The City of Dawn

The arrival of the Alliance's tax official signaled that Xiao Fan's situation here would soon be exposed to the survivors of Yunzhou.

Thanks to effective confidentiality measures and the remote location chosen, Xiao Fan's base had remained undiscovered until now.

Xiao Fan's communications officers' main task each day was to monitor Yunzhou's broadcasts, gradually mapping out the region's general distribution of forces.

The Alliance consisted mainly of seven large survivor bases united together.

The largest of these was the North Wind Army, originating from Yunzhou's northernmost county.

This force had somehow managed to acquire a significant cache of weapons soon after the apocalypse began.

These were not mere police-issue equipment, but authentic military-grade weaponry.

They had firearms and ammunition galore, even tanks.

With this arsenal at their disposal, the North Wind Army swiftly expanded, absorbing vast numbers of survivors. To this day, the North Wind Army alone boasted over fifty thousand survivors under its command.

The leader of the North Wind Army, and the current chairman of the Alliance, was named Song Beifeng - an enigmatic figure whom many suspected had deep ties to the forces north of the Shenlong River.

North of the Shenlong River lay the foreign Boliya Country.

In the past, traveling abroad was no big deal, but now, anyone with foreign connections was regarded as a formidable figure.

At the very least, they had the means to travel overseas, something most survivors could only dream of.

Besides the North Wind Army, the Alliance comprised six other major forces, each numbering over ten thousand members.

Reportedly, the Alliance's total population had already surpassed one hundred and fifty thousand!

Survivors not part of the Alliance were required to pay taxes, after which the Alliance would list them as protected subjects.

For instance, the nearby General Ridge Base had been taxed by the Alliance.

Today was the day the tax official would arrive, and if Xiao Fan's base was discovered, it would likely face taxation as well.

Xiao Fan pondered, feeling that something was missing here.

Ah, yes!

They lacked a name!

Most of the survivor forces here had names, like the North Wind Army, War God Army, Women's Army, Ferry Army, and Rock Army within the Alliance.

Smaller forces also had names, such as the nearby General Ridge Base and the Peach Garden Base near Sishui.

Xiao Fan surveyed his vast city and decided to bestow it with a name as well.

He brought along the engineer Ai Yin and approached the southern gate, pointing to the massive stone lintel above. "Can we inscribe characters here?"

"Of course, Commander. Such a task is simple for engineers. How many characters would you like inscribed?"

"Three large characters, visible from afar. Inscribe 'City of Dawn.' Can you do that?"

"No problem. I'll call in two more engineers, and we can have it done within half an hour."

The inscription required writing the characters first, which Xiao Fan did himself.

Annie had advised him that the system could assist with these characters.

So Xiao Fan sat in a suspended platform, descending from the city walls with a brush as large as a mop, and wrote the three characters "City of Dawn."

His brushwork flowed like dragons and serpents, iron-forged and silver-hooked.

From a distance, the three characters exuded an imposing aura.

Then Ai Yin and the two other engineers swiftly chiseled the characters into the stone and painted them in a vivid red.

"We should also make a flag. It's the apocalypse now, with gloomy clouds constantly overhead, depriving humanity of hope. Our emergence should bring a dawn of light to this dark world."

Following Xiao Fan's suggestion, a flag was soon prepared.

Amidst the gloomy clouds, a ray of dawn seemed to pierce through like a celestial sword, bringing hope to the world.

Thus, the names "City of Dawn" and "Army of Dawn" were established by Xiao Fan.

The massive flag was hoisted above the four gates of the City of Dawn, immediately instilling a sense of vitality into the colossal city.

As soon as Xiao Fan finalized the name and flag of the Army of Dawn, a change manifested across all his soldiers.

On the sleeves of every Red Alert unit, an emblem depicting a ray of dawn appeared, henceforth serving as the Army of Dawn's distinctive insignia.

The soldiers wore it.

The tanks bore it.

Even the protective cloth draped over the war dogs displayed it.

Xiao Fan himself sported the emblem on his military uniform as well.

Once everything was prepared, Xu Qiang's scouts reported that the Alliance's tax official had approached within five kilometers, just a turn away from catching sight of the City of Dawn.

"They're finally here."

Xiao Fan smiled. "Tell everyone to withdraw into the city and seal the gates. Don't let these people in. We'll make them wait for a while, to dampen the Alliance's arrogance before dealing with them."

The order was relayed, and all soldiers and machinery swiftly retreated into the city as the gates closed one by one.

With all the gates sealed, the City of Dawn became virtually impenetrable.

The towering fifteen-meter walls, smooth and steep, were virtually unscalable. The massive gates blocked all hopes of entry.

Outsiders could only see the stern soldiers in the watchtowers, glaring at them through bulletproof glass.

And of course, they were unaware of the machine gun nests, each heavy machine gun trained on them as well.

Just as the four gates of the City of Dawn sealed shut, a convoy appeared at the bend leading to the city.

The convoy consisted of five vehicles.

One was a Land Rover SUV, accompanied by four heavy trucks.

Inside the Land Rover sat four people.

A driver, a secretary-like individual carrying documents.

And two men in the backseat, distinguished from ordinary survivors by their appearance.

One was a slightly overweight middle-aged man - a rarity in the apocalypse, nearly two months in, indicating an exceptionally comfortable life.

The other was a sharp-eyed youth with a hawkish nose, giving off a predatory aura whenever he scrutinized someone, exuding an unmistakable sense of danger.

At present, the middle-aged man was grumbling inside the vehicle.

"Damn it, how much farther do we have to go? Those bastards at General Ridge Base better not be screwing with me, claiming there are survivors here wearing military uniforms. What survivors would be wearing military gear out in the middle of nowhere? They made me drive tens of kilometers for nothing. If we don't find any survivors soon, I'm going to skin them alive when I get back!"

The hawk-nosed man, however, remained focused on the ground.

"There are plenty of vehicle tracks here."

The driver nodded in agreement. "Yes, there are tire marks all over. If the people at General Ridge Base weren't lying, we should be getting close."

"Hmph! That's good, then. As long as there are survivors, it'll be easy. Everyone stay alert and be ready to give them a stern warning the moment we see them. That'll make collecting taxes much smoother later on. Nowadays, survivors are all stubborn as hell and... Huh?"

The vehicle halted midway up the slope, its occupants gaping in astonishment at the sight before them.