Next, Li Hongling publicly announced that their team had collectively defected to the "Tianyu Base." Since their team was basically all children, they had no opinions of their own and trusted Li Hongling completely.
They had no objections to anything Li Hongling said, so the process went very smoothly.
With Li Hongling's comforting and encouraging words, the children quickly accepted their new identities and were no longer so resistant to the "militia" fighters.
Seeing this, the militia soldiers went up to help them take care of the wounded and gather supplies: broken pots and pans, frozen mixed grains, tattered cotton clothes and quilts.
Although these "militia" fighters were prisoners of Li Hongling's side not long ago, and many of them had been shot by Li Hongling's young soldiers, and even several of their comrades had been killed, they did not harbor any resentment or desire for revenge towards these children.
After all, although this was a misunderstanding, Li Hongling was ultimately the victim who suffered an undeserved misfortune.
If they harbored resentment, they wouldn't have been caught by these children.
It was precisely because they couldn't bring themselves to harm these children that they became prisoners of the other side.
If it were a serious fight, Li Hongling and her group would have been crushed and wiped out long ago.
Revenge is impossible, at least not against these kids; it doesn't make sense.
Even if they really wanted revenge, they could only target those "refugees" who had fooled them.
Chen Yu had already instructed Lin Lele to notify the main force of the "militia," and the main force was on its way.
Taking advantage of this time, Chen Yu began to inquire with Li Hongling about the situation in Guangping City and what exactly was going on with that group of thugs.
Through Li Hongling's account, Chen Yu gained a general understanding of the recent turmoil and unrest in Guangping City.
It turns out that the rioters were composed of a group of extremists.
Before the natural disaster, most of them were unemployed people or marginalized groups who were not employed for various reasons.
When natural disasters strike, social order collapses overnight. These people then seize the opportunity to organize themselves and use their weapons and supplies to plunder and oppress innocent people.
This group harbored resentment and discontent towards society even before the natural disaster; the disaster merely provided them with an opportunity to release these emotions.
Under the cover of natural disaster, these people quickly rallied and formed small but extremely destructive gangs.
Actually, at this time, although this group was rioting, it was not too bad, since they were not the only rioting group.
However, later on, for some reason, the group's thinking became increasingly distorted, and they began to worship a deity called the "God of Calamity," gradually developing into a cult.
They call themselves "the Cleansers" and claim that everyone except the Cleansers is sinful, and that this extreme cold disaster is punishment brought down by the "God of Calamity".
These "purifiers" are not without sin; they were simply chosen by the "god of calamity" and given a chance to live.
The way to survive is to eliminate as many "sinners" as possible, kill them, and eat their flesh. Only in this way can their souls be saved, allowing them to complete their redemption in this natural disaster, so that the "God of Calamity" can stop punishing them, and only then can humanity be saved!
In their view, their actions were not sinful at all, but rather a righteous act to save human civilization!
Fueled by such extreme ideology, they became increasingly frenzied, unscrupulously carrying out even more cruel and bloody actions, sweeping across the city like locusts.
Guangping City and its surrounding areas became their testing ground for "purifying" the world. Innocent civilians were slaughtered, and the entire city was shrouded in terror and despair.
In order to protect them, the parents and relatives of these children had no choice but to send them to Guangping Prison, the last stronghold of Guangping City.
Although Guangping Prison had already been occupied by prisoners, they had no better option.
Surprisingly, the prisoners who occupied the prison accepted the children without hesitation, and they kept their promise to protect them, even at the cost of their lives!
Li Hongling was originally a member of an ethnic minority in the mountains near Guangping City. She lost her family when she was young, and her elderly grandparents also failed to survive the disaster.
Moreover, her home was located in a remote area, and her family was the only household within a radius of more than ten kilometers. Due to the lack of information from the outside world during this natural disaster, after burying her grandparents, she embarked on a journey alone to find a place to survive.
Finally, she arrived in Guangping City, just in time to witness the "Cleansers" attacking the prison. As the prisoners' resistance failed and the "Cleansers" launched their final attack on the prison, she stepped forward without hesitation.
Although the "Cleansers" won the battle against the prisoners, they themselves were not much better off. As the saying goes, "killing a thousand enemies while losing eight hundred of your own," they also suffered huge losses.
Therefore, relying on her years of hunting marksmanship and agility in the mountains, Li Hongling finally defeated the "Cleansers" at a Pyrrhic victory, the price of which was her own arms.
Actually, her arms were not seriously injured at the time, but due to a lack of medicine, limited medical resources, and the effects of extreme cold, she had no choice but to abandon her arms.
She often thought that if she hadn't gone down the mountain or gotten involved in this conflict, she wouldn't have ended up like this.
Whenever the night is quiet, she lies in bed and asks herself if she regrets her impulsive actions.
But she never gets a clear answer. Perhaps there is one, or perhaps if she were given another chance, she would still resolutely choose to fight for these children.
Later, to prevent the cultists from attacking again, Li Hongling had no choice but to let the children take up arms themselves...
Li Hongling spoke calmly and briefly, but Chen Yu could easily imagine the hellish ordeal that Guangping City had undergone in the months since the natural disaster.
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