"We..." Hai Baihe had just opened her mouth when she felt a slight tremor under her feet. She jumped up as if she had been bitten by a snake. "What's going on? Did we just have an earthquake?"
After a brief pause, without wasting any time, the three of them rushed upstairs. The door to the duty room opened slightly, and Zhuang Yijian breathed a sigh of relief when he saw them coming up. "Why did you come back so quickly?"
"Run!" Liang Xiao waved to signal them to come out immediately. "This place is about to collapse."
"What?" Wang Dong also poked his head out, clearly not understanding what that meant. It wasn't an earthquake, so how could it be collapsing?
But three seconds later, he also felt the ground shaking slightly. Pens and cups on the desk fell with a clatter. Zhuang Yijian pushed open the cabinet blocking the door. "Baby, Dongzi, get out of here quickly."
"I don't want to go out!" Xiong Baobao cowered in fear in the corner. "There are monsters outside."
Zhuang Yijian pulled her up forcefully, showing a rare firm attitude. "It's an earthquake. Do you want to be buried alive here?"
Xiong Baobao hesitated, unable to understand how there could be another earthquake. In that moment of hesitation, Wang Dong also grabbed her other arm and the two of them dragged her outside.
Meanwhile, on the underground second floor platform, soil had already spread over. Hai Baihe ran down the stairs from the exit. "The door still won't open. Let's find another way."
"Where else is there a way?" Di Ya anxiously wiped the sweat from her forehead. "We've tried all four doors."
Hai Baihe took the fire axe from her hand and smashed the glass door of the accessible elevator twice. The passage of the accessible elevator led directly from the ground to the negative second-floor platform. The elevator was currently stopped on the negative second floor, leaving a way to escape.
Xiong Baobao couldn't help but shout, "How can we climb up there?"
"If we can't climb up, we'll all die here." Di Ya tore off a piece of cloth from her torn clothes and wrapped it around her palm. "I'll go up first and see if I can break the door from the outside to let you out."
She acted on her words. The accessible elevator shaft had white pillars at its four corners. She held onto one of the pillars and slowly moved upward. Every two meters, there was a crossbeam that provided leverage. And Di Ya, being skilled in rock climbing, gradually maneuvered her way up.
But the monsters clearly wouldn't give them much time to escape. Cracks had already appeared on the stairs leading to the negative first floor. Liang Xiao saw the danger and immediately urged the others, "Hurry, let's go!"
In the face of the danger of being buried alive, Xiong Baobao could only crawl inside and climb up. Zhuang Yijian crouched down. "Step on my shoulders and go up."
Xiong Baobao's legs trembled. "I... I'm afraid of heights."
"I'll do it!" Wang Dong pushed Zhuang Yijian aside and held onto Xiong Baobao's waist, lifting her up. "Hold on tight."
Caught off guard by being lifted up suddenly, Xiong Baobao instinctively hugged the pillar. Now caught between a rock and a hard place, she had no choice but to grit her teeth and climb up.
The other three men displayed their chivalrous manners, urging Hai Baihe to climb up as well
. She didn't hesitate either, gripping the pillar and climbing up. At that moment, the surging soil had already submerged their ankles, and a huge monster emerged slowly from the darkness.
The moon shone directly into the elevator shaft, allowing them to catch a glimpse of the true face of the monster.
It was larger than the previous monsters, with dark red scales and powerful limbs, standing there confronting the three men.
Liang Xiao stood at the entrance. "You two go first." He picked up a fire axe that had fallen to the side, his gaze fixed on the monster. It hadn't figured out his capabilities, so it wouldn't act rashly.
Wang Dong pulled Zhuang Yijian, hesitating in his eyes, while Xiong Baobao urged, "Hurry up."
"Go quickly," Liang Xiao whispered. "I can only buy some time."
At that moment, they were just three meters away from the ground, with the path to escape right before their eyes. How many people would be willing to sacrifice themselves to save others?
Liang Xiao may have had a premonition. He glanced up and saw Di Ya only half a meter away from the exit. He looked at her and thought, "This time, don't look back."
Compared to facing life and death together, he hoped she would survive. Death was too cruel, and there was no need for someone to accompany him.
His gaze fell back and rested on Hai Baihe. She was a lovely girl, and he also wished for her safety.
As if hearing his inner thoughts, the monster hesitated no longer and lunged fiercely at Liang Xiao. Rolling on the ground, he narrowly avoided its vital attack, but his arm was still scratched by its sharp claws.
The scent of blood made the monster even more agitated. It rushed towards him impatiently, but Liang Xiao had already taken out a fire extinguisher and sprayed a cloud of powder towards its face.
Wang Dong patted Zhuang Yijian's shoulder and whispered, "Don't let his sacrifice be in vain."
Zhuang Yijian was taken aback but could only nod in agreement. He started climbing up, but his eyes were filled with bitterness. Blinking a few times, tears flowed from his eyes without his permission.
Di Ya had already climbed to the ground. She shattered the glass, leaned over to look down, but found that Liang Xiao was nowhere to be seen. "Where's Liang Xiao?"
Hai Baihe was just one meter away from the ground. She heard the voices and also looked down. Wang Dong turned his head, and it was Zhuang Yijian who struggled to say, "He... the bottom... collapsed."
Hai Baihe had to make a great effort not to cry. She bit her lip hard and climbed up desperately. She thought it would be okay as long as it was over; he would still be alive.
Just like Zhang Qihang and the others, he would be fine.
She crawled out of the elevator shaft. Under the moonlight, she could see the faint outline of the building. The cool night breeze blew, taking away some of the exhaustion and heat.
In the next second, she saw the monsters surrounding the elevator, crouching silently as if they were shadows. One? Two? No, one hundred? Two hundred?
In the distance, on top of the buildings, there were countless dark figures. Under the moonlight, they silently and quietly prepared to capture these few prey who thought they had escaped.
Hai Baihe's blood froze instantly.