Kingdom of Corrosion

However, the road sign gave Maya inspiration; in the future, when moving the base again, they could consider heading towards Leimeng Town and Fantasy City instead of North City. After feeling the pressure of survival in Left County, Maya believed that while big cities were abundant in resources, the threats to life were too high. With the rotting of food in the summer, the advantage of ample resources in big cities would vanish.

Shana agreed with Maya’s opinion, thinking that agriculture and breeding should be the apocalyptic version’s answer, something big cities clearly couldn’t provide. County towns should be the largest urban unit where players could survive.

While releasing chickens and taking a walk, the two Deputy Commanders discussed the future of Shadow. Lin Wu, who was on lookout duty, informed them of her new discovery, "There’s a manhole cover by highway 99."

Shana said, "That should be used for highway drainage." There were many manhole covers in the city, but many were not for sewage systems; instead, they were designated for utilities like electrical cables, natural gas, and water pipe maintenance, and these systems weren’t connected to the sewage system. The sewage system, as the name implies, is meant to deal with domestic wastewater and urban rainfall.

Under Lin Wu’s cover, the two Deputy Commanders walked to highway 99 and found the manhole cover mentioned by Lin Wu. The cover was outside the highway guardrail, and following it, they could see many drains, which was typical of a storm drain maintenance access point. The cover’s purpose wasn’t to let water pour into the sewage system but to provide a passage for unclogging and maintenance.

After removing the manhole cover, Maya went inside and saw the blueprint of the sewage system. It was simple and unique, independent of the main sewage network. Apart from highway 99, the blueprint showed only four entrances and exits, indicating a drainage system meant solely for stormwater, separate from the urban sewage system.

Now they needed to scout the locations of the four entrances and exits, hoping to use them to expand Shadow’s operational reach. After a brief reconnaissance, Maya called everyone to a meeting via headsets, preparing to form an expedition to venture into the sewage system.

The stormwater sewage system had several unique features. The first feature was that the passageways were very spacious. The second was the absence of foul odors. The third was that there were quite a few zombies inside. Preliminary reconnaissance information suggested that before the outbreak of the zombie virus, the industrial district of Shuixi had organized an evacuation. They entered the storm drain with food and clean water to hide. Of course, when the nest is overturned, none are unbroken, and in the end, they didn’t escape their fate of death.

Shana said, "The main channel under highway 99 is four meters high and three meters wide and has very poor lighting. The tributaries are narrower, about one and a half meters wide, and there are many of them. Maya and I suspect that Night Demons may be hiding in the waterways. The good news is that during the day, the drainage holes can provide some light. However, the distribution of these holes is irregular and lacks any discernible pattern."

Peanut asked, "If chased by a Night Demon, is it possible to run to a drainage hole light source for refuge?"

Lin Wu said, "Based on my understanding of Night Demons, the likelihood of being chased is very small; you’re more likely to drop dead on the spot. Except for the Double-body Snow Egg, none of us here can outrun a Night Demon."