109: Chapter 107 The Refugees

Chapter 107: Refugees

Across the vast wasteland, the convoy sped at full power, kicking up rolling clouds of dust.

The Guard Team members in the convoy were armed with live ammunition, fully stocked on ammo, and wearing combat uniforms. They had driven straight from the Outpost Camp, heading directly toward Wild Dog Valley.

Dong Hu was the convoy leader. His fierce, tiger-like eyes were sharp and lively as he vigilantly surveyed the surrounding area.

He could not yet fully restrain his imposing aura, making him resemble a fierce, vicious beast.

After receiving Wang Ting's permission, he had exchanged for a second blood vine fruit.

The powerful medicinal effects pushed his physical fitness all the way to breaking the limit twice, making him now a true second-limit-break warrior.

He had never imagined his strength could break through so quickly.

How long had it been since he left Scarecrow Town? A month or two? His strength had already undergone an earth-shattering transformation.

"Brother Dong, no need to be so cautious. Heading toward Wild Dog Valley, there usually aren't many monsters."

Seeing Dong Hu so vigilant, the driving Guard Team member couldn't help but smile.

Dong Hu merely raised his eyes, but his stern look startled the driving team member.

He said in a deep voice, "Population matters directly affect our camp's development; we can't afford to be careless. First, bring a few truckloads of refugees back and keep them in the quarantine zone for observation. When picking people later, be thorough—don't let any wilderness bandit scouts slip in."

"Understood, Brother Dong."

Dong Hu had brought out five trucks in total, with each vehicle assigned only three Guard Team members, making fifteen people in the whole squad.

As Ren Chuan and the others continuously repaired vehicles, combined with the several cars looted from the Three Wolves Gang earlier, the Outpost Camp's fleet was now large enough to form a substantial convoy.

Including off-road vehicles and trucks, there were 13 vehicles in total, plus 10 motorcycles.

Dong Hu had essentially brought out half of their total assets—a grand display indeed.

However, this was unavoidable; without that many trucks, he couldn't possibly transport so many refugees.

As the vehicles crossed a high hill, scattered groups of refugees appeared before their eyes.

They were walking toward Wild Dog Valley, faltering in their steps and supporting each other.

Some carried belongings on their backs, others concealed knives in their clothes, every single one of them wearing a wary expression.

To survive in this wasteland, they had to keep walking until they found a Shelter willing to take them in.

Seeing the stream of wanderers, Dong Hu suddenly frowned. "The numbers are a bit off. It seems like they're all coming from the north."

The scorching sun baked the parched earth; on the barren ground with hardly any cover, the area within a mile or two was almost fully visible.

And the number of refugees fleeing was clear at a glance, far greater than what was normally seen.

"There's a convoy! A convoy!"

The moment they saw the convoy, hope burst from the eyes of some refugees.

They surged toward the convoy, and having just approached Wild Dog Valley, these people were already acting as if driven mad.

*Bang, bang, bang—* Dong Hu leaned out and fired two warning shots straight into the sky. The deafening gunshots finally deterred the frenzied refugees.

Instantly, many refugees showed fear on their faces, slowing their pace considerably.

Dong Hu bellowed fiercely, "Who dares to move carelessly? Everyone stand still! Stay ten meters away from the vehicles!"

"Fu Xing, Xiang Nan, Huang Han, get down and start picking people."

"Got it, Brother Dong."

The three stepped out of the vehicle, armed with weapons, and walked toward the crowd. "Anyone with special skills, step forward!"

"Pick me! I can repair cars!"

"I can make clothes! I can do hard labor too, I have strength!"

"I know blacksmithing!"

The refugees huddled together raised their hands in a frenzy, competing to be picked.

If they were chosen right here by people from a Shelter, their safety would at least be guaranteed.

—

Otherwise, they would have to keep wandering, looking for other Shelters in hopes of being taken in.

If none of the Shelters along the way took them in, they would have only one road left: walk all the way to Jumu City.

However, given their current physical state, walking such a long distance was undeniably risking their lives.

"You, you, and you! All of you step over here, take off your outer clothes, and drop all weapons. Anyone caught with a weapon will be shot on sight!"

Xiang Nan and the others picked people with cold expressions. Even though they were barked at like livestock, the refugees showed no intention of resisting.

To stay alive was their single greatest desire.

"Sir, please, can you take my daughter too? I can do so many things—hard labor, weaving clothes, I can do it all. I beg you, please take her with us."

A chosen woman fell to her knees, begging piteously.

Beside her was a little girl who looked like a frightened rabbit, tightly clutching her leg. She seemed only five or six years old, skin and bones.

Xiang Nan immediately wore an embarrassed and conflicted expression.

A little girl had no productivity, couldn't do work, and would only waste food; in the apocalypse, she was purely a burden.

He looked at Dong Hu. Dong Hu furrowed his brows deeply before finally nodding. "Take her along. The Boss won't blame us."

