21: Chapter 21 After the Initial Victory

Three days after the battle ended, Wang Jie stood on the ruins of the King Kong Camp, watching the soldiers clear the battlefield.

Workshop No. 13 had been converted into a temporary shelter. The survivors who had been forced to work under King Kong—forty-seven people in total—were settled here. Among them were men and women, old and young, each face wearing the daze of having survived a disaster.

Lin Waner was giving them physical examinations. Chen Xue was helping nearby, recording information while softly comforting the terrified women.

When Wang Jie walked over, he happened to see a young woman clutching Lin Waner's hand, trembling and crying.

"He... they locked me in a dark little room, every day... every day..."

Lin Waner gently patted her back, her voice very tender. "It's all right now, it's all right. That man is dead; he'll never hurt you again."

The woman looked up and gazed at Wang Jie.

Wang Jie stood there, still wearing his dust-covered combat uniform, with a few days of stubble on his face and a calm look in his eyes.

The woman looked at him for a few seconds and then suddenly said, "Thank you."

Wang Jie was stunned for a moment.

"Thank you for killing them," the woman said. "Thank you for saving us."

Several other survivors also looked up at Wang Jie.

In those eyes, there was gratitude, awe, and a hint of fear.

Wang Jie was silent for a while, then said, "You're welcome. Live well from now on."

He turned and left.

Lin Waner caught up and walked beside him.

"What's wrong?" she asked. "Not used to being thanked?"

Wang Jie shook his head. "No. I just feel—"

He paused.

"I just feel that they shouldn't be thanking me. It's the world that has failed them."

Lin Waner looked at him and said nothing.

After a while, she gently squeezed his hand.

"You've already done very well," she said. "Better than most people."

Wang Jie looked at her and suddenly asked, "Do you regret it?"

Lin Waner was taken aback. "Regret what?"

"Regretting coming to my place," Wang Jie said. "Following me means fighting every day, and there's a chance of dying every day. Don't you regret it?"

Lin Waner was silent for a few seconds.

Then she smiled.

"Wang Jie, you know, before the apocalypse, I worked in the hospital emergency department. Every day I saw life and death—car accidents, sudden illnesses, people being slashed. I knew back then that life is fragile and you never know when it will end."

She looked at the survivors in the distance who were rebuilding their homes.

"But I also know that as long as there is life, there is hope. You gave me hope to live on, and you gave them hope to live on. Why would I regret it?"

Wang Jie looked at her, a very complex feeling welling up in his heart.

He suddenly really wanted to hug her.

But he didn't.

He just nodded. "That's good then."

The two of them stood on the ruins, watching the sun slowly rise.

A new day had begun.

The cleanup of the King Kong Camp lasted for a full week.

Wang Jie had people inventory all the supplies: food, medicine, weapons, tools, and all sorts of miscellaneous items. Then they were distributed according to need—part for the new survivors, and part transported back to their own base.

During this process, they discovered many valuable things.

The most important was a batch of documents.