Chapter 169: Survivors
Upon entering Han Town itself, Qin Feng got his umbra stallion to start galloping, throwing off low-tier insectoids that tried to ambush them effortlessly.
Instead of focusing on small fries like these fellas, Qin Feng’s time was worth much more trying to hunt down their higher-tier overlords.
However, his seek and destroy mission had barely even started before his communicator started beeping.
[Survivor signal detected!]
A tiny red dot appeared on the map of Han Town which popped up on the communicator’s screen.
With barely enough food, the resilient human beings would always find a way to survive underground for half a months’ time, all while defending themselves against these bloodthirsty creatures.
After all, they were raised amidst an apocalypse!
For those born after doomsday, mandatory education would start at the age of six and end at sixteen—ten years’ time worth of lessons on how to survive even the toughest conditions life could possibly throw at them.
Because of the agricultural fields at the Northern entrance of Han Town, many apt.i.tude users refused to even venture near this part, let alone save the poor souls trapped within this district.
Qin Feng was no cold-blooded man. Gifted with such powers, he felt a moral obligation to save as many lives as he could.
He directed the umbra stallion in the direction of the survivor’s signal.
“Buzz Buzz Buzz”
A cl.u.s.ter of low-tier insectoids were hot on Qin Feng’s tail.
As if that was not enough, a handful of bloodthirsty beetles appeared in the corner of his eyes but it was already too late—they too, hurled themselves relentlessly toward Qin Feng’s horse.
He was caught in a pincer attack!
“h.e.l.lfire Carpet!”
With restraints on the extent of his attack, Qin Feng retaliated against his foolish attackers. In just a matter of minutes, these G-tier ultra beasts were completely wiped out through his fiery attacks.
Amidst the fiery h.e.l.lscape, Qin Feng unsheathed the Verdant Emperor Saber and began decapitating the bloodthirsty beetles with single clean slices.
To regular humans, Qin Feng’s current position was the worst case scenario to be caught in but to him, it was merely like a walk in the park.
Soon, Qin Feng arrived at the location where the signal was coming from, a store located right beside the road.
Smack right in front of its entrance however, was a ma.s.sive steel-back snail.
It was just your run-of-the-mill F-tier steel-back snail but its strength, as many had learned, should never be underestimated!
A bad feeling arose in Qin Feng’s heart.
He climbed off the umbra stallion, during which the steel-back snail had coincidentally started waking up from its lazy slumber. Stretching out its squishy head, it tried to grab a bite out of Qin Feng.
Without hesitation, he started hacking away at the darned snail.
“Sky Burning Sword Style!”
A two meter long blade sliced off the head of this steel-back snail even before it had the time to fight back.
With a single kick, the headless carca.s.s of this steel-back snail was shoved aside, allowing Qin Feng to enter the shop.
[Remaining distance to the survivor: 35 meters!]
The shop itself was not too big, hence it did not take long for Qin Feng to discover a trapdoor that led downward into a bas.e.m.e.nt. However, the door was bolted shut from the inside.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Qin Feng knocked on the door but the only response he received was dead silence.
Fortunately, the structural integrity of this door was not military-grade. While it could withstand repeated attacks by the ultra beasts, it was easily torn down by Qin Feng’s saber.
Focusing all his internal strength on the blade’s body, Qin Feng sliced open the door in just a fraction of a second.
As soon as the door was broken down, the metallic smell of blood rushed into Qin Feng’s nasal cavity from the room below. Through the dim lighting of the room, Qin Feng could make out the skeleton-like body of a woman, whose eyes were half open, and nestled in her arms was a dying infant, who appeared to be at most two months old.
Upon meeting Qin Feng’s eyes, the lady’s eyes lit up like the stars in the night sky.
A single word floated into Qin Feng’s mind.
Hope!
Seeing the lady’s eyes heavily reminded him of this word.
“Save… her…” The lady said as she fruitlessly attempted to pa.s.s the child in her arms over to Qin Feng.
He remained silent.
Qin Feng stepped forward and rested his palms onto the lady’s back. Then, he gathered a thick wave of internal strength and transfused it into the lady’s body, making sure that her heart continued beating as well as to reinvigorate her collapsing lungs.
“Let’s go. We’ll give her a proper burial.”
