Doomsday police, please show your god/demon ID card.

night.

Tang Long stood by the window on the second floor of the gas station for a long time.

The city government building in the distance.

After burning for several hours, the towering flames had subsided considerably, but it still shone stubbornly in the darkness like a giant torch, dyeing the surrounding clouds a dark red.

He withdrew his gaze and turned to look inside the room.

Under the cold white light of the emergency lights, Su Yan lay quietly on the makeshift hospital bed, her breathing steady and her chest rising and falling rhythmically.

"How is she?" Tang Long walked to Zhang Wennian's side, his voice low.

Zhang Wennian shook his head.

"He survived, but his condition is very bad."

He pointed to Su Yan's temple, where the blood vessels under the skin had an abnormal bluish-purple hue.

"My mental energy is completely depleted, like a sponge that has been squeezed dry."

"No matter how miraculous the potion made from the Life Crystal is, it can only repair her physical injuries and replenish her life energy, but it is very difficult to make up for the spiritual deficiency."

Chen Ming, who was standing nearby, chimed in, "When we get back, I'll use the remaining crystals to mix a new reagent and see if that works."

Zhang Wennian sighed: "That's all we can do."

……

at the same time.

There is an inconspicuous residential building on the seventh floor near the city government building.

A young man in his twenties slowly put down the binoculars in his hand.

His name is Li Mo, and he was an ordinary office worker before the apocalypse.

The shock on his face hadn't completely faded yet, and he muttered unconsciously, "Who...who are these people?"

He turned to look behind him and saw his wife tightly holding their two-year-old daughter, who was sleeping restlessly with her little face scrunched up.

Looking back on everything he had seen and heard from morning till now, Li Mo felt like he was dreaming.

He knew better than anyone the horror of the monster that lurked in the city hall.

As survivors in the neighborhood, he and his wife hid in this building for almost three months.

[At this point, I hope readers will remember our domain name: 10 ...

He personally witnessed more than one group of people attempting to storm the city government building.

Some were driving trucks and carrying guns, while others were teams of dozens of people.

Without exception, they were all torn to pieces by the vines and countless zombies in the plaza in front of the building.

Each attack of those vines was like the lash of death, easily turning a car into scrap metal.

But today, that monster was burned.

It was burned to the ground by a huge fire that fell from the sky.

"Should we...should we try to make contact?" The wife's voice trembled slightly, a mixture of fear and hope.

A hint of hesitation flashed across Li Mo's face.

His wife noticed his hesitation, tightened her grip on the child, and her voice trembled with tears.

"Amer, we've run out of food."

"The baby's formula ran out yesterday, and today we've been feeding him rice water all day."

"If this continues, I'm afraid..."

Li Mo pursed his lips and looked at the empty rice bags in the corner.

He remained silent for a long time, and finally, as if he had made up his mind, he raised the binoculars again.

"Let's wait and see, and then we'll make a decision when it's light."

And on the other side,

An abandoned underground parking lot in the southern part of the city.

A man with a thick beard and covered in grease was carefully wiping a fire axe.

His name was "Scorpion," a lone scavenger.

He heard the commotion this morning as well.

The continuous gunfire, and then the towering fire.

He didn't have a telescope like Li Mo, but he had his own way of surviving.

He climbed down from the ventilation duct to the ground, glanced at the burning building in the distance, and then retreated without hesitation.

"Another group of wolves has arrived." Scorpion spat, his eyes showing no awe, only vigilance.

In his view, both monsters and those who can kill monsters are dangerous.

He picked up a backpack filled with cans of food and water and slung it over his shoulder.

"I can't stay in this area anymore."

Without the slightest hesitation, he turned and disappeared into the sewer.

Less than a kilometer from the city government building, inside a hotel reinforced with layers of barbed wire and roadblocks.

Inside the penthouse suite, seven or eight men in black security uniforms were gathered around a model.

The leader was bald, with a hideous scar on his left cheek.

"Boss, judging from this formation, they don't seem like an ordinary survivor team; they look more like an army," one of his men said in a deep voice.

Scarface didn't speak, but simply pointed with a cigar to the location representing the city government building on the sand table.

"No matter who they are, they've taken over the city government's land."

He paused, then gave a cold laugh.

"What have we relied on to stay here for so long? It's that there aren't any powerful mutants around here; they've all been wiped out by that vine."

"Now that the vines are gone, guess how many things will be attracted to the area?"

Everyone's expression changed.

"Boss, what do you mean...?"

"Wait a minute, let's see what those people are up to." Scarface stubbed out his cigar in the ashtray, his eyes gleaming menacingly. "Everyone, stay alert for now."

"yes!"

"..."

……

The next day.

The cold morning wind seemed to thin the thick fog in the sky.

After burning for a day and a night, the fire was finally extinguished.

The city government building is now just a charred skeleton with billowing black smoke.

In the square in front of the building.

Tang Long stood on top of the armored vehicle, the cold wind blowing the corner of his clothes.

The convoy had all arrived, forming a semi-circle, firmly blocking the entrance to the square.

The survivors were organized and, under Liu Qiang's command, cleared away the zombie remains and vehicle wreckage in the square.

"All vehicles, immediately inspect them! Check engines and tires, replenish ammunition!"

"Wang Hu, Zhao Fan, you two take charge of guarding the east and west flanks. Shoot down any living creature that approaches!"

"Engineering team, come with me to the building entrance to inspect the building structure and assess safety risks!"

Tang Long's voice, amplified by the loudspeaker, resounded throughout the entire square.

His goal was very clear.

"I want the lights in this building back on within three days."

Even so, Tang Long was not entirely confident.

No one knows what the interior of this building has been burned to.

Liu Qiang, along with several members of the engineering team, was the first to approach the main entrance of the building.

The once magnificent glass revolving door has long since disappeared, leaving only a huge hole blackened by smoke.

A wave of heat, a mixture of burnt smells, stench, and dust, rushed out of the cave entrance.

"Be careful, everyone, put on your gas masks," Liu Qiang reminded them.

One of the team members used a crowbar to tap on a load-bearing pillar at the door.

"Thump, thump." The sound was rather muffled.

"The column itself is fine; it's just that the surface concrete has burned off."

Liu Qiang nodded and led the way inside.