Qin Hua was running through the several underground tunnels and heading towards the source of the loud explosion when she suddenly saw a bunch of holes up above her.

"Fresh air! Finally! Damn it. This stink almost killed me." She made sure that her transformation ability was off cool down and activated [Shapeshifting].

Her lycan frame immediately started morphing and in the blink of an eye, she stood on her hind legs again. She pushed down and jumped, almost reaching the surface.

But before she could fall, she hooked her long nails onto the mound and swung up to reach the surface, with the cat still cozily and safely clung to her back.

Woof! Woof!

Her sharp feral eyes darted here and there to see where they were when she also noticed the many centipedes dancing several feet ahead of her.

[Woof? Didn't I just kill a bunch of them? Just how many centipedes are there?? And is that...Alex?]

It was entirely dark outside except for the raging flames of the grenade and Alex's figure flashed around like a beautiful butterfly on fire.

[Not bad! Woof!] Qin Hua dashed towards the two humans struggling amidst the multitude of centipedes. 

She could see that Alex had tremendously improved in this short period, but dealing with these many beasts at the same time was a threat even to someone like her. 

So she pushed the cat to the side and quickly dashed into the fray of beasts.

Meow? Coco cocked its head to the side, feeling confused. It licked its hand lazily and happened to step on a plant. 

It sniffed the plant and chewed on it a little playfully still watching Qin Hua's disappearing figure. 

Coincidentally, that plant was a rare herb for treating toxins, and the poison in its body from the underground fumes was completely detoxified.

…

…

…

Inside the camp located at the water purification facility...

"Commander! Commander! Our scouts might be in trouble. Somebody is using grenades in the hospital district." Two of the guards rushed over and informed the man seated alone in the main control room.

"Hmmm…" The Commander did not reply immediately and he thought about something for a moment. After a few seconds, he slowly moved his lips. "Send only one-fourth of our men and ask them to retreat and signal if the situation looks out of our control."

The two guards immediately nodded and then rushed out to inform the others. Just a few minutes later, a team of fifteen strong able bodied men walked out of the water purification facility.

Lu Chen noticed this disturbance and also started heading out. 

He and Mo Ling had already gathered enough information about the place and it seemed legitimate enough. At least he couldn't find anything wrong with it just yet.

While it might still be risky to bring the others here, he thought that everyone should be capable of handling themselves.

"Brother, wait. Where are you going?" One of the guards stepped forward and asked.

"Oh. I am just stepping out for a bit." Lu Chen narrowed his eyes and replied.

"Hmmm. That is actually not possible right now as many of our men have headed out to investigate a disturbance. It is better for others to stay back because we cannot provide any support right now if something dangerous were to happen to you."

Lu Chen smiled politely and shook his head. "Don't worry about that. I am confident in my skills. I will not require any assistance."

"Ha Ha. I am sure. It's nice to be confident and fearless especially now. But that is also why we need people like you here. Since the main team is not here right now, it's better to stick together."

Seeing the guard's persistent replies, Lu Chen sneered inwardly. "So are you saying, I cannot go out right now?"

"Yes." The guard nodded. "It's for your own safety. Didn't you just come here? You should take some rest."

"Alright. I understand. May I know what happens if I insist?" He calmly asked.

"Ahhh. You are putting me in quite an uncomfortable position here." The guy looked around and ruffled his hair. 

"The thing is we need some sort of order in this chaos. That is precisely why we have everything structured this way. Just don't think about it so much."

Lu Chen still remained calm and simply asked the same thing again. "What if I really insist?"

"Ah. If you really wish to leave, of course, you may leave. But I am sorry, you won't be able to return to this camp." 

"Please understand. We have to manage so many people, we have to make sure you don't contract any diseases, we have"

Lu Chen did not let him finish. "I understand. Thank you." He replied and he went back. Weirdly enough, this conversation did not make him feel uncomfortable.

If everyone was allowed to move freely as they wished, then it would be total chaos. Lu Chen didn't disagree with the concept. 

Except in his case, he didn't want safety. He rather wanted to actively hunt down the beasts and creatures running around.

He squatted down in front of Mo Ling and asked, "Do you want to stay here?"

"What happened?" Mo Ling asked worriedly. He had thought that they couldn't find anything wrong with the place, so he was very concerned with Lu Chen's words.

"Nothing really. It's just a choice between less freedom and more freedom." 

"I understand your condition so if you want to stay here and get the help you need, we can part as friends. No hard feelings."

Mo Ling looked at the guard at the entrance of the huge hall and understood the meaning behind Lu Chen's words. 

He actually wanted to go back with him, but then he looked at his broken limbs.

Even if he went back, he would only be a burden to the group. In fact, another grown man had actually carried him around for the past couple of days.