“I’m going out for a walk,” Ye Liuying said. She was the first to stand and leave the large stone house.
Li Xiaofei nodded and said, “Everyone, move around on your own. If anything comes up, contact me immediately.”
The group understood his instructions and split into smaller teams before dispersing.
“I want to stick with you.” Ren Dong came over and clung tightly to Li Xiaofei’s arm. She even rubbed her head against him.
Li Xiaofei was speechless.
“Little Dong, why don’t you team up with me instead?” Yan Chiyu approached quietly, grabbing Ren Dong’s arm and pulling her outside.
“Ah? Hey, hey, hey—” Ren Dong protested but was dragged away without much resistance.
“Boss, I—” Li Junjie started with a sycophantic grin.
“Scram.” Li Xiaofei cut him off with a single word.
“Alright, got it,” Li Junjie replied promptly. He turned and dragged Ximen Piaoxue and Wang Xiaofan along with him.
“Hey there, little sisters, why don’t you come with me instead?” Zhang Zhihong said with a smile as he approached the four Dragon Maidens with a mischievous grin.
"Tch." One of the quadruplets raised her middle finger at Zhang Zhihong.
The four of them walked over to Nan Hua.
“Sis, sis, can we follow you?”
“You’re so beautiful, sis!”
The Dragon Maidens smiled sweetly.
Nan Hua extended her arms and wrapped them around two on each side. “Come, come, follow your beautiful big sister.”
Zhang Zhihong didn’t know how to respond. In the end, he had no choice but to team up with Gu Haochen.
Li Xiaofei glanced at Bai Qiqi, smiling slightly. “Let’s go.”
Bai Qiqi nodded confidently and followed him without hesitation.
As everyone left the giant stone house, Song Shiyu, the third-in-command, let out a long sigh of relief. He had done everything he could. Now, he could only hope these powerful Extraordinary Ones would ultimately choose to stay and protect the camp.
The surface of Grandpa Lake was shrouded in a perpetual layer of pale white mist. The mist rose steadily, swirling and spreading outward until it blanketed an area spanning several dozen kilometers.
Yet, curiously, the camp area remained untouched, forming a clear and sunny pocket in the fog. Sunlight streamed down onto the camp, creating a starkly breathtaking natural phenomenon that filled one’s heart with awe.
Li Xiaofei and Bai Qiqi wandered through the camp without any particular destination, observing their surroundings and analyzing the situation. Suddenly, the sound of shouting echoed from ahead. Li Xiaofei walked toward the commotion and found himself at a rectangular training ground.
There, fifty boys, none older than fourteen, stood under the blazing sun. Dressed only in simple cotton shorts, they were undergoing rigorous training. A muscular instructor paced among them, shouting commands in a booming voice.
The scorching sun bore down mercilessly on the boys, tanning their skin dark. Sweat evaporated almost as soon as it emerged, rising like steam. The boys, their faces contorted with effort, yelled loudly as they punched, kicked, and spun in disciplined unison.
“This is just a simple body-strengthening routine,” Bai Qiqi commented after watching for a moment. “It can improve physical fitness, but its efficiency is extremely low. It’s not even close to the level of entry-level ancient martial arts.”
“This is an Earth of extraordinary abilities,” Li Xiaofei replied. “Not cultivating ancient martial arts is perfectly normal here.”
“Do you think this alone can develop abilities?” Bai Qiqi asked.
“I don’t know,” Li Xiaofei said thoughtfully. “But there must be a reason behind it. We should never underestimate any civilization; its methods exist for a reason.”
Bai Qiqi nodded in agreement. After a while, the children’s training session ended. Soldiers arrived carrying wooden buckets filled with clear water, black bread, and meat soup. The children cheered and rushed over, eagerly lining up to eat.
The camp’s training program provided free meals in large portions, ensuring no one went hungry. This was one of the key reasons many were willing to send their children to the training camp.
Li Xiaofei noticed a few familiar faces among the children. They were kids he had seen earlier on the bus ride. It seemed Song Shiyu hadn’t lied. The children bought by the camp were indeed being trained as future soldiers. For families in desperate times, the opportunity to eat well and learn martial arts was more than enough incentive.
Li Xiaofei and Bai Qiqi continued wandering aimlessly around the camp. The entire camp was built around Grandpa Lake. It wasn’t huge, but it wasn’t small either, with approximately three to four hundred houses and a population nearing two thousand. Such a large settlement was undoubtedly rare in this apocalyptic world.
“Have you noticed something strange?” Li Xiaofei suddenly asked.
Bai Qiqi glanced around as she walked. “Strange? What do you mean?”
Li Xiaofei said, “Nearly all the women in this camp are pregnant.”
Bai Qiqi was momentarily stunned. She thought back carefully to their walk. Nearly every woman of childbearing age, even some in their forties or fifties, seemed to have the slightly swollen bellies of pregnancy.
Her mind replayed what Song Shiyu had mentioned earlier. They bought women with the intention of having them marry the camp’s warriors and bear children to sustain the population. In this era, where humanity was on the brink of extinction, the human population had plummeted dangerously, making the task of reproduction a heavy burden for women.
To Li Xiaofei and Bai Qiqi, who came from a timeline where humanity was relatively prosperous, this concept was jarringly politically incorrect. But for the humans of this Earth, survival seemed to leave them with no other choice.
She recalled what the bearded driver had said about the so-called Holy Light Settlement. In that place, women were treated with even less dignity. They were used solely as egg producers, their eggs harvested mechanically upon maturity and combined with male sperm through artificial means to create new humans in synthetic wombs.
By contrast, in Grandpa Lakeside Camp, at least the pregnant women could be seen gently stroking their bellies, their faces adorned with smiles of genuine happiness. Yet, despite this seemingly better situation, Bai Qiqi couldn’t help but feel a heavy weight in her heart. This Earth was teetering on the edge of extinction. Perhaps it had once flourished. After all, it was over two centuries ahead of the one they came from.
But now, its glory had faded, leaving only the last vestiges of twilight as humanity basked in the final glow of the setting sun. But the one who had exploited it to the brink of collapse, it seemed, was none other than the Star Council.
"Ah!" A sudden scream echoed from a narrow alley ahead.
Li Xiaofei’s heart tightened as the two of them hurried forward. An eight- or nine-year-old girl stumbled out from the alley, disheveled and trembling. Her tattered clothes barely covered her, and a clear handprint was visible on her cheek. Blood trickled from the corner of her mouth.
Her face was filled with terror as she stared back into the alley. A moment later, a tall figure staggered out of the shadows, swearing loudly, “You wretch, I’ll kill you!”
It was none other than the bald Zhang Mingjun. The whip marks on his body hadn’t healed, and his injuries were severe, but his face was twisted in a murderous rage as if he intended to tear the little girl apart.
“D-don’t come any closer!” The girl fell back to the ground, scrambling backward as tears streamed down her face. “I—I’ll fight you to the death!”
Somehow, she managed to pull out a kitchen knife. She cried out as she frantically threw it. The knife spun through the air, flying straight toward Zhang Mingjun’s forehead. He reached out to grab it.
But at that moment, the ice and fire whip marks on his body flared up, causing his muscles to seize. His hand missed, and the knife hurtled toward Zhang Mingjun’s head. But just as it was about to strike—
A green vine suddenly shot out from the alley behind them like a serpent. It swiftly coiled around the kitchen knife mid-air. The vine paused momentarily before flicking the knife.
The knife flew back at an even greater speed. Its blade gleamed coldly, as it aimed straight for the neck of the little girl who lay frozen on the ground, paralyzed with fear.
“Enough.” Bai Qiqi finally lost her patience.