After a round of flattery, Shen Feng led his men to a manhole cover on the street. Upon opening it, they discovered numerous green beads below. Closer inspection revealed these were the eyes of mutated rats. Seeing the manhole opened, the rats immediately scattered within the sewer.
Despite their mutated size, the rats' timidity remained unchanged. The moment they saw humans, they instinctively fled, showing no intention of attacking.
Shen Feng looked at Chu Chaoyan and said, "Begin. Use your ability, I'll help you!"
Chu Chaoyan nodded, signaling for a basin to be brought over. She filled it with water and poured in salt. Then, she placed one hand in the water and aimed the other at the sewer. In an instant, a yellowish-green gas appeared at her palm, continuously expanding and spreading outwards. Those nearby quickly retreated.
At this moment, Shen Feng acted. He used his ability to blow all the chlorine gas into the sewer with airflow. The pale green gas continuously entered the sewer, accompanied by a cacophony of sounds from within, indicating the mutated rats had sensed something was wrong and were trying to escape.
Yang Chang watched the scene unfold and seemed to understand. He muttered to himself, "Salt is sodium chloride, so chlorine gas can be produced from saltwater. As long as there is salt, there will be no shortage of chlorine gas. Coupled with the City Lord's ability, the entire sewer will be filled with poisonous gas, and the rats won't be able to stay there."
Shen Feng heard Yang Chang and nodded, explaining seriously, "Not only that, but the density of chlorine gas is greater than air, so it won't dissipate in the sewer for a short period. These rats will either escape or be poisoned to death."
Shen Feng was also fortunate. Just as he was troubled about how to deal with the mutated rats, Chu Chaoyan gained the ability to control chlorine gas. It was like a pillow delivered when one was drowsy. With their cooperation, clearing the sewer rats would be incredibly simple.
Suddenly, a sewer manhole cover in the distance was blown open, and a group of rats the size of rabbits scurried out, heading towards the nearby houses. These rats understood the principle of avoiding harm. Since they could no longer stay in the sewer, they had to come to the surface.
This suited Shen Feng perfectly. He turned and said, "Lu Kaiyang, lead your men, kill these rats!"
Lu Kaiyang, carrying a rifle, charged forward with his men, shouting, "Kill these rats! Be careful and protect yourselves, don't get bitten by the rats, or you might be infected with the zombie virus."
Lu Kaiyang was a natural sniper, but he knew that against such a large number of enemies, a sniper rifle wouldn't be very effective. Therefore, he chose to bring a rifle and charge with his brothers. Now that the mutated rats could no longer hide in the sewer, it was much simpler for the soldiers; they just needed to shoot.
According to Yang Chang's estimate, there were at least hundreds of thousands of mutated rats in Yuzhou City. Shen Feng didn't take them seriously. With Chu Chaoyan's ability, even a million rats could be killed. At worst, they could create a kilometer-long area of chlorine gas and blow it into Yuzhou City; he didn't believe they couldn't kill these mutated rats!
Chu Chaoyan was currently a third-tier ability user, and producing chlorine gas was effortless. Although her control wasn't very strong, Shen Feng, who controlled wind, could compensate for the deficiency. A gust of wind would make even humans retreat, let alone these rats.
Once the sewer was filled with poisonous gas, the rats had no choice but to come to the surface. But as soon as they appeared, they would be targeted and killed by the soldiers. Without a place to hide, the rats couldn't be a match for the soldiers, even if they were as large as rabbits!
The streets were being cleared in an orderly fashion. Shen Feng said to Tu Xuhuai, who had come with him, "Next, direct these people to clean the streets. Remember to disinfect the ground and burn anything that might spread the plague."
Tu Xuhuai nodded and then led the workers to get busy. The task was simple: burn all the garbage or corpses on the streets! They also needed to disinfect, otherwise, if the plague spread, it would be too terrifying. Currently, the headquarters was completely ignoring Jiangyang, clearly unwilling to provide support to Shen Feng. After all, Shen Feng was a civilian organization, and helping him gain control of Yuzhou would create a formidable power.
