"Stay back! One more step and I’ll kill..."

Just as they entered, they saw a middle-aged man holding a hostage. The hostage was maimed, but it was clear she was still alive.

Everyone who saw this scene instantly understood why you were supposed to kill criminals on sight in the apocalypse.

These people had no humanity. They were depraved. They were animals.

He raised his hand. One shot.

There wasn’t a loud bang.

The knife-wielding thug collapsed, unable to even finish his sentence.

When the team set out, Wang Ziru had taken the initiative to gift an Electromagnetic Kinetic Energy Weapon to both Jiang Zhenlong and Yun Ming.

Charging was simple—it used a Type-C port, which were everywhere in the apocalypse. A full charge was good for three hundred and fifty shots.

It was a gift, but it was also Wang Ziru’s way of demonstrating the technological might of the Mo University Camp to the official rescue team—a different kind of muscle-flexing.

The team pushed deeper inside.

"Turn left up ahead. There’s a hidden door in the wall. That leads to the second floor of the Golden Impression."

Liu Wei, a team member who was very familiar with the layout, pointed the way.

Jiang Zhenlong immediately led the team forward.

They broke through the hidden door, only to be met by another thug threatening a hostage.

The distance was short. This time, it wasn’t just Jiang Zhenlong who fired; the squad at the front opened fire as well.

"Watch out for arrows from the Compound Bows!"

Jiang Zhenlong warned.

"We’ll take the lead. The Exoskeletons can handle Compound Bows."

Jiang Zhenlong hesitated for a second before stepping aside. "Be careful."

With that word of caution, the formation changed, and they continued to advance.

Soon, the expected Compound Bows—and even guns the thugs had seized—made their appearance.

But under the protection of the Exoskeletons, they suffered no injuries.

The thugs never expected the officials, who always prioritized hostage safety, to resort to such a violent, direct assault.

Moreover, their numbers were overwhelming this time. The thug leader had just tried to escape when he was pinned down by gunfire from the back entrance.

According to the plan, the Extraordinary was to be dealt with by the Extraordinary team.

The team at the back entrance was positioned far away, unleashing a torrent of firepower the moment the door opened.

"Fuck! Have the officials gone insane since the apocalypse started? Are these college kids nuts too? They don’t give a damn about the hostages’ lives?"

The bald leader raged impotently, but he couldn’t stop the team that had already closed in on him.

During this assault, a total of thirteen thugs were killed, with three hostage casualties.

Most of the thugs were taken out with precise headshots before they could even react.

"Don’t look into the bald man’s eyes!"

Jiang Zhenlong warned again.

No, even before Jiang Zhenlong could finish his warning, two shards of ice and two splinters of glass shot through the air at blinding speed, heading straight for the bald leader’s eyes.

At the same time, the squad members at the front opened fire in unison, giving the bald leader no chance to react.

Cheng Huaigang, at the very front of the squad, felt his head spin and saw faint hallucinations, but then everything was over.

The ice shards and glass splinters buried themselves deep in the bald leader’s eyes.

In addition, he was simultaneously riddled with bullets.

With that, all the thugs were successfully eliminated.

"BLEGH..."

"Urp..."

As the adrenaline wore off, many with weaker stomachs threw up.

It wasn’t psychological discomfort from the killing, but the oppressive atmosphere of the place.

There had originally been over thirty survivors here, but now only a dozen or so remained. Most had been killed by the middle-aged men from the archery club.

Jiang Zhenlong’s gaze fell on the body in camouflage fatigues next to the bald leader, and he remained silent for a long time.

The captured team member had died after all.

He hadn’t died at the hands of apocalyptic monsters, but at the hands of lawless, wicked men.

...

A hundred meters away, Lin Qi, who had been observing everything through his Spiritual Vision, quietly withdrew.

After this battle, the survivors from Mo University would grow a great deal. They would become the backbone of the Mo University Camp.

He made his way back to the conference room. There were less than six hours left until the Door’s cooldown was complete.

Lin Qi still had time for Meditation.

He closed his eyes, entered his Spiritual Vision, and began his Meditation.

The surrounding Spiritual Particles swirled and converged.

He wasn’t sure if it was his imagination, but Lin Qi felt the Spiritual Particles were converging faster than during his previous Meditation sessions.

Furthermore, the stimulating effect of the surrounding Spiritual Particles on his Spiritual Power was also growing stronger.

The growth rate of his Spiritual Power had increased by more than twenty percent.

’No, it’s not my imagination. The Spiritual Particles around me seem to have become more... active.’

’It’s limited to a radius of about ten meters around me. Beyond that, the Spiritual Particles are just like before.’

Opening his eyes, Lin Qi was instantly on alert.

Was someone interfering?

Or was it an Extraordinary Item?

Spiritual Particles would never take on such a state on their own.

He stopped his Meditation, changed rooms, and entered the laboratory from before.

He began to Meditate again.

It was still the same. The Spiritual Particles were exhibiting that inexplicable change.

’Something’s wrong. This is completely wrong.’

Although this state of the Spiritual Particles was a good thing, this feeling of being given "special treatment" filled Lin Qi with a deep sense of unease.

A feeling of being watched rose from the depths of his heart.

But the feedback from his Spiritual Vision told Lin Qi that there was no one watching; everything was normal.

The hairs on his arms stood on end, and a chill ran down his spine.

’The Spiritual Particles of this world most likely originate from that scarlet moon in the sky. The only thing that could grant them this change is, perhaps...’

The thought made Lin Qi’s heart pound with fear.

The scarlet moon’s Extraordinary Level was practically off the charts; Lin Qi couldn’t determine its Level at all.

But Lin Qi knew it was most likely a living being, not an ordinary Extraordinary Item.

’The moon has its eyes on me?’

A sense of being watched, born from his own mind, enveloped him. Even though his Spiritual Vision gave him no feedback, Lin Qi still felt the moon’s scarlet pupils staring intently at him.

He stopped Meditating. A long time passed.

Nothing unexpected happened. It seemed everything had just been his imagination.

He entered a state of Meditation again.

The "special treatment" state of the Spiritual Particles remained.

It was as if wherever Lin Qi went, the Spiritual Particles there would exhibit this special, active state.

’I’ll stop Meditating for now. I’ll try again when I’m back in the Cyber World.’

’If the Spiritual Particles in the Cyber World are in the same state, then the problem is with me, not with an external source.’

’But if the Spiritual Particles in the Cyber World are unchanged, then that means...’

Lin Qi had to consider whether he should even open the Door anymore.

Being targeted by a special existence in the Doomsday World was not a good thing.

Walking to the window, Lin Qi looked up.

The sky was growing dark, and the moon was faintly visible.

It was scarlet, but it hadn’t opened its eye; there was no pupil.

It was as if everything had been Lin Qi’s imagination.

Why would an Extraordinary creature on the level of the scarlet moon suddenly notice a normal person like him, let alone grant him a boon?

Lin Qi comforted himself.