At the final moment of the evacuation of Ice City, far away in Jiangzhou, Wang Jiucheng, who had rushed back from thousands of miles away, finally returned to Jiangzhou with his team.
This group of people looked like beggars, enduring countless hardships along the way, but finally, they made it back.
From the icy and snowy Northern Country, they returned to the spring-like warmth of Jiangzhou.
Upon arriving at the long-awaited Jiangzhou Bridge, Wang Jiucheng did not stop for a moment and had the vehicles continue forward.
On the other side of the bridge was Jiangzhou Base City.
This base city covered hundreds of square kilometers, with the entire base surrounded by towering walls fifteen meters high, forming a massive post-apocalyptic survival fortress.
In fact, this was originally a county town, so its transformation was not difficult.
Driving madly along Jiang Bridge, they presented their IDs to the guards and underwent a brief physical examination to ensure they had not been scratched by zombies, then they were allowed to pass.
Afterwards, they drove straight to Jiangzhou City Hall.
At the entrance of the city hall, someone handed them several clean clothes; they quickly washed their faces and entered the interior of the City Hall.
In a cozy and elegant banquet hall, they met the Jiangzhou State Lord, Grand Duke Zheng Jinnan.
The Grand Duke was dining, and beside him sat a strikingly beautiful girl, even with a metal mask, dining with him.
Seeing Wang Jiucheng enter the banquet hall, Zheng Jinnan put down his chopsticks and stood up with a smile.
"Jiucheng, it’s been a long journey. You should have rested before coming to see me. What’s the rush?"
"Your Grace, there are urgent matters. Until they are explained, I cannot rest at ease. I will report everything and then take a break if it’s not too late."
"Hehe, alright, since you’ve come here in such a hurry, I trust there’s something important. Go ahead and speak."
"My Lord, may I first play a promotional video?"
"You may. The equipment is all set up, just hand it to the staff."
Wang Jiucheng took out a prepared USB drive and handed it to the staff.
Soon, the promotional video that Wang Jiucheng recorded appeared on the large screen in the banquet hall.
The video recorded his journey, witnessing the almost omnipresent ruin and desolation, documenting the difficult struggles of the survivors.
He had seen many survivors who were overjoyed at finding some expired food.
He filmed incidents where people died for lack of a single anti-inflammatory tablet.
He also documented survivors living in the wilderness, scantily clad, residing in caves, living off grass roots and tree bark, like primitive people.
He witnessed small survivor bases where those in power regarded ordinary survivors as worthless.
These scenes passed quickly until reaching Ice City.
After seeing the prosperity of Ice City, Zheng Jinnan, who had been frowning tightly, finally smiled.
"This Xiaoguo has done quite well. Managing a city of five million like this isn’t something every Commander can do."
He then turned to look at the girl, who was eating leisurely, though quickly, at the table filled with Mutant Beast Meat.
"Wushuang, what do you think of Xiaoguo’s work?"
The girl paused upon hearing this, speaking in a subtle tone, "Barely satisfactory."
"Sigh, you always have high standards. You can’t compare Jiangzhou’s standards to other bases. At least compared to the outside, Xiaoguo has done very well."
The girl named Wushuang made no comment, continuing to eat without looking up.
A piece of Mutant Beef entered her red lips, chewed gently, and the beef was swallowed.
The video continued, showing Wang Jiucheng and his party leaving Ice City and arriving at a border checkpoint.
"Oh, this checkpoint is set up quite well."
"There are mutant creatures? I know mutant dogs can be tamed, but even mutant eagles can be tamed?"
Zheng Jinnan looked surprised, observing this place called the Dawn City Border Checkpoint.
"The firepower is decent; there’s a heavy machine gun on the watchtower and armored vehicles in the courtyard; you’ve done well to keep calm, Wang."
"With such firepower... could they have some background?"
After some conversation in the video, seeing the soldiers inspect Wang Jiucheng’s vehicle and the indifferent manner towards the Mutant Wolf corpse, Zheng Jinnan was indeed astonished.
"Wang, do they not know the value of Mutant Beast Meat?"
"No, they know, my Lord, keep watching, and it will become clear."
Zheng Jinnan stopped asking questions, and even the girl Wushuang, focused on her meal, slightly raised her head to take a glance and even commented.
"This base has kept the roads very clean, better than in Ice City."
Zheng Jinnan then noticed this detail, this border checkpoint was a hundred kilometers from the so-called Dawn City, but the roads were cleared of snow, which was commendable.
On the road, Wang Jiucheng and his group encountered an adventurer convoy, and their Mutant Beast Meat seemed nothing special to them, intriguing Zheng Jinnan.
"What’s with this Dawn City? From what I see indirectly, it seems better managed than Ice City."
He muttered to himself, and soon the video reached the awaited Dawn City.
Seeing Dawn City’s walls, Zheng Jinnan even stood up.