Chapter 64: He Is Our Sun

Yunnan, it is said, was this name before the Great Nirvana.

In the vast mountains, giant beasts roam; in the forests, fierce birds circle; for hundreds of miles, no trace of human civilization can be seen.

However, even so, there are still some people barely scraping by among humans.

"Older brother, Dad, did we get a lot today?"

"Yao Mei is a little devil, asking about the smell even before coming in."

A stalwart youth produced from behind his back the game he had hidden: a pair of tusks almost a meter long and a porcupine's head as big as one or two people, and following behind him was someone carrying an even larger porcupine carcass.

The stalwart man tapped the youth's head with one hand and, with the other, forcefully threw the porcupine's corpse into the designated spoils area.

"Don't talk nonsense, Xiao Yang—how can a bloody smell be fragrant? You're treating Yao Mei like a monster."

"Hehe, this guy's taste is different."

Many kinds of monsters live in the great mountains, but not all monster meat is edible; some are hard to digest, some contain deadly poison.

Survival in the mountains was not easy for the three of them; at first, even if the meat of some monsters gave off a foul stench, they had to force themselves to eat it, and even if it carried a slight toxicity, as long as it didn't cause diarrhea, it could stave off hunger.

As for the blood smell of the porcupine, to the few of them it was considered 'fragrant' without any problem.

"Right, we also had an unexpected gain today."

The stalwart man said, then reached into his backpack behind him and pulled out two batteries the size of a palm.

Yao Mei's eyes lit up, and she immediately snatched it over.

"Does this thing still have electricity?"

"Hahaha, then you'll have to try it yourself." the stalwart man laughed.

Yao Mei took the large battery to the neighboring cave, where old mechanical parts lay scattered; she pulled out a few small wires from a pile of junk, connected them to the battery, then to a light bulb, and the bulb immediately gave off a faint glow that lit up Yao Mei's delighted face.

Then she turned her gaze toward a radio on the side.

"What is the outside world like?"

"Come out for dinner, Yao Mei."

"All right!"

……

When there is good fortune, there will also be bad fortune.

That day Dad was injured again—I don't even know how many times it has happened.

Dad is the father of Brother Chen Yang, and as for Yao Mei, she was picked up by Dad years ago when he was fleeing.

Dad said he picked up Yao Mei back then for fear that he and his son would starve to death during their escape, fortunately Yao Mei's luck was not bad.

Perhaps thanks to that luck, the three of them lived in the mountains for a full five years.

But this time was the first in five years that Yao Mei saw Dad so badly injured; when Brother Chen Yang brought Dad back, Yao Mei still thought Dad had already died.

Dad said he didn't dare die, because if he did, Chen Yang and Yao Mei could not possibly survive in these mountains.

"Fortunately, I, Dad, have managed to pull through this time."

Dad is usually an optimistic person, but this time, even saying that, he couldn't keep a smile on his face.

After that day, the three seemed to return to the life they had when they first entered the mountains—cautious, mostly relying on scavenging to get by; on some lucky days they could still find porcupine meat, though the taste was naturally somewhat different.

After a long while, Yao Mei and Chen Yang each grew another year older, but Dad seemed to have aged ten or more years—his head was completely white, the scars and wrinkles on his face piled together, and his body was like withered firewood.

Yao Mei looked at Dad's appearance and recalled his words about why he had picked her up; at this moment, it felt as if she wanted to eat Dad herself.

During this time Yao Mei repaired the handheld radio she had picked up.

It turned out that outside the great mountains there were still houses where people lived and cities built by people; Yao Mei longed for them, but she knew she probably would never see them.

Then one day, Brother Chen Yang was injured and lay in the cave for three days, but he instead comforted Yao Mei, just as Dad had comforted the two little kids many years before.

Because Brother Chen Yang was injured, Dad again planned to go out, even though Yao Mei could see that he just wanted to sleep.

But Dad's dignity would not allow the two of them to object.

