Chapter 1

The world seemed to descend into chaos overnight.

Sudden warfare swept across hundreds of countries. International treaties were completely torn apart, and powerful nations recklessly crossed borders, launching unprovoked blitzkriegs against neighboring small countries.

The root cause of the war's outbreak was widely debated. The most common explanation was the arrival of an interstellar civilization, bringing with it world-altering knowledge, but beyond that, the public knew no details.

The attitude of the dozen or so powerful nations initiating the war was so resolute, as if they wanted to shatter the old era and usher in a new one through destruction and rebirth.

Within a few months, as many as sixteen small countries were destroyed. Countless people on Hai Lan Star became war refugees, some displaced and others taken over by enemy armies and subjected to centralized management.

As a small country bordering the powerful nation of Ruilan, Geland had few opportunities to choose its own destiny. Faced with Ruilan's all-out military pressure, Geland was completely defeated within months, losing all organized armed forces and allowing Ruilan to brutally trample upon it.

The city was scarred and riddled with charred building ruins. The ground was pockmarked with deep craters. In some places, black smoke still billowed skyward, and sporadic gunfire rang out from time to time.

A multitude of unkempt, ragged Geland refugees wandered through the ruins, huddled together in small groups. Some had numb expressions, like walking corpses, while others had constricted pupils, like startled birds.

Sean followed a group of displaced people, searching for supplies in the ruins, laboriously moving his body. He was covered in dust and dirt, had not washed for days, and was filthy and disheveled. He was as thin as a rake, his eye sockets sunken, utterly haggard, and his expression numb.

Ruilan's invasion came without warning. After a round of fire-bombing, they sent in ground troops to station themselves and gradually wipe out Geland's armed forces.

During this period, settling Geland refugees was not a priority. The refugee camps had capacity limits, and Ruilan's troops focused most of their energy on clearing out resistance forces. They simply blockaded the city, without much energy to take in all the displaced people, at most occasionally airdropping some supplies, allowing a large number of Geland refugees to eke out a precarious existence in the blockaded city.

The city suffered initial rounds of bombing, and Sean was lucky to survive, but he had long been separated from Mag and the others in the chaos. In these days, he could only act in concert with another group of displaced people, searching for supplies in the ruins, or competing with other displaced people when Ruilan airdropped aid, like a walking corpse, only thinking about surviving one day at a time.

But after this period, countless refugees had scoured the city again and again. Almost no supplies could be found in the ruins, survival became more and more difficult, and the limit was near. Sean and others walked in the ruins, and the corpses of Geland refugees who had starved, died of thirst, and died of illness could be seen everywhere, most of whom had died in the past few days.

After searching several ruins, there was still nothing to be gained. Sean was already dizzy with hunger. He sat down against the wall, panting in small, rapid breaths, only feeling that his body was extremely heavy, as if he were about to sink into the soil.

"Are you alright? Can you continue looking for supplies?"

Boer, who was beside him, saw him sit down, so he came over and asked, panting.

He was a new friend that Sean had met in this group of displaced people. They had taken care of each other and become acquainted in recent days.

"I'm so hungry... I have no strength..." Sean's parched throat, which was almost on fire, made a hoarse sound.

"Get up quickly, otherwise others will find things, and you won't get a share."

Boer went to pull Sean's arm, but he was also exhausted. With one pull, he crooked his body and fell sideways to the ground, panting, and the breath he exhaled scattered a small piece of dust.

"Let me catch my breath, I'm also starving..."

Boer didn't have the strength to get up either, so he arched a few times, leaned against the wall, and leaned on Sean's body sideways.

Sean's body tilted, almost falling down, but he didn't have the strength to push the other party away, so he could only close his eyes and hypnotize himself to relieve his hunger.

At this moment, Boer suddenly spoke, his tone low and lost:

"Sean, do you think our army can come and save us?"

"Definitely." Sean opened his eyes with difficulty, his voice weak, but his tone was firm.

"It's been so long, do you really believe it?" Boer gasped and said hoarsely, "Ruilan is coming aggressively, Geland is already overwhelmed, how can they have time to save us? Instead of expecting Geland to send troops to rescue us, it's better to expect Ruilan to take in refugees on a large scale, so that we can at least survive..."

