Dark Ruins Dawn

Chapter 118 Refuge
"Green Tide..."

The first thing Zhuang Fan thought of was the abandoned town where Hua Xin led the team to scavenge.

There was a huge greenskin stronghold there.

"Did the green-skinned people come from an abandoned town?" Zhuang Fan confirmed in a deep voice.

"should be!"

Watson's voice was certain, "The location matches. You can see a dark mass from a great distance, and the number... at least tens of thousands!"

"Will they pass through our base?" This was Zhuang Fan's biggest concern.

"Boss, I'll have my sister talk to you."

The communication channel switched, and Hua Xin's slightly hurried voice came through: "Brother Ya, they don't have a fixed route, they're scattered everywhere, and they're so noisy, you can hear them shouting 'Waaa' from far away!"

Zhuang Fan frowned slightly.

Greenskins are different from zombies that only know how to tear and bite.

Although they are intellectually deficient, they know how to wield crude weapons and even have some simple tactical coordination.

A large-scale green tide is far more destructive and dangerous than a horde of corpses several times its size.

"Observe the movements carefully."

Zhuang Fan said calmly, "If you find any signs that the green tide is surging toward the base, do not hesitate to evacuate through the underground passage immediately."

"Okay, got it..."

As soon as Zhuang Fan finished speaking, he thought for a moment that he had been away from the base for several days and was worried that Hua Sheng and the others would not be able to handle it.

"Never mind, I'll come back first." He changed his mind.

Upon hearing this, Hua Xin's voice brightened considerably: "That's great! Brother Ya, come back soon! You're the backbone, everyone needs you!"

"Okay, I'll get back right away."

Zhuang Fan hung up the call, and Mao Shanwang, who had been listening nearby, became somewhat restless.

"Is the green tide really here?"

"Correct."

"It seems that Linhai City will have to close its gates again."

Mao Shanwang slapped his thigh, "No, I have to lead the team back right away. If we get stuck outside, the losses will be huge!"

"Then you go into the city first. I'll go back to the base. I'm a little worried about them."

"to make."

Mao Shanwang nimbly climbed into the driver's seat and shouted at the top of his lungs, "Get in the car quickly, let's go back to the city!"

The dozen or so cat-people acted swiftly, loading the remaining supplies onto trucks and speeding towards Linhai City.

Zhuang Fan didn't linger; he drove an electric motorcycle back to the base alone.

But before he even got close to the base, he heard a series of muffled thunderous "waaa" sounds coming from afar, and even the ground trembled slightly, the intensity of which became more and more obvious.

The Greenskins... are very close to the base.

He stopped on a high point, picked up his binoculars and looked into the distance. He saw a moving, dark green shadow slowly crawling, stirring up clouds of dust.

The green tide was less than 800 meters from the base, but fortunately it only grazed the edge and did not rush straight at it.

At that moment, a partially collapsed concrete wall not far away was suddenly smashed open, scattering rubble and steel bars everywhere.

A colossal creature emerged from the smoke and dust. It was nearly five meters tall, with rough, dark green skin, and its size far exceeded that of the Corpse Monster.

This is a lone Hulk, wielding a lamppost and sweeping away the debris blocking his way like a toy.

Behind the Hulk followed hundreds of green swarms of green ghouls, emitting deafening "waaaaa," seemingly rummaging through the ruins for something.

"Brother Ya, I see you. Be careful, that big guy is dangerous!" Hua Xin's voice came through the communicator.

Zhuang Fan glanced at the shadow on the tower, where a powered armored vehicle was lying.

What are these green-skinned animals doing?

Hua Xin reported in a low voice from the tower, his cat ears perked up warily, "They're probably looking for the ratmen's hideout."

The Hulk was clearly the leader of the group. It sniffed the air, its massive head clumsily turning toward the recycling station before slowly approaching.

"Brother Ya, should I fire?" Hua Xin's voice was slightly tense, and the muzzle of his gun was already slightly raised.

"Don't fire yet, to prevent the enemy from tipping off the enemy. All members, remain silent."

After Zhuang Fan finished speaking, a thick, dark mist surged from his body, enveloping his face.

A humanoid figure made of shadows quietly appeared in the Hulk's path.

"Waaaaa?"

The Hulk stopped in its tracks. Its not-so-bright brain couldn't comprehend the situation before it, and it let out a threatening growl.

Zhuang Fan didn't move, standing there quietly, letting the dark mist surge around him, before throwing a wisp of dark mist into the Hulk's head.

