When Ian and his teammates dragged their tired bodies back to the City of Ashes, the sight in front of them made them instantly feel uneasy.
The gates of the City of Ashes were tightly closed, the soldiers on the city walls were standing by, and the area around the city was surrounded by layers of guards. The air reeked of smoke, and it was obvious that this place had just experienced a grueling battle.
"The situation doesn't seem right ...," Ron frowned, his eyes full of misgivings.
"Did something happen inside the city?" Eliza said anxiously.
A sense of foreboding welled up in Ian's heart, he quickly approached the city gates and shouted, "We're a squad that went out to search for supplies, someone has been seriously injured and urgently needs medical attention, please open the door and let us in!"
The soldiers on the city walls stared at them warily, and one of them responded sternly, "The City of Ashes has been sealed off, no one is allowed to enter at will!"
Ron hurriedly shouted, "We are members of the Enlightenment Alliance and have just returned from outside, please do let us in!"
The soldiers conferred in low voices for a while before reluctantly opening the city gates a small slit, allowing Ian and his teammates to quickly pass through.
Upon entering the city, what met their eyes was a tragic scene: both sides of the road were filled with burn marks and blood, houses were collapsed and broken, and the air was filled with a strong smell of blood. The residents of the city had numb expressions, the soldiers looked tired and wary, and the entire city looked particularly tense.
"What the hell happened here?" Mark asked in a low voice.
"We need to go find someone to inquire about the situation." Ron said seriously.
The group arrived at the gathering place in the city, only to find that the guards at the entrance of the gathering place had been strengthened several times, not allowing anyone to enter or leave at will. Seeing this, Ian had no choice but to part ways with Ron for the time being, each going to inquire about the situation within the city.
Ian quickly traveled through the city, trying to find any familiar faces to find out what was going on, but most of the people avoided him, their gazes filled with wariness.
After several failed inquiries, Ian decided to take his chances at a tavern on the edge of the city. Inside the tavern, several wounded soldiers were sitting around a table, talking in low voices.
He slowly approached the bar and whispered to the bartender, "Can you tell me what's going on in the city?"
The bartender eyed him warily, then whispered, "What power are you with?"
Ian replied, "I'm not from any force, I'm just an ordinary survivor who just returned from searching for supplies outside." The bartender took a large amount of time to look at Ian, seeing that his clothes were ragged and still covered in blood stains, as if he had been wandering outside for a long time, he believed Ian's words, and then explained to Ian, "Half a day ago, the monsters outside of the city suddenly turned abnormally berserk, and they gathered together to frantically attack the city."
Ian's face sank as he pursued, "When did the attack start? Why didn't I hear anything before I left?"
The bartender sighed and said, "It happened so suddenly that everyone didn't expect it, when it was discovered, the monsters had already climbed up the city walls, the three major forces in the city fought on their own, no one was willing to assist each other, the defense line collapsed for a while, and there were heavy losses."
Ian's brows tightened, "The three major forces didn't even join forces to defend against the enemy?"
The bartender let out a bitter smile, "The Brotherhood of Steel was only concerned with protecting their own territory, the Enlightenment Alliance was busy transferring their important personnel, and the Free Chamber of Commerce was only concerned with protecting their supplies ... No one really cared about the deaths of ordinary people."
The anger in Ian's heart soared, but he tried to suppress his emotions and continued to ask: "How is the situation in the city now?"
"It has stabilized for the time being, but the contradictions between the three parties have become more intense, and the dissatisfaction of the ordinary residents of the city towards the various forces has gradually erupted. Many people believe that the root cause of this disaster is the selfishness and infighting of the three major powers." The bartender whispered.
Ian was silent for a while, understanding in his heart that the situation in the City of Ashes was already in crisis today, and a more serious conflict could break out again at any time.
He thanked the bartender and quickly left the tavern, his heart filled with complex emotions. On the one hand, Ian was angry at the selfishness of the three major forces, who held a large amount of the city's resources, and should take the responsibility of protecting the city, on the other hand, he was also hesitating whether or not he wanted to join in the city's defense war.
At this time, the system once again sounded a mechanical voice in his head: [Side Quest Trigger: Defend the City of Ashes]
[Mission Objective: End the internal strife in the City of Ashes, unify the three major forces, and work together to fight against external threats]]
[Mission Reward: Talent Enhancement Points x 10, Advanced Source Crystal x 3]
[Failure Condition: The city falls or one of the forces escapes] [Failure Condition: The city falls or one of the forces escapes]
Failure Penalty: Reduction in level to below spark.
Ian was speechless in his heart, it was hard to upgrade to spark, he didn't want his efforts to be wasted, it seemed that he had to join the city defense war, but for the mission objectives given by the system, he understood that it meant he needed to face not only the mutants, but also the intricate struggle of hearts and forces within the city.
He slowly took his steps and decided to first go to the gathering place of the Enlightenment Alliance to meet up with Ron. Let the Enlightenment Alliance be the first stop.
Upon returning to the gathering place, Ron was already waiting there anxiously.
"Do you know what happened?" Ron asked eagerly.
"Yes, the situation is worse than we thought." Ian said in a deep voice, "The situation within the city has gone out of control, the three major forces are seriously infighting, we have to do something, or else the City of Ashes will completely collapse sooner or later."
Ron's face was gloomy as he whispered, "Do you have a plan?"
Ian was silent for a moment and responded with a firm gaze, "Perhaps there is no perfect plan right now, but I know that we must act immediately. Let the three powers unify their goals and end their internal strife before we can hope to fight the threats outside."
Ron took a deep breath and nodded firmly, "I'm willing to support you, let's work together."
"Let's start with the Enlightenment Alliance."