Outside the underground parking garage,
a five-man special operations squad advanced rapidly, maintaining a standard combat formation.
Every one of them was dressed identically.
They carried automatic rifles fitted with suppressors,
wore multifunctional tactical helmets,
were clad in army-green special operations uniforms and protective vests,
and had utility pouches, magazine packs, military daggers, and other equipment fully equipped at their waists.
When they reached the entrance of the underground parking garage, which was piled high with clutter, the squad leader raised his hand and clenched his fist in a signal. The four members behind him immediately spread out.
Some half-crouched with rifles raised, guarding the rear.
Some fanned out to both sides, securing the left and right.
Others leaned against a corner, rifles lifted, eyes locked on the iron-sheet-covered entrance.
Their seamless coordination and swift movements highlighted their extremely professional combat quality.
The squad leader crouched in place, lowered his gaze slightly, as if receiving information through his communicator.
After a moment,
he glanced upward and made an OK gesture.
Then he stood up and spoke, "According to the aerial drone operator's reconnaissance, no monsters were found in the surrounding area. It's temporarily safe. Stand down from alert."
As his words fell,
the four members immediately lowered their weapons and gathered around.
"Based on the drone's 24-hour surveillance, the target has not come out since entering."
"So the target is definitely still inside."
"Status unknown. The impact he suffered may have made him choose suicide, or he may still be alive."
"If it's the latter, we proceed according to plan."
"The target has no hot weapons, only crude, homemade cold weapons. The probability of resistance is very low and can be ignored."
"But in case the target resists with weapons…"
At this point, the squad leader paused, his eyes beneath the tactical helmet sweeping over the four members as he reminded them:
"Remember! Do not shoot to injure, and absolutely do not kill."
"He must be captured completely intact,"
"and then I will personally carry out the execution."
"This is a strict order from above and the rule of this mission. There must be no mistakes!"
After sternly emphasizing a few points,
the squad leader finally lowered the night-vision goggles on his tactical helmet, stepped forward first, lifted the iron sheet blocking the entrance, and cautiously entered with his rifle raised.
The four members followed closely behind.
Inside, it was pitch-black,
but with the aid of night vision, everything was clearly visible.
Beyond the entrance was a downward-sloping ramp.
At the bottom of the ramp lay a vast, empty open space.
Farther away stood rows of load-bearing pillars of the underground parking garage, as well as long-abandoned cars parked in their spaces.
After scanning the area through night vision, the squad leader led the team into a straight-line tactical formation, sticking close to the wall as they descended the ramp and carefully advanced forward.
Dozens of meters away,
inside a car positioned at a corner,
Chu Fan sat in the driver's seat, coldly watching the five-man special operations squad through the car window.
His gaze followed their movements.
In his heart, he silently counted down.
Three,
two,
one!
"Whoosh!!"
"Chiji—chiji—chiji!!!"
Along with the howling emergence of a chitinous figure from behind a load-bearing pillar, it lunged straight at the leading soldier.
A burst of dense, shrill screeches erupted instantly.
Beside one pillar after another,
between one abandoned car and the next,
from front and back,
left and right,
from all directions,
swift dark-red figures surged out, leaping up one after another and viciously pouncing through the air.
"Bang bang bang!!"
"Bang bang bang—bang bang!!"
In an instant,
panicked gunfire exploded forth,
tongues of flame blooming violently in the pitch-black environment.
But outnumbered, surrounded on all sides, caught completely off guard, and facing ferocious, fearless crawlers, the outcome was obvious.
Once trapped in the jar, stepping into a dead end, no matter how elite the soldiers were, they could not turn the tide.
Almost in the very next moment—
"Ah!!"
"Ahhhh!!!"
Piercing screams rang out immediately.
But they didn't last long. Including the gunfire, everything soon gradually fell silent.
The automatic rifles, as weapons, were the jumpers' primary targets. Under their sharp scythe-like forelimbs, the rifles were chopped into several pieces.
