Cave Refuge

The gunfire attracted the attention of the ancient creatures flying in the sky, who abandoned the impenetrably hard shell of the transport aircraft and turned their attention to Dong Tianyu and his group – the ’early birds.’

Dong Tianyu picked up his sniper rifle and with a casual shot, blew the head off one of the ancient creatures, killing it instantly.

After firing the bullet, Dong Tianyu was surprised to discover that the bullet was not an ordinary one but a special ammunition containing a splintering warhead. At a certain distance after leaving the barrel, the bullet would split into several smaller projectiles, inflicting damage to an area.

This thing could hardly be said to be a sniper bullet; it was more akin to a fog-gun shell fired from a sniping cannon.

Those ancient creatures wandering around the transport aircraft probably only had their mouths as the hardest parts, with the rest of their bodies not being particularly defensively strong.

Facing this kind of area-of-effect weapon, the ancient creatures were easily injured upon grazing and killed upon a direct hit.

The others’ hit rate was much lower than Dong Tianyu’s, who had the assistance of Divine Sense for aiming, but even though they didn’t kill many ancient creatures directly.

When the specially made bullets split, they had a vast range of damage; if they didn’t kill the creatures outright, they still punctured or outright broke off some of their wings.

Unlike ground combat, in mid-air, once the wings were damaged and flight was impossible, the only outcome for them was death.

It seemed the transport aircraft was often involved in such incidents; not only had it been equipped with numerous firing positions, but also the issued ammunition was just the right amount.

When most people used up their ten bullets, although not all the ancient creatures surrounding the transport aircraft were shot down, the remaining few fled in haste, as if scared witless.

Only after confirming that there were no flying ancient creatures around did the elevator platform beneath everyone’s feet begin to descend slowly, and all the hatches on top of the transport aircraft closed.

As soon as the hatches on top of the transport aircraft were fully closed, many crew members ran over. Some were helping to unfasten everyone’s safety devices; others began to collect back the weapons issued to Dong Tianyu and his group.

Dong Tianyu handed his weapon to a nearby staff member. The staff member skillfully opened the ammunition chamber to ensure there were no bullets left before collecting the next person’s weapon.

Not until all safety measures on Dong Tianyu were removed did he realize that the ammunition belt tied around him had also been disassembled by the crew.

Dong Tianyu, feeling much lighter, returned to the cabin under the guidance of the staff.

As soon as he sat down, Madeline, next to him, excitedly asked Dong Tianyu, "Were those gunshots just now fired by you?" 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

Hearing Madeline ask this, Dong Tianyu nodded nonchalantly.

"The fuselage of the transport aircraft is made of a specially reinforced alloy shell, which is extremely sturdy and also has good sound insulation.

Since the sound of your shooting could be heard inside the cabin, it at least indicates that the firearms you used had a large caliber."

Hearing Madeline analyze this, Dong Tianyu nodded and directly admitted, "The caliber is indeed not small; the width of the barrel is about as thick as my arm."

Upon hearing Dong Tianyu say this, Madeline immediately looked surprised; she had never used such nearly cannon-sized firearms before.

While Dong Tianyu was chatting with Madeline, he noticed Butterfly and Spirit Dog alternately directing their gazes toward him.

It seemed they recognized him, but now that he had demonstrated the power of the Energy Refining Realm, he wondered if they still had the nerve to choose him as their next target.

During the rest of the journey, the transport aircraft encountered two more attacks, but with each encounter, Dong Tianyu and his group became more experienced. Without any mishaps, they landed smoothly in the Grand Dragon Lake of Pengcheng.

Although Dong Tianyu and Madeline had been away from Pengcheng for only about ten days, the changes around Grand Dragon Lake were barely recognizable to Dong Tianyu.

The once lush forest of huge trees around Grand Dragon Lake had been almost completely cut down. Not only that, the deep roots buried in the soil had also been dug up.

Although the ground hadn’t undergone any special treatment, bricks had been laid over the repeatedly compacted earth, which looked very ordinary.

But considering that Dong Tianyu had only left Pengcheng for ten days, during which trees had to be cut down, roots dug up, the ground compacted, bricks fired, and the ground laid with bricks.

Although firing bricks could be done concurrently, the other tasks were also very complicated, and after only ten days, the surroundings of Grand Dragon Lake had been given a completely new look, demonstrating China’s unimaginable infrastructure strength.

Returning to Pengcheng on the transport aircraft were not only Dong Tianyu and his fellow original residents of Pengcheng who went to Kyoto for the trade fair but also some survivors who transferred from other places to Pengcheng via Kyoto.

When returning, Dong Tianyu and Madeline found Luo Lao, but Luo Lao had some unfinished business in Kyoto and thus did not take the transport aircraft back with them.

Since neither of them had checked any luggage, after disembarking, the two didn’t linger and, led by Madeline, headed straight for the parking lot. There, they found her car parked in advance and drove straight to Saxon County.

Though it was only a short ten days, the change in Pengcheng was quite significant.

The city, once overtaken by the forest, had been reclaimed by the survivors, and Pengcheng’s rebuilding did not center around the original downtown area.

Instead, the focal point was set outside the Eastern Third Ring, for building a new city is simpler than rebuilding an old one.