"Wow quack!"

Instantly, the Hulk felt a shiver of instinct, his massive head tilting slightly as he tried to discern the identity of the being before him.

Zhuang Fan raised a hand shrouded in dark mist, pointed to the side, and spoke in a low, unquestionable voice:
"roll."

A single word, as powerful as a thunderclap.

The Hulk took a slight step back, letting out a few unintelligible roars, as if he was hesitating, or perhaps venting his dissatisfaction.

"Waaaaaah—!"

Finally, it exhaled two puffs of white air from its enormous nostrils, then abruptly turned around and led the equally bewildered green-skinned creatures away in another direction.

On the second floor of the recycling station, behind the gap in the firing port.

Watson and the other members witnessed the bizarre scene unfolding before their eyes.

They watched helplessly as the monster, as large as a truck, approached, and then watched as their leader stood there, using some unknown method, to scare the monster away with just one word.

Only when the Hulk disappeared at the end of the ruins and the ground tremors stopped did everyone slowly breathe a sigh of relief, filled with the joy of surviving a disaster.

In the darkness, Zhuang Fan dispelled the dark mist from his body, regained his original appearance, and turned to walk back to the base.

"Boss!"

The crowd looked at Zhuang Fan with a hint of awe in their eyes, and Zhuang Fan responded to each of them.

Inside the base, besides Watson and his sister, Gage and Big Bear, there are twenty cat people and twenty scavengers, the same number.

Watson, wearing power armor, immediately approached and lowered his voice:
"Boss, I just received a message from Rat Advisor. Those greenskins have gone mad and are attacking the ratmen everywhere! They've already taken down more than a dozen small strongholds!"

"The Ratmen?"

Zhuang Fan finally understood the Greenskins' intentions.

The survival rules in the wilderness are simple: Greenskins need food, while the prolific Skaven are relatively easy to catch, poorly equipped, and social animals, making them a perfect food supply.

"What's the situation with Master Rat?" Zhuang Fan asked Hua Sheng.

Watson's face was grave: "The Jetta team is in charge of three thousand people. Just now, one of their outer outposts was breached, and they lost more than a hundred ratmen."

"The advisor made a decisive move, leading most of the clansmen to relocate immediately, thus preserving their strength."

Zhuang Fan nodded, opened the wrist panel, and connected to the encrypted communication with the Rat Advisor.

The light screen lit up, revealing the wrinkled face of the Rat Advisor. The background was noisy, and the cries of the Rat People could be faintly heard.

"My lord," said the Rat Advisor, clearly exhausted.

"Master, what are the losses?"

“We’ve lost over a hundred of our people, but we’re doing alright. But the other brown rat tribes are probably in for a bad time.”

The Rat Advisor said in a heavy tone, "Since Tataji died, the rats have been leaderless, and the Greenskins have become unscrupulous. This time... I'm afraid seventy or eighty thousand ratmen will be captured."

Are there enough supplies?

"Sir, the supplies are more than enough. We are very grateful for the help from the Fire of the Gods!"

"Just make a list of what you need."

"Very well, sir, I'll take care of the business now."

"Go ahead." Zhuang Fan didn't disturb him any further.

The call had just ended when Hua Xin sent an urgent message, her voice filled with vigilance:
"We've spotted the Apocalypse Cult! They're approaching us! About twenty of them, well-equipped, including a sniper and two armored soldiers!"

"what?"

Watson immediately cursed, "Damn the Apocalypse Cult! They always add fuel to the fire at times like these!"

Zhuang Fan's face also darkened.

These lunatics had to come at the very moment when the green tide was raging to cause trouble!

"Everyone! Prepare for battle!" Watson roared, grabbing the communicator.

Inside the base, the alarm sounded again.

The twenty cat people and twenty scavengers who remained behind acted quickly. Although their movements were still somewhat clumsy, they were no longer as panicked as before.

The cat-men picked up their rifles and crept into the shadows behind the firing ports; the scavengers worked in pairs, carrying boxes of ammunition to their designated locations.

Their combat skills were clumsy, and their gun-holding posture was not standard, but the fear in their eyes had disappeared.

Zhuang Fan strode toward the warehouse, where there was one set of power armor left, which Watson and Gage were already fully dressed in.

After putting it on decisively, he grabbed a heavy rotary machine gun and walked out of the warehouse.

"Bang! Boom!"

