Chapter Eighteen: The Layout of the Town

Shen Lie’s words made the tattooed young man all the more certain that Shen Lie was a survivor who had been living across the river, and moreover, a lucky one who had awakened supernatural abilities. The idea grew more intense in his heart, so he spoke with increasing candor: “The medicinal herb base to the north of the town is shrouded in red mist, making it impossible to approach. Even though the mushroom field is at the edge, for some reason, a flock of mutated crows has appeared there. Ordinary people can get by, but if an awakened one gets close, those crows go mad and attack. Two awakened have already died there, and the rest are now too afraid to risk it. Instead, they monopolize the supplies and force us ordinary people to risk our lives.”

When the tattooed youth spoke of the monopolized supplies, he gritted his teeth, clearly having suffered at the hands of these so-called awakened. The others wore similar expressions. Shen Lie could easily imagine the state of the town.

“Tell me about the situation inside the town,” Shen Lie said, picking up the handgun the tattooed youth had discarded. He didn’t touch the box containing the mushrooms. After three months of life and death, caution had become second nature; it was best not to handle unknown items.

The tattooed youth showed no reaction to Shen Lie’s gesture. He set the box on the ground, took out a mushroom, sniffed it, then put it back before describing the state of the town.

Half an hour later, Shen Lie emerged from the riverside woods, his backpack slung over his shoulders, followed by the tattooed youth and nine others. The tattooed youth’s right pinky was missing a segment, the fresh wound unbandaged and bloody.

In the end, Shen Lie hadn’t done anything drastic to them. After learning about the situation in the town, he realized that surviving alone would be difficult. With all exits from the town blocked by the red mist over the herb fields, leaving would be nearly impossible in the short term. So, when the tattooed youth and his companions proposed making him—the awakened— their leader and forming a temporary group, he agreed, going along with the flow.

The tattooed youth proved decisive as well. After relinquishing his position as leader, he chopped off a segment of his own pinky with a kitchen knife to atone for his earlier disrespect toward Shen Lie. Shen Lie merely smiled and said nothing, but he became all the more wary of this youth—someone ruthless with himself would be even more ruthless with others.

From their half-hour conversation, Shen Lie finally understood the town’s current situation. There were four so-called awakened in the town, all of whom developed mutations after the apocalypse began. At first, there were six—two of them soldiers sent by the military to help evacuate the masses. But when those two discovered the value of the Phantom Mushrooms and ventured into the herb fields, they were killed by the mutated crows.

Humanity never forgets the struggle for power and profit; it’s in our nature.

After the initial panic of the apocalypse passed, with no more order and minds twisted by trauma, those with a bit of power started to bully the weak, seeking thrills in domination. Especially when the entire town found itself surrounded by red mist, unable to leave, and those terrifying spider monsters couldn’t cross the “Red River”—the darkness of human nature erupted in full.

Robbery, rape, murder—crimes once rare now occurred constantly. Most crucially, there was no law enforcement to suppress them. The only police station was on the other side of the bridge, which had been wiped out by spider monsters in the first moments of the disaster. Only one auxiliary officer survived, and even he had vanished.

The evacuation here happened late, so aside from a few who left early, everyone else was trapped by the red mist outside the town.

Dongfeng Town was a large settlement. According to the tattooed youth, there had been nearly ten thousand survivors at first. When the spider monsters arrived, tragedy struck—over a thousand were killed in a single day, becoming food for the dozen or so spider monsters for days.

Luckily, a squad of military district soldiers had been there to direct the evacuation. Armed and joined by a few brave young men, they briefly clashed with the monsters. After half the soldiers and countless youths died, they discovered the source of the spiders was south of the bridge, along with the existence of the Red River. Everyone rushed to the north side, blew up the bridge with explosives, and, after more losses, finally eliminated two monsters that had crossed, stabilizing the situation.

Even with the soldiers’ help, survival would have been impossible for so many without four individuals suddenly mutating during the ordeal, awakening supernatural powers. Two were among the soldiers—a platoon leader and a private—while the other two were civilians. After the survivors retreated north, these four gained status, but the platoon leader remained in charge, keeping order—just barely.

But when the two awakened soldiers died in the herb field fog, the situation changed drastically. The two civilian awakened refused to accept control from “ordinary people,” seized command of the remaining soldiers, and began to rule over the survivors.

Later, the two split over interests, forming rival factions. When two more awakened appeared, things became even more complicated: each of the four now drew in friends and relatives, forming four armed groups. The remaining soldiers, using their firearms and rallying those unconnected to the awakened, formed a fifth group—the only one without any awakened. After three months of clashes and adjustments, the half-town was divided among five powers.

The five groups reached a delicate balance. Thanks to the Red River holding back the spider monsters, there were few attacks in the northern district. Food became scarcer, but they managed two months of uneasy peace. Despite some oppression from those in power, at least people weren’t starving.

But everything changed a month ago.

Although Dongfeng Town’s main crop was medicinal herbs, there were also cornfields, and a grain depot in the north district. It wasn’t large, but it held a decent supply—enough to feed the survivors and maintain a veneer of stability.

Then, for reasons unknown, all the grain in the depot suddenly turned moldy and rotten overnight—a few hundred tons of corn reduced to waste.

When the news broke, despair fell over the town. With six or seven thousand survivors, the daily food consumption was staggering. As long as the grain depot held, people didn’t worry, but once it was gone, how could so many survive?

No food meant robbery and killing, meant hunger and death. And so it happened. The day after the grain spoiled, the groups fought a brutal battle over the remaining supplies, stripping the north district of anything edible. The population dropped by one or two thousand.

Afterward, the group leaders began to strictly ration resources. Now, to get food, one had to make a contribution—hunting for Phantom Mushrooms, which could strengthen the awakened, became one such task.

Either starve, or risk your life. Women could sell themselves, provided they were pretty and someone wanted them. In these perilous times, the old, the young, and women were the weakest. The situation in tiny Dongfeng Town mirrored the world at large; Shen Lie believed it was much the same elsewhere.

He understood why the tattooed youth’s attitude changed so quickly after seeing his golden palms—strength was part of it, but the youth also hoped to use Shen Lie as a stepping stone to power. An awakened meant a new group, and as one of the “founders,” he wouldn’t have to risk his life for a meager share of food.

To this end, the tattooed youth offered up Phantom Mushrooms to curry favor, and the others didn’t object. Shen Lie had to admit the youth’s decisiveness and leadership were impressive.

But Shen Lie had no intention of ruling here. Others might not know, but he was all too aware of the horrors lurking beyond—spider monsters weren’t the only threat; there were also the terrifying white giant worms, which had appeared in this rift zone.

If one of those worm monsters emerged, the Red River would be no obstacle—even every living thing in town combined wouldn’t withstand a single breath from it.

Even if the worm didn’t appear, with more and more spider monsters gathering across the river, there was no guarantee the Red River would always hold. At least, the white spider might well find a way across.

And now that a mutated black cat had shown up, other creatures might mutate too. If a flying beast appeared, no defense would suffice. In short, sitting and waiting to die was not an option. Once he learned enough, he had to leave and head for a large gathering point like Yang City.

“Li Cheng, let’s stop by where you’re staying first; then we’ll decide our next move,” Shen Lie said calmly, without slowing his pace, giving the tattooed youth a quiet order.