Chapter 417: Chapter 417

Cleaning up this operation... If we don’t cover our tracks well and someone discovers our trail, the consequences of swallowing over 3,000 tons of their goods... It would likely involve more than just Slave Masters chasing us in helicopters. For some reason, Jing Shu always felt a little thrill watching others being pursued... Ahem! But when it was her turn, it wasn’t so pleasant.

The last time Yang Yang was chased by Slave Masters in armed helicopters, if it hadn’t been for a stroke of luck and Hao Yunlai’s clever maneuvering, she probably wouldn’t be standing here talking right now.

"For your own safety!" Jing Shu drove her shovel into the ground, strictly following the locations Yang Yang had drawn for the blast. After everything was transported away, everyone would withdraw through the safety passage. At that point, Jing Shu would use explosives to completely destroy the passage, burying everything in dust and leaving the enemy clueless about the direction of their escape. This was also a way to delay their discovery.

Collapsing half the mountain didn’t require many explosives. The key was the lava below; by simply blowing up the support columns around the ’bowl’s’ rim, the entire mountain could be made to cave in. This would initially create the impression of an accidental collapse. By the time they came down to inspect, they might realize the goods had already vanished into thin air. By the time they realized this was an astonishing scam, Jing Shu and her team would have bought themselves even more time.

Apart from planting the explosives, Jing Shu, the ’rat,’ also had to appear above ground every day. She would bring out pots of thriving herbs, pretending to load them onto trucks, transport them back to the castle via a circuitous route, and then repeat the process by bringing them back. Furthermore, in a couple of days, she would also transport out boxes of converted Seeds, making sure they were briefly seen by everyone.

Of course, this was merely an optical illusion. Its purpose was to show the surrounding Supervisors the approximate progress—that some materials had already been converted using the Water of Life—thereby giving the impression that everything was functioning normally.

This silent psychological suggestion was the most potent; it hinged on subtle, easily overlooked details. If one made a big fuss about it, it would only arouse suspicion.

These interconnected psychological suggestions weren’t deliberately emphasized. Everything seemed perfectly natural and aligned with everyone’s understanding of the situation. It was like a movie scene where someone is eating; the food being put into their mouth with chopsticks might not be real, but the audience’s attention is rarely focused on whether the food is authentic.

However, if in such a scene, the characters only talked for a long time without touching their chopsticks to eat, such an anomaly would definitely attract the audience’s attention.

A magician’s tricks often lie in the places you don’t notice; the places they direct your attention to are precisely what they’ve pre-designed. This elaborate deception was just like that.

These were long and thrilling days; every time a box of goods was transported out, Jing Shu’s heart would pound. She was finally understanding what it felt like to have a guilty conscience.

At the end of the tunnel, people were waiting to receive them. They would then transport the goods to large cargo ships waiting outside Austin, including Dr. Bo’s ship. It was here that Dr. Bo’s and Jing Shu’s teams parted ways.

Yang Yang was responsible for the overall coordination. If any part of the process failed, it would be incredibly difficult to transport such a massive haul of 3,000 tons of goods. After all, this wasn’t like the previous Black Market deals where everything was already loaded onto ships, and all they needed to do was guide the vessels to the dock.

The entire operation proceeded without any irreparable hitches. Unexpectedly, the only incident that nearly disrupted the plan was caused by a group of uninvited guests.

These uninvited visitors were a product of the apocalypse: a swarm of piglet-sized rats that devoured everything in their path.

Jing Shu knew that the climate in the United States was kind to both people and pests. Before the apocalypse, there had been giant spiders and various reptiles, even rats of extraordinary size. However, she hadn’t anticipated the devastating power of this rat army’s charge.

Perhaps it was because Zhen Nantian regularly released various creatures. The Supervisors, therefore, naturally assumed this was merely what Dr. Bo had warned them about—the Water of Life attracting the attention of unknown creatures. Consequently, they didn’t take it too seriously. They slaughtered whatever came, barbecuing the edible ones on the spot. Creatures infected with the Zombie virus, which couldn’t be eaten, were chopped up and tossed aside.

The Undead species here weren’t as enormous as hippopotamuses. Although dealing with them posed some difficulties, they were just enough to keep the Supervisors occupied and flustered.

The abundance of dead creatures, with the accompanying stench of blood and corpses, attracted this massive rat army—tens of thousands of them, all infected with the Zombie virus. Packed tightly together, they weren’t particularly fast. But wherever the rat army passed, no living thing remained. Their target was clear: the direction of the Mountain Pass! Thıs text ıs hosted at 𝓷𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓵⁂𝓯𝓲𝓻𝓮⁂𝓷𝓮𝓽

This was no longer a normal biological population; they were merely unconscious bacterial colonies.

Scientists before the apocalypse analyzed that this was the most severe form of species regression in the evolutionary process. After all, the earliest forms of evolution began with bacteria. It was possible that these creatures, having regressed to a bacterial state, might yet evolve into stronger species capable of adapting to the apocalyptic environment.

Congratulations to the scientists; they had managed to score a point for science, so to speak. In the harsh winter of the fifth year of the apocalypse, countless species went extinct, while these bacterial life forms successfully evolved into invasive species.

The alarm blared at that moment. The Supervisors, bodyguards, and the Slave Master A’s Engineering Corps were stunned by the sight. Everyone finally realized the true danger posed by creatures infected with the Zombie virus.

This wasn’t a matter of dozens, but thousands upon thousands, creeping in from the distance!

"Damn it, find a way to kill them! If they get close to the supplies, they’ll devour everything!"

"We must call for backup!"

"No, there’s no time! Three minutes—in less than three minutes, they’ll overwhelm this place!"

"We must protect the supplies inside!"

Gunfire didn’t scare them. Someone opened fire with a machine gun, but it was like shooting into water; not even a ripple was made. The bullets went TAT-TAT-TAT, but into which rat’s body, no one could tell.

Someone charged out with a machete, only to be swarmed by the rats and pulled to the ground. Agonizing screams tore through the air, and in moments, the rat army had devoured the unfortunate soul, leaving not even bone fragments behind.

Miss C frantically tugged at Dr. Bo. "Bit, something’s happened! Something’s gone terribly wrong! We might be exposed prematurely!" She quickly explained the situation.

"What do we do? How do we deal with those damn rats? We can’t let those rats get near this place!"

In this situation, the rats themselves weren’t the primary concern; one could always flee from them. The real issue was that the entire operation in the mountains would be exposed. The goods were almost completely transferred. If suspicions were aroused and the ruse discovered, the biggest problem would be the enemy. Once they deployed aircraft for patrols, they could quickly locate the cargo ships concealed in the Canal. Retrieving the supplies would then be a matter of minutes.

Then, everything they had worked for would be in vain!