"The replacement is complete."
Zhang Tianyuan left the broadcast room and asked a soldier carrying a radio to tune in to the emergency broadcast frequency. Sure enough, he heard their new broadcast.
"Announcement from the National Emergency Evacuation Operation Office:
Fellow citizens, the following is an emergency notice.
Our country's surviving forces have now completed their preliminary reorganization and officially established the Mutual Aid Society. We currently possess large quantities of supplies and weapons, sufficient industrial support, and ample means to deal with the monsters roaming the cities.
We will soon head south to rescue and gather survivors from all regions. Please temporarily relocate to the outskirts of nearby cities, enter the cities during daylight to gather supplies and maintain a stable livelihood, and then await our arrival.
Comrades in other evacuation zones, please await our arrival as well..."
"We will now broadcast the characteristics of Darkseekers that we have identified so far. Citizens everywhere, please take care to avoid them..."
Everyone stood quietly outside the broadcast room, listening. No one spoke.
The complete broadcast was very long, lasting over forty minutes. It covered the current situation, an introduction to Darkseekers and the KV Virus, wilderness survival, basic medical care, and even chicken soup for the soul and warnings to deter criminals...
Its contents were extremely comprehensive.
Of course, considering that signal issues might prevent survivors from listening continuously, Zhang Tianyuan and the others had kept each segment very short.
And every time the segment changed, the opening announcement would play again.
This was partly to let survivors receive relatively complete information in as little time as possible, and partly to ensure that every survivor knew the Mutual Aid Society's instructions by heart and obediently waited on the outskirts.
Only after confirming that the broadcast was correct did Zhang Tianyuan lock the confidential broadcast room again and leave the main control station.
While they listened to the broadcast, the soldiers outside had not been idle either.
They had found steel rebar and other materials to seal every window in the main control station. Once Zhang Tianyuan came out, they blocked the main entrance as well, ensuring that no new Darkseekers could get inside.
Seeing that it was already late and darkness was about to fall, Zhang Tianyuan and the others had no time to clear the transmitting station's other buildings. They could only leave the city at dusk.
Even on freezing winter nights, Darkseekers would not stop foraging. As soon as dusk arrived, they could clearly sense that it was mealtime.
All along their way out, Zhang Tianyuan and the others could hear Darkseekers in the buildings on either side
roaring.
Their harrowing cries echoed throughout the city, frightening some of the animals that had settled there into scurrying back to their dens.
At night, anything short of a fierce beast like a lion or tiger would become prey for the Darkseekers.
Although Darkseekers could no longer be considered human, they still lived up to the name of terrifying upright apes.
But just because the little animals were afraid did not mean Zhang Tianyuan and the others were.
Zhang Tianyuan never indulged Darkseekers.
"Turn on all the loudspeakers! Let them soak up some culture!" Zhang Tianyuan ordered over the communicator.
Songs from the loudspeakers soon drifted down the road with the convoy.
The Darkseekers yearned intensely for this art they had never encountered before and flocked after it.
The setting sun posed little threat to Darkseekers unless its rays struck them directly.
They poured out of the high-rises. Some even anticipated Zhang Tianyuan's route and jumped straight onto the elevated roadway outside the buildings to intercept them.
Then...
They saw the light.
The headlights of dozens of vehicles switched on together, scattering ultraviolet radiation far beyond a lethal dose in every direction. And the vehicles at the front were armored cars.
Those Darkseekers blocking the road with their bodies, like mantises raising their arms against a chariot, did not even last long enough to be purified by the light before making intimate contact with thick steel plating.
The Darkseekers behind them watched Zhang Tianyuan and the others hit the gas and speed away after the collision, leaving them to rage helplessly in the street.
Just as Zhang Tianyuan and the others were leaving the Imperial Capital.
On the grasslands.
Tong Wenshi, who had kept someone monitoring the emergency broadcast all along, immediately noticed the change.
A small radio sat beside him.
Tong Wenshi and the others sat in a yurt, warming a small pot of liquor over a fire before them and occasionally lifting it to share with those seated around him.
Everyone quietly listened to the changed broadcast. No one spoke; they only took small sips of liquor from time to time. The warm liquor slid down their throats, yet entered their bellies like a knife, making their eyes mist over despite themselves...
Bitterness mingled with sweetness in this broadcast, making it the most flavorful accompaniment to their drinks.
Out in the wilderness.
A young man built a fire, took several cans from the trunk of an off-road vehicle, opened them, and placed them over the fire one by one to heat.
His companion-a middle-aged man-was still in the vehicle fiddling with the radio.
"Do you want to come down and eat first?" the young man asked. "Let's finish early. We still have traveling to do tomorrow."
The middle-aged man frowned. "Wait a little longer. Just now, while I was changing
stations, I think I heard a different broadcast..."
As he spoke.
The radio suddenly found the right frequency.
A clear, precisely enunciated announcement came through...
Both men froze where they stood, listening blankly for a long while.
Somewhere in the desert.
A young soldier changed into thick clothes, preparing to head out for night watch.
But it was not time yet.
Before leaving, he switched on the radio as usual, intending to listen to the emergency broadcast again.
But the next second, he discovered to his surprise that the broadcast's contents had actually changed.
"...Fellow citizens, the following is an emergency notice... completed their preliminary reorganization... possess large quantities of supplies and weapons..."
The voice on the radio was calm and composed, taking listeners back as if in a dream to those peaceful times.
After hearing just this passage, the young soldier gave a sudden start, took off his rifle, and rushed toward the camp office.
He knew he was definitely going to be late for his watch today!
Half an hour later.
The entire camp had received the news.
In the desert's freezing night.
Thousands of people gathered together, listening to the broadcast coming from the loudspeakers.
Another hour passed, and everyone had heard the entire broadcast. Excitement shone on their faces as they eagerly discussed how much longer it would be before they could leave the desert...
The desert camp's leadership also convened an emergency discussion.
"What's going on? Have they really restored their armed forces and industrial production over on the grasslands?"
Everyone was both delighted and astonished by the broadcast's contents.
Some even suspected it was fake.
Although they all hoped it was true.
"Restoring industrial production with just a few tens of thousands of people-how is that possible? Where would they get the population base? Where would they get their raw materials?"
"Modern industry requires vast quantities of raw materials and specialized technicians. How did they solve that problem?"
"I don't think it's impossible. They might have found raw material warehouses..."
"What about transportation, then? How do they move things? How do they get the machines running? How do they avoid destruction by Darkseekers?"
They argued endlessly.
An elderly man in his sixties stopped the pointless debate and said, "Whatever the case, since the broadcast has been replaced, that means the camp on the grasslands really has returned to the Imperial Capital."
"I think we should select some people as soon as possible and have them drive over to find them, so we can discuss joining up as early as possible..."