A middle-aged man walked closely next to Liao Zhenya and Zhen Yang. They were following Wen headed toward Jiaxing by foot.
Zombies tried to attack them on the way, but a wave of his wing immobilized the zombies. Then the beastmen would let them kill the zombies.
"Are you sure that this Tang Empire is under human rule, right?" The middle-aged man was Gan Shuo. He was one of the respected figures in the group.
When Liao Zhenya and Zhen Yang brought Wen, it alarmed them. But after hearing what Liao Zhenya told them, all the survivors decided to follow. They were suffering from a food shortage. If they stayed or left the city, death was eighty percent guaranteed.
Facing this kind of choice, everyone decided to follow Wen.
"We will know soon, we should be near Jiaxing by now," Liao Zhenya shook her head. She did not trust Wen either, but this was a gamble.
"I trust him!" Zhen Yang suddenly voiced his thoughts.
Gan Shuo looked toward the man, he was asking the man to tell the reason why he trusted the beastmen? But soon he realized that Zhen Yang did not bother to speak further.
"Hah, I forgot that you are a man with a few words. If you continue like this, you will experience a tough journey to find your love unless you have found one," Gan Shuo smirked as his eyes looked toward Liao Zhenya.
"I don't need that thing, my family is my priority. I need to find or build a safe place for them to live," Zhen Yang shook his head.
'Who speaks like that?' Gan Shuo was about to lecture the young man, but Wen's voice entered his ear, "We have arrived. He will take care of you from now on."
After saying that, Wen flew over the gate and entered the city.
Liao Zhenya, Zhen Yang, and Gan Shuo looked forward. Two people wearing plate armor approached them. Gan Shuo was relieved to find people who greeted them instead of a beast.
"We have been promoted but we are still doing this menial task," Fan Rui spoke to his companion, Gu Yingjie, "Why didn't you say it to Vice General Wei Xi? Or complaining to General Zhang Mengyao? Saying that to me has no use!"
Both were the pair who followed Tang Shaoyang in the fifth portal. While Fan Rui was promoted to Captain, Gu Yingjie was promoted to Squad Captain. Gu Yingjie's unit was under Fan Rui's command.
"Welcome, newbies," Fan Rui welcomed the survivors with a big smile. He was the complete opposite of Wen. He then scanned the survivor's group, Wei Xi told him 421 survivors were coming.
"I should tell Vice General Wei Xi that Fan Rui is playing around with the task. Maybe I will get promoted to Captain to replace him," from the back, Fan Rui heard everything that Gu Yingjie's whisper.
Fan Rui was aware that his young friend was still envious of him who could hook a girl from another world while Gu Yingjie failed. The boy resented him for that.
"Kuhum," Fan Rui coughed to clear his voice and spoke to the survivors again, "Hello, my name is Fan Rui. I will be the one who arranges you for the upcoming battle. Please follow me."
Gan Shuo stepped forward and raised his hand, "Hello, my name is Gan Shuo. Do all of us have to join the battle? We have elders and children in the group."
There were kids and elders in the group. It was unrealistic for them to join the battle.
"Don't worry, I will be selecting the people who will join the battle. We will not bring burden into the battlefield," Fan Rui's words were rude to address the people who could not fight as a burden. But he was more upset by what the middle-aged man tried implying.
The Empire was not that cruel to deploy the elderly and children into the battlefield.
Gan Shuo was sensitive with the words, and he realized that his concern was misunderstood by Fan Rui. He was about to try to clear the misunderstanding, but Fan Rui turned around, "Follow me!"
Liao Zhenya rolled her eyes at Gan Shuo, "Let me speak from now on. Guo Jun offended the friendly Wen, now you create a misunderstanding with the officer."
The survivors followed Fan Rui into the city. Zhen Yang, Liao Zhenya, and Gan Shuo noticed the steel wall. For sure, the wall would make the city safe from most of the zombies but Swiffer who could walk on the wall.
