Chapter 17
The wind at the canyon entrance still howled, carrying a thick scent of blood that slapped Shen Mengzhou's pale face. She struggled to drag the little girl, Niuniu, with each step feeling like a thousand-pound burden. The backlash from her mental exhaustion and forced spatial jumps was like countless steel needles churning through her brain, darkening her vision.
She didn't even glance back at the blood-stained canyon behind her, the mutilated bodies that were rapidly turning cold. In the apocalypse, death was the norm, as was abandonment. Emotion was a luxury she couldn't afford.
However, in the purgatory scene that she never looked back at, subtle changes that were almost imperceptible were quietly happening among the dripping blood and broken corpses.
Inside Zhao Jun's broken body, which was almost cut in half by the spatial blade and had his internal organs spilling out, the bottle of "Gene Enhancement Drug Type I (Defective Product)" from the Institute, which he had been hiding around his waist and being chased by the "Hound", had already shattered.
The azure, yet turbid, medicinal liquid, mixed with his warm, not yet completely coagulated blood, slowly seeped into the narrow crack beneath his body, which had just subsided but still retained faint spatial energy fluctuations.
Sizzle...
A faint sound, like corrosion and fusion, was heard.
The strange liquid, a mixture of defective potion, human blood, and chaotic spatial energy, began to wriggle slightly, as if possessed of life, emitting a faint, ominous glow. It slowly covered Zhao Jun's shattered body, covered Lin Xiaozhou's head beside him, his eyes wide with despair, and covered the remains of Aunt Wang and Uncle Li, who had embraced each other but were torn apart together...
The residual energy in the space rift is like the lowest quality adhesive and catalyst, forcibly blending together these substances that should have been destroyed.
Flesh, bones, tattered clothes, broken glass fragments of medicine... Under the cover of the dim light, distortions that could not be explained by common sense occurred.
The frozen despair and anger on the half of Zhao Jun's face that remained seemed to twist. In the depths of his intact eye, which once gleamed with shrewdness and greed, an extremely faint, chaotic purple light seemed to pass through.
Lin Xiaozhou's broken limbs twitched slightly.
In the mixed blood of Aunt Wang and Uncle Li, something seemed to be beating slowly and in unison.
All this happened silently and extremely slowly, perfectly masked by the chaotic energy field of the canyon and the howling wind.
Chen Mengzhou, struggling forward, was oblivious to this. All her energy was focused on combating her own weakness and maintaining minimal vigilance. Even if her spatial perception was fully activated, she would probably have difficulty discerning that extremely weak, distorted energy signal in this canyon, which had just experienced an energy storm and was filled with chaotic fluctuations.
It's like a seed buried deep underground and fed with the foulest nutrients. It takes a long time and unknown conditions before it can break through the soil and bloom into twisted and deadly fruits.
That will be a story for a long time to come.
Perhaps when Chen Mengzhou heard the name "Zhao Jun" or "Lin Xiaozhou" again, he would no longer be facing the sinister companion or the cowardly boy, but something that had crawled back from the abyss of death, condensed with resentment, and completely distorted by chaotic energy and defective potions...
But at this moment, it is just an insignificant foreshadowing buried in blood.
Chen Mengzhou dragged Niuniu and finally staggered through the last section of the Weeping Canyon.
The terrain ahead was relatively open. While still devastated, the ubiquitous spatial cracks had noticeably diminished. In the distance, an area enclosed by tall, rough concrete walls and barbed wire could be seen. The walls appeared to have watchtowers and patrolling figures, and within them, the outlines of low buildings could be vaguely seen.
There is the mysterious and exclusive "fortress" mentioned by the survivors.
It is also the place closest to "order" that Chen Mengzhou can find based on future dream fragments and reality clues.
She paused, placing Niuniu on the ground. She leaned against a charred boulder, catching her breath, and quickly assessed the situation. Her mental strength was still depleted, and her combat effectiveness was greatly reduced. Entering such an exclusive stronghold with an unconscious child was extremely difficult.
Breaking in by force is the stupidest option.
She needed leverage, or... an opportunity.
Chen Mengzhou's eyes were deep as he glanced at the still unconscious Niuniu on the ground. This girl herself might be the biggest variable and bargaining chip.
She tore off a relatively clean piece of cloth from her clothes, dipped it in water, and carefully wiped the stains off Niuniu's face, making her look less like a little refugee. Then, she held the girl in her arms, making herself look more like a refugee protecting a child than a dangerous intruder.
After doing all this, she took a deep breath, suppressed the discomfort in her body, held Niuniu in her arms, and walked towards the tall wall step by step.
When there were still about a hundred meters from the wall——
"stop!"
A rough shout came from the wall, accompanied by the crisp sound of a gun bolt being pulled! A man in ragged clothes but with sharp eyes leaned out of the watchtower, pointing the black muzzle of the gun at her.
"Who is it?! I'll shoot if you come any closer!"
Chen Mengzhou stopped and raised his head, his face deliberately showing an expression of fatigue, panic, yet forced calmness, and shouted in a hoarse voice:
"Don't shoot! We...we mean no harm! My child and I...fled from the east...that side is full of monsters and cracks...we finally managed to get here...please, give us some water, or tell us where we can get safe..."
She lifted Niu Niu slightly in her arms so that the other person could see the child's unconscious and pale face.
The tactic of inflicting pain on oneself, coupled with the child as proof of vulnerability, is the easiest way to lower one's guard.
The man on the wall narrowed his eyes, carefully studying the two people below. A woman and an unconscious child, they certainly didn't look threatening. The woman was pale, covered in blood (mostly her own), and the panic in her eyes didn't look fake.
Although the fortress is xenophobic, it does not completely stand by and watch people die, especially women and children who appear to pose no threat - of course, the premise of rescue is strict inspection and control.
The man hesitated for a moment, then turned back and seemed to say something to the people below. After a while, a small iron door at the bottom of the wall, only wide enough for one person to pass through, creaked open.
A man holding an old rifle and with a cold face leaned out, glanced around vigilantly, and then waved at Shen Mengzhou impatiently: "Just the two of you? Come in quickly! Don't play tricks!"
Chen Mengzhou nodded quickly, holding Niuniu, quickened his pace, and staggered towards the small door.
Just as she was about to step through that door and enter this unknown "fortress"——
Niu Niu in my arms seemed to let out a very slight murmur unconsciously because of the bumpy ride, and her brows were furrowed in pain.
At the same time, Chen Mengzhou felt that the metal box containing the other two "Gene Enhancement Drugs (Standard)" next to his body suddenly became slightly hot without any warning.
It was as if there was a distant resonance with something within these walls.
Chen Mengzhou's footsteps paused almost imperceptibly, and a trace of extreme vigilance and inquiry flashed across the depths of his eyes.
What's inside this fortress?
But she didn't show any expression, she just hugged Niuniu tighter, her face still showing the relief and humble gratitude of surviving the disaster, and she stepped into the slowly closing iron gate.
Inside the door was a narrow passage and even colder gazes.
A new unknown has begun.
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