Surviving the Long Night: Starting from the Gas Station and Infinite Upgrades

Chapter 21 Refugees, Petty Actions, and Major Transportation Routes

Lu Sheng glanced at it from afar, then drove the electric cart into the warehouse.

"Shutong, close the door."

Jiang Shutong quickly closed the door, then walked to the window to be on guard against the outside world.

"Lu Sheng, there are lights outside, it looks like a car is coming. Could it be coming to refuel?"

"Be careful in a moment, don't open the door yet."

"Okay, okay."

After Lu Sheng finished instructing Jiang Shutong, he unloaded the materials from the electric cart and glanced at the pile of timber on the ground next to him. Half of it had already been processed into long strips.

After removing the long wooden strips that have other uses, there is one unit of timber left. The steel stock has increased significantly, with seven new units added today, leaving twelve units remaining.

Lu Sheng felt that he had become quite skilled at disassembling steel, and his efficiency was much higher than at the beginning.

A short while later, the sound of a car horn rang out outside.

"Ugh!"

After the car horn sounded, a bus stopped on the road in front of the gas station. Lu Sheng walked to the window, where Jiang Shutong had been observing the outside for a while.

"They're long-distance buses with modified fuel tanks. They might be refugees who don't belong to any faction, but..."

Jiang Shutong raised her hand to her chin, looking somewhat bewildered.

"But what?"

"It is difficult to survive in the Long Night without relying on any power, so they are very careful and almost always take the national highways when they migrate, even if it means taking a longer route."

Traveling at night is even rarer; a bus like this, if it breaks down in the dark, is like canned food for any nocturnal creature.

Jiang Shutong felt increasingly uneasy:

"But there's no village or shop in sight here. If they stopped here by accident... then they probably wanted to set up camp here."

"Settle down camp? In this barren place, who would want to make a home?"

Lu Sheng was also confused.

At that moment, they heard a faint sound, like the sound of some kind of gas leaking out.

"It's the car door. The doors of this type of car are controlled by a cylinder with a piston rod. They need to expel air when opening the door, so they're getting out of the car."

Jiang Shutong looked out the window, and just as she had said, the car door slowly opened, and a middle-aged man wearing a helmet got out of the car. The helmet was equipped with a headlamp, which shone a white light, making the road in front of him brighter.

He walked towards the gas station with his hands raised.

"Is Lu Sheng, the station chief, here? My name is Liang Shan. I'm the leader of a group of homeless people. We've obtained work visas from the Lu family."

Upon hearing this, Lu Sheng opened his personal terminal, but there were no messages from his family.

"I haven't received any news from the family. Do you have anything that can prove your identity?"

He opened the window a crack and asked Liang Shan, who calmly replied:

"Yes, we have already met with Commissioner Lei, who is in charge of supplying this area. You can contact him to confirm."

Upon hearing this, Lu Sheng lowered his voice and instructed Jiang Shutong, who was standing next to him:

"Keep an eye on it for me, I'm going to make a call."

Jiang Shutong nodded, drew her gun, and used the wall next to the window as cover to keep an eye on Liang Shan outside the door. Lu Sheng found Lei Zhaowu's contact information and dialed it.

A few minutes later, Lei Zhaowu explained the situation to Lu Sheng: these people had indeed obtained work visas from the Lu family and could stay temporarily within the Lu family's sphere of influence.

The fact that Lu Sheng wasn't notified might be because someone wanted to sabotage him.

"Brother Lu, there are some things I can't say too clearly, but you must know that sending you to a place like this was not intended to let you go back."

But now that you've become an awakened one, if you really go home in the future, some people will be embarrassed, and many more will be afraid that their lives will be in danger.

But since the young lady is watching you closely, and they can't figure out the specifics, they resort to these petty tricks to annoy you.

After listening to Lei Zhaowu's explanation, Lu Sheng clicked his tongue and hung up the phone.

"Liang Shan was standing there, everything was normal, except that a few windows in the car were open."

Upon seeing Lu Sheng return, Jiang Shutong reported on his situation during his absence.

"Thanks, leave the rest to me."

Lu Sheng looked out the window:

"Your identities have been verified. Choose a good spot to set up camp. Be careful tonight; there are many ferocious beasts in the area."

"Thanks for reminding me."

Liang Shanxian said something polite, then asked another question:

"Is Station Master Lu free tomorrow morning? I'd like to report to you on my work."

"Your work visa corresponds to an H1 visa, which places you in the outsourcing expert category. Your contact person is Lei Zhaowu. What are you reporting to me about?"

"Commissioner Lei told me that he is only G2, while your level is G1."

From a personal standpoint, you are the superior here; from a company policy standpoint, H1 employees need to liaise with G1 and G2 employees; and logically and personally, I should report to you.

Liang Shan was very respectful and spoke very carefully, so Lu Sheng guessed that Lei Zhaowu had told Liang Shan something.

"Alright, see you at dawn tomorrow."

"it is good."

Liang Shan agreed and turned to board the bus.

A little later, Lu Sheng and Jiang Shutong saw the bus turn around and stop steadily next to Jiang Shutong's house.

"The Lu family must have seen the value of this place, so they sent this group of people as a vanguard to test the reaction of neighboring forces."

Jiang Shutong recounted her speculation:

"I'm afraid that road won't be repaired for at least three to five years."

"What exactly happened to that road?"

Hearing Jiang Shutong say this, Lu Sheng also became interested in the road that was under repair.

Lin Ran stayed here because she took a detour, while Jiang Shutong came here because she saw the opportunity after the road was built. Even some of the ferocious beasts that have been lurking at night in recent days have migrated from there.

Everything I've experienced since coming to this world seems to be related to this path.

Faced with Lu Sheng's question, Jiang Shutong hesitated for a moment before speaking:

"It's said... I can't guarantee the news is true, it's said to be because of the monster."

Upon hearing the words "monster beast," Lu Sheng nodded.

"That's not surprising."

One important piece of knowledge he received from his predecessor's memories was the types of creatures of the night, which were roughly divided into two categories: ferocious beasts and strange beasts.

The former had its stats enhanced by the Long Night, while the latter was given a special mechanism by the Long Night.

In the officially revised and released "Classification of the Harm Level of Nocturnal Creatures", nocturnal creatures are divided into seven levels, with the lower the number, the higher the harm.

The vast majority of ferocious beasts are below level four, and all the strange beasts recorded so far, once they reach maturity, are at least level four; even the weakest juveniles are at level five.

To this day, there are still many important areas in the world that are dead lands that cannot be trodden due to the pollution caused by the monsters.

"Since they claim to be repairing the road, whatever the situation, the Jiang family is already handling it, and it won't affect us."

Lu Sheng remembered that the Jiang family's power was no less than that of the Lu family, and they must have a way of dealing with strange beasts, so he didn't need to worry.

Jiang Shutong also saw an opportunity in this:

"More than that, we're the beneficiaries too. With that road closed, traffic will be diverted to surrounding side streets, and the Lu family certainly won't let this opportunity pass."

If you seize the window of opportunity, that road in front of the gate, which you won't see a soul for a week, will soon become a major thoroughfare.