As he was making his way to the barracks, the mutated human stared at him and did not even blink. She did not move at all and allowed Luo Yuan to untie the net and rope that was around her body. She quickly got up after that and cautiously hid behind Luo Yuan as soon as she was freed.
Luo Yuan shook his head and smiled. Then, he strode out of the barrack and the mutated woman quickly followed him. There was no one in the passage to stop them. She and Luo Yuan passed through a crumbled training ground and canteen. All of the survivors hid behind the doors in fear.
There were also people that were opposed to this, "He's too arrogant! Are we letting him go?" Asked a man in the crowd at the weapon storage depot. He gazed at Luo Yuan angrily as he strolled around their territory freely. The man covered his body with a layer of a shade to blend into the darkness. He looked creepy and even though he was the only rebel who voiced out, he was stronger than the crowd.
"If you have a death wish, keep walking!" The man said with a smile. Now that Cao Cao had died, there were only two forces left. Without a doubt, only Li Wang or Xie Ziliu had the right to speak this way so it was either one or the other.
"Don't you think we can beat him if we attack as one?" Li Wang wondered. Xie Ziliu had always been a solo man as he has the strongest abilities among the three leaders. The rest were never really close to him. They only knew that he was once in the army and that he was the first hunter among them to hunt in the wilderness. He was essentially lonely and odd. Li Wang and Cao Cao’s power at the sanctuary would have been diminished if Xie Ziliu was a power-hungry man. Xie Ziliu laughed at Li Wang’s statement as if he had heard a joke and said, "I think you have been here for too long. You have no clue where this man comes from!" Li Wang had Goosebumps as he heard Xie Ziulu’s laughter.
"Where's he from?" Li Wang asked in surprise. All of the electronic devices at the sanctuary were damaged. Even the wireless devices, microcircuits, and electronic components suffered the same fate. Therefore, they did not have much knowledge of the external world.
Xie Ziliu smiled at Li Wang sarcastically and said, "Civilization still exists. Looking at the manner in which he is dressed, I guess he must have come from the only place which can still manage to have ongoing manufacturing efforts. After the signs of the apocalypse were confirmed, the government had gathered forces from the whole nation to build the largest reconstruction project called the Reconstruction Area. It is located in the Taklamakan Desert in China. The Reconstruction Area is so far from us and he walked all the way here. How are we going to stand up against him?" Xie Ziliu could still clearly remember the place where some corps were dispatched to. He was quite certain that it must be the Reconstruction Area. Destiny kept him alive during the past battle. He went through the darkest days of his life just like the rest in order to survive.
"How do you know he came here on foot? Perhaps, he took a flight…" Li Wang retorted and stopped as he suddenly remembered no more flights were taking off as mutated birds now occupied the skies. He couldn't come to his senses for a long while. Before the apocalypse, he was just an ordinary farmer. Even though he did not have good knowledge of the surrounding geography, he knew that both places were far apart. Luo Yuan's abilities must be terrifying as he could pass through the outskirts and arrive at this place while still looking clean and tidy.
Xie Ziliu did not bother with how shocked Li Wang was and said, "I thought that the Reconstruction Area would no longer exist but your presence has proven that the city was not damaged. There's no hope here as the sanctuary is dying soon. Probably after half a year, nobody would survive. I don't want to spend my time waiting for death here. I want to leave this place!"
"What!?" Li Wang asked in shock. As soon as he understood what Xie Ziliu meant, he knew he would be the only leader in the sanctuary after the death of Cao Cao and the departure of Xie Ziliu. He instantly felt that he was lost and the little joy that he had left within him faded away. One of the strongest men decided to leave and the future of this place was uncertain. As the second-strongest man, Li Wang was happy and scared at the same time.
"I'll leave now. We shall meet again someday!" Xie Ziliu said.
"You're leaving now?" Li Wang sounded as if he did not want him to leave immediately.
"I don't know which way I should go, so I'm going to follow him." Xie Ziliu answered coldly. He turned away swiftly and walked towards Luo Yuan.
Luo Yuan stopped as he was walking out of the exit of the small cave and said, "Come out!" The mutated woman quickly hid behind Luo Yuan as she heard it. Xie Ziliu then appeared from the shadows. Before he could even tell Luo Yuan his intention, Luo Yuan asked, "Do you want to go to the Reconstruction Area?"
"How did you know?" Xie Ziliu asked in surprise.
"I heard it just now. I have something else to do so I'm not going back to the Reconstruction Area yet and you can't come along with me. You will have to go there by yourself." Luo Yuan could listen to their conversation clearly as his hearing was highly sensitive. Luo Yuan was curious about this evolved man as his body could form shadows to help him blend into the shadows. He wondered how this phenomenon was possible.
Xie Ziliu was disappointed that Luo Yuan rejected his company on the journey. He was one of the strongest men in the sanctuary and was ashamed to ask for help from Luo Yuan but he knew that it was useless to feel so. He then begged Luo Yuan, "May I know which direction I should go if I'm heading to the Reconstruction Area?"
