The next day, the weather was clear.
Tang Yu placed a black backpack on the passenger seat and drove a SUV slowly.
Everything was ready, they were heading for Lindong.
Tang Yu was looking forward to seeing what the Lindong Sanctuary, rumored to house hundreds of thousands of survivors, would look like.
He had heard many rumors about Lindong.
It was a sanctuary that had been established early in the apocalypse. When communication was still possible, broadcasts had called for survivors to make their way to Lindong on their own.
The military had naturally dispatched numerous rescue teams to bring survivors to Lindong, which is why Lindong Sanctuary had a population of several hundred thousand people.
However, the military's resources were limited, so they could only selectively send out rescue teams. The group of survivors that Tang Yu had been a part of had been too far away from the rescue teams and had missed them. Consequently, they had been forced to settle for the next best thing and head to the Green Shadow Sanctuary.
These smaller sanctuaries were also established by the military calling for their construction to provide a haven for those who missed the military rescue. The military also provided these sanctuaries with a lot of supplies.
As the environment of the apocalypse worsened day by day, the military eventually stopped sending rescue teams... They couldn't afford to send out a team and only rescue a few survivors while losing a large amount of ammunition and supplies. Even with stockpiles, the military couldn't afford such wastage.
Even the supply drops had become fewer and fewer. At least since Tang Yu had established his territory, he hadn't seen any military supply planes; he could understand, given the increasing number of Demonized Beasts, including Flying Demonized Beasts. Humans no longer dominated the skies.
The wilderness outside the sanctuaries might, after a few more months or years, gradually lose the traces of the once thriving civilization.
The medium and small sanctuaries were also in a difficult situation.
Only large sanctuaries like Lindong still retained a significant amount of human civilization and technology, much of which was Tang Yu's target.
"And Lin Wei, the potential BOSS..."
Lately, his territory hadn't captured any scouting personnel, and it seemed there were no activities of such persons in the wilderness either; Tang Yu had almost forgotten about them.
With the current defensive strength of his territory, Tang Yu was unconcerned, but being targeted was not a pleasant feeling. He felt aggrieved and decided to give the other party a taste of this unpleasant feeling.
The vehicle slowly drove out of the territory.
Along the way, various changes caught his eye.
The roads in the villa area had been cleared, with only a few dried blood stains and cracked grounds narrating the ordeal they had faced.
Around, many survivors were busy not just transporting materials but also repairing buildings. They fixed some slightly damaged villas; the severely damaged ones, however, were completely demolished. The cleared spaces were used to construct temporary houses, and the rest was left for him to build systematic structures in the future.
After leaving the holiday resort, the road conditions deteriorated, making the drive quite bumpy, and he could gradually see traces of Demonized Beast activity around.
Fortunately, the vehicle was an off-road vehicle that had been modified, reinforced with a layer of welded steel. Although it wasn't aesthetically pleasing, its defensive capability was solid—it could withstand the attacks of ordinary Demonized Beasts for a while.
Truly deserving of the top ten deliveryman Wang Tai, who provided money, equipment, personnel, and even the modified off-road vehicle for the trip.
The noise made by the vehicle attracted a Demonized Beast that approached, ready to step forward; in the next moment, a gun barrel protruded from the rear window.
A burst of flame erupted, and the head of the Demonized Beast burst open like a watermelon.
Tang Yu did not stop and continued driving.
In the backseat, a young man with an ordinary appearance held a firearm that was still emitting smoke.
This morning, using a high-probability Summoning Scroll, he summoned a follower, an A-tier Assassin profession...
He had no real name; since joining the assassin guild years ago, he had discarded his own name and adopted a codename, Grey Blade, which, like him, was nondescript.
The sense of Grey Blade's presence was even lower, and unless one was careful, his existence could easily be overlooked. This Concealing Breath Technique was unique to the Assassin profession.
Grey Blade's strength was at the Fifth Tier; this level of strength was not considered strong in the assassin guild. However, his mission completion rate was remarkably high, and his reputation impeccable... As an Assassin, his main weapon was the dagger, but Grey Blade managed to complete many difficult missions relying on plentiful tactics.
Poisons, explosives, firearms—he was proficient in many, and even without a Musketeer's gun power boost, he managed to blow apart the head of a Demonized Beast with his Rune Fire Gun.
Sitting in the passenger seat was Eileen.
Originally, he had intended to bring Eileen on this trip.
A follower had to be left at the territory just in case something happened that could be communicated to him through the Contract.
So Tang Yu could travel without worries.
