A convoy of black sedans with heavily tinted windows glided along the deserted highway, the low growl of their engines the only sound breaking the oppressive silence. Inside one of the vehicles, Zhao Li Xin, Jade, and Leon sat quietly as they made their way toward the polluted zone.
After nearly two hours on the road, the convoy rolled into a small, abandoned town. It looked as though life itself had long since fled. Half of the buildings had collapsed into crumbling ruins, while the remaining structures stood like hollow shells, their shattered windows staring blankly into the distance. Cracks spiderwebbed across the empty streets, and the once-bustling shops had been left to decay beneath layers of dust and neglect.
