Chapter 203: Chapter 203: Defend the Gate

Although Shen Yan was full of confidence in the sturdiness of the third underground level, Xu Qingsui still didn’t dare to be careless. She began to arrange Plan B. Beside her, Lu Jingyu furrowed his brows.

"What other plan is there? Just leave it to me. You go out first in a bit!" Being the last one out at a time like this naturally meant taking the greatest risk, and Lu Jingyu couldn’t bear to let Xu Qingsui take it.

"No need, trust me! Your mission is to step out right before me, then guard the door tightly. As soon as I’m out, close it immediately. Whether I get hurt or not will depend entirely on this single action of yours."

Xu Qingsui’s Plan B was to ignite the toxic gas, causing an explosion that would bury all those bugs in a sea of fire. Although anyone could ignite the toxic gas, no one was as naturally well-equipped for the task as Xu Qingsui, who could utilize her Fire Attribute. She could use it to ignite the gas at the very last moment before leaving, which would make the plan relatively safer. Knowing that Lu Jingyu would definitely try to stop her, she had already figured out a countermeasure—placing her life directly in his hands.

Sure enough, upon hearing Xu Qingsui say this, Lu Jingyu immediately fell silent. Under her trusting gaze, he finally nodded.

Once everything was ready, Xu Qingsui led everyone back to the door. She knocked rhythmically on it. With a loud CLACK, the door cracked open. Immediately, everyone walked out neatly and swiftly in order.

Lu Jingyu was the second to last. The moment he stepped out, he stood sideways by the door, keeping one hand on it, ready at all times.

Seeing that everyone had evacuated, Xu Qingsui also walked toward the door. At the same time, she hurled the Fire Attribute energy she had been accumulating for a while deep into the distance.

And the moment she stepped out the door, a massive BOOM echoed from the third underground level.

Because of the door blocking his view, Lu Jingyu hadn’t noticed Xu Qingsui’s action. But just as he saw her step out, he heard the sound of the explosion. His pupils shrank in shock. With one hand, he pulled Xu Qingsui out, and with the other, he slammed the door shut.

Meanwhile, the others had already followed Xu Qingsui’s arrangement and started evacuating. Hearing the loud noise behind them, everyone jumped in fright. But no one dared to turn back, afraid that acting on their own would interfere with Xu Qingsui’s plan.

The moment Xu Qingsui emerged, she grabbed Lu Jingyu’s hand, intending to retreat as well. But right then, she noticed another figure in her line of sight. When she saw the figure clearly, she couldn’t help but freeze for a moment.

"Why is it you? Let’s get out of here first. We’ll talk when we get up!" Not daring to delay, Xu Qingsui yelled and quickened her pace.

Due to the massive explosion, the already precarious building shook once more. Fortunately, the group successfully ran out of the building.

Xu Qingsui took a few deep breaths and finally looked at Shen Yan, who had followed behind her. She had previously instructed Shen Yan to leave one person behind to open the door while everyone else evacuated. She truly hadn’t expected Shen Yan, the boss, to stay behind himself. After all, such menial and dangerous tasks were usually handled by subordinates.

Just now, Lu Jingyu had been solely focused on guarding the door for Xu Qingsui. So after he went out, all his attention was on the door and Xu Qingsui; he hadn’t noticed Shen Yan beside him. It wasn’t until he heard Xu Qingsui’s shout that he realized Shen Yan was standing right next to him.

In his view, this was undoubtedly Shen Yan trying to show off in front of Xu Qingsui. Now that they were out of danger, seeing Xu Qingsui look at Shen Yan, a hint of hostility flashed in Lu Jingyu’s eyes. "Sure enough, this two-faced schemer is plotting at every turn," he thought.

"I didn’t expect you to stay behind yourself. Weren’t you afraid of getting trapped down there?" Xu Qingsui asked. After all, her plan was just a plan. She couldn’t be sure whether it would succeed or if there would be casualties. The fact that Shen Yan had stayed behind truly took her by surprise.

Shen Yan smiled faintly. "I wasn’t afraid. You—"

Lu Jingyu had been staring at Shen Yan. The moment the other man opened his mouth, he realized Shen Yan was about to use sweet talk to win Xu Qingsui’s favor. He immediately interrupted him. "The situation down below should be resolved by now! Boss Shen, you must have equipment down there to confirm the situation inside, right?"

What was originally a perfect opportunity to curry favor with Xu Qingsui had been abruptly cut off. Shen Yan felt a bit annoyed. However, he couldn’t exactly lose his temper in front of Xu Qingsui.

"There is equipment, but with such a huge explosion, I’m not sure if it’s still operating normally. Still, given how massive the blast was, nothing could have survived." After speaking, Shen Yan looked back at Xu Qingsui, wanting to continue praising her.

But Lu Jingyu seemed to have seen right through his intentions and gave him no chance at all.

"Yesterday’s issues haven’t even settled yet, and today we’ve caused such a huge commotion. I imagine Boss Shen still has a lot of matters to deal with. We won’t disturb you any longer.

"I also hope you can find time to confirm the situation down below. If it hasn’t been completely cleared out, in accordance with our previous agreement, I will continue to lead my people down there to clean it up until it’s thoroughly resolved.

"If everything is fine, I hope Boss Shen can make arrangements as soon as possible for our Heiyu Alliance to take over the 27th District’s Survival Team. The sooner the handover is completed, the better we can manage things here and prevent any further incidents."

Lu Jingyu dumped a pile of work directly onto Shen Yan. He acted like a taskmaster cracking a whip from behind, driving Shen Yan to deal with the matters quickly.

Shen Yan was unhappy, but he couldn’t deny that everything Lu Jingyu mentioned were indeed urgent matters that needed immediate attention. Left with no choice, he could only nod in agreement and begin instructing his subordinates to handle the aftermath.

Lu Jingyu seized the opportunity to say to Xu Qingsui, "With all that toxic gas and the explosion down there just now, we should head back and clean ourselves up first!"

Xu Qingsui had long since forgotten what she originally wanted to say after being interrupted by the two of them. Hearing the sense in Lu Jingyu’s words, and especially noticing the heavy layer of dust on her clothes, she immediately followed Lu Jingyu and his group back to the dormitories.

Watching Xu Qingsui leave, Shen Yan shot Lu Jingyu a displeased glare. As if he had eyes on the back of his head, Lu Jingyu somehow sensed it. He turned back and flashed a victorious smile at Shen Yan.

Shen Yan watched until their figures completely disappeared. After hurriedly delegating tasks, he immediately pulled out his phone and connected to the surveillance equipment in the laboratory building. After all, it was a laboratory facility. To guard against emergencies, there were always backup systems in place.

Shen Yan tapped the screen a few times, and footage of Xu Qingsui’s group leaving the third underground level appeared. He quickly skimmed through the video. When it reached a certain frame, he hit the pause button.

In the frame, Xu Qingsui was standing sideways, half of her body already out of the third underground level.

At that exact moment, a crimson flame appeared in her hand.

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