At first, Fang Jin had only gradually grown cold toward Lin Wenxue. But as his relationship with the female water-type ability user deepened, his attitude toward Lin Wenxue escalated from cursing and berating her at best to punching and kicking her at worst.
At the same time, the water-type ability user, who had originally been the mistress, also treated Lin Wenxue with an imperious attitude, ordering her around like a servant.
For the sake of survival, Lin Wenxue endured all of it—until they arrived in J City.
In the beginning, J City had been open to accepting survivors. But after large numbers of survivors flooded into J City, all kinds of vicious incidents began occurring one after another: murder and robbery, public gang rape, group brawls. Combined with repeated attacks by small zombie hordes, J City quickly fell into chaos.
Public security became impossible to manage, and everyone was in a state of panic.
So base commander Yuan Long issued an order to expel outside survivors, with the exception of ability users.
Ability users could register their identities at City Hall and obtain the right to reside in the city, but they had to shoulder the responsibility and obligation of protecting J City.
Ability users could join the declared Guard Force and become official public servants. Those who did not join had to accept temporary mandatory recruitment when necessary, while being free to move around at ordinary times.
After this policy was introduced, J City did indeed enter a brief period of peace. Large numbers of ability users joined the Guard Force, becoming the backbone of J City’s security and public order. Yuan Long also became extremely powerful for a time, becoming the single person with the greatest authority in J City.
As time passed, the flaws in this imperfect system quickly became apparent. The ever-widening class divide between ability users and ordinary people caused tensions between the two groups to continue escalating.
Although Yuan Long was a very capable person, he had one fatal flaw: he loved his son more than anything.
He watched Yuan Shaohua’s reckless behavior but couldn’t bear to discipline him properly. The trouble he caused grew bigger and bigger, while resentment continued to accumulate.
It should be known that although Yuan Long had initially gained authority in J City through the military power in his hands, and later completely took control of J City through the ability-user Guard Force, there were still many deeply rooted local factions that had long been entrenched in J City.
They had gone into hiding because of the apocalypse, but that didn’t mean they had disappeared.
Yuan Shaohua’s actions finally pushed some people past the point of tolerance.
A local family surnamed Cai, relying on its century-old foundation in the area, secretly absorbed most of the ability users in the Guard Force and established the J City Defense Force.
The backlash from such a century-old local power was formidable. They already possessed the most resources in J City, the deepest roots among the people, and the support of large numbers of ordinary citizens. As a result, they rose to power almost overnight.
When Yuan Long sensed that something was wrong, he immediately arranged for Yuan Shaohua to carry out a mission in S City.
There really was a secret mission that needed to be carried out, but sending Yuan Shaohua away was mainly intended to let him temporarily avoid the storm while preserving the ability-user forces under his command.
Thus, Yuan Long sent most of the ability users who were still under his control, along with the most powerful plant-type ability user, Pei Qianxing, to Yuan Shaohua and had him take them to S City.
First, having enough ability users would protect Yuan Shaohua’s safety while he was away.
Second, with a powerful force stationed outside, even if something went wrong on Yuan Long’s side, he would still be able to preserve his strongest core forces and wait for an opportunity to strike back.
Unfortunately, despite all his calculations, he never imagined that he had underestimated his son’s ability to get himself killed. Yuan Shaohua managed to get an entire team wiped out, leaving only three people, who were now trying to find a way to escape.
As for Yuan Shaohua, after he led his people away, Yuan Long’s authority gradually weakened. Now, the person officially in control of the base was Cai Yuanhan, the leader of the younger generation of the Cai family.
Of course, Yuan Long had not been completely defeated. After all, he still controlled all of J City’s military forces and some of its ability users.
At present, J City was in the midst of an intense struggle between the two factions, with both sides fighting fiercely for control.
After Cai Yuanhan took power, he sealed off all the other roads leading to J City, leaving only the current entrance and exit.
He also changed the admission system, no longer simply expelling outside survivors.
He established several broad admission requirements.
First, all children under the age of twelve would be accepted by the base unconditionally and guaranteed a certain amount of supplies. The base would provide unified education and training for the children, and their parents would have no say in the matter.
Of course, they could choose not to hand over their children, but then the base would not guarantee their supplies or safety.
Second, all ability users entering the city had to join the Defense Force, and the base would provide generous material benefits.
Ability users who did not join the Defense Force had to form a team of at least five people, establish an official group, and regularly pay a fixed amount of supplies to the base every month before they could enter the city.
After entering the city, the base would not provide them with supplies, but the team would be free to enter and leave J City and search for and collect supplies on their own.
They were also required to carry out one mission assigned by the base every month.
Third, there were the requirements for ordinary people.
