Coming out, it was one person and one puppet; going back, a few survivors followed behind.
These people carried large sacks of grain on their backs—grains gathered from the cold storage and other hotel areas. For a sanctuary that once had thousands of survivors, this amount of grain was scarce. Tang Yu knew most of the grain had already been destroyed during the demon tide.
Tang Yu naturally accepted this grain. He originally thought some survivors might be jealous of this batch of grain, since they were the ones who discovered the cold storage first. However, he was overthinking.
These grains were unowned, just like picking fruits in the wild. Although there is indeed the saying of first come, first served, needless to say, if Tang Yu didn't come, these survivors' bodies would have long turned cold. Even if he did take them by force, probably no one would dare say anything.
It was no longer the time when the apocalypse just broke out, when some still believed that worldly rules and morality could bind the strong. Those naive enough to think so likely wouldn't survive until now. What could bind the strong were either more powerful individuals or the strong's own bottom lines.
Even so,
Tang Yu still gave these survivors some grain as a reward for transporting it, which immediately boosted their energy significantly.
He couldn't help but sigh, thinking about the benefits of having someone to order around.
Number One was strong, but couldn't help much with transporting, as the grain wasn't packed neatly in boxes but scattered in various bags. No matter how strong Number One was, it couldn't carry much at one time. On the contrary, these survivors working together and using some tools improved efficiency quickly.
Walking and chatting along the way, Tang Yu soon got to know these people.
Their identities were quite similar to his. They were survivors lucky enough to escape doom when their sanctuary was destroyed by the demon tide. Among them, the leader was a middle-aged man named Chen Haiping, an awakener. So Tang Yu began to inquire about how the sanctuary was destroyed.
For him, he only knew the sanctuary was destroyed by the demon tide, but was ignorant of the specifics. Chen Haiping, being an awakener, must know more. For the future development of his territory, Tang Yu felt he needed to be informed.
Chen Haiping didn't think much about it.
In his heart, Tang Yu and Number One were powerful figures from another place, who had saved them. Naturally, he answered everything in full detail.
He just smiled bitterly, "There used to be a sanctuary here, but it was breached by the demon tide two days ago. Almost all survivors were wiped out. Besides us few, probably not many made it alive."
"Demon tide? It's indeed terrifying, but for such a large sanctuary, even if it couldn't withstand the demon tide, retreat should still be an option, right?"
Chen Haiping's expression turned even more bitter, "Retreat? Do you know how long the sanctuary's defense line held against the demon tide?"
"Three minutes." He held up three fingers. "Only three minutes! Let alone retreating, some survivors didn't even know what happened before they were suddenly killed by demonized beasts."
Tang Yu's face showed surprise.
This was not feigned. He originally thought the sanctuary was destroyed after a fierce battle, but apparently that wasn't the case at all!
"I used to be a team leader in the sanctuary. When the demon tide happened, I was resting in my residence. Upon hearing the alarm, I immediately rushed to the defense line. But before I arrived, I saw the demonized beasts pouring into the sanctuary like a flood."
Recalling, Chen Haiping continued, "The defense of the sanctuary wasn't weak. Although originally a small sanctuary, our strongest awakener was in the third layer and had also luckily awakened a special ability. Such strength would be considered as an expert even in a large sanctuary. In ours or neighboring small sanctuaries, he was well-known."
"Plus, with the machine guns, explosive packs, and other weapons on the defense line, even if we couldn't withstand the demon tide back then, we absolutely shouldn't have been breached so easily." Chen Haiping took a breath, an unusual anger showing on his face. "The reason for this was that Wang Tai, the original director of the sanctuary, when things looked bad, abandoned the sanctuary and fled directly."
"Not only that, Wang Tai, upon fleeing, took away subordinates loyal to him from the defense line, and even a significant portion of the guns and ammunition! These weapons and ammunition were originally distributed by the Lindong military to support small sanctuaries like ours. Yet, that Wang took away most of them, leaving the defense line riddled with gaps, which the demonized beasts breached easily."
"Even the strongest awakener was killed by a sneak attack from a demonized beast. I was lucky enough to dodge a bullet, but besides Wang Tai's people, probably it's just us who managed to survive by sheer luck."
Selfishness might be an innate human trait, which stood out even more in the apocalypse.
Before coming to the sanctuary, Tang Yu was with a group of hundreds of survivors. But by the time the entire group reached the sanctuary, less than a hundred survived.
Many died by the demonized beasts, but even more died directly or indirectly at the hands of other humans.
Tang Yu had no position to speak about it, facing such matters; he often watched coldly, which was why he survived until now.
He also wasn't in a position to blame Wang Tai. Perhaps when facing the impending destruction of a sanctuary, Wang Tai's choice could not be entirely wrong. However, for those abandoned, resentment was inevitable.
As one of the abandoned, Tang Yu felt some anger but not as much as he had imagined.
Perhaps it was because he survived and even activated the system, or perhaps anger was only needed by the weak, while he desired to control his destiny.
After speaking freely, Chen Haiping felt much of the suffocating sensation in his chest dissipate. He no longer dwelled on past matters. The problem of survival was what he should consider now.
After moving one batch of food, alongside Tang Yu in several consecutive trips, they soon transported all the hotel food to the villa area.
However, after a few trips, Chen Haiping sensed something was off.
He initially thought Tang Yu and Number One were strong individuals from a large sanctuary and had just passed through here, perhaps planning to leave soon. But gradually, from their chats, he realized these two had no intention of leaving. This clean young man planned to establish a sanctuary here.
Establish a sanctuary?
He initially thought the other party was joking. However, after moving the grain, the other party hired them to transport some abandoned stones and wood. Although Chen Haiping couldn't tell what they were for, he sensed these two experts seemed to be serious?!
He had just mentioned a sanctuary here was destroyed by the demon tide, but...
Apparently, everything he said had been for nothing!