Chapter 205 - 202: I’ve Seen Many Geniuses

Chapter 205: Chapter 202: I’ve Seen Many Geniuses

She seemed to have grown used to the feeling of her head resting on Lin Fan’s shoulder. Like a personal NPC, she narrated into his ear,

"I sensed the electrical potential in the sky. My sister and I—we talked it over, and just did it... Not only the autocannon, but the fire control, comms, targeting, and electric drive were all fried. But it doesn’t matter. The autocannon was out of ammo anyway."

Her voice grew quieter as she spoke, as if recalling what she had felt while lying in that crevice in the ruins...

Just like that time... No, it was even stronger.

Back then, she had been losing the fight against the corruption... or to be blunt, she was being utterly crushed.

Aside from delaying her transformation into a zombie, she could do nothing. She couldn’t move an inch. Even suicide became an impossible luxury.

Just as she was sinking deeper, knowing she could no longer break free, she sensed that same feeling from before.

Countless electrical charges were gathering in the clouds. A vast electric field enveloped the world. She didn’t want to become a zombie, didn’t want to become one of those walking corpses.

So, with what little power she had left, she created a small potential field around herself.

But her power was nowhere near as plentiful as it had been before. Besides, the armored car was a giant hunk of iron; it wasn’t hard to draw a lightning strike during a thunderstorm. This time, however, she was lying in a tomb made of concrete and air.

She could feel a pathetic, thick barrier separating her from the charges high above.

She could "see" the power that was great enough to destroy everything, but she couldn’t touch it.

In her moment of utter despair, fate answered. It was as if something had abruptly appeared and punched a hole through the barrier between sky and earth.

Whether it was a punishment, or a blessing.

In any case, a channel had opened. Lightning struck, drawn to her, to annihilate both her and the corruption.

It was only now, however, that she learned the truth. The channel had opened because some "genius" had started a huge fire to find someone. The thick smoke had contaminated the raindrops, lowering the resistance of that part of the barrier.

But that alone wasn’t enough. What was even more brilliant was that this "genius," still trying to find someone, had also jammed a metal spear into the wall of the building. He was hanging high up, forming a perfect lightning-attracting structure with the building’s rebar network...

And so, the lightning had hesitated for a moment between the two targets before ultimately choosing her, nearly killing her in the process.

"So you thought that lightning strike was my signal to you? And you came looking for me?"

Ye Qingniao had just finished recapping the entire process. Speechless, Lin Fan listened to her account as a bead of sweat trickled down his forehead.

’It wasn’t the lightning that hesitated! I’m the one who pulled back a target at the last second, you foolish girl!!!’

’But if Ye Qingniao survived that, I guess with my HP, taking the hit wouldn’t have been a huge problem... right?’

He freed a hand to wipe the rain and sweat from his face, then said in a profound tone to the "second head" on his shoulder:

"Intuition... pretty amazing, isn’t it?"

"It really is..."

Ye Qingniao buried her face in Lin Fan’s shoulder, rubbing away the rain. Then she gave up thinking about it and dropped the subject.

They had already passed the densest part of the horde’s vanguard. For the next stretch, they could take the streets instead of the rooftops. The few scattered zombies and Mutated Zombies were no match for Lin Fan.

"Uncle Lin, what about Uncle Wang and the others?"

Ye Qingniao relaxed a little and changed the subject, but, afraid Lin Fan might try to mislead her, she quickly added,

"And be sincere, please..."

"Wang Zhong probably went back," Lin Fan answered smoothly, without a hint of guilt. "We just passed his last known location. No sign of him or his vehicle."

"...What about Uncle Jiang?"

Ye Qingniao asked again.

"Wang Zhong probably went back. We just... HISS—Stop biting, that hurts!"

"Did you not see anyone, or..."

Ye Qingniao released her bite on Lin Fan’s trapezius and asked softly.

She remembered why she was able to survive that lightning strike.

It was probably because, at the very end, she had given up fighting the corruption and instead used all her strength to deflect the lightning strike into the nearby rebar network...

Though she had been determined to be destroyed along with it rather than become a zombie, when the final moment came, she discovered she still didn’t want to die.

Perhaps no one truly wants to die. Clinging to that lingering attachment, she finally asked the question she had been avoiding.

The lightning had destroyed her nervous system. Aside from her head, which could still feel, the rest of her body was completely numb.

She was afraid of the answer; regardless of what it was, she was powerless to do anything about it.

But Lin Fan’s story had made her understand a few things. It made her see him in a new light, to truly feel who he was.

He was a veterinarian, but at the same time, he was a judge.

He cherished every life, yet he also judged the value of each one.

She accepted his choices, which was why she now dared to ask this question.

"I didn’t see anyone..."

Lin Fan replied quietly.

"Uncle Lin, I know Uncle Jiang’s last known location was a women’s clothing store. It should be just up ahead. There’s a children’s store on the left and a department store on the right. I’ll recognize it. Can we take a look when we pass by?"

For some reason, Ye Qingniao seemed like a different person. When she called him "Uncle Lin" this time, it didn’t have that same unnatural feeling as before. Surprised, he turned his head to see if her health bar had changed to a weird color...

It was still yellow.

"Alright. Point it out when we get there."

Lin Fan didn’t say anything more. His original plan had been to search for Jiang Jing on the way back anyway.