Chapter 1076: Warm Hospitality in Xiaohe City
The area ahead was all grassland, making it easy to find tire tracks. Following the direction the vehicle had taken, Xu Huo and the others soon arrived at a sandy region. However, within this sandy area, there was a large road partially buried by flying sand and rolling stones, and at the end of the road, the faint silhouette of a city’s buildings could be seen.
“Great, we finally have a place to rest…” The people from Zone 002 grew excited. But just as they were about to move forward, the mutated beasts suddenly became agitated, throwing them off and bolting back the way they came without looking back!
Players weren’t so easy to shake off, but the mutated beasts Xu Huo and the others were riding twisted their bodies frantically, completely different from before.
Xu Huo narrowed his eyes, sensing movement coming from the direction opposite the city. He let go, releasing the white-necked bird beast.
Uncle Guan and the others also noticed a vehicle approaching in the distance and couldn’t help but frown.
The group of beasts ran far away, and only then did the distant vehicle slowly draw near. It was an old, sand-covered truck. The front windshield had been treated, making it impossible to see inside from the outside.
“Stop! Stop!” Several people from Zone 002 rushed to the middle of the road, waving their arms desperately, “We’re not players! Just ordinary people!”
Talk about burning bridges before even crossing the river!
But the players had no time to deal with them at the moment, because there were eight people in the truck, all armed with firepower. And as the vehicle approached, Xu Huo and the others felt a suppressing force—there was also a jamming device on the truck.
The truck stopped about ten meters away from them. Two people covered from head to toe jumped down from the back, aiming their guns at Xu Huo and the others, warning them not to move.
Uncle Guan raised his hands, “We just want to find a place to rest and recover. We’ll leave in a couple of days. We won’t cause any trouble for your town.”
The group was travel-worn. Some had broken arms, some were limping, and the rest were swaying on their feet, barely able to stand straight.
After sizing them up, one of the people walked to the front of the driver’s seat and said something inside. Then, a man wearing a headscarf and covering half his face got out of the front seat. He strode over to Xu Huo’s group, pulled down his face covering, and reached out to Uncle Guan. “Welcome to Xiaohe City. We’re the Xiaohe City Guard. My name is Zheng Da.”
Uncle Guan shook his hand, relieved, and introduced Xu Huo and the others. “We’re in urgent need of a place to rest. Could you possibly accommodate us?”
“Easy, easy.” Zheng Da laughed heartily. “Guests from afar are always welcome. We rarely get visitors here. We just happened to hunt a few fat, meaty mutated beasts today. We have to throw a banquet!”
Laughter came from the truck as well. A dark-faced man stuck his head out of the driver’s window and greeted them, “Get in, get in! It’s been a while since we’ve had new guests. Let’s go back and have some fun!”
The two masked people who had come down from the back led them onto the truck.
Inside the truck were several drained mutated beasts. Three players were sitting there, each with a bucket in front of them. When they saw people coming up, they all voluntarily took off their face coverings, grinning and greeting them warmly, then proactively handed out bottled water.
“Can this water be drunk?” Zhou Yuanzhu held the water bottle. “Won’t it just make us thirstier?”
Zheng Da, who had come up from the passenger seat, explained as the truck started moving, “All the water in Xiaohe Town is processed through filters. Drink up without worry.”
He himself took two bottles and casually handed one to a companion beside him. They both unscrewed the caps and drank, finishing an entire bottle in one go.
Seeing them drink so freely made everyone, whose throats were nearly parched, swallow involuntarily. Then, they eagerly gulped down the water.
None of the players touched theirs.
Zheng Da and the others didn’t seem to mind. They didn’t even bring it up, instead starting to chat with them.
The people from Zone 002 had a unique appearance, and the players on the truck had probably never seen anything like it. They were very curious. In particular, the people from Zone 002 were generally quite good-looking, and several of the women received special treatment.
This kind of ordinary friendliness relaxed the Zone 002 people a bit. They began telling Zheng Da and the others how they had gotten there.
“Just bad luck, getting caught up in all this.” Chi Minghong sighed. “And I lost a leg for it. So unlucky.”
“Don’t be so pessimistic. Look, we’re still living here.” Zheng Da laughed. “As the saying goes, a golden nest or a silver nest isn’t as good as your own dog kennel.”
After bantering with Chi Minghong for a bit, he looked at Tan Qi and the infant sitting next to Xu Huo. “Are these your children?”
“Found them on the road.” Xu Huo looked tired, his voice lacking strength.
Zheng Da sighed. “Poor things, losing their parents so young. Still nursing, I bet. Xiaohe Town has women who’ve just given birth. They can take care of them for a few days.”
Xu Huo smiled and thanked him.
Throughout the journey, Zheng Da and the others kept finding things to talk about, but they never pried too much into their information. They really did seem like they were welcoming guests from afar.
Uncle Guan and the others also seemed to gradually let their guard down.
And so, in a harmonious atmosphere, they arrived at Xiaohe City—a city almost completely sealed off with metal.
However, it was even more dilapidated than the W37 Base City Xu Huo had seen before. Apart from the bottom ten or so meters being a solid metal wall, the upper part was made of various overlapping metal strips. Many places had been damaged and not properly repaired, just reinforced with another layer of metal materials.
“Can this keep out the xenomorphs?” asked a woman in her thirties from Zone 002.
“No problem at all.” The long-faced young man who had been fawning over her patted his chest. “Besides, with the Guard around, no xenomorphs will get into the city!”
“But aren’t there xenomorph swarms?” Zhou Yuanzhu asked curiously. “We ran into one on our way here.”
“Of course there are swarms, but they usually retreat before they can surround the city.” Zheng Da said. “You just have to stir up trouble in their lair. Another Guard team from Xiaohe City went to the xenomorph lair the day before yesterday. They probably ran into the swarm leaving its nest.”
“So that’s why those xenomorphs suddenly ran off. It must have been because of your people.” Chi Minghong chuckled. “We have you to thank!”
“It’s fate!” Zheng Da said generously. “Sister, you’re straightforward. I get along with you. I’ll arrange a good place for you to stay, and I’ll have a doctor check on you. That wound of yours looks a bit inflamed. Don’t want any lasting problems.”
“Then thank you, Brother Zheng!” Chi Minghong nodded, then turned and winked at Xu Huo. “This is my good buddy. He’s got internal injuries. I don’t suppose Xiaohe City has a doctor who can treat that?”
Zheng Da waved his hand, indicating it was no problem at all.
The truck entered Xiaohe City, passing through streets lined with damaged buildings on both sides, heading towards a cluster of reinforced structures ahead. The laughter and cheerful talk inside the truck stood in stark contrast to the silent streets. Only occasionally could one see a person or two deep in the shadows of the buildings, staring intently at the vehicle.
(Chapter End)