Noticing the bald-headed youth lift his head, Logan quickly turned away, ducking behind a tall person to avoid being recognized.
"What are you hiding from?" A somewhat familiar voice sounded from behind him.
Logan stiffened slightly and turned to see that the person he had used as a shield was none other than Charles Warren, the officer who had just escorted him here.
Charles Warren's sharp gaze locked onto Logan's eyes as if trying to discern something.
Logan realized he was under suspicion. Before he could answer Charles Warren's question, another squad of soldiers arrived at the open area.
"Report! We found two students near the port's exit; they said they got lost!"
Hearing this, Logan turned his head to look. His expression shifted as he recognized one of the students being brought over.
Charles Warren glanced at Logan and then walked over to the two students.
For some reason, his instincts, honed from years in the military, told him that this boy named Logan was not as simple as he appeared.
Charles Warren approached the two female students and asked the soldier who had brought them over, "Which school are they from? Have their identities been verified?"
"Report, sir! They're from South City Art Academy, and their identities have been confirmed!"
"Officer, we've been wandering around nearby for so long and couldn't find our way. It's getting dark, and we're really scared! What's going on in South City? Why did our phones suddenly stop working? I want to go home..." One of the girls started crying as soon as she saw Charles Warren.
Charles Warren frowned, intending to ask more questions, but Logan narrowed his eyes and waved at the other female student.
"Ashley!"
Ashley had taken the $20,000 Logan gave her and gone shopping with her roommate two days ago, only to pass out for some reason. When she woke up, her phone was dead, and she discovered that South City had undergone a massive change. With no cars and no phone, she and her friend had tried to walk back to school based on memory but got lost. Seeing the soldiers, she was initially relieved and sought help, only to be brought here instead. Surrounded by strangers and armed soldiers, Ashley felt nervous and uneasy.
"Ashley?!" Hearing the familiar voice, Ashley turned and saw Logan.
"Logan?! What are you doing here?!" Ashley responded, her face lighting up with joy.
In this unfamiliar and solemn environment, seeing someone she knew gave her a significant sense of security.
Seeing how familiar they were with each other, Charles Warren asked Ashley, "You know each other?"
Ashley nodded repeatedly, clearly happy. "Yes, we're classmates!"
In her excitement, Ashley spoke quickly, forgetting to mention they were high school classmates. Originally intending to clarify, she decided it didn't matter after all.
Hearing this, Charles Warren's gaze softened as he looked at Logan. It seemed he had been overthinking things.
"You three wait here. I'll find a colleague familiar with South City's layout to escort you back to your school," Charles Warren said before turning and leaving.
Logan breathed a quiet sigh of relief.
"Ash, who is this?" asked Ella, Ashley's classmate, who was still sniffling.
"I'm a student from the sculpture department," Logan said, giving Ashley a wink.
Ashley was puzzled as to when Logan had become a sculpture student, but after seeing his expression, she quickly understood that he wanted her to play along. Since Logan had been so generous, she was willing to help with something as trivial as this.
"Yes, he's also a freshman," Ashley said vaguely.
After chatting for a few minutes, Charles Warren returned with a soldier who looked only a few years older than the three of them.
"This is Dev. He's also from South City and knows the way to your school. Follow him."
Logan appreciated.
"This is our duty. Be careful on the way. If it gets too dark, return in the morning," Charles Warren advised, the last part directed at Dev.
Dev acknowledged the order and led the three away.
Not long after Logan and the others left, a soldier approached Charles Warren and reported, "Sir, we've identified the person responsible for killing the port workers. The culprit confessed that he and his accomplices committed the murders, but his four accomplices were killed by someone else. According to this bald-headed man, it was a young security officer in a black raincoat who shot them!"
"A young security officer in a black raincoat?" Charles immediately thought of Logan's face. "Take me to the culprit."
...
After walking for a while, Dev noticed that the two girls were moving slowly and urged them, "We need to pick up the pace. It'll be dark soon, and with the city's power out, there won't be any streetlights. It's not safe to walk at night."
Logan glanced at his mechanical watch. It was already 5:27 p.m. He recalled that the distance from here to South City Art Academy was about 5 kilometers, which would take about an hour to walk at their current pace.
Now disguised as a South City Art Academy student, Logan realized that to avoid exposing his identity, he needed to accompany Ashley back to the academy before slipping away. If he left midway and didn't show up at the academy, the soldier might report back, and his cover would be blown. South City was small enough that running into them again could cause more trouble.
He decided it wasn't a big deal to walk a few kilometers. With his flashlight, he wasn't afraid of walking at night.
Ashley and Ella quickened their pace slightly, following Dev more closely, while Logan walked beside him.
"Why did the power go out in South City?" Ella asked.
Dev thought for a moment. Since there were no orders to withhold information, he replied, "A solar storm two days ago damaged the city's power grid."
"How long will it take to fix? How are we supposed to live without electricity? My phone's broken too. Are you going to fix it? I don't have money to buy a new one!" Ella was quite talkative, her questions coming in rapid succession.
Dev was momentarily overwhelmed by the barrage of questions but answered, "The authorities have sent people to repair the power lines. Until power is restored, you should stay at your school. Other troops will come to distribute emergency supplies in a few days."
"What kind of emergency supplies?"
"Things like food, candles, matches, lighters..."
"What?! Candles? Oh my God, I'm going to have to live by candlelight? How scary that would be at night! Ash, what are we going to do?"
Ashley also looked worried.
The two girls continued to complain about how inconvenient life would be without electricity, but Logan knew the truth. When the extreme cold set in, even undamaged power lines exposed to the elements would freeze and become useless. All machines used to process precision parts were already damaged, and no one could repair power stations and transformers by hand. Let alone reconnecting power lines in the middle of a blizzard.
Electricity would never be restored.