Chapter 57: Chapter 57: The Heart of the Old Demon City
"As far as I know, before the Great Destruction, the people who lived on this land built many large-scale Shelters and air-raid shelters to prepare for potential catastrophes.
It’s said that back then, two of the most powerful factions in the world, the Eagle and the Bear, vied for supremacy. Later, the Bear Race fell into decline, and a new faction rose up on this land—they called themselves the Dragon Race, and they continued the struggle against the Eagle Race. They are our ancestors.
And although the Bear Race declined, they still created the powerful Northern Bear God, ranking in the top three in terms of combat strength.
Besides the Eagle, Dragon, and Bear, there were other factions of considerable strength, and all of them were drawn into the war of the Great Destruction.
Before the Dragon Race rose to power, they had already constructed some large Shelters and air-raid shelters to defend against invasions from the northern Bear Race.
When the war of the Great Destruction broke out, many people, thanks to geographical and informational advantages, quickly entered these Shelters.
The leaders at the time also deliberately selected a number of elites to enter, making a worst-case plan for rebuilding civilization.
The people in these Shelters have propagated for generations, viewing the outside world as a bloody Purgatory and rarely venturing out.
Or rather, they never go out, and have even established strict laws forbidding any discussion of the outside world.
The Shelter I was in, Shelter 11, was considered a relatively high-ranking, medium-sized Shelter.
When I was young, I was something of a rebel. All I wanted was to see the outside world, and I had some unrealistic dreams.
About twelve years ago, I escaped during a cleaning of the Shelter’s ventilation system. Then I wandered, avoiding countless radiation zones, and nearly died on the road before I finally made it here.
Of course, I got lucky. I once found that shotgun on the edge of the Death Forest, along with some shells. That gun earned me a small reputation.
That’s the gist of it..."
The Town Mayor sat wrapped in a blanket on a chair, his expression solemn as he recounted the history of the Shelters and his own experiences to Shen Feng.
"So you’re saying you’ve never even been inside the Death Forest!? There was no great battle with Barbarians, no fighting through hordes to claim the Holy Spear and achieve victory!?" Firefly asked, dumbfounded.
The Town Mayor rolled his eyes.
"Nonsense! Look at this frame of mine. Do you think I’d even be a mouthful for a Barbarian? Besides, why would I run into the Death Forest to fight them? Has my brain been cursed?"
"Oh... okay..." Firefly slumped to one side, utterly crestfallen, looking like a fangirl who’d just seen her idol on the toilet.
And she’d never imagined the Town Mayor was from Peach Blossom Spring, or that he would leave a place like that so carelessly. It was just...
"Is that all? Have you really never heard any news about Shelter 0? If pre-war civilization was preserved in the Shelters, why not become the rebuilders of civilization in the wasteland?" Shen Feng asked with a frown, then added, "Also, put your pants on first."
The Town Mayor took the pants handed to him by the tribe chief, Raven, and said as he put them on:
"Hahaha, rebuild civilization? What a joke! Do you have any idea what the people in the Shelters call themselves? The goddamn Technology Race! But they don’t even know how to sew on a button! Hundreds of years have passed. It’s all automated equipment inside; they’ve long forgotten what technology even is!
If I hadn’t been smart enough to get out early, I’d probably have turned into some fat pig just sitting around waiting to die, only to end up in the recycling system!
"All the Shelters are located very far apart. Shelter 11, where I was from, was only somewhat close to Shelters 7 and 6.
As for Shelter 0... I’ve only heard legends. It’s said that in the heart of the Old Metropolitan City, in the center of the Iron Country, is the Kingdom of 0, and the Kingdom of Vengeance..."
The Town Mayor sang the last few lines directly.
His voice was hoarse, the tune bizarre, sounding like a funeral dirge.
Shen Feng frowned, just about to stop him, when a clear, melodious singing voice suddenly rose up beside him:
"...The heart of the Old Demon City,
In the center, guarded by the Iron Country,
Is the Kingdom of 0,
And the Kingdom of Vengeance,
Come,
Before the world is destroyed,
Let the cry of Jingwei echo to the ends of the sky,
For all eternity,
Never-ending..."
