Xyrin Empire
Chapter 342 - Chapter 342 Chapter 342 Evacuation

Chapter 342: Chapter 342: Evacuation Chapter 342: Chapter 342: Evacuation There were no survivors left in this city.

That evening, our deployed city exploration drones relayed back the intel that aside from the zombies prowling every corner, the entire city was completely enveloped by death.

Such a scenario was actually anticipated, but when reality truly laid itself before my eyes, I couldn’t help but heave a sigh.

In order to search for any surviving citizens within the city, we had lingered here for half a day, but now that we confirmed the entire city’s survivors amounted to just over a hundred people holed up in the gymnasium, there was no need to stay any longer. According to plan, we would set off early the next day, first heading to the nearest human refuge. There, we should be able to make contact with the remnants of this world’s government. After all, with over a hundred refugees in tow, there wasn’t much else we needed to do.

There were quite a few vacant rooms in the gymnasium, most of which were dormitories for temporary rest for the staff. Although the conditions were reasonable, a thick layer of dust had accumulated due to the lack of maintenance over time. Fortunately, Zhao Leisong’s wife, Song Yao, was skilled at housework, and with Visca eagerly helping out, the Emperor, an utter novice in domestic chores, managed to avoid embarrassment in this regard.

In a city overtaken by zombies, even the nights were unsettled with various suspicious noises continuously emanating from nearby streets and the occasional meaningless howls of zombies keeping the entire gymnasium in a perpetually eerie and terrifying atmosphere. The so-called rest hours were spent in fear by the survivors in the dark space, enduring another sleepless night. The sentries on watch outside could offer them little sense of security. Everyone knew that the six bullets combined in those two old-fashioned rifles served no purpose other than to signal an alarm at the last moment.

No one would have guessed that this seemingly fragile gymnasium was in fact stationed with military force equivalent to dozens of group armies–more specifically, the Xyrin Group Army.

The men who had been crippled during the day were now carried to a corner of the gymnasium, where they groaned softly. Although resenting their previous intimidation and bullying, no one left them outside to fend for themselves amidst the zombies. The sliver of humanity remaining after the collapse of the law was one aspect, but the greater concern was the fear of attracting more zombies lured by the “scent of food.” It was an undeniable fact that these men were bound to die before anyone else.

Two had several broken bones with shards piercing their internal organs, six had an arm shattered by “teeth bullets,” and simple measures to stop bleeding were completely unable to halt the ebbing of Life Force. The middle-aged man who used to be the refuge leader suffered severe internal injuries after being kicked by the blonde girl, with probably half his organs slowly bleeding out. Although some rendered basic medical aid out of a sense of morality, given the severity of their injuries, they were fortunate to live a few more hours. As for us, we couldn’t even muster the interest to pay them heed. Having crossed my red line, they were immediately relegated to the category of “items”; not executing them on the spot was already a humanitarian consideration.

In such a bizarre and fearsome atmosphere, the survivors in the gymnasium endured their most torturous night.

The next morning, under my direction, Zhao Leisong gathered everyone together. Over a hundred pale, emaciated, and trembling refugees congregated, their gazes towards us filled with numbness and a hint of fear. It seemed that the “inhuman” side of me and Visca from the previous day had deeply rattled these highly-strung survivors.

“Don’t be nervous,” I said somewhat annoyed, scratching my head. My actions in anger yesterday took no account of moderation, but only now did I realize the power I displayed might have been frightening, “We won’t hurt you.”

Visca nodded vigorously beside me, “Yep, that’s what I said when I invaded Dakris too!”

“Zip it!” I tapped Visca’s head not too lightly, then raised my voice, “Anyway, unless anyone acts as foolishly as yesterday, we won’t harm any innocent person.”

My words fell, but they evoked little response. The crowd in front only listened blankly, as if they no longer had much capacity to comprehend my speech. Just as Sandora predicted, having been trapped in such a predicament for too long, nearly everyone’s spirit had almost collapsed. Most of them only thought about three things now: staying alive, eating, and fleeing. Unlike Zhao Leisong’s family, who had to strive constantly to survive–even under greater pressure, it allowed them to retain human sanity– the survivors awaiting death in this gymnasium, except for the leader and his few confidants, were progressively numbed by the crushing pressure.

“Brother, if you think it’s appropriate, you should first find something for everyone to eat,” Zhao Leisong’s words suddenly struck me at that moment, “They look like this; I’m afraid that man never let the others eat their fill…”

How could I have forgotten this detail? Clearly, these people had been trapped for who knows how many days. To them, filling their stomachs was the main priority. Even if they needed to run for their lives, it had to be on a full stomach, right?

