Chapter 247 - 220: Opportunities Always Come with Challenges

Chapter 247: Chapter 220: Opportunities Always Come with Challenges

The armored car sped along the slick highway. The rain was letting up and the sky was gradually brightening, but there was still no hint of warmth.

The road was flanked by walled-off factories of some unknown kind. Aside from a few industrial towers and workshops, there were no residential buildings—and certainly no street-facing windows suitable for an ambush. The cars parked on either side likely belonged to factory workers.

BANG!

The armored car’s heavy front end slammed directly into the rear of a sedan angled in the middle of the road.

The immense force of the collision sent the sedan flying toward the opposite curb like a kicked soda can.

Shards of glass and plastic sprayed from the collision, striking Lin Fan. Faint purple ripples pulsed across his body before the fragments ricocheted away.

Lin Fan sat motionless on the roof of the vehicle, his gaze darting left and right, scanning the factory gates and guard booths for any potential snipers.

Suddenly, a small figure crawled out from the shadows on the right side of the road.

It moved clumsily, its hunched, emaciated frame draped in clothes soaked through with a mixture of rain, mud, and blood.

At first glance, it looked exactly like a common, withered zombie crawling out from under a car.

So, Cheng Qi and the others didn’t give it a second thought; the armored car was about to ram right through it without slowing down.

But Lin Fan, on the roof, spotted the figure at once. He didn’t just see it; he immediately shouted a warning.

"Don’t hit them! It’s a person! Stop!"

He had already mentally prepared himself. If it had been a gun-toting thug blocking the road, or a woman kneeling in the street with a child, begging for help, Lin Fan wouldn’t have even batted an eye. He would have just told Cheng Qi to step on the gas and run them over like a speed bump.

But the person who appeared caught Lin Fan completely by surprise...

It was a child, maybe four feet tall at most, who had crawled out from a puddle under a low-chassis car on the right. They scrambled into the middle of the road, waving their arms wildly to stop the steel behemoth.

Only Lin Fan could see that this child had a yellow health bar of [22/120], an energy bar of [120/120], and that the health bar also had a dark blue border.

’An Awakened One, too...’

’Now they really have to stop.’

Hearing Lin Fan’s warning, Cheng Qi slammed on the brakes, but the armored car had too much inertia. It let out a piercing SCREECH— as it skidded with terrifying momentum on the slick road surface.

Realizing things were going wrong, Lin Fan kicked off the guardrail and launched himself from the armored car like a striking hawk. He reached the child just before the vehicle would have hit them, grabbed them by the waist, and pulled them back, narrowly avoiding the front of the armored car as it roared past, leaving two scorched black lines on the ground.

Only then did Lin Fan get a clear look. The child he had saved was a little girl, wearing an ill-fitting hoodie, barefoot, with big eyes and a round face. She looked to be six or seven years old at most...

Lin Fan had heard from Liu Bin before that the youngest residents in their community were two thirteen-year-olds, a boy and a girl, who were looked after by the older women. He hadn’t had much contact with them and had never met them.

And the one before him now was clearly much younger.

"Lin Fan! Is that a survivor? So young?"

The armored car slid another four or five meters before stopping. Ye Qingniao and Cheng Qi, remembering their orders, didn’t stick their heads out from the roof. Instead, they opened two firing ports and shouted to Lin Fan outside.

Hearing their questions, Lin Fan—just as bewildered himself—crouched down and turned to the little girl he had pulled aside next to a parked car. He casually conjured a piece of leather to hold over her head, shielding her from the cold raindrops.

"Hey, little one, what’s your name? Why are you here all by yourself? Do you have any family?"

Lin Fan put on a friendly smile and asked kindly.

The little girl seemed to have been terrified by the thundering armored car and the sudden appearance of the strange man. She just stared at him blankly, speechless. Her big eyes shimmered with unshed tears, on the verge of spilling over.

"Oh, for heaven’s sake, let me handle this!"

Inside the vehicle, Ye Qingniao saw Lin Fan getting nowhere and spoke with some impatience before climbing out onto the roof herself.

"Back at the family compound, I used to play with the younger kids all the time. Watch this..."

Her movements were agile. As soon as she landed, she crouched low and ran toward the two of them. She squatted beside the girl and asked the same questions Lin Fan had.

"Miss... are you a soldier?"

The little girl blinked her big eyes, her voice very soft, tinged with a hint of cautious hope.

"Huh? What?"

Ye Qingniao was taken aback by the question. Then she looked down at her outfit. ’Well, yeah, I guess I do look like a soldier,’ she thought.

"Uh, uh, yes, I’m a soldier. Why are you here all alone? Have you always been by yourself?"

She quickly pressed.

"WAAAH—"

The fear and grievance the little girl had been holding back for so long finally erupted. She burst into loud sobs, using her two filthy sleeves to wipe away the mud and tears on her face.

"I saw in a book... that soldiers drive these kinds of cars... Daddy said... soldiers are good people..." she said between sobs. "Daddy... Daddy is a soldier, too..."

"..."

Hearing this, Ye Qingniao suddenly felt her nose sting. But she was, after all, a few years older and quickly composed herself.

"Shh, don’t cry. I’m here now. You’re safe."

Ye Qingniao, who usually acted like a spoiled princess, was now incredibly gentle. She pulled the little girl into a soft embrace and continued to ask in a quiet, soft voice,

"Can you tell me your name? And where are your mommy and daddy?"