Chapter 378: Luck Has Run Out

Chapter 378: Luck Has Run Its Course

After a night of rest, Huang Meng set out again with his squad.

Their objective today was to swing by Baima Town, join Provincial Road S341, head south along S341, then take S246, and finally press on southward to reach Yaxi Town.

The route spanned thirty‑six kilometres; according to Fuxi’s synthesis of earlier drone footage and the scant satellite telemetry controlled by Mountain City, the path was not the straight‑line shortest, yet its construction difficulty was modest—far more suitable as a future main artery than the lofty elevated highways that dominate the landscape.

The column pressed onward, and the dozen or so refugees who had fled Baima Town the previous night climbed aboard.

It was probably their first ride in such a vehicle, and a flicker of uncertainty shone in every gaze.

Still, they had not mistaken this convoy for the Mechanical Cult.

“Where… are you going?”

Among the few cramped in the truck’s cab alongside Huang Xing, a woman spoke up.

Huang Xing did not turn his head, replying offhandedly:

“We’re heading to Yaxi Town.”

“We’ll lay road as we go, pushing toward that side; the work here isn’t heavy, we should be there before nightfall.”

“Yaxi Town??”

The woman blinked, then asked:

“Are there any living souls there?”

“Why not?”

Huang Xing gave the woman a puzzled glance and answered:

“We’ve already sent drones ahead; most of the displaced have regrouped in Yaxi Town.”

“Now, a new settlement of roughly four hundred souls has taken shape there.”

“We’ll drop you off there; once you arrive, you’ll have to fend for yourselves.”

“Whether you hitch a caravan to Jinling New City or stay in Yaxi, the choice is yours.”

“If you aim for Jinling New City, we’ll provide supplies enough to see you through.”

“Then we’ll go to Jinling City!”

The woman answered eagerly, then corrected herself:

“Jinling New City, Jinling New City!”

Hearing that, Huang Xing turned back, surprised, and gave her a look.

Only then did he notice that not only the woman but everyone’s complexion had shifted.

What was happening?

Were they afraid of being abandoned?

Or was it his own declaration—to leave them in Yaxi—that unsettled them?

Huang Xing, bewildered, instinctively asked:

“What’s wrong with Yaxi Town?”

“Nothing. Yaxi has no problem.”

The woman’s voice trembled faintly.

“It’s not Yaxi; every town is in trouble.”

“The great disaster is over now, isn’t it?”

“Those monsters have been dealt with, right?”

“Yes.”

Huang Xing grew more perplexed.

Isn’t this exactly the present situation?

The cataclysm has passed, and humanity is gathering again.

Though unforeseen dangers may still loom, together we are far safer than scattered, surely?

Yet why did these people seem so frightened?

Are they scared of joining others?

At that moment, a thicket of dense trees blocked the road ahead, and the engineering convoy moved to clear a path.

Huang Xing steered the truck to the side of the road with steady hands, adjusted his seat slightly, and turned to the woman:

“What’s the matter? You don’t want to go to Yaxi Town?”

“No. It’s not that we refuse Yaxi.”

The woman shook her head repeatedly, pleading in her eyes.

“All towns are forbidden! Please, don’t leave us there.”

“We can stay with you, or we can turn back from here!”

“If we go to Yaxi, we won’t survive!”

“We have nothing left to trade; we have no value!”

“The people there won’t tolerate us; we’ll all become slaves.”

“Impossible!”

Huang Xing’s tone carried a hint of doubt.

“Those people are just refugees, no different from you; how could they enslave you?”

“They will, certainly. That’s the slave‑trader’s favorite spot!”

The woman said with unwavering certainty:

“We have no guns, no weapons; we can’t resist——and even if we could, it would be useless, for they outnumber us many‑fold!”

“Don’t leave us there, I beg you!”

The woman kept repeating her plea, and at that moment Huang Xing sensed something amiss.