Gunfire erupted first from the firing ports of the base.

With their keen eyesight and quick reflexes, the cat-like creatures locked onto the approaching enemy and pulled the trigger.

Bullets whistled out, striking the bunkers in front of the Apocalypse cultists and kicking up clouds of dust.

The scavengers followed suit and opened fire.

They relied on the sturdy walls and constantly adjusted their firing angles in an attempt to suppress the enemy's advance.

"Enemy approaching! Fire!"

The Apocalypse cultists at the forefront were caught off guard and hurriedly sought cover, briefly halting their advance.

A cultist carrying a rocket launcher had just peeked out from behind the broken wall when he was hit in the forehead by three bullets at the same time and fell into a pool of blood.

Another armored soldier attempted to suppress the enemy with a heavy machine gun, but as soon as he peeked out, he was forced back by several high-explosive grenades, sparks flying from his armor.

Zhuang Fan watched all this and nodded slightly.

This hastily assembled team reacted much faster and cooperated better than he had expected.

But this is not a training exercise; it's about a swift and decisive victory.

Zhuang Fan pointed at Watson and Gage: "You two come with me and rush over there, let's finish this quickly!"

"it is good!"

Following their leader into battle, Watson and his companion barely needed to think; they simply followed orders and attacked wherever their leader told them to.

Zhuang Fan and the other two jumped directly from the second floor, their armored vehicles crashing onto the ground outside the door with a loud bang.

"Da da da!"

Bullets rained down, sparking a string of fire from Zhuang Fan's armor.

From a distant high ground, a sniper aimed at Zhuang Fan. With a muffled "bang," the sniper hit Zhuang Fan's chest armor directly, leaving a shallow dent, but failing to penetrate.

Zhuang Fan completely ignored the harassment. He had already locked onto the enemy's firing positions and flicked out a large amount of dark mist from his fingertips.

A cultist who was leaning out to fire suddenly froze, his eyes vacant, and was quickly shot through the skull by Watson.

Another cult member was about to throw a Molotov cocktail when his arm froze in mid-air, still in the throwing posture.

Gage fired a burst of bullets, blowing the man and the Molotov cocktail to smithereens.

Zhuang Fan charged forward, and the enemies in the shadows were momentarily stunned, creating an excellent firing window for Watson and his companion. "Pfft pfft pfft—!"

Gunshots rang out continuously, accompanied by flying blood and flesh.

Watson and Gage didn't need to think at all; they just needed to pull the trigger on the enemies who suddenly "stared blankly."

Three powered armored vehicles forcefully breached the Apocalypse Cult's rudimentary defenses.

"The devil! The devil is coming!"

The Apocalypse cultists had no idea what was happening; they only saw their companions inexplicably stop in place and then be torn apart by bullets.

From his vantage point, the sniper watched as the battle below rapidly deteriorated, constantly adjusting his scope and leaning slightly out of cover.

But a wisp of dark fog flew in like a malignant tumor, and the sniper's movements froze at the moment he raised his gun.

"boom!"

At the top of the watchtower, Hua Xin seized this fleeting opportunity and accurately hit the sniper in the head, eliminating the greatest threat.

"Roar!"

Upon seeing this, two armored soldiers from the Apocalypse Cult charged towards Zhuang Fan, attempting to confront him head-on.

"You still dare to come here."

Zhuang Fan, however, did not give them a chance to get close.

The dark mist surged again, instantly entangling the two armored vehicles, slowing and stiffening them, rendering them unable to move.

Zhuang Fan raised the rotary machine gun in his hand and wedged it directly into the neck gap of the first armored vehicle.

“Da da da da—!”

The armor cobbled together by the Apocalypse Cult was utterly ineffective; amidst a flurry of sparks, the connecting structure at the neck was easily torn apart.

The cultists inside the cockpit didn't even have time to utter a scream before being torn to shreds by a storm of bullets.

Zhuang Fan turned his gun around and, in the same manner, completely severed the "neck" of the other powered armor.

Gage secretly sighed, thinking that his boss was indeed simple and brutal.

In just a few minutes, all twenty Apocalypse cultists were annihilated, and the air was still thick with the lingering smoke of battle.

“Boss, I thought you wanted to leave someone alive.” Watson walked over, his tone tinged with doubt.

Zhuang Fan shook his head: "It's no use. They're all so excited. They won't live long."

"West! Green trains are coming! Lots of them!" Hua Xin's urgent voice came through the communicator.

