Evolution Begins with Elemental Domination

A campsite this large would naturally have a public address system.

First, since it was built in the suburbs, officials required it to have a public address system for timely warnings and evacuations during sudden weather events.

Second, with so many family activities, it was inevitable that children would get lost, and that’s when a broadcast system would prove its worth.

But now, a full hour after the power and internet outages and the start of the external invasion, the operations staff had only just restored the broadcast system.

”What a bunch of amateurs. Of all the times to finally get the broadcast working, they do it now, acting like they care,” someone complained indignantly.

An engineer complained from a technical standpoint, ”Logically, the broadcast system should have a backup power supply to switch to after a power outage. It really shouldn’t have taken this long to restore. I bet the supplier cut some corners.”

A campsite employee shook his head and chuckled. ”Maybe the operators just ran for it. After all, they only make three thousand a month. Would you stick around and risk your life for that?”

The sad part was, even if they drove, there was nowhere to run.

Not unless they could cross Cyan Dragon Ridge or traverse the Mysterious Forest.

Another employee fell silent. ’Knowing those nepotism hires,’ he thought, ’they spend all day playing cards and slacking off, pushing their work onto others. They probably ran halfway and then got forced to turn back.’

Of course, they only dared to harbor such complaints in their minds. A private business owner who could requisition such a huge plot of land for a project these days was not someone to be trifled with.

At that moment...

After a series of piercing electronic beeps...

”Hello? Hello? Can you hear me?”

Once the test proved successful, the announcer cleared his throat and said formally, ”The Qingye Collection campsite is currently under attack by unknown external entities. We urge all visitors to prioritize their safety and not to approach the unidentified forest areas. The unknown invading creatures are extremely dangerous and have already caused significant casualties.”

”The main clubhouse and conference rooms are now serving as shelters and are staffed with professional medical personnel. If it is safe to do so, visitors may drive here for refuge. Alternatively, find a nearby building for temporary shelter and wait for security personnel to conduct a full sweep of the area.”

”The situation has been somewhat brought under control, and a distress call has been reported. We urge all visitors not to lose hope and to please refrain from moving around.”

「A few seconds later.」

”...We are now broadcasting an urgent message. To the parents of Zhang Jiahao and Zhang Jiaxin, please rest assured, your children are safe in the hotel conference room. Please proceed to the hotel only when the situation outside is safe.”

After a wait of ten-some seconds, another announcement for a lost child came over the system.

The question was, had the situation on the ground really improved as the broadcast claimed?

On the commercial street, at least, it seemed to be the case. After getting a moment to breathe, the tourists began to organize. Regardless of whether it was all for show or if they could actually fight, they started spontaneously forming armed defense groups.

Some people even started gathering the small gas canisters scattered beneath the open-air tents.

Even a cornered rabbit will bite. Push people to the brink, and they’re bound to do something drastic.

And looking across the entire campsite, the airspace had indeed cleared of many of the large birds. Some people even dared to launch their drones.

Objectively speaking, aside from the ones shot down by arrows, many of the large birds had either eaten their prey on the spot or had simply snatched a person and flown away.

In the real world, a Golden Eagle hunting sheep has to drop it from a great height to kill it before taking it back to the nest. But these birds had attributes—they could spit fire and generate electricity. How could a scorched and paralyzed human possibly fight back?

As Su Chen drove north, he also spotted a large bird that had been shot down.

The long arrow that had pierced its body had already been pulled out and reclaimed.

On closer inspection, he saw that its body was at least two meters long with an even more astonishing wingspan, making it significantly larger than huge terrestrial birds of prey like the Andean Condor.

One could only imagine the survival rate for a human caught in its diving attack out in the open.

Similarly, deterred by seeing their kin tragically shot down one after another, some of the great birds chose to circle high above, waiting for an opportunity without descending.

Just then, Su Chen stopped the car.

’Can’t drive any further. Time to go on foot.’

He parked the RV in front of a shop in the food court area.

The music pub in front of him only opened at night, so it was closed. There were no other vehicles parked out front, and the area was sparsely populated; what few people were around were all hurrying south.

After all, just across the man-made canal lay the campsite’s northernmost resort area.

Although it was separated by the waterway, a small bridge still connected it, meaning it directly bordered the unidentified Mysterious Forest.

In the distance, several creek-side villas were burning, columns of black smoke drifting like ghostly shadows under the sun. Standing downwind, Su Chen could smell the acrid stench of something burning, mixed with blood.

He silently slung a worn canvas bag over his right shoulder, then picked up a long-handled axe with his left hand and rested it on his left shoulder. Facing the sun, he started walking forward.

”Don’t go that way! The resort area is too dangerous!” a woman with a child shouted as she hurried past, making sure to warn Su Chen before she fled.

At the small bridge, two men were in a heated argument.

One of them, driving an SUV, was trying to block the bridge with his vehicle to prevent the monsters from getting into the food court area.

But a middle-aged man with a dislocated arm stood stubbornly in front of the vehicle, refusing to move. Tears streaming down his face, he shouted that his family was still on the other side, begging for a little more time.

”Look at you. Brave enough to block my car, but too much of a coward to go save your own family.”

The driver, a burly-faced man in a security uniform, leaned out his window and cursed at the man. ”What is it with you? You’ve got the guts to stand up to a person, but I bet you’d just drop to your knees in front of a real monster, wouldn’t you?”

At these words, a look of shame and indignation washed over the anguished man’s face, and he actually dropped to his knees in front of the SUV.

”Boss, why waste your breath on him? The manager wants this bridge blocked now. Let’s just burn it down,” said one of two new guards who had just arrived in a golf cart, a gasoline can sitting between them.

The driver in the SUV yelled back, ”Are you blind? Look at the wind! You’ll set all the buildings on this side on fire!”

The food court area was bordered by the river on three sides. Aside from the north, where the resort villas lay, the situation in the other directions was stable and under control.

They had to ensure the shops in the food court weren’t destroyed, especially the central kitchen’s cold storage. Its power had already been restored, and they had moved a large quantity of frozen food there.

The problem was, if a fire-starting monster accidentally burned down the warehouse containing the diesel generator, they would be completely screwed.

That was a risk they couldn’t afford to take.

That was why the manager had sent them to watch this spot and block the bridge.

Just as the two guards were forcibly dragging away the wailing man, Su Chen walked past them as if nothing were out of the ordinary, stepped onto the small bridge, and headed toward the resort.

”Hey...”

One of the guards called out instinctively, but the word died on his lips.

A baseball bat stuck out from the canvas bag on the man’s back, and the long-handled axe he carried on his shoulder was caked in dried, black blood. A badass like that was clearly heading straight into the fight.

’If I say the wrong thing, that axe will be swinging for my head.’

”Sir, please, save my family! I’ll give you anything, whatever money you want!” the man being restrained yelled at the top of his lungs.

But the figure paid him no mind, simply receding further and further into the distance.