39: Chapter 39 The Reflections of the Crowd

This thought had barely emerged before Zhou Che ruthlessly cast it aside, his gaze growing increasingly determined.

No matter how strong the opponent was, he had to go to Shancheng to take a look and see who would ultimately claim the top ten strange objects. He wanted to see for himself just how powerful this Mechanical City really was!

"Stop standing there in a daze! The anomaly has been dealt with. Everyone, hurry up and scavenge for supplies. Fuel, food, drinking water—take everything that can be moved!"

Zhou Che ordered in a deep voice, breaking the deathly silence at the scene.

Only then did the crowd snap out of their shock. That's right, being shocked was useless.

Survival was the only hard truth. These supplies were the foundation of their existence; they couldn't let a moment of shock hinder their ability to stay alive.

Everyone sprang into action, scavenging the service area for supplies like madmen.

Zhou Che remained standing in place, staring straight at the direction where the Mechanical City had departed, not moving his feet for a long time.

His heart was filled with longing; how he wished to possess such a magnificent mobile city.

By then, ordinary anomalies wouldn't dare to approach, and he would be the master of the castle.

He had to become stronger. He had to establish his own Dawn Sanctuary, surpass the Mechanical City, gain a firm foothold in this apocalypse, and live recklessly!

Only when all the survivors had finished collecting supplies and returned to The Convoy one after another did Zhou Che slowly withdraw his gaze and turn back to his RV.

Considering the service area was temporarily safe, and coupled with the fact that Shen Fei and Wang Laowu had been seriously injured in the battle and had fallen into a coma,

Zhou Che immediately ordered The Convoy to stay at the service area for half a day to rest and regroup, allowing Ruan Xiaoxiao to focus on treating the wounded.

During this time, Ruan Xiaoxiao had been caring for Luo Xi day and night without rest, exhausting quite a bit of her energy. Luo Xi's injuries had mostly healed, and she was just waiting to wake up completely.

Ruan Xiaoxiao even vaguely sensed that Luo Xi's aura had been climbing, showing faint signs of advancing to Sequence 2. She estimated that she would be able to wake up within a day or two.

The Convoy set up camp on the spot. The ordinary survivors had clear divisions of labor; some set up simple tents, some started fires to cook, and others continued to travel back and forth to the service area to completely clear out the remaining supplies.

Food, drinks, gasoline, diesel, windshield washer fluid, and spare tires.

Even the tools and screws in the service area were scavenged clean; nothing was wasted.

Beside the campfire at the camp, the survivors sat together.

While gnawing on dry, hard food, they discussed the Mechanical City they had just seen with great enthusiasm, their tones filled with longing and awe.

A tall, thin man, gnawing on instant noodles, looked on with longing in his eyes:

"What do you guys think? Wouldn't it be great if we could live in that Mechanical City? We wouldn't have to fear anomalies, and life would definitely be comfortable!"

A middle-aged man with a weathered face beside him rolled his eyes at him:

"You? Stop daydreaming! That's the territory of a top-tier faction. It's probably full of Transcendents. With just us ordinary people, we wouldn't even be able to touch their city gates, let alone live inside!"

The tall, thin man stubbornly stiffened his neck in disagreement:

"What's wrong with being an ordinary person? Mr. Zhou can make people awaken a Sequence with a wave of his hand. Maybe one day, I can become a Transcendent too!"

The middle-aged man immediately lowered his voice and scolded him sternly:

"Don't you dare mess around. If Mr. Zhou makes you a Transcendent, and you dare to defect to the Mechanical City, given Mr. Zhou's methods, you wouldn't even know how you died!"

The tall, thin man quickly gave an awkward smile and waved his hands, begging for mercy:

"I was just saying it casually! How would I dare to defect? If Mr. Zhou lets me awaken a Sequence, I'd be willing to be Mr. Zhou's dog; I'd even find the poop on the side of the road delicious!"

After speaking, he sighed again: "It's just that I don't know when The Convoy will be as powerful as the Mechanical City. Do we still have a chance to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with them?"

The middle-aged man's eyes were firm as he looked toward Zhou Che's RV, his tone certain:

"Definitely! I absolutely believe in Mr. Zhou! How long has it been since he took over The Convoy? We went from a small, pathetic team that anyone could bully to a team with several Transcendents now. Our strength has increased several times over! Following Mr. Zhou, sooner or later, we will have a faction like that, or even stronger!"

Discussions like this could be seen everywhere in the camp. Everyone yearned for the stability of the Mechanical City.

But more people were full of confidence in Zhou Che, firmly believing that by following him, there would always be a day of success.

Zhou Che sat in the RV, listening to the discussions outside. The magnificent scene of the Mechanical City still echoed in his mind, and his fighting spirit grew even stronger.

Lin Wan sat beside him, watching him in his daze. She gently took his arm and spoke softly, her tone filled with admiration and trust:

"Mr. Zhou, don't overthink it. I believe you can definitely do it!"

"How long have we been struggling in the apocalypse? We already have our current strength; ordinary convoys are simply no match for us! I heard that those top-tier factions all had foundations from before the apocalypse. We started from scratch and rose so quickly, all thanks to you!"

"Please don't be discouraged. With your methods, you will sooner or later lead us to establish a faction even more powerful than the Mechanical City. Our Dawn Sanctuary will definitely become the strongest in the apocalypse!"

Captain Liu Ruyan, who was to the side, also quickly nodded in agreement: "Lin Wan is right, Mr. Zhou. We all believe in you. As long as we follow you, we will definitely get better and better!"

Zhou Che looked at the two women beside him who were full of trust in him. The distracting thoughts in his heart completely dissipated, and a confident smile curled at the corners of his mouth.

Just as he was about to speak, he saw Ruan Xiaoxiao jogging over, her face full of unconcealable happiness and excitement.

"Mr. Zhou! Mr. Zhou! My cousin has woken up! My cousin has woken up!"

Ruan Xiaoxiao ran in front of Zhou Che, as happy as a child. In her heart, now that her cousin had woken up, she had someone to back her up again.

Zhou Che smiled and ruffled her hair, his tone gentle: "It's good that she's awake. Come on, take me to see this former female war god."

With that said, Zhou Che followed Ruan Xiaoxiao and walked towards the vehicle where Luo Xi was.

Arriving at the car, Zhou Che saw the awakened Luo Xi at a glance.

She was leaning against the car seat, her face still a bit pale, but her eyes were cold and her aura sharp, still possessing the appearance of the top-tier Transcendent she once was.

But the next second, Zhou Che raised his eyebrows slightly, sensing something was off.

The aura on Luo Xi was a grade stronger than before she fell into a coma—thick and sharp, far surpassing an ordinary Sequence One Transcendent.

Zhou Che immediately released the Pathfinder Sequence, sensing with all his might. He understood instantly, a look of surprise appearing on his face.

Luo Xi had actually broken through the bottleneck while in a coma recovering from her injuries, advancing to Sequence 2!

Zhou Che stepped forward and spoke with a smile to congratulate her: "Congratulations, your injuries have healed, and you've directly advanced to Sequence 2. Your strength has greatly increased."

Luo Xi had no extra words, just nodding faintly, counting as a response.

Zhou Che didn't beat around the bush either, going straight to the point: "Ruan Xiaoxiao should have told you about what happened to The Convoy after you fell into a coma, as well as the promise she made to me on your behalf. Now that you're awake, what do you say?"