【Brain Storage Facility.】
“Can’t this young lady, Chu Zhaoxun, save us some trouble? She managed to get left behind during the evacuation. It’s been a month already, and we’re still wasting resources looking for her. Communication has been cut off for half a month; who knows if she’s turned into a zombie? Even if she isn’t dead, as an ordinary person without abilities, and being as pretty as she is, she probably isn’t having an easy time in a world like this.”
The speaker was Wang Peng, a member who had temporarily joined the Dawn Rescue Team. He was a Level 3 wind-ability user and was very dissatisfied with the mission to rescue Chu Zhaoxun.
The other members of the rescue team stirred upon hearing this, but said nothing.
Wang Peng continued to complain.
“We are all ability users, yet we’re making such a big fuss to find a mere ordinary person! With this time, I could have killed so many zombies. Still, since we’re already here, I hope this young lady is doing well. If something happens to her, given the Commander-in-Chief’s current health, how could he endure such a blow?”
After speaking, he gave a smile with an ambiguous meaning, though his expression tightened and became respectful the moment he saw Su Jin approaching.
“Wang Peng, we only need to follow orders and execute the mission. Who gave you permission to run your mouth and speculate blindly here?”
Su Jin’s face was cold. She was dressed in tactical gear with a gun strapped to her waist, and the ground around her was littered with the corpses of cleared zombies.
She heaved a bucket of gasoline onto the vehicle and looked at Wang Peng sternly.
“Furthermore, regardless of Chu Zhaoxun’s background, whether she is an ordinary person or an ability user, she is one of our people. As long as she is alive, we, as members of the rescue team, have an obligation to save her!”
Wang Peng lowered his head and quickly said:
“Deputy Captain Su, I know I was wrong. You are right.”
He then added, “I was just feeling regretful because Captain Lou died unfortunately trying to rescue her, so I said a few extra words. Don’t worry, Deputy Captain Su, I understand now.”
The Captain Lou he mentioned was Lou Lihan, a lightning-ability user. He was the captain of the Dawn Rescue Team and also Chu Zhaoxun’s fiancé.
However, it was common knowledge that Lou Lihan treated her like a younger sister.
Chu Zhaoxun, on the other hand, often pestered Lou Lihan and, even after getting left behind, had communicated with the base, crying and making a scene, demanding that Lou Lihan come to pick her up immediately.
Consequently, Lou Lihan had personally led a team to leave the base and head out to rescue Chu Zhaoxun.
Hearing Wang Peng’s words, Su Jin remembered Lou Lihan’s death, and a look of deep sorrow flashed through her eyes.
Three days ago, the rescue team had been surrounded by mutant creatures. To protect them, Lou Lihan had chosen to perish with the mutants.
Before he died, his last words were: “If Zhaoxun is still alive, bring her back to the base safely; if she has turned into a zombie or a mutant, you must kill her.”
Su Jin closed her eyes, her tone heavy: “Captain Lou died to save us; it has nothing to do with Chu Zhaoxun. You don’t have to blame everything on her just because you don’t like her.”
Yet, in her heart, she couldn’t help but blame Chu Zhaoxun’s willfulness.
If it weren’t for the fact that she insisted on having the Captain pick her up personally, perhaps the Captain wouldn’t have died.
Opening her eyes again, she said in a cold voice: “That’s enough. We are about to reach the location traced before communications were cut off. Everyone, stay alert. Let’s find Chu Zhaoxun as quickly as possible, complete the mission, and head back to the base.”
Wang Peng and the other four members replied in deep voices: “Yes!”
Su Jin sighed internally.
I hope Chu Zhaoxun is still alive.
Outside a supermarket, Zhaoxun sat inside a vehicle, enjoying the air conditioning, with a large, fat orange cat in her arms.
Soon, two men and a woman, carrying plenty of supplies, ran out of the supermarket in a somewhat disheveled state and arrived at the car.
Jiang Chuan presented his loot as if offering treasures.
“Sister Xun, these are several sets of brand-new clothes and pants. I guarantee they haven’t been stained with blood. You will definitely like them. I checked—they are all big brands, and the fabric isn’t scratchy!”
The man and woman following him were dumbfounded, looking strangely at Jiang Chuan and Zhaoxun.
Are these two crazy?
It’s the apocalypse now; food is the most important supply. Seeing how enthusiastically he was raiding the supermarket and killing so many zombies, they thought he was grabbing food. To their surprise, he just grabbed a bunch of clothes?!
Insane. They are absolutely insane.
Zhaoxun nodded calmly.
“Not bad.”
Hearing these two words, a smile immediately broke out on Jiang Chuan’s face.
Sister Xun praised me!
Zhaoxun’s gaze fell on the man and woman behind him.
Before she had to ask, Jiang Chuan explained.
“This is a couple I met in the supermarket just now. They are water and fire ability users, both Level 2.”
He then continued:
“Sister Xun, they want to head to the central base with us. Is that okay?”
The couple felt puzzled seeing Jiang Chuan treat Zhaoxun with such respect.
An ability user treating an ordinary person with such an attitude? What kind of relationship do these two have?
They didn’t look like lovers; it was more like a long-time servant and a pampered young mistress.
The two shook their heads, quickly dispelling such an absurd thought.
How could that be?
They saw that Zhaoxun was pretty. A month into the apocalypse, she remained clean and was living so leisurely—even having the mood to keep a cat and wear new clothes made of high-quality materials. Where did this pampered miss come from?
She could be this relaxed, they reasoned, surely because she had the protection of an ability user like Jiang Chuan.
Based on their observations, the strength Jiang Chuan displayed in the supermarket just now was at least Level 4.
Why would a powerful ability user treat this woman named Zhaoxun so well, if not for love?
Jiang Chuan spoke again: “Sister Xun, their names are Zhang Yuan and Jiang Qing. They just graduated not long ago. I thought their abilities would be perfect for washing and drying your clothes. Keeping them around will be convenient.”
Through their time together, he knew that Sister Xun had extremely high standards for the quality of life. Her clothes couldn’t be dirty, the material couldn’t be poor; even new clothes had to be washed once before wearing, and her food and drink had to be of the best quality.
Zhaoxun retracted her gaze.
“Fine. Let them stay.”
Zhang Yuan and Jiang Qing felt a bit resentful at hearing this.
They were ability users; how could they do this kind of work?
Using their abilities to wash and dry someone’s clothes?
Jiang Chuan looked at them, raised an eyebrow, and said:
“Aren’t you going to thank Sister Xun? Our car has been modified; it could crush through a pile of zombies without any problem. If you don’t want to stay, you can just walk to the central base yourselves.”
Zhang Yuan and Jiang Qing looked at each other, then immediately changed their tune: “Thank you, Sister Xun!”
Just kidding. Relying on their own legs to walk to the central base? Who knows how long that would take?
Forget it. Washing clothes is washing clothes. At least it counts as being somewhat useful, right?
Jiang Chuan smiled, not at all surprised by their choice.
In his opinion, being able to stay by Sister Xun’s side was their stroke of good fortune.
One day, they would feel lucky for this choice.
“Get in.”
Zhang Yuan and Jiang Qing sat in the back seat.
Jiang Chuan got into the driver’s seat and turned around to ask:
“Sister Xun, which direction should we head in next?”
Zhang Yuan and Jiang Qing were even more puzzled.
Why do you have to ask about which road to take? Is there no map in the car?
Zhaoxun looked outside the window and tapped her fingers.
“Drive along the small road to the east.”
Hearing this, Jiang Chuan immediately stepped on the gas.
“Got it!”