Zhuang Fan glanced at the distant ruins and, sure enough, saw a dark mass of green swarming in, numbering at least several thousand.

Zhuang Fan didn't try to be brave. He walked over to the two damaged power armors and said, "Let's drag these two back. Master Rat can use them."

"Roger that!"

Watson and his companion acted immediately.

One minute later, the three retreated to the Torch Base, and the heavy alloy door slammed shut.

Almost simultaneously, a dense wave of "waaaa" sounds approached from afar, shaking the ground.

Inside the building, everyone held their breath and looked out through the firing ports, only to see a large group of green-skinned soldiers running towards them.

"Will they rush in..." one of the scavengers whispered, a little uneasy.

Zhuang Fan glanced at him: "Green-skinned people are rather stupid. As long as you don't provoke them, you'll be fine."

Sure enough, the green-skinned creatures outside didn't linger; they were more interested in the corpses of the Apocalypse cultists scattered on the ground.

With a series of "waaaaahs," they dragged the corpse away without even glancing up at the nearby recycling station.

Only when the green tide had completely receded and the crisis was temporarily averted did everyone breathe a sigh of relief.

But Zhuang Fan's brows did not relax.

The Apocalypse Cult, these lunatics, came to harass us time and time again, even deploying armored troops, clearly intending to kill us.

The enemy was in the shadows while his own side was in the open. This passive situation made him feel irritated, and he needed to find a safer stronghold as soon as possible.

He looked around the room.

The group looked slightly tired, but their movements were methodical. The cat people and scavengers checked each other's weapons and cleaned the spent cartridges, and their movements became much more coordinated.

Zhuang Fan nodded secretly. In the battle just now, both the cat people and the newly recruited scavengers had shown a significant improvement in reaction speed and firepower coordination.

"You guys have been training a lot lately, haven't you?"

Watson chimed in, "Yes, we haven't been out scavenging these past few days. We've been taking them out every day to practice marksmanship, tactical coordination, and we've also taken them out to clear out a few waves of lone zombies in the vicinity to train them in real combat."

Zhuang Fan smiled slightly: "The effect is not bad. At least we are not as panicked as before. When Cole and the others return in a few days, our strength will be even stronger."

Several catwomen glanced over, and when they saw that Zhuang Fan had noticed them, they worked even harder to move the boxes.

Zhuang Fan's expression shifted slightly, but he noticed that many people in the room were observing his reaction.

Watson whispered, "Boss, they all want to show off in front of you... for the Firelight member spot."

Zhuang Fan understood instantly.

Only those who perform well can become members of the Flame, which means they can also wear power armor.

This is very attractive to cat people.

"In a few days, I will bring back twenty sets of power armor, and try to get another twenty sets within half a month, so that everyone in the entire base can wear them."

"Twenty sets?"

Gage, who was inspecting the wall nearby, looked up in surprise. How could his boss have conjured up twenty sets of power armor out of thin air after only one trip into the city?

Zhuang Fan ignored Gage and instructed Watson: "Prioritize the armor for the cat people; they need cover."

"understood."

Zhuang Fan turned to Gage: "How's the underground tunnel digging going?"

Gage walked to the workbench and took out the data board:

"Boss, we've dug ten meters, and we're reinforcing the support columns and side walls with reinforced concrete."

Zhuang Fan stared at the map, his eyes flickering.

"Gage, if...we were to dig a shelter ourselves, how much manpower and time would we need?"

Dig your own shelter?

Gage was stunned, wondering if he had misheard.

"Boss, you mean... digging from scratch?"

"Correct."

Gage rubbed his eyes, quickly calculating the workload in his mind and listing the numbers on the data board.

After a long pause, he slowly spoke: "Boss, the workload is too large... Just excavating the main space alone, if we have a thousand people, along with several large tunneling machines, working day and night, it would take at least half a year to complete the excavation."

"This doesn't even include the subsequent internal construction, fortifications, life support systems... the funding is a bottomless pit."

Zhuang Fan's gaze swept over the sketches drawn by Gage; the sheer scale of the project was indeed daunting.

He recalled Mao Shanwang's stronghold hidden halfway up the mountain in a karst cave, which was easy to defend and difficult to attack, and was a natural formation, but its drawback was that it was a bit small.

"If we could find a natural cave, or an abandoned mine or mountain cave, and expand from there, wouldn't that save a lot of time?"

