Chapter 155: Illusion (Combined)

This storage room had cost them too much effort, and they hoped to use it for at least another one or two years, waiting until everyone's abilities made a qualitative leap before expanding outward.

If they lost such a shelter at this time, the foundation that Qiming had painstakingly built would be lost in an instant.

Moreover, without cover, even short-term safety could not be guaranteed, food and water would become a problem again, everyone would be busy with basic survival, leaving no time to study and train their Special Abilities, creating a vicious cycle.

Therefore.

Chen Mu was anxious to go out, even though it was still unclear whether the enemy had any other ambushes.

Qian Fei remained on the watchtower.

The other three took the elevator down.

Tang Jing was already waiting at the door.

We must think of a way to put out the fire.

Unfortunately, the drainage outlet of the Water Reservoir is too far away.

Can we divert the water there?

We can, but there might not be enough time.

If it really won't work, I'll try to tie up the stone ball and have Lao Wei pull it away.

As long as no one disturbs us, dealing with this burning stone ball wouldn't be a problem; it's just uncertain whether we have enough time, because once the door catches fire, given their current size, it would be hard to extinguish the fire.

However, just at this moment.

Zhao Xiao Yan pointed outside and said, "The fire is out!"

Huh?

Indeed, the previously flickering flames suddenly vanished completely.

Chen Mu was already preparing to go out despite the high temperature, yet the fireball extinguished itself?

Could it have burned out completely?

How did the stone ball catch fire?

Maybe it was coated with gasoline?

But it was burning fiercely just a moment ago; it wouldn't just go out suddenly, would it?

Everyone was talking at once, until Chen Mu said, "Let's go out and take a look."

Sun Yuan stepped forward and said, "I'll come too."

Me too. Zhao Xiao Yan followed.

With these two accompanying them, they could sense most dangers in advance, making it not easy for Yi Zhong to hide in the dark and launch a sneak attack.

They left Gu Yinglong and the elderly and weak at home, while Dong Junwei, Chen Mu, and the others went outside together.

The light balls left on the ground now looked especially bright, as if the former large plaza were brightly lit.

The light from the disc player dispelled the darkness, giving everyone a greater sense of security.

To be honest, this battle was fought in a confused manner; we don't know how the enemy discovered us, nor their specific tactics, and we didn't even get a clear look at the enemy's appearance.

Chen Mu immediately walked toward that huge stone ball.

The stone ball was about the height of a person, and now, leaning against the door crack, it bore no trace of its former blazing grandeur.

Don't you find this strange?

Huh?

We've gotten this close, yet there isn't even a hint of heat? Chen Mu suddenly said.

That's really true.

At this moment, everyone was only a few centimeters from the stone ball, but under the night breeze, it even felt a bit cool.

Logically, a fire that large couldn't possibly have no heat at all.

Zhao Xiao Yan also said, "I've been smelling the vicinity since the start; now I think, indeed I haven't smelled any burning odor, though I didn't pay attention earlier…"

The position at the door was as bright as daylight, basically allowing everything to be seen clearly.

Upon walking up close.

Chen Mu discovered that the stone ball rested quietly against the door crack, with not a trace of scorching on its surface, and it felt cool to the touch.

What the heck?

Perhaps it's some kind of Special Ability?

Tang Jing pointed upward and said, "There's no sign of burning on the door above either."

What kind of ability is this? Chen Mu frowned.

It looks like some kind of illusion.

But the flames earlier really did illuminate the surroundings; can an illusion achieve that?

Chen Mu recalled that when he looked down from the watchtower, the flames looked exactly like real fire, but now thinking back, he hadn't felt any heat at the time, which indeed seems rather strange.

Tang Jing said, "This is hard to say; perhaps the person's illusion can inherit all visual effects but lacks other attributes. Moreover, if the illusion itself simulates light, it would be reasonable for it to illuminate the surroundings."

So you're saying this thing is just used to scare people?

Pretty much, but it's quite effective, isn't it?

Indeed, it just scared us quite a bit.

Chen Mu recalled that the people of Qingbei had also been scared into fleeing in all directions, and he felt a strange kinship.

But if it's an illusion, why add a real stone ball? Rolling this thing isn't easy either; why not just create an illusion of a stone ball altogether?

