Evening, Spark Camp.
Wisps of smoke rose from scattered campfires.
To celebrate their escape from death, Lin Lu and Su Qian had, for once, handed out some food to the survivors.
It was only a few pieces of candy and the like.
Even that had left quite a few people deeply grateful.
Almost no one had dared linger in Apricot Blossom Town.
Those who had followed Su Qian and the others hadn't had much food stored up in the first place.
As for the people on the bus, they received a ration of a few biscuits each day.
Just enough to keep them from starving to death.
The Starfire Convoy had suffered tremendous losses this time.
More than half the ordinary people had been killed or injured.
The bus had suffered the worst losses. Its cabin, once packed with over thirty people, now held barely a dozen.
And every one of them wore a terrified expression.
A convoy of over sixty people, a single desperate flight.
Fewer than thirty survivors.
A huge iron pot stood over the fire.
The aroma of meat drifting from it made quite a few survivors keep glancing over and swallowing their saliva.
This meal was Lin Lu's treat.
"We're in for a feast today, folks! Our captain's famously tightfisted, but he's actually coughing up the goods today!"
Big Niu chuckled, grabbed several cans of pork, and dumped them all into the pot.
Then he tossed in a generous handful of glass noodles.
He shoved the ladle into Xiao Liu's hand.
Then he casually found a discarded tire and sat down.
The Transcendents of the Starfire Council gathered around the campfire, preparing for the convoy's first council meeting.
Lin Lu sat upright on a little folding stool he'd found somewhere.
He cleared his throat.
"Chen Mo, you've just become a Transcendent. If there's anything you want to ask, go ahead."
"The others aren't much further along than you. I can share a few things I've learned with all of you."
Chen Mo was a little surprised that he was being called on first.
To avoid revealing that Red Hare had already explained the basics to him,
he still asked a few standard questions.
How many types of Transcendents were there?
How did you improve your sequence?
What exactly was an Anomalous Artifact?
Once Chen Mo finished asking all his questions, Lin Lu cleared his throat again, seemingly unsurprised by any of them.
"To answer the first question, Transcendents mainly fall into three broad categories: the combat sequence, support sequence, and elemental sequence."
"There are also a few smaller categories, but I don't know much about those."
"As for the exact number, I don't know either. So far, none of the Transcendents the convoy has encountered have shared the same sequence type."
"Actually, even before Tide Cry, the major factions were secretly researching things related to this. Quite a few Transcendents had already emerged back then."
The white cloth strip on Lin Lu's head fluttered in the wind as he solemnly explained what he knew.
Chen Mo and the others listened intently. Xiao Ya set down her rag doll too, looking up as she considered Lin Lu's words.
"But low-level sequences can't change the bigger picture."
"That's why the convoy keeps moving. Rather than migration, it's more like fleeing. We're running from powerful anomalies that catch the scent of living humans."
"The convoy was originally heading south, but because of that bear, we had no choice but to flee north."
"As things stand, humanity's overall strength is still far below that of the anomalies."
"According to some of the information I've received, level-seven anomalies have already emerged in quite a few forbidden zones."
"So I'm sure you can all understand why the convoy came up with that so-called tail-shedding plan."
Chen Mo lowered his head. What Lin Lu had said was almost identical to the information Red Hare had revealed earlier, and even added more details.
Humanity... really was facing a struggle for survival.
Seen in that light, prioritizing the Transcendents' survival truly had been a desperate measure.
After all, there could only be a future if the Transcendents stayed alive.
Lin Lu fell silent for a moment, then paused.
"The second question: how to improve sequence abilities."
"For the combat sequence, the method currently known is to keep fighting and training, honing your sequence abilities."
"And for support sequences like mine, Su Qian's, and Old Yang's, we train our specialized skills."
"That's the most conventional method, and also the safest."
"As for... Anomalous Artifacts."
Lin Lu pressed his lips together.
"Anomalous Artifacts are special objects containing fixed rules. Some are left behind when powerful anomalies die, while others are crafted by Transcendents with specialized sequences."
"Some are naturally occurring Anomalous Artifacts, too. That's harder to explain, and I don't know much about them."
As he spoke, he pointed to the pristine white cloth strip on his head.
"But most Anomalous Artifacts have side effects to some degree. The more powerful the Anomalous Artifact, the more pronounced the side effects."
