“Wake up, buddy, we’re about to set off!”
Feeling someone patting his shoulder and speaking loudly, Tang Zhen abruptly awoke from his semi-conscious state, then tensed his muscles and quickly opened his eyes.
At that moment, he still maintained the same state of alertness as before he fainted, firmly holding the sharp bone spur in his hand, pressing it against his chest.
If anything seemed amiss, he would not hesitate to thrust the bone spur forward.
However, when he clearly saw the situation in front of him, he slowly retracted the bone spur from his chest, while looking at the person in front of him with vigilance.
This was a ragged young man with a delicate, oval-shaped face, looking harmless, smiling at him.
The young man was about 1.75 meters tall and in his early twenties. Although he was sallow and emaciated, with dry and messy hair, his eyes were exceptionally bright and full of spirit.
Tang Zhen noticed that his clothes were very tattered, covered with patches and holes. This item, which should have been thrown into the trash long ago, was now draped over the young man’s body.
He wasn't the only one dressed like this; the clothing of those nearby was also similar, giving the impression of entering a refugee camp.
The style of the clothing was also very strange, creating a strong visual impact that made him momentarily think he had returned to the old society.
However, thinking about the monsters he had encountered before, he knew that even if he hadn't gone back in time, he was certainly no longer in his original world.
What kind of place was this?
Seeing Tang Zhen staring blankly at him, the young man rummaged through a pocket with a hole in his ragged clothes for a while, pulled out a little more than half a coarse grain bun covered in dust and grass, and handed it to Tang Zhen: “Are you hungry? Eat quickly!”
You want me to eat this?
Tang Zhen looked astonished at the half-bun in the young man’s hand, guessing that it had been stored in the young man’s pocket for at least three days, causing it to be somewhat distorted from drying out.
Tang Zhen really couldn't swallow this kind of food, and since the situation was unclear, he politely declined the young man's offer out of caution.
The young man withdrew his hand, showing an expression of 'you're crazy if you don't eat when there's food!', and very carefully put the bun back into his tattered pocket.
He seemed to cherish it greatly.
Touching his pocket, his phone was still there, and Tang Zhen felt much more at ease.
He moved his shoulder; it still ached a bit, but it had been cleaned and bandaged with a piece of rags.
He cast an inquiring glance at the young man, who nodded and smiled: “You were scratched by a monster, and it needed to be dealt with quickly, so I bandaged it for you while you were unconscious… Uh, you don’t have to thank me!”
Tang Zhen’s eyes showed gratitude, and he nodded in thanks.
Regardless of whether the other party's treatment was effective, it was at least better than doing nothing.
He stood up and looked around, this time Tang Zhen observed very carefully.
He found that his current location was precisely the makeshift camp he had seen before losing consciousness, with more than a dozen shabby tents patched together from various materials nearby.
Many people were moving around the tents, dressed in ragged clothes and looking sickly, just like the young man in front of him.
By a campfire, Tang Zhen saw two middle-aged women throwing a handful of freshly picked wild vegetables, not even washed, directly into a broken pot of boiling water, then adding two broken pieces of dry bread. After stirring with a stick, a pot of food was ready.
Tang Zhen, who witnessed the entire process, slightly pursed his lips. To be honest, Tang Zhen thought even dog food would be much more delicious and filling than this.
But even such terrible food was still being fought over by many people.
Upon seeing the food boiling, one woman loudly called out that it was time to eat, and immediately many people gathered around with various containers.
A woman served each person a spoonful of 'soup', and those who received food went to the side to slowly drink it.
They ate with great relish, as if it were the supreme delicacy, even licking the bottom of their bowls clean, not caring if there was sand or dirt.
Seeing this scene, Tang Zhen felt deeply shocked. Why were they so miserable? Were they really fleeing famine?
But looking closely, it didn't seem like it. Then why had these people fallen to such a state?
Among these beggar-like people, there were also more than a dozen 'foreigners' of different skin colors, which further deepened Tang Zhen's confusion.
“Hurry up and eat, or there won’t be any left!”
While Tang Zhen was in a daze, the young man who had offered him the bun reminded him, and then quickly ran over as well.
He pulled out an enamel mug from his tattered bag and filled it with a serving of wild vegetable soup with fine sand floating at the bottom, and drank it with great enjoyment.
Tang Zhen noticed that there seemed to be words on the enamel mug, and upon closer inspection, it read: “Serve the People!”
Oh my god, what kind of situation is this?
“You, who are you all?”
Tang Zhen finally couldn't hold back and asked the young man drinking soup.
“Who are we? Of course, we’re a team going to explore a wild building. Does that even need asking?”
The young man drank his soup in large gulps, somewhat dismissive of Tang Zhen's question.
Suppressing the doubts in his heart, Tang Zhen probed for a while and finally had a basic understanding of his current situation.
This was a very strange world, with no national governments, and everywhere were swarms of wanderers of various races, as well as large and small tower cities.
The wanderers were the people in front of Tang Zhen. Fifty percent of the wanderers in this world were human, and the other fifty percent were said to be various alien races.