Tang Jing laughed and said, "I estimate that the Special Ability user's mental strength isn't strong enough to simulate something with a fixed shape like a large stone ball; they can only mimic something shapeless like fire, perhaps to avoid giving themselves away."

But what use is there in doing this? He Ying wondered strangely, "Back when we fought Qingbei, this method could scare them and disrupt their formation, but just now we were all inside the room—what could they do to us?"

Tang Jing said, "It's obvious they want to force us out."

That's right.

Chen Mu also continued: "Just now I was up there and saw many people lying in ambush below around, and there were also many crawling reptiles I couldn't make out."

He said this and asked Sun Yuan: "Can you still hear anything now?"

"There are footsteps, but they're all heading away; I estimate we can't catch up." Sun Yuan said.

"Don't pursue a desperate foe, and it's pitch dark; if we get ambushed again it won't be fun."

After confirming there was no fire, the boulder in Chen Mu's heart finally fell, but he soon frowned and said: "I remember there were many crawling creatures back then, many were blown apart by grenades, but why are there no corpses on the ground, not even a trace of blood?"

"Over there." Tang Jing pointed to the distance.

Only a few human-like figures could be seen crawling on the ground, moving slowly as if seriously injured.

Everyone walked over together.

It's obvious these few were blown by grenades and then abandoned by Yi Zhong.

The other side had no choice either; twenty-one people came, and just what Chen Mu saw, over half were casualties. The rest helped their nearby companions away, but a few could not be attended to.

Chen Mu found a person lying motionless, stepped forward, extended a long stick, and turned him over.

A young face appeared in the light, though covered in blood; after Chen Mu turned him, he let out a mournful groan.

They were all about the same age.

If not for the apocalypse, we might have been holding activities together on the playground, and if we met someone we could talk with, we might have made more friends.

But now.

Clearly we've never met before, so why has it come to this?

Chen Mu considered himself fairly hard-hearted, but at this moment he still felt a sigh. He even felt an inexplicable anger, but it wasn't directed at the person before him, nor even at Yi Zhong, but at the mysterious power that had shrunk them all.

Clearly, through our own efforts we got into Ziwei, a municipal key school; if nothing unexpected happened, our upcoming university, work, and life would be bright.

For an orphan, this was already not easy.

But this apocalypse just happened to destroy all of that.

This is also one of the main reasons Chen Mu often shows negativity since the disaster, while struggling: he isn't afraid to fight, but you can't suddenly hit a reset after he's achieved some results from his struggle.

Nowadays life is gradually improving and his abilities are growing stronger, but who knows whether one day a sudden reset will come again?

The person on the ground soon stopped moving.

Chen Mu crouched, saw his half-open eyes already devoid of life, blood foam continually trickling from his mouth; even without being a doctor, one could tell he was mostly dead.

Dong Junwei and the others also saw it clearly.

For some reason, the joy from the previous victory suddenly diminished greatly.

What exactly is this battle for?

This time we won.

But what about next time? Could it be us lying on the ground?

Almost everyone was thinking about this question.

"Let's see if there's anyone alive."

Those still at the scene are all people who no longer have the ability to leave on their own.

Wei Dalei and the others made a round and found there were seven people in total.

Three were already completely dead.

Two were still breathing, but obviously they'd been hit at close range by a grenade, their faces were ruined, and they basically couldn't survive.

The last two had their legs broken by steel pellets; although they couldn't walk, they had no immediate threat to life.

"Take these two back; the rest… just throw them into the grass."

Chen Mu, fearing they might have special abilities, bound the two injured into a mummy-like bundle, planning to bring them back for Tang Jing to interrogate.

Counting it up, Yi Zhong alone, just from clashing with them, has already lost many people.

After the previous car theft, Wei Dalei's barrage of grenades should have caused many casualties; this time, seven are already written off, plus the two earlier captives, roughly at least a dozen have been lost.

Thinking about it, Qiming's combat ability seems not bad either.

Even Yi Zhong, which Qingbei could do nothing about, has actually fallen into their hands several times.

Their battle record is glorious.

Wei Dalei and the other boys were in charge of cleaning the battlefield, at least tossing the corpses far away, otherwise ants would come, but the bloodstains on the ground are really too many, and for now there's nothing much to do.

