Chapter 388

Chapter 388

Zhang Wuhang lay on the bed, staring up at the ceiling.

The space allowed to him was extremely limited.

He could not even go out freely on his own.

In his heart, he wanted to escape like this and explore every corner of Neo Seoul, but he struggled to suppress that desire.

Neo Seoul was not such an easy place that he could toy with it alone.

Countless Awakened guarded the major buildings, and everything ran systematically, like interlocking gears.

There seemed to be no gap for Zhang Wuhang, a mere outsider, to slip into.

Zhang Wuhang’s eyes turned sharp like a snake’s.

“Do you really think I’ll give up because of that?”

It was then.

As if answering Zhang Wuhang’s resolve, the door to his quarters opened.

CLICK!

The one who opened the door and entered was Xiao Lun.

At Xiao Lun’s appearance, Zhang Wuhang sprang to his feet.

“Are you the Pathfinder from outside?”

“And who might you be, old sir?”

“My name is Xiao Lun. State your identity.”

“Mm! I am Zhang Wuhang from Sichuan.”

“Are you certain you came from Sichuan?”

“I am!”

At Zhang Wuhang’s answer, Xiao Lun slowly closed his eyes. Seeing Xiao Lun’s reaction, Zhang Wuhang carefully asked,

“If your name is Xiao Lun, then perhaps......”

“My grandfather was from Sichuan.”

“Ah! Then you’re from the same homeland. This junior, Zhang Wuhang, greets you again.”

Zhang Wuhang hurriedly placed his right fist against his left palm and bowed.

“If you truly are from Sichuan, then you are like my brother.”

“It is an honor to meet a senior from my homeland in a place like this.”

“From now on, I will call you Wuhang.”

“I am deeply grateful.”

“Good. I want to hear news of Sichuan. How are things there?”

“Miserable.”

“How bad must it be for you to say that?”

At Xiao Lun’s words, Zhang Wuhang hesitated for a moment before finally opening his mouth as if he had made up his mind.

“The official name of our colony is Tianjie Underground City. Among ourselves, we simply call it Underground City.”

“Tianjie? Is it a city built by the Tianjie warlord faction?”

“So you do know.”

Zhang Wuhang looked impressed.

Before the Great Cataclysm, warlord factions had existed in China.

The Tianjie warlord faction was a military group based in Sichuan Province, and it had wielded tremendous influence.

Tianjie Underground City was an underground city the Tianjie warlord faction had built under orders from the central government.

It was a fortress made to protect key figures, their families, and soldiers in the event of nuclear war.

Because it was a secret fortress, it had not been known to the world, but among those who had been responsible for its construction, they had taken pride in it as the largest construction project in China’s history. That was how enormous its scale had been.

“Originally, it was a fortress built to allow one hundred thousand people to last one year, but as it continued expanding over the past hundred years, it came to accommodate three hundred thousand.”

“That many survived? As expected, Zhonghua’s potential is remarkable.”

At Xiao Lun’s admiration, Zhang Wuhang gave a bitter smile and said,

“The problem is that because it was expanded indiscriminately, countless problems are bursting out. Food, supplies, air, water, everything is lacking. Because of that, Underground City has split into several factions and is at war.”

“With that many people, couldn’t you come up to the surface?”

“The problem is the monsters on the surface. I don’t know if it’s because of the basin’s characteristics, but an unusually large number of monsters have gathered there. Among them, there are many especially powerful ones. With our strength alone, surviving against them is impossible. The only reason I survived and made it all the way here was because Heaven’s fortune followed me.”

“Is that so?”

Xiao Lun’s eyes sank deeply.

Suddenly, Zhang Wuhang dropped to his knees before Xiao Lun.

“Please help us. At this rate, the lineage of our Underground City will be cut off. We desperately need Neo Seoul’s help.”

“Hmm!”

“If you would only help us, I would even offer my soul.”

“I don’t need your soul. What I need are well-trained Awakened. How many useful Awakened are there in Underground City?”

“At least ten thousand.”

“Ten thousand....... A pie in the sky.”

What use was there, no matter how many they had? They were thousands of kilometers away.

Several months to go there, and several more months to return.

And that was only if they could go and return safely.

Xiao Lun knew better than anyone just how difficult that would be.

It was better to treat them as nonexistent.

Nothing was more foolish than having useless expectations.

At that moment, Zhang Wuhang spoke carefully.

“No.”

“What do you mean, no?”

“I mean they are not a pie in the sky.”

“What are you saying? Don’t tell me ten thousand Awakened came with you?”

“Not ten thousand, but there are seven more.”

“Seven? You clearly said they all died....... You lied.”

The corners of Xiao Lun’s mouth curled upward.

Zhang Wuhang smiled in exactly the same way and said,

“There’s no reason to tell the truth to an enemy, is there?”

“Do you think Jin Geum-ho is an enemy?”

“Do you not think so, Elder?”

“Heh heh! You are a sinister bastard.”

“To protect one’s kin, one must become sinister.”

“It’s been a long time since I met a junior I liked.”

“I feel the same, Elder!”

“Before we leave, show me your wrist.”

“I will show you as much as you wish.”

Zhang Wuhang rolled up his sleeve and showed his wrist.

Five red lines shone clearly on his wrist.

“A Grade B martial type?”

“Yes! I use a Willow-Leaf Saber as my weapon.”

Showing his Rank Insignia on his wrist was no different from revealing everything.

Because all information about an Awakened was contained inside the Rank Insignia.

For that reason, unless there was some special circumstance, an Awakened never showed their right wrist to an outsider.

Zhang Wuhang knew that too, but he showed his wrist to Xiao Lun without hesitation.

It was to show that he was hiding nothing.

