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墨書 Inktalez
A strong arm caught Su Ruolan just in time as her exhausted body began to slide down, then pushed her into the vehicle. Qin Zhi Han quickly followed, leaping into the Eastern Wind Ironclad. As soon as they were inside, Bai Zhen slammed on the gas, instantly accelerating to 100 miles per hour. The tremendous force sent several Zombies flying in front of the car.
Caught off guard, Su Ruolan's head slammed against the front seat, causing her already injured mind to throb painfully. Reset, still shaken, exclaimed angrily, "Are you crazy? We almost lost our lives back there." While helping Su Ruolan absorb the Pure White Crystal Cores collected earlier, nourishing her nearly depleted meridians, he continued, "I just took a risk to help you absorb a Core, which allowed you to unleash that water arrow at the last moment. Luckily, this batch of Cores has no attributes; otherwise, an energy conflict could have killed you or left you crippled." Despite Reset's agitation, his mechanical voice remained steady and monotone, making Su Ruolan feel both touched and amused. "I didn't expect this body to be so lacking in stamina. Although my Ability has reached the early second level, my combat effectiveness is still insufficient. The body hasn't fully integrated yet, leading to more energy consumption than anticipated during battle. I promise to cherish my life and won't act recklessly again," she vowed firmly.
These Cores were easy to absorb, with a short conversion time and gentle properties in abundant supply. Concerned about absorbing too many at once and causing anomalies, Su Ruolan stopped after Reset absorbed eight Cores and her Ability recovered to sixty percent. To her delight, she found that her meridians had widened and solidified significantly.
Bai Zhen drove the Eastern Wind Ironclad like a part of himself, speeding forward, reversing, and drifting at sharp angles while showcasing various driving skills as he maneuvered around, crashed into, and crushed countless Zombies. Qin Zhi Han held the Platinum Golden Eagle, leaning out of the rear window to shoot nearby jumping Second-Level Zombies that were directing others. Up front, Jackson Wang occasionally repaired the battered Eastern Wind Ironclad by forming a layer of steel armor around it; he was a Gold System Ability user.
"Thanks for earlier; I'll repay you," Su Ruolan said to Qin Zhi Han as he pulled back from the window.
Qin Zhi Han glanced at her indifferently while reloading his weapon and tossed her a pack of grenades. "Can you use these?"
"A little," Su Ruolan replied as she picked one up, removed the safety pin, and threw it out the back of the vehicle. It exploded with a loud bang.
A large number of Zombie limbs scattered through the air as a military Humvee charged forward and quickly matched speed with the Eastern Wind Ironclad.
"You’re alive! Looks like you've gotten stronger," Zhang Yu teased from the back seat of the Humvee as he spotted the grenade in Su Ruolan's hand. He winked at her and called out cheerfully, "Miss, I’ll remember your kindness; I’m Zhang Yu."
As their two teams seemed to have an odd relationship at that moment, Su Ruolan wondered whether this was intentional or accidental harm towards her. Was Zhang Yu really that famous? Shouldn't everyone know him? Although he unintentionally saved her life, shouldn’t gratitude be more practical? A mere statement of remembrance felt insufficient; some food would have been more useful. She thought bitterly to herself.
"This guy never misses a chance to flirt," Jackson Wang scoffed.
Lying there wounded, Su Ruolan looked innocently at Qin Zhi Han with a sincere expression that seemed to say "I really don’t know him; please believe me." It appeared that Qin Zhi Han was relatively reliable; she needed to stick close to him because being left behind now would mean certain death.
Bai Zhen suddenly jerked the steering wheel and accelerated again with another near-90-degree drift that sent the military Humvee spinning halfway around.
The iron gate was just ahead; vehicles were already rushing out. Su Ruolan and the others perked up; their muscles remained tense. Although there were fewer Zombies around them now, Sound System Mutated Zombies had yet to appear.
All the cars sped out of the gate, but strangely, the Sound System Zombie never appeared again. The other Zombies reached the iron fence, wandering back and forth, clawing at the air, yet none dared to step outside.
Su Ruolan glanced around, feeling something was off.
As the car raced ahead, Bai Zhen stole a look in the rearview mirror. "Hey, Company Commander, the houses and Zombies behind us are gone."
Qin Zhi Han immediately turned to look back. All he could see was a road stretching behind them, flanked by waist-high grass; nothing else was in sight.
