After all, the virus carried by these children could inadvertently cause a widespread contagion. Su Mo agreed with this approach and thus raised her voice to signal them to stay inside properly.
The bakers had finished their shifts and all had gone back. They were now obediently following Su Mo’s instructions, staying inside the building.
The black stream of water quickly spread to where the two of them were standing.
Some mutant fish that followed the black water displayed their spotted dorsal fins. Su Mo spotted several of them.
"Don’t get bitten," Lu Chen said as he pulled her back.
As the mutant fish emerged in the water, the entire refugee camp sounded the alarm.
Rong Bai escorted ordinary people to leave first, while the remaining soldiers followed Lu Chen’s orders without question.
The man stood in Rong Bai’s office, using a megaphone to quickly issue a series of tasks.
Lead by Gold Element Superpower Users and Power Superpower Users whose bodies had hardened, Earth Element Superpower Users followed behind to repair the overturned dikes and the collapsed wall. All personnel pulled the injured to evacuate.
The unsavable were to be appropriately abandoned.
Compared to the consolation of more lives, this was also an act of helplessness.
The black water spread very quickly. Now that it had entered, visibility was low, aside from the sweep of searchlights and the flickering of fires or flashlights held by superpower users.
Lu Chen once again warned everyone to protect their legs, then crouched down, and wrapped her legs with towels and cloth strips, thickly encircling them.
"Let’s go to the main gate to meet up with Li Qian and the others."
An electric crackling sound came from the radio on the desk in front of them.
"Mr. Rong, are you still there? We’re running low on food! We really can’t hold on much longer!"
Su Mo looked at the radio, "It must be the team of Healing Superpower Users."
Lu Chen pressed the talk button and asked, "How long can the food last?"
"Just one week’s worth left! We absolutely can’t move! I can also tell you something—I have a geologist who was rescued from a nearby laboratory. There’s going to be a new problem with the world. I think you definitely want to know the answer!" The voice sounding through the radio was very urgent.
A geologist, this matter hit Su Mo hard. She looked at Lu Chen, who was deep in thought, "They knew something would happen? If that’s the case, we definitely must go."
Lu Chen pressed the talk button, his voice cold, "One week. Wait, I’ll come over."
The frequency was cut off, and he walked outside, saying solemnly, "First, let’s deal with the current crisis, then we’ll hit the road."
He always believed that this matter was not simple, and perhaps there was even a greater disaster looming behind.
Su Mo stepped into the water. The cold river instantly soaked her entire leg.
A pitch-black stretch of water had spread across the entire street.
"Aunt Jiang should be at home. With this water level, she should be okay," Su Mo said, stepping towards the huge gap in the refugee camp.
Li Qian was still standing in the midst of the ruins, and Jianxiong was still digging out people.
The water didn’t rise too quickly, and they were still able to dig out quite a few people from below, most of whom had suffered external injuries.
However, there were troubles too. The black water carried a virus. Some people who were trapped underneath and not rescued in time were infected and turned into zombies, which made their struggles even more intense.
Su Mo, while stepping on broken stones, held the Tang Blade in her left hand for defense.
"Where is Zhao Changsheng? How is the situation?" she looked around but didn’t see him.
Li Qian shook his head and said to her, "He is still advancing. I came out to help. That area won’t be flooded for now."
Jianxiong shook his head and sighed, "There were still a few more survivors we could have rescued here, but now we simply don’t have enough time."
"Wait a bit, Feng Yao and the others have already gone there, they should be able to block the water soon," Su Mo had just finished speaking when a fish leaped out of the water, aiming for her face.
Lu Chen immediately released an Ice Blade, piercing through the mutant fish.
"It will take quite some time to fix such a huge hole," Jianxiong scratched his head.
"Don’t worry about that, Rong Bai will handle it, but once the water recedes, we need to set out immediately to rescue people," Su Mo said seriously, sharing everything she had just heard from the broadcast.
Lu Chen commanded a team of armed soldiers to guard the main gate. Everyone stayed vigilant all night long.
Su Mo made another trip to the farming area, which was tightly enclosed by thick earthen walls. She walked in to inspect and only then did her heart settle. There were plastic sheds separating sections, the soil was still well-maintained, and there were specialists looking after it, so there hadn’t been any problems so far.
However, in the makeshift rescue tent in the safe zone, a significant incident had occurred.
As the only Healing Superpower User, Lin Yao stopped cooperating.
Her team began to exploit the situation, charging a fee for each person they healed, based on the severity of the wounds.
Su Mo almost laughed out loud when she heard the news. After inquiring around, she understood that the mutton shop they had owned before had cost them too many Crystal Stones, leaving them financially embarrassed, which led them to this clever scheme.
Convinced that no one would dare to offend them, they had staged this act.
Su Mo immediately called a soldier, "Go tell Lin Yao that it’s acceptable to collect a reasonable amount of Crystal Stones, but if she continues to demand exorbitant prices, tell her to take her team and leave the refugee camp. We don’t need them."
"Should we notify Admiral Rong about this?" the soldier hesitated for a moment, aware of how valuable the Healing Superpower was.
"What’s there to be afraid of? A new Healing Superpower User will arrive soon. I’ll take the responsibility for this issue; just go and tell her."
Ultimately, being Rong Bai’s sister-in-law, and in a way, a supervisor to these soldiers too.
He noted Su Mo’s words and ran off, while Su Mo found a doctor busy amongst the crowd and returned to her old profession.
What was a normal wound to her? At worst, she would contribute a bit more effort—her only difference from Lin Yao was in treating mutant wounds. She didn’t believe that lacking one Healing Superpower User would cause chaos.
Lin Yao’s face indeed darkened. Her reputation was now being trampled underfoot, but could she really just walk away?
Outside, she had no means of protecting herself. Even with her teammates’ protection, it was not foolproof.
Eventually, under the soldier’s coercion, she finally treated everyone equitably, adjusting the prices to a level that everyone could accept, although this move undoubtedly added insult to injury for her image.
By the time the river had receded, it was already broad daylight. The area was a mess with many surviving mutant fish flapping on the ground.
Luckily, the casualties were minimal due to the timely actions of Rong Bai and Lu Chen’s decisiveness, along with the cooperation of the masses and Superpower Users. The loss was minimized, but the cleanup afterward would be problematic.