Sean gritted his teeth: "How can we count on the enemy... When I met other displaced people before, didn't they say that Ruilan was cleansing refugees? Occasionally, ground troops would be sent to the city to grab a group of displaced people, and some people said that they had seen Ruilan refugee camps transporting corpses out in trucks for cremation. Who knows what the situation is."

Boer said weakly: "As long as I can get a bite to eat, I can do anything..."

Just then, a faint noise sounded not far away. His companions, who were in the same group as Sean and were searching the ruins, gathered around, as if something had happened.

Several of Sean's companions, who were in slightly better condition, walked up to the two of them, pulled Sean and Boer up, and asked.

"How is it, can you still walk?"

"Alright..." Sean shook his body, supported himself against the wall, and asked doubtfully, "What's going on over there?"

"We met another group of displaced people. Everyone is going over there to avoid others from having ideas and wanting to rob our supplies."

Several people replied and helped Sean and Boer to catch up.

There were too many groups of displaced people eking out a living in the city. Displaced people mostly banded together to help each other and prevent others from robbing them. Even if everyone was the same refugee, some people couldn't survive and couldn't care about anything else. People on the verge of death would not let go of any life-saving straw, and cases of mutual robbery and infighting were common.

Sean and others soon arrived at the back of the crowd. They saw another group of displaced people, neither large nor small, who were also gaunt and haggard. The two sides were confronting each other, watching each other warily. In the middle of the two groups were several representatives of their respective groups who were more prestigious and were getting together to negotiate.

Sean scanned the opposite side and suddenly froze, a look of astonishment appearing on his face.

In the other group of displaced people, he saw the figures of his several buddies, Mag and the others. Although they were ragged, he recognized them at a glance.

During these days of hiding, Sean had not spent a day without missing his several parted buddies. Because the city ruins were too large, and various communication signals were shielded by Ruilan, he had always searched without success. He had been worried that Mag and the others had met with misfortune, but he did not expect to meet them by chance today, without suffering disaster.

"Mag... Mag!"

Sean was overjoyed. Ignoring everything else, he raised his arms and shouted Mag's name with his hoarse voice.

Because he was physically weak, he couldn't shout too loudly, but it still attracted the attention of some people.

Mag, who was not far away, twitched his ears and looked over in confusion, looking for who was calling his name.

But at this moment, the ear-piercing roar of engines suddenly sounded, from far to near.

"Tu-tu-tu-tu-tu-tu--"

A Ruilan armed convoy was seen rampaging on the badly damaged streets of the city, heading straight towards this side, as if locking on to the location.

"Ruilan!"

"Run!"

The two groups of displaced people were frightened out of their wits, panicking and scattering.

Sean's voice was immediately drowned out by the commotion. Mag and the other buddies didn't see him and turned their heads and ran. Although Sean wanted to chase after them, he panicked when he saw the Ruilan convoy approaching rapidly. He could only run for his life together with his group of displaced people.

At this moment, the Ruilan convoy swept over mightily. Teams of fully armed Ruilan soldiers got out of the car and chased after the refugees one by one.

At the same time, the armed convoy turned on the loudspeaker and shouted in a deep voice to the fleeing refugees:

"Stop running, stop resisting, we will take you to the refugee camp. As long as you are obedient, Ruilan will provide supplies to ensure your survival!"

Some refugees had had enough of this kind of life and had already reached their limit. Hearing this, they lost their spirits and simply collapsed powerlessly to the ground, no longer running, and were pinned down by the Ruilan soldiers who caught up from behind.

There were also some refugees who didn't believe Ruilan and continued to run wildly, but their bodies were exhausted and they couldn't outrun the Ruilan soldiers. They were caught one after another like catching rabbits and fell to the ground, unable to struggle.

Taking advantage of the refugees behind them delaying the Ruilan soldiers, Sean almost used all his strength and buried his head and ran into the ruins. But his body had reached its limit. He knew that there was absolutely no way to escape if he continued to run like this. Turning his head, he suddenly saw a gap formed by building debris, so he simply chose one to drill into, praying that he could avoid it.

