In the wilderness, Lin Wei's team wasn't moving quickly, but they didn't need to evade the attacks of Demonized Beasts, plowing ahead and soon they were nearing the Green Shadow Sanctuary.
Within the team, many survivors were bound hand to hand, following along with the group's advance.
He Anping was one of the first survivors to be captured. Initially, upon seeing this well-equipped, organized team, he was quite elated, thinking he had come across an official search and rescue team. But to his dismay, in the blink of an eye, they were seized.
"My dear daughter, I have led you into this calamity."
By his side was a young girl in ragged clothing, her face sullen with ash—his daughter, He Qingqing.
If he hadn't mistaken this team for a military search and rescue squad, perhaps he and his daughter wouldn't have been captured here.
With this thought, He Anping's body stooped even more.
"Dad, it's not your fault. These people are capturing survivors everywhere. Even if we hadn't come here, they wouldn't have let us go."
He Qingqing comforted her father, but deep down she was terribly frightened.
Although there was no immediate threat to their lives, and the people in this group didn't seem to have plans to use them as cannon fodder to lure Demonized Beasts, He Qingqing still felt uneasy, especially as some people's gazes lingered on certain parts of her body, filling her with both shame and fear.
At that moment, the marching team stopped, and He Qingqing saw people in the distance apparently discussing something. Even the Awakeners who were watching them seemed excitedly distracted, looking off into the distance.
"Uncle Tong, Uncle Tong," she whispered to a fellow survivor who was also bound by the hands.
Tong Xiangrong glanced at the guards around them and whispered back, "What is it?"
"Uncle Tong, I think these people have a purpose for coming here. Right now, there are too many of them, and we have no chance to escape. But if they are distracted by some task and spread out, we might have a chance."
A glint of hope flickered in Tong Xiangrong's eyes, but he quickly sighed, "There's no chance. Even if most of them leave, as long as a small group stays to guard us, we'll be unable to escape."
"Uncle Tong, you're an Awakener. Among us, there must be other Awakeners, right?"
The ones guarding them were only a few individuals clad in bulletproof vests and armed with guns; they were chatting and laughing with a seemingly relaxed vigilance.
And among those captured, He Qingqing roughly estimated, there were at least twenty to thirty people. If they could seize the opportunity to resist, escape wasn't out of the question.
However, she observed that, because there was no immediate threat to their lives, many people had abandoned the thought of resistance. After all, not resisting meant staying alive for now, whereas resistance could lead to being riddled with bullets from the dark gun muzzles around them.
He Qingqing was afraid too, but she understood that if there was a chance to escape, it would be when most of the people in this group left.
That opportunity, she had to seize it.
Uncle Tong stayed silent, planning in his heart, but someone beside him gave her a sideward glance, "Little girl, you're still too young. Do you really think with the strength of people like us, there's a chance to escape? Let me tell you, among those of us captured, there are eight Awakeners. You might think that's a lot, huh, even if you multiply that by ten, it's useless."
The Awakener shook his head, his eyes lifelessly staring at the sky.
He Qingqing remembered this person, who seemed to want to resist when they were first captured, but for some reason was frightened, and didn't lift a finger even after his weapons were confiscated.
Seeing the confusion on her face, the Awakener continued, "You are not an Awakener, so you have no idea how powerful those people are. Frankly spoken, even if all eight of us Awakeners attacked together, they would only need to dispatch two individuals to easily take care of us..."
"This is still under the assumption of equivalent equipment, and now, those people are armed with guns while our hands are tied together with ropes made out of special materials, no matter how hard we struggle we can't break free. If you ask me, since they haven't killed us, we might as well stay put and not end up losing our lives instead."
He Qingqing bit her lip and looked around. Suddenly her eyes lit up, "I remember this place, just a little further ahead is Green Shadow Resort. Uncle Tong, haven't you said that Green Shadow Sanctuary is a very powerful one?"
Tong Xiangrong's eyes brightened, "That's right, Green Shadow Sanctuary is strong, and it's said to have plenty of equipment. They are in no shortage of guns and ammunition, and they have numerous powerful Awakeners. Most importantly, I've heard that Green Shadow Sanctuary is very friendly to survivors. They couldn't possibly be in league with this squad. I was planning to head to Green Shadow Sanctuary this time, but I didn't expect..."
He Qingqing also revealed a look of joy.
However, in the next moment, she saw the survivor who spoke earlier shaking his head again, "The strength of Green Shadow Sanctuary is indeed formidable, far stronger than those ordinary sanctuaries around here, but the strength of this squad is even more terrifying!"
Tong Xiangrong frowned, "Surely not? The Awakeners guarding us mostly have Second-tier Awakening strength. This sort of strength is naturally very strong for us, but abound in Green Shadow Sanctuary, with rumors of even Fourth Layer and Fifth Tier superb masters. Such masters, they could fight ten or even a hundred, surely?"
The pale-faced Awakener did not answer, but instead asked, "Do you know why I didn't resist when I was captured earlier? You might think I was scared, and indeed, I was scared, but not by the guns around me."
"At that time I was thinking of running away, when I saw a refined gentleman glance at me. You can't understand how terrifying that glance was, as if my whole person had plunged into darkness, where only those eyes lingered, coldly looking down on you. At that point, I couldn't even move, let alone think of running away."
He recalled the situation, fear evident in his eyes.
Merely the look in those eyes and the presence was enough to completely overwhelm him, and the Awakener could not imagine, what kind of strength that refined gentleman possessed.
Even Tong Xiangrong was somewhat startled, "Is there really such a terrifying Awakener?"
The pale-faced Awakener nodded.
"Not just that, within this large squad, every Awakener is very strong. I even suspect, the ones guarding us are just the ones with the most common strength. With this number of people, with this kind of strength, sweeping through all the sanctuaries in the area would be more than possible!"
"Moreover." He looked up towards the distance, "The direction in which this squad is marching seems to be Green Shadow Sanctuary. Forget about you hoping to escape and seek protection, from my point of view, the fate of Green Shadow Sanctuary is likely to be even worse than ours."
Upon hearing this, He Qingqing's face turned deathly pale as she looked at the guards around her and the direction they frequently glanced toward.