Epoch of Twilight

Half an hour later, the group was sent to the hostel in the city.

A civil officer had made arrangements for their rooms. Just before he left, he suddenly received a phone call. After hanging up, he turned towards Luo Yuan and respectfully said, "Mr. Luo, the mayor wishes to see you."

His expression looked slightly confused. In order to improve the government’s efficiency after the apocalypse, there had been some shifts to the administration system. At the moment, the bureaucracy was according to a mayor administration, with the mayor as the highest-ranking official.

Nonetheless, although both were of a mayor position, the status of the mayor in the strategic Hope City compared to the mayor in the small Desert City at the border was vastly different. If they had to be compared, the equivalent to their differences was akin to a provincial level to a local officer.

Luo Yuan recovered from his slight excitement, and calmed down, "Sorry to trouble you."

No, no... it is no trouble at all. Mr. Luo, you are being far too polite."

The government officer seemed to be overwhelmed by the flattery.

"You guys do not have to wait up for me. Take some rest after dinner. I should be back soon," Luo Yuan put down his sword and said to Huang Jiahui.

Luo Yuan followed the officer and left the guest room. About ten minutes later, he entered the municipal government building.

"You are Luo Yuan, aren’t you? I am the mayor’s secretary, Lai Yonglai. The mayor has been waiting for you for some time now. Please come with me," said a muscular middle-aged man, who approached Luo Yuan just as he entered the hall.

His gait was as confident as a tiger. His foot was planted firmly on the ground, while his eyesight was sharp and alert. Such a person, even if he was not one of the evolved persons, he very well should have been one of the practitioners of the evolution. However, according to the customary selection rule during the apocalypse, the secretary would have to be both an evolved person, as well as a practitioner, with indomitable strength.

"Sorry to trouble you, Secretary Lai. Please, do lead the way," Luo Yuan flashed a smile after noticing that the secretary had no intention to shake hands.

Secretary Lai did not speak; his face remained expressionless with an unwelcoming look. He studied Luo Yuan from head to toe, as though scanning for any hidden weapons, and was inclined to conduct a body search on him, no less.

Ultimately, Secretary Lai did not carry out a body-search. For an evolved human, if he ever intended to kill an ordinary human, he will easily assassinate, even without a weapon.

Observing the other party staring at him, was like coming face to face with an enemy of the same rank. Luo Yuan did not mind at all, as he knew fairly well that everyone was neither obliged to be polite to him nor required to like him.

Although it was already ten o’clock in the evening, the building was still full of people coming and going; hustling and bustling about.

The two of them soon walked to the mayor’s office located at the most inner part of the building. Secretary Lai walked up, knocked on the door and said softly, "Mayor, Luo Yuan has arrived."

"Let him in!" The voice coming from the other side of the door was husky and deep, giving an impression of an elderly person.

Secretary Lai shot a warning look at Luo Yuan, and gestured him to enter. Luo Yuan pushed the door open and went in.

"You must be Mr. Luo, the comrade! Have a seat," chuckled a man who looked to be in his fifties or sixties with almost-white hair, donning a pair of black-framed reading glasses. Upon seeing Luo Yuan coming in, he took them off.

Luo Yuan hesitated for a moment, and took a seat on the couch by the side.

"Comrade Luo, I hope you don’t mind my summoning you here at such a late hour?" The old man smiled and asked politely.

Luo Yuan shook his head, and complimented him by saying, "It is my honor, for a mayor to call upon me!"

"My, oh my... Ever since I received information about you, I had always wanted to meet you. But unfortunately, the mayor of the Desert City, Song Guangming, was so reluctant to let go of you, and had even asked you to stay on. And now, it was so unfortunate that the whole Desert City had wiped out – even Song Guangming was also sacrificed," said the elder, with a forlorn look on his face, as he exhaled a long sigh.

"I am just a normal evolved person, there is no need for a mayor to pay so much attention to me," said Luo Yuan, slightly confused.

"Comrade Luo... You are young but very humble, and this is not a good thing," the old man pointed at him and reprimanded in jest. "I know you have your own concerns, and I have also heard some nasty rumors about you, but this is all due to those with bad intentions, ones who are useless to our society. You should understand that."