The three immediately realized the Empire was not some of a joke, but the real deal. As they passed the gate, a woman in white leather armor and a giant white moth? came to their sight.
The woman was Kang Xue and the white moth was Helia. Of course, it was a giant moth as the original moth was much smaller than their palm. This one was giant for a moth.
A gasp of shock could be heard from the survivors. However, Gan Shuo was less surprised because he had seen Wen. A walking eagle existed, a giant moth was not weird for sure.
"Elderly above fifty and children below eighteen follow Commander Kang Xue!" Fan Rui gestured to the survivors to follow the woman.
More than half of the survivors walked toward Kang Xue. Most of them were children and elderly. Kang Xue greeted them with a smile and asked them how they were going and so on.
"For those who are lower than level 30, you can join them!" Fan Rui pointed at the elderly and children group.
Another big group joined the group, leaving around fifty or so adults. Fan Rui inspected the group and found a boy in the group. From the height and his face, the boy was clearly around fifteen or even sixteen.
"Yingjie! Come over!" Fan Rui called Gu Yingjie as he stood in front of the boy and asked the boy, "Are you sure, you are eighteen?"
"Yes, Sir!" The boy tried to deepen his voice to look maturer.
"And you are level 30 or above?" Fan Rui continued to ask the boy.
"Yes, Sir!" The boy replied again.
At this moment, Gu Yingjie arrived next to Fan Rui, "Look at him!" Fan Rui pointed at Gu Yingjie, "He's eighteen, and you don't look like someone is eighteen!"
Gu Yingjie also looked at the boy. He was sure that the boy was younger than him. Even though the boy's face was covered in dirt, it was easy to tell.
"Then share your window status with me. Do you know that you can let other people see your status right?" Fan Rui smiled at the boy.
The boy was shocked, his face was telling Fan Rui that he did not know about this. No one tried to let other people see their status, so the survivors did not know about this.
"Hah, I don't know the reason why you want to risk your life to join the battle. However, we have a restriction that only eighteen and above can join us," Fan Rui shook his head, "Where are your parents?"
When Fan Rui asked that, he noticed that tears started to gather in the boy's eyes. Fan Rui let out a sigh. He did not need to hear the reply, the boy must have lost his parents because of the zombies. That was why he wanted to join the battle.
"What's your name?" Fan Rui asked.
"Wan Yongzhen, Sir!" The boy replied while his voice wavered. The boy was holding back from crying.
"Do you have a relative that is still alive?"
"Yes, Sir. I have a little sister!" Wan Yongzhen pointed his finger at the group of elderly and children.
"Then you should stay with your sister instead. She needs your protection and your presence! You should never leave her alone as her big brother!" Fan Rui raised his voice.
"But…"
Fan Rui came closer to Wan Yongzhen's face and whispered to his ears, "Listen to me, Yongzhen! I am not stopping you from killing the zombies who have taken your parents' life. But you are not ready for that, yet and you have your little sister who needs you the most right now."
"Don't worry about the zombies for now. There are billions of zombies in the world. You can always take your revenge later after you finish the Empire's training program. You need to get stronger so you can kill many zombies."
"Do you also know that the world has turned into a game, right?" Fan Rui asked the boy. Wan Yongzhen nodded his head in response.
"You protect your sister now. Once we return to the Empire's main base. You can join the training program. After you finish the training program, the Empire will grant you a class and a talent. By then, you can kill the zombies to your heart's content! Also, by then, I hope I can trust my back to you, okay?" Fan Rui smiled at the boy.
Wan Yongzhen wiped the tears and nodded his head. He then willingly went to another group.
There was a reason why only eighteen and above. For mental reasons, Wei Xi was afraid that the young people were not ready for the bloody battle. They would be easily faltered for sure since they grew in a peaceful environment.
Rather than having them die in the battle, letting them join the training first was the right thing to do.
Fan Rui and Gu Yingjie then inspected the remaining people. Fifty-three survivors could join the battle. It barely helped the army, but better than nothing.