CHAPTER 471: CHAPTER 469: AO CITY

Lu Chen stepped down two steps and made eye contact with the injured man. "Migration? Where did you discover they were migrating?"

"Now is not the time to discuss this. I advise you to leave as soon as possible because they are right behind us."

Su Mo followed by jumping down a few steps. "We’ve already known that they were behind us. Tell me how they are migrating, and then you can leave."

The man hesitated for a moment, his eyes reflecting recollection and some sorrow. He suddenly let go of the woman’s hand and sat down directly on the steps, slowly saying, "To the east are the Mola Mountains, continuous and overlapping peaks.

Our survival camp has always been near them. All our food comes from hunting the peripheral mutant beasts. Life wasn’t so bad until one and a half months ago when we noticed an increase in the mutant beasts,"

he lowered his head, his hands supporting his forehead. "Lower-ranked mutant beasts don’t usually come down the mountain to hunt humans frequently. During that time, our survival camp suddenly started to be attacked by them frequently. At first, we didn’t care, thinking they were seeking their own death, but soon we realized something was wrong. Within a week, hoards of mutant species like wild boars and chickens ran down the mountain, and then, from deep in the forest, a level 5 python emerged, and we lost 20 people before we killed it."

"What does this have to do with migrating?" Su Mo asked.

"There was nothing left to eat in the mountains, so they came out," the man replied cryptically. "After the python, there was calm for a few days, then the horde of mutant beasts arrived, and what followed was just as you have seen."

"You mean, they followed you all the way here for these few chunks of meat?" Jianxiong folded his arms, sneering at the thought.

The man shook his head and looked up, exasperated. "Of course not. I was observing them, trying to understand where they were actually headed to plan our escape route. Who knew that midway we would encounter a mutant bird and an accident would happen."

Above their heads, a distinct cracking sound rang out. Lu Chen looked up to see a crack suddenly appear at the top corner of the wall, which then split into several fractures spreading outward.

He reached out to brush away the dust falling on Su Mo’s head. "Time is almost up. I have one last question. What did you observe?"

"Their migration seemed to have no specific direction or destination. They go wherever there is food, indifferent to environmental factors, driven purely by their bloodthirsty nature. That’s all I have to say," the man struggled to stand up using his knees, then staggered down the steps, followed by the three others.

Meanwhile, Jin Han and the Space Superpower User had almost finished scavenging. During such times, the two weren’t picky nor did they care what it was—as long as it was edible, it went into the space.

Seeing the two head back, Lu Chen took Su Mo by the hand and they followed them downstairs. "Let’s go, let’s get out of here. This place is about to collapse."

Below the fourth floor, there wasn’t much food, but there were a few outdoor mountaineering equipment shops and a pharmacy. Jin Han’s team carried out a basket full of medicines, sleeping bags, and other practical items.

After everyone had exited the World Trade Center, the group returned to their vehicle, while those four, injured or otherwise, just stood there, gazing at them from a distance.

They looked somewhat bewildered.

Before getting into the vehicle, Su Mo asked them, "Do you have somewhere to go? If not, you could go to the refugee camp in P City. We are superpower users from there."

The injured man shook his head at the mention of P City and waved goodbye to them. "We won’t be going back there. It’s unsafe."

"Then I wish you good luck."

Su Mo didn’t say more; after all, the backpacks those four carried seemed to have enough food to last a long time. Everyone has their own fate; there is no need to worry too much.

Several armored vehicles set out again, raising a cloud of dust before disappearing from the view of the four people.

Inside the vehicle, Jin Han’s cheerful voice came through the intercom, "A great start! Although there isn’t much, I scavenged a lot of rice and flour left behind by the merchants," he then clicked his tongue a couple of times, somewhat regretfully adding, "That freezer full of rotten meat and vegetables really broke my heart."

Lu Chen ignored him, silently listened till the end, then tossed the intercom to Su Mo.

Not long after they had left, the World Trade Center collapsed entirely due to its inability to support the upper half of the building embedded in its top.

Knowing that mutant beasts were chasing them from behind, they didn’t stop the vehicle at all, except for some physiological issues.

Exiting the small city, the car directly joined the national highway. On the map, they had only covered a quarter of their route, their next stopover at night was planned to be Ao City.

Just the mention of this city made Jianxiong’s eyes light up for a moment, but Su Mo, who hadn’t traveled much, had no idea what excited him.

"What’s in Ao City? Your eyes are practically turning into light bulbs," Su Mo curiously turned to look at Jianxiong.

He scratched his head, deliberately avoiding her gaze, uncomfortably looked out the window. "This place is a famous gambling city, a paradise and joy for gamblers and the wealthy. When I was off-duty, I would sometimes sneak here to gamble a bit."

Lu Chen turned on the night light, his phoenix eyes scanning him briefly through the rearview mirror of the car interior, "We’re almost there."

At the entrance to Ao City, they had to go through a toll station. The desolate station, with several grey-dusted poles broken off and lying on the ground, crumbled under the wheels of the vehicles. The small mines buried in the ground were detonated instantly.

In Jin Han’s line of sight, Lu Chen’s vehicle was blown up from the bottom, and the entire body was shattered, with a bright flash of fire instantly sweeping over the three people inside.

His heart skipped a beat, and he stomped on the brake, exclaiming, "Lu Chen! Su Mo!"

Jianxiong, who was flung out, immediately activated his superpower user status, his skin turning as hard as iron. He grabbed one, shielding Su Mo and Lu Chen underneath him.

The rolling wave of heat was also instantly blocked by Lu Chen’s massive Ice Shield.

Although they were violently thrown to the ground, none of the three suffered severe injuries.

Jianxiong cushioned the fall, and Su Mo quickly got off him; Lu Chen pulled him up.

Seeing the three unharmed, Jin Han, whose soul had nearly left his body, breathed a long sigh of relief, but he also didn’t dare to approach the toll station again.

The explosion was triggered by just one mine. How many more might be buried under the ground was anybody’s guess.

"Spiritual Ability User, quick, check it out! How are we going to get through?" Jin Han yelled to the others.

The Spiritual Ability User got off the car, and no sooner had he activated his ability than he suffered a powerful attack on his brain. He clasped his head and yelped, kneeling on one knee, "There’s someone here, a powerful one! I can’t see anything!"

Su Mo brushed off the ash that fell on her shoulder, looking at the dark road ahead, her eyebrows and eyes chilling, "The people of Ao City are ruthless, burying mines; if we had really been killed, they could’ve collected a lot of resources, huh?"