Lin Yao only panicked for a few minutes. After all, she was the one who possessed the spatial storage ability now.
Sitting in the front passenger seat, Xia Qing had a piece of candy tucked in her cheek.
A sweet flavor filled her mouth.
It had been a very long time since she last tasted such delicious food.
In her world, any available food was contaminated with radiation or tasted bitter and sour…
After struggling hard through her past life and finally reaching a point where she could enjoy some comfort, she had somehow been thrown right back here.
The previously peaceful road suddenly dissolved into chaos ahead…
What was happening further back remained unclear.
Traffic had completely ground to a halt.
Car horns blared incessantly…
Swoosh, crash…
Before long, a pale-skinned mutant lunged onto the roof of the car ahead, violently rocking the vehicle back and forth…
Its claws tore straight into the metal body, producing a harsh, grating screech.
Cries of agony and desperate pleas for rescue echoed one after another…
Bang, bang…
Soldiers fired their guns in a desperate bid to fend off the mutants, but the creatures possessed terrifying agility…
Splat…
Blood sprayed. The first casualties were the brave soldiers who had stepped forward to protect the civilians…
Their brains were gouged out by the mutants to be feasted upon, turning the entire scene hideously gruesome.
Xia Ran’s expression turned grim instantly: “This is bad. Mutants have appeared.”
“U-turn.”
Xia Ran executed a decisive U-turn, and Jin Chao’s team followed suit right behind them.
Inside Lin Yao’s vehicle, Qiao Sheng frowned and asked, “Captain Jin, there are far too many mutants up ahead. What should we do now?”
Their mission today wasn’t simply to follow the main convoy back to North City; they were detouring midway to Tianjin City to retrieve a batch of specialized antiviral medications.
An outbreak had struck North City, and those specific medications were the key to saving lives.
Jin Chao said in a cold tone: “Our primary objective is the medication. Make sure Lin Yao is protected at all costs.”
With Lin Yao possessing spatial ability, she was the ideal candidate to carry the entire batch of medical supplies out safely.
Xia Ran had truly delivered a valuable asset to them this time.
“Aah…!”
The little boy shrieked in absolute terror, a sound chilling enough to make one’s scalp crawl.
Xia Qing snapped coldly, “Shut your mouth. Do you want to draw every mutant in the area right over here?”
“If you bring them here, you’ll be feeding your own head to them first.”
Trembling violently with fright, the little boy quieted down, while the couple looked paralyzed with terror.
The man stammered nervously, “H-Hurry, let’s turn around.”
Xia Qing stated, “I’m afraid it’s already too late.”
Bang!
A heavy impact rattled the roof of their own vehicle.
Screeeech…
It was the harsh, piercing sound of claws scraping against the car’s exterior paint, an agonizing noise to listen to.
The next second, a pale, skeleton-like hand punched directly through the front passenger window.
The glass shattered into a million jagged shards.
“Get out, now!”
Staying trapped inside the car was no longer safe.
Xia Qing immediately flung open her door and stepped out, coming face-to-face with a mutant roughly her own height.
Its physique closely resembled a human’s, but its features bore a grotesque, alien look.
Drip, drip…
Foul-smelling pus oozed from its body, splattering onto the ground.
Though the sickening stench washed over her, Xia Qing was already thoroughly accustomed to it.
She had replenished her caloric reserves back inside the vehicle, and a piece of candy was still tucked in her cheek.
In a flash, Xia Qing’s dark pupils shifted to a brilliant purple…
Vibrant purple light flickered, casting its imprint deep into the mutant’s pupils.
Mutate for me, pink energy core.
Barely a few seconds passed before Xia Qing confirmed the charm had successfully taken hold…
Without the slightest hesitation, she drove her dagger straight into its skull, piercing the brain completely.
Reaching inside, she groped around and pulled out the energy core. Although coated in disgusting green mucus, a quick wipe would clean it right up.
This was prime material for leveling up; she immediately shoved it into her pocket.
Turning around, she assisted Xia Ran in handling the remaining mutants.
Su Bai also emerged from the car, and the three of them cooperated with surprising tacit coordination.
After all, these were only entry-level mutants.
“Aah…”
Huddling together in the back seat of the car, the couple clutched each other and their child, offering nothing more than hysterical shrieks.
Perhaps that was the only normal reaction expected from ordinary people.
