“Young Master Gu, the road ahead is blocked, and we can’t get through,” Xue Chen’s voice crackled over the walkie-talkie.
The walkie-talkies had been set up by Gu Yicheng, allowing the two vehicles to communicate and report any updates while on the road. The two vehicles moved in a convoy, with Xue Chen’s leading the way and Ruan Ning’s car following close behind.
However, the lead car had just made it halfway when it suddenly had to stop.
Ruan Ning rolled down the window and curiously stuck her head out to see what was going on. Up ahead, a pile of around thirty abandoned cars blocked the road completely. Various makes and models were stacked on top of each other, creating an impassable barrier.
They were heading to a gas station in the northern part of S City, an area that had developed much slower compared to other parts of the city, as evidenced by the low-rise buildings nearby. Even with the outbreak of the apocalypse, it didn’t seem plausible that so many cars would simultaneously crash and pile up here, especially without any bodies in sight.
This situation could only be the result of human intervention after the apocalypse.
Xue Chen’s voice came through the walkie-talkie again, “Young Master Gu, should we take an alternate route?”
Taking a detour could be more convenient, but it would cost them more time and they were running low on fuel. If they encountered more obstacles along the way, they might not have enough gas to deal with them.
Gu Yicheng stared at the blockage ahead, his fingers tapping rhythmically on the seat. His eyes sharp, he replied in a deep voice, “No need, let’s get out and check.”
Lin Yang followed Gu Yicheng as he got out of the car.
Ruan Ning, feeling a bit stuffy in the vehicle, also wanted to get out and have a look, but Gu Yicheng softly told her to stay put and not wander off. He even left Jiang Jingchao behind to stay with her in the car.
Ruan Ning rested her chin in her hand, feeling a bit frustrated as she watched Gu Yicheng walk off into the distance.
Sure, she wasn’t the strongest, but she wasn’t so weak that she couldn’t even step out of the car. Besides, she couldn’t just sit in the car every time there was a problem outside, especially with someone specifically left to protect her.
Ruan Ning had already been feeling a bit useless in the team, and now she felt like even more of a burden.
Noticing her mood through the rear-view mirror, Jiang Jingchao, who rarely spoke, surprisingly offered an explanation, “There are a lot of zombies behind that pile of cars. Gu Yicheng didn’t want you to get hurt, so he asked you to stay in the car.”
Zombies?
Ruan Ning didn’t doubt the truth of his words. Jiang Jingchao had mental abilities, and at his level, he could easily detect what was happening on the other side of the road.
Everyone except Da Cheng, who was driving, had exited Xue Chen’s car by now.
Xie Fei, the fire ability user, looked eagerly at the stacked cars, his hands twitching with energy. “Captain, how about I burn these cars to ashes? That should clear the way.”
Before Xue Chen could respond, Li Bao shook his head and objected, “Xie Fei, use your brain. If one of these cars still has fuel in the tank, the whole thing could explode, and we’ll all be blown to bits.”
“Then what do we do? We can’t exactly move all these cars one by one. Each car weighs at least a ton,” Xie Fei grumbled. “Aside from burning them, I don’t see any other way to clear the path.”
As they were discussing how to handle the problem, Gu Yicheng had already climbed to the top of the pile of abandoned cars.
Lin Yang quickly followed him, their movements swift and precise. In no time, they had both crossed to the other side of the car pile.
While the cars blocked their vehicles, it wasn’t too difficult for people to climb over them.
“Stay close to Young Master Gu,” Xue Chen called to his team.
Though Xue Chen didn’t know exactly what Gu Yicheng and Lin Yang were planning, he trusted them without question, and he and the rest of the team followed suit.
Their trust wasn’t just because Gu Yicheng had helped their team since the beginning of the apocalypse. There was something about Gu Yicheng’s presence that commanded loyalty and respect.
…
Meanwhile, Ruan Ning, sitting in the car, could only watch from afar as Gu Yicheng and Lin Yang climbed over the car pile. The others quickly followed, disappearing one by one.
Weren’t there supposed to be zombies on the other side? Why were they all so eager to cross over?
The waiting time was dull and tense. To be honest, rather than just sitting in the car staring blankly outside, Ning would much rather join everyone in fighting zombies.
The surroundings of the car were peaceful and quiet, not even a zombie in sight, probably all on the other side. Unfortunately, the person left behind with her was Jiang Jingchao, who was naturally not much of a talker. Even when Ning tried to start a conversation, he’d respond with just a few words. After a couple of back-and-forths, the conversation would die.
If it had been Lin Yang here, he would’ve at least kept the conversation going.
Ruan Ning couldn’t help but sigh.
