After finishing the necessary tasks, they set off again toward the new base.
The site for the new base had been chosen with great care after the apocalypse. It avoided areas prone to tsunamis, earthquakes, or low terrain. Of course, places too high weren't good either, since mountains had become hotbeds for mutant creatures. That's why it had taken so long to finally settle on A City.
It was impossible to build a base big enough for hundreds of thousands, maybe even a million people, in just a year. But if they worked with the existing city layout, and built up only the key areas they needed, a lot of problems could be solved. So, instead of "building the base," what they'd really been doing was putting up security walls and restructuring the city's layout inside.
When A City was first picked as the site, Huang Jinghe's parents were immediately sent there. But because everything about the base was top secret, they never breathed a word to their own son. If news leaked, it wasn't just about exposing the site, it could cause panic.
…
From the Capital city base, it should've taken about seven days by car to reach A City. They'd already spent three days on the road, so normally four more would've been enough. But the earthquake had hit out of nowhere, throwing everything off.
Just treating the wounded had eaten up two full days. Then came counting heads and supplies. By the time seven days had passed, they were still stuck on the road.
The journey was already grueling, but heat alone wasn't the worst of it. The real terror came from accidents.
And accidents came.
On the second day after they'd set out again, it started raining.
People at the base had fled to the underground shelters because of acid rain, and along the way they'd seen plenty of buildings eaten through by it. The devastation was too fresh in everyone's minds. So the moment the first drops fell, everyone thought of acid rain.
As they waited for death, the rain hit their skin… but it didn't burn.
That froze everyone in place, then cheers burst out.
"It's just rain, normal rain! I thought it was acid rain, I was ready to die right here. It's not!"
"Thank god."
"Lucky it's only rain. But… what if there's something else in it?"
At that, the ones who'd been playing with the raindrops quickly yanked their hands back. Nobody could say for sure.
At first the rain was just a light drizzle, then it grew heavier.
And then, over the patter of water, came a strange noise. The sound was too familiar. When Lan Jin and her group had run into that hailstorm before, it had sounded just like this.
They turned and looked back. A mass of dark clouds was rolling toward them.
The thing was so huge it left no room to escape.
People tensed up. Captain Zhang shouted into his loudspeaker, ordering everyone back to the cars.
But it was pointless. The "roof" on those cars was nothing but a tarp. Good enough for shade or a drizzle, but against hail or a downpour? Not a chance.
The cloud moved so fast most hadn't even climbed aboard before the rain was falling on them. Luckily, it was only rain. They got drenched, but nobody complained. In the apocalypse, just being alive was already a blessing.
Just when everyone thought it was over, another noise came, rolling closer. This time it wasn't like before. The earlier cloud had been dark, but this one had no cloud at all, only rain, and it was red.
While everyone was still confused, Captain Zhang lifted his binoculars.
"Holy shit! That's not rain. A tornado must've carried them up. Those red things are snakes, mutant snakes!"
The ones with red fire-element crystals in their heads. The meat was edible, so they weren't useless. But in these numbers, it was terrifying. Not even Lan Jin could handle a downpour of snakes.
People immediately huddled behind her, but she rolled her eyes. "If they were crawling, I'd deal with them. But falling from the sky? Even I can't do anything about that."
The mass of snakes was still some distance away. Captain Zhang shouted, "Back to the cars, quick!"
Nobody listened. Seeing that, Lan Jin spoke up. "How many plant ability users do we have?"
Several stepped forward. "We are."
"Good. Me too."
"You guys, release your vines. Make a shield over everyone's heads, keep them spinning. If the snakes fall on it, they'll bounce off."
She kept it simple, and they got the idea right away. It was like a giant fan made of vines, spinning fast enough to fling the snakes away. Even if the force wasn't enough to throw them all off, it would at least stop the snakes from dropping directly onto people.
At the same time, she pulled out the Violetbane Ring and spun a whip of lightning above her head to join the barrier.
There was another option: Ling Jiang could use her ice ability to build a fortress. But with so many people here, even her power wasn't enough to cover them all. The vines were the most practical choice. Once people heard there was a way, their panic eased. When the vines started spinning into motion, they all rushed to huddle in safer spots.
In the end, most still crowded near Lan Jin. In a world of abilities, she was the strongest. Whenever danger struck, everyone instinctively ran to her.