Apocalyptic Island - Chapter 24.1

Chapter 24.1

Wen Yishu led the way, diving into the stairs below. Her speed was unprecedentedly fast. The others grabbed their bags and rushed towards the rooftop.

They no longer cared about any giant ships. Their current location was at the lowest point of Binhai City. They didn’t know how high this tsunami would be. Even if their building could withstand plants, it couldn’t withstand a tsunami.

The Rhine building was dozens of meters high. Looking down from the top, it was inevitable to feel dizzy. Wen Yishu had a fear of heights. She glanced down and closed her eyes.

Bai Mi did not have such a long rope. She only had a regular one. The black line on the horizon was getting closer and closer. There was no time to buffer.

They had to get down immediately. Ling Shuang was so anxious that tears came out. The tears that just flowed down her face would freeze in a moment, making her cheeks sting with pain. She was so scared that she didn’t dare to cry anymore.

The others also wrapped up their faces. Bai Mi was wearing the down jacket Wen Yishu brought. She planned to pack it up after they ran, but her movements were not slow at all. She quickly tied knots and calculated the length to go down.

The thick rope ran out halfway down. Looking at the building that they couldn’t reach the bottom of, their hearts sank.

Wen Yishu walked to the edge of the building. The top of the Terminalia tree was very close to her, but it was difficult for mutated trees to continue to grow taller. Even if they did, the branches were extremely fragile, just like the branches that reached into the room yesterday. They could only slowly absorb corpses.

The branches that reached up from the Terminalia tree hooked her finger, feeling a little helpless.

All of Rhine’s balconies were fully enclosed. It was impossible for them to find a place to rest in the middle. Even if they reached the tree, it would be difficult to get down from the bare trunk without branches.

As time passed, everyone became anxious. You Ning threw the rope that Bai Mi had tied, planning to go down to the tree first and then figure things out.

Wen Yishu pulled her back. It was impossible for everyone to go down like this. Were they going to leave someone here to untie the rope and sacrifice themselves?

She endured her fear and stood by the edge of the building, surveying the area. Her gaze suddenly fell on a bright green plant.

It was hanging softly on a tree without support. Its large, spherical stem and leaves were very plump. The moment it saw Wen Yishu’s gaze, it waved excitedly at her.

Wen Yishu inexplicably felt that it looked familiar. She also waved, signaling for it to come up.

The stem and leaves hanging below quickly climbed up. The moment Wen Yishu’s hand touched its branches and leaves, she knew what it was.

It was the string-of-pearls plant that she had thrown out of the window. Its fleshy stem and leaves had grown from the size of a fingernail to the size of a head. It was hard, not as tender and juicy as it was at the beginning.

The light green leaves had turned dark green. The originally smooth leaf surface had also become a little rough, and there seemed to be small bumps when she touched it.

Wen Yishu felt a strange emotion enter her heart. This small string-of-pearls plant seemed to be feeling a little wronged. It cautiously held Wen Yishu’s finger and refused to let go. It was as gentle as it was when it first wrapped around her wrist.

As if it was afraid that Wen Yishu would let it go again, the soft branches wrapped around her hand several times.

Wen Yishu suddenly had a bold idea.

Half a minute later, the group stood on the edge of the rooftop, trembling, looking at the ladder made by the string-of-pearls plant in front of them.

Its long main branch held the rope that Bai Mi had tied. The entire root was taut and straight. Each leaf was a small step, spiraling down and staggered. It looked like the stairs in a forest cabin from some cute, healing video game.

Ling Shuang: “Are we really going to go down like this?”

Her voice was choked with sobs. She felt like she was going to faint in the next second.

Wen Yishu nodded. Ling Shuang wanted to say something more when she saw that the team leader had already stepped on it first.

Her speed of “going down the stairs” was very fast. Holding the rope, she was as if she was walking on a normal staircase.

She quickly went down one floor. Her steps were very steady, without any wobbling.

The group was greatly relieved when they saw this. There was no time for them to hesitate now.

