Dark Ruins Dawn

Chapter 37 Wilderness
The city center of Linhai was also shrouded in smog.

Rows of low-rise buildings are haphazardly placed, their exterior walls covered with exposed cables and pipes.

The erected holographic billboards featured cheap-looking images with distorted colors.

The figures in the advertisement are dressed in bizarre costumes, twisting their bodies and smiling exaggeratedly.

Some images would occasionally freeze, with smiles turning into twitches, before quickly returning to normal.

"The thing I regret most in my life is coming here. They call this a commercial district?"

Lolo's voice was filled with undisguised disgust.

“Every building here is pieced together haphazardly; they didn’t even bother to hide the electrical wires.”

The so-called commercial district was nothing more than a few slightly wider streets, and the goods displayed in the shops were, in her opinion, all 27th-century antiques.

What she found most unbearable was that there wasn't a single restaurant here that could offer authentic royal afternoon tea.

The hypocritical reception, the hypocritical politeness, the hypocritical powerful figures from Linhai—Luo Luo disdained to go to such low-class places.

The air is perpetually filled with ozone, low-quality fuel, and a faint smell of excrement.

Lolo covered her mouth and nose with a handkerchief.

She couldn't stand it; even with the car windows closed, she could still smell the odor.

Sitting next to her, Nan Yiwei was intently looking out the window, her fingertips moving rapidly across the flexible notepad as she jotted something down.

There was no disgust in her eyes, but rather a gleam in them, like an explorer discovering a new continent.

"Look at the way they look at themselves."

Nan Yiwei's voice was very soft, as if she were talking to herself: "Under such high pressure, it still maintains a kind of original vitality."

She read aloud the sentence she had just written: "...It is an unadorned beauty."

"beautiful?"

Lolo couldn't help but sneer.

"Weiwei, your aesthetic standards are always unexpected. In my opinion, everything here is cheap—cheap buildings, cheap people, cheap sounds, cheap style."

Nan Yiwei frowned slightly, feeling that those words were a bit too much.

Lolo turned her head and pointed to a man on the street corner who was repairing a prosthetic leg.

The man sat on the ground, violently striking his metal calf with a hammer, producing a piercing metallic sound.

"Look at this guy, even his maintenance work is like this... wild, rough, and bold."

She mimicked Nan Yiwei's word choice, her tone full of sarcasm.

"Lolo, you..."

Nan Yiwei smiled wryly, ignoring her complaints, and continued to observe everything around her.

Most of the pedestrians on the street had undergone body modifications, but the prosthetics were of very poor quality.

The interface between the metal and flesh was rough and uneven, and occasionally faint electric sparks could be seen.

"Weiwei, how much longer are we going to stay here? It's so boring."

Suddenly, Lolo thought of something and grabbed her arm: "Hey, why don't we go out of the city and take a look around, and see what the real wasteland is like?"

This suggestion caused the administrator sitting opposite him to change his expression slightly, and he respectfully advised:

“Ms. Wittgen, the area outside the city has just experienced several waves of zombies, and the safety level is very low. I strongly advise against going out now.”

"Safety?"

Lolo interrupted him, pointing to the two steel behemoths not far away: "With two Barons following us, what are we afraid of about the zombie horde? Are they just for show? No matter how many zombie hordes come, they won't be enough for a single round of Vulcan cannons to wipe them out."

“Ms. Wirtgen, that’s not what I meant.”

“That’s true, your place is too small, you’ve never witnessed the Baron’s power.”

Lolo's tone was slightly arrogant.

"When the zombie horde arrives, it'll be a good opportunity for you to see what's going on."

The administrator was in an even more difficult position.

If either of these two women were to suffer even the slightest mishap, he would not only lose his official position, but he would also lose his status as an honorary citizen.

He looked to Nan Yiwei for help.

Nan Yiwei put down her pen, pondered for a moment, and nodded.

"Your Excellency, please come out for a little while. We won't go far, don't worry."

She patted Lolo's hand in a comforting gesture, "Perfect timing, I also want to see the real landscape of the wasteland with my own eyes, it can provide more inspiration for my work."

Her words were like a final verdict, and the administrator dared not object further, so he had no choice but to agree.

He dared not be negligent in the slightest.

Within minutes, a large guard unit had assembled at the city gate.

In addition to the two "Baron" mechs, ten additional multi-purpose armored vehicles, five field tanks, and a full-strength assault regiment were also dispatched.

The assault team was led by the commander himself.

Before he left, the administrator pulled him aside and repeatedly instructed him in a low voice:

"Remember, just circle around outside the city and you must be back before dark! No matter what they ask for, you must find a way to refuse, understand?"

"understand!"

The regimental commander stood at attention and saluted, his expression serious.

