Chapter 106: Return

“A Controller…”

Long Ying shook his head, his gaze filled with longing:

“Who knows? Reaching the Second Energy Level with one’s Life Field, you’d think they could casually crush any Transcendent, but unfortunately, that’s far too distant for me. Still, there’s really no way around it. A developed gathering place like that has long since summarized all sorts of methods to strengthen cultivation. It’s nothing a wild-roader like me, who muddled through unlocking his Gene Lock, can compare to.

And it’s not just cultivation. The places beyond the Wasteland are rich in resources. They can also use various high-grade Spiritual Fruits to extract and concoct all kinds of magical potions that rapidly grow the Life Field. The effects are countless times stronger than the fruits we eat, which have lost almost all their spirituality. This is the real reason why powerful New Humans appear in droves in large gathering places. Without all this, they’d have no way to resist a terrifying threat like the Wasteland God.”

At that moment, having finally learned some news of the outside world from Long Ying, Chen Chong’s heart surged with emotion. He continued asking:

“Besides the Silver Ring Sanctuary Zone, then? How many other large survivor gathering places are there?”

“There’s no way to know that.”

Long Ying glanced at Chen Chong:

“You should know, after the Cataclysm, all the satellites fell. The magnetic fields are abnormal, and communication methods like radio can no longer function normally. Add to that the endless waves of Radiation Species, and every place is isolated and cut off. No one knows exactly how many people in the world are still alive.

But the Silver Ring Sanctuary Zone used to be the provincial capital. Based on that, other large cities should also have quite a few survivors alive. In all likelihood, they’ve established gathering places no smaller than the Silver Ring Sanctuary Zone. But the Cataclysm caused the land plates to shift and move, and with the Wilderness full of endless dangers, trying to find the location of other large gathering places is incredibly difficult. If not for learning of the Silver Ring Sanctuary Zone’s existence by a lucky coincidence, I almost thought we were the only people left in the world.”

So that was it.

Having finally learned the general state of this wasteland world from Long Ying, Chen Chong let out a soft breath and asked again: “Since you know the Silver Ring gathering place exists, and it has methods that let New Humans cultivate efficiently, have you never thought about going there?”

Seeing what seemed like a glint of excitement in Chen Chong’s eyes, Long Ying shook his head:

“Better to be the head of a chicken than the tail of a phoenix. Large gathering places thrive, but they might not suit us. They’re full of New Humans, with strict order everywhere. Even a Transcendent in a place like that is just a cog in the machine. And the risk factor they face there is far higher than here, I don’t know how many times over. I have nearly three thousand people in my Territory, I can’t abandon them. What, are you thinking of going to the Silver Ring Sanctuary Zone?”

Actually, Long Ying had not been without temptation, but the Dawn Gathering Place was built by his own hands, into which he had poured his entire heart and soul. Moreover, a gathering place like this couldn’t be without a Transcendent to guard it, so he finally gave up on the idea.

Chen Chong smiled: “If I get the chance, I’d like to go see it for myself.”

Chen Chong indeed was full of exploratory interest in this large gathering place, but not for the present time.

He had only just achieved Current Push recently, and his strength wasn’t even enough to claim dominance within the Transcendent Tier, so he naturally wouldn’t rashly head to such an unknown place.

The various threats within the Wasteland were far smaller than outside, and for now, the resources of the Crimson Territory could still support his stable, rapid cultivation. Before his strength reached a certain level, he wouldn’t leave here for the time being.

…

A few hours later, after subtly extracting quite a bit of information from Long Ying, Chen Chong did not continue to linger at the base. Leaving Long Ying and the others behind, he drove an off-road vehicle full of gas away from the base.

Long Ying and his group were battered survivors, severely injured, and would need at least a few days to recuperate at the base before they could set out. Chen Chong naturally didn’t have so much time to waste. He had come alone this time, and the Crimson Territory had just been conquered, with people’s hearts still restless and unsteady, so he naturally couldn’t keep wandering outside.

Additionally, he was already addicted to cultivating Electrotherapy. If Chen Chong didn’t shock himself every day, he would feel uncomfortable all over, so he decided to return home as quickly as possible.

As for the spoils looted from the base and the remaining four vehicles, it was agreed that Long Ying and his people would later send someone to deliver them to his Territory.

Before leaving, Chen Chong had also probed from Long Ying the story of how the other man had unlocked his Gene Lock.

According to Long Ying himself, he had never cultivated any particular method. The unlocking of his Gene Lock was purely a coincidence. His first unlocking happened during a life-or-death crisis several years ago, when his body unintentionally produced a strange change, much like a final flash of lucidity before death. After that unlocking, he felt his body was on the verge of collapse and he nearly died in that state.

And after unlocking the Gene Lock, a kind of mysterious energy, invisible and intangible, that only he himself could feel, gradually appeared within his body, causing earth-shaking changes in his strength.

Thinking that Chen Chong’s path of cultivation was far ahead of his own, Long Ying didn’t hold back these cultivation secrets and shared them very freely.

Of course, he had no idea that Chen Chong’s cultivation didn’t belong to this wasteland world’s system at all, and that before taking the Ultra Divine Water, Chen Chong hadn’t even been an Awakener. But despite that, Long Ying’s experience still served as a considerable reference for Chen Chong, giving him a deeper understanding of Gene Lock-unlocking Transcendents.

Vroom, vroom, vroom…

Lost in thought along the way, since he had found several more detailed maps of the surrounding terrain at the base, Chen Chong’s return trip was exceptionally smooth. Coupled with the powerful engine of his base-modified vehicle, this one man in his one car was swift and nimble. Wave after wave of Radiation Species stirred by the noise could only eat his dust behind him. And so, before nightfall, he arrived safely at the Crimson Territory.

“Huh? Whose car is this?”

“Let me take a look…”

“Are you blind? It’s the Chieftain in the car!”

“Hurry, open the gates! Open the gates!”

With Chen Chong’s return, the Territory descended into a flurry of chaos. The lackeys, realizing it was Chen Chong coming back, scrambled to open the main gates. Chen Chong drove straight in, passing through the dusty main road and stopping in front of the manor.

Hearing the vehicle, the Steward and servants hurriedly ran out to greet him. His stomach growling with hunger, Chen Chong immediately ordered the servants to prepare dinner. While waiting, he utilized every single minute and second, immediately setting up the stance of the Qi Blast Cannon Fist in the courtyard to loosen up his muscles and bones.

“Chieftain, Captain Zhang Long says he has something to see you about.”

Just as Chen Chong finished a set of fist techniques, he saw the Steward, with a strange expression on his face, carefully approaching from the corridor, leading Zhang Long and a few small figures.

Hmm?

Chen Chong shifted his gaze and saw clearly that following behind Zhang Long were several small, skinny, sallow-faced girls with expressions hinting at fear. Their bodies hadn’t matured yet, and they were only just over ten years old. They looked like they had just been washed, their appearances barely qualifying as delicate.

What was this?

Chen Chong frowned. Before he could even open his mouth to ask, Zhang Long had already stepped aside, his face full of fawning flattery:

“Chieftain, weren’t you dissatisfied with Li Yun and the other three? These are girls I just hand-picked from the Territory. Each one’s a maiden, and they volunteered to come serve you. Take a look, does any of them catch your eye?”

Looking at the sallow-faced, skinny little girls behind Zhang Long, Chen Chong’s face instantly darkened like the bottom of a burnt pot.