You Ning was the second to go down, followed by Wen Yishu. The remaining three looked at each other. Huo Xiaoguan gritted her teeth and rushed up as well.

The group was trembling with fear as they went up, but after walking for a while, aside from the height, it really wasn’t much different from walking down the stairs.

This was also thanks to the fact that this side was sheltered from the wind. In addition, they could hold onto both the main stem of the string-of-pearls plant and the rope, making it so safe.

The group went down all the steps in a few dozen seconds. The trunk of this tree was very large, and they had a lot of space to move around while crouching in the middle of the branch.

After the string-of-pearls plant completely hung down, they started to go down the stairs again. This time, even Ling Shuang was no longer afraid and quickly went down the stairs.

Wen Yishu felt that she was truly alive when she stepped on the ground.

Everywhere she looked, there was a dense jungle. It was difficult to see the direction of the road.

Only then did she realize why it had taken Huo Xiaoguan so much time to get here and how difficult it was for her to arrive.

The soil under their feet was very moist. The surrounding concrete and asphalt roads were pushed up by countless plant roots, making them very messy and difficult to walk on.

Bai Mi turned on the quantum computer’s smart navigation. The group just had to follow the instructions on it to avoid the chaotic roads.

When Wen Yishu turned around, she found that the string-of-pearls plant had hooked her wrist again.

But the force was not strong. She could easily break free with a little effort.

Wen Yishu did not withdraw her hand. Instead, she watched as its branches and leaves shrunk little by little. She asked: “Do you want to come with me?”

The force on her hand became a little tighter. She pulled hard, and the entire string of pearls fell straight down.

Along with some dirt from above, it scattered on Wen Yishu’s face.

The string-of-pearls plant returned to its normal size. You Ning’s voice came from behind Wen Yishu, a little far away: “Yishu, hurry! There’s no time!”

She answered and grabbed a handful of dirt from under her feet, stuffing the entire string-of-pearls plant into her pocket. She quickly caught up with the people in front.

The navigation of the quantum computer went straight up the mountain, not even taking the nearby road. All the plants seemed to be sleeping. They only moved a little when Wen Yishu passed by.

She used her ability to try to clear a path for the group to move forward.

When they reached halfway up the mountain, Wen Yishu received a tsunami approaching alarm from her quantum computer.

At the same time, all the researchers who had been dozing off in the underground shelter were awakened by this notification.

They had just seen the rescue notification from Rhine Headquarters this morning.

They were relaxing and catching up on sleep from a state of extreme panic. Now, they saw the tsunami approaching warning from their quantum computer.

Some people even thought they had misread it. Why did it go from heaven to hell in one second?

Some people who couldn’t hold back, regardless of whether there were still Variants outside, opened their doors and ran outside.

The door below was completely locked. As the tsunami alarm approached, the waves on the virtual electronic screen turned into a red line, constantly approaching the location of these researchers.

They ran to the top floor and saw the wall-like tide in the distance, devouring everything in front of them with destructive force.

This included the giant ship that was sailing on the sea and everything on land.

The group didn’t have time to struggle to climb down the rope and were completely swallowed by the surging seawater. This was an indiscriminate massacre of all living things by the ocean.

Wherever it went, plants and animals were as insignificant as ants.

Wen Yishu was at the very back and was climbing up almost with her hands and feet. The sound of the astonishing waves behind her was getting closer and closer. She was like an ant, slowly moving through the jungle.

Faster, she had to be faster!

She was still a few meters away from the safe location marked on the quantum computer.

Wen Yishu felt a chill on her ankle. She quickly flung the string-of-pearls plant out of her pocket. The string-of-pearls plant quickly grew longer, grabbing onto the trunk of the tree above.

After Wen Yishu tightened her grip, she used the force to almost fly, jumping to the side of the others in one go.

The string-of-pearls plant in her hand quickly shortened. She was dragged up by the others, and she clearly felt that her ability had been overused.

Wen Yishu sat on the ground, a little dizzy. Her hands were trembling slightly.

The string-of-pearls plant in her hand was also lifelessly drooping. Its leaves were a little shriveled from shrinking.

