Chapter 96: Setting Off for Huangzhou

Chapter 96: Departure for Huangzhou

Early the next morning, as the sky just began to lighten, the residents of Huangshi City spontaneously organized themselves, beginning work according to the division of labor they had long been accustomed to.

It must be said that, in this post-apocalyptic wasteland, those who can form settlements and survive within them still possess considerable initiative.

No explicit orders are needed; they will find their own ways to seek food, gather fuel, and prepare supplies for winter.

All Chen Jian needed to do was retrieve the surplus ammunition and oversized weapons that had been previously issued, gather them together, and store them in what used to be the church, now the villagers' activity center, for centralized management.

He had imagined that recovering the ammunition and weapons would be quite difficult, but in fact the whole process went smoothly.

This was not merely because the villagers already kept weapons sufficient for self-defense; more importantly, they knew these items were meant for communal use.

Temporarily reclaiming them was only to ensure they could be drawn out again when truly needed.

Seeing that order in Huangshi City had basically been restored, Chen Jian also began to carry out his next plan.

He intended, before the allied forces' envoy arrived, to lead a team to the Huangzhou ruins, locate the lair of the monster called “Mongolia,” and then see if, by following the clues left in the beast’s belly, he could uncover something new.

After packing all their gear, Xie Liu and Li Shi stayed behind to guard Huangshi City, while he took Shen Yue and the others, driving two cat-cars along the S412 highway toward Huangzhou.

His plan was to get onto G106 near the Big Bridge Harbor, cross the Ehuang Yangtze River Bridge to reach Huangzhou City, then, following the markings left by the Yellow Fish, strike straight for the monster’s lair.

But when he actually arrived at the spot, he discovered that the crucial bridge on the route had, unexpectedly, been broken.

“What’s going on? A few days ago the drone’s reconnaissance images clearly showed this bridge was intact.”

Chen Jian raised his binoculars to look at the distant bridge, broken in the middle, and then asked:

“Lei Jie, did you pass through here yesterday when you returned to Han Shui? Was the bridge still whole then?”

Lei Jie shook his head and replied:

“We took the G70; we weren’t paying attention to this side.”

“Honestly speaking, a collapsed bridge deck isn’t all that surprising; this thing is several hundred years old, so it’s normal for it to have fallen.”

“Collapses are normal at any time, but it’s not normal for us to run into one.”

Chen Jian frowned slightly, turned to look at Zeng Yi, and asked:

“Could it be that the monster passed by and stomped the bridge down?”

“It’s possible, but there’s no evidence.”

Zeng Yi lowered his old, battered binoculars and then replied:

“If the monster had crushed it, it would surely have fallen into the water; friction is unavoidable.”

“But commander, look—there’s no bloodstain on the broken part of the deck, nor any of the monster’s typical carapace or scales left behind.”

“This bridge really looks as if it collapsed naturally. But honestly speaking, this is too much of a coincidence.”

“I’ve seen plenty of collapsed bridges in my life, but I’ve only ever seen one that was fine a few days ago and then collapsed a few days later—and that one was up north.”

“I think this is a bit strange; we’d better stay alert.”

“Understood.”

Zeng Yi’s judgment basically matched Chen Jian’s own thoughts, so he decisively gave the order:

“Stay alert, detour around this area, keep heading upstream, and cross the river at the Red Cliff Sandbank position.”

“Lei Jie, install the propellers on the cat-cars properly.”

“We’ll launch at the Bajing Bay position and land on the shore of the Red Cliff Bridge Village.”

“Understood.”

The group immediately turned around and continued north along the highway beside the river, where vegetation had not completely covered the road.

Lei Jie had installed the propellers; the two cat-cars entered the water together and headed east along the broad river.

“.Will this thing really not sink?”

Wiping a splash of water from his face, Zeng Yi hesitated before asking.

“Basically, it won’t sink.”

Shen Yue answered solemnly:

“If it does sink, it’s fine—we’ve got snorkels. Don’t you?”

“.”

Zeng Yi was speechless; Lei Jie, beside him, chuckled reassuringly: “Don’t worry, just the three of us—we’re nowhere near the design load limit of this thing; even if we added Li Shi, it would still float.”

“Take a good look at the scenery of Red Cliff. We never had the chance before; I never imagined our first visit would be under these circumstances.”

“Red Cliff?”

Zeng Yi’s face showed confusion; Lei Jie tried to recite a poem for him, but after racking his brain he couldn’t remember the first line, so he only managed to utter two lines—“Broken halberds sink in the sand, iron not yet corroded” and “Xiao Qiao just got married”—which were mismatched, leaving Zeng Yi even more bewildered.

Still, when it comes to technology, Lei Jie remains quite authoritative.

After more than half an hour, the two cat-cars successfully crossed nearly two kilometers of river and landed safely on the shore of Red Cliff Bridge Village.

No extra orders were needed; the four of them dispersed on the spot.

The drone rose into the air; Shen Yue and He Shuo went forward to scout, while Chen Jian and Lei Jie set up support weapons, ready to respond to any sudden developments.

After confirming the surroundings were secure, the team regrouped.

At that moment, Zeng Yi’s face unconsciously betrayed a strange expression.

Although he had witnessed Chen Jian and the others in combat many times before, and had even fought shoulder‑to‑shoulder with them on numerous occasions,

each time he saw them coordinate seamlessly and execute tactics with practiced ease, he could not help but feel a yearning admiration.

He actually wanted to ask, “What level must I reach before I’m worthy of learning the knowledge and skills they’ve mastered?”

But he also felt that making such a request—or even posing that question—was already somewhat presumptuous.

So he simply kept his silence and followed behind them, pressing onward.

But unexpectedly, since he did not volunteer a question, Chen Jian spoke up first.

“Zeng Yi, don’t you feel you’re lagging a bit behind our coordination?”

Zeng Yi stared for a moment, then nodded instinctively and said:

“Yes, but I haven’t learned these things; if needed, I can cooperate with you in other ways.”

“Other ways aren’t necessarily correct.”

Chen Jian shook his head and then said:

“When we get back this time, let He Shuo give you a tactics lesson.”

“Learning to fire a gun is just the first step; learning to employ a gun is the true beginning.”

“As Saint-Blooded, you may indeed have strong physiques, but you’ve also seen that, with four of us coordinating and ample firepower, any frontal attack we need not fear.”

“So you need to quickly bring your abilities up to speed.”

“Only by learning to cooperate will you have not wasted all that brute strength of yours.”

“Understood!”

Zeng Yi nodded excitedly, stammering unusually as he said:

"Actually, actually I had wanted to ask this question long ago, but I thought it inappropriate."

——

Really, it's truly inappropriate, isn't it?

I was originally an outsider, and I've only been with this organization for less than a month.

They are willing to share equipment, willing to teach me how to use it, and even gave me the opportunity to train—that's already a tremendous trust.

You must know, when I trained at the Holy Blood Hall, I had never received such treatment before.

There, only the strong deserve resources; only the strong deserve to learn skills.

For the weak, the first thing to consider is how to survive using instinct

Zeng Yi looked at Chen Jian, who instead seemed somewhat bewildered.

"What do you mean by inappropriate?"

Zeng Yi didn't know how to answer, Chen Jian waved his hand and continued:

"There's nothing appropriate or inappropriate."

"We're all comrades; since you want to learn, we'll teach you"

(End of chapter)