Chapter 754: We're Back

Desolate, ruined. That was the current state of Xi City.

The streets were overgrown with weeds. The once-wide roads were potholed everywhere, with some sections even showing spiderweb-like cracks.

The exteriors of the buildings lining the streets were blackened gray.

The once bright and vivid decorations were now in a state of decay.

Even the air carried a foul, damp stench.

The convoy slowly came to a stop.

No one spoke loudly anymore. The silence was as if the world had pressed a mute button.

The door of the lead vehicle opened.

A gaunt survivor with a hunched upper body stepped out of the car.

This survivor looked up at the desolate city before him.

He could imagine how lively it had once been here.

Even if he had never visited before, he had seen plenty of photos taken by internet celebrities online.

There was a massive gap between this place and those photos.

Only by straining his eyes could he vaguely make out some of its original appearance.

For example, Sunset Avenue led straight to the seaside, with sea breeze blowing gently...

For example, the shops along the street, though their signs were already covered in moss and creeping vines, still made it clear that this place had once been incredibly bustling.

Another gaunt survivor climbed out of a vehicle.

Like the survivor before him, he looked up at this unfamiliar place.

But still, no one spoke.

Those who hadn't gotten out of their vehicles were also curiously observing this strange, empty city from inside.

Chen Ye frowned slightly.

Could it be... these survivors were dissatisfied with the conditions here?

This place was desolate and ruined, yes, but at least it was still a city. At least everyone had houses to live in.

Moreover, there were still plenty of supplies in Xi City that hadn't been scavenged yet.

At the very least, it was much better than a nomadic life, much better than the conditions at that seaside base.

Furthermore, the Silent Council had prepared several Architect Sequence superhumans.

With these superhumans around, many of the city's basic infrastructure could be brought back into operation.

Could it be that these survivors were still dissatisfied?

Chen Ye wasn't the only one thinking this. The other superhumans were thinking the same thing.

Although superhumans usually didn't care about what survivors thought, they had worked hard to clear out Xi City, and now the survivors were dissatisfied?

Some superhumans' expressions had already darkened!

"Ohhh!"

But just then, a survivor let out an excited cheer at the top of his lungs!

One person's cheer quickly sparked cheers from the others.

Everyone's eyes were filled with excitement.

Some of the more emotional girls had already covered their faces with both hands and begun to cry.

This place was ruined, yes, but at least they could feel the aura of human civilization.

That familiar aura reminded many people of many things.

"I... we... we're finally back!"

"Wuuu wuuu..."

"Mom, Dad, I... I finally made it back alive!"

"I want to live here for the rest of my life. Even if I die, I want to die here!"

"I'm picking a three-bedroom, two-living-room apartment. Damn it, back then I couldn't afford a place here my whole life, but this time, I'm definitely getting a three-bedroom, two-living-room!"

"Wuuu... so good, so good..."

"Finally back! Finally back..."

Back...

Among these survivors, there probably wasn't a single one who was a Xi City local.

But they still treated this place as their home.

Because this place was proof that human civilization had once existed, and it was humanity's gathering place!

The superhumans' faces finally broke into smiles.

"Hopefully this time we can stay here a bit longer, and not get attacked by anomalies the moment we stop!"

Chen Ye said with a grin.

"Bah, bah, bah... jinx! Stop talking nonsense!"

Dantai Bie's voice came through the Bluetooth earbuds.

...

The work after that was simple.

Each convoy had its own territory. For example, the Fair Convoy's territory was the most scenic spot in all of Xi City, Sunset Avenue.

But all the convoys combined didn't exceed two thousand people.

If these two thousand people were scattered across all of Xi City, it would basically be like a drop of water falling into the ocean.

Even a slightly larger residential compound would house more than two thousand people.

Let alone an entire city.

Even a very small city could accommodate two thousand people, or even twenty thousand, or two hundred thousand people with room to spare.

So, Hou Junji had held a meeting to discuss this before coming.

Currently, all the convoys would temporarily live together, so everyone could look out for each other and it would be easier to manage.

The convoy captains had no objections to this.

This time, the captains chose the Happy Garden residential compound on Zhongyang Avenue in Xi City as their living point.

Happy Garden was a residential compound that looked somewhat old.

But accommodating two thousand people was no problem.

It was located at Xi City's central point, so going in any direction was relatively close.

The reason they didn't choose a location near the seaside was...

Firstly, the sea anomalies coming ashore had brought everyone far too much pressure.

Secondly, this place wasn't too close to the coast.

Therefore, some infrastructure hadn't been eroded by the sea breeze as severely, making it somewhat easier to repair.

This arrangement was only temporary for now.

Once more people arrived in Xi City, the situation would certainly change.

The buildings in Happy Garden weren't very tall, only six stories.

A building had about three units, each unit had three apartments per floor.

By that calculation, one building had about fifty-four apartments.

For the Fair Convoy's population of under a hundred people, one building was about enough to fill up.

Everyone was currently wandering all over Happy Garden.

There were over a dozen buildings here. It was more than enough to house everyone.

Everyone was very excited, feeling the joy of getting free houses for nothing.

Any apartment here that you liked, you could just move into.

The Silent Council hadn't made any requirements.

"Squad Leader Chu, I took a look. Building 17 is pretty good, it gets plenty of sunlight! The scenery is also a bit better, you can directly see the direction of Sunset Avenue..."

"But Building 17 is all two-bedroom apartments. Building 18's orientation is slightly off, but most of the apartments are three-bedroom, and the area is larger..."

Xue Nan quickly gathered some basic information and reported it to Chu Che.

He couldn't afford to be slow! If he was even slightly late, the apartments would probably be snatched up by others.

Chu Che didn't even think about it. "Then Building 17 it is!"

The moment Chu Che decided on Building 17, some survivors took off running madly.

They planned to occupy the confirmed apartments in advance, afraid others would snatch them away.

Sure enough, by the time those few survivors ran over, other convoys were already making moves to move into Building 17.

The Fair Convoy survivors panicked and quickly shouted that this was the Fair Convoy's chosen building.

The opposing convoy left grudgingly, forced to pick another building.

The Fair Convoy chose Building 17.

Happy Family immediately made their move, claiming Building 18 right next to it.

Then the Post-Apocalyptic Opera Troupe Convoy also claimed Building 16.

As for the Shepherd Convoy, they weren't slow either, directly claiming Building 15.

Several convoys that knew each other all chose adjacent buildings.

This way it was convenient to stick together, and if anything happened, everyone could discuss it together.

Although the Shepherd Convoy and the Fair Convoy had some friction, so far there were no irreconcilable conflicts between them.

Moreover, Chen Ye and Jiang Rou were technically exes.