Hearing the shout, Wang Zhi immediately caught that same pungent stench from the night before.
"Not good! Let's hurry and check it out!" Wang Zhi snapped out of his stupor, immediately calling everyone and rushing toward the training area entrance.
"It's finally raining! Charge!" Fatty ran ahead of the rest.
For a time, because it was raining outside, everyone rushed to the entrance to witness this rare Anomaly.
"Wow, why does this rain smell awful?" Fatty said, covering his nose as he reached the entrance.
Wang Zhi looked outside. The rain wasn't heavy, but each raindrop was more than three times larger than usual, slightly murky in color, falling one by one to the ground.
'Why does this rain stink?" a survivor muttered, extending his hand to catch a few drops, intending to smell them.
This survivor caught two drops in his hand and was about to bring them up to smell when he suddenly cried out, then quickly shook his hand, wiping it several times on his clothes.
"Damn it! This rain burns!"
Hearing the survivor's words, Wang Zhi's pupils constricted. He knew that 'burns' didn't mean the water droplets were hot, but that they were corrosive!
Wang Zhi focused his gaze back on the survivor's hand and saw that the situation hadn't worsened; only his skin was slightly red. This made Wang Zhi breathe a sigh of relief; if the corrosion had been intense, none of them would have survived.
"No one goes out! There is something wrong with this rain!" Wang Zhi pulled everyone back and warned them.
The people here also noticed something was wrong and retreated one after another. No one dared to go up and touch the rainwater like the survivor just now. Instead, they all stared intently at this survivor, in case he suddenly mutated.
"Why are you all staring at me? This rain is just a little hot, there are no other problems!" This survivor raised his slightly red hand to prove that he was indeed fine.
However, the crowd did not shift their gaze away from him because of this and continued to watch the survivor closely.
"Should we take advantage of the light rain and run to the City Lord's Palace first?" You Luo approached and said in a low voice.
She knew that nowhere was safer than the City Lord's Palace right now; even if it fell, there would be enough time to escape into the Dawn Tower.
"Huh? It's not that serious, is it? This rain is just a little hot, we shouldn't have to flee back to the Dawn Tower, right?" Fatty remarked.
"That's not hot, that's corrosion. Let's observe its corrosiveness first. Judging by the current scale of the rainfall, it won't reach us even if it rains for a whole day and night," Wang Zhi said, continuing to stare at the survivor from before.
"But what if we don't have time later? Won't we end up trapped like turtles in a jar?" Gray Wolf questioned.
Wang Zhi glanced at Tang Qilin in the distance and saw that he, too, was watching the survivor, waiting for a decision.
Throughout the entire training ground, no one dared to be the first to rush out and take the risk; everyone was waiting for a test subject to appear. Even if the survivor who had just been snatched away was fine, that only meant a slight touch was okay, not that it was completely harmless.
For a moment, the training ground fell into a stalemate. No one came out to try, and no one came out to take charge. Some more carefree teams had even returned to continue their training-since they couldn't go out, they might as well wait for the rain to stop.
"Let's wait in peace. If this rain isn't a major problem, those guys from Dawn City will find a way to notify us," Su Muying said, looking outside.
As soon as Su muying finished speaking, a group of people carrying umbrellas and pushing a cart full of umbrellas approached their training ground from a distance.
"An Qing? People from the Guard Team are here!" Wang Zhi said after clearly seeing An Qing among them.
"That's great! Since they dare to come out, it means this rain isn't much of a problem!" Fatty exclaimed excitedly.
A moment later, the members of the Guard Team arrived at the training ground and hung the umbrellas to the side. They said, "Everyone listen up. According to the results from the medical bay, the rain contains a 36% concentration of Nitric Acid Component. It will cause a burning sensation upon contact, which is normal! It can be touched, but do not soak in it for extended periods. Please wipe yourselves dry immediately after getting wet. Please relay this information to each other! Now, come forward in pairs to receive umbrellas!"