The convoy drove out of Linhai City in a grand procession, raising a cloud of dust over the wasteland.

The exploration vehicle's autonomous driving system was originally set to a safe route around the city.

But Lolo found that road just as boring as the city.

She casually drew a new route on the holographic map, pointing towards the deeper ruins.

"Let's go this way, it looks more interesting."

The exploration vehicle immediately veered off course. Nan Yiwei hesitated for a moment but did not stop her.

"That's bullshit, always causing trouble."

The regimental commander grumbled a few words on the communication channel, but dared not disobey, nor could he actually intercept the car.

As a result, the military vehicles behind them passively followed, and the entire formation was gradually stretched out, being led by the nose.

Fortunately, after the previous wave of zombies swept through the area, the threat level of the ruins was very low. Under the blazing sun, the concentration of eerie fog in the wilderness had also dropped to its lowest level.

The commander's anxiety gradually subsided.

After the convoy had penetrated more than ten kilometers into the ruins, the scouts ahead suddenly sounded an alarm.

"Report! Unidentified creature detected! Repeat, unidentified creature detected!"

Two Baron mechs immediately moved forward, their heavy machine guns slowly rotating to lock onto a broken wall ahead.

The soldiers quickly advanced, setting up a temporary defensive line, with their guns pointed outwards.

Luo Luo and Nan Yiwei poked their heads out of the exploration vehicle, their faces filled with curiosity.

A few minutes later, four small, thin figures were driven out from behind the ruins by the soldiers.

They are rat-men scouts.

They looked very young, not even adults yet, with sparse fur, and were carrying sticks and stones, without a single decent weapon.

After being pointed at by more than a dozen dark gun barrels, they trembled with fear, huddled together, and made terrified "squeaks".

The regimental commander stepped forward, glanced at his men, and then made a throat-slitting gesture.

"Dispose of it."

Any pity shown to the ratmen, a race known for their cunning and betrayal, will lead to devastating consequences.

"and many more!"

Nan Yiwei jumped out of the car and walked quickly to the regimental commander, her face full of confusion.

"Why kill them? They were just passing by, and they looked like they were still minors."

The commander suppressed his anger, turned around, saluted her, and spoke calmly:
“Madam, they are ratman scouts, which means there is a sizable nest nearby. If we don’t eliminate them, we will expose our location.”

"But they are still children!"

Nan Yiwei's voice rose a few decibels.

"According to the laws of Zhongdu, any intelligent being who has laid down their weapons enjoys the basic rights of a prisoner of war! You cannot execute lives so hastily!"

She pointed to one of the ratmen curled up on the ground, its eyes filled with tears.

“Look, they’re just scared and they’re even crying. They pose no threat to us, Commander. Please believe me.”

The regimental commander fell silent, speechless for a moment.

Looking at this distinguished guest from the ivory tower of Zhongdu, he felt that every word she said was both perfectly correct and incredibly naive.

Ultimately, he chose to compromise.

"Okay, ma'am."

He nodded: "I will follow your orders."

He waved his hand, signaling the soldiers to release the ratmen.

"Get out of here." The four ratmen, as if granted a pardon, scrambled into the ruins and disappeared.

Nan Yiwei smiled with satisfaction, feeling that she had done the right thing.

But she didn't see that on the distant ruins of a tall building, a sniper quickly took position and silently adjusted his scope.

Four barely perceptible soft sounds.

Three ratmen that were fleeing suddenly collapsed, their heads bursting into small clouds of blood mist.

The last one was very lucky; it only got shot in the shoulder.

It lay on the ground for a while, and after confirming that the threat was over, it took some grass and rope from its pocket, bandaged the wound, and then crawled back to its den.

On the back of a hill, five kilometers away from the convoy, a greylag goose was observing everything through binoculars.

"The distinguished guests from Zhongdu are quite impressive."

She put down the binoculars, her voice soft.

"Team leader, three of our targets are dead, and there's one left," the sniper reported in a low voice.

The Grey Geese team has been searching this area for two whole days.

The team's mission is to rescue a second-class citizen of Linhai City who has been kidnapped by ratmen.

The pay wasn't high, but Harry took the job anyway in order to boost his performance in the new position, and then dumped the mess on her.

After a long pursuit, they finally located the four rat-man scouts. They just needed to wait for them to return for their shift so they could pinpoint the location of the nest.

Now that only one of the three is dead, things are a bit tricky.

The Grey Goose and his group followed the trail of blood, but their trail went completely cold at the end.

She crouched down, picked up a bit of soil, which contained some undigested plant fiber.

There were also several clear claw marks nearby.

A lot of information can be determined from the position, depth, and spacing of the paw prints.

"The direction is right, the nest is not far away."

So the two armored vehicles stopped, and eight team members got out and quietly followed the escaped ratman.

