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Chapter 126: Chapter 126: Adventure
Han Jiaojiao and Tian Xinyue retreated to the entrance of the corridor, where rain and cold wind poured in from outside, making the ground wet and slippery.
Han Jiaojiao had run out of bullets, and Tian Xinyue also had only a few rounds of ammunition left. They didn’t know how many Alien Species they had killed along the way, but at this moment, there were still seven or eight Alien Species hiding around the corner, waiting for the gunfire to cease before they rushed out.
The bullets couldn’t be wasted anymore. These bullets might be their last resort.
Han Jiaojiao pulled Tian Xinyue and ran out, pointing to the metal tower crane on the top floor and shouting, "Up there! Quick!"
They could climb it, but Wang Mengyi had injured his leg, could he make it?
Wei Jie also thought of this and rushed forward to the metal tower crane, but involuntarily stopped.
Gunshots came from behind, Han Jiaojiao and Tian Xinyue were holding back the Alien Species from catching up.
Wang Mengyi said in a deep voice on Wei Jie’s back, "Xiaojie, put me down."
"...Can you handle it?" Wei Jie put him down and didn’t dare to look at Wang Mengyi’s leg.
"I’m fine, go help them!" With his hands grasping the metal frame in front of him, Wang Mengyi clenched his teeth and used the strength of his upper arms to pull himself up; with one kick of his leg, he had already ascended a small section.
Seeing that Wang Mengyi was climbing slowly but steadily, Wei Jie was reassured, drew his gun, and ran towards Han Jiaojiao.
Bang, bang! Two gunshots.
The Alien Species huddled at the stairs, dodging bullets, unwilling to easily let go of the prey in front of them, and kept emitting bursts of agitated hisses from their throats.
"You two go up first! Quick!" Wei Jie blocked in front of Han Jiaojiao and Tian Xinyue.
In climbing feats, women are naturally weaker than men, not to mention Han Jiaojiao and Tian Xinyue were still teenage girls. Even after some time of training with the Special Training Team, their physical abilities hadn’t instantly become on par with military soldiers.
The two of them knew this and didn’t say much; they immediately turned around and ran toward the crane.
The tower crane is a common type of tower crane on construction sites, with a sturdy tower body and a long jib. By the time Han Jiaojiao and Tian Xinyue reached it, Wang Mengyi had already climbed up a bit; his leg was still bleeding unstoppably, and Han Jiaojiao noticed his face, washed by the rain, was as pale as paper, with both hands trembling nonstop on the iron frame.
Han Jiaojiao climbed a few levels up, reached Wang Mengyi through the gap in the metal frame, and grabbed his torn trousers to rip them open fiercely, shouted "Hold on!" and quickly tied the ripped fabric tightly around his calf!
Wang Mengyi’s body jerked violently! He endured the pain, clenching his teeth without making a sound. He knew Han Jiaojiao was doing it for his own good, if the bleeding continued, even if they could avoid the Alien Species, he could die from excessive blood loss.
Han Jiaojiao did have hemostatic medicine in her bag, but because the rain was pouring too much, even if she took it out, it probably would be washed away as soon as she applied it to Wang Mengyi’s leg. Moreover, under the current conditions there was no way to disinfect the wound, and she couldn’t find a clean cloth to bandage his wound. The fabric from the trousers, mixed with dirty blood and perhaps the blood of Alien Species, left Han Jiaojiao only hoping that Wang Mengyi was lucky; otherwise, even though Superpower Users had certain resistance to Alien Species viruses, if the wound were to get infected and inflamed, he might not be able to save his leg.
The blood continued to gush out; the Alien Species’ claw had almost ripped half of the flesh from Wang Mengyi’s leg.
A thought flashed through Han Jiaojiao’s mind. Her Ability had once been able to draw blood out of Mutant Beasts; could she make the blood flow back? Human skin was much thinner than that of Mutant Beasts, maybe she could try? — Could she use Wang Mengyi for an experiment?
