Chapter 170: The Situation at the City C Base

Hu Ke looked at the overwhelming army of zombies before him, a look of utter shock frozen on his face. He had imagined that the situation in City S was dire, but he had never expected it to be this catastrophic!

Could this truly be something humanity could resist? Despair crept into his heart.

"Captain Hu, thank you for coming to rescue us! We thought City S had abandoned us entirely! By the way, roughly when will the backup army you mentioned arrive? So I can have the brothers prepare accordingly!" A rough, booming voice broke through the darkness, snapping Hu Ke back to reality.

Thinking of Qin Yu and the others, Hu Ke had no idea whether they could manage to survive. Given the circumstances, he could only mumble vaguely, "Tomorrow or the day after."

Upon hearing this, the rugged man broke into a joyful smile, finding a renewed sense of hope for life. He patted Hu Ke on the shoulder and walked away.

That left Hu Ke alone, recalling everything that had happened today.

As it turned out, ever since they parted ways with Qin Yu and the others, they had traveled continuously, aiming to reach City S before nightfall. They did arrive before dark, but the reality waiting for them was a far cry from what they had imagined—it was as different as heaven and earth!

City S was completely surrounded by a massive horde of zombies. Looking out from a distance, all one could see were the tall buildings of City S and countless zombies stretching as far as the eye could see.

Hu Ke and his companions, who had already felt the urge to retreat the moment they laid eyes on those zombies, were ambushed and caught red-handed by the members of the City S base who had been lingering in wait for reinforcements.

Those people had actually dug a long tunnel roughly three kilometers in length, with its exit located just one kilometer away from the terrifying zombie horde! They had been waiting at the mouth of the tunnel for reinforcements, and the sight of Hu Ke's vehicles filled them with wild ecstasy!

They made trips there practically several times a day, but out of fear that the zombies would catch their scent and close in, they never dared to linger for long. Never did they expect their wait to finally pay off today! It was simply too wonderful a surprise!

Seeing the ecstatic crowd, Hu Ke wore a dark expression, while Feng Fei beamed with delight, completely oblivious to the immense hidden danger lurking around them!

Feng Fei foolishly assumed that these people were overjoyed simply at the sight of her, and she proudly raised her chin, looking down her nose at everyone else.

The people of City S were not offended by Feng Fei's haughty demeanor; on the contrary, they were even more thrilled. In their eyes, only those with absolute strength had the right to be arrogant! Those people undoubtedly possessed the capital for it!

The residents of City S hurriedly welcomed Hu Ke and his party and escorted them safely into the City S base. Hu Ke knew he could not shake them off and had no choice but to go along. Moreover, meeting the yearning gazes of those people, he still couldn't help blurting out, "There are more people coming behind us." In truth, even he had no idea whether Qin Yu and the others were still alive, let alone whether they would ever reach City S.

Everything about the future remained a complete unknown.

Hu Ke gazed out at the dense, sea-like horde of zombies. For reasons unknown, the zombies were not launching an attack at the moment; otherwise, breaching this base would only be a matter of time.

This was also what puzzled Hu Ke the most. According to the people of City S, this group of zombies had launched a massive-scale assault about ten days ago, but for some inexplicable reason, they had halted all subsequent attacks, content merely to encircle City S as if they were waiting for something.

This brief respite was the only reason the people of City S had been given a chance to breathe; otherwise, long before the arrival of Hu Ke and his group, City S would have already fallen into the hands of the zombies.

As Hu Ke watched the motionless zombie army, the image of the mutated beasts from the City S base flashed through his mind.

Did those mutated beasts not also attack the base about ten days ago? Although he had no idea why that pack of mutated beasts had suddenly vanished, the timing was far too coincidental—so coincidental that it forced one to suspect a close connection between the two events.

If this zombie army was genuinely related to those mutated beasts, would they too inexplicably vanish into thin air? At this thought, a gleam of hope flashed across Hu Ke's eyes. If that were the case, then he might just be saved!

At that moment, he was filled with renewed hope for life, completely unaware of Qing Li's "expedition" that very night.

On the other side, after being escorted into the base by the people of City S, Feng Fei was assigned a reasonably decent room. The moment she stepped inside, she immediately attempted to summon the Five-Element Gu.

To her disappointment, however, this time her summons yielded no results, and the Five-Element Gu did not appear by her side.

Staring down at her empty palms, Feng Fei froze. A flicker of panic rippled through her eyes. Impossible! How could the Five-Element Gu fail to respond to her summons? Something must have gone wrong somewhere—yes! Something must have gone wrong!

Composing herself, Feng Fei continued to communicate with the Five-Element Gu using her spiritual power, yet she received no response whatsoever. She could no longer even sense the existence of the Five-Element Gu!

At that, she fell into absolute panic! That Five-Element Gu was her ultimate trump card for survival! If it were gone, how could she ever hope to escape from this City S? She had seen with her own eyes just how dense and terrifying that zombie horde was!

Feng Fei shuddered, her entire body trembling uncontrollably. She muttered in disbelief, "No, it's impossible, no!"

A trace of madness flashed in her eyes. Yes, Qin Yu! The Five-Element Gu must be with her! Yes! She had to find her, find her! As long as she found her, everything would be fine!

Slowly calming herself, Feng Fei stood up and clenched her fists tightly. Right now, she had no choice but to pray that Qin Yu would arrive safely in City S!

Taking a deep breath, Feng Fei wore a rare expression of genuine worry.

Qin Yu and the others were completely oblivious to the situation in City S. Yet even if they had known, they wouldn't have cared in the least. As the saying goes, soldiers are met with shields, and water is met with earth—they would deal with whatever came their way.

Qin Yu and her companions were all fast asleep, able to rest so peacefully entirely thanks to Ouyang Jue's barrier.

Tonight, the moonlight was unusually bright and clear, as if striving to bring a greater measure of light to the darkened earth.

Outside Ouyang Jue's barrier, a dark figure stood motionless, draped entirely in a black robe that obscured their face from view.

The figure showed no intention of trying to break through the barrier. Instead, their head turned toward the direction where Qin Yu was resting, leaving one to wonder whether those eyes beneath the hood were staring intently straight at Qin Yu.

After maintaining that posture for a long while, the figure finally took a step forward. At that exact moment, however, Ouyang Jue stirred and looked toward that direction.

The figure paused mid-motion, instantly blending into the darkness and vanishing without a trace.

Inside the barrier, Ouyang Jue gazed at that direction and pressed his lips into a thin line. He had a lingering sensation that someone had just passed by. Was it merely an illusion?

Ouyang Jue certainly did not believe in illusions. It seemed someone was indeed lingering nearby, though their purpose remained a complete mystery. Furthermore, neither he nor Murong had managed to detect the presence of that person beforehand.

At this thought, Ouyang Jue's eyes darkened. He would have to remind the others to exercise extra caution! He only hoped that this mysterious individual would prove to be a friend rather than an enemy!

Several hundred meters away from Ouyang Jue, the dark figure looked toward Qin Yu's direction and resumed their motionless stance, seemingly pondering something deeply.