Chapter 52 – Human Tragedy

Volume 2: Battlefield Between Two Worlds

"I'm waiting for you up ahead. Stop shouting."

Wen Yu's low voice rang out, which actually served to quiet Sun Aotian down.

Less than a minute later, Sun Aotian managed to adjust to the underground conditions and said to Wen Yu in surprise, "Wen Yu-Ge, this place is huge!"

"Yeah. This place probably connects to an old air-raid shelter."

There were many air-raid shelters in the Northeast region. In the mountains near Chaihe Town, there were numerous shelters and man-made caves.

"Let's go. We'll head inside and take a look."

The space where Wen Yu and his companion were currently standing was very narrow; it was impossible for Wen Yu to summon One-Eye here.

Without One-Eye, Wen Yu naturally couldn't track the scent below. Given the situation, they could only take it one step at a time.

They continued forward along the tunnel.

The ground was dry, and there were no signs of corpses or bloodstains, indicating that no battle had taken place underground.

As Wen Yu and Sun Aotian walked further, a glimmer of light suddenly appeared before their eyes.

"An exit!"

Sun Aotian shouted excitedly when he saw the light.

Wen Yu carefully calculated the distance. This tunnel wasn't short – it was at least a few kilometers long. If he factored in the distance and direction, the exit should be located at…

Before Wen Yu could finish his calculation, the light at the exit was suddenly blocked by a massive black shadow!

A violent roar erupted, deafeningly loud. Behind him, Sun Aotian turned pale with fright, but Wen Yu remained standing where he was, motionless.

"That makes sense."

"What makes sense?"

Sun Aotian looked at the terrifying figure at the entrance, his voice trembling. After a moment, he also realized what was happening.

The creature at the entrance couldn't get in!

The tunnel itself was narrow, and the exit was naturally small. The enormous bear at the end simply couldn't squeeze through.

"The exit is on the mountain. Judging by this black bear's behavior, it knows there's food in this tunnel, so it's been blocking the entrance. This means the people inside probably haven't made it out yet!"

"Let's look elsewhere!"

Wen Yu ignored the big bear at the exit and turned in a different direction, heading toward the other end of the tunnel.

"Wen Yu-Ge? We don't need to deal with that black bear?" Sun Aotian asked tentatively.

Wen Yu waved his hand. "No need. That guy isn't weak. Fighting it would be an even match at best. It's better to let it stay outside quietly."

The best way to earn Point was to kill large numbers of Cannon Fodder and opponents slightly weaker than oneself. Fighting the strong involved too many variables; if an accident occurred, it meant certain death.

Wen Yu would never proactively initiate a battle between equals without absolute certainty of victory.

Upon hearing Wen Yu's explanation, Sun Aotian nodded in understanding.

They continued along the other section of the tunnel. After a while, the air began to grow stagnant. A rotting, foul stench wafted into their nostrils, constantly assaulting their sense of smell and making them want to gag.

"What is that smell? It's disgusting!"

Sun Aotian pinched his nose, his expression twisted in revulsion.

Wen Yu frowned. With a Physical Attribute twice that of Sun Ruixing, he had already identified the scent.

"Yeah. The smell of human waste, and…"

"Something very bad might have happened up ahead. Just a warning: if your stomach isn't strong enough, you'd better stay here."

Wen Yu gave Sun Aotian a warning look.

His words only served to provoke Sun Aotian's pride. "I'm not a child. What could possibly be there that would scare me?"

Without waiting for Wen Yu to say anything else, Sun Aotian marched straight ahead.

"Still too young!"

Wen Yu curled his lip, remaining where he was without moving an inch.

Before thirty seconds had passed, a frantic set of footsteps rang out. Sun Aotian rushed back out from the darkness ahead, covering his mouth. He collapsed into a crouch on the ground and began to vomit violently.

"See? I told you things didn't look too good up there," Wen Yu said mockingly.

Hearing Wen Yu's teasing, Sun Aotian's eyes widened. He looked at Wen Yu with fury, roaring loudly, "What do you know? What do you know?! Those animals…"

"They're eating people, right? I know," Wen Yu interrupted him flatly.

Seeing the confusion in Sun Aotian's eyes, Wen Yu slowly walked forward. As he passed, his low voice drifted into Sun Aotian's ears.

"In the Apocalypse, these things happen. Actually, you should have realized it yourself. There's no food in here, and there are only two exits-one blocked by a Mutant Beast, the other by Zombies. This is a dead end. When humans have no food, instinct will always overcome reason. It's not surprising that cannibalism would occur."

"You can't really blame them. In fact, in my logic, you can forgive almost anything done for the sake of survival!"

With a crunch, Wen Yu stepped on a hand bone covered in teeth marks as he entered the slaughterhouse.

The first things that caught his eye were two skeletons hanging from the ceiling of the cave, their flesh completely scraped clean.

Judging by the cramped space, not many people could have escaped the Town Government-at most, a dozen or so.

From the state of the scene, these people had left quite a while ago. They hadn't lived here for very long, so they naturally hadn't consumed much 'provisions.'

Two people were enough.

Wen Yu lifted the lid of the large pot in the center. The broth inside had long since congealed; internal organs and flesh had solidified into a single mass. It didn't emit much of a foul odor, but the pale color of the contents-combined with the knowledge of what exactly was being boiled-was enough to make Wen Yu lose his appetite.

He immediately closed the lid and carefully observed the details of the surroundings. There was a decent amount of firewood used for the fire, as well as some drinking water.

Further inside, a stench wafted out. That area was likely where the group had set up their latrine.

After a brief survey of the area, Wen Yu walked back out.

Sun Aotian had already finished vomiting everything he could. He stared blankly at the pitch-black ceiling of the cave; everything that had happened here had dealt a significant blow to his psyche.

"Let's go," Wen Yu said, heading back toward the direction they came from.

"Wen Yu-Ge, those people are terrifying!"

Sun Aotian stood up shakily. Even now, his limbs felt numb.

Wen Yu thought for a moment before speaking. "I wouldn't necessarily call them terrifying. To be honest, if I were in that situation, I couldn't guarantee that I wouldn't eat people either. In reality, those you see as Cannibals are just a group of pathetic wretches. If there was anything else to eat, who would choose to eat their own kind?"

The two of them fell into a heavy silence.

"Come on, let's stop thinking about it. There's still one question, though: how exactly did those people manage to get out?"