Among these people, Eileen often went out to hunt Demonized Beasts, and her strength had just broken through to the Fifth-Tier Awakening.
The speed could be described as extremely fast. This is the advantage of having A-level abilities.
Although Tang Yu did not constantly level up, he had cheated multiple times and absorbed a lot of soul power... His qualification and territory level were linked. If he had A-level qualifications to absorb and refine soul power with that speed and efficiency, he would probably have reached the Fifth Tier by now.
Eileen's strength was undoubtedly significant in the apocalypse, but their destination was Lindong, and potential enemies were still a concern.
Tang Yu had never underestimated Lin Wei. Although Lin did not command military power, he managed to become a major force in Lindong. Surely, he wielded great power, and the Awakeners under his command were undoubtedly strong.
Relying solely on Eileen—even with his many preparations—still felt somewhat insufficient.
Fortunately, the newly summoned follower, Grey Blade, was also remarkably strong.
He was adept at assassination and gathering intelligence among other skills, which would be quite beneficial in Lindong.
the follower Tang Yu most looked forward to summoning was—wait, not a son—a nanny profession.
Although the straight-line distance between the territory and Lindong was only sixty kilometers, in reality, it was clearly more than a hundred kilometers when traveling.
The journey was not always at high speed; instead, it involved frequent stops. Sometimes, they encountered roads completely blocked that required them to get out of the vehicle to clear a path. Other times, overgrown trees blocked the roads, and Tang Yu had no choice but to detour.
It took several hours before they approached the vicinity of Maple Leaf Town. After passing through Maple Leaf Town, they were very close to the Lindong Sanctuary.
They encountered no significant dangers along the way, which suggested that the route map taken from Wang Tai and his people was reliable.
Perhaps it made sense, considering that Lin Wei's mixed teams of Awakeners and civilians could travel from Lindong to the territory. With three experts in his car, they should not indeed face the worst-case scenario of encountering an unstoppable Demonized Beast.
Approaching Maple Leaf Town, buildings on both sides of the road began to increase, and the environment started to grow more complex.
Demonized Beasts approached occasionally, with Eileen and Grey Blade each covering a side.
Gunshots rang intermittently, and Ice Crystals bloomed one after another.
Tang Yu frowned as the Demonized Beasts seemed to be increasing in number.
Throughout their journey, they had encountered multiple Demonized Beasts appearing simultaneously. However, things were different now; these Demonized Beasts seemed attracted by the noise here, continuously coming from afar.
Logically, as they were nearing the Lindong Sanctuary, where battle teams fought with Demonized Beasts daily, the number of beasts should have been fewer. But, it seemed like they had run into a nest of Demonized Beasts.
He harbored some suspicions.
At this point, the emerging Demonized Beasts grew stronger, and the pressure increased substantially.
Tang Yu pondered and saw a tall building not far away. Suddenly, his eyes lit up.
Grey Blade got off the vehicle and made some noise to shake off the pursuing Demonized Beasts.
It was impossible to kill them all; under normal circumstances, Tang Yu might have been interested in hunting Demonized Beasts to fill his depleted coffers. However, the situation was currently too suspicious, and he wasn't keen on risking a crisis for a bit of money.
Knowing it was futile to continue fighting,
Tang Yu grabbed the railing and leaped, moving through the stairwell like a nimble monkey, quickly reaching the top of the building.
The three spread out, each taking a direction on the rooftop to observe the surroundings and ensure they did not miss any valuable information.
"Over there, there are people."
Following Eileen's direction, Tang Yu saw fiery explosions sparkling in the distance.
The distance was great, but the eyesight of Awakeners was remarkable. Soon, Tang Yu saw several figures frantically fleeing around the blast area.
These individuals were moving swiftly; it was clear they were all Awakeners. This was obviously an elite battle team... Tang Yu also had information about Lindong; ordinary battle teams usually had only one or two Awakeners. The weaker ones might consist solely of ordinary survivors. Only elite teams, all comprised of Awakeners, could operate far from the sanctuary.
However, this team was in a bad situation. In just a moment, some of the slower members of the team had been mercilessly killed by the encircling Demonized Beasts, while the stronger ones continued desperately fleeing.
The pursuing Demonized Beasts were powerful; just from their speed, they included creatures from the Second and Third Tiers.
These people were in a precarious situation.
Tang Yu made this judgment, and the next moment, a blurred shadow flashed at the edge of his vision.
Those still fleeing Awakeners fell to the ground in pain, some with half of their bodies gruesomely torn.