CHAPTER 123: CHAPTER 123 - EVACUATION ORDER

Chapter 123 - Evacuation Order

Dust and tiny chunks of concrete rained down from the flickering overhead lights.

They were underground.

The walls, exposed where layers of concrete had caved in, looked ready to collapse at any moment. With every tremor, everyone cast wary glances around and let out anxious, shallow breaths.

What the hell was going on?

The blasts hadn’t stopped for a while. The entire structure shook with each one.

Voices echoed from the corridor—panicked, rushed.

"How the hell did the Lizardmen get this far in?!"

"This is insane! This whole place is gonna collapse at this rate!"

KU-GU-GU-GUUNG!!

One soldier who had been sprinting down the hallway suddenly vanished beneath a landslide of debris. But it wasn’t just rubble—it was a bus that had come crashing down through the concrete.

"They’re already launching crap like that in here?!"

"Everybody move!"

Gasoline dripped from the broken bus. And then came the spark.

WHOOOM!!

A massive fireball erupted. Those who failed to react in time were instantly consumed by the flames.

Tank-class players barely managed to throw up their shields, while those with water-manipulation abilities scrambled to set up a fire-defense perimeter.

Some of them were former firefighters, now repurposed as players. They immediately got to work, quenching the flames bursting from the bus wreckage.

One of them shouted as he turned around, eyes bloodshot from smoke.

"If we don’t evacuate now, we’re all gonna die!"

"Underst—stood!"

The ones who heard him pushed forward through the thick smoke, making their way down the corridor.

Eventually, they burst into a new chamber.

Medical staff in white lab coats turned toward them, faces pale, voices rising in urgency.

"The front line’s collapsed! We have to get out of here—now! Everyone, move!"

This was the only underground hospital in Sector 3 of Ark, set up to treat the wounded and the sick.

But even after hearing the doctor’s desperate cry, no one moved.

Because—what did he just say?

The front line’s collapsed?

The moment those words landed, a heavy shadow fell over everyone’s face.

The truth was, most of them had nowhere else to go.

Patients and their guardians huddled near the door, peeking out at the waves of fire rolling in from beyond. One of them finally asked, voice trembling:

"Has... has the front really been breached?"

"Yes. This place isn’t safe anymore. We’re evacuating immediately."

The doctor continued, his voice tight with tension.

"It sounds insane, but the Lizardmen are launching massive vehicles—cars, buses—through the air. At this rate, this whole hospital’s going to collapse too..."

KU-UU-UUUUNG!

As if responding to his words, the ceiling rumbled again, sending down another shower of debris.

That’s when a soldier appeared at the end of the corridor, completely coated in black soot and ash.

"What are you doing standing around?! Move—there’s no time!"

"We’re going!"

"Hurry! A total lockdown has been declared for all of Ark! If you’re not inside Sector 2 by the deadline, they’ll seal the gates and you’re not getting in!"

"...What? Lockdown?"

Panic spread like wildfire.

Everyone scrambled to grab whatever they could and followed the soldier into the corridor.

The underground tunnel twisted and branched like an ant nest. But there had to be a way out.

This underground hospital had been built using retrofitted portions of New Capital’s subway system.

Everyone was trying to get into Sector 2 before the lockdown sealed the gates.

In the middle of that shuffling crowd, a man carried a burdened weight on his back.

...A lockdown, huh.

Detective Caleb .

With the unconscious Evan slung over his shoulders, he kept trudging along. Then, suddenly, the line stopped moving.

He looked up and asked quietly,

"What’s going on? Why’d we stop?"

A man at the front, his face pale with fear, turned and answered:

"The tunnel’s blocked. The underground’s collapsed ahead."

The Lizardmen had advanced faster than anyone expected.

And their relentless assault—hurling cars, buses, and other enormous objects—had brought down entire sections of the underground tunnels.

A complete cave-in.

Strength-type players tried desperately to clear a path, but the debris was too much. It was going to take time.

Caleb pushed his way to the front to assess the situation himself.

Soon, he reached the collapse—the blocked corridor that had stopped everyone. There were soldiers standing nearby, faces grim as they spoke in hushed tones.

"There’s no time. The gates to Sector 2 are closing soon. The underground route is no longer viable."

The wall of rubble in front of them wasn’t something they could dig through quickly.

No matter how powerful they were, they were still bound by time—and physics.

Caleb listened carefully. He could already guess what was coming.

"...So we can’t break through this?"

"No. There’s no way to make it in time."

A lieutenant, seemingly the one in charge, gave a solemn nod.

"There’s no other option. We’re heading to the surface."

"...The surface?"

The one who asked, shocked and outraged, was a doctor.

He gestured toward the long line of patients behind him.

"You’re taking them up there?! You’re bringing civilians—patients—into a battlefield? Are you insane?!"

"We have no other option. If we don’t make it to the gates in time, we’ll be trapped here—and we’ll all die."

"But they’ll die up there! You’re not just talking about injuries anymore. You’re sending regular people into a place crawling with monsters!"

The lieutenant scratched his head, clearly frustrated.

"What do you want me to do? The lockdown order has already been issued. If we don’t follow it, none of us will make it."

A lockdown order wasn’t just military strategy—it was a death sentence for anyone outside the walls.

It meant Ark had officially chosen to abandon Sector 3.

Like cutting off a lizard’s tail to save its body, they were sacrificing this area to preserve what was left.

And that... was Ark’s only shot at survival.

"No more arguments. If we hesitate, everyone here will die."

The officer gave the order and immediately began looking for a way up to the surface.

Thankfully, there was a nearby platform.

They could reach street level quickly.

Faced with no other choice, the doctors and hospital staff—entirely reliant on military protection—had no option but to follow orders.

Going above ground meant full exposure to the chaos and the monsters.

But if they wanted to live, they had no other way.

"Everyone, move now!"

Caleb followed close behind the soldiers, his face tense.

The farther they climbed, the louder the sounds of the battlefield became. Heat hit their skin like flames, sharp and angry.