Chapter 254: A Cry for Help from He Kang!
Su Tao sobered up a little when she saw the missing person notice on the packaging and grinned. “Let’s eat.”
Lin Fangzhi, who had already prepared two servings of bread and milk in the kitchen, shot them a resentful look.
Su Tao simply pulled both of them to sit down and eat together.
To be fair to both, she ate the breakfasts they had given her, not wasting a single bite.
Lin Fangzhi’s mood improved after seeing her finish eating, and he prepared to head off to work.
As he was cleaning up the table and about to leave, his communicator suddenly rang. Thinking it was a customer, he answered casually—only to hear a familiar yet terrified voice on the other end scream, “Su—”
The last two syllables were swallowed by a cacophony of agonized screams.
The call abruptly ended.
Lin Fangzhi froze, glancing down at the caller ID. There was no saved contact.
But that voice just now—it sounded like Old Ji from He Kang?
Su Tao turned toward him at the sound, asking, “What happened? Were they looking for me?”
She thought she had heard the “Su” in her name.
Lin Fangzhi furrowed his brows. “It was Mr. Ji. It sounded like he was in danger.”
Su Tao stopped in her tracks, her expression serious. “Are you sure?”
Lin Fangzhi nodded.
Without hesitation, Su Tao put on her shoes and rushed out the door to find Gan Hongyu, asking him to try locating Ji Boda’s number.
However, after several attempts, Gan Hongyu’s expression grew more and more grim.
“Mr. Ji is still in Hekang, but something strange is happening there. The network seems to be collapsing, like…”
He hesitated, unwilling to voice his suspicions.
Su Tao’s heart sank. “Just say it.”
Gan Hongyu fell silent for two seconds before speaking.
“Maybe I’m overthinking it, but Hekang is starting to look like a dead city. All network infrastructure is unmaintained, and several areas are completely cut off.”
Su Tao’s expression darkened. She then asked Lin Fangzhi to replay the recorded call from Ji Boda.
“Su—”
“Ahhh—!” The call was filled with screams, flesh tearing, and horrifying noises.
At this point, it was clear to everyone—Ji Boda had likely met a sudden and catastrophic disaster in He Kang, the kind that left no time for a proper distress call.
But what kind of disaster could be so swift and unstoppable?
A zombie horde attacking the city?
No, sieges take time. Besides, Hekang was at least a Tier-3, Level-2 base—strong enough to withstand even large-scale zombie attacks.
Was it Blood Scythes or Crawlers breaching the city?
That didn’t make sense either. Those creatures slaughter indiscriminately, and He Kang would have noticed and fortified their defenses. Even if their numbers were overwhelming, there should have been enough time for a proper SOS call.
That left only two possibilities.
One was a natural disaster. Ever since the apocalypse began twenty years ago, catastrophic weather events had been relentless. Extreme heat was the mildest among them, unlike the violent destruction of earthquakes and tsunamis.
But if that were the case, there would be news reports.
That left the final and most terrifying possibility—Bone Wings had already reached the South and had chosen Hekang as their first target.
A chilling silence fell over the office, sending shivers down everyone’s spine despite the lack of air conditioning.
Su Tao made two immediate decisions:
First, she asked Lin Fangzhi to check if any past customers were near Hekang and could provide insight into any unusual activity there.
Second, she reported the situation to Dongyang.
Hekang was the gateway to the South—if it fell, the rest of the region would be in grave danger.
Lin Fangzhi, though not talkative, was meticulous in his work. He had recorded every detail of past transactions with Taoyang’s customers.
Within two minutes, he found two small bases near Hekang, close enough to have a clear view of the city.
He called them one by one.
The first base answered quickly, their tone friendly. When asked about Hekang, they rambled on:
“Something strange? Oh, yeah, those wall-climbing monsters have been attacking them lately. Our base got hit too. Those black things are impossible to see at night. They dig up from underground, cling to the walls, and can kill with a single bite. Their mouths open freakishly wide—big enough to swallow a whole person in one gulp!”
“Their speed is insane! Oh, and—”
The people in Taoyang thought he was about to say something critical, but instead, his voice suddenly rose in terror:
“Those crawling monsters… they have human faces! Scariest damn thing ever! Maybe they’re some kind of mutated zombies!”
Everyone in Tao Yang already knew about those creatures from Xu Qi’s immersive reports.
Su Tao cut him off. “Did these creatures cause devastating damage to your base?”
The caller hesitated before answering, “Not really. There aren’t too many of them. We’ve seen maybe two or three per night at most. Plus, they usually leave once they’ve eaten their fill, so it’s manageable.”
That confirmed it—these Crawlers couldn’t be the cause of Hekang’s sudden collapse.
“Anything else strange happening?” Su Tao pressed.
The person on the other end struggled to think. After a long pause, they hesitantly said, “I heard there’s been a serial killer in Hekang lately. Does that count?”
Su Tao’s interest piqued. “Yes, tell me everything.”
The person thought for a moment before explaining, “It started about a week ago. Every few days, someone in Hekang would turn up dead—brutally murdered. Their chests were pierced by some kind of sharp weapon, and their internal organs were completely gone.”
