Yuri’s throat moved. He looked around at everyone. “It’s a guard. That sound… that is absolutely a guard.”
Shen Mo said, “So not all the mutants went to the eighth floor. On the upper floor, besides the Queen, there’s still at least one guard—and perhaps some ordinary mutants as well.”
A-Da hefted the gun in his hand. “We’ve got guns, we’ve got ammo. Charging up there and killing them isn’t out of the question—I’m just worried that if we make too much noise, will the creatures on the eighth floor come rushing up?”
“We still have grenades,” Yuri said, brows creased, “but we can’t necessarily kill a guard with them. Guards are fast—they won’t just stand still in one spot. Unless we can corner it, it could easily dodge.”
“So what now?” Natasha was uncertain. She looked at Yuri. “Do we lure the guard on the upper floor down? With a guard up there, we can’t go deal with the eggs—we need a plan.”
“Actually… from the 8th floor to the 32nd floor, that takes a fair amount of time, right?” Bai Youwei asked. “How many seconds does it take a grenade to explode?”
“About 5 seconds,” Shen Mo said, producing the hand grenade he carried on him. “This pull-ring type is a bit shorter—3.2 seconds fuse, big blast radius, but a smaller explosion area.”
Bai Youwei held her hand out to him. “Give me one of the 5-second kind.”
Shen Mo raised an eyebrow, eyeing her with suspicion. “What do you want a grenade for?”
Bai Youwei: “Just give it to me—you’ll see what I’m up to in a moment~”
Shen Mo didn’t understand, but instinctively complied. From the precious remaining twelve grenades, he picked one and handed it over.
……
【You know what, I have a bad feeling about this.】
【Me too…】
【Cabbage… promise me we’ll be okay, all right?】
【Don’t say it, don’t say it! My heart is already racing!】
【Bai Youwei, PLEASE don’t start something again!!!】
【What’s wrong with you guys? What did Cabbage do now? I feel like I’m the only one who’s lost the thread…】
……
Bai Youwei pressed the elevator button. Moments later, the elevator descended from the 32nd floor to the 31st.
Yuri suddenly realized what Bai Youwei intended to do, and immediately blurted, “You want to use the elevator as bait—lure the guard in and blow it up inside?”
“Exactly~” Bai Youwei walked into the elevator, entered the password, pressed the button for the 32nd floor—then, before the doors had fully closed, stepped briskly back out, a faint triumphant smile on her face.
She looked at Shen Mo. “Aren’t I clever?”
Natasha couldn’t stop herself. “But—but if you do that! We won’t be able to use the elevator to get back down!”
Bai Youwei froze. She stared blankly at Natasha.
The detonation mechanism was already pulled. She had apparently not thought about the problem of getting back downstairs at all. She stood there, grenade in hand, genuinely unsure whether to throw it or not.
The elevator doors were about to close again. Shen Mo snatched the grenade, hurled it into the elevator—then tackled her to the ground.
The others flung themselves down in a panic as well.
Seconds later, a thunderous explosion erupted from directly above—they were so close that large chunks of the 31st floor ceiling came crashing down. The adjacent elevator also took the impact, releasing a series of clanging metallic jolts, as if cables or pulleys had been damaged.
A moment later, from the 32nd floor came the Queen’s signature piercing shriek.
It was enraged—and it was summoning its “subjects.”
Everyone rose in silence, their collective feelings too complicated for words.
Shen Mo had no idea what to say either. He cast a quick glance at his wristwatch and said calmly, “Let’s not waste time. The mutants on the eighth floor will reach the 32nd floor quickly. Before that happens, we need to eliminate whatever mutants remain on the 32nd floor—or we risk being attacked from both sides.”
A-Da looked at Bai Youwei. “Weiwei…”
He closed his eyes, exhaled, shook his head. “Forget it. Forget it.”
Bai Youwei calmly dusted herself off, managing to sound utterly unapologetic: “It’s not like there was a better option anyway.”
A-Da: “Fine…”
—