Soon, Luo Hongyi and his group arrived at the western border again.
The west was mostly their team members; the civilians had chosen the east and north.
More people didn't necessarily mean more strength; it could also mean a bigger target.
Everyone took out their military biscuits for dinner, then sat on the ground to rest, waiting for seven o'clock to arrive.
"Commander, will they keep their promise and break through at precisely seven?"
"Probably, this is everyone's best chance to break through."
"Commander, will that giant bird come after us first?"
"Let's hope not."
Qin Shilei and his group stood dozens of meters to the right of Luo Hongyi's team, using binoculars to observe through the gaps in the giant trees.
Time passed minute by minute, and it was soon seven o'clock sharp.
"Why aren't they running? Are they just trying to trick us into scouting ahead to die?" An Qian said indignantly.
"They look ready to go, so they should still leave," Qin Shilei looked up at the sky, not seeing the four roc birds.
"Screech! Screech! Screech!"
Just then, high-pitched cries came from the east.
"Go!"
Luo Hongyi gave the order and was the first to charge towards the road ahead.
His original plan was to let others attract the rocs and set off one minute after seven.
Everyone ran at full speed. As for the researchers like Old Yu, each was pulled along by two soldiers, and they weren't much slower than the other soldiers.
They soon reached several abandoned cars about a hundred meters away.
"Xiao Chen, Xiao Lin, start the cars quickly."
Luo Hongyi cleaved open the door of the bus with a knife, letting the prepared Xiao Chen and Xiao Lin climb into the truck.
The cars didn't have keys. Xiao Chen skillfully pulled out a bundle of wires from under the steering wheel and connected two of them.
"Click-clack, boom." The bus was successfully started.
Xiao Chen jumped out of the driver's seat and went to hotwire another bus.
The soldiers nearby quickly climbed into the bus.
Soon, two buses and a dump truck roared forward.
"Screech! Screech!"
The rocs' cries now came from the north.
An Qian said in surprise, "Have the rocs already killed everyone in the east?"
It had only been a little over a minute since the first cry of the roc.
Qin Shilei added, "Commander Luo and his team are lucky the rocs came to this side last. They are also unlucky; they don't have enough time to escape."
They were still three to four kilometers away from the forest near the nearest peak, which would take at least three minutes to drive.
And the rocs would likely fly overhead in less than two minutes.
The last dump truck suddenly slowed down, gradually falling behind the two trucks in front.
"Screech!"
At this moment, the rocs had flown overhead and spotted them.
The roc swooped down.
Two soldiers stood up from the back of the dump truck.
They raised rocket launchers and aimed at the roc.
"Boom!"
Two rockets exploded almost simultaneously.
The roc flew through the explosion.
Then, it fired a golden energy ball from the tip of its beak at the dump truck's cabin.
The dump truck swerved violently, then veered off the shoulder of the road and rolled into a field.
Two smaller rocs also flew down and descended towards the dump truck's location.
The roc continued to pursue the bus in front.
The bus braked sharply and stopped. Then, more than a dozen soldiers ran out of the doors and scattered.
The roc, like a high-speed fighter jet, skimmed the ground, leaving behind sprays of blood.
The soldiers were instantly smashed into pulp by the roc; not a single one escaped.
The bus continued to move forward.
The roc circled and charged head-on at the bus.
Its hard, powerful wings directly struck the front of the vehicle.
The upper half of the bus was directly severed.
"Boom!"
As the roc passed through half of the bus, a massive explosion erupted from inside.
The towering flames immediately enveloped the roc.
The speeding roc clearly paused, then flapped its wings and flew into the sky.
A spray of crimson blood mixed with countless feathers rained down from its left wing.
"Screech!"
The roc cried out in anger, then circled back and pursued the bus in front.
"Get out quickly."
The bus braked sharply and stopped. Seven or eight people jumped out of the windows and fled towards the civilian houses by the roadside.
The bus reversed at high speed in reverse gear.
The roc looked at the people who were about to escape into the houses, then at the bus. Finally, it chose to fly towards the bus.
Several consecutive golden energy balls blew up the bus, and then it flew towards the few isolated houses.
It had no intention of approaching the people again, instead firing energy balls from an altitude of twenty to thirty meters.
Twenty to thirty energy balls reduced the houses below to ruins. It then flew around the houses at close range for several laps before flying south again.
The two smaller rocs continued to patrol the area.
"This is too ferocious!"
An Qian looked at the half-burnt bus in the distance, taking a while to recover.
"If even this couldn't kill it, will we be trapped here forever?" Zhang Xiaoli said bitterly.
"Fortunately, we didn't run with them, or we would probably be dead by now," Xie Haimei felt a chill of fear.
At the same time, the women were also filled with admiration for Qin Shilei, who could withstand a direct blow from the roc and injure it.
Qin Shilei lowered his binoculars and said calmly, "We can't break through by land; we'll have to escape by water."
Time passed unknowingly past midnight.
Qin Shilei immediately fixed his "Sea King" attribute.
Then he turned to Zhang Qiang and said, "I'll send you away first, let's go."
Zhang Qiang threw half a piece of wood into the river, and a surge of water appeared. The wood vanished in an instant.
A shiver ran down his spine. "Brother Qin, is this really going to work? I'm not a good swimmer."
"I am a man known as the Sea King; how can a mere small river stop me?" Qin Shilei pointed at the river with a confident expression.
"Sea King?" An Qian drawled out the words.
"Yes, a Sea King in name and in deed."
Qin Shilei finished speaking and then added, "But only a Sea King in the water."
"Women are made of water, you can be a Sea King too," An Qian continued to tease.
"Stop joking, Zhang Qiang, let's go." Qin Shilei was the first to enter the river from beside a giant tree.
As soon as he was in the water, Qin Shilei was like a fish in water, so free and comfortable.
Without any obvious movements, he naturally stopped in the rushing river.
Zhang Qiang had no choice but to follow him into the river.
As soon as he stepped into the water, he was swept away by the current and disappeared.
Fortunately, there was a rope tied around his waist to Qin Shilei's waist.
Qin Shilei quickly pulled him back and then, holding him by the waistband, dived downstream.
Zhang Qiang breathed through a small tube that emerged from the water's surface.
Half an hour later, Qin Shilei brought the disoriented Zhang Qiang to the surface. "This is a small town twenty li away, temporarily safe. Wait for us in the house on the shore."
Zhang Qiang rested for a while before recovering and entering the four-story building not far away.
Qin Shilei then swam back to the forest they were in earlier.