Chapter 20: The Road Ahead is Uncertain (Three)

  There were many people at several security exits. Originally, the waiting hall was full of passengers, but a serious uneven distribution appeared. Near the security exit, it was overcrowded. It can be said that people were squeezed together, and people were stuck together. Unfortunately, they couldn't climb on top of each other to rush forward, or else there would definitely be a situation where people were stacked on top of each other. In the middle of the hall, closer to the center, there were fewer people, and it can be said that the middle was empty. All the people instinctively rushed towards the exit, regardless of whether the exit could accommodate them.

  Zhang Fan pulled Ouni's hand and didn't rush to follow the crowd towards the safety passage. Because Zhang Fan knew that the more people there were, the more chaotic it would be. And the more chaotic it was, the easier it would be for something to go wrong. Ouni's safety was the top priority, but in this situation, they shouldn't follow the crowd and squeeze through the passage together. After all, when evacuating passengers from the airport, there were always those who went out first. So they just waited and saw, people would eventually come out. This way of thinking might be Zhang Fan being too calm, or maybe he just didn't imagine things to be as terrifying as they seemed. Anyway, for Zhang Fan, this emergency wasn't enough to make him panic and lose his head.

  Ouni trusted and followed Zhang Fan, looking at his calm appearance, she quietly stayed by Zhang Fan's side. The broadcast continued: "Attention, attention. Emergency situation, emergency situation. Please ask all personnel in the waiting hall to evacuate through the safe passage to the outside of the square." The announcer's voice was exceptionally sweet, although it was an urgent event, but her voice sounded calm and unhurried. However, in this situation now, I'm afraid not many people will notice whether the broadcast lady's voice is beautiful or not.

  "A deafening explosion shook the air around them, so loud that it was like thunder in their ears, leaving Zhang Fan and Ouni's ears ringing for a while. Zhang Fan's first reaction was to pounce on Ouni, pinning her down. After the sound passed, they got up from the ground, and the scene before them left them stunned."

  The safety exit on the south side completely collapsed, with a thick smoke. Countless unidentifiable objects hung around, presenting a strange dark color, and more people lay on the ground, making painful sounds. Those who were farther away had not been injured by the blast but were killed, and the blood from the bodies of those who were blasted and injured fell on their faces and bodies like rain. The scene could only be described as hell on earth.

  Zhang Fan pressed O'Neill's head into his chest, not daring to let her see such a tragic scene. I really don't know what happened at this airport, leading to such a big accident. The crowded people were caught off guard by the sudden change, resulting in their catastrophic disaster. Many years later, when people who experienced this incident recalled it, they still had a heart-pounding expression. Such a scene was too frightening, completely like a massacre.

  The crowd that had come to their senses immediately began to flow in the opposite direction. The crying and shouting crowd showed an astonishing power, rushing towards another safe exit at a rapid speed. The safe exit that Zhang Fan and his group were approaching was the closest one to the explosion site. As a result, countless people who were shocked beyond measure, like a swarm of frightened bees, rushed towards Zhang Fan's group. Zhang Fan was startled in his heart, this situation was something he had never anticipated. If it were simply a matter of airport security dispersing the crowd, then there would be no need to worry too much. But now, the situation was a real and terrifying terrorist attack. There hadn't been any rumors of any particularly important figures appearing near the Alps recently, so how could such a major terrorist attack occur?

  Ouni also seemed to be frightened by the surging crowd, and the sudden explosion just now made everyone in the airport waiting hall jump. At first, the airport security personnel were maintaining the order of evacuation, but now, after the explosion, a shrill alarm sounded, echoing through the waiting hall.

  Zhang Fan furrowed his brow, grabbed Ouni's hand and loudly whispered in her ear: "Hold onto me, don't let go." In such a crowd, Zhang Fan had no way of using his superpowers to protect Ouni. All he could do was tightly grasp Ouni's hand and lead her to safety, just like any ordinary man would. If it weren't for Ouni being with him, he might have been able to help the airport staff tend to the injured or handle some urgent matters. But Ouni was a crucial witness in this case, and he couldn't afford to let anything happen to her. Weighing his options, he decided to leave the handling of this terrorist incident to the police on site.

  Zhang Fan pulled O'Neill's hand, and they first squeezed towards the safe exit with the crowd. O'Neill's hand was very slippery, perhaps because of tension or fear. Her hands were sweating a lot, Zhang Fan's hand grasped O'Neill's hand, feeling smooth and having a feeling that it was about to slip away. Zhang Fan pulled O'Neill forward, squeezing through, until in the end, it wasn't them pushing forward themselves, but rather the crowd carrying them forward.

  Suddenly, someone squeezed onto Zhang Fan's body from behind, and Zhang Fan's hand loosened. Then Ouni's hand slipped out of Zhang Fan's hand. Zhang Fan turned his head, looked at Ouni, fortunately, she was still behind him, re-grabbed Ouni's hand in his palm, and then took Ouni with the crowd to squeeze out towards the safe exit.

  After a tortuous and arduous process, Zhang Fan and Ouni finally followed the large crowd of travelers to outside the waiting hall. Zhang Fan let out a sigh of relief, turned his head around and said to Ouni: "Now we're finally out, Ouni..." But before he could finish speaking, his words were swallowed back in. He stared with wide eyes at the woman in front of him, stuttering as he spoke: "Ouni...?"

  That was an oriental woman with curved eyebrows and a somewhat delicate appearance. If Zhang Fan had seen such a woman at any other time, he would have been unable to help but feel his heart skip a beat. But now, Zhang Fan just wanted to strangle himself to death. He must have grabbed the wrong hand when his hand slipped away from Ouni's earlier. As a result, he brought out someone else instead. Where was Ouni now? It was unknown whether she had come out or not. At this moment, Zhang Fan only wanted to find a brick and smash himself to death.

  "Thank you so much!" The woman grasped Zhang Fan's hand, her face filled with gratitude. Zhang Fan felt a bellyful of annoyance in his heart, but he had to endure it and even forced a smile, saying: "It's nothing, I just grabbed the wrong hand and mistakenly pulled you out, you don't need to thank me."

  Zhang Fan was fending off the woman's entanglement while anxiously looking around in the direction of the surging crowd. Had Ouni, who had gotten lost, come out from behind him just a moment ago? However, after looking for a long time, he still hadn't seen her figure. Zhang Fan grew somewhat anxious and shook off the woman's entanglement, beginning to search within the crowd.

  The entrance was filled with survivors, some of whom stood like wooden chickens, still not recovering from the bloody scene just now. Others hugged their loved ones and cried, perhaps only those who had experienced the threat of death could understand how precious life is. Zhang Fan walked through the crowd, searching for her one by one. If Ouni was lost, all the clues would end with her.

  A sea of people surged through the hall, with police arriving at the scene shortly after the explosion to maintain order. Every now and then, someone would shout loudly, "Come quick, there's still someone breathing over here!" But where was O'Neill? Zhang Fan searched everywhere, but couldn't see her anywhere. Had she not followed the crowd out? But where could she have gone at that time? Zhang Fan's mind raced with countless possibilities, but none of them seemed plausible.

  Until Zhang Fan searched every corner of the hall and even checked every wounded person, there was no sign of Ouni. In the end, Zhang Fan had to give up the idea of continuing to look for Ouni, and it seemed that Ouni really did go missing in this incident. It was unclear whether she got separated from Zhang Fan and couldn't find him, or took advantage of the chaos to leave on her own. Or perhaps they happened to arrive just as Zhang Fan and Ouni were getting separated, and took Ouni away?