184: Independent Regiment

... Three Years Later — Sanchuan City.

"Ah! It's finally almost cleared! I thought two months would be enough, but then I just went out once and haven't been back for three years!"

On the desolate, sand-covered streets, Fuji was dressed in rags, clutching his hair, his mind somewhat on the verge of collapse.

The air was filled with the stench of decaying corpses.

Two vultures were tearing at a corpse that had long since rotted and was crawling with maggots.

The arrival of the crowd caused several rats under the corpse to quickly scurry into the dilapidated houses.

Chen Yu swatted at mosquitoes, dressed in equally tattered clothes, and gritted his teeth, saying:

"Damn it, if it weren't for those Independent Regiments, we would have finished this a long time ago."

Originally, according to the operatives and special personnel Long Wu had distributed across various provinces and cities, cleaning up the entire country shouldn't have taken this long at all.

In other words, they wouldn't have needed to travel all this way.

After the cleanup, they could count the survivors, then gradually rebuild the cities, with everyone becoming a Soldier.

They would train tactics to cope with future battles.

However, half a year after the Descent, some operatives, as well as some ordinary people who had acquired firearms, spontaneously formed scattered gangs and organizations.

These people are now also referred to as the Independent Regiment.

Liu Yan's face showed some fatigue; he wasn't surprised by this phenomenon but still sighed helplessly.

"This phenomenon is inevitable."

"Without technology, it's very difficult for provinces and cities to mobilize large numbers of personnel or even communicate with each other."

"It's hard to achieve unity."

"Under such conditions, it's not uncommon for various factions to carve out their own territories and rule."

Chen Yu glanced at the more than four thousand Soldiers following behind them.

Then, Chen Yu looked at Liu Yan and smiled sardonically:

"Including you, right?"

Faced with Chen Yu's sarcasm, Liu Yan also smiled.

Three years of companionship and shared battles had made their relationship far different from before.

Those unpleasant memories from back then had now become idle chatter during boring times.

"More than four thousand people, just feeding them every day is a problem. When all your Soldiers arrive, can you afford to support them?"

Chen Yu lit a cigarette and offered one each to Liu Yan and Cai Ning at the same time.

Upon seeing the cigarettes, the Soldiers immediately perked up!

"Boss, can I have one too?"

"Boss, I want to smoke too."

"Boss!"

"..."

Liu Yan sighed helplessly and reached into Chen Yu's backpack.

"Smoke sparingly." After pulling out 8 packs of Hongli Qun cigarettes, Liu Yan threw them into the crowd of Soldiers behind him.

"Damn it, that's all the stock I had left!" This scene made Chen Yu's eye twitch uncontrollably.

"It's fine, Cai Ning definitely has more," Liu Yan waved his hand.

"Well done, Liu Yan, saves him from just knowing how to smoke all day."

Zhang Ning, seeing all of Chen Yu's cigarettes distributed to the Soldiers, gloated from the side.

"The Independent Regiment of Sanchuan City should be up ahead. Have the Brothers surround it."

Liu Yan turned his head and instructed several Soldiers behind him.

The Soldiers nodded, then began to organize, the 4000-strong army spreading out in an orderly fashion.

"The Ash Zone..." Liu Yan murmured, looking ahead.

"Let's go. Once this is dealt with, it's basically over. The remaining cleanup work will be left to The Authorities."

Liu Yan waved his hand and walked straight forward.

Zhang Ning looked at Chen Yu with a worried expression.

"Brother Chen... do you think the Independent Regiment here isn't organized by Xiao Shen?"

"We haven't been able to contact him for two years..."

"With his strength, forming a team would be too easy."

Chen Yu shook his head decisively.

"Although I don't know why we can't contact him, he absolutely couldn't have formed a team like this."

"His personality isn't suited to be a leader."

"Death is also impossible. Liu Yan checked with the resuscitation ventilator and didn't find him, only some people with the same name."

Shen Cangsheng lost contact with everyone less than a year after leaving Location.

They could establish contact with him using the military radio, but when speaking into the military radio, there was no response from the other side.

The military radio's forced contact establishment could achieve designated eavesdropping targets.

But after establishing contact, they could only hear some noisy human voices, without Shen Cangsheng's voice coming through.

"That child, Xiao Shen, shouldn't have returned to Sanchuan at that time."

"If it were me, encountering the sudden Descent back then, I would absolutely not want Xiao Ji to come save me."

"I would only wonder where he is now, if he is safe, and pray in my heart that he would be unharmed."

"If I knew he risked his life to save me, I would naturally be touched, but I would also be angry."

Cai Ning slowly exhaled smoke, his face full of worry.

To say among them, whose change was the smallest over these three years... everyone collectively turned to look at Zhao Chuang.

At this moment, Zhao Chuang was walking and giggling with an Asara fashion weekly.

The cover clearly printed pictures of beautiful women.

Everyone shook their heads.

Sometimes, being thoughtless really isn't tiring.

For three years, everyone had been fighting almost constantly.

Although they had each other's company and joked around, which could relieve psychological pressure, every day they opened their eyes, it was just shooting and killing Soldiers.

Occasionally, they also had to deal with some troublesome survivors.

At first, food was quite abundant; they could easily find some supermarkets.

But as time went on, the most common meat in the cities was only crocodiles.

The number of corpses was certainly the highest, but very few people would eat them.

At least Liu Yan and the others would not eat them.

Under such circumstances, everyone's mindset and personality had changed to some extent.

Bang ————!!!

A red light suddenly appeared above Chen Yu's head.

Ding ————

Chen Yu expressionlessly took out the shattered heaven is round, earth is square from his bag and replaced it with a new one.

"The 2074th."

This was the number of times Chen Yu had been hit by a smoothbore gun since the beginning.

If it weren't for the heaven is round, earth is square given by Liu Yan, he would absolutely not have survived this many smoothbore guns.

Although special items could also be found in the action areas that descended into the cities, trying to find a corresponding number of heaven is round, earth is square under continuous smoothbore gun fire was like a fool's dream.

"If I ever find out who it is..."

"I will use every torture known from ancient times to the present on that one person."

Chen Yu's voice was practically squeezed through his teeth.

After everyone entered the Ash Zone, the quiet streets and houses on both sides gradually began to rustle.

Noticing the undercurrents here, Liu Yan quietly spoke to remind them:

"Everyone, be careful later. The Independent Regiment is different from those Soldiers, and there might also be special personnel among them."

"According to what Long Wu said, if we can negotiate and incorporate them, try to negotiate and incorporate them."

"If not, kill them all, leave no one behind, to avoid future trouble."

After Liu Yan gave his orders, everyone nodded.

From a warehouse not far away, several figures slowly emerged.

These people included not only people from Summer Country but also people from various other countries, all brought together from the action areas during the Descent back then.

They were dressed in equally tattered clothes, but their equipment was very well-made.

All of them were wearing Level 4 sets!