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Chapter 45
In the past few days of travel, they hadn't encountered any other humans.
Partly because they traveled on remote roads and partly because the aliens had slaughtered villages and towns along the way, not sparing even a single dog.
So being preempted this time truly startled the unprepared.
Encountering unknown survivors, would they be friendly or hostile?
At least for now, there was a standoff regarding resources. What the others had, they didn't, and none were inclined to share.
Tang Xuhai spoke up, "Just saw a private gas station in that village."
"What?! Really?" Liu Zhao and the others were surprised. They weren't in the same vehicle as Tang Xuhai, and he hadn't mentioned these remote villages having gas stations before.
But before their excitement could fully form, Tang Xuhai doused it, "Don't bother. It's definitely been looted."
Disappointment spread among them.
"We might lose the advantage of sticking to the road. The upcoming villages might be just like this one," Tang Xuhai continued.
"What should we do?" Ma Dong couldn't help but ask, the honest and straightforward worker turned sand-based esper feeling lost.
"There are only two choices now: continue on the road; there might be villages not yet scavenged, or head back to the highway," Tang Xuhai said.
At the mention of returning to the highway, several hesitated.
They'd tasted the sweetness of the road—no aliens, no other survivors bound to cause conflicts.
Wen Zhaoming glanced at Tang Xuhai's expressionless face and suggested, "I think returning to the highway is better. If we keep going like this, we might run out of gas and end up abandoning the car."
That was something no one wanted. Abandoning the car meant facing dangers on foot, plus elongated travel times.
With vegetation growing wildly, slowing down their progress, when would they reach the military base survival site if they chose to walk entirely?
Yet, returning to the highway might mean encountering a massive horde of aliens. Currently, they hadn't seen any on the road because all the aliens had gathered along the main road, where there was a denser population.
Although these aliens had superior innate physical conditions, they still got tired and needed rest. Walking on asphalt roads wouldn't require scaling mountains.
"But even if we go back to the highway, we might still run out of fuel," Liu Peiqi frowned. "People fleeing along the route might have taken the gasoline."
"Yeah, if we're ultimately going to abandon the car and walk, it's safer to stick to the road. Encountering humans is safer than encountering aliens, right?" Wu Shan added.
Fu Shiwu, arms crossed, pondered, seemingly oblivious to others' strong reluctance to return to the highway. He glanced at Tang Xuhai and asked, "What do you think is better?"
Tang Xuhai, unusually hesitant, replied after a pause, "I think both are feasible. Continuing on the road might take more time, but if we encounter other groups collecting supplies, we could just snatch."
Tang Xuhai's indifferent tone surprised everyone present.
Fu Shiwu paused, seemingly unsurprised. At this moment, there was no room for sympathy. In this desperate struggle for survival, only personal strength mattered.
However, unless absolutely necessary, he didn't want to clash with his own kind. After all, they shared a common enemy; unity was their only hope.
"Miao Jia, can you check where the most likely gathering places for humans nearby are?" Fu Shiwu, head lowered in thought, asked Miao Jia.
"Sure." Miao Jia nodded, moved away from the campfire, climbed onto the car, and pulled out their small computer.
"Hmm… it's a bit unclear now. I'll check the daytime images." Miao Jia lowered their head, tinkering with the computer. It was the first time others in the vehicle witnessed this intelligence personnel at work, and they crowded around, curious.
"Found it!" Miao Jia's eyes lit up. "The closest major town is a third-tier city called Pingnan City. I see... There seems to be a gathering point near the city, quite large, capable of accommodating tens of thousands. There's a lot of alien activity in that area."
"No wonder." Fu Shiwu nodded.
"Yeah, it's probably the people from that gathering point coming out to collect things," Tang Xuhai added in agreement.
It was similar to the special task force he had followed initially. Large-scale refugee camps eventually couldn't meet people's needs, necessitating external exploration.
"Great! With a large gathering point, can't we get gasoline there?" Ma Dong excitedly asked.
"With what?" Tang Xuhai countered.
"Food?" Ma Dong hesitantly replied.
Tang Xuhai felt a discomforting sense as if dealing with a timid middle-aged man acting like a young wife, "If they've got this fall's harvest, why would they trade it for something as precious as gasoline?"
Ma Dong faltered, unsure of what to say.
Wen Zhaoming pondered and said, "Regardless, a gathering point will attract many aliens. Safety-wise, it's better to navigate near Pingnan City. If possible, let's make contact with that gathering point, try to exchange for some gasoline. We still have some exceptionally preserved beef, and meat products are scarce now; they might be interested."
"Then let's take the highway, travel as far as we can while the vehicle is still operational," Tang Xuhai suggested, arms folded.
If the sudden fainting of Fu Shiwu during the day and the encounter with the Corn King were the day's initial surprises, discovering a large gathering point near the camping village was the second.
But that wasn't the day's end. As the sky moved into the night, people were astonished to find that the familiar crimson sky, visible for over forty days, did not reappear.
"What's going on?" An uneasy Miao Jia asked.
Amidst the rampant alien presence, people couldn't rejoice at the reappearance of stars and the moon but feared what major incident might follow.
"No idea," Fu Shiwu looked solemnly at the crescent moon hanging in the sky. "It's probably like the last time, the sky's disappeared temporarily."
"But why?" Miao Jia asked, puzzled.
"Who knows? Why don't you check your forum?" Tang Xuhai retorted, unkindly tapping his head.
Miao Jia jumped up and hurriedly went to fetch their small computer.
"Focus Forum says this should be a temporary shutdown of the entity behind the sky. Shutdown?" Miao Jia muttered in astonishment.
"Shutdown?" Fu Shiwu and Tang Xuhai exchanged glances, leaning in to look at the computer screen.
The screen revealed insider information leaked by an anonymous source.
According to recent scientific research, aliens arrived on Earth through a passage. This passage was fixed on Earth's orbit, like a vast net enveloping the planet. However, its position seemed fixed, not rotating with Earth, resulting in a half-day delay in contact with the sky and the alien deployment.
After the initial seventh day, that was the first time this entity had temporarily shut down, accumulating enough energy afterward. Then the fissure opened completely, leading to the alien invasion
. Thus, the person urged caution, as when the sky opened again, even more formidable aliens might arrive. People needed to prepare in advance!
"Even more formidable?" Fu Shiwu clenched his teeth tightly. "The evolved aliens are already challenging enough. More powerful ones?"
Tang Xuhai's mood was equally heavy. Among them, he had encountered aliens the most times. The evolved aliens could barely be countered with human abilities; facing even stronger ones would put humans at a severe disadvantage.
"Either way, we must hurry to reach the military base survival site," Tang Xuhai clenched his fist tightly.
Deciding not to rest that night, they hastily packed up and continued on through the night, heedless of potential encounters with esper animals or plants. As long as they avoided encountering a large alien tide, they pushed forward relentlessly.
It wasn't until the latter part of the night that they finally returned to the highway, which was comparatively smoother than the rugged road. After all, the standard highway's thickness was several times that of the road, and it would take time to clear away the wild vegetation.
"Fortunately…" Tang Xuhai breathed a sigh of relief. "We haven't encountered any wandering aliens or esper animals along this road."
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