A Post-Apocalyptic Journey to Another World

At four in the morning, the entire city of Pingyuan was still asleep. The people of Pingyuan were gradually waking up and beginning their day's work. Meanwhile, in the wilderness far from the city, the monsters, who had also toiled all night for their livelihood, were also beginning to rest. It was as if humans and monsters had agreed to stagger their activity times; daytime belonged to humans, and nighttime to the beasts and monsters.

Two hundred kilometers southeast of Pingyuan City, on the outskirts of a mountain forest, dozens of fully armed elite soldiers were silently assembling and lining up. Xue Gang silently checked the equipment of each soldier one by one.

After finishing the inspection, he turned to look at Zhang Xi and his pet dog. The latter seemed unfazed by Xue Gang's strange gaze; he waved and led the way into the night, as dawn was approaching.

Logically, such reconnaissance fire should be conducted around 2 AM, but orcs have different sleep schedules than humans; daytime is when they are more likely to become lax and relaxed. Furthermore, nighttime combat presents numerous challenges for humans; even highly trained elites are at a disadvantage against orcs at night.

Xue Gang gestured to the two or three wheeled armored assault vehicles behind him, which immediately drove into the roadside woods. Several soldiers began camouflaging the vehicles and clearing away any tracks. Xue Gang then turned around and led his soldiers in a search and cordon formation, following Zhang Xi at a distance.

Long Wenzhang, carrying a small tracking and positioning device, walked alongside Zhang Xi. While keeping an eye on the device, he said, "The target is about five kilometers ahead in a straight line. It hasn't moved for a long time, so it's probably reached its destination."

Xue Gang's voice came through the helmet-mounted intercom: "Attention all personnel! Form combat teams, each team supporting each other, and advance while searching! Remember, do not fire unless absolutely necessary. Although the guns are equipped with silencers, everyone knows that silencers only reduce the sound. Those monsters have extremely sensitive ears."

……

About five kilometers behind Zhang Xi and his group, in a grove of trees, another group of people were gathered together. One of them, a tall man in a tight-fitting combat suit, was Li Chengyu.

By this time, over a hundred people had gathered around Li Chengyu. These people were clearly divided into three small groups. The dozen or so people surrounding Li Chengyu were police officers from the police station. Not far from the police officers stood the largest group, no less than fifty or sixty people. The leader of these people was Lü Haonan, whom Zhang Xi had met at the villa gathering.

The other group consisted of about thirty people, and these people all carried an aura of killing intent. Anyone with eyes could tell that they were soldiers who had been on the battlefield.

Lu Haonan walked up to Li Chengyu and said, "Young Master Li, these dozens of my brothers are all handpicked experts. I've already given them instructions; you could order them to climb mountains of knives or plunge into seas of fire, and they wouldn't even flinch." Li Chengyu looked at the dozens of menacing-looking "heroes" with satisfaction and nodded. This was the first time he had commanded so many people, and a sense of pride welled up within him. He said loudly, "Good! Mr. Lu, I will remember your contribution this time, and my uncle and cousin will naturally remember your kindness as well!"

Upon hearing this, Lü Haonan immediately smiled and said, "Then I wish you every success. I have some things to attend to at my company, so I'll take my leave now!" After saying that, Lü Haonan left with a few people.

After walking quite a distance, a pockmarked man next to Lü Haonan whispered, "Brother, why didn't you send our capable brothers to help? These dozens of people are just peripheral members, all show and no substance. I'm afraid they won't be of much help!"

Lu Haonan glanced at his subordinate and scolded him with some anger at his lack of ambition: "Li Yinglong asked me to lend him people for his nephew, so I will lend them to him. As long as the people arrive, Li Yinglong will owe me a favor. Whether the matter is resolved or not is his own business."

He glanced back, but visibility was limited by the woods, and he could no longer clearly see the group of people behind him. He continued, "Those capable brothers are my hard work, how can I let them get involved in these shady things? Do you even know what they're up to?"

The pockmarked man asked curiously, "I don't know, do you know, brother?"

"I don't know. That old bastard Li Yinglong was going to tell me, but I wouldn't listen. Sometimes it's better not to know than to know." Lü Haonan said sternly to the people around him, "Remember this, those dozens of people weren't sent out by me. They're just temporary workers for our company. The company won't interfere with who they spend their time with outside of work, or where they go or what they do. Understand?"

The group of men all spoke in unison, knowing how capable Lü Haonan was. The pockmarked man, who had followed Lü Haonan the longest, boldly continued, "Brother, what if those temporary workers are useless and Li Yinglong blames us?"

Lu Haonan smiled coldly and said, "Li Yinglong! Director of the Police Bureau, others may fear him, but I, Lu, am not. Everything comes down to strength. Ma Zi, I'm not bragging, but in Pingyuan City right now, the soldiers are the most powerful, and below them, my men and guns are no less than Li Yinglong's. Of course, we are good friends with Director Li, as long as he knows the rules, having more friends means having more options."

The pockmarked man nodded and said, "That's right, boss. We have at least several hundred armed men under our command, and several thousand more on the outskirts. In Pingyuan City..." Suddenly, a wolf howl from not far away interrupted him. The men were startled. Although they were all ruthless people with blood on their hands, encountering a pack of wolves in the wilderness was no joke. They immediately and silently headed towards Pingyuan City.

……

Standing atop a rock high above the ground, Li Chengyu surveyed the hundreds of men nominally under his command, all of whom were now somewhat smug. He imagined himself surrounded by a band of henchmen wherever he went, a truly imposing figure. Add to that two beautiful women flanking him, and it would be perfect. Li Chengyu indulged in his smug fantasies.

However, the environment here wasn't suitable for prolonged daydreaming. A sallow-faced man stepped out from among the soldiers not far away; he was clearly their leader. The sallow-faced man said to Li Chengyu, "Young Master Li, your cousin, Captain Li Xianda, has already explained the purpose and plan of this operation. Do you have anything to add?"

"Huh?" Li Chengyu was taken aback by the sallow-faced man's question. He said somewhat helplessly, "Well, that... let's just do it according to my cousin's plan." The sallow-faced man nodded. He had no intention of asking Li Chengyu for advice at all. He himself was the real commander of this operation. He only asked Li Chengyu a question to save face for the police chief's nephew.

This Li Chengyu is nothing more than a scapegoat. If things go smoothly, he gets credit; if things don't, then sorry, he'll be the scapegoat. The sallow-faced man glanced at Li Chengyu with some pity, then turned to leave.

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