Sure, it was true, but someone actually dared to use her child to threaten her? That person had some serious guts.
Lan Jin said coldly, "If I don't teach him a lesson, he'll think I'm easy to bully."
Captain Zhang quickly moved forward to check Lao Yan's breathing. When he found a faint sign of life, he finally let out a breath. "Good, he's still alive. Alright, Lao Yan's already unconscious. The rest of you, just get back to what you should be doing."
With their leader down cold, were the others really going to keep 'rebelling'? And Lao Yan… he wasn't even that tough. Everyone who'd been captured couldn't believe it. Two moves, that was all it took. Lao Yan was subdued without even a chance to fight back, none at all.
"That's impossible, how can this be?"
"Yeah, Lao Yan's strong, how could he just pass out like that? What underhanded trick did you use? Let him go right now, hand over the vaccines!"
"Yeah, hand them over, release Lao Yan!"
Captain Ji sneered, "You still don't get your place, do you? You've already been caught. What right do you have to make demands? Everyone, throw them in the dungeon. If anyone resists, shoot them on the spot."
The moment those words left his mouth, silence fell across the hall.
Before, the base would've executed people like this without hesitation. But this time, they still had questions that needed answers. They'd drag the prisoners away and squeeze the truth out first.
But in the end, the result wouldn't change. These people couldn't be allowed to live. Even if humanity had dwindled to so few, the base wouldn't let anyone disrupt its balance and threaten its survival. Letting them live would only bring endless trouble.
Once the prisoners were dragged away, the matter no longer concerned Lan Jin and her group. Noticing Captain Zhang still hadn't left, she stepped forward quickly. "Captain Zhang, what about Qiao Qiao?"
"Don't worry. Qiao Qiao and the other kids are safe in the shelter. Nothing's happened to them. But after what Lao Yan just said, we can't keep them there. We'll move them to our office area immediately. It's safe there. And… I need to trouble you with something else."
Lan Jin froze, then immediately thought of what lay outside. But they were trapped in the base. How were they supposed to deal with the mutated creatures out there?
Captain Zhang said, "Stay here in the hall for now. I'll take people to scout the outside and see how many mutated creatures are gathered. The ones inside the base also need to be cleared out."
This wasn't the end. There was plenty of work left.
The four of them agreed right away. "Alright, we'll wait here. And you'd better find out what's going on with that wall. Why did painting those mutated creatures make them come out of it, like copies crawling straight through the stone? And how could they draw them so perfectly? It's way too weird."
"I know."
With that, Captain Zhang led his men away.
Every base had a wall several meters tall circling its perimeter, capped by a transparent protective dome.
The wall wasn't just stone. It had internal structures built to defend against and attack enemies, and lifts that ran straight from the ground to the top.
Right now, Captain Zhang and his team climbed straight up to the top.
If this were still polar day, things would've been much simpler. But it was polar night, and they needed to see clearly. They cranked the perimeter floodlights to maximum. The moment the lights snapped on, the sight made their stomachs drop. The base was surrounded, packed with mutated creatures so dense they stretched beyond the horizon.
Worse, the ones closest to the wall had piled themselves into mounds, like they were trying to climb in from above. Numbers didn't scare Captain Zhang, but figuring out how to fight them outside the walls was another matter entirely. He had Lan Jin and the others brought up to the top. The moment she looked down, her scalp went numb.
Even if those things hadn't been mutated creatures, the sheer density alone was enough to trigger anyone's trypophobia. Her skin prickled with goosebumps.
"This many? There's no way they just showed up here. Did someone paint outside the base too? Otherwise, why would every mutated creature in the country rush here?"
"Doesn't matter where they came from. Look down, they're already climbing. Kill them first, ask questions later." Captain Zhang turned. "Your powers work through the barrier, right?"
"Of course."
With the creatures crammed together like that, they didn't even have to aim carefully.
Bolts of lightning shot down from Lan Jin, followed by bursts of firepower from Huang Jinghe. It didn't take much effort. In no time, the entire mass of creatures was writhing and paralyzed.
Lan Jin quickly raised her hands. "Hold on. Don't count me in for the cleanup. I can't handle it. It's too gross, I can't look at that mess."
Captain Zhang gave a wry smile. "Did I say you had to? Even if we're short on people, I'd never make you do that. But you can't leave either. If any creatures survive, you'll need to finish them off right away."
"That's fine. We'll stay here and keep watch. It's clear from here, easy to strike."
Before leaving, Captain Zhang asked one last question. "By the way, did you actually kill that big black panther with lightning?"
Lan Jin frowned. "I don't know. It was huge, but I didn't use my strongest attack. It might be dead, might not. You'd better be careful, just in case."
"Got it."
He left with his men, while the four of them wandered the wall's top.
As for the panther at the gate, it wasn't dead at all. Fearing it might wake and lash out, Captain Zhang had two men sedate it further, then carried it into the base.
The panther's attack power was terrifying, but if they could harness it, it would be an incredible asset. Captain Zhang wasn't about to waste it. He already had someone in mind to tame it. The beast feared nothing but lightning.
And Lan Jin? She was a natural with animals. She'd trained dogs with ease. A black panther wouldn't be beyond her reach.