Chapter 142 - 139: Thorns Reappear
"Commander, if they appear, what do we do?"
The meeting fell silent.
Personnel from the Public Security Bureau and other agencies had nothing to add, while the members of the Special Security Team, both in the command vehicle and on the video call, all wore deep frowns.
Thanks to Huang Radar’s intuition, the conversation had skipped right past *if* the mysterious entity would appear to *how* they should act when it did.
"Xiaoliu, you’re the on-site Commander. I want to hear your opinion."
Liu Yue twisted open a bottle of mineral water and took a swig.
"Honestly, the choice isn’t ours. If they really show up, are we actually going to try and arrest them?"
That was indeed the case. The consequences of such a bold move were too uncertain; it could very well be an act of self-sabotage.
The tone for the meeting was finally set.
To be safe and ensure public security, Plan B was the primary strategy. If the mysterious entity truly appeared, all personnel were to exercise restraint until hostile intent was confirmed. Even if a Demon materialized right in front of them, they had to resist the urge to fire.
The meeting concluded. The first step was scheduled to begin at dawn tomorrow: sealing off the sewer sections, followed by a simultaneous evacuation of the public.
Huang Jiutian and Liu Yue got out of the vehicle together to relax and de-stress.
"Sigh, another sleepless night..."
Hearing Huang Jiutian’s sigh, Liu Yue gave an empathetic smile and patted his shoulder.
"It’s been tough on you, too. Being a human radar isn’t easy. You have to be there whenever something happens, and they’re always drawing your blood."
Huang Jiutian’s face twisted into a constipated expression.
"I feel like the amount of blood I lose every month is like getting my period. It’s even more regular than a girl’s..."
"Hahahahaha..."
Liu Yue was laughing so hard he was bent over. He was about to say something when he suddenly froze.
"Jiutian, did you hear that? Is your Perception picking anything up?"
Huang Jiutian stopped too, quietly pressing his ear to the ground. Liu Yue did the same.
GULP.
The sound of them swallowing was perfectly synchronized.
Although they weren’t directly above a sewer line, they could still hear a considerable amount of noise from below.
"Are the rats starting a riot?"
Liu Yue’s breathing began to quicken.
"No. This chaotic feeling... they’re afraid..."
...
Deep in the sewers, countless terrifying vines and Thorns shot through the tunnels, the stench of blood and filth mixing into a brutal symphony.
Swarms of rats fled in a panic, scrambling for their lives away from the danger.
The sound of SQUEAK SQUEAK SQUEAK was everywhere, as were the death cries of the rats.
THUD. THUD.
THUD THUD THUD THUD.
Clear impact sounds came from beneath many of the sealed manhole covers, making the personnel stationed there extremely tense.
The impacts went from sporadic to dense, their intensity utterly frantic. Mixed with the incessant squeaking of the rats, the sound was even more unsettling.
Liu Yue and Huang Jiutian’s communicators buzzed frantically, all with emergency reports.
The two of them shot up and sprinted back to the command vehicle.
The atmosphere there was tense. Armed police reinforcements were already mobilizing overnight, and police forces from other areas were being redeployed.
"What’s the situation?"
"It’s bad. In the sealed-off sewer area, a significant number of manhole covers are being struck from below, and the wave of impacts seems to be moving."
On the electronic screen inside the vehicle, red dots marked the city’s sewer network. A mouse cursor moved across, dragging a red line.
"Something has spooked them all."
Huang Jiutian took the mouse for the control console and drew out all the lines.
"Here, here, and here! Besides the rats, there’s something else underground! The rats are all fleeing in the direction of the arrows!"
Everyone was shaken. The diagram looked so familiar—it was almost identical to the annihilation map they’d laid out for Plan B, just with a slightly different epicenter.
Huang Jiutian was already covered in sweat.
"These rats... they’re all in a state of panic, as if they’ve encountered something terrifying. And there’s a force underground... it feels oppressive to me."
Reports of the latest developments continued to come in over the vehicle’s communicator. Following the direction of the arrows on the screen, the impacts on the manhole covers at the tail end of the path had ceased one by one, seeming to confirm the rats’ escape route.
Police cars, fire trucks, and armed police transport vehicles—a large number of vehicles converged silently on the newly designated assembly point.
On the roads leading to the area, all private cars were being diverted to other routes by traffic police on the perimeter.
A large number of vehicles slowly gathered in front of a shopping mall construction site. Most of the people getting out were armed with live ammunition.
By the time they arrived, the chaotic noise from the rat swarm was so loud you didn’t even need to put an ear to the ground to hear it clearly.
Everyone was wearing rubber Insulation boots. Around the dozen or so manhole covers in the area, bare metal wires were wound, and the ground had been intentionally sprayed with water to keep it damp.
BANGING... BANGING...
Beneath the manhole covers, a rapid banging erupted. Some people could almost imagine they heard the sound of cracking bones.
The reinforced manhole covers, weighed down with heavy objects, were still trembling from the impacts, emitting a grating sound that made the surrounding personnel’s skin crawl.
Dozens of grappling hooks were fired onto the manhole covers’ reinforcement systems.
"Tear down the reinforcements!"
What?
When the soldiers heard this command, they couldn’t believe their ears. Only when the Commander repeated it did they snap out of their daze, watching wide-eyed as the vehicles with the grappling hook cables attached revved their engines and tore the reinforcement systems apart.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Like a gusher, countless giant rats shot out of the manholes, tumbling onto the ground and frantically scattering in all directions.
Liu Yue roared from the command vehicle.
"Now!"
BZZZZZZT—
Countless electric arcs instantly flared up on the metal wires around all the manhole covers. Tens of thousands of volts of high voltage coursed everywhere across the damp ground.
"SQUEEE~" "SQUEEE~" "SQUEEE~"
More than a hundred meters away, the soldiers forming the perimeter were turned into flickering silhouettes by the light of the electric arcs.
They could even smell the scent of roasting meat, but the rats from underground continued to pour out as if their lives were being claimed by a demon, rushing one after another towards the electric circle outside.
"H-how many of them are there?"
Everyone was terrified, their bodies trembling.
"Everyone, check your ammo! Safeties off!"
An Officer was already shouting at the soldiers beside him. The pile of rat corpses grew higher and higher, to the point where it looked like they might bridge the electrified zone.
"Hold the line!" "Hold the line!"...
Besides the Officer’s loud shouts, the only other sounds were the frantic or dying squeals of the rats.
Everyone’s nerves were stretched to the breaking point. From the commanders to the soldiers, sweat streamed down every face.
At the mouths of the manholes, many rats hesitated at the edge of the deadly electrified zone. Meanwhile, more fleeing swarms continued to surge from behind, causing the rats of all sizes to pile up into what looked like massive, writhing spheres.
Some were the size of house mice, others as large as cats and dogs. Their disgusting tails, horrific fur, and beady, gleaming eyes formed a dense, terrifying mass.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!...
The dozen or so spheres suddenly exploded.
SWISH! SWISH! SWISH!
Countless terrifying tentacles burst from underground. With a ferocious display, they impaled all the slower rats.
Under the searchlights, they were revealed to be blood-soaked Thorns. Their barbs glinted like living things, and every lash or stab claimed the lives of another swathe of rats.
With the exception of Huang Jiutian, the pupils of every Special Security Team member contracted violently.
Thorns!