Volume 1, Chapter 49: The Rise of Thunder City
When the so-called alliance of the Iron Crocodile Guild saw the front line composed of a torrent of steel on the horizon, the faces of everyone turned pale.
Their supposedly impregnable defensive works were torn apart in an instant by the regular army's heavy artillery fire, like paper pasted together!
Those factions that had just surrendered rushed toward the Iron Crocodile Guild's positions with red eyes and like madmen, purely to survive and prove their own value.
The battle had been an outright massacre from the very beginning.
The Iron Crocodile Guild's alliance was instantly shattered. Their so-called force of over a thousand men collapsed into utter disarray in the face of absolute firepower suppression and an enemy several times their number.
"Hold the line! Everyone fucking hold the line for me!"
Iron Crocodile looked like a raving lunatic. He channeled his water-elemental superpower, whipping up successive walls of water in an attempt to block the attack, only to have them blasted to smithereens by a single shell.
Seeing that the general trend was lost, a flash of extreme madness appeared in Iron Crocodile's eyes.
Roaring, he charged toward a warehouse in the rear where ordinary survivors were being held. He grabbed a few women and children, placing a cold dagger against the neck of a little girl.
"Stop all of you! Everyone fucking back off!" Iron Crocodile roared, shoving hundreds of hostages to the front lines. "Li Hexuan! Get your ass out here! Otherwise, I'll kill them!"
The advancing troops could not help but stall their momentum.
At that very moment, Li Hexuan's figure appeared at the front of the formation.
Alone, he slowly stepped out from the cover of the armored vehicle, gazing coldly at the hysterical Iron Crocodile hundreds of meters away.
He didn't even spare a glance at the trembling hostages.
He only slowly raised his right hand. In the palm of his hand, a cluster of deep blue electric light began to compress and condense at a terrifying frequency.
A harsh sonic boom rang through the air.
An electromagnetic cannon shell, no larger than a fist yet containing destructive energy, took shape instantly.
Iron Crocodile watched Li Hexuan's movements, and a sinister premonition surged in his heart. He was just about to kill the hostage, but it was already too late.
"In City E, no one is allowed to challenge my bottom line."
His icy voice sounded like the death sentence pronounced by the Grim Reaper.
Whoosh—!
A blue stream of light, almost impossible to catch with the naked eye, broke the sound barrier, tearing through the air and distance between the two.
The ferocious look on Iron Crocodile's face froze forever.
The next second, his entire upper body—along with a patch of air in front of the little girl he was holding hostage—was blasted directly into a mist of blood scattering all across the sky by that electromagnetic shell.
Killed with a single strike, precise and infallible.
The entire battlefield fell instantly dead silent.
Everyone was completely stunned by this thunderous, bloody, and domineering scene.
Li Hexuan slowly lowered his hand, his icy gaze sweeping over all the remaining resistance fighters.
"Surrender, or die."
The bloody scent of the harbor had not yet been completely blown away by the sea breeze.
Ten thousand survivors, whether they were the newly surrendered or the defeated remnants of the Iron Crocodile Guild, were all gathered anxiously on the open dock like a penned-up flock of sheep.
Before them stood rows of military armored vehicles, pitch-black gun barrels, and the man who alone was enough to suppress the entire field—Li Hexuan.
He just stood there quietly, his gaze sweeping over everyone. That bone-chilling pressure left tens of thousands of people utterly speechless, their breathing turning cautious and shallow.
Surrender, or die.
That emotionless declaration still echoed in everyone's ears.
The upper body of Iron Crocodile, which had been blasted into a blood mist, provided the most direct and bloody answer.
Lin Feng strode over to Li Hexuan's side. His military uniform was still stained with the smoke of gunfire, but his eyes were filled with unprecedented exhilaration.
"Mr. Li, the harbor has been cleared. All resistance fighters... have been dealt with."
Li Hexuan nodded, his gaze passing over the crowd and looking out toward the ruins of the city struggling in the apocalypse.
"Starting today, City E will have no shelters, nor any civilian factions."
His voice carried clearly across the entire harbor through amplification equipment.
"Here, there is only one name—Thunder City!"
Thunder City!
These three words exploded like a clap of thunder in the minds of all the survivors!
"The military will serve as the first line of defense for Thunder City, responsible for repelling all threats outside the city," Lin Feng spoke up immediately, his words representing the will of the highest military command. "As for all internal affairs within Thunder City, Mr. Li Hexuan shall be fully responsible!"
The agreement was reached.
The military would handle external affairs, while the Thunder God would manage internal affairs.
A brand-new, unprecedented power structure was born in the wasteland of City E in the most uncompromising manner.
Survivors looked at one another, the fear on their faces gradually replaced by confusion and unease. A new king had been born, but where would their fate lead?
"I know what you are thinking," Li Hexuan seemed to see through everyone's thoughts. "Worried about being purged? Worried about living from hand to mouth? Worried about becoming slaves?"
He sneered, a sound that made everyone's heart tighten.
"In my city, none of that exists. I give you only one rule."
He raised his hand, and a holographic light screen unfolded before him, upon which a few large, metallic, and chilling characters materialized—The Thunder Codex.
"Starting today, Thunder City abolishes all currency. The sole circulating unit is the 'Contribution Point'!"
"No matter who you are, or what you used to do. In Thunder City, your value is determined solely by your contributions!"
Li Hexuan's voice struck like a heavy hammer, beating into the heart of every single person present.
"Kill an F-class mutant beast, gain 1 contribution point. Participate in city defense construction for a day, gain 3 contribution points. Work in a factory for eight hours, gain 5 contribution points. Submit a valuable technology, and depending on the evaluation of its value, gain anywhere from 100 to 10,000 contribution points!"
"Scientific research, combat, production, logistics... As long as you contribute your labor to this city, you will be rewarded!"
"One contribution point can be exchanged for one catty of purified water and half a catty of synthetic food. One hundred contribution points can allow you to move from a crowded collective dormitory into a single apartment. One thousand contribution points can be exchanged for a gray-grade source crystal, making you an Awakened one whom everyone envies!"
"Before the Codex, everyone is equal. The only privilege belongs to the contributors!"
As his voice fell, the entire dock fell into a dead silence.
Everyone was dumbfounded by this set of rules—crude and brutal, yet incomparably fair.
No oppression, no enslavement.
As long as you worked, you could survive, and even grow stronger!
In an apocalypse where the strong preyed on the weak and human life was as cheap as grass, this simply sounded like a fantasy!
After a brief, dead silence, an irrepressible commotion and murmuring erupted within the crowd.
"Good god... Is this real? Killing monsters can be exchanged for source crystals?" A skinny youth's eyes burst with an unbelievable glow.
"As long as I go work in the factory, I won't starve... and I can even have my own room?" A middle-aged woman trembled all over with excitement.
"Fairness... What the hell, this is what you call fairness!" A former faction member with a broken arm muttered to himself, the last trace of reluctance in his eyes turning into the relief of having survived a disaster.