Chapter 606: Departure
On New Year’s Eve of 2032, Chen Ye slept better than he ever had.
He had expected the night to be like before, at best letting him sleep an hour and a half, probably accompanied by nightmares.
But after receiving the red envelope from Xu Lina, that situation improved dramatically.
Inside Xu Lina’s red envelope was a clear-heart talisman.
She probably saw that Chen Ye had suffered from chronic insomnia, so she found a way to get this talisman for him.
When he got up in the morning, Chen Ye saw the talisman paper burned into ashes beside the bed and for a moment didn’t know what to say.
There’s a saying about how the kindness of a beauty is the hardest to endure.
Although that saying didn’t quite apply to someone like Chen Ye, he still remembered Xu Lina’s talisman.
If he had gone to obtain such a talisman himself, it probably wouldn’t have been difficult.
But for Xu Lina, as the weakest superhuman, she didn’t have many cards to play. She must have paid a high price to get it.
“Yawn…”
Chen Ye stepped out of the truck bed yawning.
“Mr. Chen, happy New Year!”
As Chen Ye walked, he heard countless sincere “Happy New Year” greetings.
Even Chen Ye felt a little warmth spread across his face, and he returned a faint smile to everyone who greeted him.
It’s New Year, a new year, a fresh start.
“Chen Ye, happy New Year!”
“Little Fish, happy New Year. I hope you’re less annoying this year!”
Chen Ye ruffled Little Fish’s soft hair.
She immediately slapped away his annoying hand without mercy.
“Hmph, you’re probably the most annoying person in the whole convoy!”
Little Fish retorted without restraint.
Most ordinary people were easy to deal with, but Little Fish was not.
After giving Chen Ye a New Year greeting, Little Fish stuck out her small hand in front of him. “Chen Ye, where’s my red envelope?”
“Wait, Little Fish, you’re about to turn eighteen. You still want a red envelope?”
“You idiot, I’m only fourteen. If you don’t want to give a red envelope, just say so.”
“Bingo, I just don’t want to give one!”
Chen Ye took pleasure in her chagrin.
“No way. Everyone else gave one. If you don’t give one, aren’t you ashamed?”
Little Fish looked at him disdainfully.
“I’m proud—because I have no shame!”
Chen Ye acted completely unconcerned.
“You… disgusting!”
Little Fish’s face flushed with anger.
But if anyone thought she would give up, that was impossible.
The little girl trailed behind Chen Ye pestering him constantly, never stopping.
Finally, Chen Ye had had enough.
He pulled a Snickers bar from his pocket and tossed it over.
“Yay…”
Little Fish grabbed the Snickers and ran off like a gust of wind.
“Dantai Bie, happy New Year. Hand over the red envelope!”
Dantai Bie had just crawled out of his tent, hair still a mess like a bird’s nest on his head.
Little Fish immediately started scrounging through him.
Without thinking, Dantai Bie mumbled, “I’m definitely still sleepy. Let me sleep a while longer!”
“No. You’re awake now. You can’t sleep. Red envelope, red envelope!”
Little Fish grabbed Dantai Bie’s sleeve, her body forming a forty-five-degree angle with the ground.
Most people in the camp were awake.
The “Happy New Year” greetings flowed nonstop.
As captain, Chu Che absolutely heard that phrase the most.
Of course, Captain Chu, like Chen Ye, was stingy and didn’t have many red envelopes to give.
Besides, in the convoy there was really only Little Fish suitable for receiving red envelopes.
There might be others around seventeen or eighteen, but none of those young people had a Sword Immortal Sequence sister.
By now the camp had started arranging departure matters.
For this operation, the convoy’s ordinary people would stay at the base. The Silent Council would also leave some superhumans to maintain order at the base.
Superhumans were the main force for this mission. There would also be a few ordinary survivors doing auxiliary work.
Those survivors were mainly responsible for driving and organizing the supplies the superhumans brought back.
Within the Fair Convoy, people reportedly schemed fiercely for the chance to follow on this mission.
Their convoy’s rule was: those who work get rewards.
Anyone who contributed labor would receive some supplies from the superhumans as payment.
Other convoys apparently did not follow the same rule.
People selected from other convoys mostly wore bitter expressions.
After a simple breakfast, the convoy members boarded their vehicles and started for the base square to assemble.
Chen Ye’s Monster Pickup Truck had long since been fully charged.
At times like these, as a pathfinder, he naturally stayed behind.
So besides Captain Chu, who is of the Pathfinder Sequence, everyone else in the Fair Convoy went out, including Gong Yong of the Mechanic Sequence.
Gong Yong held his chainsaw for cutting wood, his face very serious.
Xu Lina was fully armed as well. Her black jeans hugged exaggerated curves, and two black pistols were strapped at the outside of her thighs.
Combined with her devilish figure and the red tail protruding from the back of her head, she looked like a popular character at an anime convention.
