Alliance

In the center of the square, the key figures from several convoys had gathered together. Night was about to fall, and many armed survivors had voluntarily begun patrolling around the perimeter on guard.

It turned out that the people who had just climbed out of the military jeeps were local survivors from North Bay Town. The middle-aged man leading them was named Tang Hai, formerly the stationmaster of Beiwan Station. According to him, after the apocalypse began, he had led stranded passengers from the station and some of the town's residents to take shelter in an air-raid bunker at a nearby military outpost, where they had held out for quite some time.

Moreover, the heavy fog in North Bay Town had not appeared at the beginning of the apocalypse, but after the first Polar Night. A group among them had originally planned to flee east as well, but because of the fog, those who went out were either killed or injured. Everyone gradually realized they were trapped in this godforsaken place. Though the sun still rose as usual, it still felt as if they were trapped in Polar Night.

"You're saying this fog has been here for more than ten days?" The speaker was the leader of a small convoy. His convoy had originally consisted of more than thirty people, but in just two short days, half of them were already gone.

"That's right."

"Then why did you risk leaving the air-raid bunker to come find us? What's your purpose?" Qian Yu looked at Tang Hai scrutinizingly and asked bluntly.

"What other purpose could there be? Of course we're here to save you!"

Before Tang Hai could speak, a somewhat roguish-looking young man beside him shouted, "There's a small road south of the city. I've already checked it out—it's fairly clear. With large vehicles and armored vehicles leading the way, we can definitely force our way out."

As soon as these words were spoken, the scene fell silent. The leaders of the other convoys all looked at him strangely, and some even made disdainful noises.

Qian Yu snorted coldly, glaring at him with an unfriendly expression.

"You take us for idiots? If there's a way out, why didn't you break through yourselves? Why come all this way to save us?"

His words voiced everyone's thoughts.

With the apocalypse upon them, everyone only thought of protecting themselves. Every convoy distrusted the others. Even a little girl like Lou Shasha would not believe such a claim.

"Yuming, let me explain." Tang Hai raised a hand to signal everyone not to get worked up, then explained, "To be honest, everyone wants to escape. So our goal is actually the same—we want everyone to join forces. More people, more guns, more vehicles; that means better odds of surviving."

With that explanation, the others understood Tang Hai's intentions. It was only natural to band together in times of danger.

These convoys might scheme against one another and fight to the death over supplies, but even the dumbest person knew that under the current circumstances, sticking together gave them a better chance of survival.

Of course, everyone was thinking the same thing: better them than me. The more cannon fodder there was, the better their own chances of living.

They were only one step away from saying it outright.

Tang Hai swept his gaze around the group and said seriously, "We know the route, and we have quite a bit of equipment. If we work together, our chances should be better. Besides, you have Espers here."

At the mention of Espers, everyone suddenly seemed to realize something. They looked at one another, then all turned their gazes toward the corner of the square.

"That pair of siblings and those two people don't seem ordinary," someone said.

"What's the deal with that woman? She's so powerful."

Qian Yu stood up and looked toward Lin Xian. "I almost forgot about that." With that, he walked straight over.

The other convoy leaders hurried after him.

"Yuming, what kind of ability does that woman have? She's that strong?" Tang Hai followed behind with his nephew Feng Yuming.

"Uncle, it seems like some kind of telekinesis. Pretty damn impressive," Feng Yuming said with a frown.

A flash of delight passed through Tang Hai's eyes at that. "With an ability like that, our chances of getting out are pretty good!"

Feng Yuming glanced at him. "Uncle, she's a big threat to us too."

Tang Hai's expression immediately darkened at those words.

On the other side, Lin Xian saw Qian Yu and the others approaching from afar and had already guessed their purpose.

"That attack just now must've taken a lot out of you, right?"

Kiki quickly made a shushing gesture at Lin Xian. "Keep it down, idiot!"

Lin Xian's gaze flickered. Seeing the slight exhaustion on Kiki's face, he knew her strength was already failing. Fortunately, she had not gotten a nosebleed today, which eased his mind somewhat.

Qian Yu's group approached in force. Lou Shasha, the little girl who had been eating canned food, immediately jumped down from the passenger seat when she saw them coming and stood in front of them. "Hey, what are you trying to do?"

Lou Hua hurriedly stood up as well, taking his place beside Lou Shasha.

Qian Yu's gaze swept over them, his tone no longer as sharp as before. "Relax. We're not here to cause trouble."

"Right, right!" another convoy leader quickly chimed in. "We hope you can join us and work together."

"You're so strong. If we work together, we'll definitely have a chance to break out."

