Chapter 240 - 217: Where is the Road?

Chapter 240: Chapter 217: Where is the Road?

"I found these in the storage room. The size looked about right, and I think they’re new... Why don’t you try them on?"

"Um... Brother Lin."

He glanced at the figure inside, happily eating noodles with her back to them. He rubbed his hands together awkwardly, a troubled look flickering across his rough face as he lowered his voice:

"That kid, Cyan Bird... she can seem tough, and even pretty fierce sometimes, but she’s a good person at heart, just like her sister... We all think of her as a little sister... Anyway, I’m counting on you to look after her."

"Don’t say that like you’re about to leave or something..."

Lin Fan tried on the shoes. ’He never would have guessed this big, burly guy would be so thoughtful.’

The work boots were a perfect fit. Their thick soles felt much more solid on the ground than his slippers had.

"She’s strong. She’ll be fine."

Lin Fan gently patted Cheng Qi’s shoulder.

"You’re a good man, too. Don’t worry, I’m here... They’re a perfect fit. Thanks."

"Heh heh, glad they fit." Cheng Qi gave an honest, simple smile. He stopped overthinking it, picked up another bowl of instant noodles, and started eating.

"What are you two whispering about?"

Ye Qingniao, who had stuffed a handful of sausage into her own bowl, carried it out into the hallway and looked at the two of them, asking.

"Nothing much. Cheng Qi was just telling me to keep you in line, so you don’t act like a tomboy all the time."

Lin Fan said with a grin, trying to stir things up.

"Hmph... As if."

Ye Qingniao rolled her eyes but didn’t press the issue. The three of them leaned on the windowsill at the end of the top-floor hallway, eating their instant noodles, the sound of their slurping rising and falling.

The rain after the apocalypse was no different from the rain before it. From this angle, they couldn’t see any zombies or collapsed buildings—only the curtain of rain outside the window and the outer ring road stretching from west to east.

In this brief moment of tranquility, they chatted idly about the past and the future...

...

After eating and drinking their fill, the three of them packed all the salvageable food and water in the hotel into three large bags. Each carrying one, they tossed them all into the armored car.

The night of rain had washed away most of the black soot and bloodstains from the vehicle’s body, revealing its original dark green camouflage. Only the faint dents on the front armor and the bone fragments embedded in the wide, off-road tires still told the tale of their frantic battles.

"Mount up. We’re moving out."

Lin Fan, wearing a transparent, disposable raincoat he had swiped from the front desk—emblazoned with the words "Fast 9 Express Hotel"—skillfully vaulted onto the vehicle’s roof and straddled the gun turret.

Even though it was warm inside, he was more comfortable in this position, with its wide field of view, which allowed him to respond instantly to any sudden developments.

BZZZT—

WHIRRR— RUMBLE RUMBLE...

A faint electrical hum was followed by the whir of the motor and the roar of the engine coming to life. A puff of white smoke shot out from the exhaust pipe.

The armored car slowly began to move, rolling through the puddles on the road and heading east once more along the main outer ring road.

As the vehicle accelerated, it passed abandoned car after abandoned car, crushing zombie after zombie.

The thin plastic raincoat Lin Fan wore billowed in the wind, flapping loudly. It clung to his body and streamed out behind him, making him look like a "lonely" knight wandering the apocalypse.

But he wasn’t really that lonely. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

Because Ye Qingniao kept popping her head out of the armored car’s various viewports. One moment, she’d hold up a half-eaten sausage to his mouth as if presenting a priceless treasure. The next, she’d be yelling things in his ear like, "That zombie is so ugly!"

Lin Fan had no choice but to let her mess around, while he calmly watched the road, sorted through the crystals in his pocket, combined the ones he could, and took stock of his inventory.