Armor-piercing bullets don't believe in carbon-based monsters

Chapter 378 Luck Has Run Out

After a night's rest, Huang Meng led his team on their next journey.

Their goal today is to bypass Baima Town, take Provincial Highway S341, head south along S341, then onto S246, and finally continue south to Yaxi Town.

The route is 36 kilometers long. According to Fuxi, which combined footage from drones and remote sensing data from a small number of satellites controlled by the mountain city, this route is not the shortest straight line, but it is less difficult to construct. Compared to highways that are often built on elevated roads, it is more suitable as a main road in the future.

The caravan moved forward, and a dozen or so refugees who had come from Baima Town the night before boarded the vehicle.

This was probably the first time they had ever ridden in such a mode of transportation, and everyone's eyes inevitably held a hint of surprise and uncertainty.

At least they didn't mistake this group for the Mechanicus.

Where are you going?

Among the group of people crammed into the cab of a truck with Huang Xing, one of the women spoke up and asked a question.

Huang Xing didn't even turn his head, and casually replied:
"We're going to Yaxi Town."

"We are making progress over there while repairing the road. The amount of work on this section of the road is not large, and we should be able to get there before tonight."

"Going to Yaxi Town?"

The woman paused for a moment, then asked:

Are there any living people left there?

"How not?"

Huang Xing glanced at the woman, puzzled, and replied:
"We had already sent out drones to scout ahead, and most of the displaced people in the surrounding area have regrouped in Yaxi Town."

"Now, a new town with a population of about 400 people has been formed there."

“We will drop you off there. Once you get there, you’ll have to figure things out on your own.”

"Whether you try to follow the caravan to Jinling New City or stay and live in Yaxi Town, it's up to you."

"If you are going to Jinling New City, we will give you some supplies, enough to keep you going."

"Then let's go to Jinling City!"

The woman answered eagerly, then quickly corrected herself:
"Jinling New City, Jinling New City!"

Hearing his words, Huang Xing turned around and looked at her in surprise.

It was only then that he realized that not only this woman, but everyone else's expression had changed.

what happened?

Is it because you're afraid of being left behind?

Or is it because of his decision to leave them in Yaxi Town?

Huang Xing was puzzled, and he subconsciously asked:
"Is there a problem with Yaxi Town?"

"No. There's no problem with Yaxi Town."

The woman's voice trembled slightly.

"It's not just Yaxi Town that has a problem. All towns and cities have a problem."

"This was a major disaster, but it's over now, right?"

"Those monsters have all been dealt with, right?"

"Yup!"

Huang Xing became increasingly puzzled.

Isn't this exactly the situation right now?

The great catastrophe has passed, and humanity is beginning to regroup.

Although there may still be some unpredictable dangers, it is generally safer to be united than to be scattered.
But why do these people seem so scared?
Are they afraid of coming together with other people?
At this point, the road ahead was blocked by dense forest, and the construction vehicle convoy moved forward to begin work.

Huang Xing pulled the truck to the side of the road and brought it to a stop. He then adjusted his seating position slightly and turned to the woman, asking:

"What's going on? You don't want to go to Yaxi Town?"

"No. It's not that we don't want to go to Yaxi Town."

The woman shook her head repeatedly, her eyes filled with pleading.

"We can't go to any of the towns! Please, don't leave us there!"

"We can follow you indefinitely, or we can turn back right from here!"

"If we go to Yaxi Town, we definitely won't survive!"

"We have nothing left to trade, and we have no value anymore!"

"The people there won't tolerate us; we'll all become slaves."

"how is this possible?"

Huang Xing's tone carried a hint of skepticism.

"The people there are just refugees; they're no different from you. How could they possibly treat you as slaves?"

"Yes, it will! It definitely will. That's the slave traders' favorite place!"

The woman said with certainty:
“We have no guns or weapons, we can’t fight back—in fact, even if we could, it wouldn’t matter, they outnumber us by a large margin!”

"Please don't leave us there!"

The woman kept repeating her request, and at that moment, Huang Xing finally sensed that something was wrong.

I still know too little about the outside world.

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

After joining the Huaxia Army, he fought alongside them.

This team actually didn't have a lot of disaster response plans, and they didn't have enough understanding of the real situation at the grassroots level.

Perhaps it is true, as this woman said, that Yaxi Town after the beast tide is no longer the town that the Chinese army knows.
Huang Xing decisively got out of the car, then found Huang Meng and reported the information he had obtained from the woman.

Upon hearing the news, Huang Meng's expression instantly turned serious.

"So you mean that the present-day Yaxi Town might not have been a town that spontaneously formed during the migration of refugees, but rather a large-scale slave trading market?"

"Yes."

Huang Xing nodded solemnly and then replied:

"I think their judgment is credible."

"Because in large-scale disasters like beast tides, those who are most affected are often unarmed or poorly armed civilians."

“Those bandits, mercenaries, and merchants generally have a stronger ability to protect themselves.”

"However, even so, they will be greatly impacted."

“They will suffer losses that cannot be recovered from the monsters, so they can only be recovered from the other civilians who have been affected.”

"clear."

Huang Meng nodded slowly.

The balance is disturbed.

Just like the aftermath of a cataclysmic event, a beast tide will also bring secondary disasters.

Such disasters often manifest themselves in the form of "human infighting".

Everyone is just fighting for the right to survive, but they don't know to what extent they have to go to survive.

