Chapter 440: Blood-stained Medal

Meng Chao did not mind Lu Siya using him to increase her fame or create her image.

In any case, Sky Pillar Minerals had put real money into upgrading the defense systems around Blessed Heavenly Garden, and all that money turned into electrical nets, multi-turreted cannons, and light machine guns as well as rocket launchers for the neighbors.

If they were fishing for fame through this, Meng Chao wished all superhumans would fork out real money to get more fame!

With Sky Pillar Minerals providing major support, the defense systems in Blessed Heavenly Garden and the residential areas around it were connected together and turned into a forbidden ground for monsters.

As long as they did not run into a monster horde formed by more than one hundred Nightmarish Beasts, their iron wall covered in fangs would definitely not fall.

Thus, Meng Chao was finally able to bring his family to their new apartment.

There were a total of twenty-nine floors in the apartment building, and Meng Chao’s apartment was located at the twenty-second floor. It was a three-bedroom, two-hall apartment with more than one hundred and thirty square meters. It also had a mini meditation room that was not included into the total area of the apartment and three bays facing south, which meant bright sunlight and good ventilation.

They could see the lively scene of the newly developed area as well as the Supernatural Tower, which rose into the clouds. All of the grievances they had living in Blessed Heavenly Garden were gone.

The walls in the residential area and the environment were not as grand as in Dragon City No.1. The name was not flashy either. It was just known as Lucky Garden, because it was located on Lucky Street.

But the anti-aircraft bases hidden in the corners of the residential area, the security teams made up of six trucks of heavy infantry, the offensive drones, and the thinning spider fighting vehicles brought a great sense of security to the residents.

The spirit energy provided to them also came from the depths of the mines north of Shattered Starlake. A huge gas pipe ran to the main city area, and after it was compressed twice, the spirit energy entered the houses in Lucky Garden. The superhumans did not need to go out to practice their sitting stances, meditate, or cultivate. The normal people could also live longer and be immune to various diseases by staying in this environment full of spirit energy.

The other apartments were for the members of the abnormal beast research department. Aside from the non-combat posts like HR, administration, finance, information analysis, and others, around half of Meng Chao’s neighbors were investigators who had fought in multiple battles.

Their fighting strength was higher than that of the average superhuman in their cultivation realm, and they could all take care of each other, so they naturally did not need to fear any ambush from abnormal beasts. They would often exchange experience and spar as well, which made the environment suitable for Meng Chao, who had just entered Heaven Realm and was in urgent need of stabilizing his cultivation realm.

As for Meng Chao’s building, it might be open for sale, but the ones who could get a slot to buy the apartments were all experts of their respective fields or people who had outstanding contributions in Dragon City.

Meng Chao stayed in 2202. The owner of 2201 was a researcher from the monster research center. Apparently, he performed in-depth research on flying-type monsters.

The owner of 2203 was a veteran hunter who had fought more than twenty years in the fog. He had also worked with Nie Chenglong a few times before and searched for satellite cities to save the Earthlings who were lost in the fog.

Even though he was old now and had to retreat from the battlefield because of his injuries, his great fighting experience still gave a lot of inspiration to Meng Chao.

What satisfied Meng Chao the most was that Lucky Garden had its own school bus, which would send the children in the residential area to their schools. The residents who had awakened to supernatural abilities would also take turns to escort the bus and protect the children while they were on their way to school or returning from it.

The students in the experimental class that Bai Jiacao attended were under strict management, and they usually had to stay in the school. Since it was one of the three great high schools in Dragon City, the teachers were naturally mighty people with built bodies who had once killed fearsome monsters. They were not afraid of the invasion of abnormal beasts. Earlier, Meng Chao had to send Bai Jiacao to school and pick her up back from school every week, but now he had nothing to worry about anymore!

Other things took up his time, instead. He had to act as the middleman between enterprises and residential areas, join the follow-up investigation and finish up the work related to the ambush of Noble Descent Hotel, learn Celestial Soul Visualization from Professor Lu Tianxing, work with the abnormal beast research department’s weapons development department and the workshop of a runic symbols master to provide his fighting data so that they could create a brand new weapon that could support the power of Heaven Realm, squeeze out time to join the activities in the Broken Star Club as it grew more influential day by day, join Blue Home’s activities as its thirteenth committee member, and settle all the remaining problems with moving to another apartment... Meng Chao was so busy that he could not even catch his breath. Before he even realized it, another month flew by.

The repercussions of the battle in the south were finally completely solved.

The data of the damages they suffered that night was tabulated. A total of 7,741 Dragon Citizens, soldiers, and superhumans had died. Hundreds of apartments were damaged and polluted, and the direct economic losses reached nearly one hundred billion yuan.

This was one of the largest number of deaths Dragon City had suffered over the past ten years.

But the citizens’ deaths were not without meaning.

Most of the residential areas and tactical facilities were protected, and the humans managed to capture plenty of new zombies and the undead.

After the medical experts worked tirelessly, serums, vaccines, and neutralizers targeting the new zombie virus and Blood Flower spores appeared one after another.

