The events occurred too abruptly, leading many survivors to believe the Sanctuary could only resign itself to compromise.
In the next moment, however, they saw that one of the Awakeners who wanted to negotiate with the Sanctuary had died, and the rest had scattered in retreat.
They were shocked, unable to clearly see what had unfolded.
Just when they thought the Sanctuary would seize the moment to drive out this group threatening it, Iron-faced Luo sheathed the Heavy Sword and stood behind Director Tang once more.
They were somewhat puzzled.
Indeed, they were mere ordinary survivors, always at the bottom wherever they went, but they weren't foolish. Since the Sanctuary had already taken action and made enmities, there was no reason to spare the remaining individuals.
The thought barely formed.
The survivors then witnessed those fleeing Awakeners being herded back in disgrace.
These Awakeners were now in tattered clothes, some severely wounded, struggling to hold themselves up as they coughed blood.
Behind each Awakener was a rotund Puppet, following closely.
Observant survivors noticed that blood dripped from the Longsword held by the Puppets.
They were very familiar with these Puppets; weren't these the same Puppets used daily to cut rocks into pieces before assigning them the task of carrying them?
They always thought the weapons wielded by the Puppets were sharp, but no one had imagined these Puppets could be this powerful.
It seemed that the fleeing Awakeners were no match for the Puppets.
How long had it been? Each Awakener faced only one Puppet, yet in such a short time, the Awakeners were defeated, and there were many more Puppets in the Sanctuary.
No wonder the Sanctuary wasn't bothered by these threats.
There were experts like Captain Iron-faced Luo, and in situations where Captain Luo was stretched thin dealing with too many Demonized Beasts, there were these Puppets.
It appeared they had underestimated the complexity of establishing a Sanctuary.
The survivors, watching this farce, couldn't help but swallow nervously.
They felt trepidation but did not perceive the Sanctuary as brutal; instead, some believed the Awakeners reaped what they sowed, only wasting food by staying alive.
The captured Awakeners stared resentfully at Tang Yu.
The bearded Awakener roared, "Come on! Kill me! This pathetic Sanctuary, with hardly any Awakeners, can't escape being wiped out by Demonized Beasts. I've seen many such pluggy Sanctuaries. Haha, I'll be waiting for you below!"
He laughed wildly, as if finally finding a way to vent his feelings.
Meanwhile, other Awakeners wept bitterly, begging the Sanctuary for mercy.
Tang Yu, expressionless, signaled Chen Haiping, "Continue registration. Mm, anyone wishing to join the Patrol Team can apply with Luo Zhe."
The bearded man continued to roar, "Patrol Team? Haha, do you think other Awakeners would die for you?"
He was adamantly sure.
Other Awakeners, although not siding with them, wouldn't join the Patrol Team, serve the Sanctuary's commands, or die for it; apart from Peng Bo, who was secretly recruited, who would join?
Suddenly, a voice came from the side, "No Awakeners joining? Ridiculous, do you represent all Awakeners? Moreover, I am a noble natural Awakener!"
The bearded man looked carefully; it was a young man whom he vaguely recognized as one of the Sanctuary's Awakeners, but after some brief interactions, he realized they were not aligned, so he didn't delve much further.
Unexpectedly, he stood out.
The notice was explicit, joining the Patrol Team meant venturing out to face Demonized Beasts, obeying commands—the commander being the formidable Iron-faced Luo, defiance was impossible, so they had to comply. Facing Demonized Beasts, potentially at the front line, facing life-threatening risks.
And still, they wished to join the Patrol Team?
Were they out of their minds?
Not only Lu Xiaopeng but several survivors, in the bearded man's incredulous gaze, stepped forward to apply for the Patrol Team.
Not only Awakeners but also ordinary survivors.
The bearded man couldn't comprehend.
Lu Xiaopeng, cursing, said, "People like you can't understand the might of Director Tang and Captain Luo. Demonized Beasts? What of them! Only a pathetic Awakener like you would be scared. Oh well, you're so pathetic, you probably won't understand even if I explain, better not waste my breath."
The bearded man: "..."
He turned into a pitch-black face.
He didn't seem to have wronged this person before, yet the other was spewing so much that it hit him squarely in the face, unable to dodge or fight back, with mining Puppets glaring menacingly behind him, his face had turned blanched sporadically.
With ups and downs and a myriad of twists, these ordinary survivors' emotions swayed until, when things calmed, their confidence in the Sanctuary inadvertently grew by a few percent.
Survivors loyal to these Awakeners were now trembling in terror, their leaders extinguished in the blink of an eye left them desperate and regretful.
This was Tang Yu's goal, to weed out those with ulterior motives, simultaneously squeezing out their last remaining value.
It was quite perfect.
Of course, he knew transforming the Territory into a true Sanctuary and ensuring survivors had a genuine sense of belonging to the Sanctuary was far from reach, but there was no rush; after all, there was plenty of time.
With no more disruptive Awakeners, the registration proceeded smoothly; most survivors obviously chose to become permanent residents of the Sanctuary. Those who chose not to join either distrusted the Sanctuary or couldn't endure the Binding, but at least they honestly signed names, ages, and other basic information on the registration form.
Clearly, they were frightened.
Once registration completed, work commenced anew.
Apart from the previous transport team, now there were also the construction team and the smallest planting team.
In all work teams, welfare would increase, but similarly, food distribution was based on work performance.
Currently, there were slight inadequacies in management staff. Tang Yu planned to group these survivors, three to four per group, and performance would be evaluated collectively.
It wasn't a random grouping but rather based on past performances; diligent workers were grouped together, and the lazy ones were grouped together.
Such as the ordinary survivors who followed Ding Qiang and his group previously.
Ding Qiang and the others were used as an example, but there was no need to waste the ordinary survivors; they were reorganized into two or three groups, and as punishment, Tang Yu significantly lowered their welfare. Unless they worked hard and diligently, they shouldn't hope to fill their stomachs. As for whether they'd slack off, as long as they didn't want to starve, they'd have to supervise each other and bicker among themselves.
Chen Haiping called upon several trustworthy survivors to assign work to the others.
Suddenly, the ground began to tremble slightly.
Chen Haiping's face changed.
This familiar feeling, he had experienced it just days ago.
Tang Yu spoke, "Let the survivors return within the city walls."
Many survivors were slow to react, not understanding why they were being sent back inside the walls when everything seemed fine.
The tremors intensified, and the pebbles on the ground began to shake, with a rumbling sound echoing from afar.
The noise was like thunder, incessant.
Numerous survivors turned pale as they witnessed countless figures appearing at the ends of their vision in the distance.
These figures appeared bizarre, varied in size, and some even flew in the air. But without exception, these Monsters all charged towards the Sanctuary.
"It's the Demon Tide—"
The Demon Tide was undoubtedly the most terrifying name in the apocalypse; countless Sanctuaries had been destroyed by it.
Many survivors had only heard of the Demon Tides, never witnessed them. Now, facing the demonized beast horde, they realized completely just how insignificant humans were amidst such horrific disasters!
The bearded Awakener, who had been full of despair and dismay, now glimpsed the approaching Demon Tide, delight spreading across his face, "Ha, haha, your Sanctuary, who would've thought it would be destroyed so soon!"
He knew he wouldn't survive, but it didn't matter, seeing others turn pale filled him with delight.
He wasn't even afraid of dying!
For the first time, the bearded man found himself so brave. He looked up, wanting to see Tang Yu's expression, only to find Tang Yu appeared calm, with a hint of pleased amusement as he turned to look back at him, a hard-to-decipher smile playing on his lips.
"Ha, you know nothing about power."