Gage nodded, but his face didn't show much relief:

"Boss, that's theoretically true, but I've looked into the terrain around here. It's mostly plains and hills, with few mountains suitable for modification and even fewer natural caves."

Zhuang Fan hummed in response, not overly surprised.

The truly auspicious places to hide are either already occupied by other forces or hidden in more dangerous and remote areas, and are extremely rare.

"Okay, I see."

He put the idea aside for the time being, thinking, "I'll urge Lao Mao about this again; he has more connections."

The green tide swept through the area like locusts, ravaging the area outside Linhai City all night, with cries of "Waaaa!" echoing everywhere.

The border defense zone of Linhai City was on high alert, and the criminal camp was brightly lit all night long, with each guard on high alert.

The unsettling noise didn't gradually fade away until the next morning, leaving behind a scene of devastation.

Just as dawn broke, Watson received a briefing from Rat Master. After quickly reading it, he immediately went to find Zhuang Fan.

"Boss, Rat Master has sent word... The Brown Rat Clan has suffered heavy losses; 100,000 of their members have been captured by the Greenskins."

“One hundred thousand…” Zhuang Fan repeated the number, his brows furrowed, feeling shocked by what he saw.

But given the Greenskins' massive size of tens of thousands, these 100,000 ratmen probably wouldn't even be enough to fill their teeth.

"However, it's not all bad news. After Tataji's death, the Brown Rat Clan was already in a state of panic."

Watson continued, "With this green tide, many small and medium-sized strongholds suffered heavy casualties. The surviving brown rat people are more willing to join Jetta. Rat Master said that more than five thousand of his people have already submitted."

"I guess you could say it was a blessing in disguise."

Zhuang Fan wasn't surprised. A fence-sitter is the same everywhere. "The green-skinned ones have all been retired, right?"

"We've retreated for now, but Rat Master warned us that the threat hasn't been completely eliminated and those green-skinned people could come back at any time."

Afterwards, Zhuang Fan contacted Master Rat.

The light screen lit up, and the Rat Master was directing the Rat People to move supplies, with a noisy and chaotic background.

"Good morning, my lord."

"Master, how's the situation on your end?"

"Reporting to my lord, it's not too bad."

The Rat Advisor composed himself. "Our losses are within a manageable range, but those brown rat strongholds that refuse to submit are likely to suffer a great disaster this time."

Zhuang Fan simply commented, "Everyone has their own destiny; may you all have good fortune."

"Yes, it's hard to persuade a damn rat with kind words."

After the Rat Advisor finished speaking, he keenly sensed something and said, "Sir, is there anything we can do? Please feel free to give your orders."

“Master, I do have an idea.”

Zhuang Fan pondered for a moment, "I plan to dig a shelter myself, or find a hidden natural cave, which will require a large number of ratmen to excavate and build."

A hint of surprise flashed in the Rat Advisor's eyes, then he stroked his whiskers and cautiously analyzed:

"Sir, building a shelter is definitely a good thing. If it is successful, it will solve the problem once and for all. The most important thing is to keep it hidden. It must be far away from known routes and resource points, preferably in a place that even scavengers would not want to set foot in."

After listening, Zhuang Fan did not mention the huge hidden dangers that Linhai City would face, but only said lightly, "In the short term, yes."

The Rat Advisor changed the subject: "Sir, I'm just worried that the more rat people involved in the construction, the harder it will be to keep the news a secret. Once outsiders find out, all our efforts will probably be in vain."

Zhuang Fan nodded, agreeing with the advisor's concerns.

Jetta may be loyal and reliable, but with thousands of mouths around him, there's no guarantee that information won't leak out.

“No rush. Let me think about it carefully. You should stabilize the situation first and ensure the survival of your people.”

"Yes, my lord."

After ending the communication, Zhuang Fan finished explaining the base's affairs and returned to Linhai City alone without lingering.

Zhuang Fan skillfully evaded the patrol team and returned to Mao Shanwang's safe house.

Mao Shanwang was getting impatient waiting, and finally his long-awaited return came: "Is everything alright on your end?"

"It's alright, everything is stable."

"Let's go then, Old Cui is waiting. It's still twelve cars today. I've tricked those idiots from Morisaka into going to the other side."

"Old Cat, wait a minute."

Zhuang Fan pulled Mao Shanwang aside and went straight to the point: "I need the shelter you found. Any news?"

Mao Shanwang was stunned for a moment: "Yes, of course!"

(End of this chapter)