Chapter 175: Oh No! The City Has Been Breached

"..."

Luo Xixi stared at Sheng Tinglan without blinking, still unable to process what she had heard.

Sheng Tinglan gave up on the girl's reaction and got straight to the point: "This isn't hard to guess, is it? Luo Shiqing said she didn't awaken any abilities. In the apocalypse, a weak person without abilities who wants to survive naturally has to rely on the strong, selling certain things in exchange for a chance to live. Luo Shiqing is quite good-looking; isn't it normal for her to attract some lustful men?"

"Actually, when she brought us to the city, didn't the words of those guards already imply what Luo Shiqing relies on to survive in this world?"

"..."

After being reminded to this extent by Sheng Tinglan, Luo Xixi would be far too naive if she still didn't understand.

Then, her face began to darken.

It was true.

In the apocalypse, stories occasionally depict supporting characters or Cannon Fodder selling their bodies to the strong in exchange for a more comfortable life, but Luo Xixi always felt these things wouldn't happen in reality.

But how could she keep forgetting that this is a Book World? This is a novel!

So, how could the content described in apocalyptic novels not happen in this world?

Was Sheng Tinglan trying to say that the Leader calling Luo Shiqing aside just now was to...

Luo Xixi's face turned ashen instantly. She felt a chill run through her entire body and an indescribable anger, "No way? That Leader's wounds only just healed; he wouldn't be so impatient to do that kind of thing, would he?!"

Sheng Tinglan scoffed and said: "Why wouldn't he? He's been injured for so long, he's probably been burning with desire for ages. Now that he's finally waited for his wounds to heal, of course he's going to take care of other matters. Xixi, didn't you notice that the way that guy looked at you just now was also very wrong? If I hadn't said we were a couple, he probably would have wanted to make a move on you too. It's a good thing we are both S-rank ability users, so he didn't dare to force himself on us."

After hearing this, Luo Xixi did not feel fortunate because of it.

She glared at Sheng Tinglan and asked with some anger: "So you saw through what kind of person that Leader was from the start, right? Since you knew what he was planning, why didn't you take Luo Shiqing away just now?"

Sheng Tinglan, however, asked back righteously: "Am I that close with Luo Shiqing? She didn't call for our help either, so why should I meddle in other people's business? Although we are both S-rank ability users, we are currently living under someone else's roof. What good would it do us to make an enemy of a city's Leader?"

"You!!"

Luo Xixi glared at Sheng Tinglan, but she truly had no ground to condemn him; after all, it was her own slow reaction that failed to realize the problem, and Sheng Tinglan had no obligation to remind her.

However, she was still very angry.

Thinking of Luo Shiqing's plight, Luo Xixi felt inexplicably distressed.

Although they had bad blood before, and Luo Shiqing had even gone so far as to erase her older brother's consciousness for the sake of a mission, when it came down to it, Luo Shiqing was just a Transmigrator. She didn't treat the people in the Book World as human, viewing them only as NPCs, and Luo Xixi couldn't say whether that was right or wrong.

And because of a dispute among the system's higher-ups, Luo Shiqing's system was forcibly taken away, and she was kicked into this apocalyptic world. Without a system, she could barely move a step in this world; one could imagine how terrified, uneasy, and desperate she must have been at that time.

Seeing Luo Shiqing again, she really had changed a lot.

The spoiled baby who used to rely on her system whenever she encountered trouble now knew how to shoulder things herself. Even when she met acquaintances like them, she didn't call for help.

Thinking of all this, Luo Xixi felt very sad.

"Xixi..."

Seeing that Luo Xixi seemed truly angry, Sheng Tinglan's eyes flickered, and he said again: "Actually, there is another reason why I didn't help Luo Shiqing."

"What reason?"

Luo Xixi was in low spirits and didn't really want to engage with Sheng Tinglan.

Sheng Tinglan said in a low voice: "I always feel that there is something fishy about Luo Shiqing, something not quite right..."

