47

Soon after they arrived, the group ran into a problem. "Yoko, how are we supposed to find them?" Liu Hau asked.

"Easy, just shout." Cheng Yang said, "As long as we clear out all the monsters in a decent radius it'll be fine."

"Oh, that should work." Yu Kai exclaimed.

"Alright, split into groups of six and kill all the monsters in a four hundred meter radius." Old Lee ordered the soldiers, "It should only take ten minutes so be back on time."

The team Captains, including Cheng Yang, chose five people each. Each group then chose a different direction and started their pest control operation.

The reason Cheng Yang was working with a group instead of alone was to test his new skill. The arrangement was especially great for the five Mages he chose since they got to experience the thrill of insta-killing monsters.

They were able to smoothly take care of any monsters that appeared and were even able to annihilate a horde with fifty monsters in just thirty seconds. Although they needed to meditate and recharge their Mana occasionally, they were able to achieve a hunting efficiency no less than Cheng Yang when he was using potions.

Ten minutes later, eight monster hordes and dozens of solo monsters were killed. The people who had joined Cheng Yang were incomparably happy since they had each collected over a hundred Experience Fragments. They had been able to earn three time as much as they usually did in a day in just ten minutes!

After clearing out all the monsters, everyone began to call out the name of Shu Yuan's parents. Shu Yuan was only twenty-two years old this year, barely an adult, so his parents were the only family he had.

The faces of the soldier's held a trace of apprehension and anxiety. They all knew that there were only two outcomes of their actions int he apocalypse. Even if the worse of the two didn't happen for Shu Yuan, what about them?

It seemed that Shu Yuan's luck was fairly good since the groups shouts were answered with a weak voice filled with excitement.

"Yuan-er! Is that you?"

Shu Yuan trembled. That weak voice had sent an electric current down his spine. After a moment of hesitation, he dashed towards the voice at top speed.

Cheng Yang and the others followed behind him at a leisurely pace. Although the voice was fifty meters away, there shouldn't be any danger since they had cleared such a large area.

A moment later, Shu Yuan come out of a ruined supermarket with a large group of people. Cheng Yang guessed that the two people beside him were his parents while the rest were the people who had taken refuge in the same spot.

Cheng Yang was happy for Shu Yuan. The number of people who reunited with their loved ones in the apocalypse was just too few. Cheng Yang estimated that no more than half of the soldiers with him would be able to eventually save their families. Some of the soldier's families will have been killed and others just won't be found. As for whether those soldier's would ever find their families, only god knew.

"My Lord, I'd like you to meet my parents. Thank you for giving us the opportunity to live peacefully in Phoenix Village." Shu Yuan said with reverence. If before he only called Cheng Yang "my Lord" in order to appease him, now it was from a place of genuine respect.

"Congratulations, I hope Phoenix Village will serve as your home for years to come. What will you do now?" Cheng Yang asked.

"My Lord, I've already explained the situation to them. They will wait here until we can pick them up this afternoon." Shu Yuan said.

"Very well, I'll respect your decision."

Shu Yuan nodded before taking his parent's hands, "Mom, dad, I have to go with the Lord to rescue my comrades families as well. It's only thanks to their power that I was able to find you so I can't be selfish and stay here with you. Don't worry about me, with our power nothing can stop us. I hope you can forgive me for leaving so soon."

Shu Yuan's father was a sensible man and immediately waved it off, "How could we be so impudent as to blame you for that. They're our saviors so go. It's only a few hours and they we can have a proper reunion."

Shu Yuan tearfully smiled and shared a few words with his parents. Giving each a quick hug he returned to the group.

When Shu Yuan's parents went back into the supermarket the other refugees hid as well.

The next location they needed to search was two kilometers away. It was the office building where they hoped to find the wife of another soldier, Feng Lie's.

Half an hour later the group was calling out for Feng Lie's wife.

After a few minutes without a response Feng Lie almost broke down.

Seeing this Liu Hau walked over and gave the man a hug, "Hey, don't worry. She probably just doesn't have the strength to respond. We'll just have to search everywhere she could have hidden."

Feng Lee took some deep breaths and nodded.

The soldiers fanned out, searching through the ruined buildings for places a person could have hidden.

When they had searched about half the area a voice called out to them. "Hail friends! Are you here to save people?"

A man's could be seen hiding in a collapsed car park waving at them. Seeing Cheng Yang gesture for him to take care of it, Feng Lie walked over to the man.

"That's right, specifically, I'm looking for my wife. We've killed all of the nearby monster so you can come out."

Soon more than a dozen people exited the ruins and ran over to them. They were dirty but the leaders of the group looked a lot better than most of the refugee's they found.

"Are all of you people who worked around here?" Feng Lie asked.

A man in a suit smiled charmingly at Feng Lie, "That's correct, we used to work around here before the earthquake. Who are all of you? Just a while ago I saw you slaughter the monsters in the area, how did you get so strong?"

Feng Lie ignored the man's question, "That's not important. Have you met a woman named Nguyen Meng? She was in her late twenties and around one hundred and fifty centimeters tall."

"Yes actually, she was with us until just yesterday." The man said with a sympathetic expression, "A large group of people passed through here yesterday and she joined up with them along with a few others. They were heading west, it may be possible to catch up with them if you hurry. If you bring me along I'll be able to identify the group for you."

Feng Lie was relieved to hear that and turned to Cheng Yang to ask if they could chase the group. When he saw Cheng Yang's face he was shocked into silence. A cold murderous intent was emanating from him.

Cheng Yang slowly walked up to the man, "Separate and restrain them. After that interrogate them, check to see if this snake's story is true."

"Sir, I promise that-" Before the leader of the refugee's could finish his sentence Cheng Yang struck a large concrete pillar with a magic missile, turning it to dust and rubble. It was a clear warning.

The man in the suit smartly closed his mouth when he saw that.

Everyone could tell that something wasn't right but didn't hesitate to carry out Cheng Yang's order. Although some people tried to resist what could they do against Professionals?

The group of refugee's was smaller than the number of soldiers so Feng Lie nervously walked over to Cheng Yang.

"Are you curious as to why I'm doing this?" Cheng Yang asked.

Feng Lie hesitated then nodded his head.

"I don't blame you but be more observant. This is the end of the world and if you miss crucial details it'll only get you killed. Many of them seem well fed but those few in the back look like they're starving. Look at their body language. Those that are starved also look afraid, but not of the monsters. Also, I know the eyes of a killer when I see them."

"My Lord, you can't mean…" Feng Lie trailed off, his face turning pale. "Are you saying that they… why would they lie about this?"

"People lie for all sorts of reason's. I'm not saying they killed your wife but I believe it's a possibility. Once we question them the truth will emerge. Just… be prepared for the worst."

Even though Cheng Yang tried to comfort him, Feng Lie was able to tell that Cheng Yang didn't believe his wife was alive.

After a few minutes the interrogations were finished. Many of the healthy looking refugee's had bruises on their faces. Several of the soldiers had overheard Cheng Yang and were determined to force the truth out of them.

Cheng Yang didn't even react to their violent methods. In this troubled world, what did a bit of violence amount to? After all, his soldiers hadn't killed them.