After the broadcasting system had been running stably for a week, Lin Feng turned his attention to the vast and unknown wilderness outside the shelter.
His ever-growing ambition made him no longer satisfied with the small kingdom he now possessed, which had fewer than a hundred people.
He was like a greedy chess player, eager to add more pieces to his chessboard.
That morning, Qin Lan received a summons from Lin Feng.
At the research institute, Qin Lan saw five futuristic-looking field communication terminals for the first time.
"This is the new equipment I've prepared for you: a radio."
Lin Feng's voice echoed in the empty research institute: "Its communication range is enough to cover an area of 500 kilometers. No matter where you are, I can know your movements immediately and give you instructions."
“I will select six of your most elite members from the combat squads and the artisan teams. In a week, you will form the first ‘expeditionary exploration team’ and embark on a month-long exploration to the east.”
Lin Feng walked up to a map and tapped it lightly with his finger.
"Your task is no longer hunting and gathering."
His voice became incredibly serious: "Then search, search for all possible survivors. Find them, assess them, and then bring them back."
Qin Lan's breath hitched slightly.
She understood the profound shift this mission represented. It was no longer about survival, but about conquest.
“I understand, Mr. Lin.”
She knelt on one knee, her voice firm as iron, "Expedition, we will never let you down!"
A week flew by in a tense but well-organized preparation.
The members of the expedition team were finally determined.
In addition to team leader Qin Lan, Li Xiangbin also joined the team.
The other five members are all women with the best skills and the strongest will in the combat team.
Lin Feng poured his heart and soul into this expedition.
He provided the expedition with seven horses with iron hooves that were entirely blue.
The team's equipment was so advanced that it was armed to the teeth.
They wore combat suits made of a special fiber blend that combined warmth, protection, and camouflage.
He carried a lightweight yet powerful crossbow, personally modified by Lin Feng, and had a dagger and multi-functional tools hanging at his waist.
The most eye-catching of all were the five burly, fierce-looking horned wolves that followed on either side of the group.
They are sentinels in the night, claws in battle, and the most reliable guarantee for the expedition.
On the day of departure, all the members of the shelter gathered in the central square to see off their hero.
Standing on the high platform, Lin Feng personally handed a black flag embroidered with the word "Sanctuary" shield and the symbol of a hammer and sword to Qin Lan.
"Go." His voice, broadcast over the loudspeaker, reached every corner of the square: "Take my will, and the glory of the Sanctuary, to the farthest places you can reach. I await news of your triumphant return."
"For Mr. Lin! For the shelter!" Qin Lan shouted, raising her arms.
"For Mr. Lin! For the shelter!" In the square, dozens of members responded to their leader with their most fervent shouts.
Amidst thunderous cheers, Qin Lan led her team, riding magnificent iron-hoofed horses and leading fierce horned wolves, like a Valkyrie from an ancient epic going to war, proudly stepping out of the shelter's gates and onto that unknown and vast ice plain.
The journey through the wilderness was far more arduous and dangerous than imagined.
The vast expanse of white snow covered the earth, and the monotonous scenery was enough to make even the most resilient traveler feel depressed and desperate.
The biting wind howled like a knife day and night, trying to take away the last bit of warmth from a person's bones.
The crevice hidden beneath the ice, the elusive mutated creatures, and the unpredictable blizzards are the daily challenges the expedition team faces.
However, Qin Lan and her team members demonstrated remarkable adaptability and fighting spirit.
During the day, they braved the wind and snow to travel; at night, under the watchful eyes of the horned wolves, they huddled around a portable heat stove (made by Lin Feng), munching on high-calorie compressed rations, meticulously maintaining their weapons, and reporting their day's journey and discoveries to Lin Feng via radio.
Five days passed in the arduous journey, day after day.
That afternoon, a horned wolf on scouting duty suddenly let out a low howl, indicating that it had spotted something.
"Stop!" Qin Lan immediately raised her hand, and the entire team instantly obeyed her command.
She picked up her binoculars and looked in the direction the horned wolf was circling.
On the distant horizon, the outline of a continuous, dark mountain range came into view. At the base of that mountain range, there were some unnatural signs of human activity.
"Something's up." Qin Lan's voice was calm and concise. "Everyone, check your weapons and stay alert. We'll approach slowly."
The team slowed down, adopted a combat formation, and silently made its way towards the mountain range.
As they drew closer, a faint, nauseating stench drifted into their nostrils on the wind.
When they finally crossed a mountain ridge and saw the scene in the valley, even Qin Lan, a soldier who was used to seeing terrible things, couldn't help but frown.
