Epoch of Twilight

“Mission: Level B Mission, send a group of soldiers to Hucheng City’s secret military base; Mission Requirement: Number of soldiers including Zhou Yicheng must not be less than 6 people; Time: 1 week.”

The system’s notification rang in Luo Yuan’s mind. He was a little stunned, not expecting the system to suddenly give out a mission.

He thought about it carefully. Zhou Yicheng did not look like he was lying about the fact that Hucheng City still had a secret military base. If Zhou Yicheng did not navigate them, they would not be able to find the base so he must stay alive.

The odd thing was the number of people required to be kept alive was rather lenient as there were 12 soldiers present. Level B missions were usually not too dangerous to Luo Yuan. He was quite excited to take the risk in exchange for a favor. It was worth it in his opinion. The only uncertainty was whether or not Zhou Yicheng would follow through on his promise. It was hard to tell, and the mission notification had no information on that. Should he follow his previous plan or take this risk?

Luo Yuan made his decision after a quick thought.

Hucheng City was nearby Jiaping- within 100 kilometers. This was a rare opportunity and he had to grasp onto it no matter how slim the chances might be. Even if it does not work out, he would only lose a couple of days on his journey.

As for danger, there was nowhere that was not dangerous right now. Therefore, Luo Yuan was confident enough to accept a Level B mission.

Zhou Yicheng stared at Luo Yuan nervously. The latter’s eyebrows were locked in a frown as he tried to maintain a straight face. Zhou Yicheng could not even guess his thoughts. When Luo Yuan’s frown softened, it was more obvious that he had made his decision. Zhou Yicheng was instantly on edge.

“How sure are you?” Luo Yuan looked at him as he asked and then clarified, “I mean the part about having all of us on the plane.”

He spoke slowly and tried to say it in a calm tone, but it brought a massive amount of pressure to Zhou Yicheng. What should have quickly come out of his mouth remained stuck in his throat. He thought over his words with care and finally said, “Honestly, not one bit. I haven’t contacted my friend in a long time; I don’t even know if he’s still on duty. And even if he’s still in the military, I’m not sure if he can persuade anyone. Also, this is extremely confidential, and we can’t just enter even though we’re on the same side... So, I’m not sure at all. It’s up to you whether you’re willing to take the risk. I can only say that I’ll try my best and won’t let you guys be ill-treated.”

“Don’t they also save survivors?” Luo Yuan asked.

Zhou Yicheng was shocked and took a wrinkled cigarette out from his pocket. He only started speaking after puffing the cigarette lightly, “The reconstruction area has long been built. Those who have heard of it would have heard of it ages ago. In addition to the massive migration by the country’s organizations, there’s at least one to two million people if not three to four million there. Those with high potential and talents made up most of the population there too. Food, necessities, work, resources, defense, etc. The government would already be having a hard time. If I’m politically incorrect, I would say the reconstruction area does not lack ordinary people. Of course, if all of you here are evolved people, there’s probably 50 – 60% hope, but I don’t think that’s possible.”

China has too many people. Taklamakan’s resources and space could never accommodate for so many people. Luo Yuan thought about it and finally sighed in reply, “This is just your assumption. I’ll try as long as there’s a slight chance.”

“You agree with the plan then?” Zhou Yicheng was more than excited. Luo Yuan nodded and replied, “This trip will be dangerous. You guys need to recover quickly and make some preparations. What weapons do you all need?”

“Are there guns? As long as there are guns we are good. My warriors have all come back from blood-soaked battlefields. I would not go so far as to call them sniper gods but they’re close. We’ve gone from more than four hundred people what we have left today. They’re all sharpshooters,” Zhou Yicheng spoke. His eyes were moist when he got to the end.

Although Luo Yuan had heard about it once, he was still shaken to hear about the hardships these soldiers had experienced. To be able to survive under such harsh conditions was incredible. Even their determination alone was enough to impress Luo Yuan. Those with weaker wills would have committed suicide by now. Huang Jiahui and Huo Dong’s experiences were nothing compared to theirs.

“There are guns but not here. They’re in the nearby fortification. Rifles, machine guns, snipers... I can get them all. If you guys can drive tanks, there’s also one over there but I don’t recommend it since the journey is mostly through the forest,” Luo Yuan said.

“We’re not afraid of anything if we have these weapons.” Zhou Yicheng said in appreciation.

Then came a commotion.

“Shit, mutated beast!”

“It’s a mutated human.”

“Everyone hide, quick!”

The soldiers all withdrew - some rolled to corners and most of them already had daggers in their hands ready to attack.

A human form creature about 10 feet tall filled with cuticles all over its body stepped into the subway station’s foyer. It almost had nothing human about it left, especially its face. Its cuticles seemed to serve as an armor to protect it.

To outsiders, Chen Xianfeng looked like a huge threat! His right hand held a skeletal bone that was about 2 meters long and had the width of a human thigh. It was still stained with blood and brain mush. His left hand dragged a three meter long and one-meter tall rodent-like creature. He looked exactly like a giant who had returned to his home after hunting.

Seeming to be disturbed by the situation, Chen Xianfeng’s green eyes scanned the unfamiliar faces. His vicious, sharp teeth were bared for all to see and he looked like he was going to go berserk at any moment. But just as he was getting more restless, Luo Yuan’s voice felt like a bucket of iced water poured down on him. Chen Xianfeng instantly took a few steps back and lowered his head.

“Chen Xianfeng, calm down. Put the food down,” Luo Yuan said.

Chen Xianfeng grunted in agreement and left the foyer.

