Night fell.
The sky was inky black and dotted with stars, but not a single, brilliant Moon could be found.
"This new world actually has no Moon!" the people exclaimed in shock.
And high in the northern sky, stretching across the expanse, was a Broken Star Ring.
It gave off little starlight and was no longer whole.
Like a string of pearls torn apart by immense force, its remnants hung suspended in the Void, dim and lusterless, its edges tinged with a deathly, ashen white.
"It’s absolutely magnificent."
The Broken Star Ring seemed almost embedded in the horizon. It hung so close to the surface, as if it were about to fall to the earth, creating an indescribable sense of pressure.
As Su Chen stared at it, he felt the Jade Pendant around his neck tremble slightly.
For no apparent reason, a throb of agitation stirred in his heart.
’Could that Broken Star Ring be closely connected to my family’s heirloom Jade Pendant?’
There was no point in overthinking it.
Speculating about things he couldn’t prove would only drain him mentally.
After steadying his breath, Su Chen began to survey the vast, starry sky. The starlight wasn’t a monotonous silver-white but a dazzling array of colors, like a hodgepodge of Elements.
What was even stranger was that many of the stars weren’t stationary. Instead, they trailed clear paths of light behind them.
These weren’t the fleeting afterimages of shooting stars that vanished in an instant, but persistent stellar trails, fine as silk threads, that occasionally wove together across the firmament.
Interestingly, when Su Chen gazed at a red stellar trail streaking across the sky like a fiery meteor, his Jade Pendant didn’t resonate at all. Instead, it was the Flame Burst Rune in his Sea of Consciousness that sent out ripples.
Considering that his Thunder Element Jingzhe Rune and his Water Element Water Mirror Refraction showed no response, he tentatively concluded that this red trail symbolized the Elemental Power of Fire.
With this thought in mind, he noticed a purple stellar trail arcing across the sky like a rainbow bridge, and sure enough, it caused his Jingzhe Rune to tremble slightly.
’Can it speed up my Recovery?’
Su Chen was completely baffled. For now, he felt no tangible effect and couldn’t figure out what impact this connection had.
At this moment, the people who had never seen such a brilliant and bizarre night sky were utterly mesmerized. Some noticed the connection between the multicolored starlight and their Runes, but they couldn’t immediately make sense of it.
Just then, someone with a megaphone shouted, "Everyone, stop staring! It’s already night, and the wild monsters could show up any minute. Get to your designated defensive positions immediately!"
The simple barricade of vehicles was mostly complete, but in the end, it was people who had to hold the line.
Frankly, based on the encounters during the day, the western approach—the outdoor sandlot, parking lot, and base entrance—was visually the most dangerous. There was no trench formed by a dry riverbed, only two crooked, makeshift vehicle barricades.
If there was any silver lining, it was that the barricades here were made from large SUVs, making them taller, thicker, and more solid.
The courtyard resort to the north had been strategically abandoned.
First, there simply wasn’t enough manpower.
Second, the distance was too great to rush back and forth; just sending reinforcements would take too long.
Another point, one not openly discussed, was that there were unclaimed human remains and monster carcasses in the resort. The hope was that these would sate the invading monsters—a choice born of desperation.
Whether this would work depended on the nature of the invaders. Would they be like tigers and leopards, which continue to hunt and kill for sport even after they’re full? Or would they be like the great, unknown Golden Eagles, which simply leave after eating their fill?
As for the east, the advantage of the slope meant they only needed to patiently guard the two entrances from high ground.
Considering there hadn’t been much trouble from the commercial street during the day, many believed the eastern front was largely safe and would be easy to defend.
The public service area to the south was protected by numerous reinforced concrete buildings and the base’s high outer walls. As long as people stayed inside the shelters, they would likely be safe even if a few monsters managed to infiltrate.
Taking all this into account, everyone weighed the pros and cons and headed to their chosen positions based on their own needs.
Whether to fight or to defend, considering the temptation of Elemental Essence and the fact that the monsters’ flesh was as tough as that of Earth’s animals, most adults—aside from the old, young, sick, and weak hiding in shelters—stepped forward.
After all, those without the courage to fight had already fled over Cyan Dragon Ridge. There was no need for them to stay here and fight like cornered beasts.
"How many people are left at the base?" asked Feng Zhiyuan, the head of the archery center.
He was tall and brawny, with a wide mouth and a lion-like visage. In the past, his very presence had been intimidating to his students.
Especially now, clad in a proper-looking composite stab-proof vest with a compound recurve hunting bow slung across his back, he projected an imposing air of natural authority.
"It’s hard to say. Probably around 1,000, 900 at the very least," Shao Jingchuan, the base’s general manager, replied.
One thing was certain: the group from the Cross-Country RV Club alone numbered around a hundred people.
Not a single one of them would abandon their RVs, which were significant assets and vital resources in the apocalypse. Naturally, every last one of them had stayed behind to defend their property.
In addition, there had theoretically been 125 competitors in the archery championship. Factoring in early casualties and the accompanying staff from the participating schools, there were likely still over a hundred of them around.
This number wasn’t an exaggeration.
Very few of these competitors had fled over the mountains. More than fifty Archers had already rallied around Feng Zhiyuan, and they had voluntarily taken up positions on the western front. Smaller groups of Archers had also appeared in the other sectors.
Of the entire sprawling campsite, only 116 people—his direct employees and temporary summer workers—remained under his management.
The number 116 had been explicitly tallied during the meal.
He could probably also influence and direct some of the shop owners and their employees who remained.
As Shao Jingchuan made this mental calculation, he was slightly startled. He realized that, unnoticed, three distinct factions had emerged in this remote corner of the campsite.
First, there was the absolute martial power faction led by Feng Zhiyuan. Though small in number, their combat strength was not to be underestimated.
Second, there was the survivalist faction centered around the RV alliance, focused on their apocalyptic assets.
Third, there was the base’s management and logistics system, which he himself controlled. How much longer it could be maintained was unknown.
The lone wolves and smaller groups outside of these were hardly worth mentioning.
’These are truly hard times,’ Shao Jingchuan sighed to himself. He knew that in this apocalypse, human nature couldn’t withstand such tests, and he wondered how long he himself could hold on.
"Manager Shao, it’s extremely dangerous around the defense line. Why don’t you wait in the rear for my good news?"
As Feng Zhiyuan spoke, he climbed onto a modified pickup truck. He stood nimbly in the truck bed while one of his archery coaches helped secure a safety harness around his waist.
Shao Jingchuan shook his head, gripping the long knife in his hand. "I have to set an example. If I retreat, it’s bound to shake everyone’s morale."
"Alright then. Be careful."
With that, Feng Zhiyuan patted the reinforced steel plate welded to the side of the truck, signaling the driver to move forward.
This was his style of combat.
During the day, the head of the archery center had relied on the pickup’s high mobility. Bracing himself against the constant jolting, he stood in the truck bed and picked off all sorts of difficult moving targets.
When you thought about it, wasn’t this just a modern form of mounted archery?
There was even a drone with night-vision capabilities hovering overhead—a new-age Gyrfalcon, in a way.

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