Upon hearing the old woman's words, the refugees all turned their heads away, pretending not to hear.
The aunties stood outside the line and shouted, "What kind of life did you all live before? Huh? There wasn't even a bit of electricity in your homes. You had to eat protein bars in the dark every day. You had to use a chamber pot to go to the toilet. In the morning, you would dump your excrement and urine into the sewer outside the street. The whole street stank."
“Last month, the garbage in the lower three districts was piled up like a mountain, and I felt like vomiting when I passed by. My family lives on the 91st floor, and my child said he didn’t want to go to school because there is no elevator in the building and we have to climb 91 flights of stairs to go up and down.”
"Previously, the entire Lower Three Districts were filled with people burning, killing, and looting. Who would dare to go out on the streets in the middle of the night?"
The woman's voice grew louder and louder: "Now, look closely, apart from this line of defense, where isn't it clean? Who doesn't have electricity? Whose sewer isn't fixed?"
“Look at yourselves, and then look at the people on the front line. They have to pretend to be fierce and menacing so that you can take refuge there. You don’t even know their names, or whether they have parents and children like us.”
The refugees looked at Xiao San and his companions, only to see that they were covered in blood, some of it rat blood, some of it their own.
The family members' clothes were splattered with mud, torn and scratched by rats, and their shoes were soaked.
They were all in a terrible state.
The refugees, looking back at themselves, were simply queuing leisurely.
As the woman spoke, she became more and more emotional, her voice rising with each word: "That bigwig from the Qing Group, he's been going out to save people time and time again..."
The young woman quickly came over and said, "Auntie, you should go back to the group. We can find our own clothes."
The woman glared at him and said, "Get out! You have no right to speak now!"
The mistress: "..."
Qin Shuli: "..."
Another woman said to the refugees in the group, "Before they came, you were all saying every day that someone would come to save the Third District. Now that the people from the Third District have come to save them, all you want to do is run away!"
A young man stepped forward from the group, pondered for a few seconds, and said, "Let the women, children, and the elderly go first."
After saying that, he turned around and went home to get his clothes.
As soon as he left, dozens of people suddenly emerged from the group and ran quickly towards their homes.
Gradually, more and more people stepped out of the queue and ran towards the buildings in the lower three districts behind them. The whole city was without power, and some people even climbed more than eighty floors, wrapping all their clothes in bed sheets and bringing them over.
Immediately afterwards, some people even brought out their kitchen knives. In an instant, one-tenth of the long, seemingly endless queue chose to withdraw, giving up their priority to others.
Some young women chose to stay in the city: "I studied medical first aid and originally wanted to become a nurse at the hospital, but they rejected me because I was from the lower three districts. I see you have stockpiled medicines, don't send them all behind that door, keep some for me to bandage your wounded."
As they spoke, they even called over their neighbors and moved the promotional tents from roadside shops over to set up several temporary treatment points.
However, when they cut open the clothes covering the wounds of the injured soldiers, they couldn't help but shed tears.
However, everyone's wounds were covered with deep bloodstains, and the filthy rat bites had not been cleaned in time, and were now starting to fester.
A nurse cried out to the crowd, "Don't just stand there, come and help!"
The defense line in the lower three districts was originally very simple. Because the disaster came so suddenly, the family members had no time to do anything except pick up kitchen knives and risk their lives to block the gap.
At this very moment, the refugees actually helped to gradually complete the necessary components of a defensive line: a rear medical point and a rest area for soldiers.
The aunties are even building a canteen, bringing out all the ingredients that each household can process, even if it's just to cook a bowl of hot soup for their families to warm them up.
Seeing this scene, the mistress suddenly understood what her parents had said: when you treat the world with sincerity, the world will surely reward you.
This is the kind of public support that parent-teacher meetings need.
After the disaster is over, these people will remember the good things about the PTA, and only then will the PTA have the ability to continue to change the world.
"Thank you everyone, but please don't wrap any more clothes around my neck," Xiao San said hurriedly, because he already had seven pieces of clothing hanging around his neck, making him look like a clothes hanger.
Xiao San said, "Everyone, please continue your evacuation without worry. We will definitely hold this line of defense until you are all gone!"
Even at the cost of one's life.
Just then, someone shouted into the walkie-talkie: "Xiao San, the rat swarm is here again!"
The family members looked back and saw that everyone had returned to the back of the defensive line to prepare for battle.
Xiao San whispered to Qin Shuli, "Our parents instructed us that if the rat swarm returns within two hours, it means they want to keep wearing us down, making it hard for us to eat and sleep. Now is not the critical moment; we must find a way to let everyone rest."
Just then, the middle-aged woman reappeared. She had a trench coat around her neck that looked like a battle robe or cape, and she was holding two kitchen knives in her hands. She said, "I'll help you guard it too!"
The mistress: "..."
Qin Shuli: "..."
The mistress had never been so speechless in her life.
He turned to face the swarm of rats, awaiting the arrival of those beasts: "Those who can still move, continue fighting with me, hold the line! Don't retreat an inch!"
Chapter 686, The Most Important Task
Return countdown: 96:39:01.
midnight.
North of City 10, the Lee Federation Army's base was shrouded in darkness, with all the tents covered in dark green hay for camouflage.
Further north, the sound of artillery fire could be heard from time to time.
The full-scale civil war of the Federation has begun, and this is the front line.
Inside a cave, Li Yunmu, the frontline commander of the Li clan, is holding a war meeting with Li Changqing.
"The fighting at the front is intense. Our remaining two field divisions are still on the march. The enemy has chosen a very tricky strategic location. Our forward base must advance another 130 kilometers north to ensure logistical support..."
