Chapter 1198 - 397: Three Layers of Defense, The Research Institute’s Catastrophe

Fortunately, the Research Institute was over a hundred kilometers away from the main urban area, so it shouldn’t affect a large number of civilians.

Thank goodness.

"Take care, General."

Su Yue nodded and prepared to leave. Coincidentally, he was standing right at the main gate of the Research Institute. Right in front of him was the second layer of the red protective shield. He was enveloped just inside of it; one more step and he would have been outside.

Su Yue couldn’t touch the uppermost layer in the sky, but he could feel this one. Unfortunately, there was no physical sensation at all—only the faintest fluctuation of Qi Blood. Perhaps the shield had detected his identity as a human and therefore hadn’t activated its defensive measures against him.

"Strange, this layer of the Research Institute’s protective shield shouldn’t be this color." Fang Jianhai looked up at the two layers of shields above, his brow deeply furrowed.

SWISH!

As soon as he spoke, Fang Jianhai’s figure flashed, vanishing from Su Yue’s sight.

WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH!

After a brief moment of chaos, a large number of Martial Artist reinforcements from the urban area of Dongdu City arrived. They constantly flickered into the Research Institute, determined to rescue all the trapped personnel.

RUMBLE!

RUMBLE!

Although the flickering protective shield sheltered Dongdu City, the immense, oppressive pressure descending from the sky still caused the earth to shake violently. The current seismic tremors were even more severe than before. Even with the high seismic resistance rating of the Research Institute’s building complex, several structures still collapsed.

There was nothing they could do. This wasn’t an ordinary earthquake at all. In some places, the ground had completely tilted at a bizarre angle, looking as if it had been peeled away from the earth itself.

All electrical facilities in the Research Institute had been completely cut off. The lights, which had initially been turned on due to the darkening sky, instantly went out one after another. Currently, only a few emergency fire lights remained lit.

Through the cracked earth, Su Yue caught a glimpse of a corner beneath the Research Institute. The sight was absolutely breathtaking. Just one look was enough to leave him suffocated by the sheer scale of the facility.

It turned out that the office buildings above ground were exactly that—just office buildings. Beneath this plot of land lay an even more massive citadel of steel. Deep within the soil was where the true kingdom of the Divine Land’s scientific research resided. Unfortunately, the violent earthquake had torn away the camouflage of this research world; otherwise, Su Yue would never have been able to see its full scope.

Inside the subterranean Research Institute, there were far more active researchers than Su Yue had ever imagined. Currently, there was only one sealed safe zone in the entire facility. The researchers in the basement levels were frantically fleeing upward. Because the power outage had rendered the elevators useless, they had no choice but to desperately climb the stairs. However, with the ground violently shaking, many were thrown off balance, tumbling and crawling their way up.

For ordinary people to survive, they first had to climb from the Underground City to the surface. Second, during their escape, they had to avoid falling debris from above in order to seek refuge in the sealed zone of the third-layer defense. Third, they had to wait for Combat Martial Artists to rescue them and transport them to the shelters—with the wounded taking priority, of course.

Although this survival plan seemed methodical in theory, its actual execution was an utter mess. In just a few short tens of seconds, Su Yue had already witnessed the deaths of three ordinary researchers, one of whom was killed in a stampede.

He thought, "Those damn alien beasts."

At this moment, Su Yue seemed to understand the intentions of Fei Ningxiao, the Paragon of the Blood Boiling Race. Even though Fei Ningxiao was a Paragon, it appeared he couldn’t even breach the protective shield hovering over Dongdu City. Destroying the Research Institute directly was nothing but a pipe dream for him.

However, Fei Ningxiao had come up with an ingenious method. He was using the terrifying Qi Blood of a Paragon to smash against the void above Dongdu City. Under the intense collision of air currents, the ground of the Research Institute began to quake. This was a disaster that human strength simply couldn’t withstand.

As for how to repel Fei Ningxiao, Su Yue didn’t have the slightest clue. He was currently completely ignorant about the true capabilities of a Paragon.

"I’m fast enough. I can go save someone."

Su Yue had initially intended to leave. But as he watched more and more cracks fissure the ground, exposing a growing expanse of the Underground City with countless ordinary people trapped inside, how could he walk away in good conscience?

He had to save them.

Many Fifth-Grade Martial Artists from the Zhenqin Corps were already down there conducting rescues. His own strength was not lacking in the slightest, and since the disaster at the Research Institute was currently limited to a mere earthquake, it shouldn’t be deadly. Every life saved was a victory.

SWISH!

With that thought, Su Yue stomped his foot on the ground and dashed toward the entrance of the Underground City without a moment’s hesitation. The very floor tiles beneath his feet shattered under the force of his launch.

He figured he could jump down the deep elevator shaft, use ropes to save a few people, and then execute his Withered Step to leap right back up.

Moving like lightning, Su Yue advanced at a blistering pace. Although a group of Martial Artists was already sprinting toward the Underground City entrance, Su Yue’s figure surpassed them one by one. He took the lead, terrifyingly fast, even leaving behind a series of afterimages.

Within seconds, he arrived near the Underground City.

HISS!

Su Yue leaped into the air, ready to dive down the elevator shaft. Unfortunately, things didn’t go as he wished. His body was already airborne when an invisible Qi Blood magnetic field violently repelled him. He was sent flying backward, his palms slightly scorched and aching with an intense pain.

Performing a backflip in mid-air, Su Yue landed safely on his feet. He looked up and realized that in the shadowy corners around the entrance were numerous small devices resembling fire hydrants. The Qi Blood magnetic field that had just blocked him emanated from them.

"Who goes there?"

In the blink of an eye, three Fifth-Grade Martial Artists surrounded Su Yue. Shortly after, a Sixth-Grade Martial Artist rushed over as well. They were standing guard outside the Underground City to prevent any spies from sneaking in during the chaos.

"I am West Martial Su Yue. I want to go down and save people."