Chapter 46 – Entering the City

Chapter 46 – Entering the City

“Lord, please speak,” several warriors immediately responded.

Cheng Yang spoke directly, “I have only one requirement. During this mission to Xiangcheng City, I hope you will all follow orders. Anyone who disobeys will be expelled from the team. This isn’t about personal privilege, but for the sake of everyone in the team and the entire Luofeng Village. Later, each of you will provide Li Wanshan with two possible locations where your family members might be. We’ll search these locations one by one based on proximity. However, we can’t search indefinitely – each location will only be searched for half an hour maximum, regardless of results. Today’s rescue operation will continue until 5 PM, with unfinished searches continuing tomorrow. This will continue until this round of rescue is complete. Any objections?”

This matter directly affected everyone’s personal interests, leading to a flurry of discussions among the group.

After a while, the warriors below gradually expressed their agreement with Cheng Yang’s decision. This outcome was expected, as Cheng Yang’s decision was impartial and based on the overall situation. Even those warriors whose families were further south and might have preferred a different search order understood that their preference was unreasonable.

With everything decided, Cheng Yang led everyone through the passage.

While this wasn’t Cheng Yang’s first time on this unique path, it was a completely new experience for the others.

Before the apocalypse, this passage could have been described as a miraculous work of nature. But now, such miracles were everywhere, and people secretly wished these miracles had never occurred.

The several dozen meter-long passage was composed entirely of crimson rock, appearing as if formed from solidified lava. According to eyewitnesses, both this stone bridge and the surrounding chasms around Xiangcheng City had formed during the earthquake, appearing suddenly as if they had emerged from beneath the ground.

Cheng Yang and his group quickly passed through the passage, only to be greeted by a drastically different scene.

To the south of the passage, lush trees created a scene of natural beauty reminiscent of a primeval forest. But to the north, it was a complete apocalypse, even worse than the situation in Huimin Town.

This area, once the outskirts of Xiangcheng City, had few tall buildings, mostly consisting of shantytowns. Now, even these low structures had completely collapsed, leaving only ruins.

While vegetation had already begun growing on the ruins of Huimin Town, this area still looked as if the earthquake had just occurred. If not for the occasional mutated beasts wandering the ruins, Cheng Yang and his group might have thought they had simply arrived in a city immediately after an earthquake, rather than in the midst of an apocalypse.

Cheng Yang didn’t need to deal with these scattered low-level monsters himself, nor did he want to compete with his subordinates for the spiritual energy points.

However, Xiangcheng City wasn’t just home to scattered mutated beasts – there were also many monster groups. To speed up their progress, Cheng Yang had to join in killing monsters.

The group headed northeast, about a kilometer away, to the home of a warrior named Shu Yuan. His family had lived in the outskirts of Xiangcheng City for generations, but their home had been demolished before the apocalypse, making him a true “demolition second generation.” However, he wasn’t one to live off his wealth, having bought a truck to start a transportation business, which ultimately led to his rescue by Cheng Yang.

His home was the closest rescue point to the southern passage of Xiangcheng City, making it their first stop.

After advancing about forty meters and eliminating a monster group of over eighty, faint cries for help suddenly emerged from beneath the ground nearby.

“Help me…”

“Please… help me…”

The voices were weak but clearly audible to Cheng Yang and his group.

“Yangzi, what should we do?” Liu Hao turned to Cheng Yang, his eyes showing a hint of pity.

Cheng Yang knew that this fat man was very compassionate. By asking for his opinion, Liu Hao was showing respect for his position, as otherwise he would have rushed to help without hesitation.

Cheng Yang said, “Let’s help. Too many have died in this apocalypse. We should save as many as we can. However, our main mission today is to rescue our team members’ families. Bringing these people along would slow us down. So we can’t take too many outsiders with us.”

“I understand, Yangzi,” Liu Hao replied.

Cheng Yang then led the group towards the source of the voice, quickly arriving at a pit formed by collapsed walls.

Liu Hao bent down and asked, “How many of you are there?”

