Chapter 205: Scent of Blood
Every day, countless people sought out the officials to settle disputes and seek justice. Some had lost their food, some had their medicine and clothes robbed, and others had their Crystal Cores stolen. The chaotic order left the soldiers responsible for maintaining stability absolutely exhausted.
This chaos persisted until the perpetrators of these rampant thefts and robberies were finally apprehended and summarily executed in public without exception.
The executioners loudly read out their crimes, their final decree echoing through the night sky: "In troubled times, harsh laws must be applied. Anyone who endangers the order of the migration or infringes on the survival rights of others will be strictly punished without mercy!"
Whether the culprit was a squad member or a civilian, anyone who dared to offend was dealt with decisively. Over a thousand people were executed in just three days. The spectating survivors watched in dead silence, many of their faces stricken with terror. With no one daring to blatantly harbor greedy thoughts anymore, the massive convoy finally settled into an orderly calm.
Every day, countless stories of human warmth and coldness, of joys, sorrows, partings, and reunions, played out across the migrating convoy. Some supported each other through desperate times, warming one another with the faint light of their compassion. Others, driven by selfish desires, didn’t hesitate to trample on the lives of their fellow survivors.
As the night deepened, sparse lights flickered to life inside the town’s houses. The survivors had lit their evolved charcoal, its faint glow dispelling the chill while illuminating the rawest depths of human nature in this apocalypse.
Late into the night, the freezing north wind howled past. Every hundred meters, officially dispatched soldiers and squad members stood guard, patrolling the perimeter and vigilantly keeping an eye out for any surrounding movement.
After dinner, Luna Dawson brought the little ones into her dimension to rest, taking Pinky along as well. The dimension’s warm and comfortable environment was a stark contrast to the bitter cold outside. Pinky immediately grew excited, wobbling its round body and letting out crisp, loud RIBBITs full of joy.
The other little ones warmly welcomed the newcomer. Rollo, acting like a social butterfly, led Pinky around to introduce it to the dimension’s other small animals. Little Sweet Potato stood atop Pinky’s head with its hands on its hips, muttering away as it chatted with the frog. Little Tiger lightly hopped onto Pinky’s back, spinning around twice. Its golden eyes sparkled as it occasionally patted Pinky’s big belly with its soft paw pads in greeting. Purple Bean gently swayed its vines, releasing a faint fragrance as it tenderly rubbed against Pinky’s head to express its welcome.
Luna fetched a large basin of spirit spring water and placed it nearby. Pinky’s gaze was instantly captivated. Its large eyes sparkled like diamonds as it stared intently at the basin and audibly gulped. Upon receiving an approving nod from Luna, it immediately pounced to the edge of the basin and happily drained the water, letting out loud GULP GULP GULP sounds. After finishing, it licked its lips, seemingly still wanting more.
Before long, the mud-covered frog cheerfully and excitedly dove into the dimension’s small river. It rolled and played wantonly in the water, splashing up waves and scaring all the fish and shrimp into fleeing until they vanished from sight.
Luna leaned against a nearby tree trunk, watching them fool around with no intention of intervening. Since the dimension had its own purification function, she never had to bother cleaning up animal droppings or managing the water where the aquatic life lived. Everything consistently remained clean and fresh.
Ever since the Bodhi Tree bloomed, a faint, sweet fragrance had lingered around it. Luna simply laid out a soft bed beneath its branches, falling asleep every night accompanied by this wondrous floral scent. She slept exceptionally well here.
She wouldn’t leave the dimension until she woke up fully rested. Afterward, she would lie in the master bedroom of her light-steel villa, monitoring the surrounding activity while training her spiritual power. The little ones always stayed in the room with her. Now, with the addition of Pinky, the originally spacious bedroom suddenly felt much more cramped. She had to be extra careful when walking to avoid accidentally stepping on any of the little guys.
