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She wasn’t worried about Song Jinchuan at all. The system’s protective barrier was invincible. In a situation where both sides were evenly matched, it was clear that unable to be injured Song Jinchuan would be the one who had an upper hand.
“I’ll go up and take a look first. Be careful,” Jiang Ci said as usual, offering him a reminder.
Song Jinchuan spared a glance at her, and only after seeing Hui Hui in her arms did he turn back to continue the fight.
Tie Niu grew furious when his abilities failed to hit Song Jinchuan. With a roar, he intensified the power in his hands.
He even directed a portion of his attack toward Jiang Ci, but before it could reach her, it was blocked by an earthen wall.
Jiang Ci continued walking upstairs without looking back.
The entire fourth floor was a cinema, with chairs and tables scattered everywhere. The glass of the popcorn machine was shattered, completely empty inside.
The merchandise counter had long been cleared out, leaving only the decaying cabinets.
Jiang Ci held Hui Hui and carefully stepped over the obstacles on the floor, following the delivery map as she moved inward.
After passing through a corridor, she reached several theatres. The survivor who had ordered the delivery was located in one of these rooms.
She knew that there were likely many people lying in ambush here, just like the situation downstairs.
She set Hui Hui down and gently patted its shell. Understanding her intention, Hui Hui quietly extended its ability to survey the situation inside the cinema, while also attempting to use its ability to take control of the survivors.
Most of the survivors on this floor were ability users and highly vigilant. They had already detected Jiang Ci and were hiding in the darkness, ready to strike at any moment.
After Hui Hui finished scouting, it turned to look at Jiang Ci and gave a slight nod, as if to say the situation was under control.
Having spent so much time with Hui Hui, Jiang Ci could somewhat understand its meaning. She immediately gave it a thumbs-up.
When Jiang Ci entered the cinema, the opposing survivors had already been trapped by Hui Hui’s earth-based ability. Aside from the usual stench of decay and mold in the cinema, there was also the strong, unmistakable metallic smell of blood.
The headlamp on Jiang Ci’s head instantly illuminated the entire cinema, causing the survivors to shield their eyes from the glare.
The survivors who were all injured and huddled in a corner, burst into tears upon seeing Jiang Ci, as if they had just seen a long-lost family member.
“Boss Jiang,” the survivors cried out, their voices cracking with emotion.
Jiang Ci recognized several familiar faces—regular customers from her shop. In the corner, another familiar figure was struggling to stand up.
“Lin Fei?” Jiang Ci remembered this heroic and dashing woman who operated as a lone wolf in the apocalypse.
Lin Fei looked up, a slight smile tugging at the corner of her lips when she saw Jiang Ci. Despite her severe injuries, she managed to raise two fingers in a cool and casual greeting.
“What are you doing here?” Jiang Ci recalled that Lin Fei was an ability user. How had she ended up in such a sorry state?
“Don’t ask,” Lin Fei waved her hand dismissively. “I got into a fight earlier, got pretty badly hurt, and didn’t have time to treat my wounds. Then I ran into these people and got caught up in this mess.”
This was probably the most severe injury Lin Fei had sustained in years. The person she had fought with was none other than Li Na, the lover of Wang Dong, whom Lin Fei had killed.
Li Na had learned about Lin Fei from the survivors who had been traveling with Wang Dong. As the survivors had suspected, despite Wang Dong no longer holding her affection, he had once been her man after all, and she couldn’t tolerate him being involved with someone else.
As a result, she traveled all the way to the city where Lin Fei was staying and after a long and grueling search, finally encountered Lin Fei, who had been lingering in the city for quite some time.
Lin Fei had been staying there because she had heard rumors of a high-level water-attribute mutated beast staying in the area.
Once the survivors with Li Na confirmed that she was indeed Lin Fei, Li Na immediately attacked her with her abilities without a second thought.
Lin Fei bit down on a bandage to wrap her wounds. Although her injuries looked gruesome, they were mostly superficial. She even had the presence of mind to comfort Jiang Ci, who was frowning deeply, “That woman is hurt worse than I am. Besides, after the fight, we cleared things up, and the grudge is pretty much settled.”
Upon learning what kind of person Wang Dong had been, Li Na immediately showed her disdain. The thought that she had once lived with such a man made her feel utterly disgusted.
In the end, she apologized to Lin Fei and even compensated her with a high-level water-attribute crystal core and some supplies. Then, limping away, she was helped away by her subordinates.
“But that still doesn’t justify attacking someone. It’s just a man, is he really that worth it?” Jiang Ci was fiercely protective of those she cared about. She liked Lin Fei, so seeing her injured made her instinctively dislike Li Na despite the fact that the latter had already apologized and compensated Lin Fei.
In the apocalypse, going after someone over a man was anything but cool.
The reason Jiang Ci admired Lin Fei so much was precisely because of her strong, independent, and self-reliant nature—qualities of a true female protagonist.
The survivors had all been rescued, while the ability users were all trapped within Hui Hui’s earth-based powers.