"I'd give you a satellite map but it's not with me right now. You'll need to follow me to where I'm staying today." Luo Yuan said even though he had two satellite maps with him.
"Alright!" Xie Ziliu answered.
Luo Yuan looked at the time and realized it was already eight o'clock. He then said, "We have to speed up, it's a long journey. Let me know when you can't run any further." Xie Ziliu felt insulted. Nobody ever dared to speak to him like that and in fact, he used to be the one saying these words to others. He was left standing there for a while and then Luo Yuan disappeared. The beautiful mutated woman followed closely behind him.
Xie Ziliu panicked and sped up. No matter how hard he was running, the distance between them did not get any shorter. Luo Yuan did not intend on making him feel inferior but he was already running at a slow speed of 50 to 60 meters per second. To him, this the speed he jogged at. Of course, a speed of 50 to 60 meters per second was astonishing to ordinary people. Those who could reach such a speed at the Reconstruction Area must be at least a Level 4 evolved human with the potential to be a member of Firearms Bureau reserve team. Only a fraction of all the evolved humans had such qualities and abilities. It was even harder for the sanctuary to have strong evolved man like them as the population size was small.
The fights he got into previously were extremely fast. Luo Yuan had forgotten that the evolved men at the sanctuary were relatively weak as he usually dealt with super evolved humans or mutated beasts. He then consciously reduced his speed so that Xie Ziliu could slowly catch up to him. Luo Yuan's speed had reduced to around 30 to 40 meters per second. Xie Ziliu found the mutated woman turned back to look at him from time to time as though she wondered how could he be so slow. He avoided her gazes and hurried on.
It seemed to him like the road was endless. His legs went numb and he was panting vigorously. He had no idea how long he had been running. The only thing he knew was that the surroundings were getting more and more isolated and odd. This place was far beyond the area that he had explored when he stayed at the sanctuary. Meanwhile, there were all kinds of creatures that appeared one after another. He was amazed at Luo Yuan's power and strength as he was still capable of killing the mutated beasts while running without decreasing his speed. Some of the mutated beasts were around 10 meters tall. They were sliced in half merely because they blocked his path. Xie Ziliu slowly got used to the strong smell of blood that spread throughout the air. He had never expected that an evolved man could be so powerful.
Luo Yuan spent a total of five hours to return to the cave.
"The Reconstruction Area is still too far from here. I would advise you not to go as you may encounter danger during the journey that is not within your abilities to manage. If you were to stay at the sanctuary, you could live longer." Luo Yuan advised Xie Ziliu as he was completely exhausted. He then took out a satellite map from his backpack and threw it towards Xie Ziliu.
Luo Yuan did not explain the full story. Even if Xie Ziliu got back to the Reconstruction Area, it would not be safe as well. The extraterrestrial civilization could invade them at any time and the safety of the people would be compromised.
Xie Ziliu was now gasping and lying on the floor like a fish out of water. He forced a smile and said, "Yes, of course. I do understand you. However, I'm not willing to die without any hope! I would rather take the risk!"
Luo Yuan sighed as he had the exact same thought during the fall of Hedong city.
"Can you tell me about the condition of the Reconstruction Area?" Xie Ziliu asked.
"It's still fine there. The society was rebuilt and the mutated beasts were isolated from the Reconstruction Area. There are active industries and underground cities developing rapidly everywhere." Luo Yuan said.
Everything would go well if the extraterrestrial invasion did not happen. Perhaps, before he died, he could witness the scene of humans recovering their lost territory. Xie Ziliu got excited and said, "I wish to see it." Luo Yuan shook his head and kept quiet as he was not very optimistic. He picked up the small mutated beast that he killed and peeled off its skin. He then started grilling the meat.
"Can I help you?" Xie Ziliu asked.
"No, it's not necessary!" Luo Yuan rejected him immediately. "You will have to go there by yourself tomorrow. Take a good rest."
Luo Yuan could not keep him company as he had to perform his duty. The mutated woman squatted beside Luo Yuan as she listened to their conversation quietly. She seemed to feel completely comfortable in Luo Yuan's company now. The reason why she kept her distance from him in the first place was probably due to the way she lived when she was in the outskirts. She had gotten used to being like that.
The cave then went silent. Everyone seemed to have something on their minds but nobody uttered anything. They ate their dinner in a hurry and left a pile of white bones on the ground. Luo Yuan threw a spare tent towards Xie Ziliu since the mutated woman would not need it and said, "This is for you. You might need it."
"Thanks!" Xie Ziliu was thankful. He touched the tent gently and it was as smooth as silk. He felt that there would be something amazing inside.
Luo Yuan could not sleep as he had troubles in his mind which gave him a dilemma. After a while, he had made up his mind. It was undeniable that Luo Yuan felt a mild affection for the innocent woman but he was still going to leave her behind. He would be putting her life at risk if she were to follow Luo Yuan to the dangerous seaside that he was heading to. The duty he was assigned to had been delayed for a very long time and it concerned the life and death of the human race. There would still be some hope for the human race if he could get the information out earlier. With his ability to fly in a curved arc through the fourth dimension, he had to rush to Borneo.