Chapter 140 - 137: The Apocalyptic Big Shot Arrives 14

Chapter 140: Chapter 137: The Apocalyptic Big Shot Arrives 14

The thick smell of gasoline, mingled with the stench of blood, hung over the service area. Beside three abandoned cars with their gas tanks pried open, ten anxious figures circled a silver-gray RV.

Purple electric arcs danced in the palm of the buzz-cut man leading them, but they were swallowed by an invisible barrier the moment they touched the vehicle’s door.

"Brother Lei, this RV is seriously weird."

A man as scrawny as a monkey scraped his dagger against the vehicle’s body, producing a grating sound. "Normally, a territory protected by a superpower like this should only last half an hour at most. It’s already been two hours."

"Shut up!"

Veins bulged on Lei Hu’s forehead, and the Thunder Ball gathering at his fingertips suddenly swelled.

The purple lightning illuminated a vicious scar on his brow bone, but it turned to a wisp of smoke the moment it touched the RV’s roof.

As the roar of engines sounded in the distance, he whipped around to see five modified Jeep RVs rolling over the field of shattered glass like steel behemoths.

A team of twenty people filed out of the vehicles. The young woman in the lead placed a peach-flavored lollipop in her mouth, her black combat boots crushing a mutated beetle.

A tall man in camouflage behind her raised his hand, and the well-trained team instantly spread out in a fan formation.

"Is there a problem?"

Ji Xiaosong took the lollipop out of her mouth, her gaze sweeping over the bulging weapons packs at their waists.

’The apocalypse only started a little over a month ago. To have assembled a team of ten Superpower Users, this group must have looted the gas stations of half a province.’

Lin Chuchu gracefully emerged from the back of the crowd, her white dress strikingly conspicuous in the filthy air.

She tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear, revealing a scabbed-over bite mark on her neck. "Miss, please don’t misunderstand. We just want to borrow your vehicle to take Grandma Wang to Chenming City."

She stepped aside to reveal an old woman leaning on a cane, cloudy tears sliding from her murky eyes.

"This girl has such a kind heart..."

The old woman pointed a trembling finger at the solar panels on the RV’s roof. "My grandson has had a fever for three days. We just want to find a place with air conditioning..."

The grating crunch of Gu Lin’s combat boot on a piece of broken glass interrupted her tearful plea.

He took off his tactical gloves, revealing a vicious bullet scar on his forearm. "The vehicle’s radar shows you abandoned a pregnant woman half an hour ago."

His dark gray eyes swept over the car keys at Lei Hu’s waist. "Do I need to pull up the dashcam footage?"

The air suddenly grew still.

The man built like a brown bear suddenly exploded into action, his fist, powered by his Enhancement System superpower, rushing forward in a powerful gust of wind.

Gu Lin sidestepped the blow, seized the man’s wrist and twisted it back, then drove a knee into his lower back, forcing him hard to his knees.

The concrete pavement cracked in a spiderweb pattern.

"Ah Long!"

Lin Chuchu cried out, stumbling backward and falling perfectly into Lei Hu’s arms. "How could you do this! Shouldn’t we be helping each other in the apocalypse?"

Her reddened eyes filled with tears. "We’re just trying to survive..."

The sharp, metallic clicks of twenty firearms being cocked simultaneously cut through the air.

Ji Xiaosong toyed with a blue orb of light dancing in her palm—an electric current several times purer than Lei Hu’s. "Well said. So what you should be doing right now is—"

The orb exploded into a net of electricity that enveloped the group. "—getting out of my sight."

Lin Chuchu suddenly dropped to her knees, her tears carving two clean streaks down her grimy cheeks. "We’re truly at the end of our rope..."

She tore open her collar to reveal a hideous scar. "Those zombies chased us for three days. We were desperate; that’s why we wanted to use your RV."

"Your foundation is smudged on the back of your neck."

Ji Xiaosong abruptly pointed her lollipop at the back of the woman’s neck. "Someone who hasn’t showered in three days couldn’t possibly have skin that clean."

A blue arc of lightning suddenly shot toward the old woman’s cane. The instant the metal head of the cane exploded, twenty poisoned needles clattered to the ground.

The woman disguised as an old crone let out a strange cry as her hunched figure abruptly doubled in size.