My gaze immediately shifted to Sandora. Without going into detail, suffice it to say, this young lady would never be short of food–her Personal Space was stocked with snacks that could even pass as a Legion Level strategic food reserve if you told someone.

“Ah Jun…” Seeing where I was looking, Sandora naturally knew what I was thinking and quickly approached with teary eyes, “You’re not planning to take away the last of your lover’s food, are you…?”

A sorrowful expression immediately crossed my face as I tightly grasped Sandora’s soft, boneless hand, “Be good, don’t hang out with that blabbermouth Lilina anymore…”

Sandora: “…”

“Okay, okay, but just this once! However,” after her coquettish stubbornness had failed, Sandora finally chose to obey and contributed a small portion of her food reserve. But she quickly added a condition, “In compensation, you have to get that Commander called Kaos under Pandora’s command to start a food factory!”

“…May I ask what that Commander is currently doing?”

“He seems to be opening a bank in Europe!”

The price is too high, you little dead girl! Do your thinking organs decisively turn into a stomach the moment food is involved?

Anyway, under my persistent soft and hard tactics, Sandora finally agreed to contribute a portion of her snack reserve. The sudden appearance of a pile of food startled everyone, and the stunned expressions finally vanished. Surprise and curiosity were only temporary. In a situation where survival was the primary concern, there weren’t many who had the energy to dwell on logic and common sense. If zombies, a thing of science fiction, could exist, what couldn’t be accepted?

The crowd that had gathered stirred momentarily, then surged forward as if by agreement. All the prior fear and concern were set aside–their eyes saw only the food that could keep them alive. It looked just as Zhao Leisong had said; the middle-aged man had never let these people, who had gathered around him begging for protection, have their fill.

Just as the crowd coming together was about to lose control, a sudden “bang” resonated through the gymnasium, bringing the nearly frantic people abruptly to silence.

Visca, holding a hand cannon that radiated dark red glows, swept the awe-inspiring weapon across the crowd. Behind them, half of the gymnasium’s roof had been blown away by the expansive shooting of the hand cannon.

“Line up to receive your share orderly. Those who hoard, defraud, or steal others’ portions will participate as food in the next distribution. Those who disobey will face the death penalty and be displayed for seven days.”

The cat-eyed loli’s face bore a strangely twisted smile, but her tone was as casual as if she were discussing the weather, speaking these chilling words. A repressed aura of madness emanated from the girl’s bloodshot eyes, instantly silencing the restless crowd. When she mentioned that they “will participate as food in the next distribution,” they couldn’t shake the feeling that it was no joke.

Order was swiftly established under Visca’s oppressive threat, with the trembling crowd voluntarily forming a long line to receive their food. Sandora, standing beside me, maintained a calm smile while fiercely pinching my waist from behind.

Once the distribution was complete, the gymnasium filled with the sound of people wolfing down their food, and Visca patrolled among them with a handgun, “Very good. Everyone keep your portion safe. We have plenty of food, but limited patience, so any disobedience will be immediately punished…”

I clapped my hands to draw the attention of the voraciously eating crowd and then announced some news, “After you’ve eaten, we will be evacuating you from this city and heading to the nearest refuge.”

The moment the words were spoken, the scene immediately fell silent.

Everyone cast astonished glances this way, then a woman with her mouth full of biscuits struggled to swallow the food and cautiously asked, “You said… you can take us away?”

“Of course, that’s exactly why we’re here,” I nodded, “We came to address the accidental situations occurring in this world…”

The crowd remained queerly silent. It was clear they didn’t disbelieve my words, but were anxious and hesitant about breaking out of the zombie encirclement. However, just then, a gentle and delicate voice suddenly broke the silence, “Oh my! Dingdang has awakened!”

Accompanying the sound was a fantastical creature bathed in a gentle green halo.

Our great Dingdang Goddess had finally awakened… Speaking of which, how many all-nighters had this little thing pulled to complete that supposedly crucial experiment?!

As Dingdang awoke and peeked out from my pocket, an unusual energy field rapidly spread from her throughout the entire gymnasium. Before the people could even wonder about the dream-like little elf, they were instantly lulled into an indescribable sense of tranquility.

It was Dingdang’s divinity; after awakening, the little thing sensed the despair and sorrow permeating the air and unconsciously released her own power.

How strong could the blessing of the Life Goddess be? They say it’s something that could transform demons who have fallen into the Abyss into angels in an instant. Of course, since Dingdang herself made the claim, we could completely dismiss its credibility. But after Dingdang’s power swept through the gym, I could clearly sense an emotion called “hope” taking root and sprouting in the hearts of the hundred or so survivors.

“Ah, that’s much better now.”

