Skyocean city 203

For two days, the wild sandstorms had ravaged the barren wasteland. Finally, with the aid of a seemingly "kind" passerby, Wang Yanfei glimpsed the outline of Skyocean City 203 at sunset. Even from several kilometers away, the colossal, dilapidated city gate stood out distinctly. The fifty-meter-tall metal gates were split halfway down the middle, with exposed rebar at the jagged edges, as if recounting the violence they had endured.

As Wang Yanfei approached, he noticed the absence of guards or any semblance of defensive lines near the gate. The road inside lay desolate and barren. Scattered debris and broken fragments littered the ground, occasionally stirred by the wind to produce a symphony of metallic clangs and stone scraping sounds.

He halted before the city gate, his brows furrowed slightly. This was nothing like the Skyocean City he had envisioned. By all accounts, this should have been a thriving colonial city. Even a lower-numbered outpost shouldn't have been reduced to such a state of ruin.

Stepping inside, Wang Yanfei's footsteps echoed eerily along the empty main road. The surrounding buildings were mostly in ruins; some bore walls riddled with bullet holes, while others had entirely collapsed into rubble. A faint scent of charred remains lingered in the air, mixed with the acrid stench of corroding metal, making him unconsciously wrinkle his nose.

Deep within the streets, shadowy figures occasionally flitted about, though none made any move to stop him. Most didn't even glance in his direction. A few individuals hid in the shadows, their eyes keenly observing his movements, while others scavenged like lifeless automatons, desperately searching for food or salvageable scraps.

"Is this... Skyocean City?" Wang Yanfei muttered to himself, scanning the dismal scene around him. He felt a sinking realization—no resources, no food, and not even reliable intel. Perhaps it was time to reconsider his loyalties.

The city, labeled Skyocean City 203, resembled a wasteland more than anything else. Disorder reigned supreme here. Its inhabitants were either barely surviving refugees or numb and despondent scavengers. The city had long lost its vitality, appearing as if it had been abandoned for ages.

After about half an hour of wandering, Wang Yanfei finally arrived at a slightly more intact section of the city. The buildings here seemed somewhat stable, and he could make out a few makeshift stalls lining the street. Ragged merchants stood behind them, shouting hoarsely to hawk their wares. However, their goods were nothing more than dismantled mechanical parts and barely edible rations salvaged from the ruins.

"Hey there, buddy, looking to buy something? Fair prices, honest deals!" A wiry man sidled up to him with a wide grin, blocking Wang Yanfei's path.

Wang Yanfei glanced at the assortment of prosthetic parts laid out on the shabby cloth before him. Picking up a refurbished hydraulic mechanism, he casually asked, "This used to be Skyocean City, right? What happened here?"

The merchant's smile faltered slightly. Glancing around nervously, he lowered his voice. "Who knows? It was already like this when I got here. Word is, some group from the south came through and wrecked the place—gates, buildings, everything."

"People from the south? What kind of people?" Wang Yanfei pressed further.

The merchant shook his head with a sigh. "Beats me. They didn't leave any traces after they left. But not long after, the 'Dung Beetles' showed up—you know how sharp their noses are—and then the 'Hermit Crabs' moved in and made themselves at home. Look at these buildings; they've got their handiwork written all over them."

Wang Yanfei nodded thoughtfully. "What about the original residents of the city?"

The merchant lowered his voice even more. "Don't bring it up. Most of them were killed by those crazed wildland augmenters. The rest either fled or went into hiding. This place now? Barely qualifies as a gathering spot."

Wang Yanfei's expression remained neutral, though his mind churned with ideas. "What about the inner city? Didn't the big shots evacuate?"

The mention of the "inner city" caused a flicker of unease to cross the merchant's face. "Brother, I wouldn't recommend going there. They say something took a bite out of it—left a pit so deep it's terrifying. No one knows what caused it. Some say it was high-energy ordnance, others whisper about a failed secret weapon, maybe even radiation… But that's none of our business, right? We're just small-time 'treasure mice.'"

Suppressing his curiosity, Wang Yanfei handed over a bronze-colored token. "This for the hydraulic piece—is that fair?"

The merchant's eyes lit up at the sight of the token. He licked it once, shuddered slightly, then nodded eagerly. "Deal! Here you go, take it."

Wang Yanfei pocketed the component and walked away, carefully filing the merchant's words in his mind.

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As soon as Wang Yanfei walked out of the simple stall area, he heard a noise in the distance, accompanied by a loud shout: "Monkeys are performing acrobatics! Old rules, those who understand will understand, don't miss it!"

He stopped and looked in the direction of the sound. The crowd was vaguely surrounded in a circle. A man in tattered clothes stood in the middle of the venue, holding a thin wooden stick in his hand, directing a monkey to roll and jump on the ground. The monkey had messy hair and a thin body, but its movements were amazingly flexible.

The people around were amused by the monkey's performance, and the cheers came one after another. The laughter around was loud, but Wang Yanfei was sharp-eyed and noticed that several people on the periphery of the crowd winked at each other, and then quietly walked towards a dilapidated transport vehicle parked in the distance. They moved carefully and deliberately avoided the attention of the crowd. When they arrived at the side of the car, one of them took out a few red-gold objects from his arms and handed them to a person next to the car. The latter nodded and opened it. The door of the car.

Wang Yanfei glanced at it from the corner of his eye, and saw shadows in the car, and some things were randomly piled up. The distance was too far to see the details, but some mechanical parts were vaguely visible, and there were some bottles and jars filled with green liquid. It seemed that there was something else inside, but it was not clear.

Halfway through the performance, the monkey suddenly stopped moving and stared at a certain part of the crowd. The next moment, it rushed out like a black shadow, jumped over the crowd of onlookers, and rushed straight to Wang Yanfei.

Wang Yanfei felt a flash in front of his eyes, and then a strong sense of crisis came over him. He reacted a little slower, but his body instinctively protected the vitals. The liquid arm flowed at the critical moment, and instantly turned into a semicircle, protecting the front of him tightly.

"Bang! "The monkey hit the semicircular shield hard and bounced back. It rolled a few times before landing on the ground, baring its teeth and growling. The onlookers around came to their senses at this time and whispered to each other, but more people chose to quietly retreat to avoid being involved.