Inside the underground palace.
Seeing that the entire world had returned to normal, Zhang Chen reopened the door and led everyone out.
Xiao Ruan had just absorbed a large amount of biological energy from another world. Although this energy was not its own, it had consumed a lot of physical strength.
At this time, it had already reverted to its small form.
Upon seeing Zhang Chen, it immediately flew over and then obediently burrowed into his shirt pocket.
"Well done, Xiao Ruan!"
Zhang Chen affectionately pinched Xiao Ruan.
The latter's eight tentacles immediately coiled tightly around Zhang Chen's fingers, its slippery body rubbing vigorously against his fingers for a long while before letting go.
"Let's go, we're heading to the next city!"
"Since we've already confirmed that our final destination is the seventh city, I wonder if it's possible to reach our destination directly by train from here?"
After walking for a while, Zhang Chen suddenly had a whimsical thought and asked.
Because when he got off the train in this city, he noticed a deep passage ahead after the train had stopped, and he didn't know where it led.
He had always assumed it led to the next city.
Shirley had always stayed in the second walled city. Today, thanks to Zhang Chen, she was able to come this deep.
So she was also unsure and looked at Xu Ruina with curiosity.
The latter explained:
"Actually, the tunnels in each city are not connected together; they are connected in separate sections."
"For example, there's a passage from the Interface City to Baukou City, and from Baukou City to Xinlan City, you enter through a tunnel on the other end of Baukou City. This tunnel also only connects to Xinlan City."
"The purpose of this design is to prevent monsters from directly attacking the final city through the underground tunnels after the Interface City falls."
"This way, if monsters want to conquer human territory, they can only attack city by city."
"Each city serves as both a shelter and a forward position, so the tunnels naturally cannot be connected!"
"As for the tunnel you mentioned in front of the platform, it's used to confuse monsters."
"Some monsters with low intelligence will continue to charge through the tunnel, eventually entering the tunnel terminal filled with traps."
Zhang Chen and Shirley both let out an "Oh" after listening.
The initial design by the natives was indeed well-thought-out, anticipating the future pessimistically from the start to ensure safety.
It was only with such foresight that they could survive in the apocalypse.
By this time, the accumulated snow on the road had disappeared, and all the accumulated water had evaporated into the air.
The road surface revealed a desolate and dilapidated scene, littered with debris from street lamps and billboards.
The broken edges were extremely neat.
This showed the sharpness of the blades during the blizzard.
Occasionally, a few shriveled corpses lay by the roadside.
The energy within them had been drained by the blizzard, and even the greenish-blue rings on their hands had lost their original luster, becoming extremely dim.
The energy these survivors had plundered from infected beings and other survivors was now reclaimed by nature.
The group walked leisurely.
Soon, they arrived at the entrance of the underground tunnel.
At this moment, the two men in silk clothes had somehow procured two sofas.
They were sitting comfortably on the sofas, seemingly waiting for Zhang Chen and his companions to appear.
"The dark red ring..."
Zhang Chen frowned slightly, daring to block his path so brazenly.
It seemed they were capable individuals.
But their clothing was completely different from the simple style of the Black Ox Legion.
"I recognize this outfit. They are people from Boss Qian of the fourth city, standard attire for black market merchants!"
"I don't know their strength, but generally speaking, Boss Qian being able to operate a casino and a black market in the ultimate apocalypse without being smashed indicates their strength should be quite formidable."
Shirley whispered in Zhang Chen's ear to remind him.
"Are we going to fight?"
Zhang Chen directly drew the Thousand Bone Saber and continued walking towards the tunnel entrance without slowing down.
"Don't, don't misunderstand, we are honest merchants and intend to make a fair trade with you!"
The goatee man said with a smile.
Zhang Chen stopped then.
He slowly scanned his surroundings, ensuring there were no traps or ambushes, before asking, "What trade?"
"It's very simple, we want to buy the Gromos you've tamed. You can name any price!"
"Whether you can imagine it or not, we can get it for you!"
The slightly plump man said proudly.
"Gromos can be tamed? This is the first time I've heard of it, how funny!"
Zhang Chen said with a laugh, secretly tightening his grip on the Thousand Bone Saber.
These people actually knew that he had tamed Xiao Ruan?
The problem was that the entire taming process took place in the underground palace and a parallel world. How did they find out?
If they got their eyes on Xiao Ruan, this matter would never end.
Greed would make these merchants try every means to obtain Xiao Ruan.
Therefore, Zhang Chen was prepared to kill them to silence them.
"Ha, you don't really think you can fool us by saying that, do you!"
"This blizzard has only just stopped. Without eight or nine days, it wouldn't melt, unless someone was willing to sacrifice their internal energy to actively melt the snow."
"However, snow of this intensity might not even be meltable by an evolved being, let alone now, in the second stage of the apocalypse... the ninth day. You, a green-colored轮回者 (reincarnator), would be doing well if you've advanced to a mid-level metamorphosis. What do you have to melt the snow?"
"Only Gromos can achieve this level. And how could it possibly do such a thankless and strenuous task as melting the snow of the entire city? The only explanation is..."
The goatee man, full of smugness, went on to explain his reasoning.
He wanted to see Zhang Chen's embarrassment when his lie was exposed.
However, before he could finish speaking, the slightly plump man beside him suddenly lunged forward and punched the goatee man, sending him flying.
The latter flew more than twenty meters before crashing heavily onto the ground.
As soon as the goatee man landed, the slightly plump man blinked and appeared beside him. Without giving the other party a chance to speak, he delivered another barrage of blows, and the two instantly began to fight.
The two wrestled for more than ten minutes. Seeing Zhang Chen and the others enter the tunnel and hearing the train's whistle fade into the distance.
The slightly plump man then leaped back three or four meters, panting, and waved his hands, saying,
"Ceasefire, ceasefire! They've left, we're safe!"
The goatee man looked utterly confused and questioned,
"What are you talking about? Why did you suddenly hit me? Are you crazy?"
The slightly plump man supported himself with his hands on his thighs, bending over and gasping for breath, saying,
"You know nothing. If I hadn't punched you just now, you'd be dead!"
"I saved your life, don't you understand?"