The metal frame vibrated slightly, she looked to the side, and Wei Jie had also climbed up.
The alien species below were trying to jump onto the tower crane; they leaped up to three or four meters, grabbed the steel frame, and hung there, but they couldn’t hold on for long before they fell off.
Unwilling to give up the food in front of them, the alien species simply surrounded the tower, refusing to leave.
Wei Jie fired at them, but his gun was out of bullets.
Han Jiaojiao placed her hand over Wang Mengyi’s wound, saw that he was still relatively lucid, and said in a deep voice, "Wang Mengyi, I have the Ability to control blood. You’re losing too much blood now, and I’ve got to try to stop it, but it might not work. If you feel something is wrong with your body, tell me immediately, got it?"
Wang Mengyi felt his calf was nearly numb, and he weakly nodded.
Han Jiaojiao tried to activate her Ability, and the flow of blood slowed immediately by a third. A look of surprise appeared on her face as it seemed much easier than she had anticipated. Not only could she feel the blood flowing through Wang Mengyi’s veins, but she could also discern between the clean blood and the bacteria-contaminated blood. These bloods were in different states, spreading from the wound towards the rest of the body.
An odd feeling couldn’t help but rise in Han Jiaojiao’s heart—had she guessed wrong? Was her Ability not offensive, but instead, healing-oriented?
Regardless, she needed to stop the bleeding first.
While Han Jiaojiao returned the clean blood to Wang Mengyi’s body, she also withdrew the dirty fluid from the cloth. Despite the fabric being wetted by rain each time she removed some of it, at least she could ensure that the viruses in the alien species’ blood wouldn’t invade his body.
After she had done all this, she tentatively asked Wang Mengyi, "How do you feel now?"
"...I don’t feel anything." Wang Mengyi offered a wry smile as he looked at Han Jiaojiao, "My leg seems to have gone numb."
Han Jiaojiao gave his condition another careful check and reassured him, "Don’t worry, it’s okay, the bleeding has stopped, and the blood circulation is normal. I’ve pulled out the dirty part, so you might feel a bit anemic for a while, but it’s not a big problem."
Wang Mengyi let out a sigh of relief and sincerely said, "Thank you."
As a Superpower User skilled with speed, if he were to lose a leg, even if he managed to return to the base alive... he might end up living a life worse than that of an ordinary person...
Tian Xinyue, looking at the alien species below, asked with lingering fear, "Jiaojiao, they can’t climb up, can they?" 𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙥𝒖𝒃.𝙘𝙤𝒎
"They can’t get up. The alien species lack the upper body strength to support their entire weight," Han Jiaojiao exhaled, hooking herself onto the steel frame, and said, "But we can’t stay here forever either."
Han Jiaojiao pointed at the building opposite and suggested, "We can climb across from the jib to the other side. The alien species aren’t smart enough to think of going down and coming back up another building’s stairway. They’ll just stand here in a panic. We can find a place to take shelter from the rain and rest in the building over there."
As she spoke, Han Jiaojiao looked at them and added, "Of course, my suggestion isn’t foolproof. How long has this crane been here, is it poorly maintained, will the balance of the jib be sufficient, might it break midway while we’re climbing across, it’s raining hard, is it very slippery up there... I don’t know any of this. I just think that, given our current situation, going across is the safest and most reliable method."
Everyone inevitably fell silent.
Below the crane, the alien species, not resigned to failure, jumped up again and again, only to fall each time, every impact bringing a heart-stopping vibration.
No one knew if the seemingly sturdy tower crane could withstand the impact of the alien species indefinitely.
Wei Jie was the first to break the silence, saying, "I think Jiaojiao’s idea is very feasible. The very end of the jib is right above the opposite building. Once we move to the front, the jib will tilt forward due to gravity. As long as we can jump when we’re close enough and in the right position, it won’t be difficult to get across."
"But... if we fall..." Tian Xinyue hesitated as she glanced down below.