"Thank you, sir! Thank you, sir!"

The woman kowtowed on the ground, striking her head several times until her forehead was red and covered in sand.

"Mom..."

The woman tightly held her daughter's hand. Even though her head throbbed with pain, she was overjoyed—not every Shelter was willing to take in a little girl.

The actions of Xiang Nan and his team caused a small stir among the refugees, making the shouting crowd even more chaotic.

Dong Hu frowned as he watched, then raised his gun and fired a full volley into the sky.

The gunshots instantly poured cold water over the agitated crowd. Dong Hu said in a deep voice, "One by one!"

The squad members quickly gathered the refugees. In five trucks, about twenty people were packed into each.

The trucks filled up fast, yet the remaining people still tried frantically to squeeze aboard.

A frail man rushed forward; Dong Hu snorted coldly and pointed his pistol directly at his head. With a *bang*, the bullet pierced through his brow, bursting into a bloom of blood.

The corpse collapsed right before everyone, causing the refugees to scatter with a gasp, horrified by Dong Hu's ruthless method.

"Anyone else want to try approaching the trucks?!"

Intimidated by him, no one else dared to step forward. Dong Hu waved his hand. "We're going back!"

Having recruited over a hundred people so quickly, including many with repair and farming experience, Dong Hu should logically have been pleased.

Logically, Dong Hu should have been happy, because the remaining refugees would wander along the direction the convoy drove off in, and a significant portion of them would find the Outpost Camp.

The direction refugees migrated was often determined by leaders who knew the routes. They knew the way to Jumu City or other Shelters, and led those around them to flee toward those locations.

Just like Scarecrow Town before, someone had led them there, allowing Wang Ting to survive.

However, Outpost Camp was a new settlement, so few people knew its location, which was why not many refugees had been seen walking in this direction.

In other words, now that Dong Hu had recruited this batch of a hundred people, more refugees would likely discover the location of the Outpost Camp later and make their way there on their own.

The issue of the camp's population growth would gradually be relieved.

But in Dong Hu's heart, he was worried about something else.

He called the mother and daughter into the back row of the vehicle and asked, "What's your name?"

"My name is Wang Ying," the woman answered timidly.

Although her face was dirty and her cheeks gaunt, she still possessed some vitality. Otherwise, she couldn't have carried such a large burden to wander all the way here.

Dong Hu felt something was off and asked again, "Which Shelter were you from before?"

"Most of us are Shelter residents from Black Horn Town and Lengshi Town, about a hundred kilometers away from here."

Dong Hu's pupils contracted slightly. Although they had no dealings with those two towns, he had heard of them; they were located north of Huangyan Town.

"How did you end up coming here?"

Fear showed in Wang Ying's eyes. "It was an abnormal dust storm—an abnormal dust haze enveloped the entire area. Not just our town, but the surrounding Lengshi Town and Tiemu Town were all swallowed by it. Monsters inside kept attacking the walls, and in the end, we couldn't hold out, so we ran for our lives."

Fleeing all the way down, especially in dust-covered areas, monsters could rush out at any time to drag people into the sand and turn them into food.

For them to survive and flee all the way here was extremely fortunate.

Dong Hu's face instantly darkened. "The abnormal dust storm has appeared again..."

He stopped questioning immediately. Having lived in the Tieling Wasteland for so long, how could he not know how terrifying abnormal dust storms were?

During such anomalous upheavals, monsters inside Infinite Buildings would pour out fanatically, placing enormous pressure on Shelters trying to suppress them.

Even more terrifyingly, abnormal dust seemed to serve as a medium for the Infinite Building monsters to step into reality; they could permeate the Infinite Building to manifest in the dust storm, forming beast tides that attacked Shelters across the region following the storm.

Since an abnormal dust storm had spawned in Black Horn Town, even though the Outpost Camp was over a hundred kilometers away, it was not necessarily safe.

Thinking of this, his heart sank, knowing that Outpost Camp had to prepare itself.

He shouted to the driver, "Drive faster! We might be in big trouble."

Ren Chuan was leading a small convoy, parked about two kilometers away from Fisherman Town.

Not far away, two trucks came speeding toward them, kicking up rolling clouds of dust.

Ren Chuan picked up his binoculars and took a look, realizing the driver was Tang Lin.

The two vehicles arrived in front of Ren Chuan and pulled to a stop.

Tang Lin opened the door and stepped out, slamming the car door shut with a loud *bang*.

"Captain Ren, the goods you asked for have arrived. I didn't expect you really wanted live ones, let alone driving over personally. This is my first time doing this kind of business."

Ren Chuan offered a friendly smile. "Doing business is like that—a first time leads to a second. Just trying something new. Next time we come over, it'll probably be to buy fish."

Tang Lin also curled her lips, a sharp glint in her eyes. "That would be great. If you can produce grain as well, we'd be even happier to trade with grain. After what happened at the black market, we won't dare go there anytime soon."

