Chapter 230 - 213: The Three of Us (Part 2)

Chapter 230: Chapter 213: The Three of Us (Part 2)

"Treating us to a midnight snack?"

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

He rapped the shaft of his spear against the roof of the vehicle, mimicking Ye Qingniao as he shouted:

"Come on out! If you don’t, we’re leaving!"

His voice cut through the curtain of rain, but it was instantly swallowed by the PATTER of raindrops hitting the puddles.

It seemed the Corrupted Giant Tree was quite smart. This time, it had chickened out completely.

The occasional flash of lightning illuminated the ruins on either side of the "burial mound." By its light, he could see that in the direction of "home," the distant barrier of rubble, once like a great, desolate wall, had completely collapsed into a hill of debris.

Hundreds, even thousands, of zombies were piled up at its base, clambering over one another to get up. Even more were spreading out to the sides; it was only a matter of time before they got around it.

The recent thunder had caused some of the zombies to lose their target. A dark, dense mass of them turned and began shuffling toward Lin Fan and the others.

Despite this, the Corrupted Giant Tree made no move at all. Not even a single tentacle stirred; the "burial mound" itself was completely still, deathly silent.

Lin Fan could also finally see clearly that the countless limbs on the "burial mound" must have belonged to zombies—zombies that had been drained dry and twisted apart.

They didn’t look like they’d been torn apart in a fight. Instead, they resembled sugarcane pulp after the last drop of moisture has been squeezed out by some ability—shriveled, contorted, and ashen, hanging lifelessly from the charred mass.

Based on the scene, Lin Fan could boldly theorize that its incredible vitality and regenerative abilities came from "juicing" zombies.

’Looks like it didn’t level up.’

’Not only did it not level up, but it must have also run into the same problem as me.’

’It has the energy, but its output is limited.’

Lin Fan knew it had to be hiding in the nearby ruins, perhaps right beneath the roadbed under the "burial mound"...

But he didn’t have the right tools to dig it out.

The same was true for the "tree."

Even with Lin Fan standing right on top of it, it couldn’t keep him there, even if it used every trick it had.

But it was a stalemate. Neither the man nor the monster could do anything to the other. Strategically, however, Lin Fan was still the winner.

Because Lin Fan grew stronger each time, while both of the "tree’s" attempts at "evolution" had been disrupted, leaving it severely weakened.

"If you don’t come out, we’re really leaving..."

Lin Fan chuckled. If the "tree" was determined to turtle up, there was really nothing he could do.

He found a flat spot, plopped himself down on the armored vehicle’s slanted turret, and let the heavy rain pour down on him.

"You coward! Come on out—!!"

Not to be left out, Cheng Qi, who was in the driver’s seat, cracked open the thick, bulletproof window and leaned over to get a taste of what it felt like to borrow the tiger’s might.

Seeing that it was determined to hide, Lin Fan casually knocked on the roof of the cockpit and said, "Let’s go!"

"Roger that! ...Cyan Bird, I can’t see the road. Come help me with a flashlight."

From inside the cockpit, Cheng Qi’s loud voice came through, muffled by the thick soundproofing.

"Oh... coming." Ye Qingniao wanted to lie on the roof with Lin Fan, but hearing Cheng Qi’s call, she had no choice but to duck back down through the hatch she’d come from.

She had just lowered herself down when Cheng Qi’s voice rang out again, asking Lin Fan:

"Colonel Lin, where are we heading?"

"...?"

"Colonel Lin’s" carefree lounging was interrupted by this thoughtless question. He turned his head quizzically toward Ye Qingniao’s head, which was still sticking out, his gaze seeming to ask why there was an idiot in such an elite team.

But Ye Qingniao’s eyes were clear. She didn’t see the problem and answered for Lin Fan as if it were the most natural thing in the world. "Duh, we’re going to find the others..."

The cockpit fell silent for two seconds. All that remained was the monotonous SQUEAK, SQUEAK of the windshield wipers scraping sand across the glass, as dreary as the rain outside.

"But I don’t know the way..." Cheng Qi said, as if he were completely in the right.

Lin Fan froze, instinctively looking back at Ye Qingniao, who had just answered for him.

Sensing his gaze, she turned back with an innocent look and spread her hands. "You’re the local. Don’t look at me, this is my first time here..."

"No..."

Lin Fan was momentarily speechless. He pointed to himself.

"I don’t know the way either! How should I know where that... that parking lot is..."

Ye Qingniao froze, too.

"Where’s your map?"

Seeing Ye Qingniao’s completely dumbfounded expression, Lin Fan turned and asked Cheng Qi,

"You came on a rescue mission without a map?"

