Chapter 393: Chapter 392: Settlement
Puff!
The spear-like sharp object was half-buried in the dirt, the end still quivering slightly.
Lv Bai examined the thing that attacked him, it seemed like a piece of steel rebar torn from a building and honed.
He casually pulled the steel spike out and looked in the direction from which the attack had come.
It was easy to spot the culprit who had ambushed him.
The person didn’t hide; instead, after a missed hit, he was baring teeth and swinging claws while cursing angrily at Lv Bai.
Such was the intensity of his rage that if he weren’t standing on the rooftop of a department store, he might have directly lunged at him.
Seeing this scene, Lv Bai was somewhat stunned.
This was the first human he had seen since arriving on the surface, but judging from his behavior...
The relationships among humans surviving on the surface seemed unfriendly?
The person quickly came running out of the department store.
He was a male, appearing to be around seventeen or eighteen years old, holding a well-maintained, shiny steel knife.
His face displayed what he perceived to be a ferocious, intimidating expression; knife pointed at Lv Bai, he said in a harsh tone, "Never seen you before, where did you come from? Get out of here, you’re not welcome!"
The accent was somewhat strange, but it was understandable enough.
This made Lv Bai slightly relieved.
It seemed that although technological development on the surface humans had stagnated, civilization had survived.
Lv Bai thought about this internally, but externally showed nothing: "I’m not from outside."
"Despicable outsider! Don’t think about deceiving me, I’ve never seen you."
The youth thrust his steel knife further towards Lv Bai: "I’ll say it again, no matter where you’re from, leave quickly or I’ll be unkind."
"I have no reason to deceive you."
Lv Bai was somewhat helpless.
In this situation, he suddenly started longing for those Soul-Searching Secret Techniques from the Cultivation World.
If he could directly extract information from the person’s mind, there wouldn’t be these troubles.
He raised his hand and pointed downwards: "I just came up from underground."
Unexpectedly, upon hearing this, the youth’s expression was filled with undisguised contempt: "So you’re the descendant of selfish cowards, since you chose betrayal, why come out?"
Lv Bai thought for a moment and said, "I was born in the refuge, it’s beyond my control, right?"
His smile became even more kindly, appearing quite amiable: "Now I’ve realized we should live openly on the earth, and I’ve made efforts to come to the surface. Would you still push someone who actively wants to come closer away?"
Hearing these words, the young man visibly hesitated.
After much internal conflict, the young man finally gritted his teeth and said, "Then follow me."
On one hand, the youth is easier to sway; on the other, perhaps because Lv Bai is the first person he has seen come out of the refuge, it’s hard to decisively get rid of him.
...
In the years that human beings have mostly vanished, nature’s ability to recover has been astonishing to the point of being terrifying, overwhelming every corner of the city.
The route was filled with intense greenery, Lv Bai saw the place that should have been a park, now turned into what resembled a primitive forest.
Trunks broken on the riverbank were covered with fungi, exhaling a faintly discernible fragrance.
Lv Bai honestly followed the young man through some shortcuts known only to locals, akin to flies scavenging through a city’s carcass.
During this time, Lv Bai occasionally tried to strike up conversations with the youth.
Unfortunately, the youth was rather vigilant, refusing to answer, and if questioned too much he would raise his steel knife menacingly.
"Aren’t we there yet? Are you here away from the settlement for watch duty or hunting?"
The youth impatiently raised his steel knife, tapping a piece of steel protruding from concrete: "Stop asking, we’re already here."
They were in a collapsed apartment building, the prefabricated ceiling structure overhead seemed precariously tilted, but was sturdier than expected.
Upon hearing the youth’s words, Lv Bai halted, borrowing from the half-frame of the window to extend his vision.
The sky was blue, but outside the window there were no paper cranes; replaced instead by boundless greenery, surging as if in a tidal wave.
The semi-circular building ahead was like a lone leaf boat in a sea of green, seemingly about to be swallowed by the limitless verdant expanse at any moment.
"This should have been a sports center, right?"
Lv Bai looked at the stadium resembling a bird’s nest, his expression ambiguous.
"Never mind about that."
The youth gave no time for Lv Bai’s sentiments, immediately leaping out of the apartment through the half-frame window: "Come quickly."
Passing through the last patch of greenery, Lv Bai followed the youth to the entrance of the stadium.
Inside the locked iron gate sat an elderly person whose appearance seemed to be in their senescence.
Upon seeing the youth, the elder smiled and greeted him while opening the door: "Fire Radiance, back so early today?"
However, upon seeing Lv Bai behind the youth, the elder slowed the pace of opening the door imperceptibly: "This little friend is...?"
"I encountered him over at Nanshang Square; he said he just came out of the refuge."
The youth dubbed Fire Radiance sheathed the steel knife at his waist, continuing, "I plan to take him to see Dabiao and figure out what to do with him."
The elder’s clouded eyes scrutinized Lv Bai, slowly saying, "Better to let Dabiao decide."
The iron gate opened, Fire Radiance entered, grabbing a handful of unknown beans and crunching them in his mouth.
Seeing this, the elder glared and slapped his arm: "You ate them all, what’s left for old me to eat?"
Fire Radiance grinned impishly while flexing his arm: "Uncle Xia, you just turned forty last month, why pretend to be an old man?"
"Alright, quickly take this young friend there."
Fire Radiance knew priorities were essential, beckoning Lv Bai to follow.
This settlement was originally a sports stadium, undoubtedly expansive in area.
Nevertheless, places like sports centers are constructed initially to ensure visitors won’t get lost.
Despite centuries passing, the basic layout of the sports center hadn’t transformed much; one only needs to follow the main path.
Lv Bai walked while examining the inner area.
The venue’s original spectator seats were converted into various sized shanties.
Regarding construction materials, they visibly weren’t uniformly produced but scavenged steel and roofing.
From these shanties, Lv Bai roughly estimated the entire settlement gathered thousands of people.
But the question remained, where’s the food coming from to sustain such a population?
