Chapter 51 – Investigation
Volume 2: Battlefield Between Two Worlds
"Have Wen Yu come here and kill all these beasts!"
Li Quan'an's voice was thick with murderous intent and rage.
As Sun Ruixing's body went slack, the ropes binding him were already being untied by Li Quan'an. Long hours of restraint had left Sun Ruixing's limbs numb, but fortunately, he hadn't suffered any major physical trauma. After slowly adjusting to the blood flow returning to his extremities, Sun Ruixing looked directly behind him.
Li Quan'an stood there, looking much the same as before, yet his face was deathly pale, as if he hadn't seen the sun in decades.
Sun Ruixing remained silent for a long time before finally speaking. "You too…"
"Don't say it. Just go. Be careful and find Wen Yu."
Sun Ruixing gave Li Quan'an a complicated look, then took the Steel Blade and the map Li Quan'an handed him. Without looking back, he walked out into the distance.
Watching Sun Ruixing slowly disappear into the darkness, Li Quan'an let out a deep sigh.
Early the next morning, Wen Yu stepped out of his room with One-Eye and headed straight for the small restaurant they had visited the day before.
Downstairs, Sun Aotian was dutifully waiting for Wen Yu.
"So early?" Wen Yu raised an eyebrow at him.
Facing Wen Yu alone was inevitably a bit awkward for Sun Aotian. He gave a bitter laugh and said, "I was just worried about keeping Wen Yu-Ge waiting."
Hearing Sun Aotian's blatant attempt to curry favor, Wen Yu actually looked at him with a bit more respect. Now that this guy had cured his case of brain-dead arrogance, he wasn't such a bad kid after all.
"Let's go. We'll grab something to eat before we head out."
The small restaurant, which prepared meals for the High Command, was staffed twenty-four hours a day. Seeing Wen Yu and Sun Aotian walk in, the staff immediately began serving dishes.
Wen Yu questioned Sun Aotian while shoveling food into his mouth.
"How far is that place from here?"
"Not too far. At a normal pace, we can get there in an hour."
"Mm. I heard they have Guns?"
Sun Aotian hesitated before answering, "That's just a guess. Since that group includes police and Government officials, they should have firearms."
"I see. Do you think they're still alive?" Wen Yu asked, shifting to a more serious topic.
Without even thinking, Sun Aotian replied, "It's unlikely. If they didn't manage to escape, that group is probably all dead."
"Let's go. Regardless of the situation, we'll go and take a look first."
Wen Yu stood up and walked toward the door.
"Wait a moment, Wen Yu-Ge. Fei-Ge asked me to give these to you first."
Sun Aotian stopped Wen Yu and handed over two Level 2 Magic Crystals.
"Fei-Ge is certainly thoughtful," Wen Yu remarked. He took the crystals and began absorbing them immediately; he considered these his service fee.
After a short while, having finished absorbing the crystals, Wen Yu and Sun Aotian picked up their pace and headed toward the other Settlement.
Before they even reached their destination, Wen Yu realized that Sun Aotian's prediction had been correct.
A fierce battle had clearly taken place ahead.
The ground was littered with the corpses of dead Zombies, interspersed with large patches of dried blood.
"They didn't make it out," Wen Yu sighed as the two men and the dog picked their way through the piles of corpses toward the building's main entrance.
This Camp had been established at the Town Government office. The main gates had been smashed to pieces by a massive horde of Zombies. Wen Yu didn't need to guess what had happened next to know the outcome.
"Let's go. Let's head inside and take a look."
Wen Yu waved a hand at Sun Aotian and walked straight forward.
Inside the Town Government building, the battle had been even more brutal than outside. The sheer number of Zombie corpses left Wen Yu with nowhere to even step. Spent shell casings littered the ground, alongside discarded Guns and Steel Blades.
He followed the trail of the Zombies' pursuit upward.
The Town Government building wasn't large, standing only three stories high. Before long, Wen Yu reached the top floor.
Seeing a wide-open window with a steel cable attached to it, a flicker of surprise crossed Wen Yu's eyes.
"There are survivors?" Sun Aotian asked from behind, having also realized the purpose of the setup.
"Seems so. These people are quite clever."
With that, Wen Yu looked toward the end of the cable.
The steel cable stretched far into the distance, connecting to a cluster of low-rise houses. That area was a maze of winding alleys.
"Let's go, One-Eye. Find them!"
If anyone else had arrived and seen this, they would have been completely at a loss. But Wen Yu was here, and Wen Yu had One-Eye.
One-Eye lowered his head, sniffing intently to distinguish the scents on the cable. Then, he immediately turned and ran down the stairs.
"Let's go, we'll follow him. There might be some survivors, and they're likely not weak. They could add some combat power to your Camp."
Anyone capable of escaping via that simple zipline was definitely a Class Holder. Ordinary People didn't have that kind of physical strength.
"Right," Sun Aotian replied simply, keeping close pace with Wen Yu.
One-Eye ran straight to where the cable ended on the other side. He sniffed the area again and immediately dashed down an alleyway.
Moments later, One-Eye led Wen Yu to a small house. His massive body slammed the door open, and he ran inside, howling loudly at Wen Yu.
"It's here!" Wen Yu said, looking at the root cellar next to One-Eye.
In the rural areas of Northeast China, people had a habit of storing food. Almost every household living in these types of houses had a cellar like this.
He reached down and pulled open the entrance to the root cellar, and a gust of cool air brushed against his face.
There was no smell of rot or decay, which suggested this cellar might be connected to other exits.
"Let's go."
Wen Yu recalled One-Eye into his Soul Realm and gestured for Sun Aotian to follow.
Sun Aotian hesitated. "Wen Yu-Ge, could there be any danger?"
"There might be, but how can we not check out something this interesting?"
Wen Yu gave Sun Aotian a mysterious smile and was the first to climb down into the root cellar.
Everyone has curiosity. When one possesses enough strength, they will naturally explore the unknown, and Wen Yu was no exception.
Seeing Wen Yu take the lead, Sun Aotian hurriedly followed him down.
It was pitch black inside the cellar, making it impossible to see clearly. However, as their strength grew, the night vision of Class Holders also improved significantly.
In less than a minute, Wen Yu had adapted to the darkness.
Looking around, Wen Yu was actually surprised.
This could no longer be called a root cellar; it was a full-blown tunnel!
"Wen Yu-Ge? Wen Yu-Ge?"
Sun Aotian's panicked voice came from behind him.
Being in total darkness could trigger the deepest fears buried within the human body. And Sun Aotian was, after all, still just a kid.
