Chapter 132: The Azure Dragon descending from the sky, the lightning falling like divine punishment

At the same time, beside a ruin not far away.

In a dark corner, Zhao Ming covered his mouth tightly, his breathing suppressed to be extremely light. His back was pressed against the cold concrete wall, his legs numb from being curled up for so long, yet he dared not move a single bit.

"Thump, thump."

Heavy footsteps came from outside the ruins, accompanied by heavy panting. The sound grew closer and closer, finally stopping outside the building wreckage where he was hiding.

Zhao Ming could smell the odor mixed with blood and rot. Through a crack, he saw a giant claw covered in scales resting on the broken wall, sharp nails scraping against the concrete, making a teeth-aching sound.

"Don't come over... please... don't come over..."

He prayed frantically in his heart, cold sweat sliding down his temples, soaking his already dirty collar.

Clearly, before he went to sleep last night, everything was still so normal. He put on earplugs as usual to block out the noise of the neighbors and drifted into a dream.

But when he woke up, the world had changed.

Empty streets, broken windows, beast roars echoing in the distance... and bloodstains everywhere.

He had thought he would be safe hiding in his home, but soon, a mutated creature smashed through his security door.

He could only run, run for his life.

But no matter where he hid, there were mutated creatures that could smell his scent.

There was no place that was safe.

"Click—"

The sound of a stone being crushed was close at hand.

Zhao Ming's pupils contracted sharply, his muscles tensed to the limit. Through the crack, he saw a huge vertical pupil pressed against the crack, peering inside.

The monster had found him!

"Roar—!"

Accompanied by a deafening roar, the entire remaining wall was violently torn open. Blinding sunlight shone in, and Zhao Ming finally saw the monster's full appearance: it was a mutated giant lizard, its scales like metal, its size even as large as a human, its scarlet long tongue constantly flicking in and out.

Despair surged like a tide. Zhao Ming slumped to the ground, not even having the strength to run.

He could only close his eyes and pray frantically in his heart.

Immortals, Buddhas, angels, demons, God... anyone is fine! Whoever it is, please, save me!

When no one could save him, he could only pin his hopes on the gods.

The mutated giant lizard opened its bloody maw, the foul-smelling breath rushing toward him. Zhao Ming closed his eyes tightly, waiting for death to arrive.

Just then, a dragon's roar resounded through the sky, followed by a heaven-shaking roar!

"Boom—!!!"

A violent blast wave swept over. Zhao Ming only felt a force of wind pushing him backward. If he hadn't already been leaning in the furthest corner with nowhere left to retreat, he had no doubt he would have been blown away by this blast wave.

When he struggled to open his eyes, the scene before him left him completely stunned.

That mutated giant lizard had now turned into a pool of flesh and blood fragments, its scales shattered, its bones crushed, as if it had been crushed to death by some terrifying giant force!

And beside him, a slender figure had appeared at some point.

"It's all right now."

"You are safe."

Gu Che retracted his mace, looked at the person in front of him, and comforted him softly.

Zhao Ming's lips trembled violently, his eyes instantly turning red.

He recognized the person in front of him: the former second-ranked superpowered individual, now the third-ranked superpowered individual, the "Azure Dragon Fruit" user, Gu Che, a powerhouse who had entered Stage Three according to the recent Tianshu Academy announcement.

"You... why..."

"Couldn't you have come sooner!!!"

His voice was hoarse beyond recognition, his nails digging deep into the flesh of his palms.

This sentence was like a blunt knife, forcibly dissecting the fear and despair he had suppressed for so long. Tears mixed with the blood and dirt on his face rolled down, and he roared almost hysterically:

"Aren't you heroes?! Aren't you holders of treasures from the cosmos?! Aren't you the future pillars of the country?!"

"If you had appeared sooner, if you heroes were really that powerful..."

He pointed to the blood on the ground in the distance, pointed to the buildings behind him that had turned into ruins.

"Qingshan County wouldn't have become like this, so many people wouldn't have died, and I wouldn't have had to hide like a rat!"

Gu Che's figure paused slightly, his gaze looking into the eyes of the person in front of him. He could see the complex emotions in the eyes of this survivor.

Gratitude, yes, but more of it was anger, grievance, and deep helplessness.

He could understand the other party's emotions. After experiencing long-term fear and despair, the moment of sudden salvation always finds an outlet for suppressed emotions.

But being able to understand didn't mean he was willing to accept it.

"We are not gods; it is impossible for us to arrive at the first moment of a disaster."

"And, I am not a hero."

"The true heroes—"

"Died in battle the moment the beast horde broke through the defensive line."

Gu Che took a deep breath. He was no hero; those Tianshu Academy soldiers who fought to the end on Qingfeng Mountain and in front of Qingshan County, never taking a step back even in death, were more worthy of the title "hero" than he was.

At least for the people of Qingshan County, that should be the case.

And he was just a late avenger.

A roar of explosion suddenly came from the distance. Gu Che turned his head abruptly, without further nonsense, his body directly turning into an Azure Dragon, rushing toward the direction where the battle was most intense, leaving only one sentence drifting in the wind:

"Hide well, stay alive."

On the street.

Three people stood back-to-back in a circle. Dozens of beast corpses lay at their feet, but more mutated creatures were still approaching.

Mutated wild wolves, mutated spiders, mutated giant lizards, mutated... God knows where so many mutated creatures came from.

"How much ammunition is left?"

The captain asked in a low voice, his right arm hanging unnaturally, clearly broken.

"Enough for two more rounds."

The team member beside him responded.

They actually brought quite a lot of bullets; after all, as superpowered individuals, they mainly relied on their own strength, and firearms were just auxiliary, but they didn't expect the number of mutated creatures to be so large.

Both sides were wary of each other, the air heavy enough to almost solidify.

The mutated creatures were wandering, they were waiting, waiting for the moment this group of humans revealed a flaw.

"Roar—!"

Suddenly, a huge mutated wild wolf raised its head and howled!

The beast horde instantly rioted, surging over like a tide!

They gripped their weapons tightly, preparing to meet the final slaughter.

"Boom—!!!"

The firmament suddenly tore apart, and a blinding lightning bolt struck down like divine punishment!

Lin Ruoxi's figure appeared in the electric light, her long hair dancing wildly, violent thunder wrapped around her body; she landed on the ground, her cold gaze sweeping over the beast horde in front of her, her long sword slowly raised.

"Zzz—!"

In an instant, thousands of lightning snakes erupted from the sword's edge!

The blinding electric light swept across the entire street like a torrent. Wherever it passed, the mutated creatures didn't even have time to scream before they carbonized and disintegrated in the high temperature.

The air emitted a pungent burnt smell, and countless pitch-black gullies were left on the ground.

(End of chapter)