Jiang Ci immediately took Hui Hui upstairs to assist Song Jinchuan.
When she arrived, the two were still locked in combat. At first glance, they seemed evenly matched, but upon closer inspection, it was clear that his opponent, Tie Niu, was visibly struggling, with numerous wounds all over his body.
In contrast, Song Jinchuan appeared to be in much better shape thanks to the protective barrier around him, which played a crucial role.
Once Hui Hui joined the fight, the tide of the battle turned instantly.
Tie Niu was a pragmatic man. After losing an arm, he immediately chose to smash through a window and flee.
A thick black mist enveloped Tie Niu, obscuring his figure. Song Jinchuan wanted to pursue him, but couldn’t determine the direction he had fled in. Eventually, the black mist was swallowed by the horde of zombies, with nothing to be seen anymore.
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:
Jiang Ci and Song Jinchuan returned to the third floor, where the survivors had mostly finished bandaging their wounds.
Although the scene was somewhat chaotic, Jiang Ci still had to finish delivering the order.
So, while everyone was enduring the pain of their injuries, Jiang Ci began pulling out the takeout, pots, side dishes, and drinks from her spatial storage.
The survivor who had ordered the takeout was a regular customer of the restaurant. Overjoyed at having escaped death, he had completely forgotten about the hotpot he had ordered.
He hadn’t paid much attention to what the others had ordered through him and had only just now realized how much they had ordered.
The open space was immediately filled to the brim: two hotpot bases—one beef tallow and one seafood—along with mostly meat and some vegetables, a large bowl of egg fried rice, and enough pot helmets to feed the entire group.
“You can eat without worries. I’ll collect the crystal cores from the ability users later,” Jiang Ci said after setting everything up, inviting everyone to gather around and eat.
After briefly explaining how to use the hotpot, Jiang Ci walked over to where the ability users were trapped.
At first, Jiang Ci politely asked them to pay for the takeout with crystal cores, but the ability users, still enraged, responded to her with a barrage of insults.
In the next moment, sharp spikes grew inside their cages, and the temperature around them began to rise, making it feel like they were about to be steamed alive.
“We’ll pay! We’ll pay! We’ll give you all our crystal cores!” the ability users screamed, unable to endure any longer.
They had tried every method to break free from the cage, but Hui Hui was a level nine mutant beast. Unless their abilities surpassed level nine, there was simply no way for them to escape their earthen cages.
A smile spread across Jiang Ci’s face. “Since you’re so enthusiastic, I won’t hold back. Just remember, I didn’t force you.”
The ability users looked at Jiang Ci as if she were a demon, nodding weakly before pulling out all their crystal cores and tossing them through the gaps in the cage.
Song Jinchuan helped gather all the crystal cores and stored them in Jiang Ci’s backpack.
Now, not only was the cost of the meal covered, but all the service fee for their combat efforts was more than sufficient.
Seeing the survivors eating enthusiastically, Jiang Ci and Song Jinchuan prepared to leave. There was still one last urgent delivery with a red dot for today.
The survivors invited Jiang Ci to join them, but she politely declined.
“Just leave these people locked up. Unless they have the help of a level nine ability user or a mutant beast, no one can break this cage. Finish your food and leave as soon as possible. Go back and take care of your injuries,” Jiang Ci instructed.
“If there’s any other danger, you can use the delivery slip. As long as I see it, I’ll come,” Jiang Ci added.
When she arrived earlier, many survivors had apologized to her, saying they shouldn’t have dragged her into this.
For Jiang Ci, this was just one of many tasks that was just a bit more dangerous, but for these survivors, it may as well have been their last hope.
The survivors watched her leave with teary eyes. In the past, no one would come to save them in such a crisis. Jiang Ci was like a deity descending from the heavens, carrying the scent of food from the hotpot restaurant, abruptly appearing before them.
What seemed like the most ordinary delivery service had become their final lifeline.
The survivors who still had the delivery slips carefully tucked them away, ready for them to use the next time they were in danger.
“Thanks, Boss Jiang. I’ll come find you at the hotpot restaurant when I go to City C,” Lin Fei waved at Jiang Ci, wincing as she aggravated her wounds slightly, then lowered her hand.
“Alright, make sure you come,” Jiang Ci had already mounted her electric scooter, looking up at the people behind the window and waving vigorously.
By the time they left the mall building, the sky had already darkened.
Jiang Ci checked the last red dot on her map; fortunately, it wasn’t too far from here.
They didn’t have time for dinner and drove straight to the last delivery location.
After driving for about two hours, Jiang Ci began to smell the distinct salty and fishy scent of the sea. However, unlike the usual smell of the sea, this one was intertwined with a noticeable hint of bitterness, likely because the seawater had been polluted.
Sure enough, the sea soon came into their view as the electric scooter crossed the bridge.
The once deep blue sea had now turned completely black, the water seeming to have thickened. Ripples occasionally appeared on the surface, with the beach turning into blackened, pockmarked land.
the translator has nothing to add ◡̈
