Age of Calamity in Swallowed Star

#13 - refuge!

Chapter 13: Shelter!

The sky was about to dawn.

At the end of a desolate and abandoned highway, two points of light could be seen approaching from a distance.

Soon, the road was illuminated by two dazzling headlights, and as the wheels rolled over the asphalt pavement, the vehicle drew closer and closer to the human base.

Around the shelter, four giant iron towers, each several tens of meters high, stood tall.

As Lin Ye approached the area, a large searchlight on one of the towers directly illuminated the vehicle.

"License plate Yu A7007C, it's Mr. Lin Ye!"

The light flickered, and Lin Ye once again confirmed his identity using light signals.

Rumble!!!

The massive alloy-forged city gate opened from the inside out.

Tap tap tap!!!

The sound of combat boots hitting the ground echoed as a team of eighteen people in black combat uniforms rushed out of the shelter, forming two rows.

The squad leader, seeing the extremely handsome young man in the driver's seat, was all smiles and gave Lin Ye a standard military salute:

"Welcome back, Mr. Lin Ye!"

"Welcome back, Mr. Lin Ye!" x17.

"Mm!" Lin Ye nodded in response.

Under the almost fanatical and awe-filled gazes of the crowd, Lin Ye drove through the steel walls covered with various cannons and entered Shelter 057.

This wasn't Lin Ye's first time at a shelter.

After his parents passed away, Lin Ye had been to many shelters.

He had also personally witnessed those shelters turn into ruins in the face of beast tides, with countless civilians, soldiers, and warriors perishing within...

Shelter 057.

As an advanced shelter under the jurisdiction of the Nanan Fortress in Shancheng City, its safety factor has always been high.

Its original form was a prosperous small town, only about a hundred kilometers away from the main urban area of Shancheng City.

But after the sudden disaster, the earth was scarred and devastated, mutated creatures and monsters were rampant, and people's living environment became extremely harsh.

Human civilization and order were teetering on the brink of collapse amidst the multiple crises.

This once-rich and prosperous small town also suffered repeated trampling and ravaging by beast hordes.

Fortunately, the Great Xia military acted in a timely manner, reclaiming this strategic location before the arrival of a large-scale beast tide and establishing a shelter here.

Later, it cooperated with the Nanan and Jiangbei fortresses to jointly protect the peace of Shancheng City.

However, due to its unique geographical characteristics, the living environment in Shancheng City was not as good as other plains, which had better volumetric rates.

Lin Ye drove on the simple but clean streets, with rows of temporary board houses on both sides, and even some tents.

It was very similar to the situation Lin Ye encountered after the earthquake and mudslide in his previous life.

However, the situation facing the Great Xia Kingdom and even the whole world was countless times more difficult than natural disasters.

Rows of board houses and tents were connected.

The entire area was sparsely lit, with only the faint light of candles and the firelight of burning firewood.

The price of electricity was very expensive during the disaster period, and the defense systems of shelters, fortresses, and main cities all used electricity as energy.

With the increase in shelters and fortresses, the country's demand for electricity was extremely high.

At this time, heads poked out from windows and doorways, cautiously looking at Lin Ye, sizing up the person entering the shelter.

"It's the martial artist big brother!!"

"It's Brother Lin Ye!"

Someone shouted first, and then the houses in the entire shelter were like a炸锅 (zhà guō - exploding pot).

"Brother Lin Ye!!"

"Big Brother Lin Ye!!"

"Big Brother!"

...

A series of childish shouts rang out.

Then, groups of children, ranging in age from three to twelve, emerged from the rooms and ran towards the off-road vehicle.

Opening the door and getting out of the car, Lin Ye looked at the group of young children with deep eyes.

"Brother Lin Ye, can you tell us stories about the wilderness this time?"

"Yes, what's happening to our hometown now?"

Suddenly, Lin Ye felt his clothes being gently tugged.

He lowered his head slightly and found two little girls, only three or four years old, standing in front of him.

They were wearing faded little dresses, their big, dark eyes wide open, and they asked in a childish voice, "Brother Lin Ye, when can we go home?"

Hearing this question, Lin Ye's heart twitched slightly, and he didn't answer directly.

He took out a piece of compressed biscuit from his pocket, bent down, and handed it to the little girl: "Your hometown is sick, and the soldiers and martial artist uncles are treating it... When you grow up obediently, you can go back."

"I wish I could grow up faster!!" The little girl's voice was soft and weak, but her eyes flickered with hope when she looked at Lin Ye.

Lin Ye shook his head and smiled: "It's better not to grow up."

"Big brother, do you believe that when I wake up tomorrow, I'll be this tall!"

One of the children stood on tiptoe and put her hand higher than her head.

Lin Ye smiled and didn't speak.

Another child raised her hand and jumped: "I can grow this tall too!"

"Little girls... grow up slowly, don't rush. Sooner or later, you will all grow this tall."

Lin Ye walked up to the child, raised his hand, gestured at his forehead, and said softly, "When that time comes, all the monsters will be wiped out, and you can go home!"

He raised his head.

Looking at the innocent children in front of him, he felt infinite emotion in his heart.

This... is probably the meaning of the frontline soldiers and martial artists fighting to the death with the monsters!

At this time, Lin Ye remembered a sentence said by a marshal in his previous life—

'Born in this era, sacrifice is the price we must pay. If we don't pay it, then our sons and grandsons will have to pay it.'

"Mm!" A group of children surrounded him, nodding very hard.

Without much thought, Lin Ye called over a few adults.

He unloaded several large pieces of soldier-level monster meat from the car and instructed them to give the children a treat.

Looking at the envious children, Lin Ye's eyes were a little complicated.

The sudden arrival of the virus caused species to mutate, and terrifying monsters appeared, impacting and destroying the existing social order.

The children, who should have been playing freely and learning happily on campus,

had to stay in the shelter like refugees, worrying all day long.

Due to the threat of mutated viruses and terrifying beast hordes, the original social order had almost collapsed...

Education, commerce, entertainment, and culture all suffered fatal blows under the influence of the beast tide.

Except for a few large cities such as Kyoto City that had not yet been affected by the beast tide, the remaining cities in Great Xia were threatened by monsters.

At this moment, about a hundred meters above the shelter.

A group of huge avian monsters flew rapidly from a distance,

each with a huge body of tens of meters, just like small fighter planes, charging straight towards the shelter.

Buzz buzz buzz!!

However, just as they approached, blue electric arcs suddenly erupted.

Streams of electric light with a voltage of up to 100,000 volts burst out, shining brightly.

Crackling!!

In an instant, these avian monsters that wanted to rush into the shelter were all burned into balls of fire.

For a time, sparks flew everywhere.

The avian monsters were all charred and fell straight down.

Lin Ye silently took all of this into his eyes and didn't say much.

The shelters and fortresses of the disaster era are already humanity's last refuge.