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The bonfire danced happily in the dark, licking the bottom of the pot.
"So, there was a batch of people who left before the earthquake?" Luo Yuan asked.
"Yes, they were supposed to load the goods, but the signs of the earthquake were very obvious, so they changed their mind!" A middle-aged man hugged his daughter and said softly. His face was full of fear and joy after surviving the disaster.
The child in his arms looked like she was only three or four years old. She could not bear the sleepiness and fell asleep. Looking at her frowning face and tense body, she seemed to be dreaming about something terrible.
Luo Yuan looked away and continued to ask, "Do you know how many people escaped from Desert City?"
"I'm not sure. It was very chaotic at the time, and the train was overloaded. There could have been 20,000 or 30,000 people on board," the middle-aged man said after a moment of silence. His name was Cui Weichuan. Before the earthquake, he had been a basic government worker. During the migration, almost all the government workers had been deployed to maintain order, so he had some understanding of the situation.
There were a total of nine survivors, including the child. Fortunately, except for one who had his left arm cut off by a falling rock, the others were not injured.
The injured survivor had been treated by Luo Yuan using his Will. The bleeding had stopped, but his left arm could not grow back.
"The soup is here. Everyone, have some soup." Huang Jiahui interrupted their conversation. She and the other women placed a bowl of soup next to each of them. The soup was white and gave off a refreshing fragrance.
"Thank you!"
"Thank you!"
...
The survivors looked grateful. After drinking the soup, their pale faces quickly turned red, and they looked much more energetic.
After chatting with them for a while, Luo Yuan gave them two tents so that they could have a good rest.
...
Late at night, Luo Yuan was lying in the tent with his eyes wide open.
From what they had said, the situation was better than expected. Considering that the train had left at eight o 'clock in the evening and the earthquake had hit at four o' clock in the morning, it was almost eight hours' journey, enough to escape the impact of the earthquake.
This meant that at least one-fifth of the people had escaped the disaster. These people included all the students, researchers, engineers, and some soldiers to maintain order.
Luo Yuan and the rest were slightly relieved. At least Zhong Chuqiang and Deng Chao were not among the dead, but Huo Dong, Cao Lin, and Mo Wenwen were still missing. Luo Yuan was impressed that Mayor Song and most of the civil servants did not choose to leave. Instead, they stood their ground and welcomed the earthquake.
"Say, if we hadn't left then, would we have died too?" Huang Jiahui suddenly asked.
Luo Yuan was silent for a while and said, "Don't think too much. Go to bed early!"
"But I can't sleep. When I close my eyes, the faces of those familiar faces are still vivid in my mind. Now, they have become corpses. And Huo Dong, and Cao Lin, I wonder how they are now?" Huang Jiahui said weakly. Her voice gradually became choked as she spoke.
Luo Yuan sighed and said, "This is the end of the world. Haven't we always been like this?"
"But … this is the reconstruction area," Huang Jiahui said weakly.
"Maybe it used to be, but not anymore. This place has fallen!" Luo Yuan said with a serious face, "Sleep early, we have to wake up early tomorrow."
… …
On the vast grassland, there was a huge commotion. Countless mutated beasts were running around. Not long after, two huge beasts gradually appeared on the horizon and quickly walked towards them.
It had been four days since they set off again.
Due to the addition of a few survivors, including the injured and children, their speed was greatly slowed down. Even so, they were almost at their destination.
According to the map, they still needed about half a day, which meant that they would be able to reach Hope City before evening.
When they arrived, the impact of the earthquake in Desert City was almost negligible. There were no traces of destruction in the surroundings.
A large number of construction vehicles and heavy trucks were running on the grassland like a long dragon, stirring up a cloud of dust that lingered for a long time. On the construction site next to them, there were a few huge gantry cranes standing tall. Below them, there were many construction workers wriggling on the ground like ants. There were more than 10,000 of them.
Such construction sites were lined up in a row, extending endlessly into the distance. There were at least seven or eight of them as far as the eye could see.
The foundations of a few giant fortresses had already been laid, and the superstructure was being built. Apparently, the Reconstruction Area had reestablished its defense here.
Before Luo Yuan could get close, a military vehicle quickly drove towards them. It stopped about 50 to 60 meters away from the giant beast and shouted with a nervous look on its face.
"Comrade, this is a restricted military area. Please stay away from us."
