The next morning.
The purified water station was located along the national highway, five kilometers away from the residential area.
Ethan traveled quickly.
His physical strength had fully recovered, feeling even stronger than before the Apocalypse.
He avoided several waves of wandering zombies, his movements as agile as a leopard.
This was the "silent evasion" technique repeatedly honed during the camp’s survival training.
Two hours later.
The blue sign of the purified water station appeared in his field of vision.
The iron gate was left ajar, and it was quiet inside.
Ethan gripped his fruit knife tightly and carefully pushed the door open.
The courtyard was overgrown with weeds, and several water delivery tricycles were overturned to the side, covered in rust.
The air was filled with a faint smell of disinfectant mixed with the scent of decay.
He walked to the entrance of the sales hall, where the glass door lay shattered on the floor.
It was empty inside, and there was nothing left on the shelves.
Only a few empty water buckets were scattered on the ground.
"It seems it was cleared out long ago," Ethan frowned.
Unwilling to give up, he walked to the water storage room in the back.
The door was locked.
He kicked it hard a few times, the latch broke, and the door swung open.
It was equally empty inside.
Only a faucet in the corner was dripping water.
Ethan walked over and looked at the murky liquid flowing from the faucet, which had a faint green tint.
"The contamination is this severe."
He shook his head, not daring to touch it.
It seemed he would have to try his luck elsewhere.
Ethan turned and left the purified water station.
Just as he reached the national highway.
The corner of his eye caught a white box truck parked not far away.
Two men were sitting in the cab, watching him furtively.
Ethan’s heart skipped a beat.
Subconsciously, he wanted to detour around them.
"Hey! Stop right there!" A hoarse voice rang out.
The cab door opened.
Two men jumped out.
One was tall and burly, carrying a sword in his hand, the blade gleaming with a cold light.
The other was short and stout; he didn’t have a weapon, but his eyes were fierce.
The two of them blocked Ethan’s path, one in front and one behind.
"Kid, you look soft and delicate; you don’t look like someone struggling in the Apocalypse."
The tall man grinned, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth: "What good stuff do you have on you? Hand it over, and I’ll let you die quickly."
Ethan’s heart sank.
He had run into bandits.
He sized up the two men.
The tall man looked difficult to deal with, and that sword was quite intimidating.
Although the short, stout man didn’t have a weapon, his eyes were shifty, and he didn’t know what tricks he might be hiding.
A direct fight was definitely not the way to go; he had to think of a plan.
He immediately put on a terrified expression, his body trembling slightly.
"I-I’m just an ordinary person."
"I don’t have anything good on me."
As he spoke, he slowly backed away.
The tall man sneered: "Nothing good? Then why did you run to such a remote place?"
"I-I came to look for water." Ethan’s voice carried a whimper, "My family is dying of thirst."
"Looking for water?" The tall man raised an eyebrow, "The water stations in this area were emptied long ago. I think you’re just lying, kid!"
He brandished the sword: "Be sensible and hand over your backpack! Otherwise, don’t blame me for being ruthless with my blade!"
Ethan "shivered in fear."
"D-don’t kill me, I’ll hand it over, I’ll hand it over."
He slowly put down his backpack, and while bending over, his fingers moved inside his pocket.
With a thought.
The fruit knife from his space quietly appeared in his hand, hidden in his sleeve.
Seeing this, the tall man’s face wore a smug smile as he strode toward Ethan.
"Smart choice..."
Before he could finish his sentence.
Ethan moved, the ruthlessness he had been suppressing instantly erupting!
He lunged forward, the fruit knife in his hand as fast as lightning!
Squelch!
The blade pierced precisely into the tall man’s neck.
The tall man’s eyes widened, his face still holding that smug smile.
A "hissing" sound came from his throat, and blood gushed out like a fountain.
The sword in his hand clattered to the ground.
His body slowly collapsed, twitched a few times, and then became completely still.
Everything happened too fast.
It was so fast that the short, stout man didn’t even react.
When he saw the tall man fall with a fruit knife stuck in his neck, he finally snapped back to reality.
"Y-you dare to kill!"
The short, stout man’s face turned pale; he instinctively took a step back and pulled a pistol from behind his waist!
The dark muzzle pointed at Ethan.
"Go to hell!" The short, stout man roared and pulled the trigger!
"Bang!" The gunshot echoed across the empty national highway.
Ethan’s pupils constricted.
He hadn’t expected this short, stout man to have a pistol.
At the critical moment.
He lunged to the side, and the bullet grazed his arm, drawing a spray of blood.
A searing pain hit him instantly.
The moment Ethan landed.
He didn’t hesitate at all.
He picked up the sword from the ground.
Used the momentum to roll forward, and dodged the short, stout man’s second shot.
"Bang!" The bullet hit the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.
The short, stout man was clearly not good at using a pistol.
He missed both consecutive shots.
Ethan seized the opportunity.
He stood up abruptly, and the sword in his hand whistled through the air as it slashed toward the short, stout man.
The camp’s cold weapon class had taught that when dealing with a novice with a gun, close-quarters combat was the only chance of winning.
The short, stout man was terrified and instinctively raised the pistol to block.
"Clatter!"
The sword knocked the pistol flying.
The blade’s momentum didn’t stop, continuing downward.
Squelch! It slashed deeply into the short, stout man’s shoulder.
"Ah!" The short, stout man let out a shrill scream and fell backward.
Ethan’s eyes were cold, without a shred of pity.
The cruel environment of the camp had long taught him that being kind to the enemy was being cruel to oneself.
He stepped forward and pulled out the sword.
With a backhand motion, he slashed again, cutting his throat.
The short, stout man’s screams came to an abrupt end.
His eyes were wide open, full of fear and unwillingness.
Ethan panted heavily.
The wound on his arm was bleeding.
Holding his wound, he walked over to the two corpses.
He picked up the pistol, which still had 13 rounds of ammunition, and searched the short, stout man, finding a magazine with 15 rounds.
He put the pistol and the magazine into his space.
His gaze fell on the box truck.
"I wonder what’s inside."
He walked to the back of the truck.
The cargo door was locked with a U-lock as thick as a thumb.
He gripped the sword in his hand, preparing to test its durability.
He slashed down, the U-lock broke, and the blade remained undamaged.
"Good sword!" Ethan exclaimed, "From now on, you will accompany me as I venture through the Apocalypse!"
The cargo door opened, and the scene inside made his eyes widen instantly.
Rows of bottled water were stacked neatly inside.
"Holy crap!" Ethan was so excited he almost jumped.
It was truly a case of "searching high and low, only to find it without any effort."
He touched them one by one, storing all the bottled water into his space.
Looking at the bottled water in his space.
He felt much more at ease.
The water problem was solved.
He looked at the truck in front of him again.
"This truck might come in handy later."
He walked to the driver’s seat and found the car keys.
He started the car and drove it to a hidden corner.
Without hesitation, he stored the entire truck into his space as well.
After doing all this, he finally let out a sigh of relief.
The wound on his arm was still throbbing with pain.
He started walking back, his consciousness sweeping over the pistol in his space.
"This pistol, I’ll give it to Debbie; she has a Healing Ability now, but her self-preservation skills are still too poor."
"It’s a pity the pistol isn’t food and isn’t within the scope of the system’s gift supplies, otherwise, if it triggered a drop rate increase, it would be awesome!"
He didn’t notice a pair of eyes behind him watching the direction he was leaving in.