The incident with the shirtless big man was just an interlude.
Soon after he was taken away by two Awakeners in black combat uniforms, Captain Chen noticed that some of the more hot-tempered Awakeners in the queue had also started to act more docile and were waiting quietly for their registration.
Such incidents were not uncommon at the registration centers in Lindong, and he had seen many of them.
Living in an apocalypse, fighting against Demonized Beasts, and experiencing life and death every day made most people increasingly cautious; however, there were always exceptions, some who became even more irritable.
These people often did not meet good ends, whether in Lindong or here.
After registering, the staff of the Green Shadow Sanctuary would introduce the newcomers to the circumstances of the Sanctuary.
Perhaps because this group was relatively strong, the person in charge of the introduction and guidance after the registration was that slightly overweight survivor.
"It's good that way, the person in charge probably knows more than the ordinary staff; you might be able to indirectly glean some information."
Captain Chen thought to himself and followed behind Wang Zhou, listening to his introduction and, like a regular Awakener, asking some questions.
His inquiries were clever, mostly about things any regular Awakener would want to know, and while he chatted casually, he managed to sneak in some key questions.
"Oh, those tall towers? Those are the legendary Watchtowers. The shape is already very obvious. Big brother, you probably don't play enough games; this isn't good, lacking experience might lead to oversights!"
Wang Zhou chattered on and on.
Captain Chen had a look of exasperation.
This guy seemed to be a chatterbox, and as an intelligence officer, he would normally love to run into a chatterbox, but why did he feel so exhausted?
Reluctantly, he quickly changed the subject, "Young brother, there's something I'm uncertain whether I should ask?"
"A question? Then go ahead," Wang Zhou replied, a confused look on his face.
"Well, it's . I just saw that you managed to hold down that Awakener so he couldn't move an inch, and you seem to be an ordinary person, right? It's hard for me to imagine how. Of course, if it involves any secrets, never mind."
He didn't really expect Wang Zhou to reveal the secret to becoming stronger.
Unexpectedly, he saw the other man cross his arms and gaze into the distance, "This matter? Well, you've asked the right person."
Captain Chen was stunned and quickly leaned in to listen.
The other members looked curious as well.
"If you want to become strong, there's only one way," Wang Zhou's demeanor suddenly turned serious, his eyes sharp as an eagle, he slowly uttered two words, "Training!"
Captain Chen was puzzled.
He then heard Wang Zhou continue, "First, you must create a very strict training schedule, and no matter how difficult, you must stick to it, that's the key to becoming strong!"
"You should know, I persisted for three years!"
Wang Zhou looked up at the sky, seemingly recalling those brutal days, "Every day I insisted on doing 100 push-ups! 100 sit-ups! 100 squats! Pull-ups... 100 times! Then run 10 kilometers! Swim back and forth 100 times in the pool lane! And I had to do these every day!"
He sighed and continued, "At first, I almost couldn't keep it up, I felt like I was about to die during that time. But the effort was worth it, after a while..."
He rubbed his hair with his hand, then spread out his palm, "Look..."
Captain Chen couldn't help but look, but then he was taken aback; he didn't notice anything unusual.
Wang Zhou shook his head, a look of "you just don't have the knack for it" on his face, "Look closely, what is this, this is hair!"
"Hair? But what does this have to do with hair?"
"Of course it matters! Hair and strength are inversely proportional. Don't look at me with more strength than you now, but the day I go bald will be the time I stand at the peak of humanity!"
Wang Zhou flicked his hair as his voice drifted off with the wind.
At this point, if Captain Chen couldn't tell that Wang Zhou was just messing with them, he would have to be a fool.
Training to become stronger? Bullshit!
Yet, Wang Zhou had a face that said "I can't believe you don't trust me," and instantly launched into a barrage of talkative mode.
Captain Chen covered his face.
His heart was tired, and he didn't want to speak with this guy.
The group slowly made their way towards the interior of the Sanctuary.
Captain Chen and his team occasionally glanced around, much like curious people stepping into a new environment.
However, he was very purposefully observing Green Shadow Sanctuary.
The holiday villas no longer showed the original gate and security net; they must have been destroyed in the Demon Tide, and later survivors simply dismantled them.
All along the way, they could see many busy survivors, with big trucks passing by from time to time.
Captain Chen watched carefully and noticed that although the survivors looked a bit pallid, they were not lifeless like many others elsewhere. Instead, from time to time, he could see some survivors walking past them, talking and laughing.
Even in Lindong, there were many survivors wandering listlessly with a defeated look.
He was somewhat curious about this until he saw a large crowd gathered ahead, "What are they doing there?"
"Oh over there..." Wang Zhou showed a proud expression, "Recently, our Sanctuary has been undertaking major construction. We're planning to build a big commercial area at the entrance and around the holiday villas. It's not just any makeshift market with a signboard; according to the plan, the entire commercial area will be divided into several districts, with countless shop buildings erected. You guys are doing pretty well among the Awakeners, so how about renting a shop and doing some business when it's ready? I guarantee you'll make a fortune in no time."
In conclusion, Wang Zhou didn't forget to promote it a bit.
But Captain Chen became even more astonished.
Green Shadow Sanctuary actually had the capability to build large-scale projects? You should know that those smaller Sanctuaries, although they're called Sanctuaries, were in reality just leaning on structures from before the apocalypse. After the apocalypse, those Sanctuaries didn't have the capacity to build anything.
Not to mention anything else, just the construction equipment alone would need to be transported back from the dangerous wilderness, besides, getting survivors to work and the food consumption, would undoubtedly be enormous.
In the apocalypse, many small Sanctuaries were trying to reduce food consumption. For Green Shadow to use a lot of manpower and resources to build construction projects was surprising in itself. If they were building walls, he could understand, but what use would be a commercial area?
He didn't understand, but Captain Chen stopped anyway to watch the crowd, from afar he could see that the area had already been divided into different sections, with survivors wielding shovels ready to work.
"Are they preparing to dig foundations?"
Wang Zhou nodded, and continued to talk about the prospect of the commercial district while promoting the shops.
Captain Chen had learned to automatically tune out Wang Zhou's speech and pointed at the people, asking again, "Then why haven't they started working? The area for excavation has already been planned, right?"
"Of course, it's been planned, but before they start digging, they have to wait for someone."
"Look." Wang Zhou stretched out his hand to point in the distance, "The person they're waiting for is here."
Following the direction Wang Zhou pointed, Captain Chen looked over and saw someone dressed in blue and white armor, with even their face hidden under the helmet, advancing step by step.
The surrounding survivors had already backed away.
The armored person eventually walked to the center of a planned area and stopped.
What was this all about?