Chapter 106: Current Situation

The motor vehicles prepared for the X Squadron, apart from three helicopters, were uniformly dominated by sports motorcycles.

Xiang A City was the provincial capital of Xiang Province. Although the driving of motorcycles was banned, there were countless sports motorcycles in private. The sports motorcycles provided for the X Squadron were found from various sports motorcycle clubs, and all of them were world-famous models. This perfectly suited the X Squadron’s mobility requirements; with a wave of his hand, Lv Guangrong handed them all over for the X Squadron’s use.

Assigned to Zhou Liming was a gray BMW K1200S, while Huang Dazhuang, who was paired with him, received a BMW K1300S.

In terms of appearance, the K1200S looked slightly more aggressive than the K1300S, which was the type Zhou Liming liked. In the past, whenever he saw this kind of motorcycle roaring past on the streets, he was always filled with longing; they were the sports cars among motorcycles, holding the same status as sports cars among automobiles, full of allure. However, a single motorcycle cost hundreds of thousands, which was far beyond the imagination of an ordinary family.

The dispatch of fifteen teams covered the entire city of Xiang A City and the surrounding towns and villages.

Leaving Huanghua Town, the streets were empty. Since Xiang A City had always been in the hands of the country and had not suffered the impact of Fierce Beasts, the evacuation was much more orderly compared to the initial human retreat. There was no chaos, and unlike other cities, abandoned cars did not clog the streets and alleys. In fact, only one-third of Xiang A City’s population evacuated. Adding the people who fled here, the population of Xiang A City actually increased rather than decreased, reaching around thirteen million, almost doubling.

The east side of Xiang A City was a military restricted area, so the few kilometers of highway from Huanghua Town to Xiang A City was very empty.

Huang Dazhuang twisted the throttle, and the K1300S let out a huge roar. He smiled naively and said, “Want to try?”

Zhou Liming was also interested. He nodded, twisted the throttle as well, and the K1200S shot out after letting out a huge roar, accelerating to over a hundred kilometers in just a few seconds. The two motorcycles were like arrows, whizzing past on the highway, the blood-pumping roar of the engines echoing on both sides of the road.

The few kilometers felt to Zhou Liming as if he had only just added a bit of throttle before reaching the end.

There was a checkpoint on the highway, built of reinforced concrete. Not only were there several heavy machine guns on it, but snipers were also stationed there. Several military trucks and two Jeeps were parked at the checkpoint, and patrolling soldier squads could be seen. Small checkpoints like this were numerous throughout Xiang A City, all deployed at various intersections leading to the east.

Huang Dazhuang’s military rank was Colonel, and Zhou Liming’s was Lieutenant Colonel; without a doubt, for the Second Lieutenant platoon leader at this checkpoint, they were absolutely superior officers.

After carefully checking the two men’s credentials and confirming there were no issues, the Second Lieutenant platoon leader directly ordered the soldiers to open the checkpoint for passage. A notice had been issued from above that a special unit would be stationed to handle patrols and special incidents. Checking credentials was just a formality.

Watching the two imposing BMW sports motorcycles rumble away, the Second Lieutenant shook his head and said with some dissatisfaction, “They aren’t any different from us, so why is their treatment so much better? Do they have three arms and four legs?” He spat fiercely, “A bunch of princeling soldiers coming to the front line to gild their lilies?” Thinking of the power of Fierce Beasts, he laughed, estimating that when these princeling soldiers witnessed it, they would probably cry for their parents and roll back to the rear.

Seeing that the other soldiers were all staring enviously at the departing motorcycles, the Second Lieutenant laughed, “What are you looking at? These things aren’t worth anything now. I’ll get you one someday.”

The soldiers all burst into laughter. “Platoon Leader, you’re just bragging. Even if the streets were full of these, it wouldn’t be our turn, would it?” Then they laughed and returned to their posts. Under the current situation, the enemy was not human, so there was no need to be as serious as before. The appearance of Fierce Beasts was rarely hidden; they always appeared charging head-on.

Less than a hundred meters past the checkpoint was the suburb of Xiang A City, where pedestrians could be seen on the streets.

Cars were almost invisible at the beginning and end of the streets. With the supply of fuel halted, apart from a few wealthy and influential people or those with connections, it was almost impossible to expect to buy fuel now. The vehicles appearing on the streets were generally government agency cars; only these departments had fuel allocation quotas.

