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Chapter 83 Ember
Wasteland planet.

Area A308, White Rock Refuge City.

September 2025, 9 in the Blue Planet Calendar.

It has been three full days since half of humanity from Earth crossed over to this place.

now.

The city gate where refugees sought refuge.

Tens of thousands of emaciated, ragged wasteland refugees lined up in long queues at the city gate.

Some of them were expressionless, their eyes filled with numbness and despair.

Some of them were injured, with broken legs and feet, or even exposed white bones, but they couldn't attract any extra attention from those around them.

Others stood there, staring blankly at the majestic city gates of the refuge city, laughing and crying at the same time, and even making strange noises.

The vast majority of these refugees came from Earth.

The places where they crossed over and landed were all near the White Rock Refuge City.

The city gate.

A barefoot, skin-and-bones young man, dressed only in a tattered cloth, walked out with heavy steps.

He looked at the long line of people in front of the refuge city, as if he wanted to say something, but after moving his lips, he lowered his head and walked away.

"For them..."

"I'm already satisfied that I survived these three days in the wild and successfully found a refuge town."

"If I were to tell them now—"

"Even if they enter the refuge city, they'll only be used by the city lord as mining slaves. What good will that do?"

"We new players from Earth have absolutely no choice..."

The young man's eyes revealed a deep sadness and grief.

His name is Yu Wenbo.

Before the time travel, I was a reporter for the Jiangcheng Times.

But after time travel...

He was just an ordinary wasteland refugee.

The only 'lucky' thing about him was that the starting spawn point was very close to White Rock Refuge City, which allowed him to successfully enter the Refuge City on the first day.

Unlike many others...

In the past few days, Yu Wenbo has heard a lot of news from his fellow Blue Star compatriots in the city.

For example--

"A certain female celebrity, having just transmigrated, was captured by a group of refugees, and after a brutal rampage, became a piece of meat on the grill."

"A certain boxer was said to have been quite famous on Earth in his previous life, but as soon as he transmigrated, he was attacked by a group of mutated beasts... When people passed by later, they only saw his cold corpse covered with claw marks on the ground."

"For example, someone saw Nig, whose skin was jet black, instantly become infected the moment he landed..."

"..."

Three days.

Yu Wenbo didn't know how many of the humans who traveled from Earth had died.

But he knew it must be an incredibly terrifying and exaggerated number.

after all……

The wasteland is truly too cruel and too dangerous.

Snapped--!
Yu Wenbo slowed his pace a little, and the blood-stained whip lashed across his skin-and-bones back.

"hiss--!"

Yu Wenbo gritted his teeth, trying his best not to scream.

Because of the screams, they would receive even more whippings.

"Why are you so dazed!"

"If each of you fails to dig up two pieces of contaminated crystals today, you're all getting out of White Rock City!"

"There are plenty of refugees in the wasteland now. If you don't dig, plenty of others will!"

Behind the crowd where Yu Wenbo was.

The burly man, cracking a whip, shouted.

"If only I could become an evolved being..."

Yu Wenbo endured the pain and quickened his pace.

During these three days, he also gained some understanding of the wasteland world.

Although Yin Shanhai had explained information about 'evolvers' to everyone on the news before his transmigration, knowing the information and experiencing it firsthand are two different things.

Just like now.

The burly man holding the whip was a quasi-evolver.

He successfully awakened, but did not activate his attributes.

But even so.

The physique and strength of a quasi-evolved being are far beyond what ordinary refugees can contend with.

Not to mention……

That big man was a member of the overseer team in Baiyan City.

……

……

Five hours later.

It is about ten kilometers northwest of Baiyan Refuge City.

Yu Wenbo, covered in dust and dirt, stared intently at the irregular, black crystal he had just dug out.

"Contamination crystals..."

"A crystallization that can awaken ordinary people into quasi-evolvers..."

Yu Wenbo carefully turned his body to the side so that the burly man supervising from a distance wouldn't see his harvest.

He had dug up crystals and handed them over in the previous two days.

but……

Bai Yancheng not only didn't reward him, but also whipped him several times because he only dug up one piece and didn't meet the performance target.

Most importantly...

There was no food. Perhaps due to the large number of newly arrived refugees in the wasteland, White Rock City didn't treat Yu Wenbo and his group as human beings at all.

They are not given food, only a little water to sustain life, but they have to risk their lives every day to dig for crystals in the wild. If they can't find any, they will be driven out of the city.

obviously.

Baiyan City treated refugees like Yu Wenbo as mere 'expendable resources'.

Once it's used to death, it's used to death.

Anyway, there are new refugees to fill the gap.

Should I swallow it?

This thought popped into Yu Wenbo's mind.

He's only dug up one piece so far today, and the chances of him finding a second one in the limited time he has left are slim...

This means that when he goes back today, he will not only be whipped, but he will also still not have any food to eat.

If he doesn't eat, he'll really starve to death.

Since we're going to die anyway, we might as well take a gamble!
Once the idea took hold, it spread wildly through my mind like weeds.

Gollum—

Yu Wenbo swallowed hard.

He glanced back into the distance and saw that the burly overseer was several hundred meters away from him.

Yu Wenbo's heart was beating very fast.

Sand flew into my eyes.

He didn't have time to wipe it off, but instead looked back at the distance again.

then……

"run!"

Yu Wenbo's emaciated body unleashed its final strength.

He ran barefoot across the gravel-strewn wasteland with all his might!

He didn't know how long he had been running.

In the end, he had no strength left and collapsed to the ground, utterly exhausted.

"No, nobody's pursuing me?"

Yu Wenbo looked back and found that the big man hadn't chased after him at all.

He breathed a sigh of relief.

Although I can't figure out why, but...

"!!!"

The moment he turned his head, Yu Wenbo felt as if all the blood in his body had stopped flowing.

at this time.

Right in front of him, just ten meters away.

Two eyes, each as big as half a person, were staring silently at him!
It's cold!

Yu Wenbo's face turned deathly pale.

He instantly recalled the intelligence he had just heard in White Rock City yesterday.

It is said that—

Not far northwest of White Rock City, there dwells an extremely terrifying seventh-order mutated giant tortoise.

Yu Wenbo raised his head.

What the hell...

He swore to God he had never seen such a big '**' in his life!
"Seventh rank..."

Yu Wenbo gave up resisting immediately.

The city lord of White Rock City is a fifth-order evolved being.

Yu Wenbo had sensed his presence from afar...

That power made the hairs on his body stand on end; it seemed as if a single thought could crush him!
And now?
A seventh-tier mutated beast!
This is someone who could kill the Lord of White Rock City with a single slap.

To put it bluntly.

To be killed by it is, in a sense, an honor...

Yu Wenbo sighed, preparing to face his fate of death.

but……

One second, two seconds, three seconds.

Half a minute passed.

The mutated giant tortoise stared silently at Yu Wenbo, without moving.

"Ok?"

Yu Wenbo was stunned.

After thinking for a moment, he decided to muster all his strength and boldly stand up.

then.

He finally saw—

There was a person lying on the huge head of the mutated giant tortoise!

"This person..."

"Looks familiar."

Even though it was just a side profile, Yu Wenbo recognized him in just a few seconds.

"ember?"

"Yeah, isn't that Yu Jin?"

Yu Wenbo opened his eyes wide.

next second.

Perhaps it was because of his loud shouting, or perhaps Yu Wenbo's arrival was just a coincidence.

In short.

The embers, which had been lying quietly atop the head of the seventh-tier mutated giant tortoise, suddenly twitched their eyelids, as if about to slowly awaken...

(End of this chapter)