Volume 1, Chapter 62: The Initial Outline of the World Landscape

Li Hexuan looked at the elite force before him, which looked as though they had traveled back from the future, and a tumultuous tempest surged in his heart.

Everything had spiraled completely out of his control.

The leading figure landed right in front of Li Hexuan and the other two.

He raised a hand and pressed a latch on the side of his helmet. The black full-face helmet silently retracted upward, revealing a sharply defined, naturally authoritative face. He was around thirty years old, with a faint scar cutting across his brow bone to the corner of his eye. His gaze was as sharp as an eagle's, carrying the iron-willed ruthlessness and calmness typical of a career soldier.

He ignored the chaotic debris littering the ground and paid no attention to the predators that had been instantly slaughtered. His gaze, precise as a surgeon's scalpel, locked directly onto Li Hexuan.

"Mr. Li Hexuan, Lord of Thunder City," he spoke, his voice steady yet carrying an unquestionable tone of confirmation. "I am the captain of the Capital Base 'Dragon Fang' Task Force, call sign Canglong."

Li Hexuan's pupils contracted slightly.

From this man called Canglong, he sensed an aura that was of the same origin yet entirely distinct. That aura was as deep as the ocean and as condensed as steel—unmistakably that of a King-tier expert!

"Capital Base?" Zhang Nan stood to the side, looking completely dumbfounded, and asked reflexively, "What kind of place is that? Are you guys... sent by the government?"

Canglong's gaze swept past Zhang Nan, lingered briefly on Su Mengyi who stood behind him with a pale face, and finally returned to Li Hexuan. "Get on the aircraft first. This is no place to talk. You need medical attention immediately."

Scarcely had his voice fallen when two medics, likewise clad in black powered armor, stepped forward and swiftly began administering emergency treatment to Li Hexuan's wounds.

A few minutes later, the three of them were brought aboard the science-fiction-esque V-shaped aircraft.

The interior of the aircraft stood in stark contrast to the apocalyptic wasteland outside. Pristine alloy walls, soft ambient lighting, and various sophisticated instruments flashing with streams of data made Zhang Nan feel as though he had stepped into a sci-fi movie.

Li Hexuan was laid out on a medical bed, where a Dragon Fang military doctor was scanning his wounds with a device he had never seen before. The pale blue beam emitted by the instrument was not only rapidly analyzing wound data but also seemingly suppressing the deterioration of his injuries.

"Life energy catalyzing healing?" The military doctor looked at Su Mengyi, who was currently treating Li Hexuan, a trace of surprise flashing in his eyes. "A very pure life-attribute ability, highly efficient."

Su Mengyi simply nodded, concentrating all her remaining energy into Li Hexuan's body.

Canglong walked over to Li Hexuan's bedside and handed him a blue vial.

"High-activity cellular repair fluid, the latest breakthrough from the Capital. It will do your injuries good."

Li Hexuan did not stand on ceremony; he took it and drank it down in one gulp. A cool, warm current instantly spread through his limbs and bones, and a tingling itch arose from his wounds as they began to accelerate their healing visibly to the naked eye.

"Why are you here?" Li Hexuan cut straight to the point. In his rebirth memories, there was no such plotline. The forces of the Capital Base should not have appeared in City E this early, nor in this manner.

"To track down an organization," Canglong's expression turned solemn. "A mysterious organization with the code name 'Abyss'."

He raised his hand and swiped lightly across the empty air in front of him, instantly unfolding a holographic projection screen.

On the screen appeared a distorted and eerie symbol.

That symbol was identical to the one on the metal plate inside the lord-tier behemoth, and identical to the totem of the predator tribe!

"After the apocalypse, this organization appeared out of thin air," Canglong's voice deepened. "They cultivate proxies all over the world, spread their 'faith,' instigate infighting among human survivors, and even possess the ability to manipulate large-scale beast tides. The beast tide City E suffered, and that man named Chen昊, were both their doing."

Li Hexuan's heart sank heavily.

"Chen昊 is a newly developed peripheral member of the 'Abyss' organization in the City E region," Canglong continued. "Through high-altitude reconnaissance satellites, we detected abnormal energy concentrations near City E, followed by two subsequent outbreaks of King-tier energy collisions. Therefore, I was ordered to lead a team to investigate the situation."

Li Hexuan fell silent. He finally understood why Chen昊 could cheat death and why he could subdue the predator tribe. It turned out that behind him stood such a vast and mysterious organization.

Canglong swiped his finger again, and the image on the holographic screen shifted, transforming into a massive map of China.

On the map, aside from the huge and dazzling green light dot representing the capital, sporadic green light dots of varying sizes flickered across several regions including the northwest, southwest, and southeast coasts.

"This is the distribution map of major survivor bases across the country that we have currently confirmed and established contact with."

Seeing this map, even Li Hexuan felt a profound sense of shock. Zhang Nan's mouth hung wide open, barely able to believe his own eyes.

He had always thought that Thunder City was the only isolated island in this ruined world.

Now he realized that the spark of humanity was far more tenacious than he had imagined, having already rekindled a prairie fire across the lands of the Nine Provinces.

"However, the situation is not optimistic." Canglong's tone shattered this brief moment of excitement.

He reached out and swept his hand across the map. "The infiltration of the 'Abyss' is practically ubiquitous. Many bases are facing the exact same threats as you, or even graver ones. Moreover, according to our monitoring, the evolutionary rate of global mutated creatures is accelerating at an abnormal pace. Future battles will be a hundred times more brutal than the present."

Canglong turned off the holographic projection screen. He turned around and looked at Li Hexuan solemnly with his eagle-sharp eyes.

"The era of fighting alone is past, City Lord Li Hexuan. On behalf of the Capital Base and the 'Chinese Human Survivors Alliance,' I formally extend an invitation to you and your Thunder City."

"Join us to fight natural disasters together, purge the 'Abyss,' and fight for a sliver of survival for the continuation of humanity."

Inside the aircraft, absolute silence reigned.

Li Hexuan looked at the man before him, looking at the heavy sense of responsibility and mission in his eyes. He turned his head back to look at the deeply shocked Zhang Nan and the resolute Su Mengyi.

The towering walls of Thunder City emerged in his mind, alongside the expectant gazes of the tens of thousands of survivors within the city.

Suddenly, he understood.

An individual's revenge was ultimately insignificant.

Guarding the peace of one territory was only temporary.

In this grand and cruel apocalyptic world, no single person or city could ever become a true isolated island.

He slowly straightened his body. Although his face remained pale, his gaze was brighter and more resolute than ever before.

"I, Li Hexuan, on behalf of Thunder City, accept the invitation."