Free Web NovelChapter 219: Chapter 145: Riverfront Port, Survivor Faction
Seeing everyone behind him take cover behind the abandoned vehicles, Lin Feng activated his Mind Sensing.
Sure enough, in the county town ahead, he detected a large number of Zerg Race with a Life Value over 50. This included Red-Armored Beetles above Level 7 and a Black Spine Zerg Swarm numbering in the hundreds, if not thousands.
What surprised Lin Feng, however, was that the small county town didn’t just contain the Zerg Race. Within a two-to-three-kilometer radius, there were also human survivors: several dozen Enhanced People and a handful of Awakeners.
’Could they be puppet humans controlled by a Zerg parasitic broodmother?’
Unfortunately, Mind Sensing could only detect the brightness represented by their Life Value—a measure of the Energy contained within a living being—which was fed back to him as a field of light dots. It wasn’t like the Identification Skill, which would provide a detailed description.
A few of the Tier Two Awakeners behind him followed his gaze toward the sides of the massive bridge. One of them whispered:
"This is the port for the Great River. The waterfront is lined with logistics warehouses and shipping companies that handle containers. There’s a shipbuilding company on the left, too."
"This whole area is massive—over ten kilometers long."
"It might work as a temporary camp."
Lin Feng raised an eyebrow and nodded.
"Then let’s go have a look inside. We might even find some usable cargo ships."
After the great exodus, almost all modes of transportation had been taken, aside from abandoned cars that had run out of fuel. For a crucial vehicle like a ship, the chances of one being left behind were virtually zero.
And even if there was one, it would certainly be out of fuel.
The real reason Lin Feng said this was to find the survivors he’d detected—the bright spots of light in his Mind Sensing.
If they were really human survivors, he could use these "locals" to get a detailed understanding of the situation on the other side of the river.
If not, he could eliminate them early to prevent their group’s movements from being revealed to the Mother Empress.
Parasitic broodmothers could contact the Zerg Race Mother Empress directly. He had seen that for himself back in Jia City Center.
Without the protection of a Land Patrol Battleship, Lin Feng himself would be fine. He could easily handle dozens or even hundreds of Tier Two Zerg Race with his Flying Tiger Armor and Electromagnetic Cannon.
But the subordinates behind him couldn’t.
The majority of them weren’t even Awakeners.
Lin Feng had no desire to relive the dangerous predicament they’d fallen into when they infiltrated the Jia City District.
It was better to be cautious and avoid repeating the same mistakes.
The other team members nodded at Lin Feng’s words, but Shen Jie was a little surprised.
In his mind, Lin Feng had never been afraid of anything. Thanks to his own Genetic Assimilation, Shen Jie could also vaguely sense the situation in the county town through the chemical information in the air.
He didn’t detect the scent of any Tier Two Zerg Race up ahead. There weren’t even that many Tier One Black Spine Zergs—fewer than a thousand. The seven Tier Two Awakeners behind them could easily wipe them out with their Shotguns.
There was no need for him and Lin Feng to even lift a finger.
Yet now, the Sergeant Major was unexpectedly choosing to advance cautiously, which left Shen Jie scratching his head.
As the group crept down from the bridge, Lin Feng saw the pensive look on Shen Jie’s face and turned to explain.
"Without the fleet’s support, if the team gets surrounded by the Swarm, we won’t be able to pull out as easily as we did in Jia City. We might be able to escape, but the Warriors would suffer catastrophic losses."
"Besides, there are massive Swarms nesting right across the river. It’s just a river separating us. After all this time, why haven’t they expanded to the Chang City District on the opposite bank?"
"That’s just too strange."
Shen Jie nodded. Then, his senses picked up on something, and he raised a hand to point.
"There are signs of recent human activity here. Fresh—from the last few days."
Following his gesture, the group saw some discarded snack wrappers outside the port’s fence.
On the ground were several sets of footprints from people who had climbed the fence, leading into the cluster of shipping containers in the distance.
The corner of Lin Feng’s mouth quirked up. He looked back at his team.
"Everyone, check your gear and stay sharp. Let’s not have any friendly fire."
Everyone except the Tier Two Awakeners was wearing Red Armor provided by the Research Institute. The armor was at least Level 7 and could withstand attacks from a Red-Armored Beetle.
While it couldn’t hold up against the Giant Mandibles of a Black Spine Zerg, it could easily deflect pistol and rifle rounds.
Lin Feng was mainly concerned that they, being nervous on their first field mission, might get flustered and accidentally kill the survivors.
At the command, Shen Jie stepped forward and used his Arm Blade to slice effortlessly through the chopstick-thick wire fence. The team filed into the shipping company’s grounds.
In the distance, beneath the Gantry Cranes, were hundreds, if not thousands, of standardized shipping containers of various colors.
Several cargo trucks were parked nearby, waiting for the Gantry Cranes to load them up.
Deeper inside the pier were logistics warehouses, temporary storage facilities used for goods in transit.
Lin Feng’s gaze settled on a large black pile not far away. It was coal.
Power plants, steel mills, and chemical factories all across the country burned it to generate power.
A low-value commodity like coal was usually transported by rail or by cheap, high-volume sea freight.
The small mountain of coal must have weighed over a thousand tons. Of course, Lin Feng wasn’t interested in the coal itself. His true focus was on the metallurgical industry, which was closely tied to coal.
Coal and steel were often transported together. Besides, with a shipyard right next door, both were essential raw materials.
The Federation’s steel output wasn’t low. It was just that in recent years, reduced demand and environmental regulations had stopped it from recklessly expanding production capacity like in the past.
