Chapter 23 – Departure

Volume 2: Battlefield Between Two Worlds

"Dear family and friends, today we will return to civilized society and once again throw ourselves into the embrace of the Party and Country."

"Today, we will bid a complete farewell to a life of constant fear, without water or electricity. Once everything is back in order…"

Wen Yu stood by the window on the sixth floor, the window wide open, listening to Li Quan'an's impassioned speech below as he silently took a sip of water.

Below, more than three hundred people stood scattered about. Some, following Li Quan'an's words, wore happy, excited smiles; others-Class Holders-only watched coldly.

Wen Yu let out a sneer, downed the remaining water in the bottle in one go, then turned and headed downstairs.

By the time Wen Yu reached the ground floor, Li Quan'an's rally had already ended. The busy crowd kept loading luggage into the vehicles, and most faces were brimming with smiles.

"All set?"

"No problems," Li Quan'an answered confidently.

"When can we leave?" Wen Yu asked.

"Once they've finished packing up, we'll set off. Might as well let them be happy a little longer." At a time like this, there was no longer any room for Li Quan'an to indulge in sympathy.

"Got it. I'll go make some preparations first and come back in a bit."

After greeting Li Quan'an, Wen Yu turned and walked toward the Exchange Pillar.

He didn't have many Points left. Wen Yu directly exchanged for a Primary Healing Potion and put it into his Spatial Ring, spending his Points down to only a few dozen.

By now, Wen Yu's preparations were completely finished.

"Wen Yu."

A voice sounded behind him.

Wen Yu turned around. It was Sun Ruixing.

Sun Ruixing hadn't been doing well these past few days. No matter who it was, being watched in shifts by several people every day wouldn't make for a good life.

More importantly, given Sun Ruixing's character, this kind of thing was simply too cruel for him.

"Mm."

Wen Yu gave a faint nod. He had nothing to say to Sun Ruixing.

"Brother Wen Yu, I know there's no undoing what's happened. I went back and thought it over, so I want to ask you-if you're able-please take care of a few people."

Sun Ruixing's tone was full of helplessness and confusion, even carrying a trace of despair that was hard to detect.

Wen Yu hesitated, then sighed. "Sun-Ge, I can only say I'll do my best. This isn't a promise. If the situation is good, I'll step in and save people. But if the situation is bad, I can only put my own life first."

"That's enough… that's enough…"

Muttering to himself, Sun Ruixing walked toward the Common People who were packing up.

Behind him, Lin Hu followed closely.

…

"Move out."

With a wave of Li Quan'an's hand, the entire team of over three hundred people slowly began to move.

A group of over three hundred wasn't much, but once you added several dozen vehicles of all sizes, it immediately became bloated.

There were also many Class Holders who couldn't get a seat in a vehicle; they kept close behind the Vehicle Convoy at a steady pace.

Wen Yu and Li Quan'an rode in one vehicle. Li Quan'an drove, Wen Yu sat in the passenger seat, and Bai Feifei was in the back.

Seeing herself in the same vehicle as Wen Yu-especially with Li Quan'an also in the car-an awkward look flashed across Bai Feifei's face and vanished.

"Do you need me to do anything later?"

Smoking, Wen Yu asked Li Quan'an.

Li Quan'an hesitated slightly, then replied with certainty, "No. We can handle it ourselves."

Exhaling a smoke ring, Wen Yu said with satisfaction, "Not bad, Mayor Li-you're a real talent. Now I owe you a favor. If I can't help you in a bit, then when we get to Chaihe Town, I'll pay you back."

Li Quan'an chuckled. "Hearing you say that, Brother Wen Yu, puts this Old Brother at ease. As for whether we can break through, there shouldn't be much of a problem on my end."

"Oh?" Seeing Li Quan'an so full of confidence, a flash of realization passed through Wen Yu's eyes. This Li Quan'an might have quite a few backup plans.

"That Old Fox is hiding a lot," Wen Yu complained silently to himself, then stopped paying attention.

The entire Vehicle Convoy moved slowly along the run-down, desolate streets. Many people hadn't left the Camp recently; seeing their hometown reduced to this, everyone gradually fell silent.

A suffocating atmosphere hung over the whole convoy-until a scream rang out.

"Save me, save me! Something's got me wrapped up!!"

A Class Holder nearby was ensnared by a Mutated Vine, and was then rescued by other Class Holders who arrived right after.

This happened not far away; inside the vehicle, Li Quan'an and Wen Yu saw it all clearly.

"It's about to start." Li Quan'an gripped the steering wheel tightly, clearly not confident himself.

"Soon. Get out and prepare now." Wen Yu opened the door and stepped down.

With the sudden situation, the entire convoy gradually slowed and came to a stop. At this moment, they were less than 200 meters from the Mutated Vine blockade line.

"Everyone, everyone, listen to me. Don't panic."

Li Quan'an got out of the vehicle, took a few steps, then jumped onto the tallest large truck and shouted.

His clear voice carried through the entire convoy. Aside from a small number of Class Holders constantly clearing away the Mutated Vines spreading in from around them, everyone else was watching Li Quan'an.

"The situation has changed."

Li Quan'an cleared his throat and spoke directly. At this moment, there was none of his usual gentleness in his voice.

"Up ahead is Chaihe Town. As I said, Chaihe Town has already been taken over by the Government. But the problem is here, in our Hualin Town.

"Hualin Town's exits have been completely sealed off by some Mutated Vines. We have to break through if we want even a sliver of hope. There-those are the Mutated Vines that started attacking us just now.

"Now I'm handing the choice to you: follow us and break out, or stay in Hualin Town and wait to die."

As soon as Li Quan'an finished speaking, a burst of noisy clamor immediately rose from the crowd below.

"What do we do? I just saw even a Class Holder get tangled up by Vines. If we go up there, aren't we dead for sure?"

"This Li Quan'an is definitely lying to us. He's probably trying to use us as bait, then run out himself."

"Exactly. What if we die? I'm not going. I'm staying in the truck and not going anywhere. I refuse to believe these lousy plants can crush a large truck."

Some people in the crowd also stepped forward, thumping their chests loudly and saying they were willing to break out together with Li Quan'an.

These were Ordinary People Li Quan'an had bought off; most of them were relatives of Class Holders who knew the truth.

But these people were only a minority.

"Mhm. Do it."

Watching the crowd below grow noisier and noisier, Li Quan'an directly issued the order to the Class Holders.