At that moment, the convoy leaders' gazes toward Lin Xian and Kiki had become fervent. Clearly, the powers they had displayed earlier now seemed like those of saviors, giving them hope of escaping alive.

"Work together?" Lin Xian stood up and asked calmly, "What kind of cooperation are we talking about?"

At that moment, Tang Hai and Feng Yuming also walked over. When Lin Xian saw the pair, his expression changed slightly.

How should he put it? Every other survivor in the camp was filthy and bedraggled. Their nerves had been stretched taut for so long that both their mental state and complexion looked terrible.

Yet these two looked positively rosy-cheeked. If not for the battle earlier, they might even have been quite clean.

That made Lin Xian suspicious.

"My surname is Tang. My name is Tang Hai. I'm a local from North Bay Town and used to be the stationmaster of Beiwan Station. Now, our group of survivors is sheltering in a military bunker at the foot of that mountain over there..."

Tang Hai introduced himself, and Lin Xian immediately frowned when he heard it.

The stationmaster of Beiwan Station?

"Lin Xian. Kiki," Lin Xian replied without giving anything away.

The roguish Feng Yuming beside Tang Hai scrutinized the two of them. When his eyes landed on Kiki, they suddenly lit up, an undisguised excitement appearing in his gaze.

Tang Hai repeated the plan they had discussed earlier. It was not complicated: once they obtained Lin Xian and Kiki's agreement, everyone would join forces and act together.

"But it's already late. Wouldn't breaking out now be even more dangerous?" Lin Xian glanced at Feng Yuming, then turned to Tang Hai and voiced his concern.

Qian Yu said dismissively, "I don't think it matters whether it's night or not anymore. The dangers in this fog are far more terrifying than the dark."

"That's not what I mean..." Lin Xian wanted to say more, but Kiki stepped forward and cut him off.

"You're all so stupid! If we rush out during the day, we'll at least have time to catch our breath outside. If we rush out in the middle of the night, are we supposed to flee through the darkness for twenty hours?" Even Qian Yu could not help frowning at Kiki's words.

It did sound perfectly reasonable.

"Then shall we set off first thing tomorrow morning?" someone suggested.

"I have a suggestion." Tang Hai stepped forward. "We cleared out quite a few monster corpses on the way here. Why don't we take this opportunity to relocate everyone to the air-raid bunker? First, it'll be relatively safer for us to rest there. Second, it's closer to the small road south of the city."

Once they heard this, everyone thought the suggestion was workable.

When Lin Xian heard Tang Hai mention the air-raid bunker, he exchanged a look with Kiki and quietly considered it. Wasn't that the military outpost Kiki had mentioned before?

Kiki gave him a meaningful look, and the two silently reached an understanding.

"I think that's a good idea." Lin Xian nodded.

Seeing Lin Xian agree, everyone immediately perked up. Qian Yu silently glanced at Tang Hai without saying anything, then turned and ordered Old Eagle, "Gather everyone. Get ready to move!"

The survivor camp quickly became lively. The convoy survivors packed up their belongings, and before long, they were ready to go, engines roaring to life.

Inside a modified heavy-duty off-road vehicle, Old Eagle watched the military jeeps ahead and said coldly, "Boss, there's definitely something wrong with that Tang guy."

"I saw that a long time ago." Qian Yu sneered. He then picked up his radio and told the members of his convoy, "Everyone, conserve your ammunition. Take the safeties off, damn it."

After speaking, he set down the radio and gave Old Eagle a casual glance.

"That military outpost was part of my original plan anyway—I intended to loot the place. If anything goes wrong later, kill that Tang guy immediately."

A vicious gleam flashed through Old Eagle's eyes. "Don't worry, boss."

Vroom—!

The convoy set off. Tang Hai's military jeeps led the way, followed by more than a dozen heavily modified vehicles from Qian Yu's Black Flood Dragon convoy. The remaining several dozen vehicles of all sizes trailed behind, while Lou Ye's pickup, carrying Lin Xian and Kiki, brought up the rear.

Sitting in the passenger seat, Shasha opened the rear window panel. "Are you cold?"

"Not really," Lin Xian replied.

"Brother Lin, be careful. They might be plotting against you." Though Lou Shasha was young, she was quite shrewd.

"Uh..."

Lin Xian's gaze steadied. He had wanted to say that everyone was the same, but looking at Lou Shasha, he calmly changed his words. "Everyone wants to get out. But if things really fall apart, then when disaster strikes, everyone will fend for themselves."

Gripping the window frame, Shasha stared wide-eyed at Lin Xian. "Then... then we have to stick together. I saved you two just now, didn't I?"

Lin Xian nodded and looked at Lou Shasha. "Alright. We're allies."

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