Chapter 828 - 3: Arkansas

Chapter 828: Chapter 3: Arkansas

The intake of energy seemed to alleviate the pain during the genetic modification process. Combined with the consumption of fat after getting drenched in the rain and the intense craving for the sugar-oil mixture due to living in frigid places for a long time, it didn’t take long for Chen Zhou to devour all the snacks like a whirlwind.

Two boxes of milk were gulped down, and a small bag of salted peas was poured into Chen Zhou’s mouth. As for that box of overly sweet cream cookies, it was the first to be consumed.

By the end, Chen Zhou didn’t even spare the candy, unwrapping each one and stuffing a handful into his mouth.

Accompanied by the crisp chewing of hard candy, Chen Zhou emptied out the luggage bag completely and picked out two pieces of clothing that absorbed water well to wipe off the rainwater that drenched his head and face.

After finishing these tasks, he bent down again to check for any usable supplies beneath the back seat.

Life in the Prehistoric World had depleted the little fat on Chen Zhou’s body, making him even more emaciated.

Yet no matter how thin he became, it couldn’t change the fact that he was a towering giant of 1.9m in height.

In the mid-20th century, as a victorious country in World War II, the United States reached an unprecedented economic prosperity, with ample supply of meat, milk, and grains, significantly improving the nutrition levels of children.

However, the already grown adults in the United States didn’t enjoy the advantages brought by abundant nutrition. Most American males ranged in height from about 170 to 175 cm. Even the prominent film stars in Hollywood rarely reached a height of 190 cm.

Compared to most Americans, Chen Zhou was too tall, making him look like a monster when he squeezed inside a car.

As he painstakingly bent over to peer beneath the seat, the distance between him and the little girl immediately shortened. In the dim light, Chen Zhou’s disheveled hair, unfamiliar face, and the humid, blood-tainted smell from his body instantly elevated the sense of oppression he imposed to its peak.

He only saw a long, black "stick-like object" under the seat but hadn’t pulled it out yet when he heard the little girl timidly say—

"Please don’t kill me, I’m begging you.

And please don’t kill my dad, he’s not a soldier..."

Ignoring the little girl, Chen Zhou reached out and pulled out the "stick-like object", finding it to be an umbrella, which delighted him.

An umbrella was one of the few things that could be of use. With this item, once the rain eased a bit, he could leave the car and continue along the highway.

Placing the umbrella beside him for easy carrying later, having confirmed there were no other useful items in the car’s back seat, Chen Zhou finally turned his head towards the little girl.

The little girl dared not look directly at this man who seemed to have stepped out of a horror movie. As Chen Zhou’s gaze landed on her face, she raised a fluffy toy rabbit to cover her face, too scared to say another word.

However, Chen Zhou didn’t spare her because of her timid demeanor.

"Let me ask you, where is this place?"

Having not spoken English for some time, Chen Zhou’s pronunciation and grammar had a distinct "Chinese accent".

The highly tense little girl didn’t catch these nuances and was stunned for a moment before timidly replying.

"United States."

I didn’t know this was the United States.

Silently ridiculing in his heart, considering the girl’s young age, Chen Zhou asked more specifically.

"What year is it?

Which state in the United States is this?

What big city is nearby?

Have you heard of Ambrose?"

Faced with a stranger’s barrage of questions, although the little girl was very frightened, she fought back the impulse to cry and answered Chen Zhou’s questions one by one.

It turned out the year was 1947, and this was Arkansas. As for which county in Arkansas, the little girl couldn’t say. She only knew Prescott was the largest city nearby.

When it came to Ambrose, the little girl shook her head, not providing Chen Zhou with any valuable clues related to it.

After all, she was just a child. Getting specific information about the year and location from her made Chen Zhou overjoyed; he didn’t expect to gather all intelligence from her.

Clutching the umbrella and rolling down the car window, seeing the rain had noticeably eased outside, worrying that vehicles might pass by the highway later, Chen Zhou planned to leave from here.

However, before leaving, he still needed to check the car’s trunk.

These vintage cars generally didn’t have much storage space. The largest and most essential storage area in the entire car was the trunk.

According to Chen Zhou’s understanding, due to the wide car body and front-engine rear-drive layout of such vintage cars, the trunk was deep, wide, and tall, reportedly able to fit a small-sized motorcycle.

In some old horror movies, killers used this car to dispose of corpses, even managing to handle four bodies at once.

If the driver had a long gun, it was very likely stored in the trunk.

Being aware that he was in an era teeming with firearms and with his physical condition severely weakening, Chen Zhou was desperate for firearms to provide him with a sense of security.

Besides guns, cars were also extremely convenient tools.

Unfortunately, his Asian appearance was too conspicuous in the United States during this era, and he was an undocumented "black account" traveling across time. If caught for driving without a license and encountered the police, the situation would be dire, leading to trouble just like mud falling into one’s pants. It wouldn’t be perceived as anything other than trouble.

Don’t mind the contract stating his target is a family of murderers, making it seem like the police could provide help.

In reality, if conflict really arose, it’s unknown who the police would help. They might even draw their guns the first chance they get and empty the clip to kill him.

Before finding a legitimate way to get a car, Chen Zhou didn’t intend to risk driving.