At this point on the road, they mostly encountered zombies with stiff limbs. They could handle them with tools, and Ji Heng and the others took the opportunity to use their supernatural abilities more, improving their proficiency.
The more troublesome obstacles were the many temporarily broken-down vehicles, randomly parked along the roadside. Occasionally, they would come across accident vehicles stopped in the middle of the road, with the drivers turned into zombies, trapping everyone inside.
Fortunately, Cai Yan and Sun Ye were skilled drivers, and with the cars being crash-resistant, they managed to drive along bumpy roads, albeit unsteadily.
“Boss, there’s a gas station ahead. Should we stop?” Sun Ye’s voice came through the walkie-talkie.
“Go. Every time we pass a gas station, it’s best to check inside. After a while, finding fuel will get harder.”
The car slowly pulled into the gas station.
“There are other cars refueling. Looks like there’s still a lot left.”
Ji Heng, hearing Sun Ye, had already noticed a car being refueled nearby. On the ground around it lay several zombies dressed in gas station uniforms.
“Tian Le, go take a look later.”
“Okay.”
It seemed Ji Heng was taking everything he could, even if just a little.
Tian Le’s spatial-type ability had already become very skilled from the repeated use and rest while collecting supplies from the main warehouse. Now, he barely needed time to gather supernatural ability; a thought was enough to activate it.
During his time at Interstellar, although he trained daily and had some self-protection capability, his specialty was still research reports.
After his supernatural ability awakened, his body’s strength and sensitivity had slightly improved, but overall, as a space ability user, he still didn’t have much combat power.
Thinking that the team’s supplies were all under his care, Tian Le felt reassured that Ji Heng would naturally protect him.
It was better to survive. Tutu hadn’t contacted anyone from the Transmigration Alliance yet. If he died in this world and couldn’t survive, it would be tragic. Treasure life, hold tight to Ji Heng’s leg.
Cai Yan and Sun Ye parked the car. In the adjacent refueled car sat a young man, watching them warily.
In an apocalypse, zombies could be fought freely, but humans were a far more unpredictable source of danger. Their greed became clear when fighting over resources.
Sun Ye glanced at the foreigners in their car but paid them no mind, focusing on refueling.
“Let’s rest inside the convenience store for a bit, eat something, then head out.”
Ji Heng instructed, carrying Ji Tianyi out of the car. Tian Le followed him into the gas station convenience store, with the others getting out to follow.
“Yang-ge, should we go in too? There should be plenty of food inside.” The young man Luo Xun said to someone in the back seat.
The person called Yang-ge was Li Yang. When the apocalypse began, their company had organized a trip with camping and picnic supplies.
They had prepared a lot of food and drinks, but by the time they arrived, the apocalypse had already struck, and the supplies hadn’t been used.
They hadn’t been starving in these past days, but if they didn’t collect resources, it would only get harder later.
Li Yang, a former mid-level manager, had apparently awakened a supernatural ability during the apocalypse. He could summon small flames, but they were barely enough to light a cigarette.
For the other three, who were non-ability users and whose colleagues had mostly turned into zombies, Li Yang became their anchor. These past days, the three had followed him instinctively, consulting him first for any decision.
“Mm, let’s go see. They can’t possibly take everything.”
Many people had seen ability users in the past few days, but initial awakenings of supernatural abilities weren’t very powerful. Occasionally seeing one or two didn’t impress non-ability users much; their first instinct was still to rely on handy tools.
Moreover, without thinking deeply, they hadn’t even considered the existence of space ability users.
Once inside the convenience store, Tian Le casually began collecting items.
Ji Heng silently watched the shelves disappear before him. He had wanted to see what food was available and eat first, but this guy acted on his own, without needing instructions.
“Ji Heng, you go sit there and eat something, and make some milk for Tianyi. I’ll go check the fuel.”
Lu Jingze and the others nodded and followed Tian Le, deciding to finish the work first. Fuel was precious—leaving any behind would be nerve-wracking.
Seeing everyone ready to follow, Tian Le said, “Lu Jingze, just follow me. You others, eat quickly.”
Tian Le cleared out all the collectable items from the store and stepped out with Lu Jingze, ready to check if the refueling car had left so he could act.
At the doorway, they ran into Li Yang and his group.
They exchanged wary glances, each judging whether the other would strike. Tian Le smiled lightly and nodded, then walked out.
Li Yang was stunned by the smile. The boy looked so pure, with two small dimples when he smiled.
“Hey~ Yang-ge, look at this.”
“Wait, why is there nothing inside?”
Luo Xun stared at the empty store, double-checking with wide eyes. Inside, the only people were Ji Heng and the child he held. If the cashier counter hadn’t been bolted to the floor, perhaps even that wouldn’t have been left.
Li Yang frowned. Ji Heng sat calmly, radiating the aura of someone of high status. He reminded Li Yang of a company CEO, but even more noble.
Someone like this would have been untouchable before the apocalypse. Moreover, seeing the two cars outside and the others standing nearby, each exuded an invisible pressure. Li Yang neither could nor dared to start a conflict.
And anyone who could empty an entire store obviously had formidable strength.
“Go grab something from the car. Let’s eat before leaving.”
“All right.”
Luo Xun hurried to the car to fetch food. “Yang-ge, we probably won’t have dinner tonight if this keeps up…”
“I know.”
Chen Jing and Xu Xiaoyan, a couple who had remained silent, simply followed orders. They hadn’t yet recovered from the shock of the apocalypse, wandering aimlessly these past days.
They planned to leave the city with Li Yang, hoping other places were normal. They really didn’t want to stay in this human hell.
After Li Yang finished eating, Tian Le and Lu Jingze returned. Li Yang simply nodded at him and went toward Ji Heng.
“Daddy~ So happy? Did we just find a treasure?”
Tian Le smiled and held Ji Tianyi. “Yes, so many treasures.”
“But none of them are our Tianyi treasure.”
“Daddy’s giving you this—it’s Tianyi’s favorite. I saved one for you.”
“Okay, thanks, Baby.” Tian Le happily accepted the small puff pastry given by the little one.
Ji Heng watched as he casually took the treat he had previously protected from himself and gave it to Tian Le. The drawback of not having a biological son was becoming increasingly obvious.