Chapter 892

·

·

·

Main Character:

Shen Yao

The moment the time came, they set off immediately.

The rumbling of the trucks effectively drowned out the clamor from the surrounding crowd.

There were simply too many people here; even though Shen Yao was a mental ability user, she couldn't fit everyone into her field of vision.

Ahead stretched an endless fleet of trucks; behind, a human dragon with no end in sight. Basically every household was carrying quite a lot of things, and occasionally a few official staff members carrying weapons would patrol back and forth, but there were even more official ability users.

Shen Yao pinched the backpack on her shoulder, reined in her expression and emotions, and followed silently behind the trucks, walking forward at a snail's pace.

It wasn't that she didn't want to go faster, but with so many people and vehicles ahead and behind, the migration was destined to be slow; moreover, once something happened, they would still have to deal with risks from the surroundings. Shen Yao didn't just focus her energy on the team; even more was placed outside the team.

"Aiya, you only have this much luggage? How will you manage once you reach the new shelter?"

Another chatterbox came over to strike up a conversation with Shen Yao; they had no ulterior motive, purely bored out of their minds, wanting to say something to distract themselves.

Shen Yao perfunctorily nodded, indicating her family had few people, and besides it was inconvenient on the road; having enough to eat and drink was sufficient.

As for once they reached the new shelter, "I believe there will definitely be places selling things there; the officials can't just ignore us."

The speaker:...

Hmph, are there still fools who believe in the officials nowadays? Truly eye-opening.

Shen Yao, treated as a fool, didn't mind. Whether she was foolish or not wasn't important; what mattered was preventing others from harassing her.

With no one else coming over to chat, Shen Yao concentrated on walking forward, not forgetting to look up and observe the surrounding environment along the way.

In fact, until now, they still hadn't completely left the shelter's range — who asked for there to be so many people here? Waiting for the front to move, then waiting for the back to follow, with such a long string of people, even if all official personnel were arranged to protect them, they might not be able to protect everyone.

"Once an attack is encountered, if it's severe, some will be strategically abandoned."

It wasn't that they wouldn't be saved, but rather they'd proceed according to their own rhythm. Shen Chengyi finished speaking, then lightly nodded at Shen Chengyu and Shen Chengning.

Next was Shen Chengyu and Shen Chengning's time to get off and patrol. The two of them needed to patrol one-third of the range Shen Chengyi was responsible for; the rest was handed to others. Roughly a day's time required patrolling several times; timely discovery of danger was also one method of protection.

Shen Chengyu and Shen Chengning hummed twice in acknowledgment. They currently still had the firearms allocated to them, loaded full of special bullets, capable not only of dealing with ordinary mutated creatures but also ability users.

With so much time and such a long journey, some ability users would definitely cause trouble.

The officials needed to suppress and maintain stability; firearms were one of their most important means.

Getting up and off the vehicle, lightly tidying the clothes on their bodies, Shen Chengyu and Shen Chengning began patrolling earnestly according to their assigned patrol ranges. They moved against the flow of people; two young girls walking back and forth would inevitably attract certain people's attention.

Some loose-lipped ones started talking; it sounded slightly harsh but not too over the line.

Shen Chengyu and Shen Chengning:...

Tsk.

What do they mean? Think they're nepotism hires?

Shen Chengyu rolled her eyes at the middle-aged man, casually made a slicing gesture at her own neck, scaring him so much he nearly fell to the ground.

"Aiyo."

"Careful, careful."

"With so many people, if someone bumps into something, whose fault is it?"

"..."

Not everyone travels light like Shen Yao; many people are loaded down with bundles and even use carts, wishing they could bring the very wall plaster from their homes.

The middle-aged man, frightened and teased like that, would find it hard not to behave, but a pair of eyes still stared dead at Shen Chengyu and Shen Chengning, clearly unconvinced in his heart.

Shen Chengyu raised an eyebrow and said to Shen Chengning, "We continue walking toward the rear."

One-third of the range wasn't very large; it took nearly half an hour to finish the patrol. Shen Chengyu and Shen Chengning returned to the truck feeling fresh.

There were neither too many nor too few people in the carriage; the others who had patrolled with them hadn't returned yet.

Haven't returned?

Shen Chengyu and Shen Chengning blinked. Not to mention Shen Chengyi favoring them, the patrol ranges were decided by drawing lots. Shen Chengyu's luck wasn't great; her patrol range was at the very end. Logically, the other four people should have returned before them.

