After more than two hours on the road, Chen Qingzhou and his group finally arrived in Beicheng.
Beicheng was a major city, which also meant it had a much larger zombie population. Along the way, they had already encountered two groups of zombies. Although none of them were high level zombies, dealing with them had still consumed a considerable amount of energy.
Gu Nuan woke up as they reached the outskirts of Beicheng. Leaning against the kitchen window, she looked outside.
“So this is Beicheng. It’s huge.”
Chen Qingzhou saw that she was awake through the rearview mirror.
“You’re awake.”
“Yeah! How long did I sleep? We’re already in Beicheng.”
Gu Nuan moved to the front passenger seat, where the view was much better. She had never been to Beicheng before. In her previous life, she had died before ever making it this far while searching for Chen Qingzhou. She had heard that Beicheng was the most prosperous city in the region.
“We’re here. We’ll drive a little farther, then look for supplies. We also need to find a vehicle for Brother Tian and the others.”
“Great. I also want to stockpile more supplies. That way the System Space can level up again.”
At the thought of collecting supplies, Gu Nuan became excited. She had been rather lazy lately and hadn’t managed the System Space properly. If she hadn’t needed to retrieve supplies from it, she might have forgotten she even owned one.
066 could only sigh helplessly.
The master has forgotten about me.
Without a navigation system, driving aimlessly through the streets was rather difficult. Before nightfall, they arrived near a shopping centre.
“Qingzhou, look. Isn’t that a shopping centre?”
Gu Nuan pointed toward a large building in the distance.
“It is. Let’s head over.”
Chen Qingzhou drove into the underground car park beneath the shopping centre, with Xia Tian and the others following behind.
After parking, Chen Qingzhou first used his psychic ability to scan the surrounding area. Once he confirmed there were no zombies nearby, he gave Xia Tian and the others an OK gesture.
Everyone got out and looked around.
The underground car park was filled with vehicles.
“Wow, there are so many luxury cars.”
Lu Qingshan looked around in amazement.
“Well, here’s our chance to find a vehicle. Let’s see if there’s anything suitable.”
The group searched row by row and soon found two good options.
One was a Mercedes people carrier with its door left open.
The other was a compact motorhome with its keys still inside.
It seemed their owners had met with disaster here.
“Let’s take these two. Move everything out of them and see if they still run.”
Xia Tian tried the Mercedes first.
The engine started immediately.
Lu Qingshan climbed into the motorhome and successfully started it as well, but he quickly noticed another problem.
“It’s almost out of fuel.”
“That’s alright,” Chen Qingzhou replied. “We’ve got fuel.”
He returned to his own motorhome, asked Gu Nuan for petrol, and filled both vehicles.
“Now that we’ve got the vehicles, we’ll use the Mercedes people carrier to transport supplies. Brother Tian, drive it over to that stairwell entrance. We’ll head upstairs to gather supplies.”
“No problem.”
Gu Nuan also got out of the motorhome, carrying an electric baton. Chen Qingzhou and the others each held a large machete.
When Xia Tian and his companions noticed a men’s clothing shop, they looked down at their own worn out clothes.
“Brother Tian, let’s grab a few sets of clothes.”
Sun Zecheng spoke first.
“Good idea. Qingzhou, let’s check this shop.”
“Alright.”
Chen Qingzhou held Gu Nuan’s hand tightly as they entered.
To their surprise, they encountered zombies the moment they stepped inside.
Judging by the uniform, one of them had probably been a shop assistant.
Xia Tian reacted instantly, freezing it solid with his ice ability.
“That scared me to death.”
Lu Qingshan patted his chest.
He had nearly walked straight into the zombie before noticing it. Fortunately, Xia Tian reacted quickly.
By the time Chen Qingzhou and Gu Nuan walked in, both zombies had already been crushed to pieces.
Gu Nuan gave Xia Tian a thumbs up.
His ability had clearly improved.
Previously, he could only use his ice ability at close range, but now he could freeze targets from a distance.
It was obvious that absorbing the zombie crystals had helped him level up.
“Brother Tian, your ability has levelled up! That’s amazing!”
Lu Qingshan stared with wide eyes.
“The female zombie was all the way behind the checkout counter, but you froze her instantly.”
“It has levelled up.”
Xia Tian smiled. “Let’s hurry and find some clothes.”
Everyone moved quickly through the shop, choosing clothing and shoes.
Once Xia Tian and the others had walked well outside the shop, Gu Nuan casually waved her hand.
In an instant, the entire clothing store disappeared into her System Space.
They continued visiting several more shops, collecting winter clothing and down jackets before heading downstairs.
The remaining shops contained no zombies.
Gu Nuan appeared to be casually browsing, touching items here and there, but everything she touched was quietly transferred into the System Space.
There were simply too many supplies.
Xia Tian and the others carried several loads downstairs first.
Once only Chen Qingzhou and Gu Nuan remained, he released her hand.
“Go ahead.”
Gu Nuan smiled. As expected, Chen Qingzhou understood her perfectly.
With another wave of her hand, several more shops on the second floor were emptied into her System Space.
Afterwards, they headed downstairs toward the supermarket, hoping there would still be supplies left.
Meanwhile, Xia Tian and the others had also finished unloading the first batch and met them at the supermarket entrance.
“Let’s go inside.”
The supermarket still contained some supplies, although not many.
After searching carefully, they gathered rice, flour, cooking oil, seasonings, bottled mineral water, canned food, pickled vegetables, and other preserved foods.