"For example, mine makes my expression turn solemn. That's why you always see me looking so serious."
So that was it. Chen Mo remembered Lin Lu's sinister cackling again.
Before, he'd racked his brains trying to understand how someone so solemn and straight-laced...
"There's also Big Niu's sack. It can hold a lot, but anything put inside becomes one and a half times its original weight."
The others looked a little dazed, as though they were still digesting everything they'd heard.
Xiao Ya looked down at her rag doll. Su Qian was lost in thought as well, only coming back to herself after a long while.
Chen Mo was the first to finish processing it all and asked a crucial question.
"Captain Lin, why do you know so much?"
The others pricked up their ears too. Clearly, everyone was interested in their mysterious captain.
The white cloth on Lin Lu's head stirred without any wind, lending him the air of a true expert.
He slowly uttered a name.
"Everbright Bastion."
"Don't ask any more. You'll find out when the time comes."
Seeing that no one pressed him further,
Lin Lu knew everyone had more or less digested the information.
He nodded to Su Qian.
Su Qian's brows were tightly furrowed, and her seated posture accentuated her voluptuous figure.
When she noticed Lin Lu looking her way,
she rubbed her head and began to speak.
"Now we'll vote on the Starfire Council's rules."
"First, everyone is responsible for their own supplies. We don't support freeloaders. Everyone must take responsibility for their own survival."
"Second, whenever combat sequence members go out to gather supplies, they must hand over twenty percent of their haul to our Perception specialist, Captain Lin. Consider it your 'ticket.'"
"Third, any anomaly materials or Anomalous Artifacts acquired during collective operations belong to the council. Every member gets a share."
"If an individual wants something, they can exchange their own supplies for it through the council to compensate the other members."
Su Qian's voice was gentle, reassuring to listen to.
Lin Lu added, "Of course, council members can also trade privately. Negotiate your own prices. I only ask one thing: give each other friendly rates. Don't act like enemies."
"The floor is open now. Anyone with questions can ask."
Big Niu scratched his head. "I'll do what Captain Lin says."
Xiao Ya snuggled closer into Su Qian's arms, making her position clear.
Old Yang nodded and stood up to serve everyone food. "No objections here."
Old Yang rode in Lin Lu's command vehicle, so naturally he firmly supported him. That went without saying.
Well, damn. So I'm the only outsider here, huh?
The corner of Chen Mo's mouth twitched, and he turned to glance at the ordinary people in the convoy.
His meaning was obvious.
Why didn't they have to pay a "fare"?
As though he could "see" what Chen Mo was thinking, Lin Lu reached out and gave his shoulder a heavy pat.
"Have you forgotten Horseshoe Gully No-Man's Land?"
That one sentence instantly silenced Chen Mo.
Right. They didn't have to pay a fare.
But when danger struck, they were also the first to be abandoned.
Without Lin Lu's perception, that discarded "tail" of the convoy probably wouldn't even have known how they died.
That twenty percent was the price of staying alive.
"No objections from me."
Chen Mo spread his hands. What could he do even if he disagreed?
He was all on his own.
At that thought, he glanced at Red Hare beside him.
Red Hare was sitting on the ground, looking extraordinarily well-behaved,
doing his utmost to play the part of a harmless beast.
"Food's ready, food's ready! Fresh pork and glass noodles!"
Old Yang picked up the iron ladle and began serving everyone.
Apparently taking a liking to Red Hare, he grabbed a battered iron basin covered in dents from nearby.
He ladled in several heaping scoops of pork and glass noodles, broth and meat included, then dropped it in front of Red Hare with a clang.
"Almost forgot about you, old horse who knows the way. Eat up. You'll need your strength to pull your master's cart."
Since Chen Mo had become a Transcendent, this "Contract Beast" naturally enjoyed better meals too.
He even got to eat from the same pot as everyone else.
The donkey, treated like livestock, lowered his head, let his eyelids droop, and rolled his eyes with a remarkably human expression.
Are you fucking blind? I'm Red Hare, a magnificent divine steed! And you're feeding me like a dog.
You think tossing me a dog bowl is enough!
Then the aroma of pork and glass noodles reached him, and he paused.
He lowered his head and began noisily gobbling it down.
Pretty tasty, actually...
Before you continue