Chapter 219
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Chapter 219: Barely Surviving
Zhang Tong…
The oldest member of the team, Ink Drench, murmured the name and swiftly conjured up a familiar face in her mind.
Matching the face from her memory with the man before her, a look of clear astonishment crossed her face:
“I’ve heard of you. You were a member of the second-to-last team in the Exploration Plan twenty years ago.”
What she left unsaid was that every team venturing out of the city had heard about the message he sent back twenty years ago:
“Fog, such heavy fog!”
Wasn’t this man supposed to be dead? Why is he here?
“It seems not everyone has forgotten about me. That’s quite comforting.”
The old man adjusted his glasses; they bore the scars of many battles, with noticeable repair marks on the arms, clearly indicating years of use.
“Come this way; let’s have a proper talk.”
Zhang Tong completely disregarded the underlying wariness in their expressions and led the way into a somewhat dilapidated thatched house.
This modest structure paled in comparison to the living spaces of some outer city residents, but for this place, for Marsh Settlement, it was the best and largest available.
Soon, at Zhang Tong’s behest, some food and water were placed before everyone.
Yet the five showed no interest, as if the offerings were invisible.
Zhang Tong sighed softly and said:
“What do you wish to know?”
Ink Drench’s expression grew slightly more serious:
“What do you think? As a member of the Hope City exploration team, you’ve been receiving your pension for twenty years, yet now I find you here, alive and well. Don’t you think an explanation is in order?”
Hearing Ink Drench’s words, a complex expression flickered across Zhang Tong’s face. He removed his glasses and set them on the table:
“Then I’ll start from twenty years ago…”
He leaned back in the creaky chair, his thoughts drifting back to twenty years prior:
“Our team’s mission was to explore the west of Hope City. We took samples from dozens of locations, but only a few extraordinary beasts harassed us, and we found no signs of a beast tide. The only suspicious occurrence was that every night, the white fog hovering above would slowly descend, rendering everyone blind.
“That was the day before we were set to return. Our suitcase was filled with samples, and as long as we could make it back, the mission would be a success.”
Ink Drench nodded slightly as she listened, but she thought:
He’s going to say “but” next.
“However, that evening, we were attacked by a swarm of mimicry insects and had no choice but to keep running.
“Many teammates volunteered to hold back the insects to buy time for us superpowered individuals and researchers.
“We knew Hope City lay to the east, so we kept fleeing in that direction. Unfortunately, those extraordinary beasts blocked our path back.”
As Ink Drench listened to his account, she mentally compared Zhang Tong’s story with what she knew about the exploration process, but there were indeed few matching details. After a period outside the city, communication devices would fail entirely, making it hard to verify the truth without corroboration. But it wasn’t impossible…
The Superpowered Team Leader feigned attentiveness while subtly signaling with one hand behind his back.
Meanwhile, Zhang Tong seemed oblivious, continuing his tale:
“Seeing that there was no way to go east or west, we could only move south.”
“Why south?”
“I can’t really explain it. Everyone was panicking and just chose either south or north; it didn’t make much difference.”
“Okay, I was just asking. Please continue.”
“Actually, we were heading southeast because that would bring us closer to home…
“The insects followed us for three whole days! Luckily, one of the superpowered individuals in our team could temporarily relieve everyone’s fatigue, which helped the remaining dozen of us escape.
“Three days later, we arrived at a marsh. Thanks to the superpowered individual who could freeze water, we successfully crossed that area, while the extraordinary beasts could not follow, neither the beast-like nor the insect-like ones.”
“I have a question…”
Ink Drench raised her right hand politely to interrupt Zhang Tong:
“I understand why the beast-like ones can’t cross, but why can’t the insect-like extraordinary beasts come over? Aren’t they capable of flying low?”
“The marsh is just too wide. Those insect-like extraordinary beasts have grown so much compared to their original forms that their bodies can only support short flights. In most parts of the marsh, if they land once, they would be completely swallowed.”
Ink Drench slid her right hand thoughtfully across her chin, roughly understanding his point.
This sounded quite reasonable, but it would need further experiments to confirm.
If this is true, perhaps having superpowered individuals who can significantly alter the terrain create artificial marshes outside Hope City wouldn’t be impossible…
“Please continue.”
“After that, there’s not much else… We escaped here with fewer than ten people left. This area is in the middle of the marsh, and occasionally, because of the weather, some paths lead out. You only need to modify your shoes to cross the marsh…
“We are roughly aware that this should be about ten degrees southeast of Hope City, but we cannot determine the exact distance to Hope City. Also, if we try to cross north out of the marsh, we will be discovered and attacked by the extraordinary beasts. We’ve attempted that several times, and many have died.”
Ink Drench furrowed her brows slightly:
“So, for a full twenty years, you have made almost no substantial progress and have just been stuck here, barely surviving day after day?”
“I’m very sorry, but that’s indeed the case…”
Zhang Tong maintained a calm expression, seemingly used to such straightforward accusations.
“I want humanity to survive, whether they are from within the city or outside it.”
“Tell me about those humans who are not from Hope City; I find it somewhat strange…”
Ink Drench ultimately focused on the topic of population, which is very important for a settlement.
“Hmm, the Marsh Settlement currently has ninety people. That’s not many, right?
“Of those ninety, only four are original humans from Hope City, as several who escaped with me have died in the past few years due to harsh conditions or old injuries.”
“Among the remaining people, more than ten are descendants of the original Hope City humans, while the rest are outsiders and their descendants.”
“Where do the outsiders come from?”
