The next day, Zhang Chen left the manor for Zhang Wenwen to continue growing fruits.
Qian Xinxin was put in charge of sales to continue collecting a large number of crystal cores.
Zhang Chen then took Zhao Xiyue and headed towards the next walled city.
The tunnel between the fifth and sixth walled cities remained intact, so this time they didn't fly. Zhang Chen and Zhao Xiyue took the subway directly.
"Where's Sister Qian? Isn't she on a mission with us today?" Zhao Xiyue asked curiously.
"Mm, she has her own work to do, and the road ahead is difficult. With my current control over my abilities, I can only protect one person."
"It would be risky for her to come with us. Leaving her behind is the best arrangement," Zhang Chen replied casually, his mind still preoccupied with the destruction of the Remnant Sun organization.
Was it Kong De and his men, or the ultimate beings of the apocalypse?
Thinking about it, the Remnant Sun organization, which had held out within the walls for an entire cycle, shouldn't have been so easily wiped out by monsters...
"Mm!" Zhao Xiyue nodded, feeling secretly pleased.
Although she was naive, she wasn't foolish.
Zhang Chen said he could only protect one person, and that Qian Xinxin would be in danger if she came along, which meant he would be protecting her, right?
The journey was silent.
A few hours later, the subway entered the station of the sixth walled city.
Similarly, the entire subway station was empty, with no people and no bloodstains, as if everyone there had vanished into thin air.
Zhang Chen led Zhao Xiyue slowly up the stairs to the ground.
At this moment, the sky was covered by a mass of dark red clouds, with lightning constantly rolling within them. It struck down from time to time, blasting large holes in the buildings.
Rumble!
The continuous rolling thunder echoed within the walls.
"Could these dark clouds be affecting the communication ability of the rings?" Zhang Chen muttered to himself, and immediately sent a private message to Zhao Xiyue beside him.
"Did you receive my message?"
"What message?" Zhao Xiyue looked bewildered.
"Try sending me a private message!" Zhang Chen said again.
"Okay!" Zhao Xiyue's expression froze for a moment. After a while, she asked, "I sent it, did you receive it?"
Zhang Chen shook his head.
It seemed that the clouds in the sky, containing a large amount of lightning, had indeed blocked the communication.
If that was the case, perhaps the people of the Remnant Sun organization weren't all dead.
But... Zhang Chen looked at the city streets before him.
There were no people, no monsters, only the echo of thunder in the profound silence.
He activated his Absolute Vision again and scanned the surroundings. There weren't even any hidden sentries around the subway entrance; this area was truly deserted.
"This shouldn't be... is the Remnant Sun organization this trusting? Aren't they afraid someone will come in through the subway entrance?" Zhang Chen was surprised.
"Something is indeed wrong here!" Zhao Xiyue also noticed the problem. She raised her fair little hand and pointed to the well-preserved buildings.
"These buildings are too well-preserved. Even with the energy grid protecting the walled cities, the plants inside would still grow wildly!"
"Even if they didn't destroy these buildings, they would be completely engulfed by them."
"But now, the entire city is strangely clean. Not only are there no monsters, but even those rampant plants have disappeared."
"Mutated plants, which have occupied almost every inch of land in the world since the second stage of the apocalypse, are nowhere to be found here?! This is too suspicious!"
Zhang Chen's attention had been entirely focused on survivors and monsters, and he hadn't noticed these mutated plants. With Zhao Xiyue's reminder, he finally noticed that it was indeed true!
Where had they, who were previously everywhere, gone?
Looking at the city, bathed in the bloody red of the red clouds, it felt as if a terrifying presence was lurking in the shadows, constantly observing Zhang Chen and Zhao Xiyue's every move.
"Survivor camps are usually established in the downtown areas far from the walls. Let's go there and see if we can find any clues!" Zhang Chen said.
"Mm! Okay!" Zhao Xiyue nodded obediently and followed closely behind Zhang Chen.
Along the way, Zhang Chen also paid attention to the situation in every street and every building.
But just like when they first left the subway station, everything was empty, and there were no signs of life detected. It was as if all mutated creatures and survivors had collectively abandoned this place.
They continued forward for several blocks, and it remained the same.
Zhang Chen leaped onto a rooftop and looked around. As far as his eyes could see, there was only a deathly silence. Only the sounds of thunder continuously exploded overhead, slowly echoing within the walls.
"Strange... where has everyone gone..."
As soon as Zhang Chen finished speaking, he suddenly sensed energy fluctuations in a building two kilometers to the southwest!
"Over there!" Zhang Chen reached out, embraced Zhao Xiyue's slender waist, and suddenly leaped into the air.
Bang!
His speed instantly broke the sound barrier, and in just a few seconds, he arrived at the target area.
"Come out!" Zhang Chen floated in mid-air and shouted sternly.
The energy source not only did not come out but began to move rapidly in the opposite direction.
"Where do you think you're running?" Although Zhang Chen couldn't use the Blink skill now, his physical prowess alone was insurmountable.
So, with a few leaps, he quickly reached the rooftop of a building and punched down fiercely.
Bang!
The entire floor instantly collapsed!
At the same time, a thunderclap sounded in the sky, Rumble!
Zhang Chen jumped down through the large hole, and after a while, he emerged carrying a burly man.
"Who are you?" Before Zhang Chen could speak, the big man actually asked the question first.
"Why were you running!?" Zhang Chen asked.
"I wasn't hiding from you... although... you are very strong!" The man looked at the blue-green ring in Zhang Chen's hand with disbelief.
The yellow-ringed reincarnators had crushed their own generation of reincarnators. He had originally thought that his generation of reincarnators would at least be able to display great power when encountering blue-green rings, but who would have thought they would still be crushed... what a life!
"Then who were you hiding from? There's no one else around here!" Zhang Chen questioned.
"Shh, shh! I know you're powerful, but keep your voice down!"
"I wasn't hiding from you earlier, but because your voice was too loud, it would attract that guy!" The man whispered, looking around constantly, his emotions extremely tense.
It was as if something Zhang Chen couldn't see was lurking nearby, ready to deliver a fatal blow at any moment!
But... there was really nothing here!
Could it be that this terrifying fellow wasn't on the ground, but beneath it?!
(I just got back from going out. I've been doing nucleic acid tests every day these past few days. They say they're going to seal the community again, so I went to stock up on some food. Now I can't even go out...)