Chapter 181: Chapter 181

Chapter 181: Junk Zone and Tower Cities

“This should be the new zone.”

During these two days of traveling along the coastline, the shore was lined with undulating mountain ranges.

It wasn't until a few minutes ago that a new stretch of land came into view.

Setting down the observation scope, Li Ye couldn’t help but furrow his brows slightly.

This new zone was completely different from what he had seen before.

It was filled with plastic waste, metal scraps, and extreme filth and disorder.

Even the seawater near the shore was floating with a large amount of trash.

“What’s the deal with this zone? What level is it?” he wondered.

To figure out the situation, Li Ye dispatched two Black Hawk Helicopters to scout ahead.

The Tomorrow Alliance docked at the shore and remained on alert.

Half an hour later, the personnel he sent out returned with information.

The zone was filled with garbage mountains and waste piles, occasionally wandered by Bounty Hunters, Survivor Caravans, and Mobile Cities.

Rare open spaces were occupied by makeshift shelters patched together by humans, and by Survivor Towns.

Some Mobile Cities had even constructed Smelting Plants and Disassembly Towers, specializing in collecting trash and decomposing it at high temperatures to refine metals.

Occasionally, Monstrous Scavengers, convoys, and Mobile Cities roamed through the zone.

But everything was filthy.

What surprised Li Ye the most was that one of the Black Hawk Helicopters discovered a massive Survivor Settlement.

It was a designated residential community, and the buildings there were extraordinarily unique.

They were all skyscrapers over a thousand meters tall, occupying an area of approximately 0.5 to 0.8 square kilometers.

“A thousand meters? How many floors is that?” Old Zhou was dumbfounded when he heard the news. “How many people can a single building house?”

Li Ye fell into contemplation.

Such large-scale structures could likely only be constructed by high-level engineering-type Mobile Cities.

The pilot brought back two more important pieces of information.

First, the monsters wandering this zone were Level 3.

Second, the tower cities bore the insignia of the Apocalypse Sect.

Level 3 monsters meant this was a Level 3 zone.

He hadn’t expected that the Apocalypse Sect had built these massive towers.

Perhaps they were meant to house survivors from the Southern Continent?

Undeniably, among the three World-class Organizations, the Apocalypse Sect was the most compassionate toward their human kin.

From the beginning until now, Li Ye’s perception of this sect had improved significantly.

“Are we going to retrofit for landfall and enter this zone, Alliance Leader?” Fang Yong’s voice came through the walkie-talkie.

“This zone is too filthy, better not to,” Zhou Xing’s voice sounded hesitant.

Li Ye shared Zhou Xing’s sentiment.

This Level 3 zone was simply too filthy! The heaps of junk and waste made it nearly impossible to traverse.

The Mobile City could certainly crush the trash mountains to move forward, but it would get incredibly dirty.

A few seconds later, a disturbance suddenly occurred on the nearby coastline.

A wormhole abruptly formed on the ground.

Under everyone’s watchful gaze, it slowly opened and began vomiting large quantities of garbage like a human.

It kept vomiting for quite a while, and the newly expelled junk formed a hill nearby.

Li Ye’s expression shifted.

He vaguely guessed where the endless garbage in this zone was coming from.

“So that’s how it is! I understand now!” Yang Zheng suddenly realized.

“What’s going on? Explain it clearly,” Fang Yong urged.

Yang Zheng patiently explained.

On the wastelands, wormholes were typically used for teleportation.

But some individuals had discovered a new use for them—

Dumping trash into wormholes.

In the apocalypse, people didn’t have a systematic waste recycling and transportation scheme like in modern society.

They usually incinerated, buried, or dumped trash into the wild. All these methods were extremely unhygienic.

Mobile Cities might throw garbage into the Fuel Compartment to use as energy. However, the energy yield from burning trash was very low, and the combustion would release numerous harmful gases.

Then, people noticed the wormholes—

Those mysterious spaces that occasionally appeared and disappeared.

If one dumped garbage into a wormhole, when it vanished, the trash would disappear with it.

This method was efficient, simple, and non-polluting.

Hence, whenever a new wormhole was discovered, convoys, Survivor Towns, and Mobile Cities would dump all accumulated trash into it.

As time passed, people discovered something new about wormholes.

Wormholes had limited capacity. Once filled to the brim, they would appear in a certain zone and vomit out all the garbage inside.