"Just wait here for me to come back."

At that moment, Dad seemed to have returned to how he was before, but looking at his back, he appeared no longer half as broad as he used to be.

One day passed, Dad still hadn't returned; Yao Mei wanted to go out and look, but Brother Chen Yang grabbed her and held her back.

"If you leave, I will die too."

Yao Mei knew this was Brother Chen Yang's excuse, but she obeyed and did not leave.

Another day passed, and Dad still had not returned.

Brother Chen Yang said, maybe Dad had just gotten tired and fallen asleep where he went.

Yao Mei, on the other hand, thought maybe Dad had run into good luck and met outsiders who rescued him.

A week passed, the food left in the cave was almost gone, and Brother Chen Yang's body had improved a little, but he could only get out of bed.

At this point Yao Mei recalled again what Brother Chen Yang had said a few days earlier, and also what Dad had said back then; she felt a little afraid, but not too much.

"I need to go out to find something to eat." Chen Yang said that way.

Brother Chen Yang wanted to go out, but Yao Mei would not let him.

"If you leave, I will die too."

Chen Yang sighed and said, "Let's go together."

"Let's go die together."

"Mm." Yao Mei nodded.

Just as the early sun shone on the cave mouth, the two climbed to the entrance, only to see two figures blocking the way outside.

One of them, about the same height as Yao Mei, sat on a tree stump that had grown at some unknown time, while beside him he supported a tall, stooped figure like an old man.

"Dad!"

The two rushed forward.

He ran to the cave entrance and gradually saw the early sun shining on the boy's face, revealing a bright smile.

"Hello, I'm Chén Chén."

Dawn broke, hardship turned to sweetness; that day, the little sister and Chen Yang saw the sun.

Father was still there, and Chén Chén said he would take them to the outside world.

……

To the north, going north to a place where it is winter all year round.

In a small independent base city, there was a small clinic; the protector of the independent base city was a renowned war god, and being able to open a clinic in the base city was not something just any family could afford.

The clinic's doctor was precisely the paternal cousin of the base city's protector.

Running a clinic was a highly profitable business, so although the doctor's family had no martial artists, their life was very affluent.

Perhaps because of this illusion, the doctor's only daughter, from a young age, also wanted to become a doctor, thinking that saving lives and healing the sick would earn her the same respect as her father.

Father did not want to shatter his daughter's dream, but reality shattered it anyway.

During a second-tier beast tide, the base city's most important protector died outright. Although he fought to the death, the beast tide still receded, but the city fell into turmoil.

No one knew when the next beast tide would come, nor how long this base city could last.

Relocate?

For most people, this wasn't even an option.

However, the doctor knew many of the city's high-ranking officials were already considering this.

The doctor also planned to leave, but it was not easy.

The clinic soon couldn't stay open, because there was no medicine—not only was there no continued supply, but the existing stock had been requisitioned due to urgent need above.

However, the doctor no longer cared about these things, because those with the means had already left in waves, and recently the city had been suffering increasingly frequent monster attacks.

For his wife and daughter, he had to urgently obtain tickets to leave; for this, the doctor spared no expense, spending all the family wealth he had accumulated over the years.

The young daughter didn't quite understand; she didn't understand why the clinic's visitors were dwindling, nor why the respectful expressions of those who used to come turned one after another into contempt.

The house could no longer be lived in, so the girl and her mother moved into the clinic; Dad said we were leaving, going to a new city, and we wouldn't need that house anymore.

Although the girl liked that house very much, it still held many of her toys.

After a few days, when she saw her father again, he looked listless and dejected; it was the first time she had seen him with that expression.

The good news was that Father said they didn't need to leave; he and Mother could move back home.

After a long while, the girl realized that was actually bad news.

Because, the city had fallen.

During that time, Father kept saying, "Being a doctor is useless, being a doctor is useless."

But facts proved it still had some use.

A group of martial artists, when leaving, took the doctor's family with them; along the way, the doctor and the little girl also helped considerably.