He realized his knowledge of the outside world was still woefully thin.

Before joining the Huaxia Army, he had been trapped in Huangshi City.

Since enlisting, he had only ever fought alongside the Huaxia forces.

The unit, in truth, lacked a rich post‑disaster response plan and was ill‑informed about the real grassroots conditions.

Perhaps, as the woman claimed, Yaxi after the beast tide was no longer the town the Huaxia forces knew.

Huang Xing stepped out decisively, found Huang Meng, and reported the woman’s intelligence.

Upon hearing the report, Huang Meng’s expression hardened instantly.

“So you’re saying Yaxi might not be a spontaneously formed refugee settlement, but a large‑scale slave‑trading market?”

Exactly.

Huang Xing Zheng nodded gravely, then replied:

“I think their judgment can be trusted.”

“Because in a beast tide—a catastrophe of such magnitude—the ones who suffer most are usually the unarmed, or the poorly armed, civilians.”

“While bandits, mercenaries, and merchants generally possess a stronger capacity for self‑preservation.”

“Yet even they are not immune to the massive shock.”

“They will incur losses that cannot be reclaimed from the monsters; such losses can only be taken from other afflicted civilians.”

“Understood.”

Huang Meng nodded slowly.

The balance had been shattered.

Like the aftershocks of a great cataclysm, the beast tide also brings with it secondary calamities.

And these calamities often manifest as internecine strife among humanity.

Everyone merely strives to claim the right to survive, yet they cannot fathom the extent to which they must go to stay alive.

Thus they are compelled to seize every resource within reach, regardless of the conflict and death it may entail.

It is a relatively delayed choice of survival.

Huang Meng finally grasped the meaning of the words the commander had spoken to him before his departure.

“Your enemies may not be only monsters; there are also people.”

Indeed.

Those driven to madness are not so different from beasts.

At that thought, he exhaled softly.

Then he spoke:

“Let’s go over there first, then speak.”

“If the situation there truly matches the intel you obtained.”

“Then perhaps we will have to make some hard decisions.”

That night, the convoy arrived at Yaxi Town.

Upon arrival, the whole of Yaxi Town lay submerged beneath a deep, still water.

No lamps glowed; only faint, scattered dog barks drifted from within the town.

The town seemed tranquil, yet through the drone’s eye, Huang Meng discerned a troubling hint.

There were more than just people here.

There were also countless slaves.

A multitude—people confined and penned within makeshift enclosures that perhaps once held livestock. By headcount, the slaves numbered at least three hundred.

According to the data dispatched by Fuxi, the total population of Yaxi Town did not exceed five hundred.

The fences were low and certainly not sturdy.

Yet, to Huang Meng’s surprise, none of those confined within the fence

attempted to flee.

Perhaps they had already accepted their fate, or perhaps another invisible barrier held them captive.

Huang Meng furrowed his brow at the sight.

He realized that this problem must be resolved.

And it must be done in a suitably proper manner.

For any town they might reach thereafter could present the same condition!

After a cursory terrain reconnaissance, Huang Meng retracted the drone.

Then the massive contingent set up camp on the outskirts of Yaxi Town to rest.

He slept poorly that night.

At first light the next morning, he and several better‑equipped assault troops, alongside Huang Xing, entered Yaxi Town.

By then, the town was already stirring awake.

Cautious gazes came from all directions; the townsfolk seemed to have recognized that they were not of the Mechanical Church.

Since they were not of the Mechanical Church, they were not part of the greatest, most threatening power on this wasteland.

Consequently, there was no need for fear.

Someone bold trailed behind them, weapon gripped tightly, a hint of menace in his eyes.

Others kept pace, gradually forming an encircling formation.

Huang Meng noted their movements.

He even found it somewhat amusing.

“So, beyond Jinling and Hanshui, do these people truly not know our name?”

He turned his head to Huang Xing and asked:

“Is the flow of information really that sluggish?”

