Apocalypse: Master of Soul Beasts

Chapter 250: Chapter 43 New Human_1

Kuangliu drove the military vehicle, moving unimpeded through the outer city zone’s roads.

Wen Yu silently observed the scenes outside the window.

The streets of the outer city zone were spacious, likely remnants of Yanjing City’s layout before the apocalypse.

Of course, since Wen Yu had never been to Yanjing City before, he had no understanding of the architectural layout here.

But he could still discern some issues, like the dilapidated shacks and tents lining both sides of the street.

These were the homes of the refugee laborers...

These people watched the military vehicles passing by, envy and jealousy clear in their eyes.

After a quick glance, Wen Yu turned away, closing his eyes to rest.

According to Kuangliu, the Yanjing Assembly Site was vast. After more than a month of reconstruction, combined with the remaining original structures, the entire Yanjing Assembly Site had grown to about half the size of pre-apocalypse Yanjing City.

The outer city zone, the largest part of the assembly site, was enormous. At the military vehicle’s current speed, it would take at least an hour to reach Sun Xuewei and the others.

Seeing Wen Yu’s expression, Kuangliu chuckled. ”What’s wrong? Is the Yanjing Assembly Site different from what you imagined?”

Wen Yu shook his head. ”It’s exactly as I imagined. If the entire Yanjing Assembly Site, even these powerless ordinary people, could live in comfort with enough food and clothing, then I’d seriously have to reconsider changing my nationality when the demon plague descends.”

Hearing Wen Yu, Kuangliu burst out laughing. ”You’d better not! If you did that, my old man would skin me alive!”

Then, Kuangliu paused for a moment before speaking slowly. ”These people live harsh lives, extremely harsh. Do you know about the old black coal mines? Their existence is like that of indentured laborers, barely enough food to keep from starving each day, yet they must perform grueling work. TSK TSK...

”But we did offer them another path: joining the army. Enlisting not only provides a military stipend but also grants residency rights in the inner city zone. Unfortunately, there are always some who are terrified by the army’s casualty rates, unwilling to fight, or too scared to kill zombies and mutant beasts. Look,” Kuangliu jerked his chin towards the scene outside, ”those are the ones I’m talking about.”

Wen Yu followed Kuangliu’s gaze. About a hundred meters off the side of the road, a large crowd was scrambling for a big pot of watery porridge.

There wasn’t much porridge to begin with, and it was so thin it was almost transparent, making Wen Yu seriously suspect that the staff in charge had pilfered most of the rice.

Yet, this meager sustenance was all these refugees had to survive on.

Wen Yu even saw two emaciated children fighting fiercely over a single bowl of the thin porridge!

Meanwhile, the soldiers standing nearby merely watched with amusement, pointing and gesturing from time to time.

Kuangliu continued, ”Initially, I wanted to provide more support for these poor people too, but then some... interesting things occurred.

”In the beginning, we’d give them a large bowl of white rice each day. When those poor souls first received that rice, their expressions were... how do I put it? It was the most beautiful smile I’d ever seen, a gratitude that came straight from the heart.

”But the food consumption was simply enormous!

”You have to understand, there are about fifty million survivors in the entire Yanjing Assembly Site right now! That number is actually terrifying; the daily food consumption is astronomical! And that’s not even counting the professionists, who have much larger appetites.

”The Yanjing Assembly Site has only just resumed cultivation. It’s not harvest season yet, and with the Demonic Qi invasion, it’s uncertain if anything edible for humans can even be grown! All our current food comes from the strategic reserves.

”And since it’s a strategic reserve, it means these supplies can’t be touched lightly. After all, no one knows if we’ll face even tougher times ahead.

”So, predictably, the food rations for these refugees were reduced accordingly.

”At first, the reduction wasn’t much, only by a quarter.

”But those fools actually believed we embezzled their share! That we were exploiting them! Egged on by a few agitators, these people, waving banners of ’freedom’ and ’democracy,’ actually launched a rebellion...”

Hearing this, Wen Yu could only sigh. These refugees certainly had some nerve.

Kuangliu continued, ”One thing baffles me: why didn’t they dare point their weapons at zombies and mutant creatures, but instead turned them on our army?”

Wen Yu nodded and asked, ”So, what happened?”

Kuangliu shrugged. ”The army carried out a massacre! Officially, it was termed a ’cleansing and suppression,’ but it was a slaughter. Most of the rebellious refugees were ordinary people. They couldn’t grasp the disparity in strength, nor the true nature of this world. A huge number of them died. Afterward, we had the surviving refugees bury the bodies outside the city. It served as fertilizer for the upcoming planting season, you could say. A kind of harvest for having fed them for so long, I suppose.

”Then came the grueling labor and significantly reduced food rations!

”Only then did we realize that fairness and democracy were relics of the past. And only then did *they* realize this world no longer had laws to protect their miserable lives!

”So, these people—these cowardly trash, these parasites who don’t dare to fight—to put it bluntly, they should be thanking us for the very fact that they’re still alive!!!”

Wen Yu nodded. ”That makes sense. Pitiful people often have a detestable side. There’s no unearned kindness or love in this world. However, I do think you should be fostering the children.”

Kuangliu shrugged. ”We are fostering them, in a way. We call it ’free-range parenting’!

”Every day, we open the city gates. Not far outside, there’s a farm established by the army—a zombie farm.

”Speaking of which, zombies are practically national treasures these days. Capturing these ones wasn’t easy.

”The place is open for anyone to enter or leave. It’s meant to give ordinary people who want to change their destinies a chance to earn points. So, we’ve given them the opportunity, even laid out several paths for them. But if they don’t take them, well, that’s on them...”

Wen Yu chuckled softly. ”Indeed, it is.”

The army’s attitude seemed perfectly normal to Wen Yu. What wasn’t normal were those refugees. They were given paths but didn’t take them, content instead to haul bricks daily and survive on watery gruel. Who could they blame for that? Just as Kuangliu said, the army allowing them to live was already an act of immense mercy.

Kuangliu continued, ”Of course, that’s just the outer city zone. The inner city zone is much better. Facilities like schools and physical training grounds have already been built. After all, our country’s culture still needs to be passed down.”

Wen Yu nodded. ”The cost isn’t low, is it?”

”It’s not exorbitant,” Kuangliu replied. ”For officers’ children, the first year of compulsory education is free. Anything beyond that requires payment in magic crystals. As for those people out there,” Kuangliu gestured vaguely, ”they aren’t qualified to even access such things.”

”TSK TSK. Such a rigid class system!” Wen Yu remarked, chuckling and shaking his head.

He’d thought he was cynical enough, but these military men were on another level of ruthlessness.

”This is the apocalypse, isn’t it?” Wen Yu asked.

Kuangliu nodded in agreement. ”This is just the beginning. Their circumstances will only get harder, and ours might too. When the Demon Realm launches its main offensive, pure humans could be extinct within a few years. Only professionists will remain.”

”Aren’t they all humans?”

”No,” Kuangliu said. ”Outwardly, they might seem like the same species, but their fundamental nature has changed. Professionists... they can also be called neo-humans!”