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

Chapter 381 The Real Mountain City People
"Cease fire! Cease fire!"

"Instruct the drones to cease automatic counterattack!"

"They can't penetrate our armor!"

Sitting in the car, Chen Jian shouted the order, while the refugees who had noticed the drone in the air quickly hid in the bushes by the roadside.

The gunfire stopped abruptly; this "attack" came suddenly and ended just as inexplicably.

When Chen Jian got out of the car, he could no longer find any trace of the refugees. Only the drone in the air was still tracking the direction of the refugees based on the heat signals that appeared from time to time and the abnormal activity signals analyzed by Fuxi.

"Do you want to chase?"

Ji Xing, who got off the car right after, asked.

"You go."

Chen Jian said without hesitation:
"Their firepower is weak, so we should try to avoid causing unnecessary casualties."

"If we can disarm them, we should just do so."

"clear."

Ji Xing nodded upon hearing this.

She had just said that she hadn't "jumped and skipped" in a long time, but the moment she received the order, she suddenly darted out.

At this moment, the strength of the Source Bloodline user was unmistakably revealed.

In just over ten seconds, Chen Jian heard gunshots coming from the woods.

"careful!"

Chen Jian reminded Ji Xing over the radio, and Ji Xing's reply came quickly.

"fine!"

"Just two guns!"

"You can come over now!"

Upon hearing this, Chen Jian called Li Shi to follow. The two of them went forward in the direction where Ji Xing disappeared, and soon they saw Ji Xing blocking the group of refugees on a beast trail in the forest.

It's not so much a standoff as a confrontation between the two sides; rather, it's a one-sided suppression by Ji Xing.

Two refugees who might have been armed had been knocked down and were unconscious on the ground, while the others looked in Ji Xing's direction in fear, their bodies trembling uncontrollably.

But when Chen Jian and his companion appeared, they instinctively tried to hide, only to find themselves surrounded.

"do not move!"

Chen Jian began to speak:
"We mean no harm—at least not yet!"

"Where did you come from? Why did you attack us?"

The refugees looked at Chen Jian in fear, seemingly wanting to speak, but then cowered and shut their mouths.

Chen Jian frowned. He gave Ji Xing a look, and the two of them stepped forward at the same time. First, they took the guns from the ground, and then they drove the already small number of refugees to the side of the animal trail.

It was only then that Chen Jian realized that the number of refugees was not small.

There were 12 people, including men and women, and even 3 children.

This fits the composition of a small group of refugees.

Judging from their attire and the supplies they carried, they were basically consistent with the identity of refugees.

So, these people were actually just migrant refugees?

They only launched the attack rashly after seeing their own vehicles and mistaking the armored vehicle for a monster.
But that doesn't seem to make sense either.

They launched their attack at the edge of the woods, before I even noticed you. You took the initiative to attack?

With this kind of mindset, survival in the wasteland is basically out of the question.

If that were the case, they wouldn't have been able to get here in the first place.

Chen Jian frowned, turned to a relatively calm woman in the group, and asked again:
"Who are you?"

Can you understand me?

The woman's eyes shifted slightly, as if she wanted to speak.

But in just a moment, she bit her lip again and stubbornly remained silent.

Chen Jian was speechless.

He looked at Ji Xing, a hint of helplessness in his eyes.

Ji Xing paused for a moment, then stepped forward and grabbed the woman's chin, forcing her to open her mouth.

"It has a tongue and can speak."

Ji Xing's expression changed abruptly. She drew a dagger from her waist and held it to the woman's neck without hesitation.

The woman's body stiffened instantly, then began to tremble uncontrollably.

When one of the three children saw this, he tried to pounce on him, but Li Shi grabbed his clothes and pinned him to the ground.

"You only get one chance."

Tell us, who are you?

"I'll only count down from three!"

"3!"

"2!"

"1!"

Ji Xing's blade had already cut through the woman's skin, and blood was slowly flowing out, but she remained silent.

Chen Jian was utterly stunned.

Are you kidding me? !

This isn't an interrogation, and the questions we're asking you aren't difficult to answer.

