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Song Jinchuan was momentarily stunned. Hearing the steady breathing of the person behind him, he slowed down the speed of the vehicle slightly. After hesitating for a moment, he still freed one hand to grasp Jiang Ci’s hand that was gradually loosening its grip on him.
It was unexpectedly soft, as if it were boneless. He was so startled that he almost let go of her, but the next second, he carefully grasped it in his hand again.
Jiang Ci was sleeping soundly. In her drowsiness, she felt as if she was leaning against a solid and warm place.
She was soon awakened by thunderous vibrations and sharp voices. Upon waking up, she found that their electric scooter had been surrounded.
In front of them, it seemed like dozens of people had encircled them tightly.
Song Jinchuan’s tall figure stood in front of her, blocking her from the outside view.
Being a beautiful woman was still quite dangerous during the apocalypse, and Jiang Ci felt the malicious gaze of many drilling into her.
“What’s going on?” Jiang Ci whispered.
“They’re from the Black Eagle Base,” Song Jinchuan explained. “That person is Zong Hai, Zong Tao’s brother.”
With that one sentence, Jiang Ci understood—they were here for revenge.
“My people have been lying in wait for a long time, finally catching you when you left that eerie house. Now it’s time for us to avenge my brother,” Zong Hai sneered, the fat on his face trembling with his words.
Ever since the last team of ability users had returned in defeat, he had been lurking in the shadows, waiting for an opportunity. The more he observed the hotpot restaurant, the more his heart itched with desire. Those piles of water and food—those things should belong to him.
“Find an opportunity to drive away later,” Song Jinchuan whispered in Jiang Ci’s ear. As soon as he finished speaking, orange flames suddenly appeared, accompanied by a gust of wind.
He noticed that there were many superhumans among these people, so he no longer concealed his abilities, unleashing both his fire and wind powers.
The flames, aided by the wind, reached wherever he desired, achieving twice the result with half the effort.
The crowd was instantly forced back several steps. However, Zong Hai had investigated Song Jinchuan and naturally knew how formidable he was. He quickly regained his composure and ordered his people to counterattack.
Song Jinchuan’s movements were clean and decisive. Jiang Ci didn’t hold him back either, retreating to the rear. But she didn’t just sit idly or run away. Instead, she released Hui Hui from her backpack.
She patted Hui Hui’s tortoise shell and whispered, “Hui Hui, can you still grow bigger? I’ve fed you so much, so you have to protect us both.”
Hui Hui turned her head toward Jiang Ci and nodded up and down, as if reassuring her.
At that moment, some survivors had already noticed how Jiang Ci was all alone now and, following Zong Hai’s orders, prepared to capture her.
But as soon as they approached, the tortoise in front of Jiang Ci suddenly began to grow rapidly in the wind, soon reaching the size of a small house. What was even more terrifying was that it continued to grow.
Some people recognized it—wasn’t this the level-nine giant turtle that had been stationed underground in City C? It had caused a series of incidents before, but then one day it suddenly disappeared. No one expected it to have been tamed by the boss of the hotpot restaurant.
Was there anything more surreal than this? The survivors felt particularly torn at this moment. One part of them was screaming at them to run away, while the other part was shocked and curious about how Jiang Ci could tame such a powerful mutated beast.
In no time, Hui Hui returned to the form Jiang Ci had first seen—a giant tortoise several stories tall, seemingly even a little fatter than before.
Hui Hui carefully held Jiang Ci in her mouth and then placed her on her shell for protection.
Once Jiang Ci steadied herself, she felt as if she were standing on a small island, a sensation that was both novel and exhilarating.
Not only the survivors near Jiang Ci but even those still engaged in combat couldn’t help but stop and stare at the scene before them—a giant tortoise and the young girl on its back.
Jiang Ci stood against the wind, the people below now as small as miniature dolls. Instead of feeling panicked, she raised a hand to shield her eyes as she looked around with interest.
When she spotted an equally stunned Song Jinchuan in the crowd, she quickly waved at him. “Hui Hui, Song Jinchuan’s over there. Bring him up here as well.”
Their electric scooter had been stored in Jiang Ci’s space once Hui Hui grew in size. Now, it was pretty much a done deal now with Song Jinchuan joining them.
Following Jiang Ci’s instructions, Hui Hui approached and gently picked Song Jinchuan up in her mouth.
Being held in the mouth of a mutated beast was a first for Song Jinchuan. His body stiffened, but since he trusted Jiang Ci, he didn’t put up any resistance until he was safely placed on the tortoise’s back.
The group led by Zong Hai dared not move in the presence of the giant tortoise, their faces filled with terror as they belatedly began to flee.
But once Hui Hui saw that Jiang Ci and Song Jinchuan were safe, she took action.
As a mutated beast with earth-based abilities, Hui Hui moved her head slightly, causing the ground to tremble. The earth gathered and solidified, forming a wall of soil that blocked the survivors’ escape route.
In the next moment, countless spikes erupted from the ground, impaling many of the survivors. Blood quickly soaked the soil.
A flash of crimson light appeared in Hui Hui’s eyes but soon faded, returning to its usual calm indifference.