Noticing that the negative energy around had largely dissipated, Dingdang nodded in satisfaction and, fluttering her wings, she flew into my palm and began to carefully smooth out her crumpled wings due to her sleeping position, completely unaware of the attention she just caused.

“This… is this…”

Zhao Leisong stared fixedly at the little one rolling about on my hand, pressing her wings, stammering as he spoke, while the astonished glances from everyone around were no less than his.

Compared to zombies or superpower humans, which although bizarre, at least have a recognizable form, a three-inch tall little elf with dragonfly wings clearly surpassed people’s normal understanding. Even I hadn’t expected that it would be Dingdang, this little thing, who ultimately awakened these survivors who were emotionally numb and waiting for death.

The arrival of the little goddess not only soothed the negative emotions in everyone’s hearts but also rekindled their hope for life. More importantly, it allowed these survivors to finally place enough trust in me. Afterwards, without having to say much, we got everyone ready to leave–though there wasn’t much to prepare, just ensuring each person carried enough food for three days.

Since the “Life Goddess” was awake, garnering the ultimate cheat tool made our departure naturally less troublesome. With the little one’s divine power in action, what lowly life form like zombies dared to get close? It didn’t take us long to lead the remaining hundred or so survivors out of this dangerous city.

As for the transportation… naturally, it was the amazing seventy trillion. When the survivors saw that the compact car had, in fact, sixty rows of seats and its own coffee lounge, their exclamations went without saying. And what astonished them even more was that such an incredible vehicle could have so many patches on the outside…

Now, these people had practically come to view us as saviors from the Otherworld. Essentially, this notion stemmed from Dingdang, the Little One who at first glance clearly could not have originated from the Mortal World. I had to admit, their insight was remarkably accurate.

Once we had unobstructed passage out of the city, we stopped the car on a nearby highland. Humans are simply too fragile, and the Seven Quadrillion did not consider the possibility of ordinary people riding it from the outset. The energy required for its jumps was far too much for these frail refugees to endure, so we had to make the entire journey at regular car speeds. By the time we took a short break at midday to let everyone rest and have lunch, the by-then dead city was still visible in the distance.

“The sample has been sent back, right?”

I went over to Sandora, who was gazing into the distance, and asked.

Sandora turned her head, then leaned in and affectionately rubbed her face against mine, “It’s been sent back with the Super Space-Time Transmitter. Bubbles is working hard to analyze the cause of their mutation. In a few days, we should be able to create a gene weapon to stop this biohazard crisis.”

“Speaking of which, there won’t be a biohazard outbreak on Earth after the thing is sent back there, right?” I said, somewhat worriedly, which earned me an eye roll from the girl beside me, “You really underestimate Xyrin Technology. This level of ecological disaster is nothing to us; it’s like researching a new cold medicine, no big deal!”

Me: “…”

“By the way, it might be best to destroy that city,” Sandora said suddenly after quietly leaning against me for a while, as if something had just occurred to her. “It would be best to eliminate such a source of pollution as far as possible before the reverse-engineered gene sequence is produced…”

“Makes sense,” I agreed with Sandora’s remark. The place was now rampant with the virus, and preserving it was meaningless. On the contrary, the congregation of zombies inside could potentially lead to their evolution. Although the chance of this happening was low, as the saying goes, bad luck knows no borders, and since Lin Xue had indirectly entrusted me with this task, I had to treat every sneeze as if it were the end of the world, “Visca!”

Hearing my call, Visca, who had been ostensibly surveying the refugees but was actually indulging her own twisted interests, readily responded with enthusiasm and jogged over, “Brother! Visca is here!”

I could hear a huge sigh of relief coming from behind me. Visca, are you sure your mental state is really in the right place?

“Girl, can you destroy that city?”

After mentally criticizing Visca’s potentially Abyss-induced bad interests, I patted her head as I asked.

As for this problematic sister’s psychological distortions when facing outsiders, it wasn’t that I hadn’t noticed or wasn’t concerned, but there was no need to worry too much. She had become much more normal now, and even if she occasionally fell into extreme psychological states, she knew how to keep herself in check, so I wasn’t worried about her suddenly going berserk and causing a terrible tragedy.

Visca squinted her eyes at the far-off silhouette of the city, where only a few tall buildings were visible, and a look of excitement spread across her face. She then nodded vigorously, “Of course! Does Brother want it to be completely destroyed?”

“Yes, completely destroyed, leaving no signs of life,” I affirmed.

“Got it, so we’re talking about reassembling the target material at the molecular level,” the little cat-eyed Loli said excitedly, then took a deep breath, “Visca loves destruction!” (To be continued, for more please visit www.NovelFire.net, more chapters, support the author, support genuine reading!)

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