Beneath the faded, coarse cloth, a black tactical vest was revealed. Her withered, calloused hands transformed into sharp claws, swiping straight for Gu Lin’s throat.

Lei Hu seized the opportunity to throw a Thunderstorm Bomb, but the purple lightning crashed into a transparent Barrier that had already been deployed.

"You forgot to clean this up when you dumped the body."

Gu Lin kicked aside a name tag half-buried in the dirt. On it were the words: "South City Ninth People’s Hospital, Lin Xiaoxiao, Attending Physician, Obstetrics."

"Obstetrics, Lin Xiaoxiao? The pregnant woman you abandoned... could it have been her?"

Ji Xiaosong froze at Gu Lin’s words.

’Lin Xiaoxiao... isn’t that my brother’s ex-girlfriend?’

Only then did Ji Xiaosong recall the memories of her body’s original owner. Lin Xiaoxiao had also existed in her past life, but by then, she had already become a zombie.

She’d heard that Lin Xiaoxiao had been secretly plotted against by someone unknown. She and her unborn child had met a brutal end, and she had eventually turned into a zombie, full of hatred.

Unexpectedly, after becoming a zombie, Lin Xiaoxiao not only retained her past memories but also awakened a High-level Superpower, and her strength was not to be underestimated.

Later, she even led an attack on the base where Zhou Ziheng was located.

The reason, it turned out, was that Zhou Ziheng and Lin Miaomiao were protecting someone named Lin Chuchu inside the base. Meanwhile, Lin Xiaoxiao was driven by a single obsession—to avenge her own murder at the hands of that very same Lin Chuchu.

A chill ran down her spine as she recalled all this. ’Thinking about it now... has Lin Xiaoxiao already been killed?’

But the current situation didn’t give Ji Xiaosong time to think. The disguised old woman had already made her move.

Ji Xiaosong’s electric current formed a long whip that wrapped around Lin Chuchu’s ankle, swinging her upside down toward the impostor.

As the two women collided, micro-bombs hidden in the wig clattered all over the ground.

"Next time you play pitiful, remember to take off the luxury brand bracelet."

She pinned the back of a crawling Lei Hu with her foot. "I heard all the luxury stores in South City collapsed in the third week of the apocalypse. Looks like you guys grabbed quite a haul."

Twenty team members activated their Superpower Suppressors at the same time, and the energy fluctuations around the ten-person squad instantly fell into disarray.

This was a new suppressor recently developed by the researchers at Yongfeng Base. In fact, this was the first time it was actually being used on Superpower Users.

Lin Chuchu’s Healing Ability went out of control, tearing at her own arm, while the Thunder Ball in Lei Hu’s palm backfired, searing his face.

The Transformer disguised as an old woman couldn’t maintain her superpower, revealing a back full of skull tattoos—each skull had the name of a place they had plundered carved on its forehead.

"Tie them up."

Gu Lin fastened a special magnetic lock on the still-twitching Lei Hu. "Chenming City is short on labor for rebuilding the power station. Send them all over there."

He picked up the supply pack Lei Hu had dropped and emptied out three cans of milk powder and some baby clothes.

The bloodstains on the packaging weren’t fully dry yet; it looked like the original owner had only recently been injured.

"After the power station is rebuilt, send them to the Seventh Mine Area."

She crunched the last remnants of her lollipop. "The rule of Yongfeng Base is—"

The cloyingly sweet scent of peach mixed with the smell of blood and spread through the air. "—a debt of blood is paid in blood."

Zhao Gang moved with lightning speed. In just a moment, he had the ten of them tied up securely.

Meanwhile, Ji Xiaosong stood to the side, her expression serene. She gently raised a fair hand. A faint, soft glow appeared around her, the light extending like silken threads to precisely wrap around the chests of the bound captives.

As if drawn by some mysterious force, the superpower cores slowly broke through the barriers of clothing and flesh, floating out from their bodies. Enveloped in the soft light, they flew toward Ji Xiaosong’s palm. In no time, ten superpower cores were lined up neatly in her hand, emitting a strange luster.

"You guys can head to the next base, or wait for me. I’m going to drop these ten off and rescue someone while I’m at it."

Ji Xiaosong stored the superpower cores in her space, dusted off her hands, and asked the others.