“Then, what if they manage to distract themselves too?”
“At times like this, everyone is anxious about their own safety. I don’t believe anyone can.”
***
“Hm? Who the hell just posted a video in the group?”
“Lu Dongnuan!”
Lin Mo’s reflexes were quick—he snatched the phone away, swiped his finger, and in an instant, the mysterious link with its exaggerated cover vanished.
She looked up, her face blank, but her eyes glimmered with a mischievous light.
“Ever seen a Western Tomato?” she asked in a calm tone.
Lin Mo almost choked on his own breath.
He stared at Lu Dongnuan, his face full of regret for letting his guard down.
“Art comes from life, but rises above it,” Lu Dongnuan snatched her phone back and slapped it onto the table with utter confidence.
She paused, then added, “Besides, it works fast.”
Lin Mo massaged his forehead, momentarily lost for words.
He had to admit, this move was absurd, but in theory, in this state of intense mental strain and chaotic information, it could actually have a miraculous effect.
It was more direct, more primal than his own tactic of using alternate accounts to spread panic and sow discord.
Sure enough, the phone started to vibrate like crazy—not private chats, but the group was being bombarded with @s and rapid messages.
[Apartment 17 – Zhao Ge]: “??? What the hell was that that just flashed by? I clicked on it and…”
[Apartment 2 – 902]: “Does the Management Group allow this kind of stuff? (Confused.jpg)”
[Apartment 12 – 907 – Liu Jie]: “Who sent that?! I accidentally clicked it with my kid right next to me! @Living On are you going to do something?!”
[Apartment 5 – 307]: “Damn, that was wild. (Message retracted)”
[Living On]: “!!! Who was that?! Who sent the fucking information?! This is your warning! Do it again and you’ll be kicked from the group immediately!”
[Apartment 12 – Xiao Wu]: “Admin, doesn’t this count as disrupting the group? Weren’t we supposed to deal with Building 2’s problem? Why are things getting colorful in here now? (Eating melon.jpg)”
The group chat descended into utter chaos.
Fear, suspicion, the serious discussions about survival—all were completely derailed by this sudden and bizarre resource sharing.
Some cursed in anger, some felt awkward, some were oddly excited, but most simply forgot about the arguments over supplies and danger from just a few minutes ago.
Attempts by President Li, Aunt Lin, and others to steer the conversation back were instantly drowned out by a flood of gossip: “Who still has the link from earlier,” “Seems fake, can’t open it,” “Does the Management Group have a mole?”
Watching the dazzling mess of the group chat, Lu Dongnuan slightly raised her chin, picked up her water cup, and took a sip, quietly savoring her accomplishment.
Yet, the chaos didn’t last long—or rather, it transformed into something else.
The “Living On” account was clearly furious, sending out several long voice messages in a row.
When played, a sharp and angry voice burst forth: “Enough! All of you, shut up! We’ve already identified who sent the spam link! Now, back to the main issue! @Building 7 – Lu Dongnuan.
“Doctor Lu, explain yourself now—are you refusing to cooperate with the Management Group? Are you putting the safety of your neighbors at risk? And why did you send that illegal information?”
The attack was aimed squarely at Lu Dongnuan again, and now with an added accusation.
Lin Mo stopped laughing, his eyes growing cold, “Like a cornered dog—now they’re just slapping blame on you for anything.”
“No, not necessarily a baseless accusation.”
Before Lu Dongnuan could speak, another usually silent ID in the group suddenly spoke up.
[Building 9 – 1101 – Lao Chen]: “@Living On Why are you yelling? Identified them? Who exactly? Any evidence? My grandson was just playing with my phone and accidentally sent a cat emoji, and you still warned me. Do you really think you could identify the real sender so quickly? Who are you kidding?”
Lao Chen was one of the few retired cadres in the complex, highly respected and rarely spoke in the group.
Now, just a few words from him, steady and authoritative, made “Living On’s” accusation look weak.
Next, Zhao Ge—previously called out by Lin Mo’s alternate account—suddenly changed his tune.
[Building 17 – Zhao Ge]: “@Living On Don’t give us that nonsense! I almost let you trick me into going to Building 2 and getting myself killed! Now you’re shouting at Doctor Lu? If you’re so capable, go take care of whatever’s inside Building 2, then open up the box covered by a black cloth at President Li’s house! Why take it out on a woman? What kind of skill is that? @Building 7 – Lu Dongnuan, Doctor Lu, I’m with you. You’re right not to hand anything over—who knows whose belly it’ll end up in if you do!”
At this point, the situation had become delicate.
Lao Chen represented the rational residents who already distrusted the Management Group.
Zhao Ge, on the other hand, was clearly trying to win Lu Dongnuan over.
Lu Dongnuan’s “non-cooperation” had become a kind of benchmark, giving those afraid to openly oppose the group an excuse for silence and making the Management Group’s oppression look even more blatant.
President Li finally reappeared, sending a voice message that sounded tired but earnest: “Neighbors, please, everyone! Calm down, you must calm down! If we turn on each other now, we’re finished! What happened just now was an accident, but the Management Group’s original intentions haven’t changed. Doctor Lu may have misunderstood us, we can talk privately later… Right now, the urgent issue is still supplies and safety…”
But his voice had lost its initial power to persuade, reduced to empty repetition.
At that moment, somewhere in the complex, a deafening metallic crash echoed out, followed by clearer, more frequent howling and running!
The group chat instantly froze.
Everyone heard it.
Reality, in the most direct way possible, crushed all the arguments, threats, schemes, and comic links in the WeChat group.
Lu Dongnuan and Lin Mo stood up at the same time, walking to the window and gazing warily in the direction of the noise.
In the darkness, flashlight beams could be seen sweeping frantically over the buildings, and there were indistinct shadows chasing each other.
The phone screen still glowed.
The last message in the group, from just seconds before, was a resident’s brief, desperate sentence: “Something climbed over from the villa area. It’s inside my house!”
In that moment, all the previous disputes, threats, schemes, and jokes lost their meaning again.
Lin Mo turned off the group chat notifications, switched his phone to silent, leaving only the alarm from the key surveillance app.
He looked at Lu Dongnuan, his face now devoid of any amusement.
“Can you sense what it is?”
Lu Dongnuan took a deep breath, her fingers unconsciously brushing the edge of her phone.
She shook her head, “I can’t sense it. It’s probably a Mutated Infected.”
“A Mutated Infected?”
Lin Mo pondered.
The Mutated Infected was something he’d told Lu Dongnuan about—these beings were special mutants, extremely destructive, hard to control, each with a code name unique to its species.
For instance, the ‘Blind Monk’ Lu Dongnuan mentioned was actually code-named ‘Gecko,’ and that crab monster was likely an incomplete mutation of ‘Big Claw.’
Unlike the unique ones, their weaknesses could be traced.
“What are its characteristics? Speed? Strength? Or…”
“I don’t know,” Lu Dongnuan cut in.
“It’s still far from us. We’re in the Seaside Garden Villa Area, remember?”
True to his name, Lin Mo fell silent.
Looking at Lu Dongnuan, he seemed to realize why that monster had been so desperate to leave the villa area.
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What did she post???