Chapter 295: Race to Central City

People driving big trucks through the Wasteland generally avoid traveling at night fearing unknown dangers.

But after receiving Lu Xin’s notification which alerted Boss Gao Ting everyone decided to push on. These old drivers, having just survived a major disaster, showed their fierce spirit. They immediately extinguished the campfire assigned roles and climbed into their driver’s cabs.

The convoy originally had over fifty people with two drivers per truck plus dedicated motorcycle scouting and security teams.

However they lost more than twenty people back in the abandoned city so their setup wasn’t as complete as before.

Still after some rearranging they managed to assign one driver to each truck leaving five or six people for scouting.

Soon under the Red Moon the big trucks rolled out of the camp and onto the wide road.

Boss Gao Ting personally drove the lead truck setting the pace and route.

Lu Xin and Old Zhou’s truck brought up the rear guarding the convoy.

Little Zhou had been assigned to a truck needing a driver moving him to the middle of the formation.

Traveling through the night the convoy began its journey towards Central City.

…

“Glasses! Map.”

Lu Xin pulled up the map showing the route from here to Central City. After a quick scan he had a general idea.

It was roughly another six hundred kilometers from White Tower Town to Central City.

Considering the road conditions after the Red Moon event this convoy would likely take a little over two days.

However the map showed numerous settlements marked green within a few hundred kilometers surrounding Central City.

This was because Central City was famous well-ordered and massive attracting many wanderers. Even if they couldn’t enter the city itself they’d settle in the surrounding towns.

In other words they could reach an ‘inhabited’ area within a day’s travel.

Running into people in the Wasteland could be dangerous but sometimes it also brought a sense of security.

…

After the long snake-like convoy disappeared down the road silence once again fell over the area around White Tower Town.

Only the campfire outside the city which hadn’t been fully extinguished still held faint sparks. When the wind blew they flickered briefly then died out.

The Red Moon hung silently high above illuminating the city.

Occasionally an unknown roar would echo across the silent land.

*Whir whir whir…*

An unknown amount of time passed before the sound of propellers cut through the night sky from the distance.

Bright lights pierced the deep darkness.

Two helicopters landed on a hidden helipad outside White Tower Town and a team of Armed Soldiers rushed out.

They surrounded a man wearing a suit maintaining full alert as they strode into White Tower Town.

Everything here confused and terrified them.

They saw the empty desolate roadside the madmen with twisted bodies and eerily stiff faces and the pools of blood on the ground. When they entered the lab through a hidden tunnel they couldn’t help but gasp.

An indescribable coldness shot up their spines to the back of their heads.

Every one of them felt a chilling fear their hair standing on end.

There were no living creatures left in the entire lab. All the members seemed to be displaying various creative ways to die with their bodies. Large splashes of blood covered the walls and empty dried eyes could be seen everywhere. Even these battle-hardened mentally tough soldiers felt like they had stepped into a bloody hell standing in this lab.

“Who did this?”

“What kind of person or thing could massacre the entire lab in such a short time…”

“They didn’t even have time to send out a message?”

…

As the man in the suit ground his teeth asking these questions the Armed Soldiers had already quickly checked several locations and reported back: “The security system wasn’t damaged and the alarm system is functioning normally.”

“Meaning there are no signs of forced entry into the lab but the people inside…”

…

The man in the suit silently waved his hand and suddenly said “Follow me.”

Surrounded by the Armed Soldiers he quickly arrived at a heavily guarded office door used the access card and opened the door.

Glancing at the computer screen still glowing blue in the office he walked straight to the safe.

Upon opening the safe he took a sharp breath: “The secret’s been leaked.”

Soon an encrypted call was placed to a luxuriously decorated meeting room.

Someone was already sitting there in the unlit room silent and still like statues. After the phone rang three times someone precisely reached out and pressed the speakerphone button. The man’s anxious yet controlled voice echoed in the office:

“I’ve arrived at the White Tower Town experimental base. Confirmed the White Tower Town experimental base has been destroyed.”

“Intruder unknown.”

“Method of intrusion unknown.”

“No survivors.”

“Core secret confirmed lost.”