“Brother Luo, this...this is?” Zhou Yicheng asked in shock.

“The result of failed mutation. Thankfully, his ability to reason remains.” Luo Yuan seemed to notice that Zhou Yicheng’s was thinking about something as he continued, “He won’t harm anyone with me around. He’s really strong and we used to be on the same team. We’ll see how it goes.”

Zhou Yicheng then swallowed his thoughts. Luo Yuan left a deep impression on him in just half an hour of them getting along. He was straightforward and no-nonsense. One could feel involuntarily pressured and submissive even when he is just speaking casually. Even the head of military did not impose such oppressive energy. If he could, he would not want to go near him at all.

“This person was undoubtedly the heart of this group- the ultimate center of its heart. A formidable hero who emerged out of the chaotic times.” Zhou Yicheng wondered inwardly. A large volume of water was boiled at that point. Jiaping City was a water village; streams were everywhere so water was not scarce at all. Huo Dong, Lin Xiaoji, and the few soldiers were carefully rinsing the injured members’ wounds.

Most of these wounds were old injuries- abscesses and maggots had already grown in most of them. Huo Dong and Lin Xiaoji frowned and felt nauseous, not knowing how or where to begin. One of the soldiers was disgruntled and said, “Let’s do it. Do you guys have a knife?”

“Yes, yes,” Huo Dong was a little abashed. He quickly pulled out his dagger and passed it over.

The soldier then heated the blade of the dagger in the fire and told the injured member to hold his breath. The latter nodded, “Come at me, the pain’s just momentary.” The soldier took a deep breath and poked the dagger lightly into the wound, slicing off the rotten flesh around it carefully. The action was gentle and smooth and only stopped when fresh red blood trickled down. The wound had now become a big hole, deep enough to see the injured soldier’s bones. He turned to Huo Dong and asked for some bullets.

“Are these enough?” Huo Dong asked as he passed over a bunch.

“The more, the better. We have a lot of injured members here.”

Huo Dong then took out another bunch of bullets.

The soldier noticed that Huo Dong’s bullets were made of a weird material but did not comment.

The following scene was bloodcurdling. After some time, the injured soldier grunted and straightened his body, his forehead dotted with large droplets of sweat but he did not faint.

“Great, go on.”

The soldier’s hand did not stop treating each abscess. Each cut was accompanied by a suppressed grunt as the injured soldier’s body was adorned with another deep hole.

Huo Dong realized that his body already had a lot of similar holes- each of them looking like a baby’s mouth. Huo Dong thought about it and asked, “Don’t you all have bullets?”

“We do but not many. We can’t waste them here. We have to use them in critical situations,” the soldier answered without hesitation.

Huo Dong sucked in a cold breath and walked away pulling a stunned Lin Xiaoji with him. He then said, “Are they machines? They can still walk with such serious injuries. I’ve seen fearless ones but I’ve never seen anything like this!” Lin Xiaoji was also shocked and replied, “Yeah, I heard they came from Hedong City as well. It’s hard to imagine them being able to walk until here. I’ve also heard that a lot have died. They’re all really capable though.” Huo Dong sighed. It was already really difficult for him to come to this stage, flirting with death so many times now. But, he still owed his life to Boss Luo. He then asked, “What about the soldiers?” Lin Xiaoji continued his story, “There were a few hundred I guess. It’s a battalion, it’s gonna be several hundred regardless. But perhaps not all of them are as capable. If they were without guns, maybe they’d be wiped out within a second.”

Huo Dong stared at Lin Xiaoji who looked serious. Huo Dong was trying to see if Lix Xioaji was just making up stories but the more Huo Dong looked at him, the more repulsive he felt.

“What are you two doing sitting there? Come help!” Cao Lin shouted.

“I’m going to help,” Huo Dong dusted his butt and walked towards them.

The beast was skinned and its stomach cut open and emptied. After some simple rinsing and cutting, everything along with its innards was thrown into the stone pot. The water was already boiling so cooked flesh and fatty parts could be seen floating. The aroma was enough to make anyone salivate. On instinct, all the soldiers looked towards the pot and gulped. Even Zhou Yicheng did the same.

“The food smells so good,” a soldier could not help but utter.

“I think...I can drink a pot of soup tonight. The kind of big pot made from stone,” another soldier said while licking his lips.

“Oh please, I can eat as much as there is!” another soldier said.

“Everyone, control yourselves...,” a soldier reminded his comrades.

“Should I add the food cubes?” Wang Xiaguang asked as she stirred the pot’s contents.

“We don’t have much left... but never mind, let’s add a little. Not too much, one-third is enough. Too much might end up harming them,” Huang Jiahui thought and said. They were left with 17 cubes now since the two beasts were being fed with green level food these few days.

These were precious resources and could save lives in critical situations. The consumption of each cube was made after much consideration but these people were too weak, they would not last the journey if they were not being nourished.

“I’ll go get it!” Wang Shishi left what she was doing and skipped towards the bag containing the cubes in a hidden corner. She took a cube out and sliced a piece about a finger’s size with a dagger before stuffing it into her mouth, looking like a content cat.

Honestly, these food cubes did not have much texture to them but they had some magic that kept pulling one back to eat it. Also, the warmth it brought was as good as the comfort one felt after taking a hot shower. This was the best tidbit for girls like her in this era without junk food.

She quickly proceeded to cut one-third of the cube and returned.

An indescribable aroma permeated the atmosphere around them once the small food cube was dropped into the pot. It smelled similar to the scent earlier yet it was different as it exuded a tempting fragrance that put people on edge. The few soldiers could not hold back anymore and crowded around the pot.