Boer, who was following behind, saw Sean's actions. In a panic, he followed suit and quickly hid in the gap of the building ruins.

Sean only showed half of his face, looking at the situation outside with lingering fear, watching the refugees outside being pinned down one by one. Some who struggled too violently were directly knocked unconscious by the Ruilan soldiers.

Turning his gaze, Sean suddenly saw the figures of Mag and the other buddies.

Mag and the others were eventually caught up. Several Ruilan soldiers rushed up and smashed the butts of their guns on Mag and the others' cheekbones, knocking them to the ground and quickly subduing them.

Sean was both afraid and anxious, wanting to find a way to save them, but his brain was in a mess and he had no clue. He looked at the fully armed Ruilan soldiers. Fear seized his heart, his legs trembling non-stop. He still didn't have the courage to step out. Instead, he shrank deeper into the crevice, not even daring to breathe loudly.

In the end, he could only watch helplessly as his buddies, with blood on their faces, were dragged onto the car by the Ruilan soldiers like dead dogs, leaving several winding bloodstains on the ground.

Sean's lips turned white and he shivered non-stop.

Never before had he hated his weakness so much, unable to do anything.

Before long, the refugees outside who didn't have time to hide were all caught by the Ruilan soldiers, and soon a team of soldiers, holding weapons, searched this way.

Sean didn't care about worrying about others and subconsciously covered his mouth, not daring to breathe deeply.

At this moment, Boer, who was also hiding in a crevice not far away, raised his hands and walked out on his own initiative. His whole body was shaking, and he knelt on the ground with a thud. The expression on his face was mixed with fear, unease, and hope.

"I... I won't resist!"

Without saying a word, the Ruilan soldiers went up and controlled Boer, acting roughly.

Boer felt pain and subconsciously turned his head to look in the direction where Sean was hiding.

Sean's brain went numb. Before he could react, footsteps quickly approached. A large hand suddenly reached into the crevice, grabbed his clothes, and pulled hard.

He couldn't resist the strength of the Ruilan soldiers at all and fell out with a thud. His clothes were still being held by a firm arm. He was so frightened that his feet kicked wildly, like a floundering fish, and he struggled subconsciously.

But at this moment, another Ruilan soldier quickly stepped forward, the butt of his gun rapidly magnifying in Sean's eyes.

Dong!

Sean's vision went black and he instantly lost consciousness.

...

He didn't know how long it had been, but Sean's crashed brain gradually restarted. Sean only felt a splitting headache and a burning pain in his forehead.

Sean opened his eyes with difficulty, only feeling that everything in his vision seemed to have double images, as if the screen had crashed.

The surroundings were bumpy. He endured the dizziness and looked around, discovering that he was in a moving carriage. Around him were some captured refugees, with faces full of sorrow. There were familiar faces from the same group, as well as unfamiliar displaced people from Mag's group, but Mag and the other buddies were not in this car.

"You're awake?"

Boer was also in the car and quickly came over.

Hearing the familiar voice, Sean turned his head to look at him, his eyes becoming quite complicated.

"You... never mind."

He originally wanted to ask Boer why he took the initiative to expose himself, and even implicated him, but before he could say the words, he had the answer in his heart, so he didn't ask, but just sighed.

However, Boer lowered his head, hesitated, and said in a low voice: "You understand our situation. It's impossible to escape, and if we continue to wander outside, we will definitely starve to death. It's better to be taken away by Ruilan than to..."

"There's no need to say it... My head hurts so much. How bad is the injury?" Sean felt choked up and didn't want to talk about this anymore, so he changed the subject.

"There's a swelling here, but it's okay. It's not a big injury."

"That's good."

Sean sat up, took a deep breath, and laboriously grabbed the car window, looking outside.

The convoy had already driven out of the city ruins area and arrived in the original suburbs.

A continuous temporary camp appeared in the distance, one of the refugee camps set up by Ruilan, but in Sean's eyes, it was like the bloody mouth of a beast, waiting for the arrival of prey.

"We can survive, right?" Sean's tone was uneasy.

Perhaps because there was no other way to choose, Boer seemed to have grasped the only life-saving straw, only remaining blindly trusting in his own choice, and nodded hard:

"As long as we are obedient, we definitely can."