“Surveillance hard drive destroyed unable to retrieve footage. Technicians are attempting recovery.”

“The only thing certain currently is that this incident is likely related to the previously prepared ‘materials’.”

“Traces outside the city confirm the ‘materials’ departed overnight heading towards Central City.”

…

In the meeting room the people sitting like statues in the darkness listened silently. No one spoke. After hearing the entire report one of them reached out hung up the phone and asked softly “Who should we send to handle this?”

“Someone capable of destroying an entire lab without us noticing won’t be simple.”

“Suspect is at least a stable Second Stage Ability User or possibly an S-level Ability User.”

…

The speculation about the opponent’s abilities caused some bodies in the meeting room to shift unnaturally.

After a long pause someone calm finally spoke softly in the darkness “Then send the Hell Group.”

“The Hell Group?”

The person beside him sounded surprised “The entire Hell Group? Or someone from the Hell Group?”

“Infant Hide-and-Seek Inner Demon. Send the entire team.”

The calm person spoke softly “We need to ensure their mission is foolproof.”

“Don’t give them time to prepare.”

“Losing the base isn’t the end of the world but we absolutely cannot let this trigger a major incident.”

…

A consensus seemed to be reached quickly. Then everyone in the unlit meeting room silently rose. They left quietly through different doors. There were four people in total each carefully concealing their identity. Not only did they wear hoods and masks but one even had deliberately thickened shoe soles to hide their height and build.

After they all left only one person remained in the meeting room.

He sat silently for a long time slowly took out a cigarette placed it between his lips and lit it.

As the flame flared it illuminated his handsome face his slightly furrowed brow and his gold-rimmed glasses reflecting the faint light.

…

“Once we reach Central City we’ll be safe…”

When the convoy rounded a wide road skirting the foot of the mountain and saw the High Wall standing on the plains everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

They had driven for a full night and day finally arriving at Central City just as dusk was about to fall.

Thinking back they felt incredibly lucky. Despite the unusual forced march no one had fallen behind and they hadn’t encountered any danger.

Of course the full night and day of rushing had left these already tense old drivers utterly exhausted.

*Tweet…*

A sharp whistle sounded from up front. Sun Gouzi rode his motorcycle back from the front whistling and yelling at the top of his lungs “Boss says everyone push it! Get into No. 7 City before the steel drawbridge lowers at seven! Stay sharp! We rest after getting inside! Good wine good food and hot water are waiting! Don’t screw up at the last moment…”

“Wake up we’re almost there…”

Hearing this Lu Xin shook Old Zhou awake.

Old Zhou was getting on in years and the continuous driving was taking its toll. So Lu Xin had boldly taken over midway helping drive the final stretch. It hadn’t gone badly; Lu Xin found he could actually drive quite steadily though he did need to borrow his Sister’s ability occasionally during dangerous moments to resolve crises.

Over three or four hours he only borrowed it seven or eight times.

Looks like I have potential for driving big trucks…

Lu Xin thought maybe if the Special Cleaning Department didn’t need him anymore he could become a transport driver.

“Oh oh…”

Old Zhou who had been snoring woke with a start rubbing his eyes and sitting up abruptly “Is my ten minutes up?”

“You’ve slept for over three hours…”

Lu Xin glanced at him disdainfully slowed down and let Old Zhou take the steering wheel.

Then the two men swapped seats in a slightly awkward maneuver each letting out a long sigh of relief.

“Once we enter the city we should be safe right?”

Lu Xin took out his small notebook jotted down a note and silently pondered.

After entering the city he could contact the office personnel.

Also Qinggang’s plan regarding this matter would likely be finalized and implemented soon.

Although Lu Xin understood based on Han Bing’s analysis that the people behind this wouldn’t just give up easily—they would surely make a move even after he entered Central City let alone just the Satellite City—he still felt much more relieved.

Han Bing had told him this over the phone.

As long as they entered the city the other party couldn’t use large-scale destructive weapons or armed forces to try and silence them.

So if the other party refused to give up they would only send Ability Users.

…Of course if the other party sent Ability Users it would be even more dangerous!

…Yes more dangerous!”