After about an hour, finally, someone jumped back over the pile of scrapped cars. It was Xie Fei. He stopped by the driver’s seat of the first car for a moment, then walked over to Ning’s side, saying, “Mr. Gu asked everyone to come over.”
Ruan Ning asked, “Xie Fei, did you guys take care of all the zombies over there?”
Xie Fei looked at Ning with surprise, as if wondering how she knew about the zombies, and said, “Don’t worry, all handled. We’re fine.”
Ruan Ning got out of the car and looked at the pile of cars several meters high. Just as she was about to climb over like the others had, the car at the edge of the heap was suddenly lifted by someone, revealing a passage wide enough for people to pass through.
“You can come through this way,” said a tall, muscular man wearing a sleeveless shirt as he casually tossed the car aside.
Yes, the man had just lifted the car with his bare hands.
Xie Fei, knowing a bit more about the situation, explained, “That guy’s a strength-type ability user. He’s got a lot of power. He’s the one who piled up all these scrapped cars by himself.”
Of course, Ruan Ning knew about strength-type ability users, but she also remembered that other strength users could only lift about ten times their previous weight when they first awakened.
The man had just lifted a jeep, which weighed at least a ton, and it hadn’t even seemed difficult for him.
Seeing the obvious surprise on Ruan Ning’s face, the muscular man chuckled and said, “I used to be on the provincial weightlifting team. Now that I’ve awakened as a strength-type ability user, all I’ve really got is this strength.”
As Ruan Ning was chatting with him, Gu Yicheng walked out from a nearby car dealership. Noticing the girl standing still, talking with the others, he narrowed his eyes and walked over, asking in a low voice, “Ning Ning, what’s wrong?”
“I just think this guy is really impressive, being able to lift a car so easily.” When Ning saw Gu Yicheng, she ran over to him, naturally grabbing his arm as she casually complimented the strength user.
Gu Yicheng’s eyes darkened at her words, and he smiled faintly. “Does that mean I’m not impressive in your eyes, Ning Ning?”
Having spent days clinging to the male lead, Ruan Ning’s first reaction was to quickly show her loyalty. “Of course not, you’re the most impressive, brother.”
She blinked, immediately changing the topic. “Brother, what exactly is going on here?”
Looking around, the pile of scrapped cars was no different from a wreckage. The streets on both sides were a chaotic mess, without a single clean spot to stand. It was obvious to anyone that a fierce battle had just taken place here. This was in stark contrast to where Ning had been earlier in the car, where not even a single zombie was in sight.
The contrast between the two areas was striking.
Gu Yicheng slightly lowered his head, his narrow eyes briefly scanning the curious expression on the girl beside him. “You’ll find out soon.”
“Oh,” Ruan Ning replied. The male lead didn’t immediately satisfy her curiosity, but she didn’t feel disappointed. Being here was still far better than sitting in the car with the quiet Jiang Jingchao.
Following Gu Yicheng, Ruan Ning returned to the shop he had just come out of—a car dealership. The interior of the dealership wasn’t much better than the street outside. Shattered glass littered the floor, and most of the cars on display had been moved outside to create roadblocks.
In the store’s waiting area, several people with serious injuries were lying on the couches. Their clothes were singed into tatters by fire, and the air was thick with the smell of burnt flesh.
Ruan Ning finally noticed that nearly everyone present, especially the unfamiliar faces, bore burn marks of varying degrees. Even the strength-type ability user who had lifted the car earlier had smudges of soot on his face—those weren’t just simple streaks of dirt as she had first assumed.
“Thank you so much for today. If it weren’t for you all, our entire team might’ve been wiped out,” said a middle-aged man, around forty years old, lying on a single sofa. He coughed weakly and tried to get up, but his injuries were too severe. The strength-type ability user quickly caught him, preventing him from falling.
It was through the strength-type ability user’s explanation that Ruan Ning finally understood the whole situation.
This group had come from the safe zone on a rescue mission. While passing through this area, they detected a large wave of zombies heading their way. Since they were not far from the safe zone, they decided to send two people back for reinforcements and had the strength-type user create a roadblock of scrapped cars in the middle of the road to temporarily hold off the zombies.
Initially, everything was going well. Their team was strong enough that, even if they couldn’t defeat the horde, they could retreat behind the barricade in time to protect the group.
But what they didn’t expect was that hidden among the horde was a mutated zombie capable of launching fireballs, just like a fire-type ability user. Even worse, this mutated zombie was far stronger than any fire-type ability user they had encountered before.
Caught completely unprepared, the team not only had to fight off the zombie horde but also deal with this powerful mutated zombie.
If it hadn’t been for Gu Yicheng and his team arriving in time to provide support, the entire group might have been wiped out—or at the very least, very few of them would have survived intact.
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