Before the shouts of pursuit had completely faded, a figure wearing battered armor and holding a weapon hurriedly rushed out from a ruined alley in the distance.
When he saw Chen Luo's tall figure and the Silver Wolf pack scattered around the battlefield amid the monster corpses, the young man immediately stopped.
He gasped heavily, raised his hand, and shouted loudly:
"Who are you, sir? Why are you here? Come with us. It's extremely dangerous outside right now. There was a huge monster roaming nearby just now. If it notices you, you'll be in danger."
The young man's voice had barely come from the distance when, accompanied by the tremendous commotion, he quickly ran out.
When he saw Chen Luo's group, he immediately called out a warning.
"Then we'll trouble you. We'll impose on you for a while."
Chen Luo was delighted when he saw living people, and the children felt the same way.
After all, having spent several consecutive days with only one another to talk to and no one else with whom they could truly communicate had become so unbearable that they did not know what to do.
Chen Luo led the children toward the direction from which the voice had come.
After all, the children were all children of nobles, so it was perfectly normal for them to understand the language of the Human race.
Thus, they followed Chen Luo all the way until they saw a square.
Quite a large number of refugees had gathered there.
"Hello, brother, and you kids. Come inside with us. We need to have a little chat."
A young man wearing camouflage military uniform and carrying a rifle that looked quite similar to an AKM greeted them with military bearing, yet his attitude was friendly as he invited everyone inside.
When Chen Luo entered, he discovered a scene of considerable chaos.
There were a large number of refugees there.
They were all survivors of this city.
A rough count suggested that there were fewer than thirty people, most of them women and children.
After all, most of the elderly had been abandoned outside and died, while the men had joined the army together and gone outside to fight those strange creatures, so it was perfectly normal for only a handful of men to remain here.
"Hello, everyone. Please allow me to introduce myself. I am Zhang Zewei, belonging to Group 3 of Squad 12, Platoon 29, Company C of the Shanhe City Refugee Camp."
"We are currently carrying out a mission to lead refugees back to cities where signs of life still remain."
"As for all of you, may I ask about your identities? If you are willing, you can also travel with us."
The young man who had brought everyone inside introduced himself according to military regulations.
Chen Luo did not hesitate either. He raised his hand in a military salute before introducing himself.
"Hello, Comrade Zhang. We are people who escaped from the city next to this one."
"First, let me introduce myself. My name is Lin Feng, and I have never served in the military."
"As for these five children, I adopted them and have taken care of them along the way. They are Christian (Chris), Avalon (Aaron), Celestia (Celes), Maria (Mana), and Aphy (Alice), respectively."
"They are all Demi-Humans, while this is my pet beast, Hina."
Chen Luo introduced everyone in turn to the man named Zhang Zewei standing before him.
After all, he could not completely trust this person yet, so he first gave a false name.
As for Hina, there was no need to hide her.
Otherwise, it would only make the others even more confused later.
Seeing Chen Luo behave this way, Chris immediately understood his intention.
He then conveyed Chen Luo's meaning to the other children.
Once they learned that this was a survival principle, they all understood what they needed to do.
At that moment, they immediately changed the way they addressed themselves to match the names they were currently using.
After all, when venturing outside, using false names was something everyone needed to know.
Even after the players descended, there would be periods when using aliases and disguising one's identity was necessary.
"Everyone needs to understand that the situation outside is extremely tense right now. The slightest carelessness could result in a monster attack."
"Three days ago, while escorting 246 people back to the city, we were attacked by monsters, resulting in more than 40 soldiers being killed in action, along with 189 other people losing their lives."
"We requested reinforcements, but it seems they never arrived."
"We have been trapped here."
Another man standing to Zhang Zewei's left explained the current situation to Chen Luo's group.
Zhang Zewei then continued:
"At present, only ten people remain in our team."
"Five people have already gone out hunting."
"Given the current situation, if nothing unexpected happens, our existing food and ammunition will run out within three days at most."
"Therefore, besides stockpiling food in advance and preparing to leave this place, we also sent those five people out to carve a bloody path through the monsters so that we can continue toward the city where survivors remain."
"If that's the case, then according to what you've told us, how far away are we from that place?"
At this moment, a person who was considerably shorter than an adult opened a holographic map and introduced the situation to everyone:
"At present, every city within a radius of 1,800 kilometers around here has fallen into a state of being occupied by monsters."
"The Beast Disaster broke out in this very city, and they have now begun spreading outward."
"If we want to return to our city, it is a full 3,500 kilometers from here."
"Even reaching the nearest city would require traveling more than 2,800 kilometers..."
The soldier continued explaining the current situation and the conditions of the surrounding cities.
When Chen Luo saw the soldier's finger pointing toward the location where the Beast Disaster had first erupted, he realized that it was actually one of the most difficult beginner cities to reconstruct.
Chen Luo never expected that rebuilding such a city would require nearly one hundred thousand players and a full eight years, together with three neighboring cities, before they could successfully create a beginner-village region.
It even became the first beginner village personally established by players.
Chen Luo carefully looked at the map and also recognized the city he had just left.
It was none other than Wanjin City.
It was also one of the second batch of cities personally rebuilt by players for the purpose of establishing a beginner village.
However, just as Chen Luo's thoughts reached this point, the soldier had already closed the map and continued:
"According to the original route, we would reach the city in another five days."
"But because of the unexpected incident, if nothing else goes wrong, we will probably have to walk all the way back."
"In that case, it may take us two months to return to the city."
Chen Luo also began assessing the refugees.
Their bodies looked somewhat yellowish and pale.
Some had extremely dry lips, suggesting that they might not have had enough water for a long time.
Their food intake was probably insufficient as well.
It seemed that carrying out rescue operations was not an easy task.
Looking around, there were knife cuts and claw marks everywhere.
The soldiers' corpses and the monsters' corpses also bore traces of slashes and bullet wounds.
Even the square itself showed signs that it was about to collapse.
It could be said that this place would probably be unable to shelter them for much longer.
They had to leave as soon as possible.
But regardless, everyone also needed to replenish their nutrition.
Everyone needed enough energy to continue moving forward.
The children could not bear to watch the others continue suffering, especially Chris.
After all, he was the prince of a kingdom himself and understood very well what would ultimately happen to refugees like these if they were abandoned here.
Sometimes, even if one was not human, that saintly sense of compassion could still exist.