Chapter 3

It was 2 a.m. on the third day after the apocalypse began.

The outside world had long since become a desolate ruin.

Even without the direct sunlight during the day, the surface temperature is still suffocating . In stark contrast, my underground fortress, which is like an impregnable fortress, is emitting extremely faint white noise through its temperature control system.

I lay on my side on the cot in the rest area, my back to the hall outside, deliberately making my breathing even and heavy, occasionally letting out a soft snore or two at just the right moment. But in the thick darkness, my mind was unusually clear.

Because I was certain that the prey that was almost cooked wouldn't last much longer, and something bad would definitely happen to them in the next few nights.

It's 2:15 a.m.

"drop--"

On the platform behind the bulletproof glass of the fortress control room, the outer thermal imaging radar suddenly emitted an extremely short, low-frequency warning sound. Sarah, who had been curled up on the sofa outside, sat bolt upright as if she had been stabbed by a high-voltage needle.

For the past three days, she had barely slept a wink , because according to their original plan, Anna and David should have swaggered in and taken over the fortress on the very first day of the extreme heat.

I heard her barefoot approach the door of the lounge. She held her breath and stared at me intently in the darkness for a full half minute. After confirming that I was not awake , she breathed a sigh of relief and slipped into the control room like a thief.

I rolled out of bed and silently followed behind her, stopping at the half-closed door of the control room.

Through the crack in the door, two shadowy figures were clearly projected onto the night vision screen of the surveillance camera.

It's Anna and David.

The two of them looked extremely pathetic at that moment.

The scorching sun during the day, capable of killing instantly, makes it impossible for any human to be outdoors, so they can only choose to migrate with great difficulty in the dead of night.

In the surveillance footage, David staggered and stumbled to the outermost riot control fence, three meters high. He struggled to raise his hand and waved it forcefully towards the camera hidden in the corner—a pre-arranged signal between the family of three.

Sarah trembled with excitement in front of the screen. She leaned over to the control panel, pressed the intercom microphone that connected to the outside, and suppressed her voice to the extreme, but it couldn't hide the nauseating elation: "Mom, is it you and David?"

In the video, Anna abruptly looked up; the faint voice from the loudspeaker was like heavenly music to her. She gripped David's arm tightly, letting out a hoarse, anxious scream into the air: "It's us! My dear daughter, let us in!"

David, panting heavily, stared intently at the metal mesh, his bloodshot eyes wide: "Is that old idiot inside fast asleep? Turn off the power right now, we need to get in immediately!"

“He’s sleeping like a log.” Sarah’s eyes gleamed with a wicked triumph. “Don’t worry, I’ll count to three and then cut the power . David, you crawl in!”

An extremely cold, mocking smile involuntarily curled at the corners of my lips.

In the monitoring room, Sarah took a deep breath and moved closer to the core power grid operation area of the control panel.

During the preparation period, in order to welcome this moment, she went to great lengths to extract the switching logic of this ultimate defense system from me.

I simplified the entire process to the extreme at the time.

There were two large buttons on the control panel, one red and one green. I told her: the red button meant power off, pressing it would activate the external electric grid and make her safe; the green button meant power on for protection.

The actual setting is: the green button represents a safe low voltage to maintain the hibernation level; while the extremely conspicuous red button is not a power-off switch at all, but a "limited anti-riot mode" used to instantly release all current limiting protection of the system!

Once the red button is pressed, the peak voltage, far exceeding the lethal threshold, will instantly flood the entire metal mesh.

Inside the fortress, Sarah's hand was now firmly hovering above the red button.

In that life-or-death moment, all she could see in her eyes was the excitement of about to usurp the throne, leaving not a trace of guilt or hesitation for that "old fool" father.

" one two three! "

She exerted force with her palm and slammed the red button all the way down!

"Click—Buzz!"

A deep, muffled yet chilling roar of a heavy transformer overload echoed from the depths of the underground. Simultaneously, in the surveillance footage, David, using a discarded metal barrel as a foothold, leaped upwards, gripping the electric grid tightly with both hands. He was preparing to scale the fence, a triumphant smirk even playing on his cracked lips.

However, just a fraction of a second after he gripped the metal conductor tightly.

"Sizzle—BOOM!!!"

Accompanied by a terrifying explosion that sent chills down one's spine and seemed to tear the air apart, a blindingly thick, dark blue arc of electricity exploded in the very center of the surveillance screen!