Embers Ad Infinitum

"The self-destruction procedure has been initiated. The building will be completely closed in ten minutes. Personnel from all units are requested to evacuate in an orderly manner."

As soon as Long Yuehong and others got out of the elevator, they heard the news being played on the radio that had stopped.

The few employees at the material supply market who originally believed Shang Jianyao's words but chose to follow the crowd were completely panicked, frightened and frightened.

"There's enough time." Long Yuehong said simply, turned around and ran towards the safe passage leading to the 650th floor.

According to his estimation, if the journey goes smoothly, they will be able to use the safe passage and ascend to the "surface area" within five minutes. At that time, no matter how closed or self-destructed the underground part is, it will not affect them.

Deng Deng Deng, Long Yuehong led the way, followed by Gu Hong and Long Dayong behind. Bai Chen was slightly two steps behind, responsible for dealing with other accidents.

The few employees in the material supply market seemed to have found a backbone. They were no longer so panicked and started running.

There is more than one safe passage in the underground building, and at least half of the elevator halls correspond to one. Long Yuehong and others only ran a few steps before entering the stairs and going all the way up.

All the roadblocks placed here were destroyed, and they reached the 650th floor easily and smoothly.

If it weren't for the "countdown to self-destruction" still echoing in their ears, everyone present would quietly heave a sigh of relief.

The security passages on the 650th floor are concentrated on the other side and are not connected to anything below. You have to go through a long aisle guarded by multiple double metal doors to get there.

Fortunately, the escape of the security department employees allowed these metal gates to open on their own without the need for forceful destruction.

Long Yuehong led her parents, wife and a few employees from the material supply market and ran all the way without stopping.

"Countdown: nine minutes..."

"Countdown: eight minutes..."

The countdown sounded again and again, causing Long Dayong and Gu Hong, who usually neglected to exercise, to secrete adrenaline and run smoothly.

None of them dared to slow down and gasped for air.

That is to say, they are not too old yet and have undergone immature genetic modification. Otherwise, they would really not be able to persist after running like this for a while.

"Countdown: seven minutes..."

"Countdown: six minutes..."

The more Long Yuehong ran, the more strange she became.

According to common sense, with their speed, they should have reached the other side of the 650th floor by now and started looking for safe passages where the roadblocks were destroyed or not permanently closed.

Moreover, it was such a straight road, and they were not Jiang Baimian, how could they get lost?

Long Yuehong's heart moved and she stopped.

He raised his right hand to signal his parents and others to take a break.

At the same time, he shouted loudly:

"The underground building is about to be closed. Do you want to die inside?"

He suspected that he and others had encountered an awakened person from the "Broken Mirror" field, and they were still loyal to the company and had not been affected.

However, no one answered him.

At this moment, Bai Chen reminded:

"You write on the wall!"

yes! Long Yuehong suddenly realized.

The only reason why the awakened person was not affected by Shang Jianyao and was not frightened by the self-destruction countdown could only be that he blocked his ears in advance.

As for the worst-case scenario of "high-level unintentional people", Long Yuehong didn't want to think about it for the time being.

With a snap, the robotic arm popped out the knife and scratched it on the wall:

“The building is about to be closed, you’ll know when you hear it!”

After ten or twenty seconds, it was as if an invisible layer of glass shattered in front of Long Yuehong and others.

They immediately saw the other side of the 650th floor, saw multiple figures wandering in place, and saw one person running towards the depths of the area.

Huh... Long Yuehong breathed a sigh of relief and called to his parents and wife:

"continue!"

Now, there's just over four minutes left!

The group of them started running again, heading straight for the nearest safe passage.

But this place is permanently closed.

They had to change another one.

After trying three times in a row, Long Yuehong finally saw the destroyed roadblock.

If the roadblock can be destroyed, it means that the road should be open!

"Countdown: three minutes..."

Long Yuehong was overjoyed, and at the same time, the cold electronic synthesized sound sounded again.

He hurriedly encouraged his parents:

"Go up and you'll find the 'surface area'!"

Hope filled everyone's hearts as they crazily climbed up the stairs.

This safety passage is quite long, roughly equal to the height of a normal three floors.

The sound of pattering footsteps was heard endlessly, and Long Yuehong finally saw a platform. At the end of the platform was a silver-black double metal door.

"Huh." He took a breath and said to the people following him, "It's safe to go out!"

This allowed many people whose legs were already weak to generate a little more strength out of thin air.

Long Yuehong protected her parents, and together with Bai Chen, they ran towards the open door, which was the parking lot outside.

"Countdown: two minutes..."

At this moment, Long Yuehong suddenly became fragile and full of doubts about whether he could escape:

"Does the closure of underground buildings really only refer to the underground area and does not include the surface part?"

"If it's the latter, it will take at least five minutes of running from here to entering the dust. It's not enough time at all..."

"Even if we can smash the car, we don't have the key..."