"Ran into trouble?" Shen Chengning asked, her gaze looking toward Shen Chengyi in the very center.

"No distress signal," Shen Chengyi waved her hand; the communication device was right beside her, without any sound.

"Perhaps they were delayed by something. With so many people, going back and forth to patrol and care for everyone, it's possible they accidentally missed a spot; they'd definitely have to patrol once more."

Shen Chengyu finished speaking, then plopped down to sit beside Shen Chengning to rest.

Even if nothing happened, just walking on two legs for half an hour was tiring; they carried firearms on their bodies and wore protective suits — the weight wasn't something ordinary people could compare to.

Shen Chengning considerately took out water and food from her backpack and handed them to Shen Chengyu, but in her heart she was somewhat worried about Shen Yao's side. They could still get on the vehicle to rest their feet, but their birth mother could only follow behind the truck, walking slowly.

After all, Shen Yao's mental ability had shown no sign of improvement since registration, and moreover Shen Yao didn't work for the officials, didn't shoulder responsibilities, so naturally she had no right to enjoyment.

Sigh.

Even this was very good treatment; not everyone could be arranged by the officials even if they had connections. After all, there were quite a few families in the shelter who had to walk purely on their own two legs and couldn't even put their supplies on the trucks. They were all in the middle-to-rear of the entire column, with even fewer staff responsible for patrolling.

A few minutes later, hearing movement outside the vehicle, Shen Chengning looked up and glanced; sure enough, she saw the team members who had gotten off with them returning.

Clothes messy; because they were protective suits, they hadn't been torn, but there were many more marks on them — someone must have grabbed them.

"Peh, don't mention it, simply bad luck!"

One of the young men spoke up, complaining that during their patrol they ran into dishonest people looking to stir trouble. Because those people hadn't crossed the bottom line of the rules, they couldn't directly attack and injure them; moreover, those people had ability users in their families and might even be their own colleagues.

"Endured and endured, but they pushed their luck. I reckon the next few days definitely won't be peaceful."

Another person added, voice sounding muffled and without a shred of vitality, clearly infuriated by those people's behavior style.

Others in the carriage certainly opened their mouths to comfort them. Some families were normal, some weren't; the appearance of ability users caused a rift in the crowd — this was inevitable. Their patrol mainly guaranteed the crowd wouldn't be attacked; if internal chaos broke out first, what they could do was limited.

Shen Chengyi didn't join the conversation. Although she was the captain, her responsibilities were limited, and these people were merely her temporary partners. Once they reached the new shelter, she would still need to select new people to fill out the ranks.

The other two responsible for one-third of the patrol range returned only after half an hour.

Compared to the four who returned earlier, the two of them looked even more bedraggled, covered in marks all over, their protective suits torn, and even the firearms holstered at their waists nearly snatched away.

Shen Chengyi's voice was low. "Why didn't you send a communication?" When something like this happened, they had the authority to handle it.

"Captain, it's fine, the two of us can handle it," the speaker was a young man. He explained things weren't as bad as they looked; the two of them encountered trouble during patrol and wanted to resolve it, but due to a misunderstanding, their protective suits couldn't be saved.

"Next time, next time we'll definitely be careful," the young man finished with his head lowered, then raised his hand and patted the girl beside him. The two of them were boyfriend and girlfriend, and also partners. Although this girl seemed to want to speak, she ultimately acquiesced to what the man said, only adjusting her clothes and tearing open a new protective suit to put on.

Shen Chengyi gave a light hum. "I understand. Next time you run into anything, send me a message promptly."

Shen Chengyu and Shen Chengning's two little heads leaned together again. Both were very curious what those two had actually experienced, to get themselves into such a state and still try to gloss over it with perfunctory words.

It was very obvious no one in the carriage believed their words. Not only that, Big Sister was even somewhat angry. The two of them knew Shen Chengyi's temper best; to make Shen Chengyi feel displeased — well, those two really had a lot of courage.

A pair of eyes darted around the carriage. Shen Chengyu feigned profundity and pulled Shen Chengning's hand, using her body to shield as she wrote something in Shen Chengning's palm.

Shen Chengning: ……

Second Sister's childish nature can't be cured in a short while; don't know why she's so curious.