There were very few snacks left, probably because previous survivors had taken most of them.
Xia Tian also collected several cooking pots and various kitchen utensils.
After all, they couldn’t expect Gu Nuan to cook every meal forever, especially since she was pregnant.
When they reached the paper goods section, Gu Nuan stockpiled a large quantity of diapers, tissues, sanitary pads, and other daily necessities.
Just as they were about to leave the supermarket, they suddenly heard desperate cries.
“Help! Help!”
A few young women who looked like university students ran into the shopping centre, chased closely by several zombies.
Chen Qingzhou immediately stepped in front of Gu Nuan.
“Stay here. I’ll go take a look.”
Gu Nuan nodded.
“You two stay here and protect Miss Gu. I’ll go as well.”
Xia Tian spoke to Sun Zecheng and Lu Qingshan before following Chen Qingzhou.
The two men blocked the zombies’ path.
Seeing living humans standing before them, the zombies immediately charged forward in a frenzy.
Chen Qingzhou rubbed his hand against his trousers, instantly condensing a purple sphere of lightning in his palm before hurling it forward.
The leading zombie was blasted until it was charred black.
The remaining zombies became even more enraged and rushed toward him together.
Xia Tian waved his hand, freezing three zombies at once.
He then clenched his fist.
All three shattered into pieces.
The three girls watching from behind stood frozen in amazement.
They were unbelievably powerful.
Chen Qingzhou unleashed another bolt of lightning, eliminating the remaining zombies.
While Xia Tian went to collect the zombie crystals, Chen Qingzhou turned to the girls.
“Are you alright?”
The three girls stared blankly at him.
He’s so handsome…
One of the girls recovered first and shyly introduced herself.
“We’re alright. Thank you for saving us. These two are my classmates, Han Xiaomei and Li Lu. My name is Chen Tingting.”
“Nice to meet you.”
“Are you on your own, or did you get separated from your teammates?” Xia Tian asked after returning with the crystals.
“We don’t have a team. We’re students from the university next door. All seven of us from our dormitory came out for a meal together, but we never made it back. Only the three of us survived.”
Chen Tingting’s voice choked with emotion.
“I see.”
Xia Tian frowned. “Then what are you planning to do?”
At that moment, Gu Nuan, Sun Zecheng, and Lu Qingshan walked over.
Seeing her approach, Chen Qingzhou immediately went over to support her.
“Why did you come over here? It smells awful.”
Gu Nuan smiled and squeezed his hand.
“I’m fine.”
The three girls were stunned when they saw Gu Nuan.
She was unbelievably beautiful.
It was also obvious that she shared a very special relationship with the handsome man standing beside her.
As expected, all the good men already belonged to someone else.
“I heard what you were talking about.”
Gu Nuan looked at the three girls.
“It seems you don’t know where to go. Why don’t you come with us? Would you be willing?”
Chen Tingting turned to her two friends.
“What do you think?”
“I’m willing.”
Han Xiaomei agreed without hesitation.
Li Lu hesitated. “I… I still want…”
“Xiaolu, I know you want to find your boyfriend, but you don’t even know whether he’s still alive. What if…” Chen Tingting interrupted gently. “We’ve been trapped in this shopping centre for so long. He knew we were coming here for dinner, but he never came looking for you. Doesn’t that already tell you something? Either he died… or he escaped and abandoned you.”
After a moment of silence, Li Lu finally nodded.
“I’ll come too.”
“Good.”
Gu Nuan smiled.
“Can any of you drive?”
“I can.”
Li Lu raised her hand.
“Perfect. Brother Tian, let the three of them use your previous vehicle.”
“Sure.”
Gu Nuan introduced everyone.
“My name is Gu Nuan, this is my husband Chen Qingzhou, and these are Xia Tian, Sun Zecheng, and Lu Qingshan.”
“We’re heading to Haicheng. The journey is long and it won’t be easy. If you decide you can’t continue halfway through, just let me know. You can leave the team at any time.”
“We can endure it.”
All three girls answered in unison.
“That’s good.”
Gu Nuan looked at the darkening sky.
“It’s getting late. Let’s return to the vehicles and rest.”
She looked at Chen Qingzhou.
He affectionately rubbed her head.
“Alright.”
The group returned to the underground car park and parked all four vehicles side by side in a row of empty spaces.
Gu Nuan turned to the three girls.
“Do any of you know how to cook?”
“I do.”
Chen Tingting immediately volunteered.
“Good! I’ll give you some ingredients and kitchen utensils.”
Gu Nuan returned to the motorhome and took out ingredients, seasonings, and cooking equipment from the System Space before handing them over.
Seeing the fresh ingredients and fruit, Chen Tingting was completely stunned.
The three of them hadn’t eaten fresh fruit in a very long time.
Every day, they scavenged supplies from the supermarket and cooked upstairs in one of the restaurants. However, after so many days, all the fresh vegetables and fruit in the supermarket had already been taken.
“Thank you, Sister Gu. May I call you that?”
Chen Tingting looked at Gu Nuan with sparkling eyes.
“Of course you can.”
Everyone then returned to their own vehicles to cook dinner and rest.
Xia Tian’s group prepared their meal inside the motorhome.
Chen Tingting and her friends cooked in the SUV that Xia Tian had previously driven. Its boot was spacious enough that, after a few simple modifications, it had become their temporary outdoor kitchen.