This villain is too popular.

Chapter 425 Longevity County

After the two bypassed the broken wall and ventured deeper into the area, Chen Kong realized that the place they had been in the previous night was not a typical urban ruin in the New Federation, but a town area undergoing demolition.

Because the surrounding low walls and dilapidated houses had large "demolish" characters painted in red.

After passing through the demolition area, the two quickly arrived at the edge of the square, where they overheard conversations among passersby.

"Aunt Wang, are the ribbonfish at the market fresh today? My kid's been asking about them for days!"

"It's really fresh! It's just two cents more expensive. Even the soap at the supply and marketing cooperative has gone up in price. These days..."

Under the sycamore trees at the edge of the square, an elderly woman in a blue cloth jacket was standing on tiptoe, her bamboo basket swaying in her arms, with half a bar of soap tied with hemp rope hanging from the edge of the basket.

The fishmonger squatted behind a tin bucket, his scaler making a 'swish swish' sound as silvery fish scales splashed onto the bluestone slab, reflecting the morning sunlight.

Hearing the two people speaking in a dialect not far away, Chen Kong subconsciously touched his clothes.

Simply because he was wearing the tactical uniform of the Tianwu Training Base, and the uniform here...

The crowd, mostly dressed in shirts, bell-bottoms, and work clothes, looked quite out of place.

Sure enough, not long after they arrived at the square, several passersby carrying shopping baskets stopped and looked them over.

A little girl with pigtails tugged at her mother's sleeve, pointed at Mi Yao's headphones, and whispered, "Why does that uncle's hat look like that?"

Fortunately, these passersby only glanced at them a couple of times before turning back to continue their chatter, their eyes showing more curiosity than malice.

It was as if the appearance of Chen Kong and the others was just like that of tourists visiting from outside, and they didn't need to pay too much attention to it.

After the initial unease, Chen Kong immediately began to carefully observe his surroundings.

Beside the square, a street paved with bluestone slabs stretched into the distance.

On the walls along both sides of the street, there are many faded slogans such as "Family planning is everyone's responsibility" and "Develop the economy to ensure supply".

Although the words on these slogans have become somewhat blurred due to the erosion of wind and rain, their neatness from back then is still evident.

Looking back along these walls with slogans, you see rows of low red brick houses and old-style residential buildings.

These houses are not only old-fashioned, but some of them also have obvious paint peeling on the walls, indicating that they are quite old.

Just as Chen Kong was still wondering, Mi Yao suddenly spoke up again.

"Let's go, don't just stand here like an idiot. If I'm not mistaken, there should be quite a few other people here right now."

"If we can find them, perhaps we can gain a basic understanding of Changsheng Island."

Upon hearing this, Chen Kong belatedly realized what was happening.

Yes, they are currently exploring a dangerous occupied zone, not on a leisurely 'tourism'.

How could he have suddenly forgotten about the 'danger' here?

After adjusting their mindset, the two immediately walked into the seemingly peaceful and cozy town square.

The camera in the anime shifted after the two arrived at the square, focusing on other people.

[Morning, Changsheng Island Town District, a small shop]

"Heavenly Dao, when did you arrive?"

In front of the convenience store, Caroline, accompanied by Jing Liuli, arrived at the location marked by the Heavenly Dao on the terminal information.

At that moment, Tiandao was squatting at the entrance of the convenience store, holding a bottle of orange-red glass soda in his hand. The straw was inserted into the small hole in the aluminum bottle cap, and the 'slurping' sound was particularly clear in the quiet street corner.

Upon hearing Caroline's name, Tiandao didn't turn around immediately. He simply finished the last sip of his soda, the empty bottle making a soft "snap" sound. As he stood up, the sunlight fell directly on his shoulders, turning his silver-white hair a golden-brown.

Then, he went to the old lady knitting behind the counter, took out something that looked like a small bill from his pocket, and handed it to her.

Seeing this, Jing Liuli, who had already come to Tiandao's side, immediately showed a curious expression and said foolishly, "Tiandao, where did you get the money?"

To this, Heaven replied nonchalantly, "It was earned, what else could it be?"

Looking at the mirror behind Tiandao, the old lady took the small bills from Tiandao, tucked them into the cloth bag next to the knitting needles, and smiled at her, the wrinkles at the corners of her eyes forming a flower shape.

"Are you from out of town, young lady?"

Jing Liuli nodded.

Upon receiving the answer, the old lady immediately said kindly, "Then you should explore our Changsheng Town more, since we haven't seen any 'strangers' here for quite some time."

After saying that, the old lady lowered her head again and started knitting a sweater.

The steel needles struck each other repeatedly, producing a crisp "tick-tock" sound, as regular as a clock.

"Let's go."

Without lingering at the convenience store, Tiandao turned and walked out.

After putting the empty bottle into the recycling bin at the entrance of the convenience store, he slowly said to Jing Liuli, "I'll take you to the bank here to exchange some money first, since the 'rules' here are a bit different from those outside."

The Heavenly Dao paused, then its tone suddenly changed.

"By the way, since you came here, have you encountered any trouble with the 'locals'?"

"trouble?"

Jing Liuli was taken aback. She first glanced at Caroline, who was deep in thought, then looked at Tiandao. After recalling what had happened that morning, she said honestly, "I only saw a few passersby, and I didn't encounter any danger."

"Really? Then you're quite lucky."

As he spoke, Tiandao turned and walked deeper into the street.

"The 'people' here are far more troublesome than you think. Remember, try to talk and do less, and observe and listen more, just like Caroline."

Seeing the sudden seriousness in Tiandao's tone, Jing Liuli glanced in surprise at Caroline, who had remained silent.

Although the other person came here with her, she seemed to have noticed something immediately.

As a result, Caroline hasn't said a single word from the beginning until now.

Its intelligence is so great that it can make the most rational and correct decisions immediately without needing any prompting from the Heavenly Dao.

Although it wasn't the first time she'd felt this way, looking at Tiandao and Caroline standing next to her, Jing Liuli still felt like she was being 'intelligence-suppressed'.

Even though she was the one communicating with the Heavenly Dao, Jing Liuli inexplicably felt that she and the other party were not on the same wavelength.

Only Caroline and the Heavenly Dao share an unspoken 'understanding'.

Fortunately, although Jing Liuli doesn't consider herself very smart, she has one good quality.

That is, she never acts clever for herself.

"Okay, then I'll try not to talk anymore."

As she spoke, Jing Liuli made a zipper gesture with her hand over her mouth.

After receiving this precaution, Tiandao led the two through a street and finally stopped in front of a building called 'Chang Sheng County Bank'.
(End of this chapter)