Chapter 32

The darkness of night pervaded the air, engulfing the entire mountain.

The courtyard of the Martial Hall was empty, except for the enormous lights that illuminated the entirety of it. Though, the surrounding rooms are just extensive areas of darkness.

Only the study room was bright, and if you look inside, you can see a faint silhouette leaning on a rattan chair—as if sleeping.

……

Woo~

After Lin Tuo transferred his consciousness to the clone and descended, that was the first sound that he heard, the sound of the howling icy wind.

Perhaps, because it was echoing through the nearby mountains, the wind was not strong. Rather, it sounded sonorous, and like a whimper, as if the earth was weeping.

His eyelashes quivered as he opened his eyes. Facing him, the icy wind rolled with fine snowflakes, poking him straight in the face.

The chill seeped through his neckline, into his neck, and into his clothes. Even Lin Tuo, who was far from ordinary, shivered.

So cold

He subconsciously pulled up the zipper on his thick jacket—it’s a good thing that, before he entered, he judged that the Sand Table’s temperature would be very low.

Hence, before putting the clone into the Sand Table, he first fully armed himself with: light-down jacket, cotton shoes, and gloves.

While his body can survive in the winter with just a layer of clothes, he’s not a masochist. He naturally wants to keep himself warm as long as it is possible to do so.

Right now, it seems it is a wise decision.

He looked around vigilantly; it was a dark wilderness, very empty, with mountains behind it. Near to him, he can see a broken road.

A thick layer of snow covered the ground beneath his feet. After all, it was a severe winter.

At this moment, dawn was near. Though a long way to go before it fully rises.

Lin Tuo adjusted to the environment, and he also confirmed that there was no danger around.

He raised his head and looked up at the sky. In the dim night, there are wisps of black clouds above his head, and only a few starlights penetrate through the gaps, barely providing light.

“It’s better than I expected.” Lin Tuo took off his glove, exposing his right hand to the air.

Besides the cold, he felt a tingling pain.

“Radiation,” said Lin Tuo softly. His eyes became heavier.

From the description of the Operation Log, he could tell that the annihilation bombs that caused the disaster should be some kind of superweapon less powerful than nuclear weapons, but similar in nature.

Although it was not a nuclear weapon, the energy generated by its explosion still produced some kind of “radiation” like phenomenon.

Which led to the death of countless lives.

Before Lin Tuo came in, he had already prepared himself mentally. He believed that since many of the ordinary people here survived, there was no reason his own body, which was tempered by Ether, could not hold against it.

Things are as he expected.

“This level of radiation can indeed cause tingling, but it is very mild. As long as I don’t stay for a very long time, it’s not a problem.”

Now his heart put to ease, Lin Tuo took off his glove and began identifying the directions.

Recalling the lights on the suspected gathering place that he had previously glimpsed from above in this area, he took a deep breath and ran along the broken road at a constant speed.

“Along this road, I should be able to find the city.”

……

Rumble

Meanwhile, somewhere just a mountain away from Lin Tuo.

If you raise the angle of view and look down from mid-air, you will find that there are three modified cars on the snow-paved wasteland, staging a chase.

The smaller one in the lead was driving without driving lights. It left the two cars behind, staggering through like a mad bull galloping.

There was a hoarse roar coming out from it.

Behind it, a little farther away, the other two modified vehicles are driving recklessly with their lights on, seemingly more “relaxed”.

The ferocious and huge tires raised clouds of snow and left four deep ruts as it passed.

If you zoom in toward the two modified cars, you will find that there are soldiers inside them, wearing black military coats and holding firearms.

At this moment, in one of the two modified cars. A man with epaulets sitting on the front passenger side, obviously an officer, was looking gloomy.

He said, “Where are we now?”

On the back seat, a soldier was holding a flashlight while looking at a map on his knees, which he pressed with his other hand.

“The Mining Town is not far ahead, we should be able to arrive there in 5 minutes at most,” the soldier replied.

“Mining Town? It seems the hunter ought to flee there. That car’s fuel was simply not full, it must run out of fuel after all of that chase,” said the officer.

Immediately, he raised his voice and shouted, “Soldiers! Keep your spirit up and inspect your guns! Get ready to catch and remember, don’t let the other party escape or the higher-up will punish us!”

“Yes, Sir!”

They responded as the sound of pulling out guns—their insurance—mixed in.

……

Not long after, the outline of a small town appeared in their vision.

Collapsed buildings and dilapidated walls. And outside the town, there still stood a broken and rusted steel windmill, which looked like a ruin.

Only the sparse lights in the town show that there was still a human life.

When this group of soldiers’ vehicles came near, violent barks and noises sounded out from the town, and the light of fire loomed.

“Sir! The other party had abandoned the car!” shouted the driver. He pointed to a car lying on the wasteland outside the town.

“Keep driving,” said the officer as he pulled out a pistol and shot toward the sky.

Bang!

As the deafening sound spread through the sky, it silenced the noise in the town. The two vehicles then drove toward a square in the center of town, before they came to a halt.

In their vision were many people who had gathered in the town.

Compared to the soldiers equipped with weapons and wearing thick military clothes, these people are much more miserable.

Most of them were short and thin, with dirty and tattered clothes. Their faces are dusty and unkempt, and an unpleasant smell permeated their entire bodies.

Holding “weapons” such as wooden sticks or iron bars in their hands, they gathered together in horror and trepidation as they looked in awe.

Under the firelight, the soldiers could vaguely see some people with obvious deformities.

They are the refugees of Mining Town.

“Where is the person in charge here?” asked the officer, squinting his eyes.

As he spoke, the group of soldiers jumped out of the cars with guns in their hands, then they cautiously swept their guns around.

No one answered.

There was only panic on the faces of the refugees.

“Over here! Over here!” Suddenly, there was a commotion at the back of the crowd.

A nervous but full of energy voice rose.

The crowd dispersed like a tide, and a middle-aged man with a shabby cotton jacket and a relatively intact overall, squeezed out.

Behind him, there were a few thugs holding rifles.

However, compared with the guns in the hands of these soldiers, those tattered rifles do not differ from a burning stick; its actual effect was far lower than its deterrent effect.

The person in charge quickly glanced at the clothing of these soldiers, and the emblem on the car behind them. He then said with a heap of smiles, “Sir, I am the person in charge of Mining Town. I wonder if you have any orders?”

While speaking, he deliberately stood up, making the shiny metal badge hanging on his chest more conspicuous.

The badge has a brass texture, with a burning flame embossed on it, and the background is a forest standing in a snowy field.

That was the emblem of the Burning Fire Company.

“We’re on a capture mission,” the officer said, looking down at him expressionlessly, “a hunter from the wasteland stole our company’s property and killed one of our men. The other party had abandoned the car a short time ago and entered this town.”

Speaking of this, the officer raised his head, his high bridge nose quivering. He said, “I confirmed the target is in this town and has not left yet. Now, you, immediately gather everyone to assist us in the search for the other party! Do you hear me?”

……

At the same time.

Inside a certain collapsed building in the southwest corner of the town’s central square.

A figure looked at the scene in the square through the window. The figure’s gaze flickered, and then the figure moved and disappeared silently, as if a civet cat.

……

Not far away.

In another shadow, Lin Tuo, wearing a black low-down jacket, sauntered out of the darkness and glanced at the disappearing figure, revealing a thoughtful expression.