Still hoarding supplies in the apocalypse? I'll just go on a killing spree and looting!

At the top of the stairs on the sixth floor.

Lin You squatted down and used the tip of her mantis knife to pry open the outer layer of the vine.

The inside of the vine is a translucent gelatinous structure, with a dark green main stem in the very center, about the thickness of a finger, slowly transporting a dark green liquid.

The vine is still young, with sparse barbs, short tendrils, and roots that haven't penetrated deep into the wall.

But its main stem extends all the way to the end of the corridor, beyond the pushed-open rooftop iron door.

The main body of the Killer Vine is on the rooftop.

"It's still growing. In another day, we won't be able to get past this floor." Lin You stood up and turned to Team Leader Song. "There's a mother organism on the rooftop. If we don't get rid of it, it will spread to the entire building."

"Is that girl upstairs?" Team Leader Song asked.

"Probably not. Since the body is here, she shouldn't be able to go any further up." Lin You drew her mantis knife from her back. "So we need to search from the sixth floor downwards. Once we find her, we'll retreat immediately. I'll guard that plant at the rooftop entrance. If it spreads to the sixth floor, I'll stop it."

Team Leader Song looked at her for two seconds. "These plants will attack us?"

Lin You looked at the man hanging on the wall. "How did he die?"

Team Leader Song looked at the man's gruesome death and hesitated before saying, "He was killed by a plant-like monster."

"Then why did he die here? Look here." Lin You pointed to the vine piercing his heart. "A fatal blow."

Team Leader Song's gaze shifted; it was quite obvious.

The victim in front of us was killed suddenly by an attack, meaning this is the scene of the death.

So... if those vines could kill the victims here yesterday, why aren't they attacking them today?

Team Leader Song nodded solemnly.

He reached out and handed the three Molotov cocktails he was carrying to Lin You; he had used one at the supermarket.

He led Officer Li and Mu Xue deeper into the sixth-floor corridor.

The flashlight beam swept across each door, and Old Li called out from outside each door in a low voice.

Mu Xue followed at the very back, a shotgun resting on her shoulder, the muzzle pointed at the door in front of Lao Li, as if afraid that a strange beast might suddenly jump out.

The experience of being attacked by vines in the supermarket left a very deep impression on her.

She would occasionally glance back at the man pressed against the wall.

The man's body, pierced by vines, hung on the wall at the end of the corridor.

The tendrils of the vines burrowed into his left chest and emerged from his back, pinning him to the wall.

His eyes were still open, and there wasn't much pain on his face.

It's like an abstract painting hanging on the wall.

As the vines penetrate the human body, they release neurotoxins. The person being parasitized will not feel much pain, but will slowly lose consciousness and be digested little by little.

Mu Xue couldn't help but think: If it weren't for Sister Lin, my fate might have been even more tragic.

Lin You stood behind the iron gate to the rooftop; opening the gate revealed the rooftop itself.

The iron gate was ajar, and the vines seen through the crack were thicker and denser than those in the corridor.

The vines moved slowly, their barbs rubbing against the edge of the iron gate, making a soft, rustling sound, a maddening rhythm that was just like human breathing.

She held the mantis knife horizontally in front of her, with her left hand holding it backwards and her right hand holding it upright.

Seemingly sensing something, more and more vines began to grow through the cracks in the rooftop door.

They poured out from the cracks in the door, crawled out from the cracks in the ceiling, and poked out tiny tentacles from the socket holes in the wall.

It seems to be searching or exploring.

Without eyes, they could only use their tendril-like vines to probe and detect the slight tremors of the ground or walls.

The gray fog thickened at the entrance to the rooftop, carrying a unique blend of fresh and sweet plant scents.

The iron gate to the rooftop was slowly pushed open from the outside by vines.

Lin You also saw part of the main body of the Killer Vine.

The main structure on the rooftop is not large, only about the size of a car, and sits on the original water tower base.

It's like leaves growing in a flowerpot.

But those leaves were no longer leaves; they were countless thick vines with barbs.

The surrounding cement ground has been cracked by its root system.