After that, Father appeared again as a doctor before the daughter, but she saw that the doctor she admired was no longer there.

Perhaps, as Father said, doctors were now useless, and those martial artists planned to abandon the useless doctor's family.

No matter how Father and Mother pleaded, all they got in return were looks of helplessness and threat.

Mother still wanted to say at least take me along, but in the end Father stopped her.

Along the way, the so-called gratitude of Father and those martial warriors had indeed been exhausted; if they were forced to take me along, who knows what would happen.

At that point, I seemed more mature than Mother.

But they left, and our family would soon die.

Sure enough, not long after they left, we were surrounded by a pack of monsters; perhaps it was just a coincidence.

They stared at us like they were looking at dishes on a plate; Father wanted to cover my eyes, but his own hand was trembling.

The girl was also very afraid; yet, amidst her fear, she suddenly understood what Father had said.

In this era, doctors are useless—they can't save others' lives, let alone their own.

As the beasts lunged at her, the girl still instinctively closed her eyes.

Am I going to die?

I wish it would be quick, and the monsters' teeth could be sharper.

Five, four, three, two…… two, one?

Am I already dead?

Why do I feel nothing at all?

It seemed something had dripped onto my nose tip; this smell…… is it my own blood? Has my own blood always been this foul?

The girl slowly opened her eyes, only to see a sunny smile; a boy about her age reached out a hand and gently wiped away the blood trace on her nose tip.

"Hello, I'm Chén Chén."

Looking around, the beasts lunging from all directions were all pierced through by tree trunks like spikes, their corpses nailed mid-air.

……

"We've arrived, our first city, Xin Aili Du."

Those brought by Chén Chén gazed at a world composed of giant trees, grasslands, and flowers; no matter how they looked, it didn't seem to match the word "city."

Facing the doubtful gazes of the newcomers, he smiled and explained:

"The first city built by us."

Chén Chén's first-step screening plan sought those in despair; Chén Chén would, as the one chosen by the World Tree, bring the Nature Spirit to rescue these people from despair.

This is also the original core for Chén Chén's construction of the World Tree, and will be the foundation for his future unification of the Eight Wastelands.

Chen Yang, Chen Ke, Cang Yue Er, Sa Mi, Luo Duo Luo Ka……

And this not-yet-built city will also be the starting point that will one day resonate throughout the Universe.

————

At that moment.

Xiao A Yun, according to the existing plan, proposed a military aid plan; the World Tree will provide temporarily unlimited assistance at cost price to all countries worldwide fighting monsters.

This so-called cost price is three-tenths lower than the production cost of each country itself, while its power and stability are even higher.

The secret plans of the United States and the EU countries went bankrupt again, and the so-called 'aid' previously reported through various media channels also became a joke.

Not only that, another rumor concerning the high-level officials of the two countries and the HR Alliance also began to circulate secretly.

The notorious Earth Net has always been dedicated to internal strife, causing humanity to lose large numbers of martial artists over the years; similar to the tragedies that occurred secretly in the Jiangnan region not long ago, there have been tens of thousands of such incidents.

Even more frightening, the Earth Net's reach even extends to humanity's pillar—the war gods who fight on the front lines to exterminate monsters and protect humanity… even to beings surpassing the war gods.

And the Earth Net has also been branded with the label of humanity's eternal sinner.

As the Earth Net affair further draws to a close, Chén Chén's journey of showing off is still far from over.

The Central Shu battlefield is temporarily stable; next, they will continue to shift to other battlefields, with the original core members serving as background, and Chén Chén's true identity gradually becomes known.

When outsiders curious about the various 'big shots' emerging from the World Tree inquired about Chén Chén's news, everyone gave the same answer:

"He is our sun."

As his fame spread, Chén Chén's original nickname of Little Hegemon turned out to be somewhat unsuitable.

Under Xiao A Yun's active efforts, Chén Chén also acquired a completely new nickname:

"——Jun."