Chapter 92 - 91: Class 1 Incident
The other two men, their faces deathly pale from the sudden turn of events, were pulled back by Old Jin and fell to the ground. The moment they touched the vines, they scrambled back up as if pricked by needles.
"My leg! My leg is tangled!"
One of them screamed. The other two quickly grabbed him and started dragging him away.
"Pull together!"
"It’s no use! This stuff is too tough, we can’t pull it free!"
The vines were incredibly strong; even the combined strength of three men couldn’t pull him free.
"Take off his shoe! Get the shoe off and rip his pants!"
Thankfully, their usual training and excellent physical conditioning paid off. They reacted instantly. One man pulled out a small knife while another helped pull off the shoe, and in a few quick motions, they sliced open the pant leg.
By the time Old Jin and the other officer dragged Huang Yulong out, his lower leg bare, he had already lost all feeling in it.
"Go, go, go! Let’s get out of here, now!"
This was no time to check the condition of his leg. The two of them dragged him away from the death trap under the eaves of the tiled-roof house.
"Call for backup! Hurry, call for backup!"
"I can’t, there’s no signal!"
"My phone has no signal either!"
Old Jin glanced back at the writhing mass, unwilling to leave Zhang Xinyuan behind like this.
He wanted to try one more time.
"You guys hurry to the police car and call for help! I’ll think of something else!"
He pulled the electric baton from his waist and pressed the switch.
A CRACKLE and SIZZLE filled the air as sparks flew from the arc.
In an instant, several vines whipped toward him as if they had eyes.
Terrified, Old Jin cursed ’Bastard!’ in his head and threw the baton away.
He finally understood why Zhang Xinyuan had been attacked.
’It’s the light!’
He thought of the light stands, of the pitch-black darkness here. He realized that Zhang Xinyuan had been the only one holding a flashlight, and the arc from the electric baton followed the same principle.
His eyes had adjusted to the dark, and he could now see the terrifying, constantly squirming vines all around them.
"Old Jin, let’s go!"
The other two officers turned back and grabbed Jin Shunfu, who was staring back full of resentment.
"Xiaozhang is a lost cause!!"
There was no more time to think. The only word on their minds was "flee." If they didn’t leave now, they wouldn’t be saving anyone; they might not even get the chance to be saved themselves.
The vine-like plants underfoot seemed to have "awakened," forcing them to support the limping man and hop-run away.
They picked spots free of vines to land on, not caring how ridiculous they looked as they scrambled for their lives.
BANG!
When they reached the car, Huang Yulong couldn’t hold on any longer and slammed into the car door.
The other two, tense as they were, failed to hold him.
But thankfully, they noticed that the demon-like vines hadn’t followed them.
The two officers lifted Huang Yulong into the back seat. Jin Shunfu got into the driver’s seat and looked back at the pitch-black, tiled-roof house, clenching his jaw so hard he could taste blood.
VROOOM!
The engine roared.
The moment the car started, Old Jin slammed it into reverse and stomped on the gas.
He didn’t know if the flash from the car starting had drawn the demonic plants after them, but either way, Old Jin kept the pedal floored.
VROOOOM! VROOOOM! VROOOOM!
The engine kept roaring.
A huge cloud of dust billowed into the darkness as the tires spun wildly. Inside the car, everyone, including the pain-wracked Huang Yulong, was so tense their uniforms were soaked with sweat. One person watched the road behind them as they reversed, while the other two stared dead ahead.
Although the small road wasn’t paved with concrete or asphalt, it was straight. In no time, the police car, its lights off, was reversing like a mad bull toward the main road.
BAM! It hit a small bump where the road sloped, knocking it back onto the main road and jolting everyone inside so hard their backsides left the seats.
Once there, the car executed a sliding J-turn and SCREECHED to a halt, the engine still running.
The car was filled with the sound of HUFFING and PUFFING.
"They didn’t follow!"
The vines hadn’t pursued them. It seemed a plant was still a plant, limited by its root system and length. Even if it could give chase, it couldn’t be for an infinite distance.
Their inability to get a signal to call for support just now also indirectly explained why they couldn’t get through to the Chaoxian Jun couple’s phones.
Now that they were here, Old Jin tried the radio and found he had a signal.
"You two watch the road. I’m calling for reinforcements. Don’t let anyone get lost and blindly wander in there."
...
At the Rong County Police Station, the dispatcher wondered if there was something wrong with his ears.
"What did you say? Please repeat that."
The usually good-tempered Old Jin roared into the radio.
"There are mutant plants at Chaoxian Jun’s greenhouse! They’re extremely aggressive! They especially attack light sources! An officer is down! An officer is down! Send reinforcements now! Bring weed killer, bring incendiaries, bring rocket launchers! I don’t care what you do, just bring something that’ll work! I repeat, this is NOT a fucking joke! Remember, don’t use any lights when you come! No lights! NO LIGHTS!"
The dispatcher was stunned for a moment by the roaring on the radio.
Then he remembered that his superiors had previously instructed that any "unconventional" reports, no matter how absurd, were to be reported immediately.
The Rong County Police Station wasn’t high-level; only a few top cadres knew the inside story. As it happened, the deputy director was at the station.
Lu Guodong was studying the new "Regional New Operations Deployment Plan" assigned by the higher-ups, as well as the allocation of several promotion slots that had come with it.
He had just inquired about the Chaoxian Jun case. He’d thought it was just a minor issue but now found his train of thought interrupted by this.
A junior police officer knocked a few times and entered to report.
"Director Lu, Jin Shunfu reports that dangerous mutant plants have appeared in Chaoxian Jun’s greenhouse area. He’s asking for reinforcements... What are your orders?"
"Mm, hmm!? What did you say!?"
Lu Guodong didn’t quite catch it at first. After the full sentence registered in his mind, he instantly understood what the officer had said.
’The greenhouse area!?’
The repeated, stern orders from the higher-ups’ meetings were still fresh in his mind. At a time like this, it was better to kill a thousand by mistake than to let one get away!
Lu Guodong’s mind was already racing. Hearing the report, he shot up from his seat and started rattling off orders based on the plans he’d been forming.
"Notify the Rong County Fire Department, notify the local precinct, issue an emergency recall for all off-duty officers, and temporarily evacuate all residents within a one-kilometer radius of the greenhouse area."
"Did Old Jin mention any other special precautions?"
The junior officer giving the report was completely stunned. Director Lu’s reaction was far different from what he had imagined.
"I’m asking you a question! Why are you just standing there dazed!"
Lu Guodong’s tone was extremely severe.
"Ah, uh, Old Jin said no lights! It attacks light sources! And he said to bring flamethrowers!"
"Good. Cut the power supply to the surrounding area during the evacuation!"
"What are you still standing around for? Go relay the orders!"
"Yes, sir!"
After the officer left, Lu Guodong picked up his office phone and dialed the provincial department directly.
...
"What? A plant-type!? Is there any sign of parasitic infection in the wounded?"
"No? That’s good, that’s good!"
"Understood! We’re on our way immediately!"
Tao Xingzhi slammed down the phone, burst out of his office, and bellowed.
"Emergency assembly! Emergency assembly! This is a Class-I incident! A Class-I incident!
Where’s Huang Jiutian? Has he left yet? Get him back from the research institute! We’re deploying immediately!"
PS: Thanks to book friends Wang Zijian and Book Friend 20180629000800172 for the 500-coin donations, and thanks to book friends Book Friend 20180503010719649, Blood Race Night Blade, Paopao Chahu, and Bu Kui Yu Ren Bu Wei Yu Tian for the 100-coin donations~