite familiar with the area.
The group had been walking through the sewer for an unknown amount of time. Occasionally, they could hear the roars and screams of monsters above, and sometimes monsters like swarms of rats would appear in the tunnel.
However, these were low-level monsters, and with Luca leading the way, the group encountered no real danger. Before long, they reached their destination.
“Bang!” A sewer grate flew off in the plaza in front of the stadium, and Luca leaped out from the hole.
He looked around, and seeing only a few monsters, he waved his hand to the others below. “It’s safe, you can come up.”
Drumph, covered in filth, climbed out of the sewer next, followed by Coarmy, Donlow, and the rest of the group, with the fully armed soldiers being the last to emerge.
“I didn’t expect we’d make it to the city center of Celephais so easily.” Coarmy stared at the central plaza ahead, his eyes unfocused, as if he were in a daze. It felt almost like a dream. Originally, their plan had been to take at least three days to reach the city center, and the casualties would have been unpredictable. But under Luca’s guidance, they had effortlessly arrived at their destination.
“Celephais is saved now. Luca, I must thank you on behalf of the entire city,” Drumph said, his voice a little shaky with emotion. Even his weathered face flushed with excitement. He knew exactly what this secret passage meant.
With this tunnel, not only could they rescue everyone trapped in the stadium, but it also meant they could evacuate the entire city of Celephais with minimal casualties. This was something Drumph had never even dared to dream about before.