Of course, not as exaggerated as a convention cosplay.
This woman had ways to hide guns in unnoticed places and rarely held them openly. Now, doing so clearly bolstered her confidence.
Nearby, vehicles from the Post-Apocalyptic Opera Troupe camp also rolled out.
Sunshine boy Wu Zehui wore a Sun Wukong mask. When he saw Chen Ye and the others, he waved at them, acting all monkeyish.
What caught Chen Ye’s attention was that Wu Zehui actually held a golden-banded staff in his hand.
It couldn’t be Sun Wukong’s real staff; it was likely a wonder he had obtained somewhere.
He belonged to the Hundred Acts Sequence; his current appearance changes probably related to his ability to imitate.
The Skeleton Convoy followed behind the Fair Convoy and the Post-Apocalyptic Opera Troupe Convoy.
A vehicle with a skull painted on it rolled up after the two neighbors.
Many people stood at the camp entrance, waving frantically, looking very worried.
The group leaving seemed excited.
The short-haired, taciturn girl sat in the front passenger seat.
The group soon reached the base square.
Many convoys had already gathered here.
The Shepherd Convoy and Auntie Zhao’s Happy Family convoy were clearly among them.
There were also the convoys led by Ye and Xu Linhao.
When the Fair Convoy arrived, Crow climbed onto a vehicle and waved frantically at Chen Ye, signaling them to come over.
Chen Ye and the others naturally drove over.
The Post-Apocalyptic Opera Troupe followed behind them.
The Skeleton Convoy looked around and ultimately joined as well.
In such an environment, banding together was clearly important.
In this apocalypse, sometimes humans were more terrifying than the anomalies.
The large square had cars stopped in clumps all over.
People chatted in bits and pieces.
But everyone’s gaze drifted toward one direction.
There, the group looked very different from Chen Ye’s crew.
They wore identical uniforms with a common emblem.
The emblem depicted a wrinkled old man holding up an index finger to his lips in a shushing gesture.
Anyone who saw that emblem would immediately know they belonged to the Silent Council.
They had dozens of vehicles over there.
The emblems on each person also varied.
Some wore gold emblems, some silver.
The blue emblems were the fewest. Those people behaved like ordinary survivors; they were probably the most common Silent Council members.
There were also black emblems, whose bearers seemed to have higher status than the blue emblem group.
The gold and silver ones were undoubtedly superhumans.
Among those, the gold emblems were the rarest—only two people, it seemed.
“These are all Silent Council observers!”
“The gold ones are special-class observers, usually at least mid Sequence superhumans.”
“The silver ones are high-level observers, usually low Sequence superhumans.”
“The black ones are black observers, filled by the Black Clothes!”
“The blue ones are ordinary observers, usually regular people.”
Auntie Zhao explained to Chen Ye and the others who were looking that way.
These captains attended meetings all the time and knew quite a bit about the Silent Council.
“Is there anything above special-class observers?” Dantai Bie asked curiously.
“Nobody knows. The Silent Council’s people are very mysterious!”
“These guys always say half and leave half hidden. Who knows what secrets they hold!”
“Iron Lion, Ding Dong, you guys are too naive. If you meet Silent Council people in Xi City, watch your backs. These folks give off a bad vibe!”
Auntie Zhao glanced at the Silent Council members with a wary look.
Chen Ye answered casually, “Got it!”
Auntie Zhao glared at Chen Ye and snorted, “You’re not worried. As long as you don’t screw others over, you’re practically a good person!”
Chen Ye: “…”
“By the way, didn’t that kid Chu Che come to send you off?”
“Nope!”
“That old bastard really has a big heart!”
If Captain Chu heard himself called “that old bastard,” his heart might break.
Captain Chu had few hairs on his head, but he wasn’t actually very old.
The Return to the City Plan could never be finished in one or two days.
According to the Silent Council’s plan, it would take at least a week, maybe as much as a month.
After all, it involved an entire city. Although Xi City wasn’t large, it would surely be full of anomalies.
Plus a convoy arrived at the base last night, bringing the total here to thirty-two convoys.
There were about one hundred fifty superhumans.
Ordinary people at the base had already exceeded three thousand.
At that moment, a flock of birds flew into the middle of the square and circled the high platform.
A figure slipped out from among the birds.
It was Elder Hou.
He wore a black tailcoat, a black silk top hat, and a bird perched on his shoulder, holding a megaphone in his right hand.
His entrance stunned many people.
Elder Hou scanned everyone on site, then raised the megaphone toward the bird on his shoulder.
“Everyone, if this Return to the City Plan succeeds, it will be a monumental success for humanity…”
“Blah blah blah…”
A sharp bird voice came through the megaphone.
Chen Ye doubted whether Hou Junji was the bird or the mute.
The introductory speech took less than a minute.
Elder Hou waved his hand sharply: “Depart!”