The mountain road was rugged and narrow, with a gravel surface that was steep and slippery. Even villagers needed tools to climb it, let alone the police officers who were experiencing it for the first time. The higher they went, the steeper and more dangerous it became. They had to use both their hands and feet to climb, and their hearts were pounding with fear.
Because the phone call mentioned two more victims, they had prepared a stretcher, which they had tied to the roof of their car and brought over. Now that they were going up the mountain, they naturally had to carry them on their backs.
"They're almost there," the little paper figure announced.
"Understood." Yuan Zhuan concealed herself in the deep forest; the little paper figure was her spy.
Pei Jun never dreamed that along their journey, there were small white paper figures spying on and eavesdropping on them.
"Chief, we're almost there." As we approached our destination, the road suddenly became flat and wide, and the view opened up.
Pei Jun dragged his heavy steps up the last step, completely exhausted and covered in sweat.
This trip up the mountain almost killed him.
While Pei Jun was resting on the ground, the other officers with good stamina had already gone into the cave to investigate.
"Ugh..." Before long, people rushed out, leaning against the rocks and vomiting. One after another, they almost vomited bile, and their faces were all deathly pale.
"Chief...something's happened, something really bad..."
Pei Jun's heart sank. He hurriedly got up and rushed inside.
Everything inside the cave was revealed in its true form under the incandescent light, with nothing left to hide.
Those piles of body bags!
A deep red stone slab beneath the body bag!
Shocking surgical instruments!
There was also a child unconscious on a bamboo bed!
The walls were covered with medical kits used to store organs.
"Beast!! Beast!!!" Pei Jun's roar filled the entire cave.
He hated! He was angry! Yet he was also sad!
As each body bag was examined, everyone present wept.
According to the accompanying forensic examination, most of these donors were children, and they were all quite young.
Grief spread through everyone's hearts; their stomachs churned violently, their hearts clenched with pain, and they felt an overwhelming sense of guilt, all of which lashed at their nerves.
If they could have been discovered earlier, if they could have been rescued earlier... perhaps... they could have survived...
They are still so young, and they have a long life ahead of them.
Pei Jun knelt on the ground and wailed uncontrollably. As a father, he was filled with grief; as a public servant, he felt ashamed for failing to fulfill his duty to protect the people…
"Chief, there's someone! Alive!"
When the living executioner and the shocking evidence were laid out before him, Pei Jun pulled out his gun; he was going to kill this beast!
"Chief, you can't!" The officers surrounded them.
Yuan Zhuan listened to the little paper figure's description of the scene and saw the victimized children being moved down the mountain before he felt relieved.
"Your merit points have increased by 10,000," the system suddenly announced.
Yuan Zhuan paused in his act of climbing down the tree. "What? That high?"
"Yes, evidence—unburnt corpses, the capture of executioners—can all earn you merit points. Now, the system only needs eight thousand merit points to level up to level three and open another apocalyptic dimension. Do you agree?"
"Another apocalyptic dimension?" Yuan Zhuan asked in surprise.
She thought that this interdimensional trading system only traded with Zhang Xiaoxiao and her family.
"Yes, it's not just this new post-apocalyptic plane. Starting from level three, you can unlock a new post-apocalyptic plane with each level you gain. In addition, you can get a level-up gift pack for leveling up."
"A new dimension is connected with each level up? What's in the gift pack?"
"What you want, but can't get right now." The system's description was so mysterious that it sounded like a charlatan trying to fool his followers.
"We'll talk about it when we get back." With that, Yuan Zhuan turned to leave, preparing to hurry back.
"Wait! Host, now that you agree to the upgrade, I'll give you an extra big gift."
Yuan Zhuan: Something's wrong! The system's acting up!
"Why are you in such a hurry?" This doesn't fit the system's cold and indifferent design.
The system fell silent.
"You won't tell me? I won't upgrade if you don't tell me."
system:……
Last time, when it asked her to save the family that had been massacred, this woman refused without hesitation, showing her cold-blooded cruelty.
Therefore, it is certain that this woman truly does what she says.
But this time, we can't wait.
"The notification from above states that the post-apocalyptic plane we are trying to connect to has reached its end and urgently needs rescue. If the key figure in this connecting plane dies in this riot, the post-apocalyptic plane will collapse, and I will also encounter problems."