Several thick main vines radiated from it, spreading down the wall, one of which pierced through the iron gate of the rooftop.

It is trying to extend deeper into the corridor.

It sensed some vibration in the corridor, and all the vines stopped wriggling at the same moment, their tendrils all turning towards the doorway.

Lin You stood at the door without retreating, simply watching the surging vines with a cold eye.

Firearms are useless here.

Only Molotov cocktails can work, but if a Molotov cocktail ignites the Killer Vine, it will spread along the vines throughout the entire building.

Those who haven't evacuated yet will all be burned to death in their own homes.

The mantis's blade cleaved through the vines, its sharp edge severing the tentacles, and plant sap splashed onto the wall, corroding a row of dense bubbles.

She didn't try to kill the mother; it was too difficult, and there were too many vines—one person couldn't kill them all.

It would take a lot of Molotov cocktails to kill it.

This is only the first building at the target location; the Molotov cocktails cannot be exhausted here.

She simply guarded the iron gate to the rooftop, cutting off all the vines that were trying to extend into the corridor with a single stroke.

It's like pruning a bonsai tree that's growing unruly and disorderly.

"Found it!" Old Li's voice came from deep in the corridor, low but urgent, followed by the sound of Mu Xue smashing the ventilation window in the corridor with the butt of a shotgun.

Then came a girl's suppressed sob, followed by Team Leader Song's low and steady command.

Footsteps retreated down the stairwell.

"Found them. Let's get out of here!"

Lin You exited the rooftop iron gate, slammed the gate shut, chopped off the railing next to her with a knife, picked up a piece of the broken railing handrail and inserted it directly into the handle behind the door.

The iron gate to the entire rooftop was temporarily sealed off.

Lin You immediately turned around and ran towards the stairwell.

A series of violent impacts came from behind, like a relentless pounding on my heart.

The red and blue lights of the police cars downstairs were still spinning, creating a red and blue halo. Several armed police officers were transferring the rescued residents onto trucks.

Besides the girl and her mother on the sixth floor, there was an elderly couple on the third floor and a middle-aged man hiding under the bed on the first floor.

They were led out of their respective rooms, some carrying children, others carrying suitcases stuffed with clothes and photo albums.

Some people had brought nothing but simple clothes and were trembling with fear in the gray fog.

Officer Li also came out.

His wife and seven-year-old son followed behind him. The son's face was buried in his wife's arms, clutching a Transformer toy in his hand.

Old Li walked very slowly, holding a gun in one hand and protecting his wife's back with the other, his knuckles white from the force.

Only these few people survived in the entire building.

He stopped and opened his mouth as he passed Lin You.

I want to say something.

He should have expressed his gratitude to the family he found today, but he didn't say anything.

"Get in the car," Lin You said for him.

He nodded and led his wife and son toward the truck.

Team Leader Song stood next to the command vehicle and crossed out another name on the paper list with a pencil.

He glanced back at the direction of the three rooftops, where vines were spreading from the edge of the rooftops to the outer walls, climbing down from the sixth floor at a rapid pace.

"The main structure is still growing. Next time I come to this building, I might not be able to get into the whole thing," he said.

"You don't need to come next time."

Team Leader Song stared in astonishment at Lin You's expressionless face, knowing that the entire building only had six units.

They've only searched one unit so far.

What should be done with the people in the remaining five buildings?

Team Leader Song said, puzzled, "There are more people here than this. We've already arrived here..."

Lin You's tone was unusually cold, "You are not a savior, and neither am I."

Faced with Lin You's expressionless and utterly unemotional words, Team Leader Song rubbed his face and said, "We're already here, it won't take long."

Lin You raised her watch and said seriously to Team Leader Song, "More than twenty minutes have passed since we came in. How long do you plan to stay here? An hour or two?"

Faced with Lin You's question, Team Leader Song fell silent, only showing a look of resentment on his face.

He is a police officer, and his job is to protect the peace of the area.

This is the noblest mission he has been given.

But now he can't truly fulfill this mission, which is a disservice to the clothes he's wearing.

Silence means disagreement.