pjbooks Chapter 247 The Fall
Chapter 247 The Fall
On the outskirts of Washington, D.C. 13th Street.
This is a notorious slum.
The streets were piled high with smelly garbage bags.
The homeless, wrapped in tattered blankets, huddled under the eaves of abandoned buildings to avoid the rain.
Old Harry rummaged through the trash can in front of him and found half a relatively clean hamburger.
He wiped the water off the hamburger with his sleeve, preparing to take a bite.
Suddenly, a burst of gunfire erupted from afar. The muffled explosions caused the ground to tremble slightly.
"Damn it, the cops are fighting with the gangs again."
Harry took a bite of his hamburger, grumbling, and looked up at the sky.
Flames ignited in the direction of the Special Economic Zone's center.
Several armed helicopters circled in the air, occasionally launching a few ground-to-ground missiles.
The scene was even more spectacular than a Hollywood blockbuster.
"How many people will die from this?"
Harry shook his head and continued eating his hamburger.
But just then...
The manhole cover at his feet made a slight metallic clanging sound.
Clang. Clang.
The sound was very soft, but it was exceptionally clear in the quiet alley.
Harry stopped chewing.
He turned his head to look at the iron manhole cover.
Black liquid was seeping out of the vents on the manhole cover.
At first, Harry thought the drain was clogged and dirty water was backing up. But soon he realized something was wrong.
Those black liquids did not appear to be water.
They were very sticky, almost like they were alive, climbing up the edge of the manhole cover and then gradually gathering on the road surface.
A pungent smell of sulfur mixed with a foul stench hit me.
"Shit. Has there been a chemical leak?" Harry pinched his nose and took two steps back.
However, the black mud on the ground accumulated more and more, gradually forming a large meat bun about half the height of a person.
Bubbles kept rising and bursting on the surface of the meat bun.
Sudden.
The meat bun stopped wriggling.
It split open in the middle, revealing a cloudy yellow eyeball.
His eyes immediately locked onto Harry.
This sudden and bizarre scene startled Harry so much that he dropped the half-eaten hamburger he was holding.
He had lived for over forty years and had never seen anything so bizarre.
"run."
At that moment, Harry had only one thought in his mind.
Without hesitation, he turned around and sprinted out of the alley.
But he had only taken two steps when he heard a "whoosh" sound behind him.
Harry felt as if he had been hit hard in the back by a huge iron hammer.
The immense force sent him flying, crashing heavily into the brick wall beside him.
A tearing pain spread throughout my body.
Harry looked down in astonishment and saw that, without him noticing, a black tentacle had pierced through his back and chest, with half of his beating heart still hanging from the tip of the tentacle.
A cool sensation rushed into his body through the tentacles.
Harry's vision began to blur, and his body began to convulse violently out of control.
In the last second before he lost consciousness, he saw black sludge gushing out from every sewer opening and every ventilation duct opening in the entire block.
They transformed into countless tiny pieces of flesh, silently slipping into the tents along the street.
Ten minutes later.
Old Harry stood up.
He ripped off his tattered coat.
Like him, many homeless people also emerged from the tents along the street.
The group gathered together, then, in unison, turned and walked out of the block.
……
At the same time.
The underground command post of the US National Security Agency.
The security chief rested his hands on the metal table, his eyes bloodshot.
On the big screen, a large portion of the map of Washington, D.C., was already red.
The red dots, representing distress signals and confirmed infections, are spreading outwards exponentially.
"Can anyone tell me how these things got past the outer defenses?!"
The security chief, who had narrowly escaped the previous crisis, stared at the surveillance footage and roared hysterically.
The reporter below was sweating profusely, his hands flying across the keyboard.
"Chief, they didn't cross the defense line... they spread through the underground pipe network!" The communications officer pulled up a surveillance video.
The image shows a large underground water treatment plant.
The pool was filled with countless black chunks of meat.
They reproduce and multiply wildly in the water.
Then, it is transported through the thick pipes to every corner of the city.
"They've invaded the city's sewage system?" The bureau chief turned pale upon seeing this.
"Yes, they're not just invading the sewage system!"
Chemical defense experts explained,
Their cells also have extremely strong adaptability.
They split into tiny individuals and infiltrate the city's water supply system. Anyone who comes into contact with this water, even just washing their hands or taking a bath, could be instantly infected!
Upon hearing this, the entire command post fell into a deathly silence.
The security chief slumped helplessly into his chair.
Conventional weapons can't kill it, and physical defenses can't stop it. Now even the city's water supply is polluted.
How can we fight this war?
"Has President Strong given any instructions?" the security chief asked listlessly.
The adjutant stepped forward, his voice trembling:
"Director, Air Force One lost contact fifteen minutes ago. The last transmitted footage showed tentacles growing from the co-pilot's chest."
Upon hearing this, the security chief closed his eyes.
It's over. It's all over.
"Preparing to initiate self-destruct procedure."
The security chief took out his access card and inserted it into the control panel.
"Blow this place up. We absolutely cannot let these monsters use our communication network."