"Oh, so you have a higher-level system? The key figures connecting the different dimensions aren't random, are they selected by you?" Yuan Zhuan grasped the crux of the matter.
"Yes." If the system had facial features, it would definitely utter this word through gritted teeth.
"Then I'm chosen by you too." What kind of chosen savior is she?
"You're an accident, or rather, not an accident. I'll explain in detail after you level up."
"Oh, what does that have to do with me? You're the one who's having a breakdown, not me."
System: That's ruthless!
"Host, don't forget, we are symbiotic. If I die, you won't live either."
Yuan Zhuan frowned and sat cross-legged on a tree branch.
If I were to die now... ugh... so annoying...
It seems like she hasn't lived enough yet.
"How long will this situation of exchanging gold coins for lifespan last?" The oppressive feeling of having her life constantly controlled by an unknown system, and the sense of being enslaved, was truly unbearable for her.
"Max level. Once I reach level 12, you can leave me, and I can go back and report back." The system finally told the truth.
"Then let's upgrade."
"System upgrade in progress, please wait..." The next second, Yuan Zhuan's vision went black and he fainted. He fell from the tree, but fortunately, the ground beneath the tree was covered with soft, decaying leaves.
Yuan Zhuan: Damn it, if she had known she would faint, she would have climbed down from the tree. She just fell for nothing.
Yuan's security.
Cao Ming saw Wu Tianqing return with the others, but Yuan Zhuan was nowhere to be seen. "Why did you all come back alone? Where is Zhuan Zhuan?"
"My lord has something to attend to."
After getting off the car, Yuan Sun and Sun Dasheng didn't ask about the Yuan family's security situation, but instead returned to their shop with heavy expressions.
This journey was a very painful experience for each of them.
No wonder people say that hell is empty and all the devils are here on earth. The dirtiest thing in this world is the human heart.
"Where are you going?" Cao Ming noticed Wu Tianqing's unwell appearance and assumed he was tired. However, he was surprised that after the workaholic handed him the car keys, his first instinct was not to go to the training hall, but to head outside.
"My master said I can rest until she returns." With that, Wu Tianqing turned and left without looking back.
Cao Ming: ...
What's wrong with all of them?
Were those organ trafficking organizations shut down? He didn't hear his family talking about these things.
So, this happened because the mission failed?
Cao Ming was completely baffled. He couldn't figure it out, so he gave up trying. The renovation of the factory had already started, and he had to go and supervise the work.
Over the next few days, people kept returning, but they remained silent and sorrowful, bringing with them small video cameras.
Everyone who returned seemed to have lost their soul, and became even more violent. They wouldn't answer questions, but instead trained themselves like madmen, sometimes even shedding tears for no reason. This caused panic in the training ground, with people wondering if the facility was about to close down, which was why they kept crying.
Yuan Zhuan opened her eyes in the darkness, awakened by the pop-up screen; the ringing noise hurt her eardrums.
The moment Yuan Zhuan opened his eyes, he saw that the system screen had automatically turned on. On the screen, a young boy's face was flashing continuously, just like text messages, with 24 messages stacked up, and then the number kept increasing to 25/26/27.
"System, come out!"
system:……
"The recipient of the new dimension is him, Lu Ze, the boy from the post-apocalyptic slums. You should connect with him; he's been here for a long time and knows about the system exchange."
"Does he have any of your colleagues?"
"yes."
Yes, without system guidance, the other party wouldn't be sending out text messages so frantically.
Yuan Zhuan clicked on the boy's profile picture, and the information on it was overwhelming.
"Hello, interdimensional merchant, I am Lu Ze."
Hello, are you there?
"Hello... I'd like to exchange for some food..."
Each text message was related to food, drink, and medicine.
That's true; the things most lacking in the apocalypse are food, water, and medicine.
Second Apocalyptic Plane.
Lu Ze was born in the radiation zone of the post-apocalyptic world. The humans here are all ordinary people, abandoned by the new world because they do not have superpowered species and are born unable to awaken superpowers.
The New World is a walled world built by powerful individuals with supernatural abilities after the apocalypse, and it's also the dream destination for ordinary people from the slums.
Legend has it that in the new world, food, clothing, shelter, and transportation are just like before the apocalypse. The only difference is that the people there are all people with superpowers. The poor, on the other hand, can only eat food from the radiation zone, which is made from radiation-infected plants they grow themselves.