Human adaptability is truly terrifying.

Having only handled a corpse once before, today even Zhu Hao and the others have become quite accustomed, showing no discomfort at all.

After everything was dealt with.

"What should we do with these lights?" Wei Dalei asked.

"Just leave them here; if they come again it won't be easy to hide, tonight's duty can't be relaxed, better add another person."

Chen Mu said while looking at Dong Junwei.

As for duty, although Zhao Xiao Yan is currently making the schedule, ultimately Dong Junwei still needs to confirm it.

Dong Junwei nodded: "Mm, for the second half of the night it'll be me and He Ying; let Qian Fei go rest first, and tomorrow we'll need to readjust the duty roster."

As for that stone ball, there's no need to go to the trouble of moving it for now; just leave it where it is.

After experiencing this attack, including Chen Mu, everyone felt that Qiming's current defense and warning system still has many aspects needing improvement.

Just as everyone was preparing to go back, a "meow" sounded from afar.

Then a huge shadow loomed over.

Everyone was frightened out of their wits.

This was far more terrifying than Yi Zhong's attack just earlier.

Du Jia Jia hurriedly rushed out, blocking in front of everyone.

Qiming's greatest trump card—Comrade Little Yellow—only now arrived late.

At cat speed, Sun Yuan and Zhao Xiao Yan had no time to react, but it's unclear whether it's because of Du Jia Jia's Psychic Sense or because humans are simply too insignificant; the cat pays no attention to anyone besides Du Jia Jia.

Of course, it is careful with Du Jia Jia, but not necessarily with others; even if it doesn't mean harm, it might accidentally step on someone.

Chen Mu and the others quickly retreated back into the room.

As for Du Jia Jia, at this point she is probably the safest human in the world; even if Yi Zhong and Qingbei joined forces, they wouldn't be a match for Little Yellow's few swipes.

……

A few minutes later.

Du Jia Jia came back with an embarrassed, sheepish look.

"Du Jia Jia, what's wrong with your cat? It doesn't show up when we need it, but then it scares us after it's over."

Chang Junyan was still uneasy about what just happened; a monster that big suddenly darting to his side, not peeing his pants already counts as brave.

Hehe.

Du Jia Jia clasped her hands and smiled: "Sorry, I just asked; Little Yellow had run off-campus to play, it was far, so she came late."

"You can even ask that?" Zhu Hao exclaimed in surprise.

"When we have physical contact, I occasionally can see Little Yellow's perspective," Du Jia Jia said.

"When did this happen?" Tang Jing asked.

"Just the day before yesterday, but this image is very blurry and intermittent, sometimes working, sometimes not; I wanted to wait until I figured it out a bit before telling you," Du Jia Jia answered.

"It seems your ability is also improving," Tang Jing nodded.

"But I haven't trained at all; no, to be precise, I don't even know how to train." Du Jia Jia's biggest problem now is that she isn't clear about which aspect her ability's growth lies in.

Is it to attract more animals? Or to make communication with animals smoother?

Moreover, she has no idea how to train her ability.

"For now, interacting with Little Yellow is at least beneficial to your ability, so keep going."

Tang Jing doesn't have much good advice for Du Jia Jia's ability; basically she just lets her figure it out on her own.

"Has Little Yellow gone back?" Zhao Xiao Yan asked.

"Yeah, she's been out playing all day; it seems even the cat mom is angry."

Du Jia Jia suddenly put her hands on her hips, using an old-fashioned tone, mimicking an old cat's words: "Among the siblings, you're the most worrisome; after eating you run off without a trace, and you always secretly take food outside..."

"Is this your imagination, or did Little Yellow tell you?" Chen Mu laughed.

"Yeah... I sensed it; oh dear, telepathic communication is very complicated, I can't explain it clearly to you, but anyway we can communicate many things even without words..."

Seeing Du Jia Jia's smug, superior look, everyone couldn't help but laugh.

However, looking at it now, Du Jia Jia's ability's upper limit is indeed high; without saying anything else, as long as she recruits a few cats, she can completely walk sideways in the school.

By then, no matter whether it's Yi Zhong or Qingbei, they'll all be trash.