"How... how are they all dead?"
"Not good!"
Having survived in the post-apocalyptic world for so many years, the drivers had honed their ability to sharply sense danger. Seeing the bodies strewn across the ground, they knew something serious had occurred.
The three hastily retreated, one of them grabbing a cell phone to contact someone at the mine: "Hey! Captain Wang, send someone over quickly, something’s wrong here."
"What’s the matter?"
"Everybody in the Accumulation District is dead!"
"What?"
The person on the other end was startled: "Everyone’s dead? What exactly is going on? Be clear!"
"We just got here and found a heap of bodies, so we’re notifying you."
"Stay there, I’m coming with my men right away."
"Yes!"
The driver who had been on the phone put it down and wiped the sweat from his forehead. Suddenly, he sensed something was amiss.
"It’s so quiet. Why isn’t anyone talking?"
Doubtful, he turned around to see that the other two drivers were frozen stiff, their hands raised, their faces stricken with fear, and a cold gun barrel pointed right at their foreheads!
"This..."
He was at a loss for words, able to only stammer out a "this" before there was nothing more to say.
Fear made him tremble as the people pointing guns at them were soldiers in exoskeleton combat suits. They did not have the Qi Sword emblem of the Peace Party on them, indicating they were not members of the Peace Party. Instead, the emblem on their chests, showing nine and a half wings, was strikingly visible.
He recognized this emblem; it belonged to people from Jiuge. Unlike the United District, Jiuge’s management of soldiers was relatively lax, without too many strict rules and regulations.Therefore, their exoskeleton combat suits were adorned with all kinds of graffiti, giving off an exotic flavor. However, the gods worshiped by the people in Southeast Asia tended to have eerie appearances, and the graffiti on their suits was equally filled with a menacing tension.
"Who were you... talking to?"
The soldier pointing the weapon at the driver’s head asked in extremely broken Chinese.
"I... I... I don’t know, please... please don’t kill me! I’m just here to haul stuff, don’t kill me!"
"I heard you... you notified the Peace Party soldiers, when are they arriving?"
"No! No! You’ve got it all wrong, please let me go! I really am just here to haul stuff!"
The driver knelt on the ground, loudly begging, his survival instinct causing him to forsake all pride.
However, his pleas failed to elicit any mercy from the soldiers. After questioning him yielded nothing, the soldiers chattered amongst themselves for a moment. Then, with a "swoosh," the three drivers’ heads simultaneously showed a bloody hole that smoked with a "sizzle," revealing the insides blackened by the intense heat of a laser.
Their expressions were frozen in that moment, and they collapsed to the ground quite abruptly.
"The Peace Party already knows about this place, reinforcements will be here soon. Should we leave?"
"Why retreat when our reinforcements are about to arrive? This operation was meant to catch the United District off guard, and now that their reinforcements have arrived, let’s take care of them too. It’ll save us a lot of trouble later."
"The new masters of the United District are really arrogant. This time, we’ll teach them a harsh lesson!"
"Yes!"
Dragging the bodies aside casually, a few soldiers searched the corpses and actually found some Yajin, which made them beam with joy.
Soon, the heads of the regiment who were in charge of watching over the mine arrived upon receiving the news. More than a hundred people came in a mighty throng to the storage area of the mine. Captain Wang, who led the way, frowned when he saw the bodies scattered on the ground.
Before Tang Ye took over the United District, Captain Wang wasn’t a man of the Peace Party, but served under the Seven Commissioners. After Tang Ye’s rise to power, the force of his commissioner fragmented, with each part fending for itself, and he became a member of a moderately sized rebel force.
However, as the largest rebel forces were exterminated by the Peace Party, the leader of his rebel force prudently chose to surrender his power to save his life.
The Peace Party’s mode of operation was unpredictable, mercilessly employing any means necessary without regard for humanity, which often resulted in many deaths.
But the Peace Party’s brutality was limited to that aspect; they were quite gentle with other forces that voluntarily surrendered. Before joining the Peace Party, Captain Wang was just an ordinary Level 1 New Human like anyone else.
After he joined the Peace Party, he wasn’t treated unfairly; he even unexpectedly received a minor official position, and after many years, he had finally achieved a certain status.
His gaze swept around the area, lingering especially on the body of a New Human strung up between two buildings in the storage area. Other bodies in different places even seemed to be desecrated.
Having been mixed up in the mine for nearly two years during the war between the United District and Jiuge, Captain Wang had many dealings with people from Jiuge. This method, if not definitive, was very likely the work of Jiuge.
After a thorough inspection, Captain Wang seemed to be looking for something, but after a complete round, he found nothing, which prompted him to take out his phone and dial a recent contact.
Shortly after, a ringing phone emerged not far away. Captain Wang hurried over and discovered the sound came from within a pile of corpses.
"Dead?"
After turning over two corpses, he saw a familiar face, whose entire visage was obscured by blood flowing from a bullet hole in the forehead, but that didn’t stop Captain Wang from recognizing him.
He was a driver transporting ore, and Captain Wang often chatted with him. They weren’t close friends, but they were certainly acquainted.
"It seems someone has killed them," Captain Wang muttered to himself, then turned to the Peace Party soldiers behind him and shouted loudly, "It’s very likely done by people from Jiuge’s side."
"They shouldn’t have gone far. Follow me in, and let’s catch those bastards!"
"Yes!"
Under the leadership of several captains, everyone entered the storage area, only to see more bodies strewn about, with the air filled with the stench of death.
The 709 Mine storage area was built after the Apocalypse. It wasn’t large, just a few streets, accommodating few people, with only two functions: a resting area for those working in the mine and a place to store minerals.
But still, it housed nearly twenty thousand regular residents. Normally bustling entrances were now filled with corpses. The streets were covered with streams of blood, some of which had dried into dark red clumps drifting gently forward.
A thick scent of blood permeated the air.
"All the armed personnel are dead."
"Not just the armed personnel, everyone alive is dead. Damn beasts, this is a massacre!"