Su Ruolan also looked back. The iron gate loomed like the mouth of a giant shark, glaring ominously at her. The buildings beyond it cast elongated shadows in the last rays of sunlight before nightfall, resembling a monstrous creature standing tall like a mountain or whale, exuding an eerie presence.
"Zero, do you know what's going on?" Su Ruolan asked Reset in her mind.
"It should be a formation. It seems that when we merged earlier, we opened a seal that they inadvertently stumbled into. Now that we've left, the formation has reactivated and sealed them again. Don't come back here until you have sufficient strength," Reset replied solemnly.
Indeed, something was amiss; no wonder there were still so many supplies in the supermarket. Four years into the apocalypse, this phenomenon was clearly a flaw. Su Ruolan quietly noted the location of the buildings and their surrounding geography.
Qin Zhi Han pondered for a moment. "Stop ahead."
Bai Zhen drove while picking up the walkie-talkie. "Twenty miles ahead, everyone stop and take a break."
The five vehicles lined up neatly in a row as everyone got out from the left side. Qin Zhi Han surveyed the eighteen survivors with a calm demeanor that now bore a hint of heaviness. "I will report each brother lost in this mission and ensure their compensation reaches their families. Everyone stay strong; we must hurry back to base with the collected supplies. As usual, we'll split into two teams: one for patrol and one for meals. We'll switch every five minutes and depart in ten."
"Finally, we can eat something hot," Jackson Wang said as he stretched his arms happily. He squatted by the car and began manipulating his hands; before long, he had formed an iron pot.
"Ruo Lan girl, come over here," Jackson Wang called out to Su Ruolan.
Seeing someone about her age—probably only five years younger than her previous life—call her "girl," Su Ruolan felt a bit uncomfortable. Jackson Wang looked strong but had a straightforward and unrestrained personality.
"Is there anything you need help with?" Su Ruolan walked in and asked.
"Aren't you the Ice Ability user? Why don't you conjure up some water? It's so cold; we could use some hot water to warm ourselves up," Jackson Wang said, rubbing his hands together, feeling a bit embarrassed, but looking eagerly at Su Ruolan.
Qin Zhi Han, who was surveying the surroundings, approached from behind and pulled out a bottle of mineral water from his backpack, tossing it to Jackson Wang while saying, "We're not out of danger yet; conserve your Ability."
Upon hearing this, Jackson Wang's chubby face immediately scrunched up in disappointment.
"I have a few packs of instant noodles, some water, and several boxes of candle oil for cooking hot pot. We can make a pot of noodles," Su Ruolan thought. Since they had formed a bond through life and death, and his supplies were still relatively abundant, he might as well contribute a little. After all, if they were well-fed and regained their strength, it would be beneficial for him too.
"You actually have candle oil? That's impressive," Bai Zhen said as he and several soldiers gathered around at the prospect of having hot noodles instead of gnawing on hard bread.
As Su Ruolan reached into his bag for the noodles and water while retrieving the candle oil from his space to put in the bag, he momentarily lost focus. Hot pot was his favorite; when he saw the seasonings and candle oil at the supermarket, he had collected them all without hesitation, waiting for the day he could enjoy noodles again and gather around the stove for a chat. He recalled the last meal he had before being captured—a spicy hot pot with noodles, peanuts, and vegetables. Though simple and humble, both of them had boundless hopes for the future. He remembered discussing life ideals while sipping drinks and talking about work and challenges ahead—so optimistic, so open-minded, with unwavering faith and grand visions. He was deeply enchanted by his charisma, knowledge, and determination. He vividly remembered looking at him with such affection; he treated Su Ruolan with care and respect. How devastated would he be upon hearing of Su Ruolan's death? I must return to his side to tell him I'm alive and fight alongside him to realize his great ambitions.
"Hurry up and eat; it'll be gone soon." A pair of stainless steel chopsticks was shoved into Su Ruolan's hands. He looked up at Qin Zhi Han only to see him quickly yet elegantly eating noodles from the pot. The first wave of noodle eaters had already dispersed to keep watch.
Bai Zhen and Jackson Wang were also devouring their noodles heartily as the three formed A Group. Su Ruolan grabbed a strand of noodles and began eating; although there was no salt or soy sauce—just plain boiled water—it tasted particularly delicious.
Though the apocalypse brought despair and humanity faced turbulent fates with an unclear future ahead, in this moment at their makeshift camp, there was an air of warmth that felt peaceful and beautiful. At that moment, Su Ruolan's heart was filled with hope.
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