After they threw the explosives, they waited for about two minutes. There was no movement in the river, so the man in the lead immediately decided to cross.
The bulky modified car slowly drove onto the bridge, with two men following beside it. The people inside the car clutched their guns tightly, their eyes fixed on their surroundings.
The car drove fifty to sixty meters out, and there was still no movement from the river. The people watching from the opposite bank finally began to move. They also drove their cars onto the bridge, accelerating immediately for safety, wanting to get closer to the car in front.
The people behind followed suit, and soon there were over a dozen cars on the bridge.
Just as everyone thought the fish were dead from the explosion, a long tail suddenly whipped out of the river, hooking onto a car in the middle. The people inside screamed in terror as the thick tail wrapped around the entire car and pulled with force.
The tires screeched on the ground, struggling valiantly against the tail. After a brief stalemate, the tail suddenly retracted. The people inside the car had been pressing the accelerator, and now they crashed directly into the car in front.
The loud crash made everyone's nerves taut. The next second, the tail attacked again, hooking onto the car's front bumper and flinging it. The car, beyond control, flipped in the air and crashed onto the bridge railing, getting stuck between the front and rear wheels, precarious and on the verge of falling.
The two men with guns immediately opened fire. The bullets struggled to hit the swaying tail, but it showed no signs of retreat, continuing to drag the car, attempting to pull it into the river.
Chaos erupted on the bridge. Others on the bridge tried to retreat, but with twenty to thirty cars now on the bridge, it wasn't easy. In their panic, some shifted into the wrong gear, others mistook the accelerator, and instead of retreating, they crashed into each other with loud bangs.
The creatures in the river became more agitated. Some fish, less than half a meter long, could leap dozens of meters high, directly onto the bridge. While these posed no threat to them, ordinary people were terrified, leading to even more panic. Screams and the sounds of colliding cars filled the air.
Someone couldn't resist getting out of their car to run back, but after only a few steps, they were caught by a leaping fish and dragged into the river.
"Ah!"
"Help, save me! Ah!"
The two men who had initially gone ahead ran back a few meters. One of them threw a fireball at a strangely shaped monstrous fish, immediately burning off half its body. Its mangled limbs thrashed on the ground for a few moments before falling silent.
The other man grabbed a serpentine creature resembling a snake or an eel and tore at it violently, ripping it into two pieces.
More monstrous things lunged forward. Some could be killed by bullets, while others were completely unaffected, requiring the use of special abilities. The fireball thrown by the man hit the scaled tail, causing it to retract sharply, and the car slid inward.
Another tail swung forward, then another, and a third. All three wrapped around that car, seemingly determined to drag it into the river.
A large, dark green crab climbed up from an unknown location. Its scissor-like claws clamped onto the strongman's arm, causing him to yelp in pain. Blood gushed out. He used his other hand to smash violently, driving the crab's shell into its body, finally freeing his arm.
His thick arm was covered in blood, with some wounds deep enough to expose bone.
"Damn it!" The man kicked the crab's corpse away. Ignoring his bloody arm, he walked over, grabbed a large crab, and with another hammer blow, shattered its hard exoskeleton.
The car, entangled by three tails, was about to go over the railing. Everyone was struggling to survive, and the people inside the car had resigned themselves to death.
In the nick of time, a golden light flashed across the bridge. Before anyone could see what it was, the three tails and a large part of the car were severed by a sword and plunged towards the river.
Shen Chongyan began to control the long sword, making it dodge the car's body and reach into the broken vehicle. He grabbed the hands of the two children in the back seat and pulled them out with force.
The two people in the front seats looked terrified, but a relieved smile spread across their faces when they saw the children safe.
"Bang!"
With a splash, everything surged forward, instantly tearing apart the already dilapidated car.
Shen Chongyan almost failed to hold onto the children's hands, letting them fall into the river. Fortunately, the long sword helped, bringing them to the bridge.
"Hurry across the bridge!"
The two ability users glanced at him, barely having time to be surprised, before relaying the message to their comrades at the front. The lead car roared to life and drove towards the opposite bank.
The people behind also wanted to leave, but some had abandoned their cars on the bridge earlier, and the vehicles were now blocked, preventing the cars behind from moving.
The three people in front had no time to help them. After devouring that car, the creatures in the river began to attack them again. The strongman's arm was injured, and he was now suffering from significant blood loss, only able to defend himself. The other person's abilities were overused, his face pale, and he was also in a sorry state.
Shen Chongyan was fighting so many monsters alone. If his long sword, battle-hardened and unphased by minor skirmishes, hadn't been there, he would likely have died long ago.
In this moment of life and death, Zhu Yan saw everything happening on the bridge from the car window. For some reason, she couldn't help but want to laugh.
The three in front were fighting desperately, while those behind who had abandoned their cars were still running back. When attacked, they pushed the person next to them forward to block, and some even deliberately led monsters towards others.
This was the myriad faces of humanity.
Alas, harming others ultimately harms oneself. A thin, spine-like tail quietly approached from the side. The man who had just succeeded in his scheme to use others as a shield froze. The smile on his face was obvious, as was the shock in his eyes. The thin tail flicked lightly, and his body crashed into the water, instantly being devoured by the creatures in the river.
This was the karma of the human world.
Seeing that the situation was dire, Shen Qian, disregarding the risk of exposure, drove his car onto the bridge. As he moved, he collected all the abandoned cars on the bridge into his spatial storage, clearing a path for everyone.
Shen Chongyan, seeing them arrive, immediately went to escort them. He swung his long sword with unparalleled prowess. The others watched in astonishment and finally reacted, immediately starting their vehicles and following.
The remaining people finally stopped observing. This was their last chance. Those with cars drove, and those without followed behind. Someone threw bombs into the river. After the creatures in the river were killed by the explosions, other strange creatures would eat the bodies of their own kind, giving them a chance to breathe.
However, cars were still being dragged into the river. The water was completely dyed red, and the surface of the river was littered with various bodies and car wreckage, resembling the end of the world.
This was the end of the world.
Finally, all the cars reached the opposite bank. Some people were still running on the bridge, and Shen Chongyan guarded it, escorting them.
He was sweating profusely, his arms so sore he could barely lift them. But whenever something lunged at him, he still gripped his long sword and fought bravely until everyone had crossed the river.
Zhu Yan was the first to greet him, supporting him as he leaned on her. The long sword disappeared as his entire weight pressed down on her. He gasped for breath.
Many cars were parked on the opposite bank. Some people drove away as soon as they arrived. Others lay on the ground without regard for their appearance, crying and laughing. They cried for having faced death so many times, and laughed because they had ultimately survived.
Some people's relatives and friends had died, and they knelt by the river, weeping. Others, whose families had survived by luck, embraced each other, crying and laughing with joy.
Having survived, everyone vented the emotions that had been building up inside them.