"Xiao Bai will connect the wire and force the car to drive, but I don't know if it will be too late..."

"Even if the big boss and the powerful men of the 'New World' are indeed held back, can so many awakened people at the 'Soul Corridor' level in the company really make us achieve our wish? Moreover, the company has been operating in the building for decades, and I don't know how many more there are. Set up!”

Questions like these were like bullets shot into Long Yuehong's heart, causing him to have a mental breakdown and no longer have the will to move forward.

Not only him, but Bai Chen, Long Dayong, and Gu Hong all had similar reactions. They all stopped with collapsed faces and gasped for air.

The same is true for the employees of the material supply market and some of the people who were just affected by the illusion.

Only one-third of the people were not affected and ran out of the metal gate not far in front of Long Yuehong and entered the parking lot.

"Fragile heart"!

The ability of the awakened person in the "Zhuang Sheng" field!

Long Yuehong turned around halfway and saw two figures walking towards the other side of the platform.

Yi Yi had his ears plugged, his eyes were cloudy, he was wearing stiff black clothes, his body was slightly stooped, he was about fifty years old, and his whole body was wrapped in a "chameleon" bionic smart armor.

"High-level unintentional person"... Long Yuehong's heart sank, becoming more and more desperate.

There was not much time left, and they were intercepted by the "Higher Heartless", and the road ahead was bleak.

No, there is no hope at all!

The fragile Long Yuehong couldn't help but shed tears, and her vision was blurred.

He seemed to hear the footsteps of death.

"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu" Gu Hong started to cry, and Long Dayong squatted down and covered his face with his hands.

Even Bai Chen, who had always been determined, had wet eyes at this moment, and his face showed emotions of frustration and pain.

The "Higher Heartless One" walked over step by step with the man wearing the bionic smart armor.

He grabbed an employee of the supply market and bit his neck violently.

Blood spurted out.

Long Yuehong stared at this scene blankly, as if he had seen his own ending.

"Countdown: 59 seconds..."

"58..."

"57..."

Another group of people ran up from this safe passage, and behind them were a large number of vicious "careless people".

It's over, it's over... Long Yuehong's willpower was like porcelain hit by a hammer, shattering into countless pieces.

He seemed to be able to see the death of himself, Bai Chen and his parents.

Either his neck was broken by the "careless ones", his heart was taken out, and he was torn into pieces, or he was sealed in an underground building and died from subsequent explosions, poison gas, flooding, suffocation, or mental breakdown.

The imaginary scenes appeared in Long Yuehong's mind one after another, accompanied by the screams caused by the "unintentional people" hunting those "Pangu Creature" employees, making him weakly want to end his life to avoid witnessing it with his own eyes. The tragic situation of parents and Bai Chen.

"30..."

"29..."

A large number of escapees were hunted by "careless people" in various ways, and some of them were lucky enough to get past Long Yuehong and others and rush into the parking lot.

This almost broke the nerve in Long Yuehong's mind.

The fear of death and the tragedy of his loved ones kept hammering his soul, gradually echoing in his heart:

"No, I don't want to see such a thing...

"I don't want to see my father, mother and Bai Chen die like this...

"I'm afraid of death, but I'm even more afraid of seeing those I love die miserably!"

"12..."

"11..."

"10..."

As soon as the number "10" popped into Long Yuehong's mind, he had hallucinations like a nervous breakdown.

He was completely devastated.

Some people have a complete breakdown and give up completely, while others do some extreme behavior that they would not normally do.

This is affected by both one's own personality and the growth brought about by acquired experiences, with the latter having a greater proportion.

"9……"

Long Yuehong suddenly moved, as if he was no longer affected by the "fragile heart".

With red eyes, he ran sideways, grabbed his parents' clothes with both hands, and lifted them up.

"8……"

"7..."

Long Yuehong first used her mechanical arm to throw Gu Hong out of the gate and into the parking lot. Then she twisted her waist and used all her strength to throw Long Dayong in that direction.

"6..."

Long Yuehong ran backwards to Bai Chen's side.

"5..."

He picked up Bai Chen by the waist with his robotic arm and rushed him out the door.

"Run!"

Long Yuehong shouted loudly.

"4..."

Bai Chen flew into the air with sadness and confusion in his eyes.

At the same time, Long Yuehong turned around and faced the "high-level unintentional person" who was killing.

"3..."

Long Yuehong ran over and raised his arm. He wanted to quickly deal with this "unintentional person" who was still affecting his parents and Bai Chen.

At this moment, he was no longer fragile, no longer hesitant, no longer afraid, his heart was extremely calm, and there were only enemies in his eyes.

My name is Long Yuehong. I am only 1.75 meters tall after genetic modification. I am average-looking and have average scores in all subjects...

PS: There are four updates today, the second update is at 3:30, the third update is at 7:00, and the fourth update is at 10:00.