A senior colonel said, "According to everyone's analysis, Kamishiro wants to use that city for biocontamination. Satellite images now show that only three districts of City 10 have not fallen, and it's only a matter of time before they fall. If the forbidden substance ACE-022 is really in Kamishiro's hands, then a massive swarm of rats might even launch a counter-encirclement from behind us."
Currently, the troops of the Li and Qing clans are all gathered north of City 10, while a small force is stationed in the south to guard against a sudden attack by the Chen clan.
If someone were to control millions or tens of millions of rats and launch them from City 10, the allied forces of the Qing and Li clans might be surrounded by the rat horde and the Shindai army.
At that time, both the Li and Qing clans' forces would be in dire straits.
The colonel said to Li Changqing, "Sir, now is not the time to hesitate. I know what I'm saying is a bit cruel, but the safest way is to destroy the entire city with six missiles, even if it turns it into a forbidden place, rather than risk letting the rat swarm surround it."
Li Changqing remained silent.
At this moment, Army Chief of Staff Li Yunwei said, "However, after the missiles are dropped, all the civilians there will die. Could we wait until the defense line of the Third District collapses before dropping them?"
Li Yunmu shook his head: "They can't possibly survive. With the demigod-level biological contamination and the secret manipulation by the God Era, no one will leave alive. Now you think that God Era Chika will attack the Lower Three Districts after controlling the rat horde, but what if he doesn't attack the Lower Three Districts and instead lets the rat horde leave the city immediately? Will it still be too late then? Changqing, the rat horde is still in the city now, so it's easy to kill them. If they are scattered in the wilderness, they will be impossible to kill."
From a military strategic perspective, Li Yunmu was not wrong.
Without a miracle, the rat swarm will inevitably become a major threat to the entire Federation. This newly born superhuman race will multiply unchecked in the wilderness, devouring all available food and killing all of humanity in the Federation.
Their optimal solution was to bombard City 10 with a single shot.
Even if Qing Chen were there, even if he were an independent director of the Li family.
This is just like Qing Chen letting Kunlun and the parents' meeting carry out the plan. Qing Chen can be ruthless, and Li Yunmu can be just as ruthless. No one is at fault.
In the future, Li Yunmu would feel guilty every time he thought about ordering the bombing of City 10, and this guilt would stay with them for the rest of their lives.
But as a commander, one should naturally have this awareness.
Li Changqing pursed his lips and remained silent for five minutes, his palms bleeding from his fingernails, before finally saying, "I second that."
This is the cruelty of our times.
Just then, an operations staff officer ran in: "The Privy Council has sent a communication."
Li Yunmu and the others all looked over, and Li Changqing said, "Connect to the encrypted channel."
The next moment, a holographic projection lit up in the dark command center, and Li Yunshou asked bluntly, "Are you preparing to launch missiles at City 10?"
Li Yunmu was taken aback: "Patriarch, we saw through satellite that only the lower three districts of City 10 have not fallen."
After a moment of silence, Li Yunshou said, "Wait four more days. That will be the day the Time Walker returns. Qing Chen will definitely send new messages through the Time Walker. Then we will know whether he has the ability to solve this problem. If he doesn't, we will bombard him again."
Everyone originally thought that the Qing family would step in to stop them from launching the missile for Qing Chen's sake.
But no one expected that it would be their own patriarch who stepped forward!
Li Yunmu: "We can now see the situation in the city via satellite. The people in the lower three districts alone are no match for the rat horde. Brother, do you know the consequences? Please don't put City 18 and the soldiers on the front lines in danger for the sake of an outsider!"
Li Yunshou shook his head: "I have my own plans. I will carry out my orders."
With that, Li Yunshou ended the encrypted communication.
The command post was quiet, and Li Changqing and Li Yunmu looked at each other in bewilderment.
After a long pause, Li Yunmu hesitated and asked, "After my elder brother became the head of the family, he seemed to have become a different person, becoming dictatorial and silent... Why?"
...
...
Return countdown: 48:02:01.
On the streets of the fourth district of City 10, a 12-person elite combat squad was moving quickly. They were covered in fennel pollen, and even the rats didn't bother with them.
In the beginning, the pollen of the Windflower was the exclusive property of the Fire Pit people. At first, the people of the Federation did not even know why the Fire Pit people could enter the forbidden land without being attacked by wild beasts or plants.
Later, various conglomerates also learned the secret of the 'Windflower's' pollen and widely used this plant in their exploration of forbidden lands.
However, this thing is not easy to obtain.
At this moment, the team was protecting a young man as they moved quickly. When they entered the fifth area, the young man stopped and casually summoned twelve flying barbarians to continue exploring the way forward.
This Onmyoji is none other than Kamishiro Unsou, who disappeared from the Kamishiro Foundation a month ago.
But then, Shindai Uncan fanned the bloody smell from his nose and said, "Catch a rat."
A soldier quickly approached and, before the rat could react, grabbed it and handed it to him.
Judging by the speed, it seems to be a B-level gene warrior.
This is a special forces team consisting of 12 B-level gene warriors.
Shindai Unsou carefully examined the black rat in his hand and whispered, "The entire 'Royal Guard' rats in the Fifth District have turned black, and even the fur on their bellies has evolved into pure black. This rat horde is complete. It has finished eating Father's corpse."
In his words, he even knew when the rat tide would be considered to have fully evolved.
The Three Realms Outer Space was kept in their hands for so many years, and no one knows how many superhuman beings they used to conduct live experiments on, or how many superhuman beings were unknowingly fed to rats.
At this moment, how terrifying it sounds for someone to say that rats have eaten his father's corpse.
Kamishiro Unsou smiled and said, "As expected, we need to sacrifice half a city to make it enough."