Chapter 54: Now a Desolate Dead Zone

This topic was simply too heavy, and Shen Xing had no idea what kind of opinion to express.

However, a certain thought suddenly crossed his mind at that moment, making him somewhat concerned.

"The Tang family moved away from here not long ago. Could it have any connection to this matter? It felt a bit strange at the time. Even if they had managed to establish new connections, could they really build such deep trust in so short a time? Deep enough to abandon the businesses and assets they had spent years operating in Tianhe City without a second thought?

If they had somehow gotten wind of some information in advance, then wouldn't everything... appear to make much more sense?"

Logically speaking, Shen Xing felt that connecting these two things together was a bit far-fetched, but intuitively, he couldn't help thinking this way.

After a series of extreme driving maneuvers by Bai Ying, the car finally reached its destination half an hour later.

The closer they got to this place, the sparser the monsters became.

Upon getting out of the car, Shen Xing discovered that this was a military camp.

It was obviously newly built, and all kinds of facilities appeared somewhat crude.

However, the heavy weapons set up around the perimeter of the camp were not crude in the slightest.

Every now and then, the roaring sound of heavy weaponry would echo through the surroundings, followed shortly by a stubborn monster not far away turning into a bloody mist.

Although conventional human firearms were no longer paid much attention to by martial artists, the destructive power of these super heavy-duty beasts was still truly astonishing.

Moreover, their most crucial advantage lay in the fact that as long as ammunition was sufficient, they could fight continuously without the issue of physical exhaustion.

Compared to the flesh and blood of martial artists, these iron warriors excelled in stability.

"Officer Ouyang is right inside. I'll take you in. A pass is required here, and we can get one made for you later. However, Officer Ouyang probably won't agree to let you go back out, so you probably don't even need one."

Bai Ying had spoken a lot along the way, but Shen Xing could tell that she was not normally the talkative type.

Therefore, he guessed in his heart that she was probably using this method to keep herself from thinking about the deaths of her two friends.

After all, talking required thinking, and while thinking, one would forget the sorrow.

The two arrived at the entrance of the camp. The on-duty soldier recognized Bai Ying, but cast a suspicious gaze toward Shen Xing.

Bai Ying whispered a brief explanation, and the soldier's gaze immediately transformed into a complex look mixed with envy, admiration, and disdain.

The guard stepped aside to clear the entrance, and Shen Xing followed Bai Ying inside.

When he saw Ouyang Lin again, she was in the middle of a meeting inside the conference room.

Through the window, Shen Xing saw that her arm was wrapped in gauze and her face was extremely pale, making her look quite heavily injured.

Ouyang Lin's expression was very stern, even carrying a hint of anger.

At a certain moment, she raised her hand as if she were about to slam it on the table, but ultimately managed to forcefully hold it back.

Despite her anger, she sensed something and glanced outside, catching sight of Shen Xing looking right back at her.

Shen Xing smiled, and after a momentary daze, Ouyang Lin revealed a clear look of joy.

Shen Xing pointed forward, silently gesturing for her to continue.

"I'll wait for you outside."

Ouyang Lin nodded, took a deep breath, and quickly returned to the state of debate.

The waiting time was longer than Shen Xing had anticipated. After waiting for a while and finding no sign of the meeting ending, Bai Ying called over a military doctor to give Shen Xing a preliminary checkup.

Upon learning that Shen Xing did not have any serious injuries, and that his condition was merely limited to some lung damage from inhaling a large amount of smoke along with slight symptoms of dehydration, Bai Ying displayed extreme shock.

Because this meant that Shen Xing had practically never faced coordinated group assaults during his direct confrontations with the enemy.

Otherwise, under the chaotic clubs of the goblins, he definitely would have sustained heavy external trauma.

The military doctor wrote out a prescription, and Bai Ying instructed a soldier to follow the doctor to collect the medicine.

She stared intently at Shen Xing as if looking at a monster, clicking her tongue in amazement and saying:

"It seems I shouldn't doubt our officer's judgment. The threshold for being a kept pretty boy isn't high, but some people's pretty boy status might have an exceptionally high threshold. No matter how many life-saving items the officer gave you, the fact that you survived for three days and still maintained such a good condition proves that all your aspects are truly excellent.

I mean your physical stamina and combat intelligence. Given time, you might really grow into a renowned expert. When that time comes, you must remember me—remember how I descended by your side like the Goddess of Holy Light one day and saved you from that hopeless place."

Shen Xing was slightly stunned, then cupped his fists in a salute to her:

"Then I'll take your kind words. I will definitely remember today's favor."

After a short while, the door to the conference room finally opened, and the people inside filed out, leaving the area while talking in hushed tones.

Meanwhile, Ouyang Lin rubbed her temples and forced herself to walk over to Shen Xing and Bai Ying with renewed energy.

"Well done. You're dismissed to go rest first."

"Yes, Officer! Mission accomplished without disgrace."

Bai Ying let out a sigh of relief. This exhausting trip hadn't been in vain; she had earned a quite decent evaluation.

After Bai Ying left, Ouyang Lin looked at Shen Xing with a very complex gaze.

After a moment of silence, she said, "I'm sorry for not coming to rescue you the very first moment."

Shen Xing shook his head and pointed at the gauze on her arm:

"You're in this state yourself, if I still held a grudge against you, would I even be human? You look exhausted. Do you want to rest for a while first?"

Ouyang Lin smiled and waved her hand:

"It looks serious, but it's just surface trauma and nothing major. What about you? How are you feeling?"

"The military doctor just checked me. Just a bit of lung infection, a minor issue. Do you need to go arrange your work first?"

"Ah, I'm sorry. Then please wait for me just a little longer, I'll be right back."

Ouyang Lin said apologetically.

The two parted ways once again.

Shortly after, the soldier who went to fetch the medicine brought the prescribed drugs over.

Shen Xing immediately took a dose, then lay down on a makeshift camp bed to catnap.

He knew that Ouyang Lin was now overseeing all operations here; even if she said she would be quick, handling everything would likely take quite a while.

In his half-asleep state, Shen Xing felt a hand gently touching his forehead.

Opening his eyes, he saw Ouyang Lin sitting by the bedside, looking down at him.

"Are you done?"

"Yes. We can finally rest properly for a while."

Shen Xing sat up and cleared some space for Ouyang Lin on the bed.

The two spoke in soft whispers, briefly sharing what each had experienced over the past three days.

Some of it Shen Xing had already learned from Bai Ying.

But there were also parts he did not yet know.

For instance: Tianhe City had now officially become an isolated city.

"So earlier in the meeting room, you were all arguing over whether or not to quarantine Tianhe City?"

Ouyang Lin sighed:

"It couldn't really be called an argument, because the specific orders had already been issued. The people from the neighboring city came merely to give notice, and then discuss what they could do to help us within the scope of their abilities. I was so angry, not at them, but because the higher-ups simply didn't give me any chance to speak.

So many people died, and we finally managed to control the situation to this degree. As long as just one more force was injected, we would have had the possibility of completely eradicating these monsters and regaining control of Tianhe City.

Yet, for the sake of safety, the higher-ups adopted the most conservative strategy: quarantine us and continue to wait and watch.

In their eyes, Tianhe City and the people still alive here are already things that can be abandoned."