Chapter 107: The grace of dripping water
Translator: Legge Editor: Legge
When the off-road vehicles and military transport trucks of the Qing Consortium appeared on the horizon, Ren Xiaosu suddenly thought that this might also be why the wolf pack was not in a hurry to carry out their hunt.
Ren Xiaosu was quite familiar with the logo of the Qing Consortium on those vehicles, having just seen it in the past few days.
The logo of a white ginkgo leaf was visible on the vehicles. According to Mr. Zhang, this world had already gone through hundreds of millions of years of change. However, only the ginkgo tree of all the plants in the world retained its original appearance since the Quaternary glaciation.
This was one of the world’s oldest genus of tree, as well as the species with the most powerful “genetics.”
When Ren Xiaosu first saw the Qing Consortium’s logo in the Jing Mountains, he wondered if they had chosen to use the white ginkgo leaf as their logo because they hoped to stay around forever.
The vehicles were roaring as they arrived. But when they approached, Ren Xiaosu felt there were too few of them. They were so few in number there wasn’t a need to count them—there were just three off-road vehicles and two military transport trucks.
Didn’t Xu Xianchu say that the Qing Consortium’s combat brigade had a strength of 4,500 soldiers? Why did so few people make it out then? A single truck could take up to 50 people at least, right? Then did it mean that only about a hundred of them managed to escape from the stronghold?
What exactly happened?
In reality, Ren Xiaosu had underestimated the horror of this disaster. As there were much fewer brick and mortar structures in town, Ren Xiaosu did not consider the consequences of them or even the high-rise buildings collapsing. Most of the structures in the stronghold were made of brick and mortar.
You could say that Ren Xiaosu’s imagination had been limited by his poverty.
This earthquake had even caused the land to crack open, splitting the stronghold into two as it forcibly turned the river into a waterfall.
This was the power of nature, and humanity could do nothing about it.
After the brick and mortar structures in the stronghold collapsed, a large number of humans were crushed to death under the buildings. Countless people had died, including those who were from the Qing Consortium.
What was most unfortunate was that the military base was situated right across the fault line, as it got split in half.
Luo Lan was panting in the off-road vehicle. The most embarrassing fact was that he was only dressed in a pair of flowery boxers. When the earthquake occurred, he was still fast asleep. It was fortunate that the barracks he was living in was hardy and strong, and the structure was low to the ground, letting him survive.
As it was winter now, there was heating in the barracks and inside the off-road vehicle. However, there wasn’t any in the wilderness.
Right now, Luo Lan was most worried about what would happen if the vehicle ran out of gas before they could reach Stronghold 109. At that time, he might have to get out and hoof it as they made their way towards Stronghold 109!
Thinking of this, Luo Lan said, “How much gas does the car still have?”
The soldier in the driver’s seat said, “There’s still a third left. We can keep driving for about 130 kilometers.”
“Can we make it to Stronghold 109?” Luo Lan asked.
The soldier said awkwardly, “We’re still 210 kilometers away from Stronghold 109. There’s definitely not enough gas, but we can actually have the people in the off-road vehicle behind us get out while we siphon the gas from their vehicle....”
“Eh?” Luo Lan’s eyes lit up before he sighed. “Forget it, the people in that off-road vehicle are all injured, and so are those in the transport trucks.”
The soldier was silent for a moment before saying, “Sir, both you and Mr. Qing Zhen treat us very well, unlike the other big shots of the consortium. We don’t mind if we have to suffer a little.”
“Enough, don’t bring it up anymore.” Luo Lan waved his hand irritably. “You’re speaking like I’m a good person. I’m not. Don’t you know that the good die young?”
“Sir, there’s a group of people up ahead running,” the soldier said when he saw the fleeing refugees.
Luo Lan disdained, “There was also a group behind us just now. What’s the big deal? Pass them and make them eat our dust!”
When the refugees saw the convoy of vehicles passing them, they got rather jealous. How great it would be if they also had such vehicles to ride in.
There were actually vehicles at the sand plant as well, but as they were deployed to transport the sand, only the excavators remained at the plant. They couldn’t go fast and were gas guzzlers!
