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“Not eating anymore,” Zong Tao glanced at her, the previous smile on his face vanished, replaced by a look of wariness.
Zong Tao walked quickly, not caring about whether Bai Tingting could keep up with him or not.
Not long after they left, just as Jiang Ci was about to go out and take a look, she heard the sounds of fighting.
Engaged in combat with Zong Tao was Song Jinchuan’s team, who had previously visited the shop. The two groups clashed like ignited bombs, with the battle erupting instantly.
This was the first time Jiang Ci had seen superpowered individuals fight. Orange flames and purple lightning collided in the air, to the point where even Jiang Ci from where she stood could feel the wave of heat.
Soon, the purple lightning was completely suppressed, leaving only the orange flames remaining in the sky, burning so fiercely that they almost dyed half the sky red.
The battle ended not long after that. Clearly, Song Jinchuan’s team had won. This time, Zong Tao did not escape through sheer luck; he finally died at Song Jinchuan’s hands.
When Jiang Ci went out, she saw the deranged woman who had likely been used as a human shield by Zong Tao. Her chest had been torn open with a large hole, already lifeless.
Zong Tao lay not far away, drenched in blood, his eyes wide open as if he couldn’t rest in peace.
As Song Jinchuan and his team approached, Jiang Ci finally realized that this man was the infamous Zong Tao they had spoken of, a nightmare and public enemy to many survivors.
It was said that he was the leader of a base, but in the end, only this deranged woman was by his side.
Jiang Ci pieced together what Sun Qing and the others had said, and with that information, the woman’s identity became easy to guess—it was Bai Tingting, the spatial ability user.
“He just came to your shop to eat something?” Song Jinchuan inferred from the direction Zong Tao had come from and the lingering aroma of food in the shop.
Jiang Ci nodded, “Yes, he just finished eating and left. Turns out that was Zong Tao…”
Looking at the unscathed Jiang Ci and the undamaged hotpot shop, everyone felt a sense of incredulity. After all, that was Zong Tao. Seeing a shop with so many supplies, why hadn’t he just taken over it?
But the reality was that not only did he not take it over—he had even peacefully eaten his meal and left.
This situation could only mean one thing—there had been something in this store more terrifying than Zong Tao.
Song Jinchuan’s gaze fell on Jiang Ci, still finding it peculiar. A seemingly delicate and beautiful girl could actually intimidate such a villain.
“It’s a pity about that girl though. Zong Tao moved too fast and I couldn’t hold back,” said a curly-haired young man standing next to Song Jinchuan.
“Not a pity. I’ve had enough of her for a while already,” one of the survivors, who clearly knew Bai Tingting, recounted all her misdeeds.
Bai Tingting had caused the deaths of many with her hypocrisy. Not long ago, Sun Qing and the others had lost half their team because of her. Now that she was dead, no one would mourn her; it had all been her own doing after all.
Bai Tingting was a spatial ability user. After her death, the items stored in her space exploded all over the place. Nutrient solutions, some mutated beast corpses, and stored water were scattered around Bai Tingting’s body.
The survivors from Song Jinchuan’s team collected all these supplies. Although they wanted to leave a portion for Jiang Ci, she refused.
They were originally just passing through the area, but since they had already entered the hotpot restaurant, they decided they might as well have a meal before leaving.
Jiang Ci listened to them discussing the location of their mission at the dining table. It seemed to be quite a distance from the city. There was an eighth-level zombie king there, who had been relatively docile before, but for some reason, had recently been causing frequent riots. The surrounding bases had all suffered. Their mission was not only to deal with this zombie king but also to see if there were any survivors still alive there.
When discussing serious matters, their expressions became very solemn. They all knew how challenging this mission would be.
However, once the food was served, everyone temporarily forgot about the mission and started eating heartily. After trying it once, they found it hard to resist the food at the hotpot restaurant.
For this meal, the survivors from the Cheetah Squad spent a total of eight fourth-level crystal cores and three third-level crystal cores, amounting to 84,000 points.
Jiang Ci watched them leave as they stepped into the night.
The day’s business finally came to an end. After closing up shop, washing up, and getting into bed, Jiang Ci fell asleep almost instantly.
pls do not share this anywhere or u will always stub ur toe when u walk past a door frame !! this translation has been stolen from mioscorner.com, pls only read there i’m begging u :kneels:
The next day, Jiang Ci slept in for a rare change. After getting enough sleep, she felt exceptionally refreshed and full of energy.
She planned to go out and distribute flyers today, and the ‘Closed’ sign had already been hung up early at the entrance.
The system fully supported her outdoor mission and even provided her with a free means of transportation.
Just as Jiang Ci was fully anticipating her mode of transport, a particularly compact foldable electric scooter suddenly appeared out of thin air in front of her.
Jiang Ci was stunned for a moment. She had expected at least a small car to somewhat enclose her; she hadn’t expected it to be so down-to-earth.
[Host, don’t underestimate this vehicle. It’s a smart electric scooter powered by crystal energy, capable of exceeding the speed of a small car. It also has navigation functions,] the system explained, seemingly sensing Jiang Ci’s speechlessness.
Jiang Ci nodded and slung a small backpack over her shoulders. In reality, all her belongings were stored in the necklace she wore around her neck.
