Game: Civilization Paradise

Hearing this, Bito turned to Akaban.

"Boss, they aren’t willing to compromise. You don’t think those guys will get desperate and charge us, do you?"

"Hmph. If they dare to charge, we’ll kill them. Everyone, stay sharp."

Akaban said to his subordinates.

"Yes, sir!"

Everyone responded in unison.

Meanwhile, Jing Chuan and the others were as anxious as ants on a hot pan, and they all looked toward Luoxue.

"President, what do we do?"

Luoxue’s gaze grew even colder as she spoke.

"Prepare to attack."

"Yes!"

Jing Chuan and the others raised their weapons.

Just then, Long Ming’s gaze happened to sweep over the distant elevator. An idea struck him, and he quickly said,

"Wait."

Luoxue and the others all turned to look at Long Ming.

...

Time ticked by, second by second.

Bito asked doubtfully,

"Boss, why is it so quiet down there?"

"Hmph, quiet? Their deaths are imminent. If they’re being quiet, it’s just a trick to lure us down there. Not a chance."

Akaban gave a confident, cold smile.

"You’re right, Boss."

Bito hurriedly flattered him.

At that moment on the first basement level, a crisp DING echoed.

The elevator door’s indicator light flickered, but thankfully, it finally opened.

"Hurry, the elevator’s about to stop working, too!"

Long Ming and the others immediately rushed out.

"Haha."

After escaping, An Qing and the others were beaming with joy. They hadn’t expected Long Ming’s red keycard to work on the elevator.

They hadn’t been able to use the elevators before, partly because some were broken, and partly because they required a keycard.

Just then, Jing Chuan ran to the edge of the stairwell and shouted down.

"Hey, idiots! Your daddy’s up here now!"

Hearing this, Akaban and his men were stunned and subconsciously looked up.

"Boss, it looks like they got above us."

Bito said, dumbfounded.

"How is that possible? How did they get up there?"

Akaban instantly flew into a rage.

Just then, one after another, monsters mutated from the original inhabitants began to crawl up.

"Boss, the monsters are coming up!"

Bito shouted in terror.

"Up the stairs, now!"

Akaban frantically led his men scrambling upward.

First basement level.

Luoxue shouted to Jing Chuan and the others,

"Let’s go!"

"Alright! Those bastards dared to block us. Once we get out, we’ll lock them in here with the monsters!"

Jing Chuan excitedly led the group, following Luoxue toward the exit passage.

However, when they reached the exit passage, they were all dumbstruck.

A series of descending blast doors blocked their path.

Luoxue and the others stopped dead in their tracks.

"What’s going on? Why is the tunnel entrance closed?"

"I don’t know."

...

In an instant, the hearts of Jing Chuan and the others plunged from heaven into hell.

"Sister Luoxue, what do we do now?"

Zhihan asked, extremely unsettled.

"Long Ming, try your card."

Luoxue said, turning her head to look at Long Ming.

"That’s right, we still have the card."

Jing Chuan and the others finally realized, looking at Long Ming full of hope.

Long Ming looked around, his brow furrowed, and said,

"There’s no card reader here. The doors must have been shut from the central control room."

"We’re finished."

Hearing Long Ming’s words, Zhihan and the others felt their hearts sink into icy despair.

"Go. First, we’ll guard the main staircase on the first basement level. We’ll trap the Scorpion Guild below and let them hold off the monsters for us."

Luoxue immediately made a decision.

"Right, now it’s our turn."

Jing Chuan instantly understood.

They immediately followed Luoxue and rushed to the first-basement-level stairwell.

Before long, Akaban and his men charged up.

Long Ming and the others all pulled their triggers.

BANG! BANG!

A dense hail of bullets swept over them.

Akaban and his men immediately retreated in terror.

"Boss, those bastards from the Star Wish Guild have us pinned down! What do we do now?"

Bito looked at Akaban, on the verge of tears.

Akaban was furious. He never thought the tables would be turned on him like this.

He gritted his teeth and shouted,

"Star Wish Guild! Listen up! If you know what’s good for you, get out of the way! If not, you’ll regret it later!"

