After Roger finished explaining the situation outside, a dead silence fell over the vehicle, followed by an uproar.
But with Roger present, the uproar was somewhat suppressed, eventually subsiding into hushed whispers among the crowd.
As a Transmigrator who didn't know the first thing about this world, Lin Xinghai naturally pricked up his ears, eavesdropping on their conversations to gather more information.
He soon learned that numbered shelters, like Shelter 83, were all small-scale facilities with basically no combat capability.
In contrast, places with proper names, like the Star Shield Shelter they were heading to, were medium-sized shelters.
Medium-sized shelters weren't just larger and better equipped; they even had military garrisons.
That was precisely why they could monitor the outside world and know so much.
However, this basic information was all Lin Xinghai managed to overhear. The rest was just a jumble of wild speculation.
Using the intel he had gathered, he began to think about his next steps.
Just as Roger had said, they were now a group of "White Pigs," completely powerless and at the mercy of others. He figured things wouldn't be much better once they reached the Star Shield Shelter.
He considered whether he should accept Roger's invitation to join his Mercenary Corps.
Although Lin Xinghai didn't know what kind of organization a Mercenary Corps was, it was clear that Mercenaries were allowed to carry guns. If he accepted the invitation...
'Wait, what did he say when we first met? That he was inviting me to be cannon fodder?'
But he believed that even if he joined their Mercenary Corps, he wouldn't actually be used as cannon fodder.
It was his B Level Genetic Assessment that had prompted the invitation in the first place.
But he still knew too little. Just how much potential did a B Level Genetic Assessment hold? Was their method of "cultivation" dangerous? He had no idea about any of this.
'I should wait and find a chance to sound him out,' Lin Xinghai silently decided.
Just then, the personnel carrier they were in seemed to start up. The sound of the engine was accompanied by a slight trembling of the vehicle's body.
At the same time, small "windows" opened in the thick Alloy walls all around them. These narrow, elongated slits were likely firing ports.
The firing ports were a bit narrow, but they were wide enough for those inside to get a clear view of the outside.
The number of personnel carriers parked outside was at least over 100.
In addition, there were more than ten special vehicles.
Lin Xinghai squinted, sizing them up. He guessed they were most likely Armored Vehicles, and the heavily armed occupants inside were probably real soldiers.
His gaze shifted further out. From his angle, he could see the entirety of Shelter 83. It was a structure that resembled a bird's nest.
'Wait, something seems off... Why is this Shelter so empty?'
Then the corner of his mouth twitched. In the distance, large machinery was cutting into the Shelter's Alloy outer walls, revealing the bare rock face behind them.
No wonder the Shelter was so empty. All its facilities had been dismantled, and now they weren't even sparing the walls and floors.
"In the apocalypse, every resource is precious," Roger said, having appeared beside him at some point.
Lin Xinghai fell silent. The world outside seemed even crueler than he had imagined.
「...」
But there was no time for him to get emotional. The engines starting meant it was time to leave. One by one, the personnel carriers lined up and drove out of the Shelter.
A moment later, it was their carrier's turn to move. As the vehicle drove on and his viewing angle changed, Lin Xinghai finally understood how these people had entered the underground Shelter.
They had actually used large-scale construction equipment to carve a road straight down to the underground level.
Yes, a road, not a tunnel, because it was simply too massive.
How to describe it?
A six-lane, two-way highway!
It was that spacious. Lin Xinghai could only marvel at the rapid advancement of technology.
After just two or three minutes, the vehicle reached the surface.
「...」
The surface environment could be described in one word: desolate.
As far as the eye could see, there were only ruined and collapsed buildings. There wasn't a speck of green, not a single living creature in sight. Even the sky was a hazy gray.
A cold wind gusted into the carrier, and Lin Xinghai felt a chill. 'Is this what Earth is like after the great catastrophe?'
The other people in the vehicle reacted even more poorly. Many of them started to cry, the hope in their eyes turning directly to despair.
After reaching the surface, the convoy formed several Defense Arrays and waited in place for another half hour.
The final wrap-up was only complete when the massive construction machines came up, hauling truckloads of Alloy steel.
The convoy officially set off for the Star Shield Shelter.
「...」
ROAR! ROAR! ROAR!
After driving for just over ten minutes, everyone faintly heard a bestial roar, but it was more unsettling than any animal cry.
'Could that... be the roar of a Zombie?' A guess immediately formed in Lin Xinghai's mind.
The roars grew closer and louder, seeming to merge into one continuous sound. If they were really Zombies, there had to be a lot of them—definitely more than a hundred.
When the sounds drew within a certain distance, they were immediately drowned out by a volley of machine-gun fire. The gunfire lasted for about half a minute, and when it stopped, the roars had vanished.
"Is it over?" someone asked in a low voice.
"Yep. It's over." Roger nodded, a strange smile playing on his lips. "Alright, White Pigs, time for your first lesson."
"What first lesson?" Seeing Roger's strange smile, many people had a bad feeling.
But Roger didn't answer. The personnel carrier continued forward and soon arrived at the site of the firefight.
Before they could get a clear look outside, the vehicle stopped, and the rear door opened.
It wasn't just their vehicle; the personnel carriers that followed did the same.
Then, the Shelter members were led out one by one.
"Next, I'm taking you over there. Every one of you has to touch those Zombies. That's your first lesson," Roger said, pointing to a pile of corpses not far away.
In terms of appearance, Zombies weren't all that different from humans, except for their pale skin and exceptionally long teeth and nails.
So, when the crowd looked in the direction Roger was pointing and saw the blood-soaked corpses, many of them threw up on the spot.
The women, in particular, vomited uncontrollably. After they were done, they retreated with pale faces, unwilling to even glance in that direction again.
"Everyone, line up and go touch the Zombies. Otherwise... Heh! You can just stay here and keep these corpses company!" Roger's voice rang out again. At that moment, many felt it was the whisper of a Demon.
Lin Xinghai's expression wasn't good either, but he understood that he was a fish on the chopping block. He had no choice but to obediently get in line and follow the group to the nearest corpse.
This corpse was relatively intact, with just a small hole in its forehead, likely from a single bullet that had pierced its skull.
But what he found strange was that there was another wound on the back of the Zombie's head.
He then noticed it wasn't just this Zombie; all the surrounding Zombies had a similar wound on the back of their heads.
'A finishing blow? But why cut the back of the head?'
Out of curiosity, and also to complete the "first lesson," Lin Xinghai reached out and touched the wound.
"DING! Blood Qi Power detected. Absorb?"