The cracks in the north gate had been repaired. However, the city had already been invaded by a lot of blood fiends. Since the incident happened too abruptly, the unprepared populace had caused a very massive and severe trampling accident, causing the deaths of many people. Wang Zhen immediately ordered a cleanup operation of the blood fiends in the city. Initially, the operation went rather smoothly. Then, they encountered a two meter-long blood centipede which killed approximately 30 people.
If Wang Zhen and the dean had not managed to arrive at the scene in time, the rest of the elementalists would have been killed on the spot.
Currently, all of Central Pine City was low in morale and its people were in a state of anxiety.
“Things are not going as planned.” The dean’s voice contained a tinge of dissatisfaction. He placed high hopes on Wang Zhen, but the first day Wang Zhen took over the defense of the city, there was already an accident. Previously, they thought that the blood fiends’ maturity period would take about five to seven days. However, the blood centipede’s fighting capabilities showed otherwise, striking fear in the dean’s heart.
“My dean, this is a battlefield. Accidents happen anytime and anywhere on a battlefield.” Wang Zhen sneered.
“Yes, you’re right. There are definitely accidents on a battlefield, but for a time window of 15 days, we let the blood fiends infiltrate the city on the first day. What can you say about that? My mayor,” the dean replied sarcastically.
“Naturally.” Wang Zhen nodded his head calmly. “This shows that the enemies are much stronger than what we expected them to be. This also shows that we are much weaker than what we expected ourselves to be. There’s nothing too terrible about this. Committing a mistake on the first day is much better than committing a mistake on the last day. At least we have the time to make improvements, even though the improvements might not work.”
The dean was speechless. He knew that the current situation could not be blamed on Wang Zhen. At this point of time, he hoped for a hero that could create miracles, but that person clearly was not Wang Zhen. He had to eventually pull himself out of the unrealistic fantasy and return to the cruel reality.
“What can we do now?” the dean asked, trying to calm his tone down.
Wang Zhen’s facial expression returned to normal and he replied, “Right now, we have to quarantine those people who are afflicted with the blood poison. We still do not know whether or not they can be saved. If we let them howl in anguish in the city, it will deal a huge blow to the overall morale. Next, we will organize student groups to carry out the cleanup operation of the blood fiends in the city.”
“We are involving the students so early?” The dean was astonished.
“Yes,” Wang Zhen replied solemnly, “the blood catastrophe is much worse than what we expected it to be. Let them get used to it. The subsequent phase of the catastrophe will be even more grim.”
The dean trembled in fear.
“It’s coming!” Wang Zhen’s voice contained a rarely seen tinge of panic.
The dean quivered and raised his head involuntarily. He saw something that he would never forget for the rest of his life.
The bloody skyline at a distant mountain suddenly thickened. Then, a surging blood tsunami swallowed the mountain like an enormous black hole.
One by one, the mountains were swallowed by the blood tsunami.
The dean could feel a chilly wave shooting up his legs. Even Wang Zhen, who had seen countless terrifying scenes on the battlefield, turned deathly-white at this moment.
Furthermore, both of them were in the sky and could see what was going on clearly.
Everywhere the blood tsunami passed through, various blood plants would grow frantically. These plants continued to grow upward. In the blink of an eye, the lush and verdant forests were dyed blood-red. Rocks and boulders were covered in bright red moss. Not a single mountain could withstand the blood tsunami. It was swallowing up everything.
The rapidly growing plants caused the forests to grow denser and thicker. One would not be able to see the ground from the sky anymore and all he or she could see was a boundless sea of blood.
In the face of a world-changing force, mankind was incredibly insignificant.
At this moment, those who saw the incoming blood tsunami had only deep fear and despair in their eyes.
The distant blood tsunami, the sounds of plants frantically growing, and the whizzing currents of blood swallowed up everything before their eyes. Such crazy, boundless, and terrifying power did not belong to any man. Only gods had such power.
Everyone’s face was ashen, including Wang Zhen’s.
Everything outside of Central Pine City was changed beyond recognition. The mountains, rivers, and hills had completely disappeared. The previously 10 meter-tall trees had now become more than 50 meters tall. The branches and leaves had completely transformed, looking like an alien plant. Bristlegrass, which normally only grew to knee level, had now grown to more than six meters tall. The grass had become stronger and more sinister. Sword reeds had grown more than 20 meters tall, but their biggest change was that they became wider. The sawtooth edges of their leaves had become thicker and sharper. If one had not seen the way they transformed, he or she would not be able to identify them as sword reeds.
Everything changed.
All one could see was the sea of blood. The most noticeable entity in this vast sea of blood was Central Pine City. The city was like a small lonely island.
Suddenly, Wang Zhen realized something was wrong.
“It’s so quiet.” The dean’s murmur exploded in Wang Zhen’s ears like a thunderclap.
He finally realized what was wrong.
The blood sea outside of the city was dead silent. Not a single sound could be heard. The surging waves of the blood tsunami had disappeared, leaving a vast sea of blood here.
There were no insect cries, roars of beasts, or birds’ chirpings. There were no sounds at all.
The silence made one’s hair stand on end.
Where were the blood fiends?
An intense uneasiness engulfed Wang Zhen’s mind. He kept on looking around, trying to find signs of blood fiends. However, his line of sight was blocked by the thick and dense forests, causing him to not be able to see anything.
What exactly was the blood tsunami? Where were the blood fiends? What was going on under the sea of blood?
Countless questions were spinning in his head. Like an invisible hand that tightly gripped his throat, an indescribable fear choked and suffocated him.
Dead silence. Boundless dead silence.
Even the intense afternoon sun could not bring any vitality to this dead silence. It was natural for anyone to feel fear upon facing such dead silence and this blood sea.
The thick city walls could not bring them any sense of security. Currently, Central Pine City was like a lone island in the midst of deathly blood sea.
Wang Zhen was terrified. He knew that this silence was the calm before the storm. Something had to be brewing in the blood-colored forests outside. He did not know what was it, but he knew it would be something horrifying.
“Old Yu, bring some people with you and go out of the city to check it out. Bring the telepathy lotus as well.” Wang Zhen looked at his subordinate that had followed him for many years and hardened his heart.
Old Yu’s previously anxious face calmed down instead. “Help me take good care of my son.”
“Okay.” Wang Zhen bit his lips. He lacked the courage to say anything else.
If people were to leave the city at this point of time, they would have little chance of surviving. No, they would have zero chance of surviving.
Without wasting time, Old Yu picked five people. All of them were veterans from the front line in the past. Their hairs were grizzled and white, while their wrinkled faces looked peaceful. Without hesitation, they bowed to Wang Zhen.
Wang Zhen had taken care of them for many years. If not for the mayor, aged and feeble men like them would lead a difficult and miserable life.
The group of aged and thin figures disappeared into the sea of blood.