Therefore, they could only seize as many resources as possible that they could reach, even at the cost of conflict and death.

This is a relatively delayed survival choice.

Huang Meng finally understood what the commander meant when he said that before he left.

"Your enemy may not just be monsters, but also people."

Yes.

A person who has gone mad is not much different from a monster.

Thinking of this, he let out a soft breath.

Then he began to speak:
"Let's go there first and talk about it later."

"If the situation there is indeed as you've been told."

"Then perhaps we will have to make some difficult decisions."

That evening, the convoy arrived in Yaxi Town.

When they arrived, the entire town of Yaxi was already submerged in deep water.

Not a single light was on; only the faint sounds of dogs barking could be heard from within the town.

The town looked quite peaceful, but Huang Meng had already noticed something amiss through the drone's perspective.

There are more than just people here.

There were also a large number of slaves.

A large number of people were imprisoned and kept in makeshift enclosures that may have originally been used to keep livestock. In terms of numbers, these slaves numbered at least 300.

According to data issued by Fuxi, the current population of Yaxi Town is no more than 500.

The fence wasn't high, and of course, it couldn't be sturdy.

But to Huang Meng's surprise, none of the people locked inside the fence tried to escape.

They may have accepted their fate, or they may be trapped by another invisible fence.

Huang Meng frowned upon seeing this.

He realized that this problem had to be solved.

Furthermore, it must be resolved in a sufficiently appropriate manner.

Because every town they arrive in next is likely to be in the same situation!

After completing a brief terrain reconnaissance, Huang Meng retrieved the drone.

Subsequently, the large team set up camp and rested on the outskirts of Yaxi Town.

He didn't sleep well that night.

The next morning, just as dawn was breaking, he led several better-equipped assault team members and entered Yaxi Town with Huang Xing.

Meanwhile, the town was beginning to awaken.

Wary gazes were cast at them from all directions; the people here seemed to have confirmed that they did not belong to the Cult of the Machine God.

Since they do not belong to the Cult of the Machine God, they are not among the largest or most threatening forces in this wasteland.

Since that's the case, they have no reason to be afraid.

Someone boldly followed behind them, gripping a weapon tightly in their hand, a hint of threat in their eyes.

Others followed in their footsteps, gradually forming an encirclement.

Huang Meng noticed their actions.

He even found it a little funny.

"So, outside of Jinling City and Hanshui City, do these people really not know our names?"

He turned to Huang Xing beside him and asked:

Is the speed of information flow really that slow?

"probably."

Huang Xing replied thoughtfully:
"The beast tide blocked most of the trade routes, and we had not organized any particularly large-scale operations in the south."

“Last time, Jin Zhong’s team went quite far, but it wasn’t this route.”

"It's normal that they don't know us."

"But aren't they afraid of us?"

"They're afraid."

Huang Meng replied:
"Otherwise, they would have already made their move."

As soon as they finished speaking, more and more people began to follow them.

On the road in front of them appeared a man wearing a tattered vest, but "luxuriously" covered with grenades, and carrying a Type 75 rifle that he had somehow acquired.

"Welcome to Yaxi Town."

"May I understand why you've come?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Huang Xing was about to reply, but Huang Meng raised his hand to stop him.

Immediately afterwards, Huang Meng asked:
“We want those slaves.”

"Oh?"

The man instantly became interested.

He took two steps forward, and his expression instantly became warm.

Are you businessmen?

"To be honest, I have never seen such a large caravan before."

"So many machines. But you don't seem to belong to the Cult of Machines."

I didn't see any bishops, nor did I see any servants.

"But in any case, you made the right choice."

"I'm sure this is the largest slave market you've ever found!"

"Whether you use it yourself or plan to sell it to the Cult of the Machine God, I will give you a very good price!"

"How about we talk about this in more detail?"

"can."

After saying that, Huang Meng took two steps forward without making a sound, and the man followed suit.

He bowed slightly to Huang Meng, then waved to signal the armed men surrounding the crowd to put down their weapons.

Then, he spoke again in an enthusiastic tone:
“You are the first group of businessmen to come here. To be honest, after such a large-scale disaster, I doubted whether anyone would come again.”

"Fortunately, disasters always pass, and life has finally returned to normal."

calm?

You call this "life returning to normal"?
Huang Meng couldn't help but find it amusing. He looked over the man's shoulder and at the slaves kept in the livestock pen.

Everyone's clothes had been stripped off, and the ground was incredibly muddy from the recent rain.

Exhausted people lay there on the ground, stripped of their last shred of dignity.

Those who still possess a shred of shame cover their naked bodies with mud, while the woman holding her baby tries her best to keep herself clean, because her child still needs her to feed her.

This place cannot be described as a living hell, but it is certainly a scene of devastation.

Huang Meng let out a soft breath and asked:
Who are you?

The man shrugged.

"It doesn't matter."

"But please trust us, we are very reputable businessmen."

"To be honest, this isn't the first time we've done such a large transaction."

"Tongling, Jinling, Hanshui, Liangxi, Suzhou. Our goods were once transported to various major cities."

"The price offered by the Cult of Mechanics is not low."

"But this time it's strange, they seem to have arrived a bit late, probably because this disaster is too severe."

"A beast tide? It seems the Mechanicus Cult has also suffered heavy losses."

"The Cult of Machines?"

A hint of doubt flashed in Huang Meng's eyes.