In the wilderness, somewhere.
Several Awakeners proceeded cautiously.
"Brother Tao, no danger, the Demonized Beast ahead has left," an Awakener holding a telescope quickly confirmed after observing for a moment.
The others all smiled, "We're really lucky this time; by my calculations, we're not far from Green Shadow Sanctuary now."
"Yeah, on previous trips, we always spent a lot of time avoiding Demonized Beasts, sometimes fighting them. Bad luck meant injuries, which also slowed us down. This time we're lucky, saving us a lot of time; maybe we can exchange goods today instead of waiting till tomorrow."
Upon hearing this, the team leader, Li Tao, also showed a relaxed expression.
They were an Awakener squad from another small sanctuary, Creekwood Sanctuary.
Creekwood Sanctuary was not far from Green Shadow Sanctuary, which facilitated exchanges between them.
This time, they had brought some "specialties" and some surplus supplies from Creekwood Sanctuary to exchange with Green Shadow Sanctuary and also to exchange information.
Li Tao, with Late Period Second-tier Awakening strength and ranked among the top three in Creekwood Sanctuary, led every expedition to ensure the smooth progress of their exchanges; he was also eager to get things done and return.
every minute spent in the wilderness was fraught with danger.
"Enough chitchat, let's hurry up and go; we can rest a bit at Green Shadow Sanctuary."
Even while maintaining constant vigilance, their pace was swift; soon, they reached the outskirts of Green Shadow Sanctuary.
However, at this moment, Li Tao was a bit confused.
He had been to Green Shadow Sanctuary before, but wasn't there something off about it now?
As far as the eye could see, there were ruins everywhere.
Li Tao stared at the shattered fences on the ground, faintly visible footprints of Demonized Beasts, and his face suddenly changed, "Be careful! Something might have happened at Green Shadow Sanctuary!"
The others reacted quickly, ducking and taking cover.
They hid behind a broken wall, warily watching their surroundings; however, one minute passed, then two minutes, then ten minutes...
"Brother Tao, something seems off," a team member whispered, "If there really was an incident at Green Shadow Sanctuary, shouldn't it be less quiet? Or has the incident already happened?"
Li Tao's face showed a trace of hesitation; after pondering for a while, he said, "Let's be cautious and go take a look."
The situation inside Green Shadow Sanctuary was not much different from what they had seen from outside. Li Tao could even name some of the ruined buildings; without a doubt, Green Shadow Sanctuary had faced a disastrous calamity, and all signs suggested that it had likely been hit by a Demon Tide.
Li Tao's expression changed.
The Demon Tide had always been synonymous with terror; if the Green Shadow Sanctuary had been destroyed by the Demon Tide, what about their sanctuary?
"But why is it so quiet here, wait..." Li Tao furrowed his brows, "There are no corpses of Demonized Beasts or humans!"
If the Demon Tide had destroyed the sanctuary, even if the Demonized Beasts had left afterward, there should still be corpses left behind, whether human or beast. Only then did he recall that from the outside, the entire sanctuary's defenses looked trampled as if by a Demon Tide, and he had also seen some traces of dried blood; however, he notably had not seen any human corpses.
That didn't make sense!
How utterly non-apocalyptic!
"Brother Tao, look over there, what is that?"
In the distance, a creature with a round and plump torso and stout, powerful arms roamed back and forth.
"Is it a Demonized Beast? Something feels off." Li Tao swallowed his saliva, noticing the plump creature looking their way. He instantly became cautious.
He couldn't sense any aura from the plump creature; obviously, it shouldn't be a Demonized Beast, but the situation was too strange, and Li Tao dared not take it lightly.
"Brother Tao, do you think that could be one of those legendary Mechanical Beasts or Puppets?"
With a teammate suggesting this, Li Tao thought it seemed plausible.
Thinking this, he also noticed some issues he had ignored before, "Green Shadow Sanctuary should have survived the Demon Tide, but the current situation indicates that Green Shadow Sanctuary suffered heavy losses, and probably not many survivors are left."
"Yes." A teammate lamented, which unavoidably made them feel the sorrow of others' misfortune, "Green Shadow Sanctuary had at least two to three thousand people, but now, we haven't seen a single person along the way. There might not be many survivors left. So, Brother Tao, should we still go in?"
They came here to exchange supplies with Green Shadow Sanctuary. Since Green Shadow Sanctuary had likely fallen, there probably weren't any supplies to exchange.
"Go? Of course we go; at the very least, we can find out from the survivors what exactly happened! Besides..."
Li Tao pointed at the plump Puppet in the distance, "Green Shadow Sanctuary should still have some experts alive. Since this place is no longer safe, we can recruit these Awakeners to our Sanctuary."
"Typical Brother Tao."
"It's a win-win. Those Awakeners would definitely want a safer place, and our Creekwood Sanctuary has more Awakeners, making our living environment safer."
Someone rapidly approached from a distance. Li Tao smiled, "It seems our guess was correct; Green Shadow's people have also spotted us."
After all, they were outsiders. They didn't move around but stood there waiting, while also maintaining the necessary vigilance—when survivors meet in the wild, you always have to worry about betrayal.
Although Creekwood and Green Shadow generally had exchanges, that still couldn't guarantee complete safety. Of course, Li Tao didn't think the heavily damaged Green Shadow Sanctuary would pose much of a threat.
"We are from Creekwood Sanctuary, wanting to exchange with you..."
Li Tao started to speak, then suddenly hesitated.
Something felt wrong.
Imaginably, the few survivors from Green Shadow Sanctuary had barely made it through the Demon Tide and should be in tattered clothes, possibly even injured.
But the person approaching them wore a black combat suit, a longsword on his back, and a pistol hanging at his waist.
Dressed in such equipment, he exuded an aura of being elite and powerful.
Looking at themselves, wearing ordinary clothes and dusty from traveling twenty kilometers through the wasteland, it seemed, by comparison, that they were the ones who had struggled after their sanctuary was destroyed.
Why did the people from Green Shadow Sanctuary suddenly have such sophisticated equipment?
Or was this person the current leader of the sanctuary, and that's why he wore the best equipment?
The approaching person looked puzzled, "Creekwood Sanctuary? Never heard of it, but whatever, I'll take you to meet the person in charge. I'm just a grunt; I don't handle these things."