Fifteen minutes later, they arrived at the entrance to an abandoned underground parking lot.

The entrance was well disguised, but the strong smell of ratmen was impossible to conceal.

The greylag goose did not act immediately.

She instructed her team to spread out, occupy high ground, and conduct reconnaissance of the entire area.

She quickly realized something was wrong.

Besides the Skaven Sentinels, other figures appeared, including mutants of various races.

They wore uniform greyish-white cloaks and had fanatical expressions on their faces as they went in and out of the parking lot entrance.

"They are members of the Apocalypse Church."

The team member lowered his voice, his tone tinged with disgust.

The Apocalypse Cult is the longest-standing anti-humanity force in the wasteland.

They believe that humans are an obsolete species and must embrace new life and actively mutate in order to welcome the arrival of God.

The majority of the followers are mutants who, after being rejected by human society, turned to this extremist organization.

The greylag goose observed intently.

She discovered that Tataji, the leader of the Skaven, was standing with several high-ranking members of the Apocalypse Cult, talking in hushed tones.

Subsequently, the Ratman elites and members of the Apocalypse Cult all emerged and left the parking lot in a grand procession.

The grey geese immediately realized that their target was likely the convoy that had just been "sightseeing".

The distinguished guests of Zhongdu were their true prey.

There was a good show to watch.

Now that the main force of the ratmen has been drawn to the front, it is the best time to infiltrate the nest and rescue the hostages.

"The rear is undefended, let's go in."

The greylag goose made a decision.

She took the composite bow off her back and nocked an arrow that was entirely black.

The arrow gleamed with a metallic sheen in the sunlight.

Those are depleted uranium arrows.

"call out--"

The bowstring trembled slightly, and the arrow silently pierced the air.

A ratman sentinel standing at the entrance jolted violently, looked down to find a hole in his breastplate, and collapsed.

"Shhhhh-"

Several more clean and swift arrows struck, and four or five patrolling ratman guards were all hit in the forehead.

After retrieving the arrows, the greylag goose wiped them clean and put them back into the quiver.

Her team members slipped into the parking lot like ghosts, moving silently and stealthily.

The interior was dimly lit and filled with the smell of decay.

They cleared away the scattered guards and quickly located the area where the hostages were being held.

A converted cold storage room.

The door was pried open, and a stench hit us.

The young team members couldn't help but gag.

Inside the cold storage, more than a dozen mutilated and rotting bodies lay scattered about.

In the corner, inside an iron cage, were more than a dozen survivors.

Upon seeing Grey Goose and the others, their eyes gleamed with a will to survive, and they excitedly shook the iron bars.

Grey Goose made a shushing gesture.

Her gaze swept across the entire cold storage, and finally she found the target in a separate freezer.

Only a head remained.

The rescue mission was still a step too late.

Grey Goose sighed softly, took out a biometric device, and extracted the target's iris and DNA information.

After confirming the identity, she sealed the head in a portable cryogenic chamber.

The mission is only half completed, but you can get half the reward.

"Release all the other hostages," she ordered.

The iron cages were opened one by one.

The released refugees neither expressed gratitude nor fled.

Like a pack of ravenous beasts, they roared and pounced on the rotting flesh infested with maggots.

They tore it with their hands and gnawed at it with their teeth.

The sounds of chewing and swallowing were particularly jarring in the cold storage.

The young team members were deathly pale.

He finally understood why the hostages were being held separately: to prevent them from cannibalizing each other.

Grey Goose pursed her lips, preparing to leave, when she noticed a girl standing alone in the corner.

She was so hungry that she was pale and thin, and her lips were cracked, but she did not try to eat the rotten flesh.

There was a hint of fear in his eyes, but more than that, there was bewilderment.

Grey Goose withdrew her gaze and was about to leave the cold storage when the girl timidly approached.

"Sister, please take me with you, please."

The grey goose turned to look at her.

“My name is Hua Xin. I don’t eat that kind of meat. When the zombie horde came, I was captured by the ratmen.”

The girl's voice was soft but clear, "If you are going back to Linhai City, you can drop me off outside the city. Oh, and I have some gold coins here, you can have them all."

The greylag goose seemed to see its past self.

She patted the girl's head and said softly, "It's okay, come along then, there's still room in the car."

As soon as Grey Goose and his group left the parking lot, they heard bursts of gunfire and explosions in the distance.

But the more frequent, muffled earthquakes made the Grey Geese realize the seriousness of the problem.

Another zombie horde?
They quickly retreated, returning to the two armored vehicles behind the hillside, and then drove towards the highest point of the hill.

After everyone got out of the car, they lay prostrate on the ground and raised their binoculars.

The sight reflected in the lenses made everyone hold their breath.

(End of this chapter)