At this time, someone from the group of refugees suddenly ran out. “Boss Luo, I’m the manager of the sand factory, Wang Yiheng. Please bring me along with you! I’ve met you before!”
Luo Lan’s driver asked, “Should we bring him with us?”
“I don’t even have enough space for the injured. Why would I bring him?” Luo Lan scolded, “Ignore him.”
When Wang Yiheng saw the convoy getting further and further away, he got so angry that he almost wanted to shoot that Fatty Luo dead with the gun in his hand. But on the one hand, he did not have the balls to do so, so he could only think about it. On the other hand, he couldn’t catch up to them.
...
Ren Xiaosu watched the convoy as it approached from afar. He told Wang Fugui and the others, “I believe that there’ll be quite a lot of people from the stronghold making their way here. Don’t worry too much. There’ll be enough people to attract the attention of the wild animals on our behalf. If there are still wild animals that might attack us, leave them to me.”
Wang Fugui was a very smart man and could sense the confidence in Ren Xiaosu’s claims.
Ren Xiaosu should know all about the kinds of danger following them, but he wasn’t afraid at all. Wang Fugui thought about it and wondered if Ren Xiaosu could also be... a supernatural being?
How else could he be the only one to return when so many people went on the expedition to the Jing Mountains? Moreover, could Ren Xiaosu also have killed people in the Jing Mountains? If not, why was Ren Xiaosu able to kill those people keeping watch at the entrance of the school without batting an eye?
“Um, Xiaosu, I’m not sure if I should ask this?” Wang Fugui said with some hesitation, “But what on earth happened in the Jing Mountains? Where did the others go?”
“20 of us went on the expedition.” Ren Xiaosu thought about it as he said, “But there should only be only four of us who made it out alive.”
These four were Xu Xianchu, Yang Xiaojin, Luo Xinyu, and Ren Xiaosu himself.
“As for what happened in the Jing Mountains, I’m not sure either. There are bugs that eat humans and humanoid Experimentals whose intelligence has been dumbed down.” Ren Xiaosu said with a sigh, “But actually, those aren’t the scariest things out there.”
The monster whose claws came out of the crater was like a bad memory for Ren Xiaosu. The monster was simply too enormous, and it even lived in magma.
At this time, the Qing Consortium’s convoy of vehicles passed Ren Xiaosu and company. Ren Xiaosu saw Fatty Luo through the windows and wondered if this was the legendary Boss Luo who gifted him that banner with the words “Magic hands restore spring.”
“No matter what, we’re fortunate to have you with us.” Wang Fugui said with a sigh, “If you didn’t bring us out with you in time, Dalong and I might not have made it out at all. I don’t even know how to thank you.”
At this moment, Ren Xiaosu looked at Wang Fugui seriously and said, “The grace of dripping water should be reciprocated by a gushing spring...”
Wang Fugui was confused. ‘Shouldn’t we be a little more polite with one another?!’
However, Ren Xiaosu didn’t say anything else. He found a high vantage point to look into the distance and saw that there were still many others who escaped from the stronghold.
“We’ll find a place downwind and get ready to rest.” Ren Xiaosu said, “It seems like there are several thousand people in the group that’s to the rear of us. so we’re safe for now. Besides, I think y’all are gonna collapse if we still don’t get any rest.”
At present, the moon was hanging high in the night sky. Everyone had been fleeing since the morning and were on the verge of collapse. Ren Xiaosu felt that they had to reintegrate with the larger group of people again and use them as their shield.
If it were a group of several hundred people, they might get attacked by the wolves. But with a several thousand-strong crowd, even the wolves should have second thoughts about attacking, right?
And if they encountered any danger, all he would have to do was have Yan Liuyuan and the others escape faster than the crowd of several thousand.
It might sound a little cruel, but the others were probably thinking likewise.
Moreover, if they followed the crowd to Stronghold 109, would there be any possibility that they could pretend they were residents of Stronghold 113 and sneak into Stronghold 109?
Ren Xiaosu wondered if Stronghold 109 would agree to let them in.