Such a huge beast was rare even on the battlefield. Those who could sit on it were definitely not ordinary people. However, they had no choice. This was a construction site, and most of them were ordinary people who had only gone through a few rounds of military training. If they let it get close, it might cause a violent commotion and cause fear. If an accident happened, no one would be able to bear the responsibility.
"I have just migrated from Desert City, so I don't know the situation here. Comrade, please lead the way." It was obviously disrespectful to talk while sitting on it, so Luo Yuan quickly jumped down and walked towards them.
"Are you from the Desert City?" Seeing Luo Yuan walking towards them, the military officer's expression became better. He asked curiously, "I heard that it was near the epicenter of the earthquake. The entire Desert City had collapsed."
"The situation is far more serious than you think. It's hard to explain. Oh right, did a group of people from Desert City migrate here these two days?" Luo Yuan did not want to say more, so he changed the topic and asked for more information.
"I'm not sure about that. You can only go to Hope City to understand the situation." The military officer said, "Your two battle beasts will affect the construction workers, so we have to take a detour. Come with me."
The military vehicle led the way in front, and the two giant beasts quickly followed.
The two giant beasts were more than 10 meters tall, so even if they were just walking, their speed was not any slower than the military vehicle in front of them.
They took a detour from the construction site and stopped. The military officer from before poked his head out and enthusiastically pointed the way, "Walk more than 200 kilometers from here, and you will see Hope City."
After saying goodbye, they walked towards the direction pointed by the military officer.
...
"The sun has been too hot recently. My skin is peeling," Luo Yuan said.
After entering this place, everyone's originally gloomy mood clearly relaxed a lot.
Wang Xiaguang rubbed the skin on the back of her hand and complained. Not only the back of her hand, but her face was also mottled with dead skin peeling off everywhere. She looked very scary.
The rest of them were not much better. After the earthquake, the sky had finally cleared up, and it had been sunny for a few days. They had just come out of the dark shelter, and when they saw the sun, they were still excited at first. However, their good mood soon disappeared like snow under the sun.
The sun was unusually hot, and in just a few days, everyone's skin was peeling off.
"Is it because we have been staying in the shelter for too long? Is it because we have not been exposed to the sun for a long time?" Huang Jiahui asked. She looked at Luo Yuan and Chen Jiayi with envy and jealousy. Everyone else's skin had changed beyond recognition, but only these two had not changed at all.
Luo Yuan was naturally not afraid of the ultraviolet rays of the sun because of his strong physique. Chen Jiayi, on the other hand, was like a fish in the water because of the parasitic moss. She looked much more energetic than when she had first come out.
Luo Yuan was calm when he saw Huang Jiahui looking at him strangely. Chen Jiayi, on the other hand, was restless like a frightened rabbit. She quickly retracted the moss on her head and explained with a blush, "It's because the sun is stronger now. It's not because I haven't been exposed to the sun for a long time."
"But it doesn't feel that hot. It's almost the same as the time after the thunderstorm." Zhao Yali joined the conversation. Women always had endless topics to talk about when it came to skin.
"That's what the moss on my body told me. I'm not really sure," Chen Jiayi said timidly.
"It's probably because the ultraviolet rays are too strong," Zhang Wu suddenly said. Zhang Wu suddenly said. After traveling together for some time, he had become more relaxed. "Before the apocalypse, I was a backpacker for a period of time. I traveled all over the country and even went to Tibet. The temperature there was not high, but the ultraviolet rays were too strong. After staying there for a period of time, I peeled off several layers of skin."
Luo Yuan frowned. This was not a plateau where the air was thin. This was the Tarim Basin. Especially after the sea level had risen, the altitude here was no more than 1,000 meters. Plants were flourishing, and there was an explosion of living things. The concentration of air was much higher than before the apocalypse.
He raised his head and looked at the sky. Since the end of the world, the sky had become clear blue, like a perfect sapphire. But now, the sky seemed to have become a little dark. Even during the day, he could vaguely see a few stars. Such a scene made people shudder.
In fact, long before the insect horde started, Luo Yuan had already felt something strange. The environment that he was familiar with seemed to be gradually changing. Although the change was very weak and almost undetectable, it was still unwavering.
Perhaps the insect horde and even the earthquake had something to do with this change.
It was impossible for the higher-ups of the reconstruction area not to know about such an obvious change, but they had kept it a secret. Even Mayor Song of Desert City did not seem to know about it. The only answer was that the consequences of the change were far more difficult than expected.
...
They hurried all the way. By three o 'clock in the afternoon, a magnificent city that looked like a war fortress was already in sight.
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