This was also the space the system had promised her, originally intended for storing her luggage when she returned to the real world, but it had already come in handy now.
Jiang Ci selected a lot of portable dry rations and boxed meals from the restaurant’s ordering system and packed plenty of mineral water.
Just as Jiang Ci was about to leave, Hui Hui, who had been staying in the box, somehow emerged and walked over to Jiang Ci, gently tugging at her pant leg.
Jiang Ci looked at her in confusion. “What’s wrong?”
Hui Hui looked up at her, then glanced outside the house.
“Do you want to go out with me?” as if a light bulb had gone off in her head, Jiang Ci suddenly understood what Hui Hui meant.
Hui Hui’s head bobbed up and down twice, actually nodding at her.
This human-like gesture surprised Jiang Ci, and she hesitated for a moment. Just then, the system suddenly spoke in her mind: [Host, you can actually bring the level nine giant tortoise with you. It can scare off many low-level zombies and mutated beasts, providing you greater safety.]
“Alright, I’ll take you with me,” Jiang Ci finally nodded. She had to admit, the system had hit the nail on the head.
She picked up Hui Hui and placed her in the basket at the front of the electric scooter.
The basket wasn’t the traditional type that was hard and stiff, but had some elasticity to it and was of good quality, able to hold Hui Hui comfortably. Only her head was visible, swiveling slowly as if she was surveying the surroundings.
After closing the door of the hotpot restaurant, Jiang Ci slung her backpack over her shoulders and sat astride the electric scooter.
Before leaving, Jiang Ci glanced back. This somewhat simple house had always given her an infinite sense of security.
At this moment, her heart was filled with both curiosity about this new world, yet also a hint of unease. Although she had spent points to exchange for a protective film, she was still about to enter a completely unfamiliar and dangerous world, with no one knowing what she might encounter.
Jiang Ci took a deep breath and slowly exhaled, her gaze gradually becoming resolute. She then cranked the throttle of the electric scooter, and with a small hum, the vehicle smoothly carried her away from the hotpot restaurant.
Before setting off, Jiang Ci had already input her destination into the navigation system. Her first stop was the Crimson Base, the only base she had ever traded with.
She had heard about it many times from Zhou Lin and Zhong Xiaofeng, and she had always been quite curious about it.
The electric scooter clattered along the road. As she left the hotpot restaurant and truly faced the world, Jiang Ci felt more acutely the near-destructive disaster that the apocalypse had brought to this world.
Turning into the city, the surroundings were still filled with tall buildings, but they were dilapidated and gray, with cracked and tilted walls. Some had even collapsed, turning into piles of rubble.
Jiang Ci’s electric scooter could accurately help her avoid the fissures in the ground, the rubble, and the zombies walking towards her, even when she wasn’t paying attention to her surroundings.
This was the first time she had seen zombies up close. Beyond the shock upon seeing their appearance, the stench emanating from them was even more unbearable.
However, thanks to Hui Hui and the protective film on her body, these zombies didn’t attack her and seemed to want to avoid her.
Not far along, Jiang Ci saw a large black snake coiled in the middle of the road, exactly like the one she had seen at the hotpot restaurant. She couldn’t help but get goosebumps. Without waiting for the snake to be intimidated by Hui Hui’s presence and move aside, she took the initiative to detour around that section of the road with Hui Hui.
The vehicle moved through the city, occasionally taking a detour, but it continued steadily and smoothly towards her destination.
Along the way, thanks to Hui Hui in the basket, she didn’t encounter any mutated beasts or zombies.
Jiang Ci gradually relaxed from her initial tense vigilance, feeling that sitting on the electric scooter with the breeze gently brushing her face was actually quite relaxing.
The sunlight cast their beams on the surrounding buildings, creating a strange, fragmented beauty.
On the way, Jiang Ci stopped to eat a boxed meal. Since time was frozen in her space, the food was still piping hot. After finishing her meal, she continued on her journey.
After several hours of riding her electric scooter, Jiang Ci finally saw the gates of the Crimson Base.
The base’s gates and the surrounding walls were tall and imposing, matching what she had imagined of it. Standing outside, she could feel a sense of oppression emanating from them.
A dedicated checkpoint was set up at the entrance, and the inspection was very strict. Normally, new survivors would have to wait in an isolation room for twenty-four hours before being allowed to enter, but Jiang Ci mentioned Zhong Xiaofeng’s name.
The survivors manning the checkpoint didn’t dare make a decision on their own and immediately sent someone to fetch Zhong Xiaofeng.
They didn’t expect Zhong Xiaofeng to personally come out to greet Jiang Ci. Zhong Xiaofeng’s status in the base was second only to Zhong Chu. She usually appeared cheerful and smiling, but in reality, she was decisive and efficient. Aside from the few companions who had fought alongside her through life and death, she didn’t trust anyone else.
“Boss Jiang, you really came. Come in quickly. Boss Jiang is a distinguished guest of our base. From now on, let her pass through directly when you see her,” Zhong Xiaofeng said after exchanging pleasantries with Jiang Ci, turning to the checkpoint and issuing the order.
The checkpoint guards acknowledged the order but still cast curious glances at Jiang Ci.