"I gave the map to your guy, Liu Bin..."

Cheng Qi mumbled awkwardly, clinging to the window. Then, a thought seemed to strike him, and he declared with renewed, righteous confidence,

"I came here on a suicide mission. Why would I need a map...?"

"No, you two... I..."

Lin Fan opened his mouth, a thousand words caught in his throat. In the end, they all dissolved into a long sigh.

"Sigh..."

Lin Fan suddenly found himself missing their leader, Ye Qingzhou—the woman who always had a cold expression and eight hundred schemes brewing behind the scenes.

’If Qingzhou were here... forget the map, she could probably recite alternate retreat routes A, B, and C from memory.’

This must be what they call... the Happy-Go-Lucky and the Unhappy.

Speechless, Lin Fan raised a hand and scratched his scalp.

The black soot and mud that had splattered into his hair during his escape mixed with the rainwater, forming black rivulets that snaked down his cheeks and into his collar. The chill was just like his mood at that moment.

"Let’s go south..."

The direction of home was their retreat path, but all Lin Fan could see was a "mountain range" of collapsed buildings and several thousand zombies. Following them was impossible.

So Lin Fan gave up on staring blankly at Ye Qingniao and pointed in the opposite direction of the "burial mound."

It was also the direction Ye Qingniao’s convoy had come from.

"Drive south. When we hit the outer ring road, head east... that’s a left turn. Just keep going. Let’s put ten kilometers behind us first, find a safe place, and rest for the night. We’ll figure it out then."

He couldn’t count on those two. At a time like this, "Colonel Lin" had to be the one to make the decisions.

"You got it!"

Cheng Qi now followed Lin Fan’s every word.

Never mind south; if there were a cliff in front of them, he’d probably floor the accelerator without a moment’s hesitation.

"Hold on tight!"

The armored vehicle’s eight tires slowly began to move. Its massive off-road wheels crunched over the rubble-strewn ground and through the puddles as it made a wide turn.

"Lights! Lights!" Cheng Qi shouted.

The headlights were still dark, but luckily, Ye Qingniao found a few high-intensity flashlights in a plastic crate.

"I know, I know! Stop rushing me!"

Huddled in the passenger seat, Cyan Bird grumbled irritably.

She had to curl her broad shoulders, stuffing herself into the seat like a giant hamster. She held onto a handle with one hand while the other awkwardly held the powerful flashlight against the rain-slicked front windshield.

A shaky, lonely beam of light pierced the thick curtain of rain, illuminating the muddy, debris-covered road for a few dozen meters ahead.

The scene was both pathetic and comical.

This command-grade armored vehicle, worth tens of millions, had lost all its functions except for its wheels.

Even its lighting had to be manually provided by a wounded crew member.

VMMMM—

The engine hummed a low roar. This battered, lonely ark of steel, carrying three people exhausted in body and mind, slowly pulled away from the deathly silent "tentacle burial mound" and plunged headlong into the endless, dark, and rainy night to the south.

The cabin fell into silence. Aside from Ye Qingniao’s occasional shouts warning Cheng Qi of obstacles, there was only the monotonous sound of the wipers scraping against the glass and the dull rumble of the tires on the road.

Lin Fan lay on the roof, letting the downpour wash the blood and mud from his body.

The rain washed away the heat from his recent exertion and diluted the thick stench of blood.

Even though just moments ago he had been hoping the Corrupted Giant Tree would come out for a fight to the death—after all, he still had his trump card, the potion, unused—now that he was truly away from the battlefield, he still felt utterly exhausted.

[1856/1935]...

"Jiang Jing" was dead, along with the dozen or so Mutated Zombies that had been stuffed into the cage earlier. Unfortunately, a Mutated Zombie with over a thousand health didn’t even have as much health as Lin Fan now, so it only gave him 5 health points.

Even so, his health rose to 1935, bringing him one step closer to the two-thousand mark.

The armored vehicle jolted violently as it rolled over rubble and debris. But Lin Fan, who had wedged himself against the turret’s guardrail with his spear, felt the rocking was as steadying as a cradle, even in the rain.

With a thought, a purple insignia appeared in his hand. It was the most appealing item among the drops from "Jiang Jing."

[Interface Module (Large) x1].

He held the insignia and tentatively pressed it against the armored vehicle beneath him...

[Usage Failed]

[Applicable Mass: ≤1000kg]

"Phew..."

Lin Fan suddenly let out a long breath, patting the guardrail wistfully.

’Looks like the dream of casually summoning a twenty-ton infantry fighting vehicle to run over my enemies is still a long way off...’