Chapter 166 Ruins
How many survivor settlements there are to the north of the city, Zhu Xiong himself does not know.
But among the active survivor gathering points nearby, especially those that have had contact and exchanges with the camp, there are at least a dozen.
When Zhu Xiong was searching, he naturally put out the news as a reward.
The gathering points of survivors who actively report any traces they find could receive either a Second Order Low Grade injection or an equivalent reward.
Undoubtedly, once the news was released, many survivor gathering points immediately sprang into action.
People from South City No.2 Middle School like Guo Du, Zheng Xiong from the Changlin Road Subway Station... those with a bit of ambition and thought, all simultaneously intensified their search efforts.
Zhu Xiong wasn't at all worried about someone keeping the discovery secret; first, because a large number of monsters would emerge from the spatial rift, which at present may not be too many, but as time passes, the number is bound to be terrifying, something the average survivor gathering point cannot handle.
The other reason was that they wouldn't dare.
The leaders of these survivor gathering points were either Second Order Low Grade or First Order Upper Grade. They had all dealt with the camp, trading Lamp Tree Crystals, quantities of metal, and other materials for weapons and injections.
Having seen the camp's power, they could exist independently only because the camp allowed it, aiming for the cultivation of the Lamp Trees and collection of resources. Therefore, they all knew their place.
Within the circle of the survivor gathering points, they didn't refer to Su Han's camp as Shanshui Villa District, but as—Tree Domain Camp.
In light of this, no one dared to rebel; instead, they put all their effort into securing the reward by searching for the trace.
"Strange, it's been three days and not a hint of a clue?"
Riding the Bone Armor Giant Pig, Zhu Xiong led his team into an alley, where lurking meat corpses, crawlers, and a number of Cockroach Scythe Monsters the size of medium-sized dogs continually attacked.
His expression was as usual, muttering to himself while controlling his Glutton to sweep away the incoming monsters, with the Bone Armor Giant Pig continuously charging forward despite the frightening number of monsters pouring out from the alleyway.
But they could not pose any threat to him, as the disparity in strength was not so easily overcome.
As part of the Tree Domain Camp, excluding Su Han the idler, he was among the top tier; having exchanged injections multiple times, both the Glutton and the Bone Armor Giant Pig had reached the strength of Second-order Intermediate, becoming even more formidable.
Apart from the occasional First Order Upper Grade monsters' attacks that could leave some marks, the other monsters' attacks could hardly inflict any substantial damage.
Accompanying him were a large number of warriors from the search team, about fifty or more with mostly First-level Intermediate strengths, but there were also four or five of the First Order Upper Grade, equipped with metal plate armor, chopping knives, long spears, and crossbows in hand, their combat power was also impressive.
Together, they cleared the alley and buildings of monsters in half an hour's time.
"Search the rooms, watch out for Psychic Fluctuations; the crack might not have opened on flat ground."
"Understood."
The warriors made sure to finish off the monsters laying on the ground, retrieved their Crossbow Arrows, and then split up with their Apostles to start searching the building.
They all understood the importance of the spatial rift and didn't dare to slack off.
"Split into groups of five, same rules for going upstairs, be careful of monsters in corners..."
Just as his men were about to divide into groups, a swift whizzing sound suddenly came from the sky, making everyone instantly alert. They spun around, the Crossbow Arrows in their hands aiming at the sky, and they partially took cover behind their Apostles.
"Captain Zhu, there's been a situation on Changlin Road's back street!"
Seeing the red shadow closely, they realized it was the Blood-winged Tiger with its airborne rider and breathed a sigh of relief, but their eyes showed envy—the airborne cavalry was indeed cool.
Zhu Xiong's eyes narrowed as the airborne rider landed and immediately said, "Captain Ye has already rushed over there before us, this information is highly accurate, a Second-order Survivor has been injured."
"Alright, I'm heading over now."
Hearing about a Second-order Survivor, Zhu Xiong's expression darkened; an injury to a Second-order Survivor severe enough to leak such news most likely hit the mark.
"Everybody, rush to Changlin Road's back street immediately."
Zhu Xiong turned the Bone Armor Giant Pig around and sped toward Changlin Road's back street, with fifty people promptly following him and their Vine Giant Rats keeping up closely.
Changlin Road's back street was not close to Zhu Xiong's current location; fortunately, there were plenty of Ye Kailing's airborne riders who found his position by flying low. Experience tales at empire
In about ten minutes, Zhu Xiong arrived at Changlin Road's back street with the airborne riders, where the area was already being guarded by airborne cavalry, along with nearby search teams summoned, totaling about a hundred people.
"Captain Zhu."
Seeing Zhu Xiong arriving, they greeted him.
"Where's Kailing?"
"Inside."
Zhu Xiong quickly walked in, and along the way, every fifty meters there were Ancient Tree Crystals laid out, with dead monsters scattered on the ground, not too many, but a fair number of them were Gray Inferior Demons, obviously just cleared.
He reached an open storefront where the search team was gathered nearby, and he immediately saw that in addition to the search team, Zhou Ziqing was also present.
Cao Yubao's student, chief physician, and currently the camp's top doctor for treating external injuries.
He stepped in quickly, where Ye Kailing was speaking with Zhou Ziqing.
"What happened, Old Zhou is here too? Is it that serious?"
Ye Kailing said, "I asked Doctor Zhou to come over; I'm not good at dealing with wounds, and it wasn't convenient to carry the person back."