Fortunately, all wormholes would dump trash into a single concentrated area.

Once this was understood, everyone felt even safer using wormholes for dumping.

Not only humans, but Monstrous Civilizations also started dumping trash.

Over time, the area naturally became a designated dumping ground.

“So that’s how it is!” Li Ye was enlightened.

After finishing the conversation, he returned to his room and opened the System Panel.

Over the past two days, the system’s cooldown had completed. A new round of intelligence had been refreshed.

Since only eight hours had passed, the intelligence wasn’t particularly valuable.

【1. Today, a batch of fish selected by the Public Canteen chef from the aquatic zone included some diseased ones. Eating them may cause diarrhea. (Intelligence Value: Ordinary)】

【2. You are currently in a Level 3 zone “Junk Zone,” which has no Monstrous Civilizations. (Intelligence Value: Excellent)】

【3. Around the Heavenly Road Pathway of the Western Wasteland Continent, Human Forces and Monstrous Forces have launched intense battles. (Intelligence Value: Excellent)】

【4. For years, both human and monstrous World-class Organizations have attempted to regulate the Leviathan Ocean, but all have failed. (Intelligence Value: Rare)】

【5. The Giants have begun external expansion. (Intelligence Value: Rare)】

Li Ye’s gaze immediately locked onto the two rare pieces of intelligence.

“Leviathan Ocean, isn’t that the ocean where the Giant Fish first evolved? I didn’t expect even World-class Organizations couldn’t manage it.” He shook his head repeatedly.

And now that the Giants had gained intelligence, they had already begun expanding outward.

Li Ye couldn’t help but turn his head to look at the distant mountains.

These mountain ranges were like a natural barrier, separating the Old Civilization District from the Junk Zone.

After pondering for a moment, he shook his head.

“It’s useless. They definitely won’t be stopped.”

The Giants were massive and resilient. Traversing mountains and waters was no obstacle for them.

Even the Plateau Zone of the Western Wasteland Continent likely couldn’t stop them, let alone these mountains ahead.

It was even possible that they were already on their way.

They might be arriving soon.

Li Ye quickly made a decision.

He would report the Giants’ external expansion to the senior members of the Apocalypse Sect who managed the tower cities and take the opportunity to inspect the situation of these giant buildings.

He was actually very curious.

But out of caution, he planned to stay in the tower cities for no more than an hour—at most, just take a look and leave.

Without delay, Li Ye boarded a Black Hawk Helicopter and departed.

Escorting along the way were five more Black Hawk Helicopters, as well as a Vanguard Armed Gunship conducting strategic high-altitude patrol.

However, Li Ye personally felt that there should not be much danger in this zone.

There were no Level 3 Monstrous Civilizations, and even makeshift shelters and Survivor Towns had appeared, which meant the pressure monsters placed on humans was minimal.

The area of the tower cities was very close, and it took Li Ye and his party less than an hour to arrive.

As the Black Hawk Helicopters landed in batches, several Disciplinary Deacons of the Apocalypse Sect walked over.

“Who are you? Please state your purpose,” said the leading Disciplinary Deacon.

“Please take me to your senior officials. I have important information to report,” Li Ye replied.

A few minutes later, he met the administrator of these tower cities—

High-ranking Bishop Albert of the Apocalypse Sect.

A kindly-looking man in his sixties.

“You need to evacuate immediately. The Giants from the Old Civilization District have already begun expanding outward,” Li Ye said to him.

Albert was momentarily stunned.

“Thank you for making the trip to inform us, but we already know. We’ve begun evacuating our human brethren from the Junk Zone,” he responded.

Li Ye was initially puzzled, but soon realized the truth.

For a World-class Organization like the Apocalypse Sect, their intelligence-gathering capabilities far surpassed his own.

He continued speaking.

“Then, do you know that all the Giants have gained intelligence?”

“What did you say? How is that possible?” Albert was now completely shocked.

Mindless Giants expanding outward and intelligent Giants doing so were worlds apart.

Albert remained half-skeptical of Li Ye’s statement.

Under his guidance, Li Ye began touring one of the nearby tower cities.

According to Albert, these towers were called Tower Cities.

The origin of the Tower Cities had to be explained from the beginning.

In the Southern Continent, the development of the Human Forces was not optimistic.