It was a sheltered mountain hollow, and on the rock wall of the hollow was a huge, naturally formed cave, which was obviously the dwelling place of this settlement.
The open space outside the cave was a scene of utter devastation.
Leftover animal bones, already rotting and stinking, were carelessly scattered everywhere, attracting swarms of black, fly-like insects.
Some tattered animal hides and cloths, whose original colors were no longer discernible, were piled together haphazardly, emitting a damp, musty smell.
Not far away, there was even a small mound of earth with a crooked wooden stick stuck in it, clearly a new grave.
The entire camp was shrouded in a lazy, filthy, disorderly, and suffocating atmosphere.
This contrasts sharply with their clean, tidy, and orderly shelter, a stark contrast to heaven and hell.
What surprised them even more were the members of this settlement.
A dozen or so people sat or lay listlessly on the open ground at the entrance of the cave, all looking pale and sallow.
And all of these dozen or so people were women.
More accurately, it was a group of... somewhat overweight women.
Their faces weren't the plumpness that comes from healthy labor, but rather a sickly, superficial fatness.
When Qin Lan and Li Xiangbin appeared in front of them.
The group of women, who had been lifeless, suddenly had an unusual gleam in their eyes.
It was a ecstatic mix of shock, jealousy, and greed.
A woman who appeared to be the leader stood up from the crowd.
She was in her forties, the most voluptuous of all, with a ridiculous, faded makeup applied with some kind of plant juice.
She tried to straighten her chest, attempting to project an air of haughtiness and authority, but her shifty, calculating eyes betrayed her true feelings.
"Who...who are you?" she asked in a tone that she thought was very imposing, but was actually somewhat blustering.
Looking at the woman's face, Li Xiangbin suddenly felt that she looked somewhat familiar.
He examined it carefully for a long time, and a long-faded memory belonging to the old era was suddenly awakened in his mind.
He cried out, "You...you're not that...that stand-up comedian Fu Hancheng, are you?"
Upon hearing that name, a fleeting hint of smugness and arrogance flashed across the woman's face.
She raised her chin, as if the name represented the highest honor.
"That's right, it's me."
She cleared her throat, trying to recapture the feeling she once had on stage, and said in an exaggerated, sarcastic tone, "What? You actually meet my fans in this godforsaken place? It's my honor. Judging by your appearance, you're doing quite well. You have guns, horses, and..."
Her gaze swept greedily over the superior equipment worn by Qin Lan and the others: "Looks like you guys are doing quite well, how about..."
Qin Lan's icy gaze made her swallow back the words she was about to say.
Fu Hancheng chuckled dryly and turned to Li Xiangbin: "Young man, since you know me, that makes things easier. We are a women's group from the civilized world, pursuing independence and freedom. As you can see, we are currently facing a small difficulty. In the spirit of humanitarianism, shouldn't you provide us with some...unconditional assistance?"
Her words elicited an expression of utter certainty from the group of women behind her.
Li Xiangbin's brows furrowed deeply.
Qin Lan ignored her chatter and simply said coldly, "We are the 'Shelter' expedition team. Our leader, Mr. Lin Feng, is willing to provide a safe home for all the survivors struggling in the wasteland. As long as you are willing to obey the shelter's rules and work hard, you can exchange them for food and safety."
"Rules? Work?" Fu Hancheng laughed exaggeratedly, as if he had heard the biggest joke in the world. "Miss, are you kidding me? We are women, the most precious resource in the world. Making us work? That's a man's job!"
“Your leader, that Lin Feng, since he has the ability to build a shelter, should take on the responsibility of supporting all of us women! This is his inescapable obligation!”
"That's right! Why should we work!"
"Men should support us!"
The women behind her also joined in the clamor, as if Qin Lan's use of the word "work" was some kind of great insult.
Qin Lan's eyes turned completely cold.
"Li Xiangbin, you stay here and watch over them," Qin Lan ordered without a trace of emotion. "I'll go report to Mr. Lin."
She turned and walked to the side, picking up the precious radio.
After pressing the call button, a slight static sound rang out, followed by Lin Feng's familiar and authoritative voice, which came through clearly.
"Qin Lan, what is it?"
Qin Lan used the most concise language to report everything she had seen and heard here, as well as Fu Hancheng's ridiculous remarks.
There was a moment of silence on the other end of the radio.
Fu Hancheng and the others, seeing Qin Lan "making a phone call," became even more emboldened and began to whisper and laugh at her.
"See that? He still has to report to his superiors. He's obviously just a gofer."
