Then a manhole cover got sent flying into the air by an unknown entity from below. Countless vines emerged from the sewers in front of them and started pulling people standing around the manhole into the sewers.
“Pretend I didn’t say that.” Luo Lan gulped hard as he turned around and ran off.
The suggestion was rebuked so quickly Luo Lan got caught off guard. Meanwhile, the creeper vines had started spreading towards them.
A third of the entire stronghold had already fallen to the vines!
Zhou Qi said angrily as he followed Luo Lan, “You and your useless ideas. Didn’t you say we could take shelter in the sewers? Fortunately, we didn’t listen to you. If we followed you down, the creeper vines would’ve caught and killed all of us!”
Luo Lan said with a dark expression, “Then why don’t you think of something? I don’t mind if you can come up with a solution!”
Zhou Qi gave it some thought and said, “The creeper vines aren’t afraid of bullets and water. Although it’s afraid of fire, it’s grown so large we’ll have to burn down the entire stronghold to get rid of it. There doesn’t seem like there’s anything we can do about it.”
“Thanks, Captain Obvious!” Luo Lan started chastising, “I already know what you said! Everyone here knows as well!”
But as he spoke, Luo Lan got a cramp.
Zhou Qi was a supernatural being while the others in the group were either a young reporter or the Qing Consortium soldiers. It did not take much effort for them to run, but the flight took a toll on Luo Lan physically.
Earlier, it was the instinct to run for his life that made him forget about his fatigue. But now his body could no longer bear it.
Luo Lan clutched his chest and said, “You guys keep running. Don’t worry about me.” He panted heavily, standing still.
However, the Qing Consortium soldiers suddenly lifted him. “We have a duty to protect you, so it’s either we leave together, or we die protecting you.”
Luo Lan said anxiously, “I’m not done talking. It’s not like I haven’t considered that you guys are just normal people. Can you lift someone like me who weighs over 120 kilos? Zhou Qi, get over here and carry me instead!”
Luo Lan wanted to call out to Zhou Qi just now, but he wasn’t able to catch his breath. As such, the Qing Consortium soldiers misunderstood him and thought Luo Lan did not want to slow them down.
Zhou Qi, who was running at the front, wanted to ignore Luo Lan. But since Luo Lan had spoken such, he could only run back and say with a dark look, “You’ll have to pay me more for this!”
With that, Zhou Qi ran back and piggybacked Luo Lan. However, it did not seem to slow him down at all.
Very few people knew Zhou Qi had awoken his power a long time ago. He was probably one of the first few supernatural beings to do so. As a result, his physical fitness was also better than most other supernatural beings.
As everyone was fleeing, Luo Lan came up with a plan while on Zhou Qi’s back. “Let me think about the safest place we can go to. Oh, the safest place has to be where money is stored! Hurry and find a bank. The bank vaults are definitely the most secure place to hide in. Some vaults do not even have air vents. If we hide in there, those vines won’t be able to creep in! And there’ll definitely be some gaps in the vault, so we won’t suffocate to death in there!”
As he said that, they passed by a Wang Consortium bank and saw the bank’s entrance clogged up with people. As it turned out, everyone had thought of the same idea to hide in the safest place. However, there were so many people here they could not squeeze inside anymore!
Luo Lan smacked his lips. “Alright, pretend I didn’t say anything. I’ll think about it again….”
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Zhou Qi said anxiously, “Think quickly! If you can’t think of any ideas, we’ll probably end up dead here!”
The vines behind them were closing in. From a third of the entire stronghold, the creeper vines now covered half.
As they ran, the manhole cover in front of them was suddenly pushed aside by the vines. But before the vines could attack Luo Lan, Zhou Qi frowned. In the blink of an eye, Zhou Qi drew the water content in those vines out.
The terrifying vines started to visibly wither and were no longer capable of grabbing people.
Luo Lan exclaimed excitedly, “Oh, right! Zhou Qi can control the water content in those vines! Why don’t we deal with it immediately then? When I become the person to save the Wang Consortium’s stronghold from destruction, let’s see if they’ll still dare to go against me. If they do, the public will surely criticize them roundly!”
Zhou Qi clenched his teeth and said, “Enough nonsense. Can’t you see how many vines there are? Do you think I’m a god? Even if I am one, I can’t draw out all the water from the vines!”
So Zhou Qi could only run away in the face of this vast number of creeper vines.
“Your superpower really sucks.” Luo Lan curled his lips and said, “Didn’t you say you were one of the earliest to awaken your power? Why’re you so weak then?”
“Am I the one who’s weak here? It’s the opponent that’s too powerful, alright?!” Zhou Qiqi was so angry he wanted to throw Fatty Luo to the ground!
The group of protesters were still chasing Luo Lan closely. At first, these people had wanted to pursue Luo Lan to beat him up when they saw him fleeing. But it was a different situation now. They were thinking they might be able to escape from the danger by following Luo Lan.
They did not even have time to consider their actions amid the panic. All they felt was that if Luo Lan was able to sense the danger beforehand, he might just have a way to escape from the danger.
At this moment, survival was more important than the beliefs they stood firmly for.
Luo Lan turned around and took a look at these people, but he did not bother engaging them. There was no reason for him to take it up with them at the risk of his life. It was entirely up to them as to whether they would survive.
“Wait a minute, the vines don’t look like they’re spreading anymore!” Luo Lan inadvertently realized the creeper vines that had been growing rapidly had stopped. After it drove all the humans in the stronghold to the remaining half at the city center, it suddenly stopped moving.
Everyone looked at the lush, green creeper vines from afar and suddenly felt like they had been saved.
One of the protesters wondered, “Why isn’t it moving anymore? Are we safe now?”
A bespectacled protester calmed down and said, “Everyone thinks that plants can grow without limit, but in fact, only woody plants[1] seem to be able to achieve that. Of course, I’m just assuming that since I’m not a professional in the field. Just like how the trees can’t grow taller indefinitely, maybe the creeper vines have reached the limit of their growth?”
After he said that, Luo Lan’s faint voice drifted over, “Did you guys stop to think about it? It might not be eating us now because it wants to leave us for later….”
The protesters were speechless.
But whatever the reason, the creeper vines had finally stopped moving. This gave the humans in the stronghold some respite.
“The people from the Wang Consortium must’ve already requested reinforcements. Who knows, we might get saved during this time!” a protester said.
However, Luo Lan was having none of it. He whispered softly to Zhou Qi and the others, “I made a purposeful observation while we were making our way to this stronghold. While we do not have any clear information about the Wang Consortium’s garrison troops across their various strongholds, we know there’s no military bases in the vicinity of Stronghold 61. So the Wang Consortium’s reinforcements could take up to three days to arrive. Besides, can their troops deal with the creeper vines? They can’t gather a large number of flamethrowers on such short notice. It’ll just scratch the surface.”
[1] A woody plant is a plant that produces wood as its structural tissue and thus has a hard stem. In cold climates, woody plants further survive winter or dry season above ground, as opposed to herbaceous plants that die back to the ground until spring. Trees do stop growing at certain heights, but they never stop growing |