Suze's Sanctuary

These are all fine saplings of Huaxia. He himself had started as a sapling, protecting Huaxia, guarding it for half his life. Wasn't it all for these saplings?

How could his heart not ache watching these saplings die one by one?

Su Ze saluted the elder, and the young people at the foot of the city wall stood up and saluted in unison.

Lu Yusheng immediately returned a solemn salute, his heart filled with countless emotions.

Good saplings, all of them good saplings.

Damn these natural disasters.

Damn these mysteries.

One day we'll slaughter you all!

After identity verification.

These young people gathered their equipment and weapons, striding towards the outside of the Zombie Suppression Gate.

Lu Yusheng gazed at these spirited youths, "Has the mission of protecting our country come to rely on these youngsters who should be studying in classrooms and sweating on playgrounds?"

"You should be in the prime of your youth... It's our fault for failing to keep the disasters at bay."

"I'm truly sorry..."

His self-reproach made him forget that he too was once a young man who wielded a blade against disasters.

He too was once such a youth...

Stepping onto the brownish-gray land.

The young man named Cang Yu bent down and touched the soil, "This was once our Huaxia's territory."

"We'll take it back someday." His girlfriend Zhi Xu bent down and hugged him.

"No time for sentiments now, it's getting dark, we need to find shelter before then."

"The darkness is terrifying."

Su Ze looked at the vast brownish-gray land, "I have a shelter nearby, follow me."

The ground was covered with mindless walking dead who acted on instinct alone.

They were similar to zombies in movies, but these things were far more terrifying.

They were once humans who, after having their souls absorbed by monsters in this place, became like this.

They were all controlled by the monsters in this area, and if they discovered you, they would pursue you tirelessly.

This wasn't even the most terrifying part - the worst was that they couldn't die!

The laws of this place made them unkillable.

Everyone composed themselves and silently followed behind Su Ze.

He was experienced.

The group stealthily passed through massive areas crowded with walking dead, reaching a cave just as darkness fell.

Su Ze entered the cave, and after everyone was inside, he pushed a massive boulder weighing several hundred kilograms to block the entrance from the outside.

Then he quietly crawled through a hidden narrow hole and jumped down from above the others' heads.

Whoosh!

Flames rose from oil lamps hanging on the walls.

The dark cave instantly brightened.

"What kind of oil are these lamps using? It smells... different."

Su Ze answered frankly, "Corpse oil."

"..."

Everyone's spine chilled at Su Ze's answer.

They quickly understood - with corpses everywhere outside, of course it was corpse oil. At this point, why worry about morals and ethics?

Everyone looked at the cave's setup - pots and ladles hanging on the walls, cured meat, lots of food, some medicines, and deep inside the cave was a pond formed by mountain spring water, dripping steadily.

It was clearly a small shelter.

Small but complete with everything needed.

Su Ze took things out of his backpack - a pile of compressed biscuits and similar foods - and dumped them all into a stone pit, "Help yourselves if you're hungry. We're all Huaxia compatriots, don't be shy."

"That's well said." The black-haired Xu Ziyin remarked appreciatively, making himself at home and grabbing some snacks to munch on.

The white-haired girl with a canvas, Gu Qingqing, rubbed her face, "Thanks?"

Xu Ziyin stood up and kissed her, "Thank you, these snacks taste even sweeter now."

"..." Gu Qingqing was stunned for a while, her cheeks turning red as she complained shyly, "You... there are so many people here, what are you doing!"

Xu Ziyin grinned while watching his lover's adorable angry expression.

Meng Xingyao felt a bit sour seeing this scene.

Don't be envious, don't be envious, she'll meet someone better, and if not... then staying single... well, seems like that's the only option.

"Sister Xingyao, I want some stir-fried pork with green peppers," Su Ze came up to the melancholic Meng Xingyao with a grin.

"Can we... cook here?" Meng Xingyao looked at Su Ze in surprise, "And... we don't have ingredients."

"Brother, do you have another secret base?" Cang Yu was genuinely curious about this peer who, like himself, was a talented sapling of Huaxia.

He too was admitted to Huaxia University this year, in the same class as Su Ze.

But Su Ze had far more legendary tales than him, evident just from the long case he carried on his back.

"Indeed." Su Ze, with a cigarette in his mouth, tapped on the rock wall under everyone's puzzled gaze. When they heard a hollow sound, he removed a rock to reveal a room with a natural stove alcove.

This room not only had a stove but also a carved square pit. When Su Ze lifted the stone slab covering the pit, a burst of cold air emerged, and everyone was amazed to see neatly arranged vegetables and fruits inside.

Among these vegetables were edible ones from the land of the walking dead.

No one knew how Su Ze had managed to transport them here.

"Ice stones - those minerals worth millions outside - you're using them to keep vegetables fresh?" Xu Ziyin immediately spotted them among the fruits and vegetables.

"Are any of us here short of a few million?" Su Ze shrugged.

Everyone fell silent, indeed they weren't short of a few million, as that was merely the cost of a dozen days of cultivation.

But what they lacked were ice stones.

These stones were priceless and rare.

Moreover, this ice stone was huge, worth at least twenty million.

Su Ze lifted another stone slab, revealing neatly arranged fresh meat.

Under the effect of the ice stone, the meat could be preserved for years without rotting.

"Sister Xingyao, I'm looking forward to your cooking skills." Su Ze smiled.

Meng Xingyao gave an OK sign, "Don't worry, I'll definitely poison you."

"We'll see about that. I bet my life is tougher than your cooking."

Nearby, Xu Ziyin burst out laughing, only to be punched by the still-angry Gu Qingqing, after which he didn't dare speak, looking pitiful.

"Ziyin, Qingqing, come help, don't just wait for the food," Meng Xingyao looked at the two and nodded towards the stove pit.

"Coming!"

Hearing this, Xu Ziyin ran over immediately, leaving Gu Qingqing slightly angry with pursed lips.

This guy really doesn't know how to comfort a girl!

When we first got together, he promised to take care of me in every way.

Such a liar! Only knows how to bully me!

Just like Meng Xingyao's type.

Thinking of this, she felt some sympathy for Meng Xingyao.

She composed herself and went to help as well.

"What are you spacing out about?" Su Ze bumped into Shen Qingsheng, who had been quiet with a complex expression.

"Nothing." Shen Qingsheng shook his head.

Su Ze saw through his concerns, "Come on, let's go have a smoke."

Shen Qingsheng followed Su Ze out through the cave opening.

Cang Yu was about to follow, but his girlfriend Zhi Xu pulled him back, playfully punching his arm with an amused expression, "It's obviously not appropriate for you to go over there right now, baby."