Those survivors were right in their assumptions! If Hong Li were in charge, he indeed wouldn't have opened fire, as he could never massacre the survivors who were once his subordinates.

Unfortunately, Li Chenzhou, not Hong Li, was now in control of the war fortress. Moreover, Hong Li himself had undergone some changes due to Li Chenzhou's earlier words.

At least, if it were the old Hong Li, he might have pleaded for the survivors below when he saw the gun barrels emerge. But now, he merely watched the screen silently, saying nothing.

"Hey! You guys should say something for us too, right? Why are you all silent? Bringing us in won't affect you much; everyone will be happy, won't they?"

Seeing no reaction from the war fortress, some survivors began to threaten those they had captured:

"If you don't speak up, we won't let you go, and you won't be able to return to such a good place. Don't you want to go back?"

"Hahahaha! Are you guys idiots?"

A captured youth laughed loudly:

"You grabbed us and still want us to speak for you? Trash like you deserves to enter the small world? Hmph! Just wait, Li老大's (Lǐ lǎodà - term of respect for "Old Li") methods are beyond your imagination!"

"Tch, no matter how capable he is, we have hostages now. What can he do to us?"

One survivor yelled, infuriated:

"I don't believe he dares to kill so many people at once! Is he a demon?"

"Buddy, weren't you rescued by their team too? Don't you know their team's style?"

The youth looked at him with pity:

"They never like to provoke others. When they rescued us, they were very casual. If you wanted to come, you could come; if you didn't, you could leave. They never forced anyone. But if you want to join them, you must obey, and then everything will be fine.

"If you want to join but don't want to listen to them and start acting unreasonably, they usually kill you directly. Now, you've blocked us. We've already been accepted by them, so we're their people. Do you think… he dares to kill you? Many people? What's the use of many people? They rescued countless people from Qing City alone. Along the way, how many ignorant people did they kill?"

Hearing the youth's words, the surrounding survivors panicked. Although they wanted to seize the opportunity to enter the small world, it didn't mean they were willing to be killed. If they really couldn't get in, they would just stay here. At least they would be alive, right?

"Impossible! He wouldn't dare to kill all of us. There are men, women, old, and young here. He…"

Seeing the people's reaction, one survivor gritted his teeth and yelled.

He knew that if things continued like this, their hostage-taking might be in vain. Moreover, he really didn't believe that Hong Li would dare to kill so many people. Killing a few to establish authority and warn others was one thing, but killing them all? He didn't have the guts or the heart to be that ruthless!

But just as he was about to finish speaking, someone spoke from the fortress:

"Listen up, you people below! I'll give you ten seconds to release our people and move at least three meters away from them, or you'll be killed without mercy!"

All the survivors' faces changed when they heard this voice because it wasn't Hong Li's voice, but a voice that sounded very young.

Few of them had heard Li Chenzhou's voice, but they could guess it was him because, in the fortress, besides Hong Li, only Li Chenzhou was in charge!

So, some people began to retreat. They released the survivors they were holding and slowly backed away, some even retreating more than five meters, still looking around to see if there were any other survivors from the small world nearby.

But some survivors were unwilling, like the bearded man and others. They still held onto the survivors in their hands, roaring with a ferocious expression:

"I don't believe you dare to shoot! If you shoot, you'll kill us all together!"

"10, 9, 8, 7…"

The countdown had begun from the fortress, and more and more survivors retreated. They wanted to go to the small world, but they were definitely unwilling to risk their lives for it. For them, staying alive was the most important thing!

"3, 2, 1, 0… Time's up!"

As the countdown from the fortress reached zero, those below who were holding the survivors began to tense up. They used the survivors they had captured as shields, staring intently at the metal gun barrels exposed below the aerial fortress.

"Swish!"

Just then, their hands suddenly felt lighter. The survivors they were holding had suddenly disappeared, and then, the metal gun barrels fired dense silver-white beams…

"Ahhh!!!"

Screams rang out continuously. Anyone who hadn't released the small world survivors had long been locked onto by the AI Xiao Qing (xiǎo qìng - "Little Qing"). At this moment, they were all pierced through the body by the light beams. Moreover, under Li Chenzhou's specific instructions, Xiao Qing didn't shoot them in the head; the beams hit their hearts.

In just a few seconds, hundreds of survivors who refused to give up hope died from the light beams. After they fell to the ground, they quickly got up again. Now, they had turned into hideous zombies.

They roared and frantically lunged at the surrounding survivors, and the entire base was plunged into chaos.

"Quick, kill them, or our base will be completely destroyed!"

"These idiots! Damn it, if people don't want them, just let them leave, right? Why did they have to be so persistent? Now look, not only did they lose their lives, but they're going to kill us too!"

"Hmph! Didn't you also grab Little Liu and prevent him from leaving earlier?"

"But I let him go later! I've seen Duan Lei from that team kill people. That guy is ruthless. How could anyone in his team be kind? It's a pity they didn't listen to my advice!"

"Run! They're rushing over! Where are the combat personnel? Quickly kill these damn zombies!!!"

The appearance of the zombies plunged the entire base into chaos. People were running everywhere, shouting loudly, and the combat personnel on the walls and watchtowers were desperately hunting the zombies. But the zombies were mixed in with the crowd and moving constantly, making it difficult for them to kill the targets and potentially causing friendly fire.

At this time, the war fortress above the base had already begun to slowly ascend, preparing to leave. Hong Li looked at the base he had personally built, and his heart was filled with mixed emotions…