52: Chapter 52 Observation

Looking down at the earth, the crisscrossing city streets had long since turned into a wasteland, scarred and desolate.

Abandoned vehicles were piled layer upon layer, forming cold hills of steel.

The buildings on both sides were mostly collapsed and ruined; on the exposed walls, massive claw marks from beasts and dense bullet holes crisscrossed, each mark silently recounting the brutality of past battles.

The deathly silence did not last long before inhuman, ferocious roars drifted over from the distance, interspersed with the muffled sounds of sporadic explosions that burst forth, shattering the silence of the entire ruin.

Gray dust hung heavy over the firmament, obscuring the entire sky.

The traces of a once brilliant and prosperous civilization had completely withered; the neon signs and giant electronic screens along the streets were all dim and broken, their fractured frames hanging over the ruined buildings, no longer reflecting the dazzling scenery of the past city.

High above, Li Changqing quickly reined in his aura, suppressing his presence to the absolute limit.

He quietly spread his Divine Sense, instantly scanning his surroundings, and immediately detected the abnormality of this world—the Law of this world was completely different from the Cultivation World he knew.

The pure Spiritual Qi in the world was so thin it was nearly extinct, replaced by a restless, violent, and chaotic turbid energy that filled every corner of the world, brutally scouring the entire land.

After a brief weighing of options, Li Changqing decided to scout first.

He wanted to uncover the root of the catastrophe in this strange world, while also determining the distribution of surrounding factions and resources, before making further plans.

With his mind made up, he flashed, his form moving like a wisp of green smoke past the low, ruined walls, silently sneaking away in the direction of the incessant, strange sounds in the distance.

...

The setting sun hung low, dyeing the entire horizon a stale, rusted copper color.

Heavy dust hung perpetually in the air, and the rays of the setting sun struggled to pierce through layers of haze, falling upon the ruined Guxiang City and casting long, twisted shadows.

The evening breeze swept through the streets, brushing past the empty, silent city district, stirring up scraps of paper and charred ash that rustled softly, like whispers lingering in one's ears.

In the distance, sporadic embers flickered with a dark red glow, struggling to hold on in the deepening twilight, fighting the heavy night for the last glimmer of light.

In the western suburbs of Guxiang City, on the edge of an open area in the abandoned industrial zone, several figures lay quietly in the heavy shadows of a half-collapsed warehouse, like ghosts waiting to hunt.

They were the Blood Fiend Squad, a group of veteran hunters who licked blood from the edge of a blade in the apocalypse, struggling to survive by plundering resources.

Ever since Tianlan Star suffered the catastrophe and the apocalypse arrived, the entire planet had been completely transformed.

The world's map had expanded more than tenfold out of thin air, and the familiar landscapes and environments had all been destroyed.

The violent power left behind by the black energy tides continued to twist the earth, giving birth to crazily growing mutant vegetation and deformed, monstrous beasts with terrifying ferocity.

Extreme natural disasters occurred one after another, only returning to normal in the last two years.

The modern technology that humanity was once proud of had completely collapsed and failed; communications were severed, and heavy nuclear weapons had become scrap metal.

To this day, the technology that survivors could restore was only enough to support short-range, simple communication within a hundred miles.

Surviving researchers had spent years studying and exploring, finally uncovering the tip of the iceberg regarding the changes in this world: the ubiquitous, chaotic special energy in the air continuously interfered with the geomagnetic field and overturned the ecosystem; they named it Chaos Spiritual Qi.

Under the endless erosion of the Chaos Spiritual Qi, mutant plants spread crazily, devouring all remnants of cities and farmland.

Various animals had completely mutated under the baptism of the Chaos energy, transforming into mutant beasts with extreme aggression and even rudimentary intelligence.

The ecological chain that had continued on Tianlan Star for countless years was completely broken and reorganized.

Humanity had fallen from the top of the food chain and was no longer the Dominator of the earth; they could only huddle in limited safe zones, struggling to survive in the cracks of a chaotic world where mutant beasts ran rampant and war never ceased.

While the territory expanded and technology withered, countless mysterious Secret Realms that did not belong to the original map of Tianlan Star appeared out of thin air.

The Secret Realms contained extraordinary resources and rare treasures, quickly becoming the top priority that major factions would fight to the death to seize.

More than a decade had passed, but the wounds of the catastrophe had never faded; Tianlan Star remained trapped in the quagmire of the apocalypse.

To seize scarce food, population, survival resources, and treasures from the Secret Realms, various factions warred incessantly, with battles raging on without end.

The state systems of the past had completely fallen apart and disintegrated.

Many weak nations had been completely annihilated, their territories becoming uninhabited death zones occupied by mutant beasts.

Today, Tianlan Star was left with only isolated human safe bases and a few top-tier major factions with a Legacy from before the apocalypse, barely holding onto a few stable territories.

Besides that, there were countless small, precarious survivor settlements that could be destroyed at any moment.

Captain Xia Dong, leader of the Blood Fiend Squad, also possessed a small survivor settlement and was a formidable Tier 6 Evolver.

At this moment, he was lurking in the industrial zone with three elite members of his squad, lying in ambush, targeting a material recovery team from the New Era Biotechnology Company, preparing to seize the opportunity to plunder their supplies.

He wore a patched-up, heavy protective suit; the outer layer was made of battle-hardened, worn-out, dark gray Kevlar fiber mixed with hardened plastic plates.

His vital areas—chest, abdomen, shoulders, and waist—were all reinforced with additional armored steel plates salvaged from abandoned military vehicles.

The entire set of armor was heavy and menacing, exuding a fierce battlefield aura.

On his head was a modified, fully enclosed tactical helmet, with fine cracks running across the visor glass—all marks left by countless life-and-death battles.

Captain Xia Dong's main weapon was a large-caliber "Skull Crusher" rotary machine gun.

The gun body was scarred and battle-worn, and the extra-long ammunition chain hanging from his waist dangled heavily, signaling the kind of violent firepower that could crush everything.

A serrated tactical axe and a large-caliber defensive pistol were worn on his waist, providing both long-range and close-quarters combat capabilities.

Years of fighting for his life on the edge of death had allowed Captain Xia Dong to develop a calm aura that far exceeded that of an ordinary person.

Meanwhile, at the high point of a nearby ruined building, in a carefully chosen sniper position with a perfect view, the woman codenamed Sniper Leader You Tong lay quietly.

As her name suggested, she was calm, sharp, and lethally silent.

As a core member of the Blood Fiend Squad, she was a Tier 4 Evolver.

A mottled camouflage cloak, interwoven with dark green and gray-brown colors, matched the tone of the ruins perfectly, completely hiding Sniper Leader You Tong's figure among the broken walls and ruins; if one didn't stare intently, it would be impossible to notice her.

Under the cloak, a set of lightweight, form-fitting tactical combat gear balanced flexibility and protection, suitable for all kinds of complex combat environments.

Sniper Leader You Tong held a precisely modified long-range sniper rifle steadily with both hands, the barrel wrapped in heat-insulating, non-slip bandages.

The shiny high-magnification optical scope was her most trusted partner in the apocalypse.

Her entire face was completely covered by a tactical mask and goggles, revealing only a pair of eyes as calm and cold as an icy lake, which, through a narrow gap, were locked tightly onto the predetermined target in the distance.

A tactical knife with a restrained cold light and a compact submachine gun hung closely at her waist, ready to handle sudden close-quarters combat—offense and defense were both covered, leaving no flaws.