G City's location was quite awkward, situated on the border between the eastern and southern regions of Country Z, equidistant from Jiangcheng and Haicheng.
In this apocalypse, apart from those traveling between Jiangcheng and Haicheng, no one ventured here.
Even for journeys between Jiangcheng and Haicheng, driving a car for such a distance was hardly cost-effective; official travel was done by aircraft.
Consequently, G City was practically deserted.
Tang Li's mechanical exoskeleton scraped against the earth and stones, producing a "shushing" sound.
Suddenly, Tang Li caught a faint, almost imperceptible scent.
It was akin to the stench of decaying corpses, with a hint of blood.
Someone else might have overlooked this trace of odor.
However, Tang Li's keen sense of smell detected it.
Following the scent, Tang Li arrived at a location and indeed found several corpses on the ground. kuAiδugg
The bodies were not wearing protective suits, and their clothing was minimal, suggesting they had fled without any preparation.
The surroundings were littered with rubble and glass shards. The corpses were covered in blood, likely having been injured, stunned, or killed by falling debris from above, preventing them from escaping.
From a nearby ruin, an even stronger stench of decay emanated.
It appeared these individuals were survivors trapped within the G City shelter when it collapsed, and had not managed to flee. The adjacent ruin was where they had resided.
There were no quantum communication phones here, nor had they received any prior earthquake warnings, leaving them unprepared when the tremor struck.
Only a few had managed to escape. Many more were buried within the ruins, unable to get out.
As for those outside, though they had escaped their buildings, they had perished from falling debris, thus failing to survive.
It seemed that all those who had stayed in the shelter had died. If not, with ten days having passed since the earthquake, someone would have come to collect their bodies.
As Tang Li approached the corpses, the smell of decay intensified.
Before the apocalypse, this place would have been swarming with flies. However, it was now eerily silent.
In these extreme conditions, even flies couldn't survive.
Tang Li lowered her head and saw the body of a young girl, around her own age.
The girl's entire body was twisted, except for her legs. Her leg bones had been fractured by falling masonry from above, rendering her immobile. She had eventually succumbed to dehydration and heat.
Under the intense heat of the extreme summer season, coupled with direct sunlight and a lack of water, the moisture in her body had rapidly evaporated over just ten days, showing clear signs of mummification.
However, there were no fallen walls near the girl. Her legs and arms were covered in wounds, indicating she had struggled for survival before her death.
Ultimately, she lay on her back on the ground, having given up all hope.
It was likely that seeing everyone else dead and being the sole survivor, she lost the will to live and surrendered.
Looking at the girl's face, which appeared as if she were asleep, Tang Li felt no discomfort.
She had experienced such scenes many times in her previous life, and had even come close to such a fate herself more than once. She had grown accustomed to it.
Yet, seeing this girl, around her own age, it reminded her of her past self.
In recent days, wandering through various shelters and survivor bases, Tang Li had recalled many things from her previous life.
She suddenly realized the vast difference between her current self and her past self.
In her previous life, she was one of the refugees. She had walked for two years in an attempt to reach Jiangcheng, but never made it.
Now, she could travel anywhere she wished, clad in her mechanical exoskeleton.
In her previous life, she was still living in the A City shelter. After the great earthquake, she had lost her home and was crammed into a tent at a temporary resettlement site with others, enduring the scorching heat.
At one point, she had even suffered heatstroke due to the high temperatures and lack of water, nearly losing her life.
Now, her spatial storage held abundant supplies, enough not only for herself but also to support a survivor base, allowing people to live even better than in official shelters.
In the past few days, Tang Li had even considered living on the surface instead of entering the official underground city.
However, it was just a fleeting thought before she dismissed it.
The next three years would bring natural disasters such as meteorite impacts, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, and major acid rain. Furthermore, poisonous creatures would proliferate in this harsh environment.
Living on the surface offered no path to survival.
Even if one survived, they would become less than human, more like ghosts.
Therefore, regardless of the circumstances, entering the underground city was imperative.