Luo Yuan nodded his head. He knew the elder was talking about the military purge of the evolved humans. It had resulted in a genocide of countless evolved people, while causing some of the more powerful ones to escape into the wild, turning into vagrants in the process.

"It can now be said that mankind has already reached a point between life and death, with the extinction of humans being no longer just a joke, but a fast reality. Perhaps we can endure this for another five years, or maybe we may not even last a year.

You may not be aware that the natural habitat for man has been greatly reduced. We have completely lost contact with Africa, South America, as well as Australia. Our next-door neighbor, Japan, has been completely submerged underwater caused by both the earthquake and the tsunami. We are now only in contact with Russia, America and Europe. These three regions and their total population may not even reach 300 million people. Moreover, with most of the population being old and weak, humankind is at the brink of extinction."

The old man continued with a heavy voice, "However, if human beings are to be eventually extinct, it must happen without regrets, as we would have done our best and exhausted all potential of the human race."

Luo Yuan’s expression exuded enlightenment. Although the old man’s voice was soft and his tone was gentle as a fawn, it showed him a new perspective and left a deep impact in his heart.

Perhaps the old man was aware of this unsettling conversation, as he changed the topic and said, "The evolved people are our hope for overcoming this apocalypse. The reason for the rapid advancement of technology is a mass gathering of men sharing their skills and knowledge, as well as contributions by the evolved humans. Their abilities were often non-replicable by any present technology. Of course, there were also some evolved people who were highly trained for combat, and are fighting on the battle front, making a huge contribution to mankind."

The old man looked at Luo Yuan, with his now piercing eyes. Without knowing why, Luo Yuan felt slightly nervous when facing this ordinary old man. "I know young people, especially those that had undergone evolution, enjoy their freedom. However, with the current situation, the luxury of freedom has become unacceptable," muttered the mayor.

The reasons for summoning you here, is to first listen to your opinions, on which position you would like to assume. Secondly, is to meet you, to see what kind of person you are, who had survived the fallen area, traveled all the way here, and at the same time bringing a group of ordinary men. Why, you must be blessed with superpowers!"

"I am afraid I have let you down!" said Luo Yuan respectfully.

"No, there is no disappointment. From your eyes, I know you are not a selfish person, and this is more than enough," the elder was pleased. He continued, "I heard that you are a martial arts practitioner... Are you interested in becoming an instructor?"

Seeing that Luo Yuan was confused, the old man chuckled, "Do not feel awkward. For an evolved person as formidable as you are, how could we possibly let you go without first getting to know you?"

Luo Yuan politely rejected and said, "I do not like the military atmosphere. What if I recommended two people – Deng Chao and Zhong Chuqiang? They have trained with me for some time now, and have at the moment, migrated here with the rest of the people."

The elder was not surprised by his refusal. After all, this was just a test and he was probably affected by the mass purge. Evolved people that were not trained in the military had a certain degree of ostracism against the army. After hearing Luo Yuan recommending others for the instructor position, his expression changed rapidly as he asked, "Are they ordinary people? If so, how strong are their abilities?"

Luo Yuan nodded and replied, "Basically, they can kill any level two or three mutated beasts!"

The mayor’s expression turned into one of all seriousness, as he quickly whipped out a notebook, and jotted down their names.

The information from Desert City seemed to be slightly different. Indeed, companions who had received training from him were actually stronger than what had been reported in the paper.

An ordinary person who could kill a level two or three beasts after learning martial arts was no ordinary feat. In fact, the strength of most evolved people was also within this range.

Martial arts had become popular in the Reconstruction Area, yet in reality, its outcome was unfavorable, and completely failed to meet their expectations. He had not expected that Luo Yuan could be the bearer of such a big surprise.

It was also true that the ones who could walk out of the fallen area and travel all the way here, would have gone through numerous risky and dangerous situations. Even if he was an ordinary man, he would have become very skilled in battle by now. Despite all that, he has yet to fully believe everything Luo Yuan said, as everything must be tested for the truth.

He closed the notebook and smiled, "Since you do not want to join the army, I’d recommend you another special department, which I think you would enjoy."