Epoch of Twilight

Luo Yuan searched through all the rooms on the second floor, but his efforts were in vain.

At that very moment, Luo Yuan heard a commotion. It seemed like something had happened outside. His expression changed slightly before picking up his Zhanmadao. He then took a few strides ahead and jumped onto the first floor. In an instant, he emerged from a small hole.

Sprawling all over the ground were six mutated insects, each measuring about a meter long. Upon closer observation, the ferocious-looking mutated insects seemed to have been already mutilated; the floor was drenched with their colourful fluid. Looking at the wounds on their body, aside from the two that was killed by Wang Shishi, the remaining four had been slashed by swords.

Everyone’s Strength had greatly improved from what it once was. Low level mutated beasts such as these were no longer a threat to them.

"Have you found the map yet?" asked Huang Jiahui, after noticing Luo Yuan walking over.

"No, the deterioration in this place is far too severe, and I reckon it will be the same for the other places, unless someone had deliberately preserved one," answered Luo Yuan helplessly.

There was a very slim chance of this happening. Before the apocalypse, maps were not particularly important, and especially with the advent of smartphones, people had rarely used actual maps.

"But at least we are certain of the name of this location. Have any of you heard of Jiuchuan City?" asked Luo Yuan.

Everyone looked at each other with clueless faces. Most of them were from the South. As far as their knowledge goes about the cities in the West, apart from a few famous tourist attractions and the provincial capital, they were unfamiliar with the rest of the small cities. Jiuchuan was clearly one of the latter and most of them had not even heard of this place.

"I think I might have heard of it somewhere!" said Huo Dong suddenly, but he looked somewhat unsure, as he could not confirm where he had heard it from.

"Do not rush and think carefully..." said Luo Yuan quickly.

Huo Dong paced up and down and furrowed his brows, "I got it! I used to have a customer previously, and it seems like he was from around here."

"Are there any others?" Luo Yuan asked, his face laced with some disappointment. They could not deduce anything with such little information.

"It was a long time ago. Moreover, that was a small-time customer and I rarely paid any attention to him. Oh yes, there could be a highway nearby. I remembered that I had checked it out before," Huo Dong scratched his head, all the thinking had racked his brains till his head hurt.

Everyone’s eyes lit up.

"If you are sure that there are highways here, then everything would be much easier. There were very few highways in the West. According to our geographical location, if I have guessed it correctly, the highway will be the Gong Yu highway," Commander Xia said, "Gong Yu highway is not far from Taklamakan and there is a national line road that will lead to that place. If we are fast enough, and if everything goes as planned, we can arrive at the Reconstruction Area in one or two days."

...

At this time point, it was already close to nine o’clock in the evening. The group had found a relatively safe and sound basement, and was ready to put up for the night.

The ground was covered with damp and warm slippery moss. They lined the ground with the pelt of the mutated beasts and took a seat on the floor. Dried meat was distributed and they started to chomp onto the food.

It was not suitable for them to set up a camp fire due to the lack of space. Thankfully, there were some leftover dried meat.

Everyone slowly chewed onto the rubber-like meat, while chatting about. Gradually, the topic steered towards the Reconstruction Area.

"Commander Xia, why don’t you give us a tip or two, on what we should be aware of in the Reconstruction Area?" Huang Jiahui asked.

Commander Xia paused for a moment, and after gulping the food down his throat, he said, "There is nothing particular to take note of. The laws are basically the same as before, but it may be stricter now. Of course, there will be some changes, such as job distribution and obligatory services, especially the military service, which is mandatory. Once the recruitment notice is issued, it must be served, or one would be punished as treacherous renegades. Even if it is not for the military service, everyone must undergo military training for a certain period of time, to prepare for the next enlistment."

"Even the women?" Cao Lin asked breathlessly. She was just surprised, despite being able to handle the training without a doubt. After all, she had gone through so many life and death situations and had managed to survive up to this stage, so much so that she was no longer the damsel in distress like she used to be, before the start of apocalypse.

"Both men and women are the same. When facing a mutated beast, we cannot take care of women," Commander Xia said, in a serious tone.

They had turned everyone into soldiers. Luo Yuan thought with a heavy heart.

"You might be familiar with the food rationing system. Money is rarely used now. As for the survivors, after you arrive, you will receive a certain amount of food and water every month until you are assigned to a task. Of course, you will only receive coupons of various types.

However, all of you will have more choices, whether to work or to become a soldier stationed at the border of small town. The living condition there is definitely better than that of the workers’," said Commander Xia after some thought.

"At the border of the town?" Luo Yuan asked.

"The Reconstruction Area is just an ambiguous name. After all, it accommodates more than 100 million people, and it is hardly just a city. In fact, it comprises many cities. There are central areas, and also borderline areas. We divided the cities into three rings of which the outer ring made up the border region, as well as the last line of defence for humankind. Although the risk was not as high as the front line, there have been attacks before, from time to time. Thus, it is much more dangerous for the civilians," said Commander Xia.

No one batted an eyelid and their expression remained the same. After they had survived the virgin forest, they thought nothing of such a small threat.

"You mentioned about work distribution. I don’t think there are any business companies around here anymore, is there?" Huo Dong curiously asked. He went into the field of business after he had dropped out of junior high school. Apart from doing business, he did not know what else he would do.

"That is not the case, it is only very low in numbers. Most people will be assigned to work at various factories, according to their individual skills. If they are not capable, of course you are free to set up a business of your own. However, the Reconstruction Area is now in a state of warfare, and not much manpower or resources are to be wasted. So, do not even think of hiring or obtaining new supplies of raw material," Commander Xia explained. As such, it had definitely obliterated the private business industry.

....

Everyone continued to have small talks in between. Time had flown by and before they knew it, it was soon dawn.

Even though none of them had slept the night before, they did not feel the least bit tired. As soon as daylight broke, the team had set out on their way again.

After looking for nearly an hour, they finally found the entrance to the highway.

Before the apocalypse, the roads were flanked with the Gobi Desert. Luo Yuan was pleasantly surprised to find that this highway was preserved quite well. The deterioration of the asphalt pavement was not that serious, and the plants were very sparsely distributed. When the strong winds blew, there was still some fine sand in the air. Although the sand was too fine to touch, it still made them happy, as it indicated that the desert was not entirely invaded by the floras.

But their joy was obviously short-lived, as the Western areas had proven how unpredictable the climate could be.

After four hours, they managed to quickly cross the Gobi Desert, and entered back onto the mountainous terrains. Their path had become an on-and-off beaten track once again.

Large parts of the road had already collapsed and it was buried beneath the fallen mountain rocks. Of course, this was not much of a hindrance to them as compared to the collapsed bridge that connected the two mountain peaks. Their only choice was to retreat and enter the jungle for a detour.