"Aiya, I'm afraid they'll cause trouble," Shen Chengyu pointed at the two people ahead, pulling and tugging there, not doing patrol work properly.

Shen Chengning: ……

"Second Sister, let's finish the patrol work first before talking."

After resting, it was their turn again. To be grouped with that one man and one woman, Shen Chengyu actively swapped positions with other groups, giving the reason that she wanted to look after family in the team.

Mhm.

A truly very real and reasonable excuse, because their patrol range did indeed have family; as long as there was no grudge between each other, swapping positions or such was easy to say.

After all, no one knew if they themselves would need it; what if there was a chance they'd have to ask?

Shen Chengyu waved her hand. This time their patrol intensity was greater, yet they finished the whole route in just twenty minutes, including the time they spent talking and chatting with Shen Yao. The already-rested Shen Yao was in good physical condition and didn't need any help from Shen Chengyu and Shen Chengning. The mother and two daughters briefly exchanged information, then Shen Chengyu pulled Shen Chengning to continue watching that one man and one woman.

Good news, they really spotted something.

Bad news, it wasn't the imagined being bullied, but actively bullying, then deliberately damaging their own protective suits.

"Does this count as embezzling official property?" The one deliberately damaged was the originally broken protective suit, while the good one was swapped via a covert substitution and given to the other party.

Shen Chengyu clicked her tongue. Quite a lot of petty cleverness.

Back in the carriage, Shen Chengyu found a moment to tell Shen Chengyi what she had seen.

Shen Chengyi waved her hand. "Don't mind it, let the people in the team do as they please."

As her words fell, Shen Chengyi asked about Shen Yao's situation. Until nightfall they couldn't rest, and even when resting they couldn't be idle; night watch and patrol were never few. Shen Yao could be temporarily arranged over here.

"Mom said no need," Shen Chengyu shook her head. Shen Yao indicated staying in the crowd was more comfortable; coming to their side would require diverting part of her mental energy to stay on guard.

"Big Sister, we haven't left the shelter's range yet," danger is limited; better to wait until later to arrange Shen Yao over.

"That's true, the danger here is limited," not yet to the point of incident.

…………

In the first few days of the migration journey, no problems were encountered, except for troubles stirred up by their own people on the road. Attacks from mutant creatures outside were only sporadic; the result was these mutant creatures had one-way trips, becoming dishes in their daily bowls and chopsticks.

Shen Chengyu and Shen Chengning ate a very delicious roasted meat, made from mutant wild rabbits. The taste was not only fragrant but also provided energy. The two ate up all the roasted meat allocated to them, and even asked for extra portions to send to Shen Yao.

As for why Shen Chengyu and Shen Chengning could ask, naturally it was because the main force hunting these wild rabbits was their Big Sister Shen Chengyi.

Family members definitely get preferential treatment; moreover they didn't ask for any other compensation.

Shen Yao finished the roasted meat, avoiding a meal of tasteless, dry biscuits.

"Stay alert on the way back, we've already left the range previously cleared by the shelter," from now on anything appearing wouldn't be surprising.

Shen Yao's mental power could sense fluctuations from the surrounding environment, the most obvious being that these creatures who had experienced severe cold were very afraid.

Similar to encountering a natural enemy, that kind of fear. There should be something surging toward them.

Ability users, ordinary people — to a certain extent these all count as food rations.

The mutant creatures that had been silent the whole winter had a shriveled belly that needed filling.

Shen Chengyu and Shen Chengning brought Shen Yao back. Shen Chengyi immediately reminded everyone to be careful and cautious, and increased their patrol time.

No one in the team objected, because the ranges they were responsible for all had their own family members.

One day, two days, three days... the atmosphere in the team grew increasingly tense. The danger Shen Yao spoke of had not yet arrived.

Shen Chengyi also began patrol arrangements. Originally there was no time period she needed to be responsible for; this was Shen Chengyi adding it herself, the reason given being fear of danger.

The team members were all very nervous, everyone like a drawn bow. Because attack signs had already appeared in the team, only their position was forward, surrounding security measures stricter than the rear, sporadic attacks couldn't reach them, which made people feel it wasn't that serious.

Actually, the team had started having deaths and disappearances days ago, and sometimes even corpses couldn't be taken away and had to be abandoned on the spot.

As for disappearances? That depends on one's own life. Making it back alive counts as good luck; not making it back means no search will be conducted. Migration is still the official top priority, even if it costs part of the population.