You attacked us first!
We didn't retaliate, we didn't kill anyone, we just wanted to find out who you are and what misunderstandings there were!
Is it really that difficult?

The woman had already closed her eyes, seemingly prepared to face her death.

Chen Jian became increasingly confused.

Is your identity a secret that can be protected by death?
"stop."

Chen Jian stopped Ji Xing from making a move—although he knew that Ji Xing wouldn't really kill the woman, at most he would just cut her to increase the threat.

However, even such behavior is no longer necessary.

Since they don't want to talk about it, then there's no need to.

In any case, they posed no threat to our side.

Let's just assume it was an accidental discharge.
-
Or else?

Should we kill them all?
They didn't look like some kind of vicious gang.

Chen Jian took a deep breath and said to Ji Xing:

"Take photos to document them."

“These people are not allowed to enter our jurisdiction unless they can prove their identity.”

"Confiscate their weapons and let them go."

"Never mind, let's return the weapons to them."

Two broken single-shot rifles posed virtually no threat.

Ji Xing nodded upon hearing this, and kicked the gun to the woman's feet.

The three then raised their guns and retreated.

If these refugees make any unusual moves, the four guns, including the drone, can instantly tear them all to shreds.

The distance between the two sides gradually increased.

Chen Jian spoke again:

"If you keep going forward, you'll reach the mountain city, which is under our jurisdiction."

"Don't go any further, turn back!"

"The Chinese army does not welcome you!"

As soon as she finished speaking, the woman, whose neck was still bleeding, suddenly widened her eyes.

She stared at Chen Jian in shock, and after a moment of stunned silence, suddenly asked:
"You...aren't from Shancheng?"

Chen Jian was stunned for a moment.

"A mountain city person?"

"The mountain city belongs to us, but we are not people of the mountain city."

"We are the Chinese Army."

As soon as she finished speaking, the woman suddenly sat down on the ground.

She seemed to have lost all her strength, staring blankly at Chen Jian. After a long silence, she suddenly asked incoherently:
"Mountain City."

"Is he/she no longer here?"

"The mountain city is still here."

Chen Jian shrugged.

"But the people inside are long gone."

After saying this, the woman closed her eyes in pain.

Chen Jian looked at her with a puzzled expression and asked:
"Who are you?"

The woman breathed a sigh of relief.

"We are from the mountain city."

“A true mountain city person!” Half an hour later, Chen Jian led the dozen or so refugees onto a waiting truck and returned to the core area of ​​the mountain city.

Throughout the journey, the woman remained silent, but when she saw the lights shining from those massive buildings, she couldn't help but murmur in amazement.

Chen Jian vaguely sensed that her "astonishment" was different from that of other refugees he had seen.

just like.
It's like a child who has only seen big cities in books suddenly arriving in the most bustling metropolis.

She was fully aware of their existence.

She could even understand how these things were built.

She just hadn't seen it before.

That's it.

Combined with her mention of the keyword "real mountain city people," Chen Jian became increasingly suspicious of their identities.

However, when he asked the woman this question, she refused to answer no matter what.

Only when Chen Jian asked about the "mysterious shot" did the woman turn around and say in a firm and earnest tone that it was just an accident.

According to her, it was just a "misfire".

The accidental discharge was caused by the person who fired the shot seeing something familiar and becoming overly emotional.

The man, who had awakened from his coma, confirmed her statement, but like her, he was unwilling to reveal any further information.

They seem to adhere to some kind of "principle of silence," and value this principle more than life itself.

Chen Jian had no choice but to give up asking further questions and remained silent as he led the group of refugees back to the temporary command post.

When she saw the bustling scene around the command post, the woman seemed to finally believe in the identities of Chen Jian and his companions.

For the first time, she took the initiative to speak and said "thank you" to Chen Jian.

This is a good start.

But Chen Jian was no longer in a hurry.

"You're welcome. We're keeping you here because we might need your help."

"Let's go, she'll arrange accommodations for you."

"You can take a shower, have a meal, and rest for an hour first."

"We'll meet here in an hour."

