By the time the car was fully refueled, twilight had completely swallowed the sky. The group wasted no time and immediately set off toward North City.
However, by this point, they had entirely lost contact with the main refugee convoy. Along the way, wrecked vehicles could be seen intermittently, parked crookedly along the roadside.
They looked like abandoned husks, silently testifying to the grueling reality of their escape.
Bit by bit, more and more people failed to keep up with the convoy’s pace and were left behind.
Left with no other choice, they could only drag their families along, trudging forward on foot with excruciating difficulty.
This wasn’t just a journey; it was a desperate flight for survival.
They stumbled forward, and whenever they saw a vehicle driving past, they waved frantically as if clutching at a lifeline, their eyes filled with desperate pleading.
But not a single car was willing to stop. Some drivers, upon seeing them, even instinctively accelerated.
No one dared to physically throw themselves in front of a car to block it. In this chaotic world, everyone knew the truth.
Human hearts had long been hijacked by terror. If someone angered a driver by blocking the road, the driver would absolutely run them over without hesitation. No one dared to gamble their own life or their family’s lives on it.
Countless rumors swirled regarding the rampaging mutants.
Some claimed they were extraterrestrial creatures from outer space; others insisted they were monsters that had crawled out from the depths of the earth. Yet, to this day, no one could pinpoint their true origin.
What was even more despair-inducing was that human aircraft, artillery, and the traditional firearms humanity once prided itself on were incapable of completely exterminating them.
Xia Ran’s voice broke the silence inside the car, carrying a heavy tone: “An entire city in the US was completely overrun by mutants. Driven into a corner, they launched a missile and leveled the entire city.”
He paused, a trace of helplessness creeping into his voice. “But the result? Not only were the mutants not wiped out…”
“…they actually mutated.”
“It turns out they can absorb radiation, and even use it to level up.”
Dead silence fell over the car; only the roar of the engine could be heard.
Xia Qing’s heart sank. This made the situation seem somewhat unsolvable.
No wonder mutants always loved invading cities. Humans were their food, and radiation turned out to be their “fertilizer.”
Right now, the ones attacking them were merely the most basic, ordinary mutants.
Although their reproductive capabilities were terrifying, humanity could still manage to hold them off with their current strength.
But if it came down to those evolved, entry-level mutants, only ability users would stand a chance against them.
As for traditional firearms, they would only accelerate their evolution.
It was truly an unsolvable dead end.
Xia Qing thought to herself that the government must be doing everything in its power to find a solution as well.
A thought suddenly struck her: if she could completely control a mutant, perhaps she could study its internal structure and find a specific weakness.
But things were too difficult right now. Perhaps once her ability leveled up, there would be hope.
Just then, Xia Ran slammed on the brakes, his tone tight: “Mutants up ahead again!”
Xia Qing looked out. Bodies lay scattered haphazardly across the ground on both sides of the highway.
Every single one of them had their skulls cracked wide open. Thick brain matter mixed with blood congealed into dark brown stains on the asphalt—a deeply disturbing sight.
Sitting in the back seat, Wu Fang was already trembling violently, her face deathly pale. Yet, in Xia Qing’s eyes, a fleeting trace of excitement flashed by unnoticed.
Another chance to level up. As long as she could harvest the energy cores from those mutants, she could rapidly boost her strength.
The car crawled forward for a few hundred meters until a collapsed bridge loomed directly ahead.
—That was the only road leading to North City, and it was now snapped clean in half.
Rubble and exposed steel rebar littered the ground; passage was completely impossible.
Xia Ran frowned, his tone helpless: “The bridge collapsed. We have no choice but to detour and take the route through Tianjin City.”
If they didn’t detour, their only option was to turn back, but Jiangcheng had already been completely overrun by mutants.
Going back meant certain death.
Xia Qing furrowed her brow, a trace of unease welling up inside her. Why did this bridge suddenly collapse?
Did this happen in my past life too?
She desperately tried to recall, but her mind was a chaotic mess. A splitting headache struck her, causing her to wince in pain.
The memories from the wasteland world brought piercing agony the moment she tried to access them. It seemed her brain couldn’t yet fully endure these fragmented memories; she had to sort through them slowly.
“Brother, be very careful when we detour to Tianjin City.”
Xia Qing’s voice carried a subtle, almost imperceptible tone of warning.
