Chapter 63: Yellowstone City

Chapter 63 Huangshi City

From Hanshui to Huangshi City, looking at the old map, there is only one highway that can be taken.

Although according to Ceng Yi, besides the G70 highway there is another route that should have been built after Chen Jian's squad crossed, but to be safe, Chen Jian still decided to follow the map's guidance and proceed along the old road.

After reorganizing equipment and replenishing ammunition, Chen Jian still left Shen Yue and Lei Jie to keep watch, while also taking care of the injured Li Shi, and he himself rushed nonstop to lead the team to Huangshi City.

With the support of the cat vehicle, the four-person team moved quickly.

In less than an hour and a half, they had already approached the Huangshi City area.

Chen Jian's biggest concern was that the Holy Blood believers and the Mechanical God Sect here had also been simultaneously put under martial law, but when he raised his binoculars to observe the settlement below, he found there was absolutely no tense atmosphere.

It was obvious that, on this continent without a unified government, even within the Holy Blood believers and the Mechanical God Sect, the transmission of information was not that timely.

Moreover, the squad had been rushing here at full speed, so they had also managed to get ahead of the enemy.

At this time it was already 6 a.m., the sun was rising, and the sunlight breaking through the clouds illuminated a settlement not far away that was completely different from Hanshui City.

A large number of fishing boats, fish rafts, the glistening fishing nets drying on the shores of the central island of the lake, and the strong fishy smell in the air all indicated that this was a settlement whose main food source was fishing.

Chen Jian lowered his binoculars and said quietly:

“He Xiao, first establish electromagnetic shielding to cut off their communication with Hanshui City.”

“Ceng Yi, what is the next step? How do we get in and obtain information?”

“Just go straight in.”

Ceng Yi replied:

“The environment of Huangshi City is quite special; most people live on the island in the center of Dahzhi Lake, relatively more closed off than other settlements, and the Holy Blood Hall tried several times but failed to establish a council hall here.”

“On the contrary, they have closer ties with the Mechanical God Sect; inside there is a squad of about ten Mechanical God Sect protector troops, plus roughly one or two high-ranking priests, who are the main administrators of Huangshi City.”

“We first need to figure out their positions, gain their trust, and then try to obtain information from them.”

“Do we have to make contact with the Mechanical God Sect people?”

“There’s no way to avoid them; effective information should be in their hands.”

Hearing this, Chen Jian frowned and said:

“Then before we leave, these people cannot remain alive.”

“Why?”

Ceng Yi asked doubtfully:

“We’re all leaving; whether they live or die makes no difference, right?”

“I’m not saying we can’t kill them; it’s just unnecessary to take this risk.”

“Leaving them behind is the risk.”

Xie Liu beside them interjected:

“They might leak our plan to Hanshui City, and then we’d have to face both the monsters and Hanshui City at once—too much pressure.”

“Exactly.”

Chen Jian nodded and then said:

“Let’s set out now; we will continue directional shielding, your radios will be unusable; if there’s a problem, fire a warning shot, otherwise we will enter on our own after one hour.”

“Understood.”

Ceng Yi picked up his 191 and the long blade he had thrown away and retrieved, took Xie Liu down the highway, and headed toward Huangshi City.

Chen Jian and He Xiao remained on high ground, using binoculars to observe their movements.

He saw the two walk to the lakeshore, wave to signal, greet the fishermen on the lake, then board a fishing boat together and head toward the small island in the lake’s center.

After landing, their figures disappeared into the dense woods, and shortly afterward they appeared again in an open space of the residential area.

They seemed to be communicating with the city guards, pointing toward the direction of Chen Jian and He Xiao on the opposite shore; the guard nodded and led the two into a building in the city center.

Shortly after, a small boat rowed out from the island and docked at the lakeshore.

Chen Jian checked the time; thirty minutes had passed since the two landed on the island.

“Let’s go; this boat should be here to pick us up.”

“Check equipment, get ready with camouflage, we’re preparing to go over.”

“Understood.”

He Xiao drove the cat vehicle down the highway, using drone guidance to avoid the observation lines from inside Huangshi City, finally stopping the vehicle less than two hundred meters from the lakeshore. Immediately afterward, the two followed the path Ceng Yi had taken, approached the lakeshore, and boarded the fishing boat waiting at the shore.

The fisherman rowing the boat was a child appearing under ten years old; upon seeing Chen Jian and He Xiao, he asked curiously with a bright face:

“Are you friends of the Holy Blood believers?”

Chen Jian nodded, simply responding:

“Yes.”

“You are also a Holy Blood?”

The child continued, Chen Jian shook his head, responding:

“We are not; we are just ordinary people.”

“Also not a priest of the Mechanical God?”

“No.”

After saying this, Chen Jian thought the kid would be disappointed.

But unexpectedly, the kid's face showed a relaxed expression.

“Good thing it's not them; if they were…”

The kid didn’t continue; Chen Jian keenly realized the hidden meaning behind this sentence, so he immediately asked:

“If they were, what would happen?”

The kid stopped speaking, just silently rowing the boat.

Chen Jian and He Xiao looked at each other, subconsciously moving his hand down a few points, placing it on the trigger of the 191.

On the lake surface, it was silent; although many fishing boats were passing back and forth, there was no conversation sound, let alone fishing songs and chants.

At this time, although the sun had risen, shining on the lake surface with sparkling waves and a vibrant scene, the surrounding atmosphere was quite oppressive.

Chen Jian silently entered the internal communication channel, typed on the tactical sight:

“Intelligence is wrong.”

“Based on the actual number of fishing boats used, it’s impossible to have two thousand people here.”

“The scale of this settlement is much smaller than what Ceng Yi said.”

“Possibly only half the population.”

“Agree.”

He Xiao simply answered; at this moment, the kid's fishing boat had already docked, and after landing on the island, Chen Jian became more certain of his guess.

This so-called Yellow Stone City is completely different from Han River City.

Although the residential area is not small, the buildings here are clearly far more dilapidated than those of Han River City.

Hardly had he set foot on the island when he already saw several abandoned structures.

Yet the architectural style is no different from that of the surrounding area.

In other words, these buildings were erected after the settlement formed, and after construction they were abandoned due to a decline in population.

Is it because of that monster called 'Mongolia'?

It doesn't seem quite like that.

Chen Jian frowned, following the child into Yellow Stone City.

At that moment, Zeng Yi and Xie Liu, who had originally entered the central building, had also returned, and the four of them successfully met within the city district.

Zeng Yi gave Chen Jian a silent nod, then led the group toward a dwelling on the east side of the residential area.

Upon entering, Chen Jian discovered that this was actually a modest 'inn'.

So modest that it had only two rooms, which the four of them could completely occupy.

——

On the other hand, this is actually good news.

At least, the risk of being spied upon has been greatly reduced.

After paying the lodging fee in hard currency bullets, the group entered the room and closed the door.

Then Zeng Yi spoke up:

"The intelligence is wrong."

"That monster may be even harder to deal with than we anticipated!"

(End of chapter)