The desolate and dilapidated scene before me resembled the end of World War II, with every household staying indoors and mutants with mutilated bodies and terrifying faces appearing everywhere on the streets.
Corpses lay scattered throughout the streets and alleys, exposed to the scorching sun for days, their bellies swollen like balloons. Intermittent groans drifted from the shadows, sending chills down the spines of those who heard them.
The foul-smelling green wastewater meandered along the gravel road, its source nowhere in sight.
"How terrifying, this place is like a death city in a game..." Zhang Xiaojuan subconsciously tightened her collar.
Despite the high temperature of 40 degrees Celsius, the group of people felt a chill running down their spines.
Inside the walls is severe nuclear contamination with levels off the charts, while outside are various bloodthirsty mutant animals. These people have nowhere to escape and can only silently wait to die.
Just as the group was intently observing their surroundings, a pair of withered and twisted hands suddenly grabbed Sun Tiantian's ankles.
"ah."
Sun Tiantian let out a soft "ah" and subconsciously lowered her head.
"Give...give me some food..."
A pale, inflated face lifted up from beside Sun Tiantian's feet.
The voice was hoarse, rough, and slightly shrill, making it impossible to tell if it was male or female. The person was only about 1.7 meters tall, and their lower body was limp and slumped on the ground.
The features on the inflatable face seemed to have melted away, stubbornly growing out of place and looking extremely uncoordinated.
"Please... give me some food... we've met before..."
His cloudy eyes looked at Lu Sheng expectantly, revealing a desire to survive.
Sun Tiantian carefully withdrew her foot, pursed her lips and lowered her voice, "This person is wearing what looks like the uniform from the Tengfei Base, with epaulets and team insignia."
The uniforms at the Tengfei Base are based on pre-apocalyptic military standards, and shoulder insignia indicate a person's rank.
This inflatable face is probably from a mid-to-high-level position at the Tengfei Base. He most likely participated in the joint grain raid, which is why he said he had met Lu Sheng and the others.
Han Rui was timid and was startled by the terrifying face, causing her small bag to fall to the ground.
The bag's zipper was open, and half of the snacks and beef jerky inside had spilled out.
Zhang Xiaojuan immediately bent down and picked up the bag, her tone unusually serious, "Be careful."
Upon seeing the beef jerky and snacks, the Tengfei Base personnel, who were lying on the ground, immediately trembled with excitement, their misaligned eyes widening. They quickly crawled over, supporting themselves with their hands, and embraced the jerky.
"How pitiful..." Han Rui couldn't bear it and silently shrank behind Zhang Xiaojuan.
The man struggled to sit up, picked up the beef jerky, and painstakingly tore open the packaging. Just as he was about to put it in his mouth, a pebble struck the back of his hand hard.
Lu Sheng raised his eyes warily and caught a glimpse of a narrow crack in the door of a house not far away.
Several pairs of bright black eyes peeked out from the crack in the door, curiously observing them.
A few seconds later, seeing that Lu Sheng and the others ignored the people on the ground, the people inside the door boldly crawled out.
The four children, around eight or nine years old, looked a bit thin, but their appearance was normal, with no signs of abnormality.
Several children glanced at Lu Sheng, then rushed over and snatched all the beef jerky and snacks away.
"You stinking cripple!"
I'll beat you to death! You dare to eat good food!
"You uniform-wearing people deserve to starve to death!"
"You won't behave unless I beat you for a day!"
"Weren't you so arrogant before? Say something!"
These children seemed to find pleasure in tormenting the person on the ground, forming a circle and punching and kicking him.
The person had no way to resist and could only cover their head with their arms, silently enduring the bullying from the child.
“These children all look so energetic…” Zhang Xiaojuan stared blankly at the children not far away, “They don’t seem to have been affected by the radiation?”
Lu Sheng frowned slightly and touched Zhuangzhuang's furry ears. "Can you tell if there's anything special about these kids?"
"Very special, yet unusually ordinary."
Zhuangzhuang didn't even look up, stating simply and directly, "It's been a long time since I've seen a human with absolutely no superpowers."
"They're all trash with combat power less than a dog's, barely 0.5."
After all, they've been in the apocalypse for a while now, dealing with all sorts of zombies and superhumans every day, and haven't encountered such pure, ordinary people in a long time.
“Normally, ordinary people are much weaker than those with superpowers. If those with superpowers are all disabled by radiation, why are these ordinary children fine?” Sun Tiantian looked at Xu Yi curiously.
A glint of light flashed in Xu Yi's narrow eyes behind his glasses. "If you're not exposed to nuclear radiation at close range, the aftereffects of radiation usually take several years to develop. But the cellular metabolism of superhumans is accelerated, which also shortens the time frame."
"So, in the Tengfei Base, the identities of ordinary people and those with superpowers are now completely reversed?"
Zhang Xiaojuan suddenly realized, "Here, the aftereffects on ordinary people will take several years to appear, so they can now be considered as emancipated serfs singing songs of liberation."
The kids kicked the Tengfei base members to vent their anger, and after wolfing down their snacks, they set their sights on Lu Sheng and her group.
Several children swaggered up to Lu Sheng, reached out their hands, and made a beckoning gesture.
"What are you doing?"
Zhang Xiaojuan looked at the children in surprise.
"Give us everything, or I'll beat you up!"
The boy in the lead raised his fist with practiced ease, his expression fierce and ruthless, completely unlike the look Zhang Xiaojuan had in mind that a child should have.
Clearly, the children mistook Lu Sheng and her group for superhumans who had been deprived of their fighting abilities by radiation, which is why they dared to rush up and threaten them.
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