Wanderers had no fixed abode, drifting everywhere, their sole purpose being to survive.
These wanderers in front of him had begun to gather here in twos and threes a few days ago. They had heard news and came, preparing to explore a newly appeared wild building.
Tang Zhen had suddenly appeared among the crowd yesterday evening, but he had immediately fainted, and everyone had taken him for another wanderer also preparing to participate in the wild building exploration, so no one had paid him any attention.
Wild buildings were one of the most miraculous existences in this world.
So-called wild buildings were ownerless structures that suddenly appeared in the endless wilderness. They contained many useful resources, but were also full of danger!
Every appearance of a wild building would be a huge opportunity for wanderers.
Speaking of wild buildings, one must mention the representatives of powerful forces in this world, which were the various tower cities!
In this world, wanderers were like rootless duckweeds, drifting in this boundless wilderness.
They gathered wild vegetables, hunted wild beasts, explored wild buildings, collectively resisted terrifying monsters, and longed for the day they could join a certain tower city to gain protection.
However, what this world lacked least was wanderers. They were like weeds, generation after generation. Many people lived from birth to death without ever having the chance to enter a tower city.
If the humans of this world were to be divided into ranks, then perhaps tower city residents would be the highest level of existence.
Tower city was a general term, representing a formal gathering place, recognized by the laws of this world, possessing mysterious power.
According to the young man, anyone could build a tower city out of thin air simply by obtaining an item called a 'keystone'.
Once a tower city was built, as long as residents did not leave the city, they would not be attacked by various monsters like wanderers were.
Initially, a tower city would not exceed four stories in height, and its area would only be about two thousand square meters, containing a keystone platform.
It was said that the lord of the tower city and its residents could use monster brain pearls to offer sacrifices to the gods on the keystone platform, thus having the chance to gain miraculous powers and items.
If there were extra keystones, the tower city could even be upgraded!
The more times it was upgraded, the taller and larger the tower city would become, and the more miraculous abilities it might possess.
The young man said that he once saw a very powerful tower city with five hundred-story-plus buildings built together, surrounded by tall walls, and many residents living inside!
When monsters attacked the city, this tower city could miraculously produce a transparent cauldron out of thin air, covering the city within it, protecting it from monster harassment.
However, not all tower cities were built by humans; a considerable portion were built by alien races. They were never willing to easily accept humans into their cities, and even attacked and seized human-built tower cities.
Much of the information the young man recounted was hearsay, making it half-true and half-false.
But even so, it left Tang Zhen dumbfounded. As the young man described, a huge wave surged in his heart.
This was indeed a chaotic world, yet incredibly magical. How did he end up here?
“Perhaps because of that glass sphere…?”
Tang Zhen vaguely guessed in his heart, but couldn't be sure.
An hour later, everyone had finished eating, and then some began to pack up their tents.
They took out various strange weapons and slowly walked together in the direction of the rising sun.
Tang Zhen now knew that the young man who had bandaged his wound and given him dry food was named Qian Long.
At this moment, Qian Long was also carrying a sharpened iron rod, his expression grave, following the team, while vigilantly scanning the surrounding bushes.
Seeing everyone looking as if they were facing a formidable enemy, Tang Zhen also couldn't help but feel nervous. After touching the bone spur tucked into his belt, he picked up a stone and gripped it tightly.
The group hadn't walked far when a low growl suddenly came from the bushes, a strange and miserable sound.
The wanderers who heard the roar panicked for a few seconds, then immediately aimed their weapons in the direction of the sound, with a few even directly shooting arrows.
The entire process took only a few seconds, demonstrating the wanderers' combat readiness.
The dense wild grass was forcefully parted, and more than ten green-skinned humanoid monsters, about a meter tall and shaped like squat water tanks, rushed towards the wanderers with strange howls.
They were filthy and ugly in appearance, looking like maggots that had crawled out of a cesspit.
Looking at the monsters' familiar ugly appearance, Tang Zhen momentarily had an absurd illusion that he had traveled into a game world.
Because the appearance of these monsters was very similar to the monsters that played minor roles in many games—goblins!
Among this group of goblin-like monsters, one monster had a particularly amusing appearance. A crude arrow was stuck in its forehead, and it let out strange cries of pain mixed with excitement while brandishing a large bone club covered with gnaw marks.
“It’s green-skinned goblins, everyone attack!”
The leader among the wanderers shouted, trying to boost morale, and the wanderers also attacked in unison.
For a moment, various weapons flew through the low air, causing these short, stout monsters to scream repeatedly. However, these monsters were also fierce, and they charged forward, enduring the wanderers' attacks.
Their red eyes were filled with greed, as if these wanderers were delicious food, and they were the predators.
Under the temptation of food, these monsters suffered multiple attacks but refused to retreat in the slightest.
However, compared to the numerous wanderers, the number of goblin monsters did not have an advantage.
The battle didn't last long. Facing the dense attacks of the wanderers, the goblin monsters finally couldn't resist and fled into the bushes with mournful cries, leaving behind several corpses as they scrambled away.