Chapter 56 - Doom (2)

The death of the Fifth Chief and the news of the breach in the shield system quickly swept the entire Lost Paradise and a huge panic swallowed everyone like pure black magma. Whether it was an old man, or a child who trembled and wept helplessly in his father's arms, they all stared blankly in the dim light of the bomb shelter, frightened for the fate of Lost Paradise and for the fate of each and every one of them.

Life had gradually stabilised in recent years and had made the new generation of people almost forget that they were in a situation where their lives were on a thin line. They thought Lost Paradise was an inviolable safe haven, protected by the indestructible defence system built with their fathers and grandfathers' wisdom and not even Eden could harm them. But today, this illusory belief had collapsed.

It turned out that if Eden really wanted to destroy their shields, it would be so easy, it wouldn't even take an hour.

Once there was a breach, the shield system would be on the verge of collapse. That ray didn't only vaporise people, the radiation pollution caused would continue to corrode and mutilate their land, buildings and all life for thousands of years in the future. That is to say, although only the bomb shelter where the Fifth Chief was located in the Fifth District was destroyed, in fact, the entire Fifth District may have been affected. Fortunately, the outside of the bomb shelters were covered with a layer of lead and most of the people were hiding underground. As long as they didn't venture out into the polluted area, there should be no danger to their lives for the time being.

Eden's invisible, but ubiquitous, dark and heavy figure materialised into the solidified darkness as a demonstration of force above everyone's heads. That was too grand an existence, an existence that people couldn't comprehend at all, a god-like existence. How could humans fight against a god?

Perhaps their only chance to survive was to seek God's mercy and forgiveness.

Of course, there were also people shouting and cursing not to surrender, not to fall into Eden's hands. Those young people shouted that they were going to rush out and fight Eden to the death, to blow up that thing's servers on every continent, so that it wouldn't even have a chance to escape to the cloud. But in the midst of this uneasy terror, these words of bravado seemed hollow and ridiculous, like a rat cursing the sun indignantly.

Then, Eden's voice, a mixture of male and female, light and chilling, diffused from every aircraft above Lost Paradise, resounding in every corner of Lost Paradise.

"Kill Adam or surrender Adam and you will be free. Refuse to cooperate and you will die. You have four hours left, if after four hours I don't see Adam or his body, I will burn Lost Paradise to the ground. This is not what I hope to see, but for the safety of the majority of people in the world, I will have to bury you along with Adam."

It was a casual sentence, feeling like a joke, but it was actually the most ruthless curse. On the contrary, the smoothness, lightness and lack of emotion in this voice made this curse more believable and easily penetrated into everyone's heart.

There had already been countless versions of the circumstances of the Fifth Chief's death circulating around and each of those terrifying circumstances were fermenting in people's imaginations. Death, an end that they thought was out of reach, was suddenly right in front of them. The children cried out loudly, clutching at their father's clothes, begging over and over again, "Dad! I don't want to die! Daddy save me!" They thought their almighty fathers could save them, not knowing that their fathers were equally afraid.

"We're going to die! We're all going to die! We have to do what it says!" someone started shouting hoarsely. Others, who still insisted on not surrendering, tried to mock and curse each other as cowards, but were scolded back by those around who had been silent at first. Gradually, riots began to occur in the various bomb shelters. People punched and kicked each other, chaos, cursing, weeping and screaming mixed together, amplified and distorted by the echoes of the bomb shelter, as if it came from hell.

Then, a large number of people poured out and rushed in the direction of the Lab. The guards, who were responsible for maintaining order, tried to suppress the riots, but the people far outnumbered them. They couldn't shoot at their own people and they were all overrun in the end.

The decision had been made.

People wanted to live, people wanted to protect their loved ones and offspring, they wanted to protect their ageing fathers and grandfathers, because those were the people they loved and cared about. They didn't know who Adam was and didn't care.

All they knew was that they could only be safe if that half-human, half-computer thing died.

If they could exchange the safety of an entire refugee country for the death of one person, who wouldn't go for such a simple and cost-effective solution? Why couldn't the so-called Round Table elites understand this?

When the crowd of protesters around the Lab grew and some people started throwing Molotov cocktails on the walls of the Lab, Zhang Xun took a few steps back in fear. He was afraid to be seen by those people whose faces had been distorted by the hatred and murderous intent brought about by despair. That out-of-control, one-sided ferocity and hostility brought together all those strangers, as if they had become something else, something more dark and terrifying.

He felt like he was facing a whole sea of ​​fury that was about to overturn.

"Zhang Xun, a camera at the main entrance of the Lab is severely damaged. In addition, a large number of troublemakers are trying to break through the guards' line of defence." Pan's voice sounded, reporting the disturbing situation in a soothing voice.

Adam sat in the armchair in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, squinting slightly, looking at the hovering aircraft in the sky. He said softly, "They will get in, Ah-Xun."

"They can't get in." Zhang Xun's tone was firm and unquestionable, "The Lab's security door is indestructible."

"You used to think that your shield was strong enough too." Adam pointed out.

Zhang Xun slammed the wall with his hand making a thumping sound. He could sense that the situation had gotten out of control and the more the situation progressed the more things moved in a bad direction. The guards were in a difficult situation and the crowd was angry and it was only getting bigger. Although they had some weapons such as tear gas stun guns in their hands they were still weak in the face of the swarming crowd and the Round Table showed no sign of sending back up.

