A Post-Apocalyptic Journey to Another World

As the streetlights went out, a black dot appeared about two meters above the ground in an open space more than ten meters away from Zhang Xi.

The black dot resembled a miniature black hole, drawing pebbles, grains of sand, leaves, and other debris from the ground up and towards it with a powerful force. Zhang Xi even saw a tattered glove fly towards the black dot, disappearing just before reaching it, as if swallowed by it.

After a short while, the black dot seemed to have eaten its fill and stopped releasing its gravitational pull. Then, with a sudden jolt, the black dot disappeared, and at the same time, an oval-shaped blue halo with a diameter of nearly 4 meters appeared.

The spatial gate, with a diameter of four meters, can only accommodate one or two monsters at the Bronze Realm or ten monsters below that level. For Zhang Xi, this size is just right, a perfect opportunity.

At the center of the blue portal, ripples first spread like a curtain of water, then gradually expanded and intensified. Immediately afterwards, five humanoid black figures were thrown out of the ripples.

Although these monsters were humanoid and stood on two legs, their lower limbs retained the reverse joint structure of animals, granting them immense speed and jumping ability. They were not tall, only about 1.6 meters, with hunched backs that made them appear even shorter than they actually were. Their bodies were covered in thick fur, but the fur color was not uniform; these five alone had three different patterns: one blackish-brown, two tiger-striped, and two tan, making them look somewhat comical. Zhang Xi recognized these creatures immediately—dog-headed men!

The first to tumble out was a tan-colored dog-headed creature. Still a little dizzy from the landing, it shook its head, trying to clear its head. The mane on its neck became even more bushy with the shaking, making it look even more ferocious. However, its luck wasn't good; just as it finished shaking its head, a dark shadow pounced from its side and behind.

The beast instinctively turned its head, opened its long, canine mouth, revealing a row of sharp fangs, and bit at the shadowy figure, but missed.

Zhang Xi was already behind the kobold, his right hand grabbing the back of its neck. With a sharp crack, he snapped the monster's neck bone. The poor creature's head twisted at an odd angle as it fell to the ground.

Only then did the other four kobolds react. The dark brown one was clearly a minor leader, because unlike the other four unarmed monsters, it held a short axe in its four-fingered, hairy hand. Most of these orcs had lost their little fingers. It howled, and the other three immediately rushed to surround Zhang Xi.

Zhang Xi thought to himself, "Good, you're grouped together, making it harder to attack." He decided to strike first, charging directly at the leader. The leader, a fierce fellow, charged with a hand axe, bringing it down with all his might, aiming for Zhang Xi's head. Zhang Xi dodged the axe to the side, simultaneously striking the leader's armpit with a punch, deforming his shoulder joint. He then turned and delivered another punch, snapping the leader's neck!

The battle ended in just two minutes. The last tiger-striped kobold tried to escape but was caught and killed by Zhang Xi.

Zhang Xi casually tossed the white elemental crystals he'd extracted from the monsters' bodies into his spatial storage. He glanced at the five corpses on the ground and shook his head. These beasts were too poor. Most of the kobolds were below average strength, not even reaching the Bronze level. With such weak monsters, there was hardly any loot, so Zhang Xi had no reason to complain. Fortunately, there were five of the lowest-grade elemental crystals and a hand axe—better than nothing.

He picked up the hand axe and examined it. Although the kobolds were humanoid, they were essentially social beasts and didn't make weapons. This hand axe was probably also spoils of war. Zhang Xi took the hand axe and swung it at the iron fence beside him. *Crack!* The iron fence was chopped in half.

This hand axe had been tempered by elemental energy. It wasn't exactly a treasure, but it was extremely sharp, capable of cutting through iron like mud. Mercenaries weren't picky about their weapons, and Zhang Xi knew how to use a hand axe.

Zhang Xi guarded the spatial rift for half an hour, killing more than twenty kobolds. Unfortunately, he obtained no further loot. He kicked a fresh corpse, reverting to his mercenary habit, muttering under his breath, "Damn beasts, it's one thing to not wear clothes or armor, but to come out and invade without even a weapon!"

