Chapter 687: Chapter 510: Terrifying Night (Two in One) _2
As for the director and the cameramen, they were particularly unfortunate, as they failed to escape in the initial chaos and were quickly surrounded by rats.
Chu Liang saw several people attempting to break out from the roof of the car, but rats easily sprang onto them, pinning them down, and then overwhelmed them.
Not just the roof, even someone who climbed up a ladder was bitten and pulled down by the rats; these ratsâ climbing abilities were far superior to humans.
âQuick, get under the spotlight! Theyâre afraid of bright light!â
Chu Liang urgently shouted this reminder.
But that group of people were already in a panic.
They were terrified by the sight of others falling around them, completely lost, only focused on how to escape, unable to pay attention to his words.
Just then, a series of âbang bang bangâ noises sounded, from near to far, similar to the sounds before the rats appeared.
Chu Liang witnessed, right near him, the ground suddenly exploded in a large hole, and immediately, hundreds of black figures burst out, spreading around.
Seeing this familiar scene, everyone felt hopeless, now even escaping seemed impossible, as the road outside was also swarming with these rats.
Several shrill screams came from afar, apparently, those extras who had already run away.
They had encountered a swarm of rats, and the outcome probably wasnât too pleasant.
âQuick, go back! Get back under the spotlight, those rats are afraid of the light!â
Chu Liang still relentlessly shouted at them.
Sun Xiaoxiao, seeing this, also joined in shouting reminders, and finally, some people from the crew noticed them.
âQuick! Quick! Director Liu! Get under the light!â
The assistant director dragged Liu Teng back, but the latter, in shock and anger, tried to shake him off, but after taking a few steps, realizing the rats were not chasing, he then comprehended what was happening.
The crowd immediately started to retreat.
Fortunately, the crew had arranged quite a few spotlights around, which ultimately saved their lives.
In this way, the crowd was divided into two groups.
One group of more than twenty people, including the crew members, were all crammed under a spotlight.
The other group consisted of just Chu Liang and Sun Xiaoxiao, standing alone under the light by the river.
About fifty meters separated the two groups, with a dense mass of black rats between them, all glaring at them from beyond the range of the light.
âGulp~â
Sun Xiaoxiao swallowed nervously, clutching Chu Liangâs clothes tightly.
âChu, Brother Chu⊠Are we going to die here today⊠What on earth is going on, why did things suddenly turn out like thisâŠâ
Chu Liang instinctively hugged her, not even considering anything of a romantic nature.
His heart was still pounding, facing such a dilemma, he was trying hard to calm himself down.
âItâs okay, donât worry, these rats are afraid of bright light, as long as we stay here, by morning they should leaveâŠâ
Although he was comforting the girl beside him, Chu Liang himself didnât have much confidence.
He had no idea how long the spotlights would last, as they were powered by their own battery packs, not a continuous power source.
He also couldnât be sure if the rats wouldnât gradually adapt to the light, then rush over and devour them all.
Touching his phone, he suddenly seemed to remember something, quickly took it out, flipped through his contact list on social media, and brought up a gray profile.
âBro, big brother, you must see thisâŠâ
Chu Liang mumbled something and then sent a string of messages.
Sun Xiaoxiao, seeing his action, thought he was dialing for help.
Hope flickered in her beautiful eyes; she also took out her phone, quickly hit two digits, and followed by making a call for help.
âŠ
On the other end, located in the dispatch center of Bali City, chaos had already taken over.
Phones rang repeatedly, the messages disturbingly consistent, reporting horrific sightings of mutated rats swarming the exteriors of their homes.
At first, the operators didnât believe what they were being told, merely trying to calm the callers and informing them that someone would be sent to investigate.
But to everyoneâs surprise, the phones suddenly overloaded; a raucous ringing filled the dispatch center, startling everyone.
As soon as one call was disconnected, another came in; such a situation had never occurred before.
âWhatâs happening, Elaine, whatâs going on?â
A duty leader hurried over, obviously having just been awoken from sleep.
âCommander, we suddenly received numerous calls from citizens saying they were attacked by black rats. People are now hiding in their homes, too afraid to go out. Although the rats canât get in for now, they are quite large, and the security doors might not hold for long!â
âWhat? What black rats?â
The leader seemed confused. He looked at the subordinateâs phone, picked it up to listen for a moment, spoke briefly with the person on the other end, and his expression grew increasingly grim.
Clearly, the commander knew something.
He immediately took out his cell phone, dialed a number, and reported the incident that was unfolding. Then he turned to an aide at his side and said:
âRene, go quickly and contact the city power department. Tell them to power up all the lighting devices at full capacity; make sure every single apartment has their lights turned on!â
The aide hesitated and asked:
âBut, Commander⊠we donât have the authority to issue such orders, and powering up the lighting system to full capacity would have a huge impactâŠâ
The leader kicked him in the butt and scolded:
âStop talking nonsense! Just go! Iâll apply for the necessary permissions immediately. This is a top-level alert! Execute it immediately!â
Upon hearing the term âtop-level alertâ, the aide no longer questioned, but ran out immediately, bumping over several chairs and tables on his way out.
âDamn, there are so many of those ratsâŠâ
This commander watched the bustling hall, his heart growing cold.
The ordinary officers might not be aware, but as the commander, he knew a thing or two.
Lately, Bali had been anything but quiet.
Somehow, many bounty hunters had congregated here, seemingly to specifically hunt monsters.
Through certain channels, they had also obtained some monster corpses, which were handed over to the Ninth Department for research.
This so-called Ninth Department was a new department specially designated to handle abnormal incidents.
His insight into the monstersâ weaknesses had come from research conducted by the Ninth Department.
Initially, he had thought these monsters, although numerous, were just isolated incidents, much like the eerie creatures that had appeared frequently of late.
However, what he hadnât anticipated was that tonight, the monsters would emerge on such a massive scale, as if they had overrun the entire city.
Thinking of this, the commanderâs expression grew serious.
He had made a series of calls to report the incident at the highest levels immediately.
At that moment, at a base in the suburbs of Bali City, the personnel of the Ninth Department had received reports of the disturbances in the city; instantly, everyone at the base was alerted, entering the highest state of alertness at that moment.
One by one, elite soldiers left their dormitories, fully armed and gathered at the training ground.
They were the Quick Reaction Force of the Ninth Department, specifically formed to combat domestic terror and eerie incidents promptly.
Todayâs emergency was arguably the most challenging situation they had encountered since their establishment.
Given the deep night and an urban setting where monsters were densely packed, the operation was extremely difficult, and many faces bore unrelievable worries.
Fortunately, the only solace was that, although there were many rats, it was deep night and most residents were sleeping at home, sparing the streets from leisure walkers, which prevented casualties.
However, the destructiveness of the rats was considerable, and the home defenses of the residents wouldnât last long â they had to eliminate those creatures before their defenses collapsed.