“I have a lot to ask you—and I guess you have a lot to ask me too.”

"I hope that what happens between us will be a frank conversation."

"it is good."

The woman nodded, then turned and followed Ji Xing away.

Chen Jian sat outside the combat command post, his mind filled with a million questions.

Are they true people from the mountain city?
Does this mean they are descendants of the people who "built" the mountain city?

Why did they leave the mountain town? And where have they lived until now?

If they had already left the mountain town, why would they suddenly want to come back?

What are they looking for, or what do they need to do?
Each of these questions has an answer, and even from the information that Fuxi has already decoded, not a single clue can be found.

Fortunately, the woman didn't keep Chen Jian waiting for long.

Just half an hour later, she returned to Chen Jian with the "man who fired the gun".

"sit down."

Chen Jian pointed to the chair in front of him and said:
"You ask first, then I'll ask."

Having regained his senses and calmed his emotions, the man took control again. After a brief silence, he spoke:
"Let me introduce myself first."

"I am Xie Cheng, and this is my wife, Su Mu."

"Hello, Xie Cheng and Su Mu."

Chen Jian nodded slightly.

"Your names are quite special in this world."

"really."

Xie Cheng let out a soft breath, then said:
“We are, after all, different from the rest of the world—but I’d like to talk about that later.”

"May I ask you first, who are you people?"

"I already told you."

Chen Jian shrugged and replied:

"We are the Chinese Army, a force dedicated to restoring human civilization."

"I know that."

Xie Cheng nodded first, then spoke again:
“Every major power in this world aims to restore civilization—or at least, they will claim it to be.”

“But you are clearly different from the others.”

"You make extensive use of industrial equipment and are skilled in using various weapons."

"You have drones, armored vehicles, and mechanical exoskeletons."

“You are clearly different from others. My question is, where did you come from?”

"Are you from the mountain city?"

"No."

Chen Jian shook his head.

"We came from Chuansha."

Chuansha??

Xie Cheng stared in astonishment, his eyes widening.

"How can we just let that place go?"

After a slight pause, he said, as if talking to himself:

"Perhaps it's a problem with memory implantation. Do you know about the Nuwa Project?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Chen Jian sat up straight, alert.

He did not answer, but asked:
"You know about the Nuwa Project??"

"Of course we do."

Xie Cheng looked directly into Chen Jian's eyes and said, word by word:

"Stop playing riddles."

"I'll ask you a question. Once you get the answer to that question, I'll answer whatever you ask me afterward."

"The question is simple."

Are you...human?

A helpless smile appeared on Chen Jian's face.

He relaxed and replied with amusement:

"I can roughly guess what you're worried about."

“But I can tell you clearly that we are not the so-called ‘Suiren’.”

"The Nuwa Project has been destroyed, and the Lingxi AI has also been destroyed."

"The entire mountain city—whether virtual or real—has been destroyed."

"Now, this city is a new city."

"A new city that belongs to the Chinese army, and to everyone in the wasteland."

As soon as he finished speaking, Xie Cheng was dumbfounded.

The muscles on his face twitched slightly, and his body instantly stiffened.

"How did you do that?"

"You don't have to worry about that."

Chen Jian replied:
"We have our own way."

"Now that I've answered your questions, isn't it my turn to ask you?"

"can."

Xie Cheng answered decisively, paused for a moment, and before Chen Jian could speak, he spoke first:
"We are the first and last original inhabitants of this mountain city."

"We are the result of division."

"We fled the mountain city after the Nuwa Project was launched, and since then we have been hiding in a secluded place."

"If you have destroyed the virtual space of the mountain city, then you most likely already know the background of this plan."

"Then, I don't need to introduce myself any further."

"You should understand why we're running away, and you should be able to."

"and many more."

Chen Jian interrupted Xie Cheng.

Then, he looked directly into Xie Cheng's eyes and said:
"Three questions."

"First, how do you transfer your knowledge?"

"Secondly, why did you leave? What exactly was the point of disagreement?"

"Third, how have you all survived until now?"

(End of this chapter)