Hearing that it contained 36% nitric acid, Wang Zhi was also taken aback. Although thunderstorms often contain trace amounts of nitric acid, this time it was as high as 36%?
"Stop spacing out, let's go get umbrellas." Su Muying frowned, kicked Wang Zhi, and walked forward.
Wang Zhi only then realized that due to the limited number of umbrellas, two people would have to share one. After Su Muying handed You Luo over to Jia Liuli, she naturally squeezed close to Wang Zhi.
8Bang*, Wang Zhi opened the umbrella. The umbrella wasn't very large, barely big enough for two people.
"Where are we going?" You Luo asked.
"Aren't we going to the City Lord's Palace?" Wang Zhi asked in return.
"Then let's go?" Seeing Wang Zhi hadn't moved, You Luo urged him.
Wang Zhi didn't hesitate much, holding the umbrella open as he slowly stepped out the door with Su Muying.
The heavy raindrops hammered down on the umbrella. If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, Wang Zhi would have thought it was hailing.
To try his best not to let rainwater splash onto Su Muying, Wang Zhi shifted the umbrella slightly to the right. On the left side of the umbrella, the rainwater gradually soaked Wang Zhi's left shoulder. Su Muying glanced to the left and said, "Tch, at a time like this, you still insist on being a gentleman." Having said that, Su Muying raised her left hand, placed it around Wang Zhi's waist, and pulled him into her embrace.
Wang Zhi was startled by Su Muying's action. He glanced at Su Muying, whose face showed no blush or quickened pulse. This was the first time he had been this close to Su Muying; even when they slept, he hadn't been this near.
"Uh... well..."
"If you don't want to die, shut up," Su Muying said expressionlessly.
"...."
The group arrived at the City Lord's Palace. Many survivors had already crowded into the first-floor hall. Some of these people had faces burned red, others had arms scorched red, and some had even taken off their shirts, their chests and backs burned and corroded crimson.
"Wait here for me a moment, I'll be right back," Wang Zhi said, turning to leave.
Wang Zhi went to the end of the second floor, where Jie Xi was standing by the window, looking out at the scene outside.
"Jie Xi, what is going on?" Wang Zhi asked as he approached.
"Just as you see," Jie Xi replied.
"I mean, why did it suddenly become like this?" Wang Zhi questioned, confused.
"It's unexplainable. We are, after all, merely mortals. How can we control such things?" Jie Xi's tone was somewhat dejected.
"Jie Xi, what's wrong with you?" Wang Zhi, seeing Jie Xi appear dejected-the usually confident and composed Jie Xi suddenly acting this way-felt a growing unease in his heart.
"I always thought our greatest enemy was that group from the N Organization, but now I see I was wrong. Our struggle with the N Organization is merely a squabble between people. The real war is against these hundreds of millions of Zombies, a war against nature itself-a war on a... different scale."
"I don't understand." Wang Zhi hadn't grasped the true meaning behind Jie Xi's words.
Jie Xi turned around, looked at Wang Zhi, and said, "You must have smelled the pungent odor."
"Yes! Nitric acid is indeed irritating to the respiratory tract. I was wondering why I smelled a sharp, foul odor last night." Wang Zhi followed along.
"Yes, and what else?" Jie Xi stared at Wang Zhi and continued to ask.
"And... if the stinging smell is caused by nitric acid, then what is the foul odor?" Wang Zhi felt puzzled by this thought.
"Through our testing, we found that the rainwater contains about ten percent of an Unknown Compound, and this component is the source of the foul smell," Jie Xi stated.
"Unknown Compound?! Then why didn't the Guard Team mention it just now?" Wang Zhi was startled. In the Apocalypse, the most terrifying thing is the unknown!
"There was nothing worth mentioning, because this component does not cause harm to the human body," Jie Xi said lightly.
"Then... what is the effect of this component..." Combining Jie Xi's words with her current emotional state, a strong sense of unease began to rise within Wang Zhi!
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