Nocking an arrow and drawing the bow, the damp bow body creaked under the pressure.
Lin Qi took a deep breath, pulled the longbow to its limit, and released it. With a swish, the arrow shot out!
Zhao Tuantuan, off to the side, hugged her head and huddled in the corner of the sofa, terrified that the arrow might bounce back and hit her forehead.
But after the sound of the bowstring snapping, a "thwack" followed; the arrow, made from a thin twig, had actually embedded itself into the wall, its tail feathers trembling slightly.
"Brother Lin, I remember you didn't attach an arrowhead, right?"
Zhao Tuantuan jumped off the sofa and stepped forward to pull the arrow out. However, despite her efforts, the arrow, which had pierced nearly five centimeters into the wall, was quite firm. Her face turned bright red from the exertion before she finally managed to pull it out.
Looking closely, the arrow shaft showed not a single sign of damage.
"I don't know why, but I feel like my strength is growing more and more."
Lin Qi was also quite shocked; he hadn't expected such a crude bow to have such power.
Even with the default arrowhead, it was a concrete wall, yet it had managed to penetrate that deeply.
If he were facing a zombie, he feared it would pierce straight through, leaving nothing behind.
Lin Qi played with the bow and arrow in his hands, unable to put them down. In his heart, he was eager to find a zombie to test it on; he wondered what kind of changes would occur if he activated the bow's skill.
"This is all thanks to me!"
Zhao Tuantuan muttered softly. Watching the smile on Lin Qi's face, a strange light appeared in her eyes without her realizing it.
Just as Lin Qi was about to head out, a siren suddenly blared from outside the window, sounding like an air-raid alarm, echoing for a long time before finally fading away.
"Attention survivors, Federation Rescue has arrived. Please follow social protocols. In two days, proceed to the central street for evacuation. The Federation support squad will clear a safe passage to cover the survivors' evacuation from the city."
The voice in the sky repeated over and over, moving from far to near, then gradually fading away.
He could even hear the roar of helicopter propellers flying by not far away.
"Rescue is here!"
In his memories, the Federal Government was similar to the government agencies of Lin Qi's past life, though much more rigorous.
This world had four great federations and eighteen small nations. Starting from the year '99, the world order underwent a massive cleansing, diverging from the experiences in Lin Qi's original memories like two separate paths, becoming increasingly different.
The public had an inexplicable confidence in the Central Asian Federation, and upon learning that rescue was arriving, it was as if they had been given a shot of adrenaline.
But the two people in the room were somewhat silent.
Because of his dominant memories, Lin Qi didn't have much of a sense of belonging to the Federation, though he didn't have much resistance either. After all, in the Apocalypse, it was too difficult for one person to survive; humans were, after all, social creatures, and most people couldn't endure such long-term isolation.
Zhao Tuantuan was also uneasy. Compared to Lin Qi, who still had the confidence to deal with unexpected events, she was filled with fear for the future.
If it were a normal gene evolution, and the Federation found out, she might be put to good use. But she was different from ordinary people; if her abilities were discovered by someone with ulterior motives, she shuddered to think what she might become in the future.
It was highly likely she would be trapped in a place without sunlight, her body restrained, fed high-protein nutrients daily, with two tubes connected to her body, constantly draining her fluids.
Thinking of this, Zhao Tuantuan shuddered violently.
"We are quite a distance from the central street; we'll have to cross almost half the city to reach the evacuation zone. We'll follow the federal squad to the nearest quarantine zone then."
Having learned that mutated creatures would appear in the future, a shadow constantly loomed over Lin Qi's heart. After all, the unpredictability of mutated creatures was too great, and to learn the theory behind gene evolution, he had to have official information.
"We have two days. Let's prepare. You turn the food into dry rations, and I'll go out to investigate and find a safe route."
Lin Qi didn't notice Zhao Tuantuan's nervousness and began preparing on his own. With his current strength, he could venture into a zombie horde, but he didn't know the strength of those unknown mutated creatures.
In the courtyard, Lin Qi chopped down all the ornamental trees, making a total of thirty arrows and crafting a simple quiver.
After breakfast that day, Lin Qi picked up his equipment. As he passed the kitchen, preparing to head out, he glanced inside inadvertently.
Although the kitchen door was tightly closed, the gap allowed Lin Qi to see the scene inside.
He saw Zhao Tuantuan bending over, lifting her clothes, and squeezing hard. White liquid sprayed out like a showerhead, landing in a large bowl.
That touch of soft white was quite eye-catching.
Lin Qi silently retreated, stepped heavily, and walked through the living room again.
"Brother Lin, wait!" Zhao Tuantuan hurried out of the kitchen, holding a large bowl in both hands.
"I warmed up some milk for you. Drink it."
It was a full bowl, almost overflowing.
"Tuantuan, this is bad for your health!"
At this point, how could Lin Qi not guess where this milk came from? Recalling the first time he met Zhao Tuantuan in his memories, her figure hadn't been this prominent. Although she had always worn loose clothing, her size had been growing larger and larger.
Coupled with the gene evolution theory she mentioned, the information she deliberately hid, and the frequently appearing warm milk, Lin Qi couldn't help but associate it with certain things.
"What do you mean bad for my health? This is milk I saved for you. I have another bottle in my room; if you don't believe me, I'll show you!"
Zhao Tuantuan blushed, shoved the hot milk into Lin Qi's hands, then ran into the bedroom and brought out the white bottle.
The bottle mouth was tightly sealed, and as she shook it, one could vaguely see it was full of milk.
"I see. It seems I misunderstood."
Lin Qi picked up the bowl and drank it in one gulp. Under his deliberate perception, the warm current rolled in his stomach and gradually spread to his limbs, more noticeably than the previous times.
"Give me this bottle too. I might not be back by noon, so I'll take it as lunch."
Lin Qi took the white bottle from Zhao Tuantuan's hand, stuffed it into his pocket, and turned to leave.
Since Zhao Tuantuan didn't want to tell the truth, Lin Qi decided not to point it out. After all, for an eighteen-year-old young girl, such things were too embarrassing.
"Oh no, what should I do in the future? He must have known!"
Inside the room, Zhao Tuantuan lay on the sofa, her hands scratching wildly. Under the pressure, she suddenly felt a dampness on her chest.
She quickly got up and went to the kitchen, grabbed an empty bowl, and in a short while, squeezed out another half bowl.
After Lin Qi went downstairs, he didn't head to the main street but instead arrived in front of the third residential building.
He had only explored two of the three residential buildings; the hallway of the last one was covered in blood, which had stopped Lin Qi in his tracks last time.
However, with his new equipment, he didn't care much about such dangers anymore.
Opening the iron gate, a stench of blood permeated the air. The ground was still covered in a layer of black slime, but on that slime, there were clearly several fresh footprints!
"A zombie has been down here?"
Lin Qi remembered his brief look when he opened the door last time, and his heart turned cold.
He held his spear and slowly investigated the hallway.
The four resident doors on the first floor were all locked. Lin Qi didn't open them without authorization but slowly made his way to the second floor.
As soon as he stepped onto the second floor, he felt an even more intense stench, almost nauseating. Sure enough, at the end of the hallway, he saw an open door.
A pool of blood on the ground extended all the way to the doorway!
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