The six people stood on the high mountain ridge, looking down at the city of Jinlin.
A river meandered past the ruins and overgrown weeds of the city, flowing endlessly into the distance. Looking back at the city's remains, enormous rats could be seen scurrying about, a truly frightening sight.
"That's Jinlin City. It's been occupied by the monster rat horde for thirty years, and now it looks like this." Zhou Renqing gazed at the city center, a sense of sadness showing on his face.
"That place is now a habitat for monsters. With no human activity for a long time, the houses, streets, and roads are all in ruins. Plus, the monster rats are everywhere, driving away other monsters, so naturally only plants can grow there, which is why it's covered in vines and grass." Wu Chen clearly had experience carrying out missions in monster cities.
"Let's go, we'll take it slow. The most important thing is to carry out the mission," Lu Shi suggested.
“Yes! Let’s rush straight into the city center, finish the mission as soon as possible, and get back sooner. Staying here for too long is making me feel uneasy,” said a military mage beside Wu Chen.
“It’s not that easy. The examination site in the city is a huge scenic area. Finding a few people is like finding a needle in a haystack, unless we split up and act separately…” another military strategist said.
“No, it’s not wise to split up,” Zhou Le stepped forward and immediately rejected the idea.
If the six of them walk together, they can fight any swarm of rats they encounter. If they split up, they are easily caught in the rats and picked off one by one.
"Then let's all search together slowly."
Wu Chen made the final decision.
Everyone nodded and jumped down the mountain.
...
It was already 5 p.m. when we entered the Jinlin Wasteland City area. Fortunately, it wasn't the time when the monster rats were active.
What everyone saw was a wide road filled with cars completely covered in green plants, blocking the road completely.
After crossing the outer highway, we gradually entered the city center, where streets and houses appeared on both sides.
The road in the middle of the city has cracked, with cracks covering the entire road. Weeds have also stubbornly grown out of the cracks, bringing a touch of green to the highway.
The houses on both sides were covered in dust, and unknown green plants covered their surfaces, growing all the way up the floors and even into the windows of the top-floor houses. The interiors were probably even more dilapidated and messy.
The sycamore trees on both sides had been neglected for a long time, their canopies blocking out the sun, and the fluffy seeds falling from the trees were like rain.
The six people walked along the road, listening to the rustling sounds of animals moving quickly in the distance, and each of them had a somewhat solemn expression.
After crossing this road, we finally arrived at an open space.
A huge animal skeleton was presented to the crowd.
"It is the remains of a 7th-tier magical beast, the Holy Unicorn."
Lu Shi pointed to the wrecked skull, where a long, protruding bone was clearly visible.
"Heavens! Even a level 7 magical beast died here!" Zhou Renqing exclaimed in a somewhat terrified tone, still retaining his childlike nature.
Desolate and barren, Jinlin City is now a complete ghost town, a forbidden zone for humans.
"It's getting late, and this place is too big. We must find a safe place to stay today. We'll head to the central examination site tomorrow," said the military strategist beside Wu Chen.
"We've entered a desolate city teeming with magical beasts, and danger lurks at any moment. The place we find to settle down must be safe enough, at least enough to allow for a quick evacuation in case of danger, and also to provide a good defense," Wu Chen muttered to himself.
“That building is nice.” Lu Shi pointed to a tall, gray building not far away.
“Yes, rats usually don’t climb that high, and there are several surrounding buildings, which makes evacuation convenient.” Wu Chen carefully examined the building, a look of delight on his face.
“You guys really know how to pick a location. That building should be the local government office building,” Zhou Le said with a smile, pointing to the building with his finger.
The six then walked through several blocks and finally approached the city hall.
The municipal building has a two-tiered structure from bottom to top.
At the bottom are the service hall and the surrounding podium buildings, which together form a large rectangle, covering a large area.
Above the base of the service hall is a raised cubic building, with two sides facing each other, reaching a height of sixty meters.
This is also the tallest building in the surrounding area. The surrounding buildings are only about one-third the height of it.
"We can't use our Wind Wings to fly over here. Although it's said that there are only magical rats here, according to the last words sent back by the patrol team, we should never fly over Jinlin City unless absolutely necessary," Wu Chen explained to everyone earnestly.
Seeing Wu Chen's seriousness, everyone looked at the vines crowding the service hall and the rows of waiting seats that could only be discerned occasionally, and smelled the strange smell emanating from the plants. They all felt a little strange.
Wu Chen spoke first:
"Leave two people outside to guard the outside, the rest of you go in."
“I’ll stay,” said one of the military mages beside Wu Chen.
"I'll stay too," Zhou Le said, stepping aside.
Wu Chen glanced at the two of them, nodded, and took the lead into the office hall filled with plants.
Lu Shi shook her head and followed Zhou Renqing and another military magistrate into the service hall.
...
I walked on the lobby floor. No, there was no floor anymore. Now it was all plant vines.
The four of them stepped on the branches and leaves, making a crisp cracking sound.
The elevator has been out of service for a long time.
What everyone is looking for is the safety exit.
"There's a backpack here. It looks like someone left it behind," a military magistrate shouted, pointing to the ground.
"It's probably something left behind by people from Jinlin City in the past." Wu Chen didn't pay any attention and led everyone up to the second floor.
Lu Shi, walking at the back, stared at the backpack with a serious expression.
She could tell that the backpack was very new, not like it had been there for thirty years.
Could it be that the Shadow Society is here...?
Just as Lu Shi was about to issue a warning.
Zhou Renqing's startled cry suddenly came from the second floor.
A blue light flashed beneath Lu Shi's feet as she stepped on the wind rails and quickly ascended to the second floor.
As he ascended to the second floor, he raised his right hand.
【Radiance】
A huge golden sun shone brightly in the sky above the room, illuminating the originally dim second-floor space as if it were daytime.
Zhou Renqing covered his mouth, forcing himself to remain silent.
Wu Chen and another military mages stared at the scene before them with grim expressions.
Opposite them lay a pile of white bones, and those bones were clearly...human.
Judging from the clothing scattered on the skeletons, these people did not die decades ago; they all seem to have died recently.
The reason Zhou Renqing screamed was that he had stepped on and crushed a human skull on the ground.
No one could have imagined that the hard human skull would shatter with a single touch.
"What's going on? How come so many people have died here recently?" The military magistrate overcame his fear and went forward to examine the skeletons scattered on the ground.
Suddenly, he pointed to a tattered badge and exclaimed in surprise:
“I’ve seen this family crest before. It looks like… it looks like… the Huang family of N County.”
Upon hearing this, Lu Shi was somewhat stunned.
The Huang family?
Could the remains on the ground be those of high-ranking members of the Huang family who cooperated with the Shadow Society and fled N County in advance?
But why did they die here?
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com