"What do you mean?"

Luo Xixi didn't understand, "What's not right about her?"

"I can't put my finger on it, but for instance, we met her five kilometers away from the city; that was very strange..."

"What's strange about that? Didn't she say she went out to look for food?"

"Right, that's exactly it..."

Sheng Tinglan was about to continue explaining to Luo Xixi, but just at that moment.

A tremor suddenly came from the ground they were standing on.

Rumble—!!!!

Suddenly, with a loud bang, a massive creature that would require two grown men to wrap their arms around it suddenly burst out from the ground!

Its shape was much like an earthworm, but its volume was ten thousand times that of an earthworm, and its top was covered with countless sharp mouthparts. A person was unfortunately bitten by it, and that person had just wanted to call for help.

"Help—"

As a result, with one bite from the monster, the person was bitten in half at the waist. Blood fell like a rain of gore, and the people around instantly let out terrified, hysterical screams.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!"

This was the first time Luo Xixi had seen a monster eating a person at such close range. Her brain exploded with a 'boom'. Even though she knew everything was a plot set in the Book World, it still caused a massive shock to her soul.

"Oh no! The defense has been dismantled!"

Hearing Sheng Tinglan's voice explode in her ear, Luo Xixi snapped back to reality. She looked at the panicked people fleeing around them, then looked at Sheng Tinglan, and said in astonishment: "The defense has been dismantled? What is going on?! Didn't you just reinforce the city's defense system?"

Sheng Tinglan's face turned black to the extreme, and he said in a deep voice: "Indeed, I just reinforced the defenses, but the foundation of my reinforcement was built upon that Leader's defense system. Now that there is a problem with the defense, it proves that something has happened to that Leader!"

"How could this happen?!"

Luo Xixi was astonished: "Wasn't that Leader's wound already healed? Why has something happened to him now? Could it be that my healing has an expiration date and wasn't a true cure?!"

"It's not your problem..."

Sheng Tinglan said.

He was just about to tell Luo Xixi about another thing he suspected.

But just then, the main gate of the city also suddenly emitted a series of loud bangs, and then a monster with flesh lumps wriggling all over its body suddenly rushed in. Its body was covered in sharp, bloody maws; it was holding two people in its mouth, and the mouths on its body were also clutching several human torsos that had already been bitten apart.

Luo Xixi realized that those people were all guards from outside the city, and now they had all become the monsters' meal.

Sheng Tinglan had just been discussing with Luo Xixi that all the city's military forces were concentrated at the city gate to defend against the enemy. Now that the soldiers guarding outside the city had ended up like this, it meant that this city's defense system had completely lost its ability to function!

"It's bad!!! The monsters have all rushed in!!! The guards outside the city are wiped out! Wiped out!!!"

Someone was shouting in despair.

At this moment.

An alarm sounded in the city, the heaven-shaking sound of the alarm constantly filling and irritating everyone's eardrums.

From the broadcast came the announcer's anxious voice, "The city has fallen! The city has fallen! All troops must immediately head to the main gate to defend against the enemy! All ability users, please mobilize immediately!"

"It's bad! A giant earthworm has broken through via the sewer! Requesting backup!!"

"An infant-eating beast has charged into the nursery, please provide immediate support!!"

"Ahhhhh!!! A monster!! A monster!! Ahhhhh! A monster has broken in! No! Help! Someone save... ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!"

The announcer's screams continued to come through the broadcast, constantly agitating people's hearts.

"Mommy! I'm scared, waaaaaah!!!"

A child not far from Luo Xixi was crying and shouting loudly; he was screaming helplessly in the crowd, but his mother was nowhere to be found. Luo Xixi felt a sting in her heart and subconsciously wanted to go save that child.

But before she could run over.

"Xixi, look out!!!"

Luo Xixi was violently tackled to the ground by Sheng Tinglan, and just at that moment, something resembling a tentacle suddenly swept across, piercing straight through a group of people, and the child was not spared either!