Chapter 4 – The Situation

Volume 3: Rising Winds and Clouds

"By the way, tell me about the situation in Mudanjiang City."

Although Wen Yu had spent his previous life in Mudanjiang City, he hadn't cared about things like 'the situation' back then. Such information was useless to someone who was just Cannon Fodder!

During the lively playing and joking earlier, Zheng Ye hadn't actually said anything useful. Besides, Wen Yu estimated that a child probably couldn't provide the kind of intelligence he was looking for.

It was better to take advantage of this quiet moment to ask Zhang Xiao.

Hearing Wen Yu's question, Zhang Xiao fell silent for a moment. Then, he looked at Wen Yu with a slightly bitter smile.

"The situation? What do you mean by 'situation'?"

It might have been self-deprecation, or perhaps just a meaningless vent.

Wen Yu understood this, of course. He remained silent, saying nothing as he simply tossed another piece of firewood into the bonfire.

As soon as the words left his mouth, Zhang Xiao realized his tone was a bit inappropriate. Fortunately, Wen Yu didn't seem to mind his pessimistic mood.

Taking a deep breath, Zhang Xiao spoke again.

"Right now, the state of Mudanjiang City isn't good. At least for me and these kids, it's very bad."

Wen Yu nodded slowly at Zhang Xiao's words.

Given the strength of Zhang Xiao and his Kid Army, the overall environment of the Apocalypse was bound to be full of malice-it had to be.

"Go on."

"After the Apocalypse began, Mudanjiang City lost the management of the Government, as well as the constraints of morality and law. In the beginning, Survivors discovered the functions of the Exchange Pillar. The first to suffer were the Zombies throughout Mudanjiang City."

"Massive numbers of Zombies were slaughtered by more and stronger Class Holders. Then, when the Zombies were mostly dead, the next to suffer were the Mutant Beasts within the city!"

"Under the effects of Point-based Enhancement, differences in individual power began to emerge!"

"When individual power varies, it means a restructuring of the social hierarchy. Moreover, this process didn't take very long."

"The restructuring of order can also be called a small-scale revolution! A revolution means bloodshed. So, the third to suffer was humanity itself!"

"During that time, battles between humans and Mutant Beasts, battles between groups, and battles between individuals were common occurrences."

"There was fighting everywhere, slaughter everywhere, and the ugliness of human nature everywhere!"

"Blood flowed like rivers!"

"The victors were only a small minority of humans. For the rest, there was only despair and pain!"

After saying this, Zhang Xiao fell back into silence, perhaps lost in his memories.

Clearly, this process of restructuring the social hierarchy must have involved many, many unpleasant stories.

And Zhang Xiao was likely one of the victims.

"By the way, what did you do before? You have an interesting way of speaking," Wen Yu said with a smile, interrupting Zhang Xiao's reminiscence.

"Huh? Oh."

"I used to be a teacher. A history teacher. One of the most useful professions before the Apocalypse, and one of the most useless after."

Wen Yu nodded.

"It wasn't until recently, about half a month ago, that Mudanjiang City finally regained some peace," Zhang Xiao continued in a low voice.

"At least, a partial peace."

"The former Chief of Police, Wang Zhigang, joined forces with a portion of the garrison stationed around Mudanjiang City. They used absolute power to rule the entire city, and then they established the Central City."

"Central City?"

When Wen Yu heard those two words, his heart couldn't help but stir.

In his previous life, Central City was the holy land he had yearned for!

However…

"There's a fee to enter Central City. Besides, at the end of the day, Central City isn't the Government; they won't provide free food for Survivors."

"There are plenty of vacant rooms in Central City, provided you can pay the exorbitant Entry Fee."

"And that's not all. When a Class Holder goes out to hunt and returns, they have to pay the Entry Fee all over again!"

"Wang Zhigang and his lot are making a fortune just from those fees!"

Zhang Xiao spoke with a hint of resentment in his voice.

It was the hatred of the oppressed toward the ruling class.

But it didn't change a damn thing.

Wen Yu fell silent immediately.

Naturally, Wen Yu knew about Central City, and he was well aware of the regulations regarding the Entry Fee.

It truly was a daylight robbery.

There was no such thing as a residence permit; if you wanted to enter the city, you had to pay. Safety within the city was guaranteed, but as for the cost…

It wasn't an exaggeration to say that if the fees were lower, the Mudanjiang City in Wen Yu's memory wouldn't have had so many small groups and factions!

"Right, you mentioned earlier that Wang Zhigang has teamed up with the Military?"

Hearing Wen Yu's question, Zhang Xiao nodded first, then shook his head.

"A while ago, the garrison stationed at Tieling River passed through Mudanjiang City. They left a portion of their personnel here, while the main force reportedly headed for Yanjing City to regroup with the Military Headquarters."

This wasn't surprising. As the Military, they were an unstoppable force on land during the early days of the Apocalypse before the Demon Realm invaded.

Humans had ruled this planet for so long; it was absolutely impossible for them to surrender dominance to Mutated Creatures in just two short months.

"Actually, the group that stayed behind is cooperating with Wang Zhigang in name only. Their real purpose is to act as supervisors. In Central City, Wang Zhigang doesn't have the final say. The ones truly in charge are those soldiers-or rather, the orders coming from the Military."

After listening to Zhang Xiao, Wen Yu's eyes suddenly lit up.

That's right. Since the Military had left personnel here, they would naturally have a means of communication with the Military Headquarters.

Wen Yu would never forget the promise he made to Sun Ruixing back in Chaihe Town.

Wen Yu's original plan was to check on Mudanjiang City and then head straight for Yanjing City, but now it seemed there was a better way to handle things.

Wen Yu stopped paying close attention to the rest of Zhang Xiao's words.

It was mostly just talk about the distribution of factions in Mudanjiang City-which groups were strong and which were weak.

None of that mattered. At least for Wen Yu, it was completely useless.

Zhang Xiao probably noticed Wen Yu's distraction, as he stopped talking after a while.

After a long pause, Wen Yu asked another question.

"What's the deal with these children?"

"Just a bunch of poor souls whose parents died, leaving them homeless."

"Doesn't the Military care?"

Zhang Xiao shook his head.

"Those big shots? Why would they have time to worry about the lives of Ordinary People?"

Wen Yu nodded and said nothing more.

"By the way, accompany me to Central City tomorrow. Bring the children along too."

Zhang Xiao raised an eyebrow at Wen Yu. He could understand taking a guide, but bringing these small children along was something he couldn't fathom.

"You're the first humans I've met since returning to Mudanjiang. I'll help you as much as I can."

"At the very least, getting you a Permanent Residence Permit for Central City won't be difficult for me."

Zhang Xiao remained silent for a long moment.

"Thank you."

"It's no trouble at all."