The Red Dragon Army, related departments, and various superhuman organizations also examined their experiences and came up with various fighting regulations against the new zombies and undead.

As sacrifices were made, humans became stronger.

Meng Chao believed that the next time these new zombies and undead appeared, the humans’ iron fists would definitely give them a solid beating and pull out their fangs and claws so that they would work forever for the humans to make them cover for the losses they made humans suffer.

The public memorial service for the 7,741 deceased was held at the public square in front of the Supernatural Tower.

More than one hundred thousand citizens attended, filling the public square so much that not a single drop of water could escape through them. In a solemn and somber atmosphere, they paid the highest respect to those who sacrificed themselves in the battle.

Meng Chao, the abnormal beast research department, and the members of Group 9 also joined the public memorial service.

During the commemoration ceremony after the public memorial service, all the members of Group 9 were rewarded a collective second-class merit for following the clues of the abnormal beast’s mastermind and discovering its scheme.

Since Meng Chao and Lu Siya were the first to rush into Noble Descent Hotel, they were each awarded a second-class Star Medal from the Supernatural Tower.

The medals in Dragon City were mainly given by the Supernatural Tower, Red Dragon Army, and Survival Committee. They were the Star Medal, Artillery Medal, and Dragon Medal, and they were given to superhumans, soldiers, and normal citizens.

Medals were categorized into five grades, metal, bronze, silver, gold, and the most honorable of all, the blood medal. They were also attached with different treatment and rewards as well as resources.

In truth, with Meng Chao and Lu Siya’s contribution by killing the Demonic Abyss Eye, they were fully qualified to get a first-class blood medal.

But there was an unwritten law in Dragon City that only those who had sacrificed their lives or suffered from untreatable wounds and could no longer take care of themselves in their daily lives were qualified to get first-class blood medals.

That was the reason behind the blood medal’s name.

Meng Chao had longed to get a first-class blood medal until he heard about the feats of the martyrs who obtained the blood medals.

There were nine people who had obtained blood medals in the battle in the south.

The first martyr was from a public transport company. He was not a superhuman, just a normal public bus driver.

The route he was in charge of passed through the southern part of the city, and it was coincidentally the place where there was the highest number of zombies and undead.

The attack happened at the rush hour when people got home from work.

His bus was full of passengers, and they were packed like sardines inside when zombies appeared on the road ahead of them.

This bus driver was a former Red Dragon Army soldier who was in charge of driving armored busses. He had great experience and immediately made his decision. He did not step on the brakes or reverse the bus. Instead, he stepped on the accelerator and rammed into the zombies.

The public busses in Dragon City were all covered in armor. Many of the busses had sharp skewers in front of them as well. The tires were run-flat tires filled with soft material.

In an instant, a number of zombies were torn to pieces and reduced to minced meat.

However, one of them slipped away and jumped on the windshield of the public bus. It used its tough skull to repeatedly ram against the steel glass, and once a small hole opened up, he fired acid containing the new zombie virus at the driver’s seat.

Even though the bus driver used his great driving skills to stop the bus and fling the zombie away before he stepped on the accelerator to run it over, he was unfortunately infected.

Based on the monitor in the bus, Meng Chao could see clearly that three minutes later, the bus driver went through a swift transformation.

His eyeballs became bloodshot. The borders between his pupils and the whites of his eyes could no longer be seen clearly.

His blood vessels became as thick as earthworms and gradually turned black as they rose from under his skin. It was as if there were really earthworms squirming madly in him.

His teeth and fingers grew longer nonstop, and they gave off wisps of black smoke.

His chest caved in, and his stomach bloated. It was as if his organs had turned into another set of organs after being invaded by the zombie virus.

The passengers began to scream after seeing his transformation.

It has to be known that the public bus was still moving at high speed at that time, and there were plenty of new zombies as well as undead wandering outside. In this sort of situation, if the bus went out of control and rammed into the wall or if the bus driver removed his safety belt and went on a rampage to hurt people, the consequences would be unimaginable.

However, even though this heroic bus driver had his body invaded by the virus and turned into a deformed monster, his determination made him sit firmly in his seat and perform his duties. He continued controlling the steering wheel with a firm hand and driving at a high, but stable speed while knocking off and running over multiple zombies and the undead. Then, when the bus arrived at a safe zone and the Red Dragon Army’s rapid response force came to protect the bus, he braked, turned off the ignition, parked the bus, and pulled up the hand brake.

At that moment, he had already turned into a zombie.

But he never unbuckled his seat belt or left his seat until the last passenger left.

The small seat belt was naturally not enough to restrain the killing instincts of a new zombie.

Through the monitor in the bus, Meng Chao could clearly see the resistance on his face and how his body struggled. His humanity fought a fierce fight against the monstrous desire to kill.

When his bus was later examined, it was found that he had long since crushed the steering wheel.

A few of the bones in his body had also broken from the two forces travelling in different directions in his body and tugged at them so fiercely that they snapped.

Meng Chao could not imagine how the bus drive had managed to use his strong determination and work ethics to win against the invasion of the virus in his brain.

Somehow, his humanity had won against the monstrous instincts.