Slicing through a handful of Deathclaws barely registered as an event for Great Vajra. Speed unbroken, chassis blades retracted, the vehicle kept moving down the expressway without pause.
An evolved bird had been circling overhead. It waited for the convoy to pass, then dropped down to investigate the remains.
The next hour produced nothing worth noting beyond that Deathclaw interlude.
Past Jianshan and Fuchashan, the territory shifted — the air thinned of ambient Activity as they crossed into the barren zone. The contrast with Hefei’s abundant zone was visible in the landscape: sparse, emptier, the colors washed out. But the storm had done something to even this depleted terrain. Whatever scraggly ground cover had survived was putting out new green growth, and occasionally a Featherweight-or-below evolved beast could be seen browsing leaves at the roadside in unhurried contentment.
The food chain is trying to repair itself. Herbivorous evolved beasts…
Then the Juchao District ruins came into view.
Bantang Township again.
The convoy’s engine noise broke across the silence of the abandoned streets. Shen Cong turned them off the expressway at the northern ring road and called a temporary halt.
He launched the DJI Generation 8.
The Fenghuang Mountain Vineyard Camp appeared in the feed. It had changed substantially — stone construction everywhere, more organized than he remembered, developing at a reasonable pace.
“Move out.” He restarted Great Vajra and headed for the mountain’s base.
Twenty minutes later, the convoy reached the foot of Fenghuang Mountain. The camp was clearly visible from there. A group of survivors in leather armor came spilling out of the gates — they’d spotted the convoy.
Thud. The mesh skirting dropped, enclosing the undercarriage and tires.
Shen Cong radioed Liu Qihang. “Fenghuang Mountain Vineyard Camp. You can go in and open negotiations.”
“Understood.”
Liu Qihang took his team toward the camp. Shen Cong stayed in Great Vajra and changed into the Half-Activated Armor. He didn’t go out yet — he needed a read on the situation before deciding his next move.
He’d brought the convoy here without telling anyone that this was the camp he’d founded himself, that he knew its entire leadership, that the district chief currently running it was someone he’d personally installed. There was no point in saying it. Whether the two camps merged was a decision between their respective leaderships. He had no interest in influencing it.
The cameras gave him everything he needed. Zhu Haifeng, grown a beard now — something about him had settled into the role of authority. Zhao Yalan, still gesticulating during negotiations, still visibly convinced of her own rightness. Zhang Youhai. Wang Yingying. And Li Junfu, with a dog at his side — Heidou.
Li Junfu had taken the advice. He’d brought the people of Xiao Li’gang Village to the Fenghuang Mountain camp.
The discussion didn’t take long. Liu Qihang returned to Great Vajra with Zhu Haifeng beside him.
“Colonel Hu, the Fenghuang Mountain Vineyard Camp has agreed to relocate to the Mingfa Camp. We’re preparing to load people and cargo. As discussed, Great Vajra will take the freight — shall we start loading?”
Thud.
Shen Cong stepped down from the vehicle in full armor.
The moment the dark silver Half-Activated Armor appeared, Zhu Haifeng’s face changed completely.
“Boss Huang?”
“Boss Huang?” Liu Qihang glanced between them with mild confusion. “District Chief Zhu, I think you have the wrong person. This is the Edge of Evolution of our Mingfa Camp — humanity’s strongest evolved person — Colonel Hu Ge.”
“Colonel Hu Ge? But—” Zhu Haifeng blinked.
Further back in the crowd, Zhang Youhai and others had already turned to look. Recognition moved through them. The Half-Activated Armor had been modified since they’d last seen it, but the overall silhouette was unmistakable — a full-body coverage armor in that distinctive style wasn’t something you forgot.
Shen Cong offered no explanation and no pleasantries. “Enough. If you’re relocating, do it quickly. Valuables can go in my vehicle. Ordinary goods and people go in the convoy behind. Move.”
The familiar tone. The familiar manner. This was definitely Yellow Boss. Zhu Haifeng recovered his composure and nodded. “Understood. I’ll organize it now.”
The camp came to life with purposeful chaos. The survivors were, on the whole, excited.
Several of the older ones talked continuously while carrying goods down the mountain, voices bright with something that had been absent for months.
“I knew it. I always knew it — the state, the government, the Party would never abandon us. I always knew they’d come.”
Zhang Youhai maneuvered himself to the front of the loading detail and appeared at Shen Cong’s elbow almost immediately.
“Boss Huang — good to see you again. Word is you’ve made Colonel up in Hefei. Strongest evolved person in the camp. I’ve got one word for you: respect.” He had used two words.
Shen Cong kept his eyes moving across the crowd of passing survivors, scanning. “What happened here while I was gone?”
“Nothing dramatic. Two mushroom clouds went up to the east and shook everyone up. And those Activity fruits you left me — ate them all, never evolved.” Zhang Youhai had clearly not made peace with this. “Oh, but there was one interesting thing.”
“What.”
“Chaohu Lake.” He pointed roughly northwest — the direction of the lake, one of China’s five largest freshwater bodies. “We were low on food, went to the lake shore to try catching evolved fish. We saw a ten-meter fish get taken — not by us. About forty or fifty large wasps grabbed it out of the water and flew off with it.”
“Forty or fifty large wasps carried off a ten-meter fish.”
It sounded absurd even in the apocalypse. But the apocalypse had a tendency to make absurdity standard.
And the connection formed immediately — the Antgod, surrounded by six Dragon Hornets near Chaohu Lake. Shen Cong pulled The Huoxue from the vehicle, opened to the Dragon Hornet entry, and held the colored illustration toward Zhang Youhai.
“These wasps?”
“Exactly those.”
The confirmation settled something unpleasantly in Shen Cong’s chest.
He’d been telling himself the Dragon Hornet incident was contained — six individuals tracking the Antgod, not a genuine territorial expansion. The Juchao District sighting changed that reading entirely. If Dragon Hornets were hunting at Chaohu Lake, and Chaohu Lake was in Juchao District, then drawing a circle centered on the Huoshan Oasis with the Juchao District as the radius placed the entire Hefei metropolitan area inside Dragon Hornet foraging territory.
He buried the feeling and moved on.
“Keep working. Don’t overload. Keep the cargo manageable.”
“Of course — just the Activity fruits and bone-gold the district government has been collecting. Those need to go in your vehicle for safekeeping.”
Two hours later, the Fenghuang Mountain Vineyard Camp was packed and loaded. Everyone was aboard. The convoy turned back toward Hefei.
This time Great Vajra took the rear position — the road ahead had already been cleared on the way in, and the return journey should be straightforward.
When the convoy reached the Xinzhuang area, Shen Cong braked and stepped out.
The Treasure Bee hive. He’d left it here months ago and hadn’t been back.
Bee Treasure was among the most valuable Activity-enhancement materials he had — useless now as a direct enhancement for him, but still effective as a catalyst alongside other Activity fruits, amplifying their effect. His personal stock was running low.
He also wanted to bring back several Treasure Bees and larvae for the Research Institute to study. If captive breeding was viable, Bee Treasure would become a third reliable Activity food source alongside the Activity sweet potatoes and the Activity Peach — a stable, renewable supply rather than something that required hunting and foraging.
(End of Chapter 178)