Monster Dismantling Company

Chapter 43 Runzhou

Runzhou is currently experiencing a major traffic jam.

This place wasn't actually called this before the war. However, after the coalition government was established in Guanzhong, there was a "campaign-style" name change—with each state forming its own municipal council, the normal state of governance reverted to the state of the Western Zhou Dynasty or even earlier. To adapt to this state and to reflect the nature of each city-state, all the city-states in the region reverted to their ancient single-character names, or chose a single-character name for themselves.

Li Lin's hometown, Ningzhou, and the neighboring Anzhou were both new cities, and their auspicious names were chosen through a vote. Runzhou, on the other hand, is an ancient name; it has been called Runzhou since the Sui and Tang dynasties.

However, Li Lin occasionally caught a glimpse of an unfamiliar name through the car window—Zhenjiang. This seemed to be Runzhou's name before the war.

Compared to the original area of ​​Ningzhou, the area where Runzhou is located seemed to have been a more densely populated region in the past. There was hardly any wild land to be seen in the wilderness; every place bore the marks of urban degradation.

Some tall buildings are buried in thick silt. Although at least five stories are needed to reveal the top of each building, even so, you can still see tall buildings casting lonely shadows in the setting sun in the distance.

Now these buildings are long gone, but you can vaguely see many wild boars making the reinforced concrete houses their homes, running freely in the sunset.

"That's Zhenjiang." Lin Zhiqing looked out the window. "My grandfather told me that he lived around here when he was young. Later, everyone moved away."

"However, it seems more tidy than I expected?" Although it was dilapidated, the terrain outside was neat and orderly, with no abandoned vehicles or anything stuck in the mud.

"Oh, I see," Lin Zhiqing explained. "Actually, I only found out by asking my grandfather—the floodwaters rose very slowly back then, taking more than two years to reach the current level."

"Building five floors a year isn't slow, is it?"

"Strictly speaking, it wasn't slow, but our people responded effectively, evacuating and relocating as needed, so the casualties weren't too high at the time; the main losses were economic. However, on the other hand, other parts of the world suffered terribly. Two years wasn't enough time for them to escape. In some places, the entire nation's possessions were located on the coast, and densely populated areas were only three to five meters above sea level—now they're all gone."

Wherever the miasma passes, it turns into wasteland. Currently, only the United Government has the capability to reclaim the wasteland on a large scale. Those submerged areas will not be recovered anytime soon, but they have become breeding grounds for the pests that thrive in the miasma.

"But speaking of which, why wild boars?" Li Lin asked in surprise. "Why are there wild boars everywhere from where we are all the way here?"

Moreover, the wild boars in Runzhou are larger, more numerous, and look more imposing than those in the outskirts of Ningzhou. Many of the wild boars, viewed from a distance, are even as large as a small car.

Furthermore, many large wild boars have even exhibited scaly transformation—growing scales like those of a dragon, turning their hooves into sharp claws, and revealing terrifying teeth in their mouths.

Although there aren't many wild boars like this, even other wild boars would be afraid of them.

This was no ordinary wild boar; a faint, monstrous barrier of mist had appeared around it, requiring the deployment of the [Burning Wind Force] to cleave it open with a single axe blow.

"Could it be because even pigs can have dragon-like qualities?" Li Lin suddenly muttered, "I saw that's what it says in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms."

"Pigs have dragons and elephants? I can't say for sure. As far as I know, the direct cause of this is that the major cities upstream of Runzhou have been occupied by wild boars, so every year wild boars overflow outwards. The United Government also feels that it is outrageous for a historic city to be occupied by wild boars. So after the Grand Canal is completed, that area should be among the first to be recovered. At that time, quite a few other areas should also be recovered around the same time."

"This place is truly vibrant with life, everything is flourishing... Are we lucky to have encountered such a good time?"

"Yes." Lin Zhiqing nodded. "It's definitely a good thing that I entered Shenhe Plain at this critical juncture. Because after it was recaptured, real-time communication was restored, and the United Government no longer needed to establish city-states to manage these areas. Instead, it could directly establish branches of the United Government and manage them through secondary governments. Overall, everything is getting better—at least what's in front of us is getting better."

"Good things, all very good." Li Lin was quite satisfied with everything. This meant that he would be safe, at least for a long time to come—

However, if the coalition government does manage to completely recover the lost territory, it wouldn't necessarily be a good thing for him.

"Why?" Aren suddenly spoke. Now, she only speaks at crucial moments. And this was a question she was very interested in.

She thought Li Lin supported the coalition government, but she didn't expect Li Lin to have some of his own opinions here.

"The answer to this question is actually quite simple—you know how I handle my identity right now, right?"

Hmm. You seem to have an inner circle.

In other words, Li Lin wasn't actually 100% secret about his identity. He carefully selected an inner circle, limiting the flow of information within that circle. Everyone in this circle currently shared a common characteristic—they would die without him.

Specifically, they all contracted a severe form of squamous disease, a disease caused by miasma. Their bodies mutated uncontrollably, growing scales and sharp claws.

This is quite similar to the condition of some miasma-infested wild boars. However, even among wild boars, only the largest individuals can withstand this change; smaller, scaled wild boars simply cannot.

This is similar to how, even though both are caused by cancerous tumors, whales rarely die from them. This is because tumors are limited in size due to the constraints of nutrient delivery. This upper limit is fatal to humans, but for whales, it's simply an extra mass inside their bodies.

The same applies here; after scaling occurs on large wild boars, the strongest among them can gain a boost.

For humans, this distorted form of the disease can kill them in the middle of the course, not to mention the further scaling that extends into the interior.

The "inner circle" that Li Lin chose refers to those suffering from this disease. He cannot cure these people, but he can alleviate their pain and reverse their disease progression by simply giving them his blood.

This serves as a constraint on all recipients of the blood donation. However, Li Lin himself does not intend to rely on this constraint to protect his safety.

So, do you have any other preparations?