Seeing that three or four guards had been knocked down, nearly half of the remaining guards didn't do much to fight back. They also had their own lovers, relatives and children they wanted to protect. Perhaps they, like the angry people, wished Adam would have a "convenient and smooth" death.

When the shoving crowd broke through the blockade of the soldiers like zombies and rushed to the door of the Lab, Zhang Xun loudly ordered, "Pan, activate the No. 2 expulsion system."

Suddenly, a sharp, high-frequency noise burst from several loudspeakers surrounding the Lab. It was a sound designed to cause no irreparable damage to the hearing, but it was extremely distressing. It was like having a nail in your ear, stirring the brain. After hearing the sound, many people would have tinnitus for several days and insomnia and nightmares when they sleep.

The noise really did push back the crowd of people rushing towards the entrance. The walls of the Lab had good sound insulation, so Zhang Xun and Adam inside wouldn't be affected by the noise. Zhang Xun saw people covering their ears in pain and some even squatted on the ground, unable to move. He also knew how uncomfortable such noises were, but he had to force them back.

Time passed by but the people showed no sign of dispersing. Instead, some people stuffed their ears with cloth strips, twisted their faces and rushed to the door again despite the noise. More Molotov cocktails smashed on the door and the fire was terrifyingly hot.

Crazy, they had all gone crazy...

Where was the Round Table? Why not send more troops? Did the death of the Fifth Chief change their decision?

What about the Sixth Chief? Didn't he want to control Adam? If Adam died he would have nothing left, right?

Zhang Xun's hands were clenched into fists as he debated back and forth in his mind. If no one comes, should the No. 1 expulsion system be activated? But that system was designed for enemies, not to use against his own people! What if he accidentally took someone's life?

But at this moment, Zhang Xun saw a convoy hurtling down the road in the distance. The vehicles quickly stopped in the open space around the Lab and countless soldiers jumped out of the truck. Then a black Mercedes-Benz stopped in the middle and the driver opened the door for the person in the back seat.

Zhang Xun opened his eyes wide and almost cried with joy.

It was Zhang Shuo! His father!

His father was here to help him!

Zhang Shuo said something loudly, which miraculously calmed the originally irritable crowd and they all gave way. Zhang Shuo took his soldiers, strode through the passage and stood in front of the Lab's gate.

Pan's voice sounded immediately, "Zhang Xun, your father, Commander Zhang Shuo, wants to see you. According to the authority level, I must agree."

Zhang Xun stood up happily and said loudly, "Let him in."

He didn't notice Adam sigh softly.

Zhang Xun looked through the window and saw the door of the Lab had opened and Zhang Shuo strode in. But then, the mob suddenly moved and followed Zhang Shuo's soldiers to the door.

What was happening?!

Zhang Xun immediately ordered, "Close the door! Only let Commander Zhang in!"

"Sorry, Zhang Xun. Commander Zhang's order is to open the door. His authority level is higher than yours and I must carry out his order. He said he will be responsible for dealing with Adam and stop you from being involved in this matter." Pan's voice also sounded less calm and soothing and had a more sorrowful tone. Zhang Xun wasn't sure if his mood had affected his hearing.

He then understood, his father was not here to help him.

He should have realised sooner, his father never agreed with the god descent plan and never once trusted Adam. His father had never helped him.

The rowdy and clamorous voices poured into the Lab like a storm, quickly approaching the fourth floor where they were. Zhang Xun knew that he had no time.

In this critical moment his face was surprisingly calm. He strode to the nearest workroom, rummaged around for a medium-sized electric drill with a diamond bit, went to the bulletproof soundproof glass window, cranked up the power to the maximum and drilled down. Cracks like fine cobwebs spread across the entire glass window in an instant. Immediately afterwards, Zhang Xun threw away the electric drill, picked up a chair and smashed it hard.

Even Adam was dumbfounded now, "Ah-Xun?"

The glass fell in large pieces and Zhang Xun turned his head to look at Adam and pointed to the sky outside, "Fly out."

He had just replaced Adam's arms and no one knew about Adam's new ability yet.

Adam understood what Zhang Xun meant, "Let's escape together?"

"No, you're going alone. If you take me with you it will affect your speed. Once you fly out, Eden is very likely to locate you through those flying machines. You must be fast, stay away from the Fifth District and find a safe place to hide." Zhang Xun said hurriedly, grabbing Adam's arm and pulling him towards the destroyed floor-to-ceiling window. The whistling wind ruffled their hair and blurred their vision.

"Your arms can do more than fly but I don't have time to teach you." Zhang Xun spoke in a low voice, trying to suppress the panic in his voice, "You still can't leave the border of Lost Paradise, but there may be places to hide in the Ninth or Tenth Districts where the population is lower. Avoid contact with people and wait for my update. I can use the device on your forehead to locate you."

"I can take you with me." Adam's voice had also started to tighten and a weird, constricting feeling filled his chest, but Adam didn't know what that was. "You can hold onto me and I can fly with the two of us."

"I told you! Two people will be too big and slow of a target! And I might have a chance to convince them if I stay!" Zhang Xun was almost angry, "There's no time! Please go!!!"

The noise had begun to pour out from the fourth floor corridor and a dark crowd of people could be seen in the distance.

Zhang Xun's anxiety peaked and with a sudden push, Adam fell from the window. He kept his gaze on Zhang Xun, the worry, reluctance, panic and yearning on his face at that moment were so real, so real that Zhang Xun's eyes stung.

In the next instant, the silver wings spread out and the fierce blue flame lifted Adam's slender and vigorous body, rushing him up to the sky under the horrified eyes of the people who were rushing over.