Chapter 65 – Fruitless Endeavors

The main city of Xiangcheng now resembled a massive refugee camp. Apart from a few ancient-style shops at the center, the rest of the area lay in ruins. Tents of all shapes and sizes dotted the debris, and in many places, refugees slept directly on the rubble without any shelter.

Most people sat in stunned silence, their faces blank with despair. They remained motionless, as if they had lost their minds. Cheng Yang knew better – these people weren’t truly insane. They had simply lost the will to live. The tragedy of losing their families and the bleakness of their current situation had completely broken them. The only reason they still breathed was their fear of death.

As Cheng Yang and Ma Tao moved slowly through the crowd, a man suddenly rushed forward and grabbed Cheng Yang’s leg. “Please, master,” he begged, “take me as your servant. I’ll serve you for life, just give me enough food to survive.”

Ma Tao moved to stop the man, but Cheng Yang held up a hand. He looked down at the middle-aged man, not yet forty years old. Cheng Yang felt nothing but contempt for someone who had so completely lost their dignity. With his physical condition, the man could have joined a combat team and searched for food outside the city. But fear of death had driven him to abandon all pride.

“Let go,” Cheng Yang said coldly. “I have no need for servants. If you don’t want trouble, leave now.”

The man looked up, his mouth twitching, but fear kept him silent. As one of the lowest in the city’s hierarchy, he knew his place. To combatants like Cheng Yang, he was nothing more than an ant, unworthy of anger.

As the man turned to leave, Cheng Yang caught a flash of resentment in his eyes. In his previous life, Cheng Yang would never have allowed someone with such feelings to live. Back then, his status wasn’t much higher, and a resentful person could become a real threat if they became a combatant. But now, as both a high-level apprentice and the lord of Luofeng Village, Cheng Yang had nothing to fear from such petty resentment.

“How can people…” Ma Tao began, clearly shaken by what he had seen.

“This is the apocalypse,” Cheng Yang explained. “People will do anything to survive. Right now, most still cling to their last shreds of dignity. But soon, things like this will become commonplace.”

Ma Tao seemed skeptical, but as they continued through the city, the scenes they witnessed drove home the harsh reality of their new world. The peaceful times they had known were gone forever.

The city currently housed eight thousand regular soldiers, with over a thousand already transformed into combatants. This number grew by two hundred each day, and it was certain that all soldiers would eventually become combatants. In addition to the military, there were three militia groups, each receiving twenty transformation slots per day. So far, these groups numbered less than two hundred members combined.

For ordinary citizens, becoming a combatant was the ultimate dream – their only chance at a better life. With the military largely inaccessible, most turned their hopes to the militia groups.

The leaders of these militia groups were all prominent figures from before the apocalypse. The first was a former vice mayor, now the highest-ranking government official after the mayor and party secretary perished in the disaster. The second leader was the former chairman of the Xiangcheng Chamber of Commerce, whose connections helped him secure his position. The third leader was a surprise – a former salesman who had risen to power through his silver tongue and by representing the common people’s resentment towards officials and the wealthy.

These militia leaders had become the most sought-after figures in the city. Ordinary citizens considered it an honor just to catch a glimpse of them, let alone secure a transformation slot.

The competition for these slots had driven people to extreme measures, including selling themselves into servitude or offering their daughters in marriage. While a lucky few managed to connect with the militia leaders, most could only hope to attach themselves to any combatant, preferring a life of humiliation to their current precarious existence.

This explained the scene Cheng Yang had encountered upon entering the city. The air was thick with the stench of decay and human waste. Having lived through this before, Cheng Yang remained unfazed, but Ma Tao struggled to adapt. Only his recent combat experience kept him from vomiting on the spot.

“Lord, how will we find my family?” Ma Tao asked, his brow furrowed as he looked at the sea of people around them.

“Let’s assess the situation first,” Cheng Yang replied, leading Ma Tao deeper into the city.

In truth, Cheng Yang was quite familiar with Xiangcheng’s current state. In his previous life, he had been fortunate enough to be selected by the third militia leader and become a combatant at this time. His current aim was to scout for individuals with high talent who might have emerged in his past life.

With most cities now under human control and many already transformed into combatants, finding individuals with exceptional talent had become increasingly difficult. Cheng Yang wasn’t just looking for combat talent – in his previous life, Xiangcheng had only produced four S-rank talents, including Liu Hao. The others were either military personnel or key figures in the third militia. Recruiting them would be nearly impossible.

What Cheng Yang really needed were individuals with administrative talent. While Luofeng Village had no shortage of combat talent, it desperately lacked capable administrators. Only by leveraging his foreknowledge could Cheng Yang stay ahead in this area.

The main city of Xiangcheng was significantly larger than Luofeng Village’s current territory, housing nearly a hundred thousand people. Finding specific individuals in such a massive population was an almost impossible task.

After nearly two hours of searching, Cheng Yang had to admit defeat. Finding someone in this sea of humanity without any leads was pure luck.

“Let’s focus on finding your parents now,” Cheng Yang said, stopping in his tracks.

“Finally!” Ma Tao exclaimed with relief. After aimlessly wandering through the crowds for hours, he had grown increasingly impatient, but his respect for Cheng Yang had kept him silent.

Cheng Yang quickly made his way to the city center, where the transformation statues and shops were located. The statues stood at the inner circle, while the shops occupied the outer ring.

Yuan Jianze, the current ruler of Xiangcheng, tightly controlled the four transformation statues, symbolizing his absolute authority in the city. Ordinary people couldn’t even approach them. However, the shops remained accessible to all combatants, as restricting them too much would cause unrest. Besides, without spirit energy, even Yuan Jianze couldn’t obtain anything from these shops.

Cheng Yang easily entered the alchemy shop, which was nearly empty. The shopkeeper immediately greeted them with a smile. “Welcome, honored guests! How may I assist you today?”

Cheng Yang had no intention of making any purchases here. As the lord of Luofeng Village, he enjoyed a 5% discount in his own territory. Moreover, this shop only offered basic potions. However, he needed to make a purchase to execute his plan.

“I’ll take ten medium spirit energy potions,” Cheng Yang said. “But before I buy, I’d like to stay here for a while to handle some business.”

Ten medium potions represented a significant order for this shop. The owner readily agreed to let Cheng Yang stay as long as he needed. Cheng Yang knew it wasn’t kindness that motivated the shopkeeper – it was the spirit energy in his account. Without it, he would have been thrown out immediately.

PS: Seeking recommendations and collections! Finally reached 200,000 words, and Sleepy will soon drop off the new book rankings. Thanks to all the brothers for your support – without your collections, recommendations, and clicks, Sleepy wouldn’t have reached fourth place on the new book rankings. Special thanks to Gao Su, Ci Xin, Bookworm Radish, Myth*Illusion, and others for their generous tips.