Not long after,
a Walker, its entire body resembling heavy armor, approached while carrying a person.
"Sorry, Dominator. We only left one survivor. The other four humans were all pierced through their vital points by the jumpers' combat forelimbs."
"One is enough. What about the losses?" Chu Fan asked.
"Several jumpers were shot through during the chaos, but their tenacious vitality kept them from dying. They just need to stay on the creep for a while to recover automatically."
"Mm."
Chu Fan opened the car door and looked at the figure placed on the ground by the Walker.
Pa.
At that moment,
a soft sound was heard.
The severely wounded figure lying on the ground struggled and turned on the searchlight attached to his damaged tactical helmet.
Under the beam of light, his terrified eyes and panicked face were clearly illuminated.
His skin was dark-toned,
with very distinct Western facial features.
But Chu Fan felt no surprise upon seeing him.
In this world, there were no national distinctions.
Or rather, all nations had been unified into a single federal government.
This doomsday city was merely one of countless cities of the Federation, its residents including both Eastern faces and Western ones.
On the ground before him,
the Western-looking soldier first cast a terrified glance at the heavily armored "human" standing beside him.
Then he fearfully looked around at the hideous, armored insects gathering all around.
Finally, he fixed his gaze on Chu Fan sitting in the driver's seat, trembling in panic and disbelief as he stammered, "You… you…"
Shaking for a long time, he couldn't force out a single complete sentence.
Everything before him had completely short-circuited his brain, far beyond his understanding.
According to earlier reconnaissance, there were clearly no monsters in this underground parking garage—it was only the target's hiding place. So why had so many crawlers suddenly appeared?
And they even seemed to obey the commands of the target in front of him?
How was this possible?!
Ahead,
Chu Fan looked down at the panicked figure on the ground.
He simply sat there in the car, staring at him coldly, not rushing to ask anything.
Only when the other party gradually recovered his composure and completely calmed down did Chu Fan finally speak, "Name?"
"J-John… the captain of this special operations squad."
"You're here to kill me?"
Chu Fan narrowed his eyes slightly. "Why?"
There was more curiosity and confusion in his tone than anything else.
Why hadn't they simply shot him dead back when they killed his sister?
Why go through the trouble of sending a team afterward?
Wasn't that redundant?
"…"
John hesitated.
Then he raised his eyes and looked at Chu Fan with an extremely complicated expression.
There was pity and sorrow in his gaze, and even a trace of compassion and reluctance.
Seeing this,
Chu Fan couldn't help but frown. "Do you think my sister and I were infected by some kind of virus in the doomsday city? Is that why you shot her and forced me to retreat back inside?"
This was the only reasonable explanation he could think of.
But if that were the case, why send people at all?
Wouldn't it be better to just seal the crack in the north wall and let him fend for himself inside the city?
"You…"
John's lips moved.
He was about to say something, but suddenly stopped.
After a long while, he finally lifted his head, cracked his mouth open, and looked at Chu Fan with a mocking expression:
"You're right. The doomsday city has been invaded and occupied by monsters. There are too many lifeforms here that we don't understand. We originally thought everyone in the city was dead, but we never expected there were still survivors—survivors who lived for a full three years. After staying here for so long, no one knows whether you might be carrying some unknown biological virus. So for the safety of humanity outside, you absolutely cannot be allowed to leave the doomsday city… No! According to the latest research decision, in order to prevent you from escaping again, the company plans to eliminate you. Although this operation failed, the company will definitely continue to send people until you are completely wiped out!"
"Is that so?"
Chu Fan looked at John's face, filled with mockery.
More precisely, he stared fixedly at the man's eyes.
After staring for a while,
Chu Fan suddenly lifted his gaze and turned to the Walker at his side,
pointed back at John on the ground with one hand, and coldly ordered:
"Take his eyes…"
"Dig them out!"