Tang Lin was speaking the truth. Their main food production was fish caught from Reed Lake.

Fresh fish fetched the highest price, but without enough ice, transporting them to Jumu City was practically fantasy.

Fisherman Town wasn't as powerful as Huangyan Town, so it naturally lacked the transport capacity and resources to guarantee long-distance transit every time.

Thus, with the black market in turmoil, they faced many difficulties, forced to negotiate trades with Shelters one by one.

Wang Ting and his group's sudden visit was, in a sense, help provided in their hour of need.

Ren Chuan smiled. "We're just helping each other out with what we have. Huang Yanwu is strong enough; the black market might reopen in time. Besides, your fish can be made into salted fish or dried fish, making long-distance transport convenient."

"That's all we can do for now."

*Clang—*

A huge noise echoed from the second truck, as if a massive creature had slammed into it, startling everyone.

Tang Lin's face cooled as she explained, "It's that Water Ghoul ramming the truck. It's been crashing into it all the way here. Out of water, this thing becomes abnormally violent."

"Three low-level anomalous fish and one Water Ghoul. Each Silver-Scaled Perch-Toothed Fish costs 10 extraordinary materials, while the Water Ghoul is a bit pricier at 15. That comes out to a total of 45 extraordinary materials."

Ren Chuan nodded. "Deal."

Tang Lin accepted the chest handed over by Ren Chuan, beaming with delight.

Extraordinary materials in hand were, after all, the true guarantee.

She weighed the 45 extraordinary materials in her heart; these could be traded at Jumu City or Bullet Town for even more grain or ammunition.

She thought to herself, "Outpost Camp spends even more generously than Scarecrow Town. That Wang Ting guy must be a powerhouse from afar."

"

Everyone walked to the back of the two trucks and looked inside.

Inside a large iron cage hung a humanoid monster covered in scales. Standing about 1.5 to 1.6 meters tall, it had a hunched posture, glowing green eyes, sharp webbed claws—a hideously hideous monster.

The other truck held a massive iron tub containing three low-level anomalous fish crammed together in water. They had likely been drugged, as they weren't struggling much for the moment.

"Help Brother Ren Chuan load the things onto their trucks."

Tang Lin called out to her subordinates to assist.

Ren Chuan narrowed his eyes slightly and stepped forward first. "I'll do it."

He gripped the iron cage directly, exerted power from his lower body, and lifted it instantly.

"What a heavy cage."

Together with the Water Ghoul inside, the cage weighed nearly a thousand jin.

A heavy iron cage welded from solid rebar weighed several hundred jin on its own, so with the Water Ghoul inside, it was naturally heavy.

However, Ren Chuan possessed strength in abundance; he actually hoisted it up on his shoulders, marched over to the truck, and dumped it with a loud *clang*, landing the iron cage securely inside.

Tang Lin's pupils contracted as she watched. She hadn't expected that Ren Chuan, who looked like a butler, was also a second-limit-break warrior with superb physical fitness.

Just this single glance made her feel that Outpost Camp was fathomlessly deep.

Since Ren Chuan, a second-limit-break warrior, was so respectful toward Wang Ting, Wang Ting was likely an Extraordinary as well.

The two groups quickly completed the deal, cash in one hand and goods in the other.

Watching Ren Chuan's convoy head into the distance, Tang Lin turned to her subordinates and said, "Outpost Camp is likely far from simple. The black market is too chaotic right now, so we can't go there anytime soon. We can try to build good relations with them to exchange for more extraordinary materials and food. Find a way to scout deeper into the Reed Marsh; if I remember correctly, there are elite Green Water Ghouls in that area."

"Understood," her second-in-command acknowledged. "Actually, if they really want live specimens, they don't necessarily only need monsters from our Infinite Building. The surrounding Infinite Buildings have these anomalous entities as well."

"You mean Zombie Town and the Jungle Ruins?"

Tang Lin shook her head. "Since they want live anomalous specimens, it can't be for food, but for research. Everyone knows about Zombie Town and the Jungle Ruins, and they are unguarded, so they might have already thoroughly explored them. But speaking of that, the Infinite Building in the Quicksand Lands might be worth exploring."

There were many Infinite Buildings on the wasteland, but not every Infinite Building was suitable for occupation.

If the surrounding area was bad or the Infinite Building was too far away, it held no value for occupation at all. But now that someone wanted live monsters, didn't value suddenly arise?

Tang Lin also had a bold thought in mind: Ren Chuan seemed stronger than when they last met. This was her intuition, and she trusted her intuitive judgment completely.

Outpost Camp's actions strongly suggested that, like Huangyan Town, they possessed methods to make their subordinates stronger—perhaps an enhancement potion, or perhaps an extraordinary potion.

Whichever it was, it made them worth befriending deeply.