Stopping at the street entrance, Huang Dazhuang took out his Communicator, which had GPS navigation. After obtaining the satellite map of Xiang A City, he checked it and said, “Let’s go to the city center for a stroll. Patrolling is pretty much like hanging out; we’ll handle things if anything happens.”

To the east, there was a defensive Frontline with a large number of troops stationed there, and further away, satellites were monitoring. As soon as a Fierce Beast appeared, it would be discovered immediately. What was truly troublesome were the small groups of Fierce Beasts; they would always charge into the Frontline alone or in groups, wreak havoc for a bit, and then some of the stronger ones would actually leave unscathed.

It could be said that in the city area, the police handled ordinary security. Only special incidents would mobilize the X Squadron, and incidents requiring the X Squadron might not happen even once a day. Huang Dazhuang, being experienced, naturally understood this, which was why he treated the patrol task as a stroll.

Zhou Liming was also interested; after all, he was just an adult at heart, so he said, “Okay!”

Despite being in the Fierce Beast Era, operations in the city were gradually returning to normal. Many shops were open for business, and vendors pushed carts moving back and forth on the streets. Now, they no longer had to worry about divine-level departments disturbing their small businesses.

There were towering skyscrapers everywhere in the city. Although the crowds on the commercial streets were not as crowded and noisy as in the past, quite a few people could still be seen shopping there. The scarcity of goods led to soaring prices; among the people out shopping, not many were actually buying, making the open shops look somewhat deserted.

Two roaring BMW motorcycles driving on the streets still attracted countless gazes.

Cars that could drive on the streets, any vehicles requiring fuel, were now the true representatives of status and power. When cars filled the streets in the past, whether BMW or Mercedes, they were common goods and hardly attracted amazed looks; aside from sports cars, there was no way to show off status and position.

But now it was different. You might have a net worth of millions, but you might not be able to buy fuel. In the empty streets, only if you had fuel to drive a car could you represent everything.

The population of Xiang A City had surged by double, reaching thirteen million, which caused significant congestion in the city. What touched Zhou Liming the most was the number of people; under the shade trees on the streets, many people idled there to cool off. Having lost their homes and careers, they could only accept government placement. Without work, wandering around all day became their entertainment.

Huge grain reserves meant that Xiang A City did not suffer from famine like India; the government’s minimum grain guarantee ensured they didn’t have to worry about starving.

However, human desires could not be satisfied. Some people were content with the status quo, just needing not to starve. But others were not satisfied with two meals of dry rice and one or two oil-less green vegetables, or a small piece of pickled vegetable every day. Inevitably, law-abiding people would strive to find jobs and seek ways to make money. And some, whose mindsets had changed, began to walk a different, sinful path.

“Stop, stop! If you don’t stop, I’ll shoot!”

Just as Zhou Liming and Huang Dazhuang arrived at the city center, such shouts reached their ears. Two police officers were waving their batons, chasing a man running wildly.

Zhou Liming stopped his bike and watched the man darting through the crowd like a loach. The man held a bag in his hand, forcefully pushing aside the people blocking his way. The two police officers behind were somewhat overweight; in just a moment, the man had widened the gap. Losing him, they bent over, holding their knees and panting.

Although one of the officers had drawn his gun, in such a densely crowded area, firing was impossible. This was why the man dared to ignore the warning shot.

“Should we help?” Zhou Liming glanced at the man who hadn’t completely disappeared into the crowd. It was obvious the man had snatched someone’s bag, barely qualifying as a thief. Seeing the performance of the two officers, Zhou Liming could only shake his head, not knowing what to say.

Huang Dazhuang smiled and shook his head, saying, “Let them deal with it. If we step in even for this kind of trivial matter, it would be beneath our dignity. If we managed this too, I think the city’s police could just retire; what use would they be? Things like this happen in the city every moment. As long as it’s not too serious, leave it to the police.”

Zhou Liming thought about it and agreed. If he had to manage even such trivial matters, wouldn’t he work himself to death?

This kind of thing was definitely not an isolated incident. With a massive population, the city was a mix of all sorts, and anything could happen. Although the government tried to control it, how could the insufficient police force manage? The stationed troops were only responsible for defending against Fierce Beasts; internal city affairs were not their concern.

The massive population surge and the weakness in management inevitably led to many things being uncontrollable. The excessive number of idle people on the streets might be fine in the short term, but it was not a long-term solution. As time passed, they would develop various emotions, and chaos would be inevitable.

He shook his head with a bitter smile. Let the government leaders worry about these things. Zhou Liming twisted the throttle and followed Huang Dazhuang ahead.