Chapter 1155 - 679: Against the Current (3)
Chapter 1155: Chapter 679: Against the Current (3)
The mouse swarm had just emerged from the underground, primarily active in the Second District, Fifth District, and Sixth District.
These mice weren’t extending their battle lines haphazardly; they aimed to thoroughly devour these three areas before moving on to other regions.
By then, their reproduction rate will have transformed, and the entire city will become their granary.
Qing Chen entrusted Iodophor with Plan A, which was to protect the power plant at all costs after crossing over, ensuring normal power supply if the city hadn’t plunged into darkness.
But if they couldn’t make it in time, they had to initiate Plan B: immediately head to the headquarters of the PCE Security Management Committee in the Fifth District.
There are nearly three months of emergency response records there.
Initially, Iodophor didn’t understand why Qing Chen wanted them to fetch the emergency records during such a crisis.
But after an explanation, they understood Qing Chen wanted the emergency records from the PCE headquarters to analyze where the Rat King was located.
According to Qing Chen’s deduction, the Rat King first wanted to invade the Lower Third District because it’s a no-man’s land, easily becoming a blind spot in the city, a strategic choice.
The people in the Lower Third District are the ones abandoned by their parents, accounting for over half of the population there, and the Rat King could easily treat it as a granary.
It’s noteworthy that the Rat King’s plan coincidentally aligns with the Parents’ Meeting, both thinking the Lower Third District is unmanaged, so they start from there.
However, what the Rat King didn’t anticipate was that when it drew power from Jindai Chika’s corpse, the Lower Third District had already become the Parents’ Meeting’s turf, preventing any entry.
Qing Chen analyzes that since the mouse swarm failed to invade the Lower Third District and lost its optimal strategic target, it doesn’t matter where they invade from the remaining regions.
The next area they frequent must be the one closest to the Rat King, as they need to transport food nearby to continually proliferate their species.
When the mice first rampaged, there must have been some residents who escaped.
And what would those surviving residents do? They would surely report this terrifying event to the PCE Security Committee at the first opportunity.
The PCE Security Committee headquarters has backup generators. Kunlun members are needed to use the emergency records to analyze active mouse regions to deduce the Rat King’s location, so Qing Chen can strategize a decapitation operation.
Moreover, Qing Chen ponders, if Jindai Chika holds the forbidden item ACE-022, the Queen Ant.
Then finding the Rat King might lead to discovering Jindai Chika.
This individual must be killed by Qing Chen; millions in the city have no way out due to the power outage, and the Jindai Consortium must pay in blood.
"Captain, are we sure about heading to the Fifth District?" someone in the Kunlun Team quietly asks, "We could retreat now, regroup with the Parents’ Association Members in the Lower Third District, and hold out for a few days until the Federal Group’s reinforcements arrive."
Everyone now recognizes that a mouse swarm disaster is about to erupt in the city.
In the academy, orders received by the Time Travelers of Team 99 directed them to memorize the route, following Plans A and B, to evacuate to the outskirts or the Lower Third District.
Only Kunlun received orders to move into the city’s center.
They all knew this was a path of certain death, with no turning back once set upon.
The mouse swarm was still scattered; there was time to retreat.
"No," Iodophor responds coldly, "Orders are orders; Qing Chen demands we must occupy the PCE headquarters before the mouse swarm fully erupts, and we must comply. Until now, everything Qing Chen has said has come true; he provided everyone with Plans A and B. Since he hasn’t been wrong so far, I have no reason to question him."
Someone asks, "But what if he’s indeed wrong?"
Iodophor falls silent for a moment, "...Even if he’s truly wrong, we must execute the order."
In fact, Iodophor admires Qing Chen’s efforts as he, the person responsible for Kunlun in City No. 10, witnessed how Qing Chen exhaustively sought ways to find an escape and devised backup plans for everyone in the remaining five days before the return.
In a city devoid of electricity and communication at this moment, everyone can still respond accordingly following the plan, thanks entirely to Qing Chen who made all preparations before crossing.
This is why, after crossing, all Time Travelers faced a sudden power outage in the city and did not panic.
Qing Chen foresaw all possible events and informed them, ensuring that even in this dark, commandless city, all Time Travelers knew what they should do.
One could say, the moment the return countdown ended, Qing Chen’s work was complete.
Just as Shadow once told Qing Chen.
Qing Chen once inquired Shadow at Taboo Land No. 002, "The Federation is at war, are you just wandering around?"
And Shadow’s reply was, "I’m done with what I should do."
At this moment, in this vast city, due to the increasingly active mouse swarm, residents begin to panic, with countless people heading towards the city’s edge, seeking to escape.
Residents who fell asleep early woke from their dreams amidst screams.
Iodophor grabs a fleeing refugee, "Is there a mouse swarm from where you’re coming?"
The refugee replies in terror, "Yes! It’s full of mice on that side!"
Iodophor furrows his brows, surprised to find the Fifth District they intend to go to is one of the severely affected areas!
"Keep moving forward!" Iodophor says heavily, "Guys, we must complete the mission."
On the final day of the return countdown, Qing Chen talked to each person in charge again; then Qing Chen told Iodophor: this order may not be fair to you, and you may not understand it, but I know how crucial your mission is. In this disaster, I need everyone to become heroes so that more people can be saved, please.
Iodophor couldn’t help but smile at the thought; Kunlun couldn’t afford to be belittled by Bai Zhou!
At midnight, while everyone was fleeing, the 600-strong team was marching against the current.
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