"Huh, why did the power go out!"
The moment the lights went out, Su Yue’s pupils instantly shone with a brilliant gleam.
This is typical for a martial artist; when familiar surroundings change, they instinctively become vigilant.
The originally bustling lobby suddenly fell into chaos. ᴛʜɪs ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ɪs ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ʙʏ 𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭·𝓯𝓲𝓻𝓮·𝙣𝙚𝙩
In the entire lobby, only a few emergency lights barely glowed, but the light was very faint. Within seconds, various phone flashlights turned on, flickering brightly, making the hall colorful and uncomfortable to the eyes.
People in some places began to clamor. With the infrastructure level in the Divine Land, Cengyan City hadn’t had a power outage for a long time. People accustomed to bright lights found the darkness somewhat novel.
As he watched the noisy and jubilant crowd, an ominous feeling suddenly arose in his heart.
For a big mall, this theoretically shouldn’t happen.
Cengyan City has backup emergency power supplies, and malls have mandatory generators.
Within a minute, power should be restored.
The crowd was noisy, easily making people lose track of time.
Unknowingly, three minutes had passed, but there was still no sign of power being restored in the mall.
"Everyone, we’ve had enough fun. After all, the college entrance exam is tomorrow, let’s all go home early!"
"Get some rest, aim for extraordinary performance tomorrow!"
Dai Yuegui stood up, ready to send everyone home.
For some reason, he felt increasingly uneasy.
"Why on earth is the power out? It’s really frustrating!"
"Listen to the officer, everyone go home, we can come out to party after the exam!"
The crowd began to pack up using the light from their phones.
Just then, a scream suddenly came from the first floor.
Su Yue and their group were on the second floor, and everyone rushed out.
Indeed, at the first-floor exit, Investigation and Arrest Bureau personnel began to evacuate the crowd.
Someone had truly died.
And not just one person, but three.
They seemed to be trying to leave the mall, ready to go home.
But the front door wouldn’t open.
"The back door is deadlocked, welded shut, can’t be opened."
Suddenly, someone exclaimed near the back door.
Before people could ponder over the back door, several muffled sounds suddenly came from the basement, deafening even causing the mall floor to tremble, and some store glass counters began to crack.
"Is it an earthquake?"
Someone exclaimed, and the crowd instantly panicked.
"It’s not an earthquake; everyone maintain order to avoid a stampede. Stay in place and don’t move!"
Investigation and Arrest Bureau personnel used loudspeakers to maintain order.
Five squads were dispatched for this carnival, along with a Grade Four deputy director leading them, so the order was relatively maintained.
"Indeed, it’s not an earthquake, it seems something is cracking."
Su Yue perked up his ears.
It seemed like something enormous and heavy made of iron.
If his judgment was correct, the iron container held some kind of liquid.
A few seconds later, the same vibration was felt from above the roof.
The crystal chandelier fell, dust began to fall from the ceiling.
With the crowd so dense, the chaos intensified further.
Lu Xinrong was the deputy director responsible for security this time, with Grade Four initial-stage strength.
He was standing at the very center of the lobby, commanding the Investigation and Arrest Bureau to maintain order.
It’s simply maddening.
The back door was welded shut, impossible to open.
This door is made of special materials, violent force can’t break it open.
The front door is a bit better, though locked from the outside, it would take some time, the Investigation and Arrest Bureau could open it, but the crowd was already becoming impatient.
This carnival brought many families of martial artists, if any accident happened, his life wouldn’t be enough to pay for the consequences.
At this moment, Lu Xinrong could already confirm that someone was trying to use the carnival as a cover to conduct fear activities.
It must be them, no doubt.
"Director Lu, the elevators are down, can’t be used.
"Three doors leading to the basement, two are completely welded shut, we can’t open them, only one remains... inside, there seems to be someone, a martial artist, we’ve lost three brothers.
"The martial artist inside seems to be smashing water tanks, we can’t get in for now, but they’re not coming out either.
"Moreover, these people can combine attacks, a few of them together can unleash second-grade martial artist deadly moves. We can’t breach!"
Reported a squad leader from the Investigation and Arrest Bureau.
He was at the pinnacle of Grade Two, but tried several times, failing completely, nearly losing his life once more.
The martial artists in the basement weren’t actually strong, most were Grade One, and they looked like Qi and Blood Martial Artists.
But they could combine their power and multiply their damage, making them terrifying.
And this group in the basement smashing water tanks, they were definitely up to no good; the Investigation and Arrest Bureau even smelled a strong scent of blood inside.
"Director Lu, three doors leading to the rooftop, one welded shut, two remaining, but there’s a martial artist blocking us up there, we can’t reach!
"Same situation as the basement, this group can chain attacks, Fifth squad captain, seriously injured, two team members dead."
Another team leader came to report.
"Ah... why is there water dripping upstairs... oh, it’s not water, it’s blood, it’s blood..."
Liquid began to seep from cracks in the roof that were jolted open.
At first, people thought it was water, but upon closer inspection, it had a crimson color.
"Everyone rest assured, this building won’t collapse, I guarantee it with my reputation, I was the foreman back then."