Up ahead, Jin Chao and his team of ability users swiftly cleared away the mutants climbing onto their armored vehicle. Thanks to their superior combat skills and Jin Chao’s direct assistance, the threat was neutralized in no time.
Otherwise, the three of them wouldn’t have resolved the situation so quickly.
Crouching inside the vehicle, Lin Yao instinctively didn’t dare step outside.
Even though she had witnessed mutants in her past life, sheer terror still gripped her, and she only ventured out once every single mutant outside had been wiped out.
She wanted a white energy core.
Only with a white core could she upgrade her spatial storage.
Among these few mutants, only two possessed internal energy cores—one of which Xia Qing had altered into her own matching attribute.
The remaining one was a blue energy core.
“Brother, you’re hurt. Hurry up and swallow this energy core.”
Xia Qing wiped the blue energy core clean and handed it directly to Xia Ran.
“Daddy!”
“Honey…!”
In the back seat of the civilian car, the man’s neck had been slashed open by a mutant, leaving blood pooling across the upholstery…
His wife and child clung to him in despair.
“Aren’t you police officers? I’m begging you, save him!”
“Police officer, please save my daddy!”
Hesitation flickered across Xia Ran’s face.
Realizing what he was thinking, Xia Qing didn’t even bother wiping the core further before forcefully feeding it into Xia Ran’s mouth.
Before Xia Ran even fully processed what was happening, his body had already absorbed the core.
“Even if he swallows an energy core, his throat wound is far too deep; there’s no guarantee he can be saved.”
“Brother, you were infected and injured too, and right now there isn’t a second spare energy core.”
In truth, she did have one, but it was tied to her pink charm skill, and she had no intention of mentioning it.
Some lies were worth keeping alive in the apocalypse.
Xia Ran still felt a pang of lingering sympathy.
Xia Qing frowned slightly. This older brother of hers simply had too soft a heart, or to put it more accurately, an ingrained sense of duty…
After all, having spent years through police academy training, those institutional regulations had long been deeply etched into his mind.
But this was the apocalypse now.
No one was going to hand out medals, cash bonuses, promotions, television appearances, or honorary badges anymore.
The only reality that mattered right now was survival.
Sometimes, if you died trying to save someone, they wouldn’t even feel grateful, and not a single soul would remember your sacrifice.
Gripping her dagger, Xia Qing stared at the man collapsed in a pool of blood: “Su Bai, we need to deal with this person, right? Otherwise, he’s going to turn into one of the infected very soon.”
Anyone bitten by a mutant who failed to consume an energy core and evolve would inevitably turn into one of the infected.
A ticking time bomb of danger.
Since Su Bai was still under the influence of Xia Qing’s charm effect, he subconsciously acted in accordance with her will.
“No, no! You’re supposed to be police officers! Instead of saving people, you want to murder them?”
“I’m going to report you! I’ll expose what you’re doing!”
The woman shrieked hysterically, pointing accusingly at them.
Xia Ran felt a heavy wave of guilt wash over him.
“I’m sorry, we did everything we could.”
Pointing a trembling finger at Xia Ran, the woman screamed viciously, “Don’t think I didn’t see it earlier! You only sustained a minor scratch on your arm, yet she gave that energy core to you!”
“If you had given it to my husband, he wouldn’t have died!”
Xia Ran lowered his head in silence.
Xia Qing said in an icy tone, “First of all, you didn’t kill that mutant! Second, anyone wounded by a mutant will inevitably mutate.”
“Your husband’s injuries are far too severe; he wouldn’t even have been able to swallow an energy core.”
To become an awakened ability user, one had to survive a mutant’s attack and successfully ingest the core from its brain.
“And third, go ahead and report us or file a complaint if you wish.”
If Xia Ran hadn’t stepped in to block that attack earlier, this woman and her child would have been mauled and infected as well.
Yet here she stood, hurling accusations.
“Move out, quickly.”
As the woman wept hysterically, she slowly seemed to regain a shred of composure…
Up ahead, Jin Chao’s special squad had also swiftly cleared out a cluster of mutants. Backed by their enhanced speed and Jin Chao’s personal intervention, the fight concluded rapidly.
Standing nearby, Jin Chao watched the young girl named Xia Qing, her hands stained with dark fluid, her gaze sharp and piercing.
He murmured, “Your younger sister… she’s quite interesting.”