Shen Feng needed to rely on his own strength to retake Yuzhou, and manpower was a serious issue. Fortunately, after the plague broke out in Yuzhou, survivors fled, so Jiangyang still had a considerable population. Therefore, as long as Yuzhou didn't encounter any particularly terrifying monsters, the recapture operation wouldn't be dangerous. Chang Jianyi would organize personnel to continuously deliver food.
Most of the people who came to Yuzhou this time were locals. They had been away from Yuzhou for nearly a month and were finally returning to their hometown, filled with excitement. However, all they could see was desolation. In just three months since the doomsday, the city had been neglected and had become so desolate. Everyone began to clean the streets.
Everyone wore masks. Although the plague was mainly transmitted through water and contact, the psychological effect of masks couldn't be replaced. It was treated as a precaution against the flu. Moreover, people were already accustomed to wearing masks, which was the best way to prevent respiratory infections.
The mutated rats were killed one by one and then thrown onto the street. Workers picked up the garbage on the ground with fire tongs and woven bags. The bodies of the cleared rats were all taken outside the city to be cremated. It proved that cremation was still the safest way to handle corpses.
Shen Feng watched people coming and going on the street, all busy cleaning. At this moment, Shen Feng's biggest concern was the oil issue. The oil reserves in Jiangyang and Yuzhou were not large. If they couldn't get oil supplies, they would eventually run out. The headquarters, however, remained indifferent, leaving Shen Feng helpless. Obtaining oil required the headquarters' approval, but unfortunately, in times of war, precious items like oil couldn't be obtained casually.
The headquarters was already dissatisfied with Shen Feng's unauthorized recapture of Yuzhou. Now that Shen Feng was short of oil, the headquarters was even more inclined to watch the show. They closed the floodgates of the Three Gorges Dam. Want gasoline? Then obey obediently, and gasoline will be provided, as will bread.
"It's just one problem after another!" Shen Feng couldn't help but mutter.
Chu Chaoyan also stood up, wiped her hands, and looked at the yellowish-green gas filling the sewer. She said excitedly, "So this is how powerful ability users are. In the future, I will surely become famous."
The sewer was filled with chlorine gas, and staying below meant certain death for the rats. Chu Chaoyan's ability seemed specifically designed to clear underground rats. Furthermore, she could produce chlorine gas very quickly, which could be very useful even in direct combat. Imagine a large area of poisonous gas appearing and being blown towards the enemy by Shen Feng; such a scene would undoubtedly be devastatingly effective.
Shen Feng shrugged and continued walking down the street. The street was now littered with bones, making it impossible to distinguish whether they belonged to humans or zombies. These bones would eventually be burned, and no one opposed this decision, as no one wanted to bury them. Burning them was the most suitable course of action.
Just then, a soldier from the front sent a message: "City Lord, we've found the Rat King. What do you want us to do?"
Upon hearing this, Shen Feng immediately became excited and exclaimed, "Bring me my weapon! I'll deal with this Rat King myself!"
Yang Chang, who was following Shen Feng, heard his words and immediately tried to show off. He rushed to the car and found two titanium alloy long swords. These swords weighed over ten pounds, and their sharpness and toughness were undoubtedly excellent. The only trouble was their weight.
"City Lord, your weapon is here!" Yang Chang said obsequiously.
Shen Feng raised an eyebrow and asked, "Is this the weapon I meant?"
"No?" Yang Chang looked confused.
Shen Feng patted Yang Chang's shoulder and said solemnly, "Bring me my Barrett!"
Only then did Yang Chang realize and quickly went to the car to get the Barrett and hand it to Shen Feng. Shen Feng nodded with satisfaction and said, "That's more like it. If I only had two long swords, the killing power would be completely insufficient. Now that I have the Barrett, let alone a mere Rat King, even Lu Bu, I can take him on!"