Zhou Ziqing continued, "The injury is not light—three ribs are broken, and there's a penetrating wound. If it weren't for the Second-order Contract and timely bleeding control, he'd be dead by now; but he's stable now."
After treating many Contractors' injuries, Zhou Ziqing also gradually developed his own set of experiences. Hemostasis and suturing, combined with a certain degree of medication, meant that the Contractors' regenerative powers and physical fitness could resolve most external injuries themselves.
"Captain Ye, let another empty rider take me back. There are still a lot of patients at the hospital in the loop, and I can't stay here for long."
After his wounds were treated, Zhou Ziqing did not wish to stay any longer. After all, with so many more people in the camp, the number of injured was not small, and they were essentially indispensable.
His teacher Cao Yubao was now focusing on assisting Bai Qilan with her research, as well as being distracted by cultivating medicinal herbs, leaving him basically no time to manage the hospital, so Zhou Ziqing was busy with it all.
Moreover, he felt it was not his place to say anything.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om
He knew that Cao Yubao was planting medicinal herbs as a precaution. As the apocalypse continued to progress, the amount of directly usable medicine would only decrease.
"Okay, I'll have someone send you back."
Ye Kailing arranged for one of her subordinates to send Zhou Ziqing back, then spoke to Zhu Xiong, "The person is inside, let's go in."
Zhu Xiong nodded and walked inside with Ye Kailing, greeted by the search team members standing guard.
Walking further inside, they finally saw a man on a bed made from two tables pushed together. The man was covered in blood, now wrapped in bandages around most of his upper body, with three other men beside him who had slightly lighter injuries, but were also suffering from fractures.
"Zhu, Brother Zhu..."
The moment the man saw Zhu Xiong come in, he immediately propped himself up to sit.
Zhu Xiong took a closer look and recognized the person: "Changlin Road's Zheng Xiong?"
"That's me."
Zheng Xiong tried to give a smile, but when he moved his injured part, he couldn't help but suck in a breath of pain.
"Alright, lie down. Tell me what happened. Did you find the crack in the alternate dimension?"
Zhu Xiong interrupted Zheng Xiong's movements. He was responsible for external exploration and was quite familiar with the surrounding survivor bases, especially those he had interacted with.
"Thanks, Brother Zhu."
Zheng Xiong settled back down. Although they were both Second-order Contractors, he knew his own limitations. In a one-on-one fight, he would definitely be subdued by Zhu Xiong, the degree of their enhancement was not the same.
"I was attacked in the Third Hospital. Initially, I followed a Gray Inferior Demon there, but not long after entering, I was attacked by monsters... no, not monsters, mutated people. They suddenly killed their way out, and Qian Limin and the others were directly killed. If I hadn't run fast, I'm afraid I would've been left behind too."
Fallen Ones?
Zhu Xiong and Ye Kailing exchanged glances, their expressions involuntarily darkened: "What sort of mutated people?"
Zheng Xiong gritted his teeth and said, "Although they looked like monsters, they could speak and could Summon Apostles. It was very abnormal."
He glanced at Zhu Xiong and said, "They said that anyone who touches the divine relics must die."
Zhu Xiong was convinced, these were definitely the Fallen Ones. The so-called divine relics were likely the cracks in alternate dimensions.
Realizing the gravity of the situation, the two discussed, "Kailing, go back and get Su Han over here. I'll gather up the search team's people and move towards that area."
"Okay, I'll go right away."
Zhu Xiong looked at Zheng Xiong and said, "Tell me more about the situation, then find a safe place. After we've verified the situation, come and get the injection."
"Thank you, Brother Zhu."
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The Third Hospital, its dark building structure empty and skeletal, its entire area covered in signs of burning.
Not just the hospital's comprehensive building, the inpatient building, the administrative building... the surrounding shops and residences had almost all become ruins.
This was the aftermath of a great fire during the early days of the apocalypse, when chaos and strife plunged this area into a massive conflagration; not even speaking of the survivors.
At that time, even the monsters who failed to escape in time turned into charred corpses, buried here along with the ruins.
Among the remaining walls and broken bricks, the limbs of dried corpses were twisted, and the dark arms stretched out like branches, looking extremely frightening.
Because there weren't many resources left behind, there were hardly any survivors active in this place; monsters, on the other hand, gradually moved here, turning it into a place of death.
However, now in the dark ruins, Gray Inferior Demons prowled like hyenas, growling softly and occasionally venturing out of these dark ruins to attack other areas in the northern part of the city.
"You really disappoint me, Li Zhiming, not even able to keep people."
A muffled thud sounded as a nearly three-meter tall, tumor-covered humanoid monster was sent flying and landed heavily on the ground.
Inside the ruined building, a hunched giant with his head drooping down to his chest glared viciously at Li Zhiming lying on the ground.
Around him, standing were four or five figures wearing tattered curtains or sheets as cloaks, in humanoid shapes but with bizarre silhouettes, some even dripping with slime from their bodies.
"Boss, he's also Second Order. Why don't I just eat him?"
Li Zhiming growled softly, baring his pointed, beast-like teeth, his gaze fearful as he looked at the monster before him.
"Hmph"
A rough snort resounded as the one referred to as boss coldly said, "He will bring people from the Tree Domain. The divine relic will be taken by them, and God's world will not tolerate these obstinate defilers."