Chapter 170 – High-class Xenospecies, Closing In!

Black smoke was still rolling upward without end. Having learned from experience, Su Lifeng parked the car inside a small alley, then looked at the reluctant group following behind him. “Let’s go.”

That dense black smoke would draw who knew how many survivors and Xenospecies. Naturally, Su Lifeng was not bringing these people along for sightseeing.

The group was nervous as well. After Wang Chuan heard Su Lifeng call Weiliao an idiot, his gaze kept drifting to Su Lifeng.

At last, he suddenly quickened his steps and came up behind Su Lifeng. To avoid being misunderstood, he raised both hands high. “Boss, can you listen to me for two sentences? You saw it too. I really didn’t make a move.”

Su Lifeng glanced at him, then looked at Weiliao and the others. “Speak.”

The instant he said that, the people who had originally shown Wang Chuan looks of contempt all revealed regret instead. Weiliao clenched her teeth even harder.

“Boss, with how strong you are, have you ever thought about going to a Safe City?” Wang Chuan asked with a burst of delight, choosing his words carefully.

Su Lifeng had heard the concept of a Safe City from websites and broadcasts. It was not only Huaxia. Some other countries had also built various forms of Safe Cities. But places like that should not be much different in nature from the Quarantine Zone, right?

“Not interested,” Su Lifeng said.

Wang Chuan did not seem surprised by the answer. He continued, “I understand. Boss, you haven’t been paying attention to the broadcasts these last two days, have you? The Safe City released a new announcement today. They welcome Mutants and people who have obtained abilities, people they call ability users, to join the Safe City. And once you join, you can be placed into special forces. Complete missions, and you can enjoy a better life inside the Safe City.”

Ability users? Su Lifeng felt the term should be tied to Awakening instead.

Still, he had already encountered two people who had undergone Awakening. The impression they left him with was that Mutants did not seem to become people who had undergone Awakening, while people with Awakening fought in a very different way from Mutants. Their abilities were stranger, but overall their bodies were still human bodies. A Mutant’s mutation might be singular, but their physical combat ability was often powerful.

One of these two special kinds of human obtained mutations by absorbing Xenospecies, while the other mutated on their own. It was only natural that they would diverge. As for Su Lifeng, he possessed both…

“Compared to the Quarantine Zone treating everyone like labor, the Safe City is more suitable for us. I won’t hide it from you, Boss. Someone in our team was kicked out of the Quarantine Zone. All he did was get into a conflict with a common soldier, and he was beaten up and driven out. According to him, the people inside practically used ordinary people like coolies. They beat and scolded them at the slightest excuse, forced them at gunpoint to repair roads, build walls, farm…” Wang Chuan said.

Su Lifeng found it a little funny as he listened. Did Wang Chuan really think he had never been to the Quarantine Zone? But while Wang Chuan’s version was a bit exaggerated, in essence it was not that far from the truth.

The Quarantine Zone had never been a shelter in the first place. For it to develop into what it was now was the inevitable trend. It was just that the current situation really was not quite the same as what Lv Zifeng had promised on television back then…

“Where is the nearest Safe City?” Su Lifeng asked.

Seeing that Su Lifeng finally seemed to show a trace of interest, Wang Chuan said excitedly, “It’s called Jiangnan Safe City, less than five hundred kilometers from Ningnan. I heard it’s newly built. To buy time against the Xenospecies, they moved several hundred kilometers in our direction… But that number isn’t very accurate. When they announced the direction, I didn’t really understand it. Longitude, latitude, that sort of thing…”

What Wang Chuan did not notice was that the more Su Lifeng listened, the worse his expression became.

Jiangnan Safe City! Wasn’t this luring the High-class Xenospecies straight over?

A Safe City was definitely far larger than a Quarantine Zone. Even the area around one Quarantine Zone had been enough to attract more than half the city’s Xenospecies, let alone an entire city.

Leaving aside whether those High-class Xenospecies would shift their target to Ningnan if their attack on the Safe City failed, the artillery fire alone would already be dangerous enough.

But after thinking about it again, Su Lifeng felt his blood begin to boil. High-class Xenospecies were coming… Once he rose another level, could he fight a High-class Xenospecies? Those High-class Xenospecies that were as tall as a building simply by standing up, that could crush tanks with one step. If he could absorb one, what level would he evolve to?

Very quickly, however, Su Lifeng woke from that almost instinctive anticipation and asked, “Has this Safe City already been built?”

“They’re rushing the construction, I think. Their front line is still fighting the Xenospecies fiercely. From here, we can sometimes hear cannon fire…” Wang Chuan said.

Su Lifeng selectively ignored that last sentence. Who knew whether the cannon fire they heard came from outside the Quarantine Zone or from the Safe City? Wang Chuan made it sound as if he had ears that could hear with the wind…

“I thought time was already tight enough, but I didn’t expect changes to come faster than my plans.” As Su Lifeng thought this, he suddenly asked, “Have you people had a fixed place to stay during this period?”

“Yes, in a basement across from a pharmacy. The living conditions are terrible…” Wang Chuan looked somewhat enviously at Su Lifeng’s neat clothes. Among their group, only Weiliao could barely reach that level of appearance, and that was after she had undergone Awakening and gained an ability.

Careful searching would always turn up water in the city, but with Xenospecies everywhere, who would risk their life for personal hygiene?

In fact, Wang Chuan was a little afraid that his own smell might offend Su Lifeng. How could he know that Su Lifeng’s calm expression was not because Wang Chuan did not stink, but because compared to corpses, he was still quite a distance behind…

“That’s not what I’m asking. I’m asking how much you know about the places where Xenospecies are. You should be paying more attention to avoiding them, right?” To Weiliao and the others, Su Lifeng’s words were practically merciless mockery, but they had no way to refute him.

At that moment, Weiliao suddenly said, “If you’re trying to find Xenospecies, I can help you. I can scan for the presence of Xenospecies even through walls.”

“Oh, right. You have that ability…” Su Lifeng nodded thoughtfully, then looked at her with a smile that was not quite a smile. “But don’t talk about helping me anymore. I don’t buy moral blackmail. If I tell you to do something, you do it. Understand?”

Weiliao’s face turned ugly, and she could not speak. Her lips trembled for a long while, but she truly did not dare say the word no. She was furious too. In her eyes, Su Lifeng was simply too vicious, both in his methods and his mouth. But in terms of strength, he was stronger than all of them combined…

By then, they were already very close to the place where the black smoke had appeared…