Ordinary people with special skills were permitted to enter the city. After finding a suitable job at City Hall, they could receive guaranteed supplies.
Everyone else had to pay a huge amount of supplies in order to be admitted.
This was the current situation in J City.
Everyone who was able to enter the city had already done so. Outside the city, large numbers of people who had originally been expelled remained behind, along with everyone who failed to meet any of the three conditions above.
Thus, the area outside J City became a settlement for large numbers of stranded survivors, as well as a major hotspot for crime and disorder. But J City neither managed nor protected them.
Left to fend for themselves, the people there gradually developed their own unique rules for survival.
Every day, more or fewer survivors arrived. Some entered the city, while others were forced to remain outside.
Newly arrived survivors who were stranded outside often became targets for robbery and bullying. If you survived, congratulations—you would become the next robber and bully.
The elderly, women, and children were the weakest and most vulnerable groups in the apocalypse, and the most difficult to survive.
The elderly in particular were already few and far between by the time they managed to make it here. If they were stranded outside, they had almost no chance of surviving.
Children were relatively better off now, since they could receive unconditional shelter from J City.
Women without combat abilities or awakened powers were especially miserable in such an environment if no one was there to protect them.
Many people voluntarily began selling their bodies, simply for the food and water that could keep them alive.
Some were forced into prostitution by their husbands, boyfriends, or even their fathers.
Crime and despair filled this entire area.
The shortage of supplies and uncertainty about the future left too many people needing an outlet, and the sex trade flourished in this lawless zone.
It was under these circumstances that Fang Jin forcibly pushed Lin Wenxue into a man’s car.
Fortunately, she had always been vigilant in her daily life and had kept a piece of broken glass hidden on her at all times.
Today, it finally came in handy.
As for Fang Jin, he had originally come here with the convoy. Most of the ability users accepted the base’s recruitment.
At that time, the water-type ability user who had previously been involved with Fang Jin immediately hooked up with a squad leader in the security force as soon as she arrived at the base.
The man was admittedly ugly, but he was a squad leader. He had connections and authority within the base!
So the water-type ability user didn’t hesitate for a second before coolly saying goodbye to Fang Jin.
Fang Jin naturally couldn’t swallow his pride. He considered himself a powerful fighter, so he foolishly went to challenge the man to a duel.
In the end, not only was he beaten black and blue, he also completely lost his eligibility to join the Defense Force.
In the end, Fang Jin simply gave up on entering the city.
Relying on his ability, he actually managed to make quite a name for himself among the ordinary people outside the city. He even gathered a group of rabble around him and got involved in all kinds of shady dealings.
After several conflicts with others and suffering too many losses, Fang Jin finally learned his lesson.
The arrogance he had once possessed as someone who considered himself a strong person had long since been discarded down to the last shred. He had become someone who knew how to bend when necessary.
The things he did consequently became more and more shameless.
And finally, he had even gone so far as to push his own woman out to sell herself.
Hearing all of this made Lu Jie grit her teeth in fury. No matter what, her husband had died protecting her.
Ma Jingjing, meanwhile, wore a deeply moved expression, probably remembering what had happened with Zheng Ge in the past.
By the time the story was finished, Lin Wenxue had also eaten all the food in her hands.
After such a long time, this was the first time she had been able to eat and drink her fill, and also the first time she had been able to stay somewhere that made her feel safe.
For a moment, she suddenly felt an unprecedented exhaustion.
Seeing how tired she looked, Quan Xiaoyu stopped asking questions.
He instructed the two women in the team to take good care of her, helped arrange a vehicle for her to sleep in, and then Quan Xiaoyu automatically returned to Chu Tian’s side.
After briefly repeating what he had learned here, Quan Xiaoyu only then realized that Xiao Ziran wasn’t there.
“Where’s the doctor?” Quan Xiaoyu asked Chu Tian curiously.
“He collapsed from exhaustion and passed out,” Chu Tian said briefly.
“Oh.”
Quan Xiaoyu became thoughtful.
After the crystal cores, he should probably find a way to replace everyone’s drinking water with the water from his space.
After trying it in various ways, they had proven that the stuff was very helpful for replenishing and restoring physical strength.
But how was he supposed to do it?
He couldn’t exactly claim to be a water-type ability user again, could he? Having two abilities was already conspicuous enough.
Quan Xiaoyu immediately fell into deep thought over the problem.
Seeing Quan Xiaoyu once again lost in his own little world, looking adorably troubled, Chu Tian’s heart began itching again.
Unfortunately, the timing really wasn’t right, and there was nothing he could do. He could only pull Quan Xiaoyu’s hand over and rub it gently between his palms.
Meanwhile, the person lost in thought remained completely oblivious.