After his parents' friend passed away, he had no relatives left. He grew up relying on the help of the people around him, scavenging through garbage dumps. Now he is twelve years old and can grow his own food.
His name, Lu Ze, was given to him by his father before he passed away. He could also write, having learned it from an uncle. Unfortunately, that uncle only taught him for two years before suddenly disappearing. He never saw him again, and people said that he had been assimilated by zombies.
His life consisted of worrying about food every day, and oh, and another thing, he had to run away to avoid being assimilated.
For example, right now...
The thin, small boy was running wildly through the dirty ditch, the roaring sounds behind him growing closer and closer.
The second danger in the radiation zone, and the one with the highest mortality rate, is zombies!
'Huff huff huff huff...' His rapid breathing made his chest burn. He wanted to stop, but he couldn't. If he stopped, he would die. He had to return to the safe zone before the full moon, or he would surely die here.
Since the apocalypse, a century-long war between zombies and humans has ended with the victory of the superhumans. The superhumans established a new world, while the zombies were driven out of the radiation zone, now known as the slums.
Ordinary people were isolated in the radiation zone, and it took a long time for them to fight and struggle. In the end, the ordinary survivors were abandoned and had to live and die with the zombies. In order to maintain their few good reputations and a pitiful amount of so-called humanitarianism, the superhumans set up a safe zone in the radiation zone to ensure that ordinary people could survive as much as possible.
Zombies can't get into that area!
After the establishment of the Safe District, ordinary people were completely forgotten by the New Territories. The area of the Safe District is always limited because the number of ordinary people keeps increasing.
As the population grew, the area they could cultivate for food decreased, and eventually, they had to form groups to establish cultivation areas outside the region to ensure everyone's food needs.
In order to survive, ordinary people would join groups of three or five to leave the safe zone and go to the Fallen Lands to plant crops. Fortunately, zombies are not very active during the day and are slow. As long as they are fast enough, the zombies cannot catch up with them. They can also work together to kill zombies, mine crystal cores to sell for money to buy food.
However, the zombies' decline period is only five hours each day. After five hours, when the moon is full, it is the time for the zombies to go berserk. Both their speed and strength increase a hundredfold. If they do not return to the safe zone within this time, they will have no power to resist the zombies' pursuit.
His parents died in the Fallen Lands and, before they mutated, entrusted him to a friend to be sent back to the Safe Realm.
Unfortunately, his parents' friends didn't last long either. When he was a little over five years old, they also died in the mouths of zombies. Their children, who were only a few years older than him, were taken in by relatives, while he became a completely abandoned orphan.
Fortunately, the people in the security community were very united and still retained the kindness they had before the apocalypse. They sympathized with him, and he grew up slowly, eating food from many families.
Now that he's twelve years old, he can finally go out and plant some wheat on his own.
Reclaiming the wasteland was extremely strenuous, and he lost track of time while working. Although people he knew kept urging him to go back, he still delayed.
That's why this scene happened behind me...
I'm being chased.
In the safe zone, Tao Tao, perched on the wall, turned pale with fright as she saw the zombies chasing her friend. "Aze...Aze...Come on! Hurry! The moon's almost full! Hurry!!!"
Even though he was so tired he wanted to lie down, Lu Ze persisted...
He didn't want to die yet; he hadn't lived enough.
"Hurry up, Aze, come on!" The panicked voices of several uncles who had been kind to him reached his ears.
Lu Ze was panting heavily, and his speed was getting slower and slower. He was too tired and simply didn't have the strength to run forward anymore.
It was right in front of him, less than ten meters away, but he couldn't take another step.
"Aze!"
The zombies are catching up!
"Dad, save Aze!" Tao Tao's terrified voice was extremely shrill.
Before losing consciousness, Lu Ze seemed to see someone running towards him.
Are they zombies?
They've come to devour him; he'll soon be assimilated.
Why is it so hard to survive? He has already tried so hard.
Dad, Mom, Aze has come to find you.
The moment Lu Ze collapsed, the man and the zombie arrived simultaneously.
The man knocked the zombie to the ground with a stick, picked up the boy from the ground, and ran quickly towards the safe zone.
Ten meters is but a blink of an eye. The zombie was fast, but the man still managed to rush into the safe zone just as it caught up with him.
The zombie roared and left. The man put Lu Ze on the ground, and the other neighbors gathered around.
“Aze…”
"Host detected, host detected..."
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