Qin Feng replied.
While the neo-humans of today had all been injected with an awakening potion, unlocking their body’s potential, infants remained as fragile as ever!
A regular human could survive for half a month’s time with only the bare minimum but the same could not be said for children.
It was obvious that this lady, after finally reaching the conclusion that there was no longer any food around that she could forage, she tried feeding her child her own fresh blood but even that was an act of futility.
This child had been dead for quite a while!
The lady kept silent. Then, it almost seemed as if she was about to cry but not a single tear was shed from her eyes.
Qin Feng could not bear to see the lady suffer in her despair any longer. He led her out of the bas.e.m.e.nt, back to Bai Li and the horse. In this post-apocalyptic world, tragedies were bound to occur but humans were the most resilient creatures to be able to face such changes and make the best out of it.
As frail as this woman appeared to be, she managed to conjure up enough strength to support herself. Qin Feng pa.s.sed a piece of bread and some water over to her, which she wolfed down hungrily in seconds. Soon, she regained enough strength to move around.
Qin Feng handed her a pack of beast repelling powder and had her sprinkle the powder in their trail. She was even ordered to rub some all over her body.
Afterwards, Qin Feng proceeded to sweep the streets as well as to check for any survivor signals, which there were. In just a single day, he managed to rescue more than eighty survivors from the jaws of death.
Because of his focus on rescuing these survivors, the number of kills he achieved had dropped significantly from what he could manage the day before. However, he was able to clear twenty streets—a higher number than his previous mission yesterday. Coupled with the bags of beast-repelling powder, these twenty streets were finally announced to be safe from the insectoids.
The days were short during autumn; Qin Feng ended his battle relatively early today. Bringing two cars’ worth of survivors out of Han Town, they made their return journey toward the provisional colony set up outside the active warzone.
The merchants who were expecting Qin Feng’s return surrounded the man right after he had entered the compound, all of them wanting to buy up whatever was in his hands.
However, even before he could speak, another group of people rushed toward Qin Feng.
The threatening aura of an E-tier apt.i.tude user unconsciously sent chills up the spines of these men, who obediently stepped aside seconds later.
Right now, the only E-tier user of the Han Town provisional colony had arrived—it was Chi Long.
“Mr Qin! Nice to meet you! My name’s Chi Long. I am acting as the overall commander of the task force sent to retake Han Town!”
Chi Long enthusiastically outstretched his arm to shake Qin Feng’s hands.
While his unexpected arrival certainly did stun Qin Feng, he politely shook the commander’s hand nonetheless.
“Honored to meet you, Sir!”
“Haha, no, it’s my honor to meet you! I’m here because I have witnessed firsthand, your powers, Mr Qin. I’ve observed your progress in retaking the agricultural fields in the Northern district of Han Town and I’ve come here in hopes of cooperating with you. Lend us your strength and we will recapture Han Town together!”
The drone from before instantly popped up in Qin Feng’s mind.
So, the man that observed his fight was this Chi Long person.
The commander’s act during the final minutes of the fight gave Qin Feng a good impression.
“How would Commander Chi like to cooperate with me?” Qin Feng asked.
“This isn’t the place to discuss such matters. Come this way, Mr Qin. I already have dinner prepared. Let’s talk about this over dinner!”
Of course, Qin Feng would never turn down a free meal offered by someone of this position. Nodding his head, he agreed to the commander’s proposition. As for selling the goods he had gathered today, that would have to wait.
Before leaving, Qin Feng gave Chi Long a reminder.
“These are the survivors I have just rescued from the town. I have no idea what to do with them. Commander, I hope you can do something to help these poor souls!”
Confidently, Chi Long thumped his chest and made a promise. “Jiang Chi, I need you to deal with this! Remember to make proper arrangements for them!”
These were people rescued by Qin Feng himself. To let these people, who Qin Feng put in the effort to save, die of hunger or get pushed around would be the greatest sin they could ever commit!
Right now, what Chi Long needed the most was Qin Feng’s help!
With a disappointed expression, Jiang Chi had no choice but to respect the Commander’s orders. How could he not be disappointed? He had to stay here and deal with these people who refused to die after being starved for weeks within Han Town and consequently, stank to high heaven while his commander left to enjoy a luxurious banquet.