Luna glanced out the window at the swaying branches, which bore numerous flower buds the size of basketballs. She couldn’t help but mutter, "The creatures in this apocalypse really all come with cheat codes."
In a distant night-watch tent, a dozen people huddled around a fire, chattering away to fight off their sleepiness. Several captains and military officers on duty strolled out of the tent in twos and threes. They squatted on the ground and smoked, the red embers of their cigarettes flickering in the cold wind, clearly visible from far away.
Luna focused her senses for a few seconds. Everything within a three-kilometer radius was quiet, devoid of any danger signals. Reassured, she closed her eyes and leaned back against the bed to rest.
An unknown amount of time passed before a wet, warm sensation brushed against the back of her hand—it was Rollo’s little nose. Luna’s eyes snapped open, and her spiritual power threads subconsciously probed outward. Apart from some scattered mutated flora and fauna and a few zombies, she found no immediate threats.
She scratched Rollo’s chin and turned to ask Little Sweet Potato beside her, "What’s wrong with it? Is it acting up again?"
"It just smelled fresh blood. Human blood," Little Sweet Potato replied, shaking its head in bewilderment. "A dog’s nose really is sharp. I didn’t sense a thing."
"Human blood?" Luna’s heart skipped a beat, instantly snapping her fully awake.
She grabbed her combat suit draped over the side of the bed and quickly threw it on. Pulling up her mask, she waved at the two little ones. "Come on, let’s go take a look outside."
She glanced at the bedside clock. It was just past three in the morning—the time when people slept the deepest and things were most likely to go wrong.
Luna headed straight for the nearest night-watch tent. This tent was guarded by Shane Shaw’s team. He had just completed the shift handover with the previous captain and had to hold out until dawn. They had only been on duty for a little over half an hour.
When Shane saw Luna approaching, his expression shifted immediately. Tensing up, he scanned the surroundings. Finding nothing unusual, he hurried out to greet her. "Luna? What’s going on? Did something happen?"
Luna patted Rollo’s head. "This little guy smelled blood, so I came over to check. Is anyone hurt around here?"
Shane immediately turned back and counted the people in the tent. After triple-checking, he let out a sigh of relief. "Our Tent 9 is fine. Everyone’s here, and I don’t see anyone injured."
Luna tugged at her mask, pulling it up slightly, and pointed toward another tent in the middle of the convoy. "Whose squad is stationed over there?"
"Omni Squad and Military Command personnel are guarding it together," Shane said after a quick glance. He added, "I ran into Company Commander Yates during the shift change just now. Do you want to go over and take a look?"
"We have to. Look at its little head—it’s practically twisting off in that direction," Luna said, pointing at Rollo, who kept craning its neck toward the other tent.
"I’ll go with you."
Remembering Luna’s previous conflict with Vance, Shane informed the military officers in his tent before following the young woman and her dog over.
The people inside the tent had long noticed Luna and her big fat dog outside. After all, the reputation of Sunset Squad’s captain had spread widely. Now, they were all clinging to the edge of the tent, peeking out as their eyes followed the pair.
Luna could feel Rollo growing increasingly agitated, its tail wagging frantically. The scent of blood definitely wasn’t from a normal scratch or fall. Her heart tightened involuntarily, and a faint sense of panic set in. Yet, when she carefully scanned the surrounding three kilometers again, she still only detected some low-level mutated animals and roughly a thousand wandering zombies. There really was no obvious danger in sight.
As she pondered this, they arrived outside the neighboring tent.
Shane stepped forward to greet the men first. "Company Commander Yates! Captain Dawson’s dog smelled the unusual scent of blood. Is anyone injured over here?"
Edward Eaton, who was smoking outside, had spotted them approaching a while ago. Upon hearing this, he immediately snuffed out his cigarette. With a booming voice, he replied, "No one’s injured. Everyone’s perfectly fine. It’s just Vance’s Team Three captain, Ian Wyatt, who stepped out a moment ago to relieve himself."