"Ugh, damn it, it's raining." Standing at the entrance of the supermarket, Tilia and Bartley looked up at the sky, frowning and grumbling. Outside, cold rain kept falling, and water was already pooling on the ground, with no sign of letting up. Glancing at each other, they turned back into the supermarket in silent agreement: "Let's keep shopping for a bit. We'll wait for the rain to ease up, or maybe we should just buy an umbrella?"
They dropped off their purchases in a storage locker, then wandered back into the shopping area. This underground supermarket was huge, selling pretty much everything you could think of. Besides the usual daily necessities, they even sold inflatable boats and pets.
A small boat hung from the ceiling by a steel cable, and underneath it, a giant sign boasted: "Say goodbye to weakness—Electric start, diesel power, bigger and stronger! Get your own Titanic!" Looking up, they saw the boat was turbine-driven, its propeller gleaming like a giant fan, edges flashing with a sharp shine.
Nearby, there were more inflatable boats stacked on shelves. Bartley ran his hand over them and said, "Maybe we should buy a boat and go fishing."
In the pet section, besides the usual cats and dogs, there were some more unusual pets—mice, snakes, spiders, lizards, and even tubs of worms supposedly meant for hamsters. Tilia shrank back in terror, clearly freaked out by all of it. Bartley joked, "Looks like we can buy our fishing bait here too. Little fish get little worms, big fish get big worms, and for a mermaid—we'll use one of the worms from my own body!"
"Uh, yeah, it really is a worm..." Tilia shot back instantly.
While Tilia and Bartley were flirting, Jack was sprinting through the pouring rain. Moving like a panther, eyes sharp as lightning, he unleashed his full strength. Powered by the Titan Spirit Method: Third Stage, he was even faster than when he’d chased the T-Rex underground. Using Hyper Sense, he slowed the rain in his vision, and his keen hearing let him pick out the cautious cars on the road, so he wouldn’t get blindsided by traffic.
Occasionally, Hyper Sense kicked in, making the splashes under his feet smaller and his speed even greater. He finally realized another major benefit: total control over his body, channeling every ounce of power exactly where it was needed.
Like a streak of lightning, Jack raced down the long street. Ahead was a downhill stretch, and at the end of it—the underground supermarket. Rain poured down, flowing along the slope like a waterslide. Jack dashed down the wet path as if skiing, his feet slicing through the water and sending up two waves behind him.
Skidding to a stop at the supermarket entrance, Jack paused before going in. He turned, scanning all directions, his gaze suddenly deadly serious. The supermarket sat near a crossroads, and all four roads leading to it sloped upward. Now, each slope was gushing water like a waterfall, with leaves swirling in the current toward the drain.
Boom—a flash of lightning split the sky, and the rain got even heavier, turning from a downpour into a deluge. Jack could hear the roar of rushing water, like a river flooding in, all converging on this low spot. The supermarket was in the basement—the lowest point of the whole area.
"Damn it!" Jack immediately grabbed a security guard. "Emergency! Evacuate everyone now!"
The guard looked at Jack, clueless. "Sir, if you're a police officer, please show—"
"I don't have time for this!" Jack grabbed the guard by the collar, dragged him to the entrance, and pointed at the pouring water. "A flood's about to hit! Start saving people!" As he spoke, the water surged up to their calves, and with the drains clogged, it was rising even faster.
"Oh my god, you're right, sir! I'll evacuate right now!" The Black security guard looked terrified, face nearly pale as he scrambled to radio someone.
Jack dashed into the supermarket. Water was spreading fast, and people were already panicking. Taking a deep breath, he filled his lungs and then shouted at the top of his voice: "Baaart-ley! Tiiilia!"
Jack had never learned Lion's Roar, but powered by the Titan Spirit Method: Third Stage, his yell was as loud as a stadium speaker—and even more piercing and recognizable. Instantly, his voice swept through the whole supermarket, echoing off the walls.
The supermarket fell silent for a moment. In Jack's ear, he caught a faint, excited cry: "Jack! We're over here!" The voice was barely audible over the water, but Jack's ears twitched and he stomped his foot. Splashing through the water, he leapt onto a shelf. Off in the distance, he spotted Tilia and Bartley waving frantically from beside a shelf.
"Everyone listen up! Flood incoming—run for your lives!" Jack shouted a warning with all his might, then started to run toward Tilia and Bartley. Suddenly, a deafening boom echoed behind him. He spun around to see the supermarket doors blown in like they'd been hit by a cannon. The doorway now gushed water like the mouth of some raging sea god.
The raging flood surged in all directions. In the blink of an eye, the crowd scattered, shelves toppled, and panic spread like wildfire.
"Damn it!" The shelf under Jack's feet shook from the force of the flood. He leapt down, racing toward Tilia and Bartley. Water was up to an adult's waist now, but Jack bounced and darted through the collapsing shelves straight at them. Tilia and Bartley were fighting to survive, grabbing onto anything sturdy and climbing upward. Bartley, quick-thinking, snatched a diving respirator from a nearby shelf—the best gear you could ask for in this mess.
This chapter isn't over yet ^.^ Click next page to keep reading!
"Tilia, stay away from any ropes!" Jack yelled as he pushed forward. "Wendy got the Omen—you're next!"
"What did you say?" Tilia and Bartley obviously didn't have Jack's hearing, and in the chaos, they couldn't make out his words. All they could do was fight for survival in their own way. Water kept rising as Bartley tried to lift Tilia toward the hanging boat. Tilia couldn't swim, so she instinctively reached for higher ground to feel safer.
The water kept rising, and Jack couldn't find a good place to land. He hopped onto a round table, just about to move forward, when he saw a dog floating by in the murky water. It was a puppy, trapped in a cage, pitifully drifting with the current.
A dog? Why is there a dog here? Is there a pet section in this place? Jack thought the dog seemed odd, maybe an omen. His ears twitched as he saw a shelf topple nearby, boxes crashing down. He batted away two boxes, spotting all sorts of live creatures inside.
Just then, a grass-green shadow shot out from the shelf's darkness—a green snake, mouth wide, lunged straight at Jack's face!
Fear of snakes is hardwired in humans. Instinctively, Jack flinched back half a step, then caught himself and grabbed the snake. It coiled tightly around his arm, but to no effect. Jack pinched its jaws open with his thumb and forefinger. "No fangs, just a regular harmless snake—a pet."
Was this an attack from Death? But what could a harmless snake do? Wait—Jack turned around and saw a shelf full of knives, their blades gleaming. If he'd stepped back any further, he would've sent his own heart straight into those knives.
Suddenly, Jack remembered that photo—the scarf Tilia wore in it looked just like snakeskin.
"Ah—!" A scream rang out nearby. Jack turned and saw Tilia tumble out of the boat, panic-stricken.