“Eighteen,” a voice replied. “Please, can you give us some water first? Some of us haven’t had water for three days.”

Cheng Yang said, “Come out first. We have water and food.”

“Are there still monsters outside? They’re terrifying. One of my neighbors was eaten by them,” the voice trembled with fear of the mutated beasts.

Cheng Yang reassured them, “No, we’ve killed all the monsters around here.”

After some rustling sounds, two men crawled out. Their sunken eyes and haggard appearance showed they were on the verge of collapse.

“Water… where’s the water?” one of them trembled as he spoke.

Liu Hao handed over a bottle of water, which the man snatched before crawling back into the hole.

Cheng Yang’s group didn’t blame the man for his rude behavior. In survival situations, maintaining basic human morality was already commendable. Expecting politeness would be asking too much.

The other man looked worried, having witnessed Cheng Yang’s group’s strength. Their power had deeply impressed him, and if not for the threat to their survival, they wouldn’t have dared call for help. In this apocalypse, who knew what kind of people they might encounter?

“You said there were eighteen of you. Why are only two of you coming out?” Liu Hao frowned.

The man explained, “They’re too weak right now. Xu Zhou went down to give them some water to help them recover before they can climb out.”

Cheng Yang sighed inwardly. These people’s poor physical condition would significantly slow them down if they were to bring them along.

Yu Kai, noticing Cheng Yang’s furrowed brow, guessed his thoughts and suggested, “Yangzi, this hole seems safe. Why don’t we leave them here with some food and water to recover? We can pick them up on our way back this afternoon.”

The refugee, now realizing Cheng Yang’s group meant no harm, immediately pleaded, “Sirs… please take us with you. We won’t be a burden.”

As he spoke, the man suddenly knelt and began kowtowing to Cheng Yang, “Please take us with you, or we’ll all die.”

Cheng Yang helped the man up, saying, “Don’t worry. My friend here wasn’t suggesting we abandon you. Our base is outside the city, and we’ll definitely pass by here this afternoon. Also, we’re heading into the city today and will be fighting monsters along the way. We might not be able to protect you properly. You’ll be safer staying here.”

The man stood up hesitantly, asking, “Are you telling the truth?”

Cheng Yang smiled faintly, “Do you think with our strength, we need to lie to you?”

“That’s true,” the man replied with a bitter smile. Cheng Yang’s words were indeed convincing. With their power, they had no need to deceive them. If they truly didn’t want to help, they could have simply ignored them or even killed them on the spot without fear of repercussions.

At that moment, the man who had taken the water earlier emerged from the hole, expressing his gratitude to Cheng Yang’s group.

After calming him down, Cheng Yang instructed, “Old Li, leave them ten portions of food.”

Without hesitation, Li Wanshan gathered ten portions of food from the others. This included cooked meat and some instant food – their rations for the day, which they had brought in abundance considering the rescue mission.

The man who had just emerged was initially confused, but after the other man explained, he expressed his gratitude profusely.

After arranging for these people, Cheng Yang’s group set off again. As they left, the two men looked at Cheng Yang with hope, begging him to return for them. They had realized that Cheng Yang was the leader of this group.

After traveling another seven or eight hundred meters and eliminating several monster groups, they rescued about seventy to eighty people. Following the earlier precedent, Cheng Yang didn’t bring these people along, instead instructing them to find a place to hide and wait to be picked up in the evening. Most of these rescued people weren’t lacking food, as the apocalypse had only begun four days ago. Those with some courage could still find food in the ruins. However, in a few more days, those still without rescue would begin dying of starvation en masse.

Soon, they finally reached the location specified by Shu Yuan. Although the earthquake had leveled all the buildings here, the city’s crust hadn’t shifted much, allowing them to roughly identify the original locations.

PS: We’ve got recommendations, brothers! Let’s push hard! Aiming to hit the new book charts tonight. For this push, I’ll add an extra chapter tonight. If we make it to the front page of the new book charts tomorrow, I’ll continue adding more chapters.