“Xiaoxiao, did you manage to find out what Chen Ye talked about with Captain Chu and Nana?”
Zhou Lan was beginning to regret it. If she had known things would turn out this way, she would never have approached Chen Ye. She had given him the gasoline, then let Xiaoxiao take it back. She had not been thinking straight; for a moment, she simply could not bear to part with that can.
But there was no use regretting it now. She and Xiaoxiao had certainly offended Chen Ye.
Seeing Chen Ye obtain a can of gasoline and a Heavy Machete with just a few words had left her unsettled. How could a brief conversation get him so much?
She had sent Zhou Xiaoxiao to ask around, hoping to learn what Chen Ye had said in exchange for those supplies.
“Sis, that old fox Uncle Abao said he didn’t know anything,” Zhou Xiaoxiao complained as he drove. “And last time he said he was your fan. Hmph! Some fan he is.”
Li Jie drove the bus, while Uncle Abao drove Chu Che’s modified off-road vehicle. Chu Che and Nana each had three people in their vehicles, forming small groups of their own. Xiaoxiao had learned nothing from Abao and was unhappy about it.
“Sis, I know what you’re worried about. You think that now we’ve offended Chen Ye, we sisters won’t be able to survive in the convoy.”
Zhou Lan said nothing.
Xiaoxiao smiled and spoke lightly. “What’s there to be afraid of, Sis? We’ve survived this long by relying on ourselves. Every supply run is a narrow escape from death. That’s how we’ve managed to stay alive in this convoy, and live better than most. We worked hard for that gasoline. Why should we give it to Chen Ye? Besides, we don’t need anyone else to protect us. We can rely on ourselves.”
He looked proud as he said it.
“Oh, you!” Zhou Lan tapped Xiaoxiao’s forehead. Yet for some reason, she could not shake her unease.
Chen Ye poured the gasoline he had obtained from Chu Che into his motorized tricycle’s tank. The engine shuddered, and the tricycle started up.
The convoy moved faster today, perhaps trying to make up for the two hours spent trading in the morning.
Chen Ye could see Chu Che at the front of the convoy, getting out now and then to pick up a handful of soil and taste it. He would then point out a safe direction, his expression serious. New chapters come out on novelping(.)com first.
Perhaps this was how the Pathfinder Sequence worked. Chen Ye had never seen it happen when he was bringing up the rear.
They traveled on into the afternoon before Chu Che ordered a rest.
Chen Ye took supplies from the cargo bed and began cooking. He had not eaten rice for days and was craving it. Everyone had plenty of supplies today. Many people had never made it out of Apricot Blossom Town, but those who had returned had brought back supplies.
At some point, a Blood Moon had appeared on the horizon. Perhaps because everyone had something to eat today, the camp felt less sorrowful than usual.
Just as Chen Ye finished his meal, Uncle Abao approached. “Iron Lion is awake.”
Seeing the Titan Sequence Beyonder startled Chen Ye. The last time he had seen the big lug, his arm had been cut off at the shoulder. Now part of it had grown back.
Is this also a Sequence ability?
Nana and Chu Che seemed unfazed.
Iron Lion was a little surprised to see Chen Ye too. “Oh, it’s you. If not for your arrow that day, I’d probably be dead,” he said weakly from his bed.
“If not for you, I might have died that day too,” Chen Ye said honestly. Had Iron Lion not held off the White-Dress Scissor Lady, few people in the convoy would have survived.
Seeing Chen Ye stare at his severed arm, the big lug spoke without any embarrassment. “Iron Lion, Flesh Titan Sequence. Flesh Regeneration is one of our basic abilities. Hahaha… impressive, isn’t it? I hear you’re a Mechanic Sequence. Great! Now we won’t have to throw vehicles away whenever they break down!”
The man was clearly a chatterbox.
After Chu Che explained that Black Dog Blood had some effect on Anomalies, Iron Lion thanked Chen Ye as well. The convoy followed a principle of fair exchange, so the information was not free. Get faster updates on NovelPing.
“What do you want?” the giant asked.
“Your portable power station,” Chen Ye said. “The one that holds two kilowatt-hours.”
“Done. I’ll have Old Li bring it to you.”
With a portable power station added to his supplies, Chen Ye was one step closer to converting his tricycle into a gasoline-electric hybrid.
The following days were monotonous and leisurely. Sometimes the convoy headed east, then suddenly turned west. Sometimes they traveled for half a day, only to return to their starting point by evening. At first, some people questioned the route, but Chu Che told them that anyone unwilling to follow the convoy was free to leave. No one objected again.
The convoy’s route seemed as erratic as a madman’s, with no apparent plan. Only the Sequence Beyonders looked somewhat serious. According to Chu Che, several Anomalies had been searching for traces of the convoy over the past few days. At their closest, they had been less than three kilometers away. Without Chu Che of the Pathfinder Sequence, the convoy would probably have been wiped out.
Whenever the convoy rested, Chen Ye found chances to cut tree branches or bamboo for crossbow bolts. The Heavy Machete made the work much faster. He coated the finished bolts with Black Dog Blood, and his quiver now held over a hundred.
It was a pity about the convoy’s two black dogs, though. They looked listless all day, probably because blood had been taken from them.
“Tomorrow, we reach Longevity Village,” Chu Che announced during the evening meeting. “Supplies are running low. We need to scavenge.”
Faces around him showed both fear and anticipation. Apart from the few Sequence Beyonders, everyone really was running low on supplies. Without another scavenging trip, the convoy might well riot.
Chen Ye lit a cigarette and silently weighed his options. These were the rules of the apocalypse: the more prosperous a city had once been, the more people now feared it. The few megacities were completely off-limits to the living. Small villages, on the other hand, still offered a chance.
He had plenty of crossbow bolts now. Perhaps he could earn a good haul of Slaughter Points. The system had told him before that there was a way to awaken a real Sequence, but it would cost three thousand points.
Suddenly, a terrified scream tore through the camp.
“Ahhh! There’s… there’s an Anomaly!”