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Li Rushan was dumbfounded. He saw the third person grab Aisena and walk toward the city gates first.
"Wait! Is there so kind of misunderstanding? We’re just ordinary people seeking help!!” Li Rushan panicked and shouted loudly.
"No misunderstanding.” A cold, chanical voice synthesized from the helt of the ard squad leader resonated.
It was obviously designed as a thod to avoid Black Disaster incidents like those that affected language people.
"Baiqiu Village is at least a hundred kiloters away from here, and it’s an area dominated by high-risk Black Disaster insect n. You three weaklings, not even enhanced humans, managed to escape from there? And each of you ran over a hundred kiloters without a scratch? Do you really take us inspection teams for fools!?”
The captain brushed off any further talk with a wave of his hand.
"Take them away, quickly.”
"I’m a forr mailman! Why is it impossible!!?” Li Rushan was sweating profusely from anxiety, struggling to shout.
"Mailman or not, you’re still considered suspicious….” The captain didn’t finish his sentence.
anwhile, Aisena yelled out loudly.
"I’m a mutant! I can’t be attacked by the Black Disaster!”
"Hmm?” The captain imdiately raised his hand, signaling his subordinates to stop.
He stood up and walked over to Aisena, who barely reached his waist, looking down.
Behind the brown goggles were a pair of cold, rciless gray eyes.
"Mutant… interesting. Then drag them all to the isolation zone. If you survive, it proves your worth.”
He waved his hand again.
At once, three ard personnel dragged the two of them and marched briskly toward the city gates.
Li Rushan wanted to shout again, but soone struck him hard at the back of the head, rendering him powerless.
"Whenever we encounter suspicious-looking individuals, throw them all into the isolation zone imdiately,” the captain instructed the other team mbers.
"Understood.” Everyone replied simultaneously with electronic-synthesized voices.
"This is Gray City! Only the last human elite are qualified to enter this bastion. The worthless and diocre must serve as the shield for Gray City by using their lives in the isolation zone!”
The captain took the opportunity to scan the long line of people entering the city. To survive until now, there wasn’t a single good one among them. So he had to thoroughly filter out all the bad seeds. Even if one slipped through, he had to suppress them strongly enough to keep them in check.
"The isolation zone is an established comprehensive defense system against the Black Disaster. When there’s trouble in the isolation zone, Gray City receives feedback imdiately and devises counterasures. There, you can only receive basic water and food.”
"So, if you don’t want to be relegated to the isolation zone, then give your all to demonstrate your abilities! Prove what use you have to Gray City!”
By this ti, Li Rushan, who had been dragged far away, felt his heart sink when he heard those words.
"Dad, are we going to die?” Aisena asked from behind.
"We won’t. We’re different from ordinary people;
we’re talented individuals. Gray City won’t kill us easily.” Li Rushan forced a smile to comfort his daughter.
"Once in the isolation zone, you are not allowed to leave without permission, or you’ll be shot. There are fixed al collection points and resting spots every day. You must sleep in your designated spot and cannot wander around,” their escort advised in an electronic voice.
"If a Black Disaster attack occurs, gather as much intelligence as possible. High contributions may offer a chance to enter Gray City and beco a Gray City citizen.”
Li Rushan sighed. If he wanted to resist, he could break free, but this was Gray City. He wasn’t facing just one person;
around him were at least thirty heavily ard Gray City soldiers.
"Dad, do you regret this decision?” Aisena asked inexpressively from behind.
Li Rushan replied helplessly, “No regrets. At least here we have a chance to live. Going back would an certain death sooner or later. I just didn’t expect the rules here to be so strict.”
"Dad, did you think everyone was like Uncle Yu?” Aisena responded speechlessly.
"Heh…. Once we establish ourselves here, with your dad’s abilities and knowledge, I’ll climb up the ranks and rescue your Uncle Yu from the fire pit,” Li Rushan said dreamily.
"Do your best, Dad.” Aisena encouraged him expressionlessly.
"Li Rushan? Nana?? Why are you here too?” Suddenly, a familiar voice ca from not far away.
Li Rushan quickly turned to look.
Amidst the dingy tents of the isolation zone, there stood Ding Shao in the crowd, covered in dirt, her face almost unrecognizable, glancing over at them.
*
*
*
Black Wind Camp.
Before the array was reinforced, the insect n kept coming, but after Yu Hong finished reinforcing it, they barely approached anymore.
After enhancing the black lizard, Yu Hong continued to enhance a batch of food and anti-inflammatory drugs, then instructed Black Mark to continue fortifying and reinforcing the entire cave, incorporating the newly discovered Concealing Symbol.
Strengthening the whole cave required quite a bit of ti, with a countdown of eight days.
Yu Hong didn’t mind. He was wholly focused on waiting for the insect n to cause trouble, ready to wipe them out completely. Yet even after five consecutive days, there was no sign of them.
"Boss, speaking of which, what about your family? You don’t seem to ntion them.”
Inside the stone castle, Zhou Xueguang lounged on a wooden chair, lazily twirling a nutrient bar in his hand and asked.
"They’re far, far away,” Yu Hong replied, “in a place without the Black Disaster.”