Yang Chang quickly replied, "Immediately, Lu Bu, and Dian Wei on foot. Even if Lu Bu rides on Dian Wei, he still won't be a match for you, City Lord."
Shen Feng shouldered the Barrett and set off, ready to see what kind of creature the Rat King was and whether it could withstand a shot.
Shen Feng rushed out of the street and saw a behemoth in the distance. It was actually a giant rat nearly five meters long. It was said that rats in the south were larger, but this rat was truly enormous. Even a water buffalo would be bitten to death here.
"Squeak..." The Rat King saw someone appear and immediately charged towards the street, seemingly intending to bite Shen Feng to death.
Seeing the giant Rat King charging at him, Shen Feng immediately dropped to the ground and propped the Barrett on the ground. The recoil was too great, and it was difficult for Shen Feng to aim while standing, so he chose to lie down and aim at the Rat King. The Rat King had no idea about this, but it didn't slow down as it charged, heading straight for Shen Feng on the ground.
In reality, the Rat King was guessing if its overwhelming aura was so powerful that the insignificant human in front of it was instantly terrified and fell to the ground. This had happened many times before. Whenever it appeared, humans could only flee, and some would even kneel and beg for mercy.
Shen Feng didn't humor the Rat King. He aimed at its head and fired. "Bang," the sound of explosion rang out, and the large-caliber bullet shot out instantly. Shen Feng was also shaken by the recoil, and the piercing sound echoed throughout the city.
As for the Rat King, its charging speed had not decreased, but there was already a fist-sized bloody hole in its head. If it weren't for its massive size, it would have been decapitated by the bullet. It was still moving, but only by inertia.
The Rat King charged at Shen Feng. At this moment, Shen Feng didn't dare to be pinned down. He hugged his gun and performed a "lazy donkey roll," a move that allowed him to move laterally for a short time, dodging frontal attacks. Moreover, it could be performed continuously, making it difficult for the enemy to aim. The only downside was that the posture wasn't very elegant.
"Boom." The Rat King's body fell heavily to the ground. Even though it had reached the pinnacle of rat evolution, it couldn't withstand the bullet. It proved that sheer size didn't guarantee an advantage. In front of humans, it was best not to be too arrogant.
Shen Feng quickly stood up and looked around. He found that no one had seen his clumsy movements, so he was relieved. If anyone had seen him use the lazy donkey roll, he would have been embarrassed! He quickly patted the dust off himself to cover up his disheveled state. At this moment, he turned and shouted, "Come clean up the battlefield! Take the Rat King's corpse to be frozen!"
Chu Chaoyan ran over and, seeing the enormous rat, couldn't help but gasp and murmur, "Such a massive rat, even bigger than a mutated dog. What did it eat to grow so big?"
Shen Feng thought for a moment and said, "The mutated husky we killed earlier was a second-tier mutated dog. Now this rat is bigger than that dog, so it's likely a third-tier mutated beast. It's a pity it still couldn't withstand one shot from me!"
Yang Chang asked confusedly, "City Lord, the Rat King's corpse can't be eaten, right? Wouldn't it be bad if we got infected with the plague after eating it?"
"Who said I was going to eat it? The laboratory is short of research materials. The Rat King is such a good research subject, so of course, it should be frozen and sent to the laboratory!" Shen Feng explained.
Shen Feng didn't dare to eat mutated rats either, as getting infected with the plague would be bad. Besides the mutated rats, there were basically no other animals left in the city. All the danger was caused by the plague. If he dared to eat rats in such a situation, he would be like a寿星公 (god of longevity) drinking pesticide – courting death.
There weren't many dangers within Yuzhou City. Besides the mutated rats, only the plague was somewhat troublesome, but with proper prevention and treatment, it could be overcome.
However, many dark shadows appeared in the Yangtze River. These shadows were all enormous, occasionally emerging from the water to observe. If one didn't pay close attention, they would think they were just dead branches. But upon closer inspection, how could they be branches? They were clearly giant crocodiles!