Xiao Lun liked Zhang Wuhang’s attitude.

“Where are the others?”

“They are waiting somewhere they can move at any time once my order is given.”

“We’ll have to think of a way to bring them into Neo Seoul.”

“Will that be possible? The security is this strict.”

“Are you doubting me now?”

“No. I was discourteous.”

“If you understand, then just follow me.”

“May I leave?”

“From now on, you are under my jurisdiction.”

“Thank you.”

Zhang Wuhang was extremely pleased.

Simply being able to leave this suffocating space made him feel as if he could live again.

Xiao Lun looked at Zhang Wuhang and thought,

‘I’ll suck you dry to the marrow.’

To take custody of Zhang Wuhang, he had to hand over one of the South District’s prime businesses to City Hall.

For Xiao Lun, it was a fairly large price to pay.

That was why he intended to extract everything he could from Zhang Wuhang.

He had no intention of going easy on him just because they were from the same homeland. If he could use him to make contact with Underground City, Xiao Lun’s power would grow even greater.

Cooking a single Grade B Awakened was not especially difficult for Xiao Lun.

“Let’s go!”

“Yes!”

Zhang Wuhang answered loudly and followed Xiao Lun out of the room.

As he followed behind Xiao Lun, Zhang Wuhang was quietly smiling.

---

Zeon, Briel, and Remura returned to Jetoya’s village.

The first thing Briel did after arriving in the village was take out the object she had brought in subspace.

What she took out was an object as tall as an adult.

At first glance, it looked like a small tower, and a blue jewel was embedded like an eye at its top.

Jetoya looked at the tower-like object with a puzzled expression.

“What is this?”

“It’s a protective barrier core.”

“A barrier? The barrier I know?”

“Yes! As the Crocodile village has grown, there are more people now. It’s about time you prepared a means of defense.”

At some point, people had begun calling this place the Crocodile Village.

It was a fitting name for the Crocodile Den.

The rumor that the Crocodile Village was prosperous had spread throughout the entire Crocodile Den.

Because of that, many people came looking to settle in the Crocodile Village, but there were just as many targeting it.

Awakened like Bakum were desperately working to protect the Crocodile Village, but it was better to reduce risk factors as much as possible.

Briel had thought about what the Crocodile Village needed most, and had come up with a protective barrier.

She had experienced many dungeons while following Zeon, and among them, there had been quite a few dungeons where barriers were set up.

From then on, Briel had studied barriers in depth.

Above all, the thing that helped her the most was the Watching Eye in Zeon’s house.

The Watching Eye, which had given Zeon’s house the nickname fortress.

Whenever she had time, Briel studied the Watching Eye.

After researching it for so long, she had recently obtained results. Based on those results, she had created a protective barrier.

Although its performance could not compare to the Watching Eye, it was still enough to protect the Crocodile Village from enemies to some degree.

After hearing Briel’s explanation, Jetoya’s mouth fell open.

“To think you made something that incredible. You really are a genius.”

“You only realized that now?”

“I’ve known for a long time, but still, this goes beyond what I imagined......”

“Enough praise. Let’s install it already.”

“Mm!”

“First, we’ll install this core at the center of the village. After that, we’ll install these in every passage connected to the village.”

Briel once again took fist-sized orbs out of subspace.

As Jetoya received the orbs, he said,

“They’re pretty heavy.”

“They’re delicate objects, so handle them carefully.”

“Got it!”

“Hold the orbs and follow me.”

“Okay!”

Jetoya held the orbs in his arms and followed behind Briel.

Levin saw that and smiled faintly.

“When did she prepare something like that? She seems cold, but she takes care of everything.”

“She’s a child with a lot of warmth inside.”

“She really is. She’s completely different from how she looks.”

Levin agreed with Zeon’s words.

Briel seemed indifferent to those around her, yet she cared for them better than anyone.

“Once the barrier is installed, we’ll be able to breathe a little. There’ve been so many bastards targeting this place lately that it’s been a headache.”

“It seems there are still plenty of moths drawn to flame left.”

“They’re humans who’ve lived however they pleased without control for a hundred years. They don’t want to come into the village and live here now, but they’re hungry....... In the end, the only thing left to them is plunder.”

Levin clicked his tongue.

The problem was that there were not just one or two such people.

The underground sewer stretched like a maze across all of Neo Seoul and the slums.

It was impossible to remove or annex everyone inside it.

The more the rumor spread that the Crocodile Village was prosperous, the more people came targeting it.

Repelling them was also part of the daily routine for the Awakened protecting the Crocodile Village.

It was then.

“Levin!”

Briel’s voice came from the dark passage.

Levin shrugged and said,

“Looks like she needs help. I’ll go.”

“Go ahead!”

No sooner had he heard Zeon’s answer than Levin turned ghostlike and flew toward the passage where Briel was.

“Levin!”

“I’m coming, I’m coming! You little brat.”

Levin grumbled as he picked up speed.

Zeon silently watched the sight.

Villages were forming both aboveground and underground.

It felt as if vitality were returning to the world.

‘The problem is that humans aren’t the only ones feeling that vitality and taking action.’

The thing that bothered Zeon most was Crasias.

Crasias, who had ruined Earth like this a hundred years ago and vanished.

But he existed in the form of residual thoughts.

Zeon did not know what he was plotting, but he had an ominous feeling.

‘Would Nigel know something?’

Nigel, the half-demon dragon, had clearly seemed to know something. That must have been why he had retrieved the purple gem from Pilgram, the Necromancer.

‘That gem must have had Crasias’s residual thoughts in it too.’

Something was happening somewhere Zeon did not know.

He felt as if the laws that had maintained the world for a hundred years were being shaken from their very foundation.

‘Is another upheaval about to begin?’