“Perhaps.”

Huang Xing answered thoughtfully:

“The beast tide has severed most trade routes, and we have not mounted any especially large operations in the south.”

“The last time Jin Zhong led a force, they traveled far, but not along this path.”

“They do not know we are ordinary.”

“But they are not afraid of us, are they?”

“They are afraid.”

Huang Meng replied:

“Otherwise, they would have acted by now.”

As the words fell, more and more people trailed behind them.

On the road ahead, a man in a tattered vest, lavishly laden with grenades and clutching a mysterious Type‑75 rifle, stepped forward.

“Welcome to Yaxi Town,” he said.

“May I ask what your purpose here is?”

As the words hung in the air, Huang Xing opened his mouth to answer, but Huang Meng raised a hand to stop him.

Then Huang Meng spoke:

“We want those slaves.”

“ Oh?”

The man’s interest sparked in an instant.

He stepped forward two paces, his expression instantly turning enthusiastic.

“Are you merchants?”

“To tell the truth, I have never before beheld a caravan so vast.”

“So many machines, yet you seem not to belong to the Mechanical God cult.”

“I saw no bishop, nor any servomechanic.”

“Nevertheless, you have made the right choice.”

“I am certain this must be the largest slave market you could ever find!”

“Whether you intend to keep them or sell them to the Mechanical God, I shall offer you a very generous price!”

“What say you? Perhaps we could discuss the particulars.”

“Very well.”

Having said so, Huang Meng strode forward two steps without a flicker of emotion, and the man met him in kind.

He bowed slightly to Huang Meng, then gestured for the armed men encircling the crowd to lower their weapons.

Then, with renewed fervor, he spoke again:

“You are the first merchants to arrive here. To be frank, after such a cataclysm, I doubted anyone would ever come again.”

“But fortunately, calamities do pass, and life has at last settled into a calm.”

Calm?

You call this “life’s calm”?

Huang Meng could not help a wry smile; he glanced over the man’s shoulder toward the slaves penned in the livestock pens.

All of them were stripped of clothing, and the ground, freshly rained upon, was a mire of mud.

The weary lay upon the earth, their last shred of dignity stripped away.

Those who still clung to a modicum of shame covered their naked flesh with mud, while a woman cradling an infant struggled to keep herself clean, for her child still depended on her milk.

It could not be called a terrestrial inferno, yet the scene was undeniably tragic.

He exhaled softly and asked:

“What are you?”

The man shrugged.

“It matters not.”

“But trust us, we are merchants of great repute.”

“To be frank, this is not our first grand transaction.”

“From Tongling to Jinling, from Han River to Liangxi, to Suzhou—our goods have traversed every great city.”

“The Mechanical God cult offers a price that is far from low.”

“Only this time is odd; they seem to have arrived late, perhaps the disaster was too severe.”

“The beast tide? It appears the Mechanical God cult has also suffered grievous losses.”

“The Mechanical God cult?”

A flicker of doubt crossed Huang Meng’s eyes.

“Are they your principal clients?”

“Of course; otherwise how could their workshops stay operational?”

The man answered briskly, and Huang Meng pressed on:

“You do not know the particulars of the beast tide?”

“To tell the truth, I do not.”

The man shook his head and replied:

“We happened to be farther south then; perhaps we escaped the calamity. In any case, fortune has favored us.”

“Understood.”

A faint smile curved Huang Meng’s lips.

He said:

“But it is a pity.”

“Your luck ends here.”

“Do you wish to haggle?”

The man shook his head indifferently.

“It matters not; business is hard, and a lower price is acceptable to us.”

Huang Meng gave no reply.

He merely waved a gentle hand.

Immediately, a colossal machine roared forward from the ranks.

In the next instant, flame burst from the muzzle of the 30A cannon.

“Boom!”

Smoke billowed.

Gunfire crackled densely.

(End of Chapter)