Xia Ran nodded and replied, “Mn.” He paused before adding, “Captain Jin and his team are in Tianjin City too. We might run into them.”
Xia Ran and Jin Chao had always maintained a good relationship.
A realization dawned on Xia Qing. Perhaps in my past life, Jin Chao took extra care of me precisely because Xia Ran died right in front of him.
But in this life, Xia Ran has awakened an ability too. He might not necessarily die!
Xia Qing lowered her eyes. Even she was slightly surprised that she—someone who was usually so indifferent—actually cared about Xia Ran’s safety.
Perhaps it was the lingering emotions of the original host, or perhaps it was because, amidst this chaotic apocalypse, this single shred of familial bond was something she simply couldn’t ignore.
She knew all too well that in the wasteland, human warmth was paper-thin, and personal interest was the absolute, guiding principle. In times of utter destitution…
…it wasn’t uncommon to see biological parents abandon their own children, let alone strangers.
The car entered the borders of Tianjin City, a third-tier city that had long lost its former bustling prosperity.
The roads were covered in dense, spiderweb-like cracks as if chewed up by a giant beast. Corpses littered the streets, silently declaring that this place, too, had been claimed by mutants.
If a heavy downpour were to wash over these streets, the resulting sight would undoubtedly be a horrific, bloody river.
This war of survival between humanity and the mutants never held a trace of mercy—only naked cruelty.
The sky gradually darkened, and nightfall cloaked the ruined city in an extra layer of eerie danger.
Just then, Xia Ran’s eyes lit up, and he pointed ahead: “That vehicle up there—that’s the armored car belonging to Jin Chao’s team!”
“It’s dark out now. If we meet up with them, we’ll be a lot safer.”
Xia Qing furrowed her brow, sighing inwardly. What was bound to come has arrived after all.
Much like that suddenly collapsed bridge, the fated trajectory seemed impossible to avoid, no matter what.
At that moment, inside a temporary stronghold on the second floor of a building, Jin Chao stood surrounded by his four core team members.
Every single one of them was a highly formidable ability user.
Jin Chao: Mental-type ability user. Possessed immense willpower and excelled at perceiving and manipulating objects.
Qiao Sheng: Speed-type ability user.
He Li: Super-strength ability user. Standing at 1.9 meters tall, he was a massive, muscular man.
Fang Cheng: Full-body hardening. He could instantly turn his skin as hard as steel, granting exceptional defensive and offensive capabilities.
Qiao Xiao: Gravity manipulation. Capable of altering localized gravitational fields to make objects levitate or plummet rapidly.
The moment the car pulled up, Jin Chao immediately sensed it: “Someone’s here.”
As soon as Jin Chao stepped out, the speed-user Qiao Sheng was already on his way to investigate.
While Xia Ran headed upstairs to meet them, Xia Qing stared into Su Bai’s eyes, refreshing her charm imprint.
Although she still had three days before she needed to apply the next stage of the imprint, her strength had grown after absorbing another energy core. With her current capabilities, it was more than enough to reinforce it.
“Su Bai, my brother is the most important person to me. I hope you will do whatever you can to help him.”
“Can you do that for me?” A purple imprint flashed within Su Bai’s pupils.
His expression turned slightly dazed.
“I can…”
Xia Qing smiled. In Su Bai’s eyes, this smile was practically enhanced by a 100% special effect.
“M-Miss Xia, you look so beautiful when you smile…”
Xia Qing smiled faintly: “Then you should look a little longer…”
Upstairs: Seeing Xia Ran arrive was entirely within Lin Yao’s expectations. The moment she saw that collapsed bridge, she knew Xia Ran and his group had no other path to take.
They were always destined to meet here.
A faint smile hid beneath Lin Yao’s expression.
Xia Ran is fated to die right here.
After resting, her energy had recovered significantly, especially since Qiao Sheng had taught her how to increase her body’s thermal capacity.
No wonder Xia Qing managed to level up so fast in our past life—she had someone teaching her.
Meanwhile, I had to hide and sneak around with my awakened Charm ability.
Lin Yao didn’t plan on exposing Xia Qing’s ability just yet. Wouldn’t it be far more entertaining to expose her once they reached North City?
She really wanted to see exactly who Xia Qing intended to charm.
She had to admit, Xia Qing’s appearance and aura seemed to have undergone another subtle transformation…
This was simply because Xia Qing had absorbed yet another energy core, causing natural enhancements to her physical constitution.