Chapter 338 - 16: Blockade

Chapter 338: Chapter 16: Blockade

A little over half an hour later, Lin Yu, Li Hua, and Li Xintong arrived at a major traffic artery in Black Salt City: GS8-F4.

They passed a long line of vehicles waiting by the roadside and approached the roadblock at the intersection.

"Halt. Black Salt City is under martial law. No one is allowed to enter."

A uniformed staff member emerged from behind the roadblock.

Seeing the familiar black uniform, Lin Yu knew this person was also a member of the Cuiwei Corps.

"We’re here to help."

"Oh? State your names."

"Lin Yu!"

"Li Hua!"

The staff member glanced at Li Xintong, who was standing beside Li Hua, but said nothing more.

"Hmm... you are indeed here to help."

"Here, look at this." The staff member held up a device and scanned Lin Yu’s and Li Hua’s faces, confirming their identities and completing their registration. "Here’s the remote for the roadblock."

"I’m leaving this intersection to you. Remember not to kill civilians without good reason. Injuring or even maiming them is fine. With today’s technology, those kinds of wounds are easy to heal. As long as they don’t die, anything goes. However, if you run into a life-threatening situation or any other special circumstances, your own safety comes first."

Afterward, the staff member packed up his things and led his people away in another direction. Before leaving, he didn’t forget to remind Lin Yu and Li Hua to be mindful of their use of force. He left only two first-rank, newly recruited employees to assist them.

Seeing the Corps staff members depart, nearby drivers began to crowd around and try to cozy up to them.

"Hey, you two. Look at all of us stuck here. We can’t get in, and it’s hard to back out. How about you cut us some slack and let us through just to turn around?"

"We promise we won’t go into the city. We definitely won’t make things difficult for you."

...

When the two didn’t answer, the drivers seemed to think they were easy to persuade, and even more people gathered around.

"Come on, guys. You look like temp workers. You don’t have to be so by-the-book, do you?"

"Do us a favor, cut us some slack!"

...

Lin Yu watched the drivers, speechless. ’Are they really this clueless?’ he thought. Thankfully, most of the drivers were just watching from the sidelines; only a minority actually wanted to enter Black Salt City.

"Everyone, shut up!" Lin Yu laced his voice with a bit of Spiritual Energy. The surrounding drivers felt a jolt in their heads and hastily backed away.

"I see you all want to turn around and go back, but you’re stuck here because of the road layout. Fine, I’ll help you make a way to turn around."

As he finished speaking, Lin Yu stomped his foot. Spiritual Energy surged into the ground, and green vines shot out from beneath his feet. Seeing this, the terrified drivers scrambled back to their cars.

The area covered by the vines expanded rapidly, soon blanketing the roads on both sides.

Then, Lin Yu manipulated the vines to connect the two highways, forming a sloped ramp between them for turning around.

A two-way highway was transformed by his actions into a loop. The road into the city now turned into a green U-turn ramp, with another row of roadblocks at its end to prevent anyone from forcing their way through.

"Alright, everyone can head back now. No need to be stuck here any longer. If you please!"

Lin Yu made a welcoming gesture. The driver who had spoken up first was dumbfounded. He had just been looking for an excuse to get into the city, never expecting the new guard to be an Extraordinary Being who specialized in construction. Now, he had no choice but to drive away. Otherwise, the drivers stuck behind him would start giving him trouble.

Watching the congested line of cars slowly turn around and head back the way they came, Lin Yu walked over to the other side of the roadblock, satisfied. He then repeated the process, grafting the outbound lane onto the inbound one.

Now, anyone who reached this intersection could turn back the way they came.

After finishing all this, Lin Yu clapped his hands in satisfaction and asked Li Xintong, "How’d I do?"

"Brother Lin, you were amazing!!"

"Hahaha, a piece of cake!"

...

For the next while, anyone trying to enter or leave the city would arrive at the intersection, see the altered roadway, the martial law blockade notices on both sides, and the signature "Cuiwei Corps," and most would wisely turn back.

The Cuiwei Corps was a renowned privileged legion on Cuiwei Star. All its members were Extraordinary Beings. Though not numerous, they were incredibly powerful and held immense authority. Ordinary people wouldn’t dare test the iron fist of the Cuiwei Corps.

And so, a few hours passed peacefully.

At the roadblock on the outbound side, a growing crowd of people who were unwilling to turn back began to gather. The inbound side, however, remained clear.

Gradually, seeing that the roadblock was guarded by only five people—Lin Yu, Li Hua, and the others—the crowd felt they had strength in numbers and grew bolder.

They climbed over the vine U-turn ramp that Lin Yu had built and walked up to the roadblock. Without a word to Lin Yu’s group, they started trying to move the barricades themselves.

"Hey, hey, hey! What do you think you’re doing? You think we’re just decorations?"

"Who are you people? We’re from Black Salt City Hall. Who authorized you to block this road?"

"The Cuiwei Corps!"

"Where’s the order to block the road?"

"There isn’t one!"

"There isn’t one? Everyone, listen to this! These people are blocking traffic without any official papers."

The man immediately started shouting. The people stuck behind grew agitated and began climbing over the roadside barriers to approach the roadblock.

Seeing the incensed crowd, Li Hua looked helplessly at Lin Yu. "What should we do? Take ’em down?"

"What else can we do? We were already told what to do. Just don’t kill them."

Lin Yu didn’t hesitate. As he channeled Spiritual Energy into the vines beneath the ground, they began to rapidly swell, expand, and writhe.

The crowd on the vines was thrown to the ground. Then, with a single sweeping motion, all the cars on the road were swept backward, clearing a large open space on the highway leading from Black Salt City. The ground was now littered with people wailing in pain from minor injuries.