Armor-Piercing Munition: Face Me, Carbon-Based Monster!-Chapter 563 - 288: Out of Luck

After a night of rest, Huang Meng led the team to continue their journey.

Their goal today was to loop through Baima Town to the S341 provincial road, head south on S341, then onto S246, and finally straight south, reaching Yaxi Town.

The route was 36 kilometers long. According to the footage gathered by drones combined with the limited satellite telemetry controlled by Mountain City, this route, although not the shortest path between two points, had a relatively low construction difficulty. Compared to highways often built on elevated structures, it was more suitable as a main road in the later stages.

The team moved forward, and the dozen or so refugees who had sought refuge from Baima Town last night also boarded the vehicles.

This was probably their first time on such a means of transportation, and all of them had an uncertain and suspicious expression in their eyes.

But at least, they didn’t mistake this team for the Mechanical God Sect.

"Where... are you headed?"

A woman among those cramped in the cab of a truck with Huang Xing spoke up.

Without turning his head, Huang Xing casually replied: 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

"We’re headed to Yaxi Town."

"We’re repairing the road as we move in that direction. This section isn’t much of a project; we should arrive by tonight."

"To Yaxi Town??"

The woman was stunned for a moment, then asked:

"Is there... still anyone alive there?"

"Of course there is!"

Huang Xing looked at the woman with a puzzled expression and replied:

"We’ve already sent drones ahead to scout, and most of the surrounding refugees have re-gathered in Yaxi Town."

"Currently, it has already formed a new town with a population of about 400 people."

"We’ll drop you off there, and once there, you’ll have to fend for yourselves."

"Whether you want to try to get to Jinling New City with a caravan or stay in Yaxi Town to live is up to you."

"If you decide to go to Jinling New City, we’ll provide you with enough supplies to get you through."

"Then we’re going to Jinling City!"

The woman replied eagerly, then quickly corrected herself:

"Jinling New City, Jinling New City!"

Upon hearing her words, Huang Xing turned to look at her in surprise.

Only then did he notice that it wasn’t just this woman; the expressions on all the other faces had changed.

What was going on?

Was it because they were worried about being left behind?

Or is it... because of his decision to drop them off at Yaxi Town?

Uncertain, Huang Xing instinctively asked:

"Is there a problem with Yaxi Town?"

"No... Yaxi Town is fine..."

The woman’s voice trembled slightly.

"It’s not Yaxi Town that’s the problem... it’s that all towns have problems..."

"It was a great disaster... now the disaster is over, right?"

"The monsters have all been dealt with, right?"

"Yes!"

Huang Xing was increasingly confused.

Isn’t that the situation now?

The great disaster has passed, and humanity has begun to gather once more.

Though there may still be some unpredictable dangers, surely gathering together is much safer than being spread out?

But why did these people seem... so afraid?

Were they afraid of gathering with others?

At this moment, the road ahead was blocked by dense growths of trees, and the engineering convoy moved forward to clear it.

Huang Xing parked the truck steadily at the side of the road, adjusted his posture slightly, and turned to the woman, asking:

"What’s the situation? You don’t want to go to Yaxi Town?"

"It’s not that... we don’t want to go to Yaxi Town..."

The woman shook her head repeatedly, eyes filled with a hint of pleading.

"It’s that none of the towns can be visited! Please, don’t leave us there..."

"We can keep traveling with you, or we can turn back from here directly!"

"If we go to Yaxi Town, we definitely won’t survive!"

"We have nothing left to trade, and we hold no value!"

"The people there won’t tolerate us; they’ll all turn us into slaves..."

"How is that possible?"

Huang Xing’s tone carried a hint of skepticism.

"The people there are just refugees, like you; how could they possibly treat you as slaves?"

"They would, absolutely... that’s a slavers’ favorite spot!"

The woman said with a certain tone:

"We have no guns, no weapons; we can’t resist—even if we could, it would be useless. They outnumber us by far!"

"Please don’t leave us there, we’re begging you!"

The woman continued to repeat her request, and finally, Huang Xing felt something was amiss.

He realized he knew too little about the outside world.

Before joining the Huaxia Army, he was trapped in Yellow Stone City.

And after joining the Huaxia Army, he had been engaged in military operations.

This team didn’t really have richly developed post-disaster response plans, nor did they fully understand the grassroots situation.

Perhaps, as the woman said, after the Beast Tide, Yaxi Town is no longer the town known by the Huaxia Army?

Huang Xing got off decisively and found Huang Meng to report the information he had gathered from the woman.

After hearing the news, Huang Meng’s expression turned serious immediately.

"So, what you’re suggesting is that Yaxi Town may not be a spontaneously formed settlement by migrating refugees, but rather... a large-scale slave trading market?"

"Yes."

Huang Xing nodded solemnly, then replied:

"I think their judgment is credible."

"Because in catastrophes like the Beast Tide, the ones most affected are often the unarmed or poorly armed civilians."