novelTele Chapter 128 Senior Brother, are you sure this is just a college student?
Chapter 128 Senior Brother, are you sure this is just a college student?
Dark clouds hung low over the waters of Hanwu City.
This place was once the bustling Hanwu City, a megacity with a population of tens of millions.
The once bustling Yangtze River Bridge, the famous Yellow Crane Tower, and other historical sites are now completely submerged at the bottom of the sea.
Now, only a desolate, empty ocean remains.
On the murky water, one can occasionally see some building ruins protruding from the water.
The skyscrapers that once stood hundreds of meters tall are now reduced to just the top few floors, standing in the water like tombstones.
Most of the glass curtain wall is broken, exposing the rusty steel frame.
Green moss and unidentified vines covered the walls, like a thick shroud.
"That's the Guishan TV Tower."
Chen Yan's voice came through the communicator, tinged with a hint of melancholy, "I used to lead troops to garrison here, now all that's left is a small spire."
In the video, only a rusty needle tip of the former landmark remains above the water, with a few water birds perched on it, crying mournfully.
The drone continued to fly forward.
The area below is not empty.
Through the high-definition lens, it can be seen that something seems to be swimming in the shadows of those skyscrapers beneath the water's surface.
It wasn't a fish, but a human-shaped black shadow.
They clung to the shadows of the submerged building, densely packed, like a swarm of maggots clinging to a rotting corpse.
"Floating corpses".
Lu Sheng uttered two words.
They move freely underwater and have even learned to use ruins as cover.
Once night falls, this seemingly calm body of water transforms into a true hell.
On the distant horizon, two majestic mountain peaks pierce the sky like sharp swords, rising abruptly from the vast floodwaters.
Although most of the mountain was submerged, the part above the water was still steep, with exposed rocks and towering pines, like two guardian deities.
"Twin Peaks!" The drone operator's voice trembled with excitement as he pointed to the radar data on the screen. "The elevation is 873 meters! This is one of the few highlands in Hanwu City that wasn't completely submerged! We...we've found land!"
This shout was broadcast throughout the entire fleet.
On the deck, the survivors, who had been adrift at sea for weeks and were ravaged by fear and seasickness, rose to their feet like zombies.
They clung to the railing, staring intently at the two increasingly clear mountain peaks. Some rubbed their eyes in disbelief, while others knelt on the deck, banging their foreheads until they were red and wailing.
That's soil.
It is solid land beneath our feet.
Lu Sheng sat in the command chair, his expression remaining completely unchanged despite the discovery of land.
"Don't get too excited," Lu Sheng said calmly, his gaze sweeping over the dense red dots on the screen. "Since this place is high ground, we're not the only ones eyeing this piece of meat."
Chen Yan stood to the side, adjusting the frequency of the communicator.
After a long crackling sound of electricity, an encrypted channel was finally connected.
"Yangtze River, Yangtze River, this is the Yellow River, please respond if you hear me." Chen Yan's voice was steady and powerful.
There was a few seconds of silence on the other end of the communicator, followed by a wary male voice: "Password?"
Chen Yan took a deep breath and uttered a string of coded phrases that only a very few veterans understood: "The sea god's raging waves, all streams return to their source."
That was a secret code unique to their shared teacher, the Sea God lineage.
After a brief silence, the voice on the other end of the communicator instantly changed tone, filled with barely suppressed excitement and disbelief: "Senior Brother?! Is that Senior Brother Chen Yan? It's me, Zhang Yi! God, you're still alive!"
"Zhang Yi?" A smile finally appeared on Chen Yan's perpetually tense face. "So it was you here, ready to take over. I brought tens of thousands of civilians with me."
Half an hour later, the fleet slowly sailed into the natural harbor between the two peaks.
This place has clearly undergone careful renovation.
The original valley was blasted flat and covered with thick steel plates. Densely packed bunkers were built on the cliffs on both sides, with dark machine gun muzzles and cannons pointing at the water like hedgehogs.
Seeing the formidable defenses, the refugees on the civilian ships behind them cheered deafeningly.
In their eyes, this was an impregnable fortress, a Noah's Ark in the end times.
Lu Sheng arrived at the bow of the Blazing Flame, the sea breeze ruffling his coat.
He narrowed his golden vertical pupils, his gaze dissecting the defensive fortifications before him like a scalpel.
"The firing points are too densely distributed, and the firing range overlaps severely. Once a high-level sea beast breaks through even one point, it will trigger a chain reaction." Lu Sheng tapped the railing lightly with his fingers, his tone indifferent. "Moreover, there are no spiritual source traps on the side cliffs. If an amphibious sea beast were to climb up from there, this place would be a living coffin."
Zhou Hai leaned closer, a cigarette dangling from his lips, and chuckled, "Young Lu, you're getting a bit of an occupational hazard. This is land, at least, better than floating at sea. Besides, with us here, even a piece of tofu dregs can be turned into an ironclad fortress."
The boat shuddered slightly before coming to a stop at the shore.
On the dock, a group of soldiers in dark green uniforms were already lined up and waiting.