"When her male boss arrives, he'll definitely be captivated by our charm. He'll treat us like royalty then, won't he?"
Ten minutes passed.
Just as they were smugly imagining a bright future, a terrifying, suffocating pressure, like an invisible storm, descended from the sky without warning!
"Bah!"
A high-pitched, piercing eagle's cry, seemingly capable of tearing apart the soul, boomed from above the clouds.
Everyone looked up in horror.
A colossal creature with a wingspan exceeding twenty-five meters, its entire body sculpted like ice crystals, and its wings edged with iridescent light, tore through the clouds and swooped down into the mountain valley with the force of thunder!
This devastating aura instantly shattered all of Fu Hancheng and the others' psychological defenses.
They screamed and cried, trying to escape back to the cave, only to find that their legs were so weak from fear that they wouldn't obey them, as limp as noodles.
The enormous figure of Zhu Yue hovered gracefully a dozen meters above the ground.
The gusts of wind generated by its flapping wings sent animal bones and trash flying everywhere.
A black figure, like a feather, floated down from Zhu Yue's back to the ground.
He stood tall and straight like a pine tree, his black combat uniform fluttering in the wind. His face was handsome, but his eyes were as cold as ancient ice.
He is Lin Feng.
He didn't even glance at the women who were slumped on the ground, defecating and urinating, but walked straight up to Qin Lan.
"I understand everything you've said." His voice was calm and even.
Then, he turned his gaze as if looking at trash, to Fu Hancheng, who was cowering on the ground, trembling.
"What I hate most are so-called 'stand-up comedians' like you who make a living by inciting conflict and selling anxiety."
Lin Feng's lips curled into a cold, extremely disdainful sneer: "In the civilized world, you are parasites of society. In this wasteland, you don't even have any value in existing."
"Go to hell!"
Fu Hancheng sensed his undisguised and chilling killing intent.
She was terrified.
"No...please...please..." she pleaded incoherently, all traces of her previous arrogance gone.
Lin Feng's hand slowly clenched.
The terrifying telekinetic power, like an invisible giant claw, instantly gripped Fu Hancheng's throat.
Her body was lifted off the ground by an invisible force, her legs kicked helplessly in the air, and her face turned a liverish color due to lack of oxygen.
"Stop...stop..." she managed to squeeze out a broken voice from her throat.
Just as she was about to suffocate to death, a more cruel thought suddenly flashed in Lin Feng's eyes.
He released his telekinesis.
Fu Hancheng fell heavily to the ground like a tattered sack, greedily inhaling the cold air, tears and snot streaming down his face.
A devilish smirk curled at the corner of Lin Feng's mouth.
"Letting you die like this is far too easy for you."
He looked down at her, his voice like a pronouncement from the deepest hell: "Don't you think you are a precious resource? Don't you think you were born to be supported?"
“Very good.” He nodded slowly. “I will let you find your true ‘value’ in my sanctuary.”
He turned to Qin Lan and gave her a new order.
“Take them back.” His voice was cold and resolute. “Take them all back to the shelter and incorporate them into the gold mining team.”
Upon hearing this, both Qin Lan and Li Xiangbin trembled slightly.
Gold mining team? Aren't they just a bunch of monkeys? They're not treating them like human beings.
"Yes, Mr. Lin!" Qin Lan accepted the order without hesitation.
"No! We're not going! We're free!" a woman, still confused, screamed in protest.
Lin Feng's gaze suddenly swept over them.
"Noisy".
Before she could finish speaking, the woman's head exploded with a loud "bang," like a watermelon being smashed by an invisible hammer, splattering red and white splatter all over the faces of those nearby.
This bloody and horrific scene shattered everyone's illusions and hopes.
The screams abruptly ceased. The entire valley fell into a deathly silence. The remaining dozen or so women, like chickens with their throats choked, dared not even utter a sound, let alone cry.
"Now, does anyone still have any objections?" Lin Feng's voice rang out calmly.
No one dared to speak out anymore.
"Very good." Lin Feng nodded in satisfaction. "Qin Lan, put restraints on them and lead them on their way. If anyone dares to run away or slow down the journey, you know what to do."
After saying that, he didn't look at the terrified women again, and with a leap, he returned to Zhu Yue's back.
The massive, Radiant Falcon let out a long cry, soared into the sky, and disappeared into the clouds.
What awaits Fu Hancheng and her "Queen" army will no longer be the happy life they imagined, where they are surrounded by men, but an endless hell called "labor reform," a bottomless abyss forged in blood and tears.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com