The majority of the region was controlled by Monstrous Civilizations, and human survival was fraught with danger.

To address this, the Cardinal Bishops of the Apocalypse Sect proposed a plan.

Using the remote Level 3 zone Junk Zone as a base, they would concentrate and unify the settlement of human brethren from the Southern Continent.

As for what kind of structures to build, the Cardinal Bishops held discussions.

If they built ordinary towns, it would be problematic.

Because wormholes could appear at any time in the Junk Zone and spew out massive amounts of trash, making the sanitary conditions extremely poor.

There was no telling if a wormhole would emerge near a town and vomit garbage all over it.

But as the decision-makers of the Apocalypse Sect, the Cardinal Bishops were not ordinary people.

Soon, they proposed two feasible plans.

First, build underground cities in the Junk Zone and establish subway lines to connect them.

Second, construct skyscrapers over a thousand meters tall. Each tower would be a self-sufficient Survivor Community. Inside would be fields to grow grain, with massive pipelines at the base drawing seawater. A tiered filtration system within the towers would purify it into freshwater. There would also be a range of living facilities.

Due to the harsh external environment, the tower cities would usually remain sealed.

After careful consideration, the Cardinal Bishops decided on the second plan.

They dispatched numerous engineering-type cities and construction resources to build the Tower Cities in the Junk Zone.

According to the plan, the Apocalypse Sect would build six Tower City communities.

Each community would contain five Tower Cities, spaced one kilometer apart, arranged in a grid pattern.

Each tower could accommodate 50,000 to 100,000 people. They stood about 1,650 meters tall and had a total of 535 floors—

Including 15 underground floors.

The floor heights were: upper floors 4 meters, middle floors 3 meters, lower floors 2.5 meters, and underground floors 2.5 meters.

The Tower Cities were equipped with elevator networks, ventilation systems, water supply systems, and power systems.

Yet even for a World-class Organization like the Apocalypse Sect, managing a tower housing tens of thousands was overwhelming.

Mainly because the internal situation was extremely complicated.

There were the official forces composed of Bishops, management personnel, and Disciplinary Deacons.

Survivor groups from various parts of the Southern Continent banding together for safety.

Countless small and large factions.

Marginal groups like scavengers, pipe workers, and impoverished residents.

“So how many staff does the Apocalypse Sect assign to manage one Tower City?” Li Ye asked curiously.

Albert paused briefly and then slowly answered,

Li Ye was slightly taken aback, then gently shook his head.

One Tower City held tens of thousands—this simply wasn’t manageable.

Six communities, each with five Tower Cities.

That meant the Apocalypse Sect would need to deploy about 15,000 people in total.

Even for a World-class Organization, that was exhausting.

At this moment, under the guidance of Bishop Albert, Li Ye had already entered the Tower City.

The Tower City had a colossal gate 25 meters tall and 100 meters wide.

But the main gate was tightly sealed. Everyone entered through a side door and passage.

Soon, Li Ye reached the first floor of the Tower City.

It was extremely filthy and chaotic.

On a hanging public notice board were the large characters “Obey Authority.”

But the board had been riddled with bullets.

The floors and walls were covered in layers of blood grime, food scraps, and gang markings, forming a revolting black crust.

The Tower City’s structure was square inside and out. The center of the first floor was a main hall, and above was a hollow layout resembling a courtyard.

At this moment, by the railings of the dozens of floors above, many residents were peering down at Li Ye’s group.

Most of them looked filthy and disheveled.

Hearing gunshots from the upper levels, Li Ye turned to look at Albert.

The latter simply shrugged.

“There are just too many gangs in the Tower Cities. We simply can’t control them. All we can do is maintain a superficial balance through official authority,” he said.

Albert also told Li Ye one more thing.

Due to the severe manpower shortage, the Apocalypse Sect often supported certain gangs within the Tower Cities as proxies for administration.

After all, gang members were deeply familiar with the layout and the residents of each floor. Chapters fırst released on novelFɪre.net

In a sense, the gangs served as the black gloves of the Apocalypse Sect.

When a tricky issue arose, the High-ranking Bishops managing the Tower Cities would delegate it to a gang.

In return, they would turn a blind eye to the gangs’ expansion and activities within the Tower Cities.

But in the end, they were still gangs, with all sorts of problems.

Violence and crime incidents were constant.