"Tch! You think I’m scared of you? I’m telling you right now, if I let you pass, I’ll take your last name."

Jing Chuan spat out the threat, leaving no room for negotiation.

Akaban was furious, but there was truly nothing he could do.

Soon, the monsters from below crawled up.

Bito yelled anxiously,

"Boss, the monsters are here!"

"Shoot them!"

Akaban could only brace himself and open fire.

BANG! BANG!

One by one, the mutated monsters were shot down.

These monsters, transformed from civilians, weren’t very strong on their own. The cold aura they emitted also made their movements rather slow.

However, this shelter had originally housed hundreds of thousands of civilians, perhaps even over a million.

Therefore, even if they just stood there and let you shoot, you could never kill them all. The number swarming out now was actually just a small fraction.

Before long, Akaban’s subordinates ran out of ammo, one after another.

They shouted in panic,

"Boss, we’re out of ammo!"

"Go upstairs and fight those bastards to the death!"

Seeing that they were doomed if they stayed, Akaban said viciously.

"Yes, sir!"

Bito and the others took out grenades and smoke bombs and threw them upwards.

BOOM!

Akaban then led his subordinates in a charge up the stairs.

But just then, several grenades were thrown into the smoke.

BOOM!

AHH—

With a chorus of screams, Akaban and his men were all killed in the explosions.

At this point, Luoxue spoke to all the members of the Rat Group.

"Everyone, switch to rifles. Open fire and don’t worry about ammo consumption."

"Huh?"

"Yes, President."

...

Hearing Luoxue’s order, Cloud Fish and the others were shocked. They also felt a pang of regret for all the weapons and ammunition they had collected.

’That’s all money!’

But in their current situation, if they couldn’t survive, they wouldn’t be able to take any of it with them anyway.

BANG! BANG!

Everyone guarded the stairs, picking off the monsters that crawled up.

But the more they shot, the more monsters came.

Jing Chuan said anxiously to Luoxue,

"Luoxue, this isn’t working! We’re going to run out of ammo sooner or later."

Hearing this, Luoxue’s expression shifted. She turned her head to Long Ming and asked,

"Long Ming, do you have any ideas?"

"Sigh... The only way out for us now is the same tunnel we came in through. Even if there are other exits in the base, they’re useless because they’re all buried in snow."

Long Ming sighed as he analyzed the situation.

"We know that, obviously! The key is, what do we do about it?"

Jing Chuan asked, irritated.

"Then there’s only one way. We fight our way back to the central control room at all costs and open those doors."

Long Ming said in a low voice.

"What?"

Jing Chuan and the others were stunned. The plan was just too insane.

Hearing this, a glint flickered in Luoxue’s eyes. She then spoke.

"Since we’re already cornered, we’ll make our last stand. We fight our way down, no matter the cost."

"Yes!"

Jing Chuan and the others responded in unison.

Luoxue led the group downward, clearing a path.

BANG! BANG!

The group fired intensely, and one monster after another was killed.

Before long, they had cleared their way down to the third basement level.

Just then, An Qing, who was lying at the edge of the stairs looking down, suddenly exclaimed in shock,

"President Luoxue, look down there! It looks like there’s a monster directing the horde."

Hearing this, Luoxue, Long Ming, and a few others immediately rushed over. Lying on the edge of the stairs and looking down, they saw Ailo on the fifth basement level, directing the monsters to charge upward.

"We’re finished. That thing is out now, too. If we don’t kill it first, we have no hope."

Long Ming said, a headache setting in.

"Then we’ll risk it all. Long Ming, you and I are going down there to kill it."

Luoxue said coldly to Long Ming.

"Huh? The two of us?"

Long Ming replied, looking confused.

Just then, Luoxue’s expression hardened. She then took a silver bio-storage case from her backpack and opened it.

Inside lay two blue gene-serum injectors.

She grabbed one of the blue injectors and stabbed it into Long Ming’s neck, depressing the plunger.

"What the—? Why did you stab me?"

Long Ming looked at Luoxue, dumbfounded, before his whole body collapsed.

Luoxue didn’t answer him. Instead, she picked up the other injector, stabbed it into her own neck, and injected the contents.