Wen Yishu closed her eyes, put the string-of-pearls plant back in her pocket, and patted it.

The group arrived at the road on the mountain. The road here was not badly damaged because there was little vegetation around.

Below was the endless seawater. Even the giant ship was submerged in the tsunami, with no signs of it flipping over.

The huge impact was enough to tear the giant ship apart. You Ning stood there in a daze, looking at the part of the sea where the giant ship was.

The people in the pier were almost all killed instantly when the glass of the lounge was shattered by the seawater. But the people on the cruise ship did not die that quickly.

Perhaps some people were still alive, only to be suffocated to death by the water pressure after sinking to the bottom of the sea.

Binhai City couldn’t even rescue the people in the city, let alone the people at sea.

Even the top of the Rhine apartment building was no longer visible. Wen Yishu didn’t dare to think that if she hadn’t come down just now, she would also be in the water now.

Fortunately, the water flow in front of her was still relatively gentle, which slightly reduced the fear in her heart.

She stood up and saw You Ning standing there in a daze, like a soulless walking corpse.

She couldn’t tell if the water on her face was rain or tears. The hood of her raincoat had fallen off at some point, and the rain was just hitting her head and face.

Wen Yishu got up and put her raincoat back on.

The aftermath of the tsunami was more than one wave. They absolutely could not stay where they were for long. She blocked You Ning’s sight and said to her as gently as possible: “You Ning, come with me first, okay?”

You Ning threw her hand away. When they were in school, they both thought the other had a good temper and was calm and composed in the face of trouble.

But this advantage now was driving You Ning crazy. Her mind was buzzing as if it had exploded. She couldn’t hear what Wen Yishu was saying at all: “My parents are on that ship! I’m not leaving! I’m going to save them! I’m going to save them!”

Wen Yishu grabbed her. Her strength was so great that You Ning was a little unable to move.

This struggle looked very powerless. Wen Yishu said in a low voice: “I know, but you can’t go over now. You can’t do anything even if you go. Come with me first.”

The giant ship simply could not withstand such a huge impact. It might have already completely sunk in a place they couldn’t see.

You Ning would just be throwing her life away. She understood her friend’s feelings now, but there was no way she would let her do something to harm herself.

She pleaded almost painfully: “Let me go, okay? My parents are in there.”

She grew up in a happy family. No words could describe the feeling of her parents leaving in front of her eyes.

The last message they sent her on the quantum computer was: “You Ning, we’ll be there soon. Can you see our ship? Be careful.”

This message popped up now. Every word was like a thorn piercing her eyes, making her unable to hold back her tears. She could no longer suppress the emotions in her heart and burst into tears.

Wen Yishu patted her back, but she still did not let her go: “They would rather you live.”

You Ning roared: “Wen Yishu, let me go! Let me go! I don’t want you to care about me! Let me go!”

Wen Yishu clenched her fists, restraining the urge to slap her. Her voice couldn’t help but turn cold: “You Ning, I saved your life. I should be the one to decide how you die. You come with me now. I can’t let you be here alone.”

The seawater was murky and turbulent, but the water level was gradually dropping, brewing for the second wave.

The rest of the group stood there in a daze, watching the two of them. They were a little confused but didn’t dare to step forward and ask.

You Ning fiercely grabbed Wen Yishu’s arm and bit down. A black shadow flashed in front of her eyes. Wen Yishu turned her head and felt her arm being grabbed by another hand.

You Ning’s mouth bit Bai Mi’s hand. To make it easier to move, she had taken off her down jacket and was not wearing thick clothes. She gritted her teeth and shook off You Ning’s biting mouth but didn’t say a word.

You Ning felt a strong taste of blood in her mouth. Her chaotic mind cleared up a little.

She heard the exclamations of the others. Bai Mi wiped off the blood dripping from her hand. Her cold eyes watched her. You Ning only felt that such a gaze was dazzling. She couldn’t control the emotions in her heart. Just as she was about to get up, she was interrupted by a slap.

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