Wasteland Lord: Starting from Thirty Days to Live

One day ago.

A small group of refugees were walking sparsely along the green trail leading from the Iron Bay Federation to the Reach.

Most of them looked tired and nervous, dragging their luggage along, and the group walked along the mountain path in a chaotic manner.

A woman was pulling her young daughter along, carrying a basket on her back. She was covered in sweat, and her legs were trembling. It was clear that the long walk had taken its toll on her.

But when she glanced at the others around her, she was afraid that if she stopped now she would be left behind by the main group, so she gritted her teeth and decided to keep going.

However, she overestimated her physical strength and took another step forward. Her legs gave way and she was about to fall to the ground.

Just then, a pair of fair hands reached out and helped her up. The hands had no calluses and were clearly not those of an ordinary person.

The woman was helped up and looked up to see a young girl's face before her. The girl had a slightly chubby face, unadorned yet vibrant red lips, soft brown hair, and watery green eyes. Together, they formed the appearance of a typical upper-class aristocratic young woman.

Upon seeing that it was this young girl who had helped her up, the woman couldn't help but show her gratitude.

"Miss Serena, thank you."

Serena de Lorraine, daughter of the old lord of Gate City, and former eldest daughter of Gate City.

Since the old city lord passed away not long ago, and his three subordinates conspired to murder his brother and mother, she is no longer the high and mighty young lady she once was.

She survived because the three supervisors wanted to use her to gain the old city lord's prestige.

They planned to marry her to the son of one of the rebels.

Like a lamb in chains, they had no choice but to be forced onto the altar.

Fortunately, the old city lord had no shortage of loyal subordinates. Her former steward colluded with some guards to take advantage of the chaos and send her away.

And so she began her life in exile.

Because the other cities near Zhakou City had already been informed by the three rebels that they would not offer her political asylum.

So she and her few remaining men had no choice but to take the risk and cross the border into the River Bend.

During this time, she was also pursued several times, but was protected by her loyal subordinates. In the end, she successfully entered the River Reach when almost all of her subordinates were lost.

However, almost all of her men were also killed.

Now only a lame veteran and a young guard are with her.

Although she is still nominally a young lady of high birth, she has long lost her former glory.

Therefore, upon hearing the woman's words of gratitude and respect, Serena simply looked away somewhat uncomfortably.

"Don't call me Miss anymore. I'm no longer a noblewoman from Zhakou City."

However, the woman held her hand tightly.

"Even if you weren't a young lady, I would still be grateful to you. There are so many commoners who follow you. You could have abandoned us, but you chose to accept us. You are kind."

Serena sighed, and just as she was about to say something, a dark shadow suddenly darted over and violently knocked the woman to the ground.

"Hey! Old woman! Are you going to come or not? Do you want to make everyone wait for you? How shameless!"

Upon seeing the person who arrived, the woman suddenly trembled all over, revealing a frightened expression. She repeatedly bowed and nodded, hurriedly saying sorry.

However, to her surprise, the person was relentless and even ignored the fact that she was simply too tired to walk, blaming her for everything.

"Does saying sorry do any good? Resting here only drags us down! If you're going to be a hindrance to everyone, I'll just break your legs and leave you here!"

Serena, unable to bear it any longer, shouted, "Enough!"

However, the person who suddenly appeared, faced with Serena's anger, merely turned around flippantly, facing Serena directly, looking down at her with a disdainful and provocative laugh.

"Young Miss, is there something wrong with what I said?"

Serena squinted at the person in front of her.

"Venom" Derek.

An ugly middle-aged man with several knife scars on his chin and face had been imprisoned multiple times in Zhakou City for theft and robbery. On his last imprisonment, he was convicted of murder and should have been hanged.

However, a sudden coup in Zhakou City caused chaos in the city, and even a riot broke out in the prison. Many outlaws took this opportunity to escape and mingle with the refugees.

When Serena's guards were still in full force, they were as docile as lambs, pretending to be just ordinary civilians.

With the final attack by the pursuers, almost all of Serena's combat-capable guards were killed, leaving only an old man and a young boy as insignificant guards. These men appeared like hyenas, drawn by the scent of the enemy.

At first, they only used the excuse of helping Serena maintain order and protect civilians, but later they openly interfered in the management of the team until they gradually sidelined Serena.

Many people raised objections during this period, but without exception, they all died suddenly at night.

Meanwhile, more and more opportunists chose to become his accomplices and those of his men—two equally notorious criminals.

Their team expanded to thirteen people in one fell swoop, becoming quite formidable, and for a time Serena was helpless against them.

If given another chance, Serena would definitely heed her subordinates' advice and not take in the refugees.

But there are no "what ifs." After all, she was just a young lady who focused on learning music, painting, and other arts, as well as aristocratic etiquette. No one ever taught her how to be a leader.

Making this kind of mistake is almost inevitable.

Serena had witnessed death and violence repeatedly over the past month, and when faced with the criminal whose hands were truly stained with blood, she couldn't help but take a step back.

When Venomous Fang saw her "wisely" take a step back, he snorted coldly.

"Very good, that's for the best. Just listen to me."

He then ignored Serena, kicked the woman on the ground, disregarded the child's cries, and returned to the outside of the group, arrogantly shouting "Forward!"

Serena's two guards rushed over upon hearing the news.

The lame Green and the young Sam.

They saw Serena standing there, silently weeping angrily.

"What's wrong, miss? Did that scoundrel bully you again?" Sam asked anxiously.

After learning the whole story from the woman, Sam was so anxious that he drew his sword, ready to fight Venomous Fang to the death, but Serena held him back.

"Forget it, let's keep going. Now is not the time to act impulsively."

Sam had no choice but to sheathe his sword.

Serena silently helped up the woman who was sweating profusely from the pain of being kicked, and followed the group forward in silence.

At night, they camped near the mountain path. Serena stayed in the tent while two guards went to find a clean water source nearby to fetch water for her.

The sounds of those thugs laughing and bullying others could be heard outside again.

Serena could only sit in her tent, sulking, when suddenly someone roughly pulled open her tent.

A man reeking of alcohol appeared before Serena's horrified gaze.

"Young Miss, why are you alone? Do you need me to keep you company?"