Wasteland Hideout: Upgrading from the Sewers

Chapter 55: Sacrificial Ritual, Raven Night Raid, Evacuation

After thoroughly exploring the entire 8th floor, Yu Yuan had to admit that safes weren't standard equipment in every room - there were only five total on the entire floor.

Three were already open, and aside from Room 0813, when Yu Yuan used his Excellent Lock Picking skill to open the final safe, he found the cabinet completely empty.

Yu Yuan's mentality completely shattered.

Fortunately, it wasn't a complete waste. Although the hotel's supplies had been thoroughly looted by others, all the hotel facilities remained intact.

Among them were resources that Yu Yuan urgently needed right now.

For example...

"Twentieth one... huff... finally enough!" Yu Yuan let out a long breath, counting the twenty neatly arranged fire extinguisher cans in the Post-Apocalyptic Trading Hole, a smile curling at the corners of his mouth.

It was only when he accidentally noticed the fire extinguishers in the hallway that he suddenly realized.

Aren't fire extinguisher cans essentially high-pressure air cylinders?

They could perfectly serve as construction materials for the shelter's defensive facility - the flame thrower, so he immediately started collecting them throughout the hotel.And since nobody apparently needed fire extinguishers, they conveniently benefited Yu Yuan.

With the fire extinguisher experience, Yu Yuan's thinking was completely opened up.

The Orleans Hotel was large-scale and luxurious, with comprehensive functional facilities - perhaps he could find many construction materials here that were usually hard to come by.

He opened the Virtual Light Screen and began checking the construction materials for shelter facilities.

Bang bang bang....

Suddenly, a series of orderly gunshots sounded outside the hotel. Yu Yuan immediately closed the Virtual Light Screen and moved to the window to look outside, only then noticing that a bonfire had been lit in the zoo at some unknown time.

A group of people surrounded the bonfire, engaged in some unknown activity.

"The zoo..." Remembering the assessment report he'd seen earlier, Yu Yuan thought for a moment, then took out binoculars from his backpack, pressed against the corner of the wall, and looked toward the bonfire direction.

With just one glance, Yu Yuan's lips pressed together slightly.

A man was tied to a stake in front of the bonfire, in the classic pose of Hong Xiuquan's younger brother.

He was surrounded by a circle of candles, and on the ground between the candles, strange symbols had been drawn using some liquid that was either red or black, appearing exceptionally eerie.

The man's naked body was also painted with patterns resembling a black sun.

A person wearing a black hooded robe emerged from the crowd.

Yu Yuan noticed that this person's robe also bore the 'Black Sun' pattern. He held a strangely shaped dagger and slowly approached the bound man.

Yu Yuan quickly adjusted the binoculars' magnification. As the distance closed, he could see the expression of terror, helplessness, and pleading on the man's face.

But it was all in vain.

As the robed figure slowly plunged the dagger into the man's chest, the man's body began to shake and convulse rapidly.

Simultaneously, another robed figure handed a syringe to the one holding the dagger.

That person took the syringe, went to the man's side facing the temple area, and stabbed straight in.

Just as it penetrated, the man who had been convulsing suddenly lifted his head to look up at the sky, his mouth gaping wide as if emitting a wail.

From the syringe in the robed figure's hand, a strand of fluorescent liquid was extracted from the man's brain.

As the fluorescent liquid was drawn out, the man immediately stopped all movement, his face rapidly turning dark black.

The robed figure then placed the syringe into an insulated container that had been prepared nearby. Yu Yuan could even see the cold air rising from the container.

Watching the scene in the zoo, Yu Yuan exhaled a turbid breath and murmured softly: "A religious ritual... so that's it."

Some previously vague clues in his mind became somewhat clearer.

It seemed the Aurora Animal Assistance Association were the ones performing religious rituals in District 9.

Now everything made sense.

But just as he wanted to continue observing, he saw that robed figure suddenly look up in his direction.

Through the binoculars, although he couldn't see the other's face, Yu Yuan had the illusion that the other had already spotted him, making his scalp instantly tingle.

This was the feeling of danger.

"Damn it!"

Without time to think further, Yu Yuan put away the binoculars and immediately turned around.

At the same moment, a rough, unpleasant, low, hoarse sound came from the darkness outside the hotel window.

Caw——

A massive black shadow pounced from the air toward the window of Yu Yuan's room.

Crash crash crash...

The tempered glass shattered directly under the shadow's impact, sending fragments shooting into the room.

Yu Yuan had already leaped forward the moment the sound started, executing a forward roll that took him out of the room, then sliding into the corridor with a sliding tackle.

As he turned, he also got a clear look at the shadow - it was actually a strange black bird with a wingspan of 3-5 meters.

Without time to think, Yu Yuan knew he was exposed. He quickly rushed to the staircase and jumped downward.

Taking three steps per floor, in less than thirty seconds he had descended to the first floor.

But just as he was about to leave the hotel, he suddenly heard that low, hoarse cry again from outside the main entrance.

Caw——

A massive shadow swept past outside the hotel entrance. Yu Yuan's gaze turned sharp.

"This damn bird is trying to delay me. This is no place to stay - gotta escape quickly~~"

The zoo was very close by, so enemies would likely surround this place soon. He needed to leave immediately.

Thinking this, he pulled a flashbang from his chest rig, removed the safety pin, and charged out of the hotel.

Sure enough, the moment he left the hotel, the giant bird dove downward again. This time, Yu Yuan could clearly see its appearance by the moonlight.

It was clearly a giant-sized raven.

The instant Yu Yuan saw the raven, he had already thrown the flashbang toward its direction, then immediately turned his head, closed his eyes, lowered his head and covered his ears - all in one fluid motion.

Boom——

Caw-caw-caw——

The flashbang's detonation time was already short anyway, plus Yu Yuan had thrown it with lead time.

Therefore, although the raven had changed its flight trajectory when it saw something thrown at it, the flashbang still exploded right in its face.

Accompanied by an ear-splitting loud noise, an extremely bright, dazzling white flash illuminated the surrounding dozens of meters as bright as daylight.

Even though Yu Yuan had prepared in advance, he was still briefly dazzled by the white light, but fortunately it passed in an instant.

The moment he opened his eyes, he heard the sound of something heavy landing behind him.

It was clearly that giant raven, which had directly lost its mobility from the point-blank flashbang explosion.

It lay on the ground flapping its wings, still struggling.

Caw~~ caw~~

Yu Yuan looked back at the raven over ten meters away, his eye twitching as a ruthless glint flashed through.

"Go to hell, you bastard!"

Two F1 Small Lemons were directly thrown beneath the raven, while he himself turned and ran toward the nearest sewer manhole cover location.

Boom—boom—

Amid two deafening explosions and the crackling sound of shrapnel and broken stones flying everywhere.

Yu Yuan had already slipped into the sewer, tightened the lock, and could already hear the roar of vehicle engines above...

Jumping down the ladder, he let out a long breath.

Without looking back, he ran in the direction of District 12.