RIACMET chapter 202

 

They finally reached the gate. After briefly conversing with Cheng Jing, Chu Yi decided to release the legion immediately.

The situation was unclear. Whether it was a provocation or a threat, they needed to demonstrate their strength. Otherwise, it could turn into a disaster.

Soon after, a large force of regular soldiers arrived behind them. They were equipped with live ammunition, riot shields, AKs, light machine guns, and rocket launchers. Some even asked if they should bring a Gatling gun or mortars.

Jiang Nian and the others were stunned by the suggestion.

Chu Yi, Cheng Jing, and Yang Kai all declined. With so many men already on their side, heavy weapons like that would be too destructive. Besides, they had powerful, offensive superpowered individuals among them—there was no need to waste ammunition.

The soldiers raised their shields and stepped forward in formation. Cheng Jing and the others stood behind the front line with their weapons ready and their superpowers primed.

Everything was in place. Jiang Nian checked the time. It was exactly 11:30 a.m.
Zhao Lei used his ability to push open the half-shut iron gate.

The heavy door opened with a harsh grinding sound, revealing a ragged and tattered crowd standing just beyond it.

There were men and women, old and young. Among them were three frail, pale-faced women with disheveled hair, each cradling a baby wrapped in threadbare towels. The crying they had heard earlier came from them.

But the women looked nothing like the two “base officers” they had seen before.

Under the blazing sun, the miserable-looking crowd stood facing them with dull, lifeless eyes—no surprise, no fear—as if they had been waiting for this moment.

In contrast, the rescue team appeared like savage invaders, armed to the teeth.

Some members of the team were shaken, but they remained alert. The poor people’s actions seemed ordinary, but something felt off—like a heat wave.

Holding babies in this heat would be a death sentence, no joke!

“Are these the survivors we’re here to evacuate? Did the shelter know we were coming and send them out to wait? It’s cruel to kick people out into this heat to wait for rescue.”

Lu Ningzhou murmured softly to Huang Qian, standing beside him, and his teammates looked on with sympathetic expressions.

Just as everyone was about to step forward and enter the gate, however, Jiang Nian stopped them.

“Something’s wrong. Don’t move.”

As he spoke, he drove his pistol into the ground, and a wave of purification energy spread rapidly in a focused direction.

A ripple of blue-white light surged toward the gate. The rest of the team stared in disbelief as the numb, lifeless crowd slowly faded and vanished. Even the babies’ cries abruptly ceased.

When the truth was revealed, everyone gasped.

There weren’t any survivors at all. Horrifying, rotting zombies—men, women, young, and old—stood before them now, and they outnumbered the team significantly.

There were more than twice as many zombies present as Qi Laoer had reported when he requested help!

Judging by their clothing, they came from all walks of life: civilians, middle school students in uniform, criminals in prison jumpsuits, and official personnel in various standard uniforms.

“Damn it!”

Liao Yu stumbled back, his earlier sympathy replaced by dread.

Everyone was shocked yet thankful inwardly. Tang Ji patted his chest and said,

“Good thing we had Brother Nian…”

“…”

Still focusing his ability ahead, Jiang Nian shook his head.

“I didn’t sense any superpower fluctuations. I just acted on instinct. Something didn’t feel right.”

The fact that the illusion was so close yet he hadn’t sensed it was concerning.

Furthermore, judging by the zombies’ clothes and the degree of decay, they hadn’t all been infected and mutated at the same time.

The current horde was most likely the result of a gradual accumulation. Anyone who came here and failed to see through the illusion would have become one of them.

In short, Guanshan Prison was a trap.

“It seems the one behind the illusion is a high-level psychic…” Zhou Rongbin, who also had psychic abilities, said this with a thin sheen of cold sweat on his brow.

Among those with superpowers, psychics were like shadowy assassins—silent killers.

Even Jiang Nian hadn’t noticed the illusion this time. Clearly, a special attribute was used to mask it. How was that not terrifying?

Everyone felt a chill.

Had they stepped in, they would have been surrounded by zombies without knowing it. With the illusion still active, they wouldn’t have realized how they died.

“Controlling this many zombies at once requires more than just high-level psychic ability.”

Jiang Nian felt a deep unease rising in his chest.

The zombies weren’t attacking yet because they were still under someone’s control. The controller clearly wanted them to walk into the illusion voluntarily — then strike.

Now, as Jiang Nian’s purification energy spread, the control was weakening. The zombies began to break free and rush at them one by one.

They were just ordinary zombies, though, so they were nothing the team couldn’t handle. Cheng Jing lashed out in retaliation with lightning and fire fused with Jiang Nian’s purification power.

With a series of howls and shrieks, the charging undead were quickly reduced to ash by these evolving elemental superpowers. Only scattered crystal cores remained.