The leader was a middle-aged man with a full beard, wearing the rank of colonel on his shoulder. His uniform was worn and covered in mud, but he stood up straight.
As soon as the spiral staircase was lowered, the middle-aged man strode up.
"Senior brother!" Zhang Yi's eyes were red-rimmed as he rushed over and gave Chen Yan a bear hug that seemed to break his ribs. His voice choked with emotion, "It was truly a miracle! When I received the signal, I thought I was hallucinating. In this world, to see my senior brother alive again is all I need!"
Chen Yan patted his junior brother on the back, his eyes slightly moist: "Alright, tens of thousands of people are watching, don't embarrass yourself. You've managed this place quite well."
The two separated, Zhang Yi wiped his face, and looked past Chen Yan, landing on the Flame, a steel behemoth behind them, and the people standing behind Chen Yan.
"Senior brother, who are these people?" Zhang Yi's gaze lingered on Lu Sheng for a moment.
Too young, fair-skinned, looking like a college graduate, completely out of place in this apocalyptic world.
He subconsciously assumed that this was a member of a powerful family or a key protected individual under Chen Yan's wing.
Chen Yan's expression turned serious, and he stepped aside to give Zhang Yi half a body space. His solemn tone made Zhang Yi's heart skip a beat.
"Zhang Yi, let me introduce you." Chen Yan pointed to Lu Sheng, "This is the commander of the Blazing Flame, and also the de facto highest combat power of this fleet, a Level 6 Spirit Source User, Major Lu Sheng."
"What?"
Zhang Yi's smile froze instantly, and his eyes almost popped out of their sockets.
He wondered if he had misheard, or if his senior was joking.
Level 6 Spirit Source User?
You should know that Zhang Yi fought tooth and nail for months in the meat grinder-like Hanwu Waters before he barely reached the level 5 Spirit Source Master.
Is this kid in front of me, who hasn't even grown a full beard yet, a Level 6 Spirit Source User?
"Senior brother, you're not kidding, are you?" Zhang Yiqian chuckled twice, subconsciously releasing his senses to probe Lu Sheng's aura.
However, the moment his senses touched Lu Sheng, it was like a drop of water falling into a bottomless abyss, without even a sound.
Instead, a faint dragon's might rebounded, causing his heart to skip a beat and cold sweat to pour down his back.
Unfathomable.
Absolutely unfathomable!
Zhang Yi abruptly withdrew his senses, his face turning deathly pale, no longer daring to underestimate the situation in the slightest.
He hurriedly shifted his gaze to Zhou Hai and the others behind Lu Sheng.
What he saw made him gasp in shock.
That short-haired, nonchalant man exuded a violent fire elemental aura; level 5!
That square-faced man exudes a calm and steady aura, level 5!
That cold-faced woman exuded murderous aura; she was also level 5!
"This..." Zhang Yi's throat went dry.
What kind of flotilla is this?
This is clearly a powerful dragon crossing the river!
The fighting power of just these few people is enough to sweep across the entire waters surrounding Hanwu City!
"Major...Major Lu!" Zhang Yi quickly composed himself, snapped to attention, saluted, and extended both hands. "Heroes emerge from among the young! Please forgive my earlier rudeness!"
Lu Sheng remained calm, extending his hand to shake hands with Zhang Yi. His hand was dry and strong. "Commander Zhang, you're too kind. We'll need to rest and recuperate at your esteemed location next, and then we'll work together to defend against the zombie horde."
"No problem! No problem!" Zhang Yi nodded repeatedly, but he was secretly overjoyed.
With this powerful reinforcement, the impending zombie horde is nothing!
Zhou Hai, ever the familiar type, slapped Zhang Yi on the shoulder with his large, fan-like hand, almost making the Level 5 commander stumble.
"Old Zhang, right? Stop with the formalities." Zhou Hai grinned, revealing a set of bright white teeth. "Any good wine or meat? We've been drifting at sea for so long our mouths are practically watering. Want to grab a bite or two later?"
Zhang Yi rubbed his numb shoulder and said with a wry smile, "Plenty of wine and meat! Come on, let's go to the command post on the mountaintop, and we'll eat and discuss the defense plan!"
Just as the group was about to set off.
"boom--!!!"
A sudden, ear-piercing roar of an engine came from the mountain road, shattering the harmony of the port.
Three heavily modified off-road vehicles, their bodies welded with steel spikes and crash beams, charged into the harbor like three crazed armored rhinos.
They completely ignored the refugee procession disembarking, suddenly braked and swerved, kicking up clouds of dust that made those around them cough repeatedly.
The car door was kicked open.
A dozen or so fully armed Spirit Source users jumped down.
They were dressed in identical black combat uniforms, with a golden "Spirit" badge embroidered on their chests, each with an arrogant expression and upturned noses.
The leader was a bald, burly man with a large gold chain around his neck, chewing gum, and carrying a shotgun.
"Stop the fucking!"
The bald, burly man spat out his chewing gum, stepped on a refugee's bundle, fired a shot into the air, and roared, "Who let you off the ship? Don't you know the rules of Twin Peaks?!"
P.S.: Today's update (2/4).