The tune of this song was completely different from the Town Mayor’s, but one could immediately tell it was the song’s original melody. Amidst the sorrow was an endless rage, and even a hint of madness born from despair.
The singer was Firefly.
"Yes, yes, yes! That’s the song! How do you know how to sing it?"
The Town Mayor looked astonished. He hadn’t heard the song in so long, and he never expected Firefly to know it, let alone sing it far more accurately than he could.
Firefly didn’t answer, instead looking at Shen Feng. Her expression was solemn, her clear eyes tinged with a trace of sorrow as she said:
"Shen Feng, the Shelter 0 you’re looking for... is it the Kingdom of 0?"
Shen Feng instantly understood something and nodded. "It should be..."
"If you can find the Kingdom of 0, you can end the annual Rebirth Day and make it so no one ever has to be reborn again?" Firefly’s gaze became resolute.
Shen Feng met her gaze with equal resolve. "I have to."
He had already guessed a few things by now.
"Alright," Firefly nodded, enunciating every word. "I’ll take you... to the center of the Iron Country, the Kingdom of 0!"
The Town Mayor stared, utterly stupefied. Looking at Firefly, he muttered:
"How do you also..."
Shen Feng looked at Firefly and said in a low voice, "That’s your homeland, isn’t it?"
He suddenly understood why Firefly had been so secretive about her identity, as if she was always trying to hide something.
A flicker of panic crossed Firefly’s eyes, and she nodded lightly.
"Don’t worry. No matter what we encounter, the guns in our hands will solve everything," Shen Feng said grimly.
It was a classic case of searching high and low for something that was right under their noses all along. Neither Shen Feng nor Firefly had ever imagined that Shelter 0, the very place he sought, was in Firefly’s homeland.
After experiencing Rebirth Day, the Crow Tribe, the mysteries of the Death Forest, and everything else in the wasteland, Shen Feng really didn’t want to wait any longer.
After explaining the situation to the Town Mayor, Shen Feng and Firefly decided to set off immediately for the former Old Demon City.
They had originally intended to take the Town Mayor with them, but he sighed, saying that the Crow Tribe didn’t have it easy, and that since he was a Flawless Seed Source, he should bear the heavy burden of continuing human civilization, but all that should be based on mutual consent, not coercion, and so on.
In the end, Shen Feng left him a shotgun, and Raven, chief of the Crow Tribe, swore an oath that he would never again force or mistreat the Town Mayor.
Only then did Shen Feng and Firefly bid the Town Mayor farewell, driving an iron-frame buggy loaded with gasoline eastward.
As for the Barbarians and the few farm robots, they returned to the Death Forest under Shen Feng’s command.
Everyone had to be responsible for their own choices. Shen Feng, naturally, had nothing to say.
’They’ll have to fend for themselves.’
With a vehicle, their speed was much faster than before.
Following the damaged, abandoned, and cracked highway, Shen Feng and Firefly drove east.
Although they occasionally encountered contaminated areas with radiation doses of 300-400 micro-sieverts, they didn’t bother detouring and just pushed right through.
After living in the wasteland for this long, Shen Feng had grown somewhat numb to radiation.
As long as it wasn’t acute radiation sickness, leukemia or something similar, he’d worry about it when it happened.
Along the way, they occasionally ran into Desert Bandits, Barbarians, and mutated beasts, but the shotgun made everything simple.
Especially after switching to slugs, a single shot could blow a man to pieces, which directly persuaded all enemies.
Under Firefly’s guidance, two days later, the iron-frame buggy stopped at the broken edge of an overpass.
The two got out and walked to the edge of the broken bridge. Firefly’s eyes were distant as she pointed below and said:
"This is the Old Demon City..."
Shen Feng looked out. Before him lay a field of ruins that had been flattened by who knows how many nuclear bombs. Gray-black remnants of walls and fused, solidified shards of glass were everywhere.
The wind blew a cloud of dust toward them, and the Geiger counter immediately began to crackle.