He kicked it again, venting his anger. Then he turned around, pushed his bicycle out, and rode away, leaving behind a pile of corpses.

Zhang Xi had also considered going through the spatial rift to the other side to plunder, but there would be a brief time difference of less than a second when passing through the portal. In other words, if someone happened to hit him during that brief time, he would die just like the unfortunate yellow-haired kobold he had killed, dying while regaining consciousness.

……

At 2:20 AM: Just as Zhang Xi was killing those kobolds, the Pingyuan City Public Security Bureau was in a flurry of activity. All the special police, criminal police, even local police, and fire brigades were temporarily reorganized into combat teams and deployed throughout the city's major urban areas. Gunfire and explosions filled the city.

Some curious citizens, thinking someone was setting off firecrackers in the middle of the night, came out to curse, watch the commotion, or even take the opportunity to rob people—all sorts of people were involved. The police had to allocate some of their resources to explaining the situation and maintaining order. They were extremely busy and overwhelmed.

Li Yinglong, the police chief of Pingyuan City, with his large belly protruding, was wiping away the cold sweat pouring down his face with an expensive silk handkerchief. He stared at the 3D projection sand table in front of him and asked the person opposite him, "Battalion Commander Xue, are those search and positioning devices you brought reliable? It's a real pity that we detected those light gates ahead of time."

Opposite Li Yinglong stood a soldier who appeared to be in his thirties, with a crew cut, a clean-shaven beard, and a ramrod-straight back. However, his features were overly delicate, detracting from his imposing military image; he looked more like a handsome, middle-aged celebrity. This man was Xue Gang, the battalion commander of the reconnaissance battalion of the First Division.

Xue Gang's gaze was fixed on a video surveillance screen, where a massive portal, over ten meters in diameter, was forming. The soldiers of the reconnaissance battalion had already prepared fortifications around the portal, standing ready. Without looking away from the monitor, he replied, "Of course, this isn't difficult. Not only can we find it, but we can also estimate the size and scale of the portals in advance. My men will handle the larger ones, but my forces are insufficient. The smaller portals will have to rely on our comrades in the reconnaissance."

Looking at the video surveillance footage, Li Yinglong saw many uninformed citizens affecting the police's operations. His chubby face suddenly turned into a long face as he angrily said, "These stupid people! They come out to watch the commotion, not only endangering themselves but also dragging our police officers into danger! Alas, the people are still ignorant!" After saying that, he wiped his sweat and glanced at Battalion Commander Xue, who had just arrived today and stripped him of his "military power."

Xue Gang frowned and said, "Such a loud noise in the middle of the night is understandable. Some citizens mistakenly thought someone was setting off firecrackers and disturbing the peace, so they went out to check. It's because we didn't do a good job of explaining and publicizing the situation, and we were too rushed."

He glanced at the police chief who was constantly wiping his sweat and continued, "Chief Li, this won't do. We must commit more resources! I suggest we deploy the special police unit guarding outside the police station!"

The police chief was startled and said, "How can that be? Battalion Commander Xue, the command system is the core and must be protected. That's common sense! I disagree!"

Xue Gang smiled gently, thinking to himself that veteran bureaucrats were indeed different; they were clearly afraid of death and danger, yet they could make it sound so dignified. He turned to another officer beside him and said, "Staff Officer Hua, relay my order: the Special Police Detachment is to be deployed to support the Minnan District!"

Just as Li Yinglong was about to stop him, Xue Gang turned around and reassured him, "Director Li, don't worry, my men are more than enough to protect everyone's safety!"

"Your men? Who? Didn't you send all your soldiers out already?" Li Yinglong pointed to the few remaining soldiers who were busy working and said, "Now you're relying on these seven or eight civilian staff?"

“No, Director Li, they are soldiers first and foremost!” Xue Gang said these words with unwavering conviction.

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