The adjutant did not move.
The bureau chief opened his eyes, turned to look at him: "What are you daydreaming about? Execute orders!"
The adjutant looked up.
He looked at the bureau chief, a wide grin spreading across his face.
"I'm sorry, sir, I may not be able to follow your instructions."
"We think the network here works very well."
Looking at his adjutant, the security chief's eyes widened, and his hand instinctively reached for the pistol at his waist.
But it was too late. The adjutant's head suddenly split open, and a cloud of black mud rushed towards him.
……
however,
This scene, however, was not unique to the Ministry of State Security.
In just one morning, the entire District of Washington, D.C. had fallen.
All external communications were cut off.
The signals of major television stations were blocked.
But on the dark web, several blurry videos were being widely shared.
The once bustling streets are now deserted.
Hundreds and thousands of "people" lined up in neat queues and boarded trains, buses, and subways bound for various states...
They were dressed in different clothes; there were police officers, white-collar workers, soldiers, and even women holding children.
Their expressions were blank, and the depths of their eyes were a deathly, pure black.
……
Lin Fan sat in front of the huge floor-to-ceiling window.
A huge screen to the side was divided into dozens of small images.
The content displayed on those screens was footage captured from various sources by the Dark Night Intelligence Network.
Washington's disappearance was like a bombshell, exploding in the top circles of countries around the world.
No country will dare to treat the US's plea for help as a joke anymore.
Because those monsters have already begun to cross the border.
"The border of Maple Leaf Country was attacked by an unknown creature, and the garrison was completely wiped out."
"Mexican gangs suffered heavy casualties when they encountered a black, soft-bodied monster at the border."
Mark stood behind Lin Fan, quickly reporting the latest situation.
"Boss, isn't this monster reproducing a little too fast?"
Mark frowned.
"They don't need logistics at all; as long as there is carbon-based life, they can multiply indefinitely."
At this rate, the entire American plate will be a dead land in at most half a month.
"Half a month? You're underestimating it."
Lin Fan picked up his teacup and took a sip.
"At most a week. Once they control those nuclear-armed bases, they can even feed themselves nuclear weapons to accelerate their evolution."
Lin Fan put down his teacup.
Shoggoth's loss of control was within his expectations.
These high-ranking American officials are playing with fire and getting burned; they have no one to blame but themselves.
But there is one problem that Lin Fan must face.
Once the Shoggoths have devoured North America, they will inevitably expand to other continents. Raccoon City will become their target sooner or later.
Although he possesses a body prone to calamity and the ability to regenerate infinitely, at worst he can die once and trigger a natural disaster to wipe them all out.
But Lin Fan didn't want to do that unless absolutely necessary.
After all, he still has quite a few people around him.
It seems we need to speed up the development of our team.
"Mark, pass the word down: the cleanup crews on the perimeter, speed up their work."
Lin Fan issued the order.
"I need to gather all the mutated creatures within a 50-kilometer radius of the quarantine zone to the north within three days."
"Understood." Mark acknowledged the order and withdrew.
Lin Fan was left alone in the room.
He leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. His mental energy slowly gathered, focusing deep within his mind.
He didn't need to commit suicide; he tried to use his consciousness to touch that mysterious space hidden within his body.
At first, there was only darkness in front of me.
But as he focused his attention, that sense of shared blood and connection gradually became clearer.
He "saw" it.
A gray, hazy space. Endless rows of dilapidated tombstones.
An ancient and desolate atmosphere permeated the air.
Countless unknown things are buried here. Xiang Liu's tombstone is only on the outermost edge.
Lin Fan's consciousness wandered among the tombstones.
He stopped in front of a stone tablet not far from Xiang Liu's tombstone.
The stone tablet is engraved with intricate patterns. One can vaguely make out the shape of a giant bird with outstretched wings.
"Shang Yang".
Having come prepared, Lin Fan eventually managed to recall the totem on the stone tablet.
A ferocious bird in legend that can summon storms and torrential rain.
Lin Fan tentatively extended his spiritual tendrils and placed them on the surface of the stone tablet.
hum.
The stone tablet trembled slightly. A violent and wild energy surged through Lin Fan's mental tendrils and directly into his mind.
Lin Fan felt as if his head had been hit with a sledgehammer. The excruciating pain made him open his eyes abruptly.
Blood dripped from the nose onto the table.
"Grass."
Lin Fan wiped his nose.
"A direct, forceful attack definitely won't work. Without the buffer of physical death and regeneration, this energy will completely overwhelm my spirit."
He needs a filter.
A medium that can receive the violent energy of the tombstone, then transform and release it gently.
Lin Fan stood up and paced back and forth in the room.
If the mysterious space is a high-voltage power source, then those tombstones are transformers with tens of millions of volts. He now wants to charge his men; directly connecting the wires would only turn them to ashes.
Night Owl succeeded because Lin Fan forcibly compressed Xiang Liu's projection into a water droplet and utilized Night Owl's own talent for fusion.
It cannot be copied.