Chapter 153: Offensive and Defensive Battle

Flickering, wavering light kept flashing, and outside a clamor gradually rose.

"There are more than five people now, right?" Chen Mu looked at Sun Yuan.

Sun Yuan closed his eyes tightly, carefully listening to the sounds outside, but it seemed somewhat difficult.

"There are a lot of people, plus some other things—I can't make it out, it's too many and too chaotic."

He was so nervous that his body trembled slightly.

Tang Jing walked over: "Don't panic, following what I told you before, filter out some unnecessary distractions, then listen carefully to count how many people there are."

Although he usually felt some fear of Tang Jing, hearing this, Sun Yuan actually calmed down a bit.

A moment later.

"About twenty people, give or take—probably from Yi Zhong." Sun Yuan opened his eyes; the nerves that had just relaxed a little tensed up again.

It seemed that Yi Zhong had once brought him great fear.

"How do you know?" Chen Mu asked, and without waiting for Sun Yuan's answer, he shouted toward the distance: "He Ying, go up to the watchtower first and see if you can make out what's down there."

Sun Yuan said: "I can recognize the footsteps of a few of them."

Under Tang Jing's guidance, Sun Yuan's ability gradually revealed some special functions; so far, the hearing enhancement isn't just about capturing sound—it also seems to involve storage and analysis.

For example, while ordinary people can also recognize certain footsteps, they need to be familiar contacts they often encounter; but Sun Yuan can identify them accurately even after hearing them just once.

On the other hand, he seems able to passively store sound information.

Even when his ability isn't activated, if he unintentionally hears some sounds, even if he didn't pay attention at the time, later when he hears them again he can still recall them very accurately.

This has great strategic significance.

If it weren't for the fact that his ability must be actively triggered, Sun Yuan could completely become a radar, ensuring that Qiming always detects danger a step ahead.

Besides that, the biggest limitation currently hindering Sun Yuan's performance is distance.

And this is also one of the growth aspects of hearing enhancement.

They started about a meter or more from the gate, but as they got closer, Sun Yuan could obtain more and more information.

"I hear twenty-one people; four of their footsteps are ones I've heard before. There's also the sound of a large stone ball rolling, and many crawling noises like insects, but I've never heard them before—I can't identify them! Senior, I've never heard them before—I can't identify them!"

Sun Yuan kept saying this, then he started stomping his feet, his voice cracking with urgency, as if blaming himself for being unable to help.

"That's enough, that's enough—you've done very well." Chen Mu patted his shoulder to encourage and comfort him.

Although Sun Yuan usually looks lax and sloppy, once he gets into the zone he's still quite reliable.

At the same time, He Ying had already climbed onto the watchtower.

She didn't take the stairs, nor did she have time to use the elevator; instead she leapt straight up, kicking off the pole and the door as she ascended.

Before joining Qiming, He Ying already had a record of jumping 30 centimeters high; although she had fainted outright at the time, after this period of training—especially her battles with Chen Mu—both her mental growth and her mastery of ability have improved considerably, so with a boost, reaching an 80‑centimeter height is a piece of cake.

The person on night watch today was Qian Fei, but by the time he gave the warning, the people below had already finished most of their preparations.

Just as Chen Mu had said before, an 80‑centimeter height plus the lack of light at night actually makes night watch not very meaningful; Tang Jing insists on doing it just to get everyone used to it.

Nowadays, between the watchtower and the ground we can manage a warning, but we still can't transmit more complex information—plainly put, the people up top can't talk to those down below.

Chen Mu and Tang Jing have already worked out some mature ideas for this, but they haven't had a chance to implement them before someone came knocking at the door.

Fortunately, Sun Yuan woke up from a full bladder and noticed early; otherwise he would have been even more passive.

Life in Qiming has been really too easygoing; there has never been a truly formidable enemy, so many people have forgotten that we're actually in the apocalypse.

Du Jia Jia, Zhao Xiao Yan, and the others had faces that turned somewhat pale.

"Du Jia Jia!" Chen Mu shouted: "Can you get your cat to come over?"

"I'll do my best!"

Chen Mu didn't pin all his hopes on the cat, after all Du Jia Jia's ability is unpredictable—what if that little broken cat happened to be sleeping……

……

The people outside can basically be confirmed to be from Yi Zhong.

Especially that flaming large stone ball left a deep impression on him.

Back when he stole a car in the cafeteria, he personally saw this thing scare the Qingbei team into scattering and fleeing.

A stone ball taller than a person, with flames burning up to ten centimeters—whoever sees it won't help but feel frightened.

Back then he was just a bystander, but now he himself has become the target of attack—his feelings can be imagined.

"Monitor, you and Da Lei come up to the watchtower with me." Chen Mu said to Dong Junwei.

At times like this, Dong Junwei actually feels a bit at a loss.

Tang Jing suddenly said: "Da Lei, bring the hand grenades and the plastic balls."

"Plastic balls?" Wei Dalei blinked in surprise.

"Don't ask, just go up first and we'll talk." Chen Mu, knowing Tang Jing had already grasped his idea, asked: "Tang Jing, are you coming up too?"

Tang Jing shook her head: "I'll stay down here."

"All right."

Chen Mu didn't waste any more words, taking Dong Junwei and Wei Dalei, who was holding two boxes of supplies, and together they climbed the lift.

They don't have He Ying's skill.

The lift's speed actually isn't fast, especially in this anxious moment it feels even slower; Chen Mu made up his mind that if they manage to escape this ordeal, he will definitely overhaul this place completely.

After sealing the door gaps, the storeroom's defensive capability is actually pretty good; as long as the opposition lacks a targeted ability user, one can rest easy.

But now, the biggest problem has appeared.

Fire.

This is what a wooden door fears most.

Once the door is set alight, after it's fully burned, nobody in the storeroom could possibly survive.

Moreover, the room also contains many cardboard boxes and other flammable items.

Fortunately, it's summer now, and it only rained the day before yesterday; the bottom of the wooden door got wet, although it's almost dried, but still somewhat damp; for a while, a fire of that size wouldn't be ignited immediately.

But if they don't fight back, sooner or later it will catch fire, and then everyone will be buried in the sea of flames.

Chen Mu only then sensed the hostility Yi Zhong bore toward them.

Logically, these people should have come for that cart of food and Gu Yinglong, but instead they didn't say a word and directly set fire to the house.

This is outright an attempt to take their lives.