Chapter 1813: Chapter 950: Foreseeing the Future

Midnight.

"I’m so hungry," someone whispered.

"Me too." Another person replied softly.

In the shadowy wilderness of the Southwest, the 381,241 members of the Parents’ Meeting split into over a thousand columns, dispersing into the mountains as they slowly advanced.

To avoid being detected by satellites, they chose to march at night and sleep under the trees during the day.

Each of them had at least E-Class proficiency, but the difficulty of the Southwest Shu Path was unimaginable.

The route for this long march was not a straightforward two thousand kilometers on flat ground.

Traveling from the Central Plains to the southwest required crossing countless rivers, mountain passes, and peaks.

Encountering impassable terrains, they had to detour long distances to find suitable passage.

Though it was a direct 2,300 kilometers, the unfolded rugged terrain exceeded 7,000 kilometers.

After just over three hundred kilometers, many people’s shoes were worn out.

Their feet were also in tatters.

They could only walk barefoot on the uneven mountain paths, treading on dry branches and pine needles, and even when their soles were torn, they couldn’t stop.

Along the way, some ingenious family members began weaving straw sandals. But those who wore straw sandals understood that even modern people found them unbearably painful, with ankles getting chafed, and the straw sandals slowly turning red and then drying to black.

The hands of the people weaving straw sandals were also worn out, yet they persevered. When others advised them to stop, they would smile and say, "Even if our hands are worn out, it doesn’t halt progress, but if everyone’s feet are worn out, they can’t keep moving forward."

Some people started to flee. The three hundred kilometer mountain trek shattered the faith of many families; 381,241 people dwindled to 324,109.

Xiao Qi, Luo Wanya, and 318 core members mingled within the crowd, avoiding the first day of dark magic only to quietly rejoin the team, silently leading the group.

When the 320 of them decided to return, not everyone agreed, as nobody could guarantee that the Arbiter wouldn’t suddenly use dark magic again nearby.

Escaping once didn’t mean they could escape the next time.

But Luo Wanya said, "This long march is too arduous. Without core members to lead, this hard-won team would quickly collapse. This is our last foundation, it cannot fall."

Qing Chen had his own tasks, and those under him had grown capable, working on their own efforts.

Back then in Kuroharara, someone asked, "What if all 320 of you are killed by dark magic?"

Luo Wanya answered, "Then another batch of 320 would replace us in the Eastern Continent’s team and continue leading."

This was suicidal behavior, core members of the Parent Association stepping up batch by batch. Once a batch perished, another would replace them.

And if that batch perished, yet another would replace them.

Until they lead these 300,000 people to their destination, forging them along the journey.

Luo Wanya smiled and said, "If others can die, why can’t we? If we can truly use our lives to forge a team that fears no hardship, that would be a good thing."

As Qing Chen said, the Parent Association expanded too quickly. Some had not been through war or disaster, joining after observing but lacking genuine trials.

However, some convictions shatter, some faiths are not steadfast.

At times, Qing Chen thought that the Parent Association indeed needed a trial by fire, a way to sift out those incapable of stepping onto the battlefield.

Like forging steel, heating the billet until red-hot, hammering away impurities, shaping it into a blade; only then would these 300,000 find their use.

Yet the most harrowing part of the journey was neither the mountain paths nor hunger.

What does 320,000 people mean? Even if scattered in the wild, it’s hard for them to find enough food by themselves.

Initially, many optimistically thought they could catch wildlife, dig for wild vegetables, and nature, being rich in resources, would provide food.

In the worst case, they could eat bark.

However, reality showed that such a large crowd was disastrous for any ecological environment.

They found that the game caught, when shared, barely provided a mouthful for ten people, sometimes even a hundred.

Only about one percent of the plants along the way were edible.

Those at the front of the group could still eat bark, those at the back couldn’t even find that.

Ultimately, everyone started eating insects, leading to vomiting, diarrhea, and many fell ill with fevers.

If you ventured alone into the wild, with a strong physique and survival experience, you could endure.

But entering with over 300,000 others meant everyone struggled.

Currently, the Key of Gate was occupied with evacuating family members and couldn’t spare any attention to them, leaving them all famished.

Indeed, even with the Key of Gate, losing city 10 made it difficult for the Parent Association to immediately organize supply dispatches.

Rugged mountain paths, hunger, disease, they were living like people from another era.

During the day under the shade, occasionally sobs would ripple through the crowd, starting with one person crying, then more joining in.

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