My Apocalypse Territory

Several buses slowly drove out of the holiday villa, surprising the survivors who were about to participate in the test.

The test was neither at the labor center nor inside the Sanctuary.

Some even worried about the dangers of the outdoors, but relaxed immediately upon remembering that these were Sanctuary vehicles.

The buses didn't go far. After leaving the holiday villa, they drove slowly around the mountain they backed onto for two or three kilometers before stopping.

Yang Wei got off the bus with the others.

Even though it was the wilderness, they couldn't hear the frightening wails of the Demonized Beasts.

Looking around, there were buildings made of reinforced concrete, resembling a factory area. Behind the factory area and furthest from the Sanctuary, a majestic city wall stretched across, enclosing the back half of the factory area.

A glance brought a great sense of security.

Around them, several black towers stood tall. Looking far into the distance, one could see cannons mounted on the city walls and members of the Patrol Team surveying the surroundings.

The security was tight.

This was their first impression.

They couldn't help but swallow their saliva; it seemed only this could somewhat soothe their tense emotions.

...

...

Inside the factory area, Tang Yu stood by a high-rise window, watching these survivors enter one after another under the guidance of the staff.

"How many survivors passed the first two rounds?"

"There are... one hundred ninety-seven people, including one hundred thirty-six men and sixty-one women," replied an officer from the Municipal Department standing beside him, hurrying to answer.

This number,

was somewhat small.

Tang Yu was helpless but couldn't do anything about it. Given the small population base of the Territory, the Sanctuary had developed rapidly. It had only been less than a month since he obtained the system, and it had developed from nothing to its current scale.

The speed was enough to surprise every other Sanctuary around.

Yet, he was not satisfied with just this.

However, the population of the Territory couldn't just be randomly brought over from other Sanctuaries. Many of the Sanctuary's infrastructures were still under construction. Once the first phase of construction was completed, they could move into a faster development stage... right?

His gaze was forward, but he wasn't looking at the survivors below. Instead, he was looking at the Territory map on the panel.

Not far from where he stood, among the nearly two hundred yellow-green dots, there were two or three very prominent red dots.

Tang Yu glanced sideways at the Municipal Department officer, asking, "Do you have the information on those people?"

The officer was stunned for a moment, "Yes, yes, do you need it? Should I go get it now?"

Even though Tang Yu's presence was subdued, like an ordinary person, the officer, who had only seen him a few times, still had a racing heart due to nervousness.

He hurriedly came over with a stack of documents.

Shuffle~

Tang Yu flipped through them page by page.

Every survivor who arrived here was registered. Although the information was scant and the names might not be accurate, the registration dates were correct.

He briefly scanned them; the most recent survivor who arrived at the Sanctuary was two days ago... The recent batches of survivors were all brought back by the Patrol Team. Tang Yu didn't believe that there could be spies planted by other forces among them so early.

Normal spies wouldn't just be ordinary people, as it would be very hard to steal important information that way.

Tang Yu recalled that there didn't seem to be any red dots within the Territory before. Perhaps those few had just changed?

Due to some inducement, their thoughts had shifted from neutral to hostile.

"Is it because of the confidentiality agreement, so they instead think they can access the secrets of the Sanctuary and want to use these secrets for their own gain?"

"But even if it's about betraying the Sanctuary's interests, there must be a corresponding buyer..."

Tang Yu speculated that it must be operatives sent by some forces, having private contacts with some survivors in the Sanctuary.

He first thought of the Military, then dismissed the idea.

From the interactions with the Lindong Military these past days, they wouldn't engage in such underhanded tactics. More importantly, Tang Yu knew how many people from the Lindong Military were disguised as ordinary adventurers living inside the Sanctuary. Those people displayed small, yellow dots.

It was obviously the work of other forces, possibly Lindong's other upper-echelons or someone else.

Yet, Tang Yu had not noticed it before.

Those who entered his Territory with malice were marked as red dots on the map, but there was a catch, he needed to check the Territory map to discover them.

As Tang Yu, the busy man, he didn't have much time to constantly check the Territory map. Frankly, now that his wings were full, he didn't care much about the secret probing of other forces.

After all, they couldn't find the core secrets of his Territory. As for their suspicions... if they dared, they should come and fight him!

'Should I capture those people now?'

Tang Yu pondered.

Catching people, he certainly didn't need a reason, but those ordinary survivors probably wouldn't know which force they had been in contact with, so it might be better to play a long game...

After all,

he didn't care about the investigations of other forces.

But, of course, any reaching hand needed to be chopped off!

...

...

Inside the workshop.

All the survivors participating in the test were sitting in front of strangely shaped workbenches, unaware of the functions of the workbenches and the equipment on them. Now, these were merely being used as tables and chairs.

Chen Haiping scanned the room with his gaze, and as he saw people settling down, he began speaking, "For the final test, which will last thirty minutes, as you can see, there are papers and pencils on the tables in front of you. What you need to do in this test, once the 'question' appears, is to draw on the paper whatever comes to your first impression."

He paused and continued, "The question is abstract, and everyone will perceive it differently. Don't worry about your drawing skills; this test has nothing to do with that. Just draw what you most want to express."

"Finally, I want to emphasize that no communication or looking around is allowed during the test. Violators will be disqualified!"

Chen Haiping then left, leaving only a few officers from the Municipal Department to monitor the situation.

Yang Wei and the other survivors were all staring at the wall ahead.

The 'question' would appear there.

What exactly it was, they were curious and puzzled.

More than that, they were unsure.

They lacked confidence; could they really draw something upon seeing the question, or should they just copy the question onto the paper?

...

...

On the workshop's upper floor.

Kevin stood in front of a panel of special metal the size of a blackboard, holding a rune pen that was at least two meters long.

He was waving the rune pen, his movements fluid.

He was crafting an extra-large rune that, by increasing the input of Source Power and guiding it specially, continuously emitted its power.

The first time someone saw this rune, it would influence their mind, conjuring related imagery.

The higher one's Perception of runes, the clearer this influence.

Seeing the rune take shape, Tang Yu immediately visualized a certain scene in his mind, even feeling distinctly the surging power from the rune.

Power exclusive to this type of rune.

'Indeed, my talent for runes is substantial!'

Meanwhile, Kevin had finished drawing.

Tang Yu was quite impressed; no wonder he was an Advanced Rune Master, capable of crafting such a large rune, something he could not do.

On the contrary, Kevin looked quite relaxed.

It seemed he still had a long way to go.

Suddenly, Kevin staggered, holding his back, his expression twisted, "Ouch, my back..."

Tang Yu: "..."

(Another chapter follows)