If Hui Hui were still the same mutated beast as before, she might have slowly been corrupted by bloodlust, losing her sanity and becoming just another bloodthirsty mutant beast. But now, bound to Jiang Ci and constrained by the system, she was easily pulled back from the brink of savagery.
Witnessing Hui Hui’s power, Jiang Ci couldn’t help but applaud. “Amazing, Hui Hui! I’ll treat you to a feast when we get back.”
Hui Hui turned her head and slowly lowered it before Jiang Ci, a gesture of submission.
The giant tortoise, which struck fear into the hearts of survivors, now displayed an unbelievable gentleness toward Jiang Ci. Seeing this, Zong Hai was filled with regret. He thought he had already thoroughly investigated Jiang Ci, believing her greatest threats were that strange house and Song Jinchuan. He never expected she had such a deadly weapon by her side.
But it was too late for regrets now. His thigh had already been pierced by the spikes still emerging from the ground.
Hui Hui created walls on all sides, trapping the survivors completely. They now experienced the despair of being unable to live or die.
When Jiang Ci felt it was enough, she signaled Hui Hui to stop. In the next moment, the trembling earth returned to calm.
Hui Hui gently placed the two back on the ground, then slowly shrank in size under their gaze, eventually becoming small enough to fit into the backpack.
Jiang Ci packed Hui Hui into her backpack and slung it over her shoulder as usual.
Song Jinchuan felt that his adaptability was still lacking. Even though he had been mentally prepared beforehand and had warned himself not to be too surprised regardless of what would happen next, he was still shocked speechless for a long time.
“Hui Hui was indeed that mutated giant tortoise from City C before. Later, she joined the hotpot restaurant and is now a part of our team,” Jiang Ci explained, noticing Song Jinchuan’s dazed expression. “Didn’t I tell you before? No matter what happens, don’t be too surprised.”
Song Jinchuan nodded silently, then climbed back onto the electric scooter Jiang Ci had taken out from her space.
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 two leisurely made their way back to the hotpot restaurant, only to find a few familiar survivors waiting at the entrance.
When they saw Jiang Ci and Song Jinchuan, the survivors seemed extremely emotional. Jiang Ci was puzzled until she saw them rushing toward Song Jinchuan, belatedly realising that they were members of the Cheetah Squad.
“Captain, you’re really alive! I didn’t believe it when they told me.”
“Why didn’t you send us a message if you were alive? We would’ve come to get you,” Old Li said, his eyes red as he patted Song Jinchuan’s shoulder.
The blond-haired Huang Mao happily threw his arm around Song Jinchuan’s neck, tears streaming down his face.
“You might not know this, but the guy who caused you get bitten was eaten by zombies, with not even a trace of him left. Consider it revenge for you.”
“Since you’re not dead, come back quickly. I can’t lead this team alone.”
The two women in the team were crying uncontrollably. Everyone surrounded Song Jinchuan, even forgetting to greet Jiang Ci.
Jiang Ci could understand their emotions and didn’t disturb them. After parking the scooter, she went inside.
Song Jinchuan patted the Huang Mao’s shoulder, calming him down, then addressed the group, “I’m not going back to the base. I was already a dead man, but Boss Jiang gave me a new life. From now on, I’ll stay here.”
The survivors of the Cheetah Squad hadn’t expected to receive such news after their initial joy, the emotional whiplash making it seem like the sky was falling.
They had been so caught up in their happiness that they hadn’t thought about how Song Jinchuan had survived. After all, they had all seen him get bitten by a zombie, and no survivor bitten by a zombie had ever lived.
“From now on, the Cheetah Squad is in your hands,” Song Jinchuan said with a faint smile.
Irregardless of the future, just being able to speak a few words with his former teammates and knowing they might meet again in this apocalyptic world was enough for him.
“How… how can you stay here?” the blond-haired guy exclaimed in shock. “You’re the captain of the Cheetah Squad!”
“From now on, Captain Li will be your team captain. Don’t get it wrong again.” Song Jinchuan knew that Huang Mao wouldn’t be able to accept it. After all, the person Huang Mao admired most and aimed to emulate in the apocalypse was him.
“In the future, you can come here and have a meal when you return from missions.” Song Jinchuan had truly become content. He had gradually found joy in the life here.
“How about I go talk to Boss Jiang and ask her to let you go back,” Huang Mao said. “Boss Jiang seems quite amiable. We could use all our crystal cores to exchange for your return.”
“Enough,” Captain Li interrupted him sternly. “Since Jinchuan has made his decision, we should respect it.”
Captain Li cut off Huang Mao. He understood—how could such a life-saving favor be compared to a few crystal cores? Boss Jiang had taken great risks to save him, and they should be grateful. As long as he was alive, there would always be chances for them to meet again.
“Alright, I need to get back to work. You all should go about your business too.” Seeing that the shop was slowly filling up with customers, Song Jinchuan waved to his former teammates and strode towards the hotpot restaurant.
The members of the Cheetah Squad stood in place, unable to digest this information for a long time.
the translator has nothing to add ◡̈