“….Sorry.” Zhou Xueguang paused in silence.
"It’s alright. To be honest, you’re the first to ask that question,” Yu Hong chuckled.
"When I last went looking for my family, I found out they’d moved, not in Great Hope City anymore. Luckily, they’re safe and left a letter.” Old Zhou also laughed.
He leaned over, pulling out a small pendant from his collar. It was a black, teardrop-shaped pendant the size of a walnut. With a press of his thumb, it snapped open, revealing a colorful photo inside.
"Look, this is my daughter, son! And my wife.” He said proudly.
"Cute, huh?”
Yu Hong leaned in to look.
The photo showed a plump young woman holding two chubby, pudgy diapered children, smiling brightly at the cara.
All three wore matching white T-shirts emblazoned with a large pink character for “family” on their chests.
The background was an old-fashioned bedroom, the white walls slightly yellowed, with a white baby crib, a standing clothes rack, and toys like rattles and a small brown toy car scattered on the floor.
"Adorable. Lots of flesh,” Yu Hong smiled and comnted.
"Of course… my Zhou family, when they were little, they were all chubby! Healthy bodies! Not a single one with poor eyesight, all good soldier material!” Zhou Xueguang said with a tinge of pride.
"Nowadays, you wouldn’t believe it. Among a class of thirty to forty kids, only a few graduate elentary school without needing glasses. Too many electronic devices;
they’re awful for the eyes….” He sighed.
"Indeed…. So the country is also advocating for more outdoor activ…” Yu Hong continued.
The two of them suddenly fell silent.
Now, well, there’s no more elentary school. No…. there’re no more students.
Old Zhou closed the lid, tucked the pendant back into his collar.
"Speaking of which, Boss, do you really not plan to leave?”
"Hmm, not leaving. I’ve invested too much energy, too much ti here. I don’t plan on leaving.” Yu Hong said calmly.
"Makes sense.” Old Zhou chuckled, “In that case, if you survive this ordeal, I suggest setting up rules and regulations for the camp. Don’t give out water and food too freely.”
"Contribution exchange, huh?” Yu Hong was sowhat familiar with the concept.
"More or less. So people, if things co too easily, they won’t cherish them, assuming a lot is their entitlent. Once you can’t guarantee resources, any slip becos your fault. So it’s better to set rules from the beginning;
more contributions an more returns. With the data right there, no one can argue.” Zhou Xueguang had clearly given it so thought. “If you trust , Boss, I can draft the details.”
"Alright. After all, it’s just the two of us here now, either you or .” Yu Hong also leaned back into the wooden chair.
The cooling water constantly flowed through the pipes, bringing plenty of heat, making the entire stone castle comfortably warm, with dryness being the only issue.
The warmth made him feel a bit sleepy.
"First, the camp could be divided into official mbers, probationary mbers, and visitors, three categories.”
Old Zhou began to speak.
"Official mbers enjoy all sorts of camp benefits, but there’s a fixed quota. It’s not a free-for-all;
distributions are proportional to contributions. The number of mbers must be controlled to avoid overwhelming the camp.”
"Secondly, probationary mbers are those contributing and aiming to beco official mbers but haven’t t the standards yet. They can also exchange limited resources with the camp but at prices less favorable than official mbers. This categorizes them and confines their residence to the outer yard or secondary safety zones.”
"Then there are the visitors, who approach the camp temporarily for communication, trade, or visits. They too have trade rights, but at even higher prices than probationary mbers. Each person also has limits.”
"For all three groups, the lists of exchangeable items differ. Just because the camp possesses sothing doesn’t an everything is exchangeable. If anyone leaves the camp, they must start accumulating contributions from scratch to requalify as official mbers.”
Old Zhou clearly had experience, discussing and refining the camp regulations with Yu Hong, item by item.
Without rules, nothing can be accomplished. Previously, the Black Wind Camp was managed according to Yu Hong’s mood, eventually resulting in complete chaos.
Now, laying out the regulations, the two of them carefully wrote their agreed-upon plans on white paper, discussing amongst themselves.
By the ti they had finished the initial draft, the sky was almost bright.
The detector showed it was already nine forty-five in the morning.
Old Zhou could barely keep his eyes open, covering himself with a thin blanket, he drifted off to sleep in a daze.
In the safety of the second floor of the stone castle, the warm heat made one almost forget the cold winds outside.
The whistling sound of the wind squeezed through the wooden window gaps, moaning. Though it sounded sowhat eerie, to Yu Hong, it felt a bit warm and cozy right then.
He stood up, without any sign of exhaustion on his face. Despite staying up all night, with his current physique and inner energy, he was as refreshed as if he had just gotten up.
*He thought to himself,* ‘It’s ti to start preparing the controlled inner qi manual….’ *Seeing Old Zhou sleeping like a log, Yu Hong shook his head wordlessly within,* turning downstairs to check on the breeding boxes.
Whoosh!
Suddenly, a warning image from the black lizard forcefully entered his mind.
Four black humanoid figures suddenly appeared outside the camp’s outer yard fence, all facing the camp, standing silently.
Swish!
In an instant, the four figures simultaneously rushed into the camp, transforming into four swarms of black insects, lunging toward the stone castle!
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