Chapter 53 · Volume 1

Three Cities World Information Exchange Center

The forum was called the "Three Cities World Information Exchange Center."
Sticky threads at the top were highlighted, summarizing basic info on the three cities. Below were various intel and help threads.
Ren Yi looked at the registration dates—all were new accounts from this month.
Obviously, they were all Anomaly Cubs who had entered the Three Cities World.
The parents were clearly in "free-range mode" again, letting these newly awakened Cubs explore a strange world freely.
Consequently, some clever ones among the Cubs had taken the lead in setting up this forum for mutual aid.
After all, there was strength in numbers; every bit of intel was an extra layer of protection.
Ren Yi thought for a moment and decided to publish some of the information he had just obtained.
He drafted an anonymous post, including several points he deemed important, while hiding details that might reveal he was at the meeting.
Even if a Cub slipped up, he could explain it away—"this info isn't hard to get" or "the Anomalies in the Instance already knew this." It wouldn't expose his identity as Mo Ming.
For now, that identity was extremely precious to him.
Next, he opened the stickied threads. The first one was the summary and exchange thread for Xin City.
The top post was: 【Intel Summary for the "Fire Extinguishing Squad," students at Xin City coordinates please enter】
"Fire Extinguishing Squad?" Ren Yi couldn't help but curl his lips. The name was quite trendy.
Since they wanted to destroy Xin City, they just called it "Fire Extinguishing"?
Ambitious, but Ren Yi felt that these E-rank little Anomalies probably couldn't pull it off. Better to leave the heavy lifting to the Calamity.
However, the term "students" gave him pause.
Dead memories suddenly began to attack him.
Right, everyone who entered the Three Cities World this time should be the newly awakened Cubs.
And all of these Cubs were the 2,726 students from his grade at the Alliance First Comprehensive Education School.
So they were indeed classmates. Nothing wrong with that.
Why did this suddenly feel like a summer camp? Ren Yi mentally facepalmed.
But with nearly three thousand students, Ren Yi remembered their grade had sixty classes, each with about forty-five people.
Ren Yi wasn't exactly a loner, but he only really recognized people from his own class.
Statistically speaking, there should be about fifteen people from his class here in the Holy City. He just didn't know if he'd run into them.
Unfortunately, once inside an Instance or another world, the Anomaly Web automatically switched to local area network mode. You could only connect with Anomalies in the same space.
The previous class and grade groups could only be accessed within the Alliance headquarters. Otherwise, he could just ask in the group chat to see who else was in the Holy City.
"Forget it, I'll deal with it when I actually meet someone," Ren Yi muttered to himself.
Then he realized something. "Wait, I'm wearing the human skin of 'Mo Ming.' Even if I run into classmates, they won't recognize me."
Ren Yi quickly stopped overthinking and continued scrolling.
The content mostly consisted of photos of Xin City, maps of certain areas, and intel on social structures.
As Ren Yi expected, Xin City was a city where imperial power was supreme.
As for the discussion section below, it seemed different from what Lu Zihan had described. Right now, it was... a sea of wailing.
[ZombieNewbie: Brothers, isn't their security a bit tight? There are armed guards at every intersection. Won't I get riddled with bullets the moment I step out?]
[DoneBeingHuman: Seconded! I'm currently possessing a civilian. There are guns everywhere around me. I don't dare move. Anyone coming to save me?]
[RunOrDie: Brothers, don't show your True Form yet! I don't know why, but I showed my True Form for half a second in a panic, and I've been targeted and shot at ever since. I've run all the way out of the city.]
[LazyWaterGhost: Are you guys blind? Use your perception and look up—there are surveillance cameras!]
[ZombieNewbie: ?]
[RunOrDie: ???]
[SRankOrBust: I thought this was the apocalypse?]
[LazyWaterGhost: This city is too well-preserved. Technology is basically at pre-apocalypse levels.]
[TheRealFoxSpirit: This is tricky. The guards are checking IDs, and we're undocumented.]
[DoneBeingHuman: ...Don't bother saving me. It's too dangerous outside. I'm staying inside this civilian and not coming out.]
[LazyWaterGhost: Heh, bunch of idiots. I've already found a safe house.]
[TheRealFoxSpirit: Where? Care to share?]
[LazyWaterGhost: Naturally, it's the homeland of Anomalies, the home of urban legends, the place where the city's darkness gathers—the sewers.]
[ZombieNewbie: Give me death rather than the sewers.]
[SRankOrBust: Give me death +1.]
[RunOrDie: +2]
Ren Yi couldn't help but chuckle at these bizarre complaints. But as he laughed, his expression gradually darkened.
These posts clearly showed that Xin City was well-prepared for the descent of Anomalies—one could even say they were on high alert.
When some Anomalies tried to cause large-scale chaos, they were suppressed with extreme speed.
Usually, the bodies of E-rank Anomalies still possessed basic physical properties and could be destroyed by firearms and other weapons.
In a way, their survivability was worse than the mutant beasts that had adapted to the apocalypse.
This meant that this group of Anomalies—who had been well-protected by the Alliance and had become a bit overconfident—had been dealt a heavy blow immediately upon encountering a human city like Xin City, which had a complete social system and ample military force.
He continued scrolling down, and suddenly his gaze froze.
[SkullLifter: Guys, I can't reach a friend of mine. The Anomaly Web says he's out of the service area.]
[SkullLifter: He went to investigate that skyscraper in the city center earlier. Does anyone know what's happening around there?]
A short while had passed since that message was sent, and a row of candles had already been posted below it.
[SkullLifter: ...I understand.]
[SkullLifter: Everyone, do not underestimate humans.]
"Has an Anomaly already 'died'?" Ren Yi's heart sank.
Even though he knew death wasn't the end for an Anomaly, Ren Yi still felt a flicker of shock and sadness.
He silently warned himself.
Had the Alliance's strength and the Calamity's suppressive power made him a little too "cocky"?
Even a lion uses its full strength to catch a rabbit. Moreover, the Alliance had warned them many times.
They were just "Cubs"!

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