The Glasses Guy trembled violently, lifting his head in fear to look at the girl inside the hole—like a blood-soaked asura.
“I… I do…” His voice shook, thick with the desperate will to survive.
“Name.” Su Qianqian was concise.
“Chen… Chen Mo…” the Glasses Guy answered instinctively.
“Chen Mo,” Su Qianqian repeated, her gaze icy. “Now answer my questions. What’s with the map? What do you mean by ‘Source Essence,’ ‘Ability User,’ and ‘Adapted Host’?”
“And ‘Black Tiger Gang’? ‘Shelter’? Tell me everything useful you know—every single detail.”
She paused, her tone turning threatening. “This is your only chance to live. If you lie or hide anything…”
Her gaze swept over Brother Qiang, who was still writhing and howling on the ground. The meaning was obvious.
Chen Mo shuddered at the sight. Fear completely crushed any other thoughts.
He swallowed. The icy air scraped painfully against his throat as he began speaking rapidly, afraid that even a second’s delay would doom him to the same fate as Brother Qiang:
“The map… after the ‘Source Essence’ radiation outbreak… all phones that had connected to certain server nodes… automatically loaded it…
It’s like some kind of global positioning and status monitoring system… it shows nearby survivors (marked as Players), Zombies (skull icons), special resource points (like that first aid kit)… and… area alerts…”
“‘Source Essence’… no one knows exactly what it is… before the hospital explosion… there were rumors it was a military experiment… some kind of higher-dimensional energy…
Or an alien virus… that leaked… it caused the zombie outbreak… and also activated certain people’s genes… allowing some to gain special abilities… those are Ability Users…”
“Ability Users… are rare… but very powerful… like… the one frozen inside… that’s a ‘Source Essence Adapted Host’… someone with extremely high affinity for Source Essence energy… huge potential… every faction wants them… as a resource… or a weapon…”
At this point, Chen Mo cast a fearful glance toward the massive ice-blue crystal deep in the cold storage.
“‘Black Tiger Gang’… was something Brother Qiang threw together… a bunch of thugs and a few supermarket security guards… they took over part of the warehouse… about a dozen people… but they’re all just rabble…
Brother Qiang’s the leader… he… he awakened some strength enhancement… but it’s weak… just a bit stronger than normal…” Chen Mo’s tone carried a hint of disdain.
“As for the shelter… there are rumors… north of Jiang City… near the mountains… there’s a military evacuation point… they built a temporary shelter called ‘Rock Fortress’…
There are soldiers… supplies… and Ability Users guarding it… it’s the safest place right now… but… the route there… is blocked by zombies and… other factions… extremely dangerous…”
Chen Mo poured everything out like beans from a bamboo tube. After finishing, he looked nervously at Su Qianqian, waiting for her “verdict.”
Su Qianqian silently processed the information, waves crashing through her mind.
A global positioning system?
Ability Users?
Source Essence Adapted Hosts?
A military shelter?
Rock Fortress?
A far larger and far more brutal apocalyptic picture unfolded before her.
She glanced at the cracked screen of her spare phone. On the map, the location labeled “Rock Fortress” flickered faintly in the distant northern outskirts of Jiang City—a green shield icon representing a safe zone.
But the path leading there was covered with vast areas marked in crimson for extreme danger, along with yellow exclamation marks indicating other player factions.
Hope… lay far away.
And the road toward it was filled with thorns and wolves.
She looked at Chen Mo again, her mental perception sweeping over his emotions.
Fear still dominated—but that earlier desire to break free and survive had become clearer, even tinged with a faint… eagerness to please.
Su Qianqian made her decision.
She put away her notebook and straightened herself with the support of the spiked club. Though still weak, her gaze carried a calm sense of control.
“Chen Mo,” she said clearly and coldly, “if you want to live, you have two choices.”
Chen Mo held his breath nervously.
“First,” she pointed the club toward the ground where Brother Qiang lay wailing and the chef sat collapsed, “you stay here with them and fend for yourselves.”
Chen Mo’s face turned deathly pale as he shook his head frantically.
“Second,” Su Qianqian’s gaze sharpened like a blade, piercing through the opening and locking onto Chen Mo’s eyes.
“You come with me. Be my guide and informant. Scout the way, interpret the map, provide intelligence. Use your brain in exchange for your life.”
She paused, her tone turning chillingly absolute. “Remember, this is a one-way contract. Loyalty—or death. If you show any ulterior motives…”
She didn’t finish, but the killing intent in her voice was tangible.
Chen Mo didn’t hesitate for even a second. He had long grown sick of living like a dog under Brother Qiang!
The terrifying mental power and ruthless decisiveness this seemingly battered girl had shown gave him a far greater hope of survival.
“I choose the second! I choose the second!”
He practically shouted, scrambling to his feet and bowing deeply toward Su Qianqian with near-servile eagerness.
“Boss! From now on, I, Chen Mo, will follow you! If you tell me to go east, I won’t go west! I know the map! I know Jiang City! I’m very useful!”
Su Qianqian looked at his display of loyalty. Through her mental perception, she sensed his strong will to survive and a faint sense of relief at breaking free from Brother Qiang’s control. For now, she detected no obvious malice.
She gave a slight nod, her face expressionless.
“Good. Now prove your value.”
She pointed at the opening. “Find a way to widen that hole. Make a passage big enough for us to get out. And remember—no tricks.”
“Yes, Boss!” Chen Mo responded as if receiving a royal decree and immediately sprang into action.
He picked up the fire axe the chef had dropped and ordered the still-shaken man to fetch other tools—like metal rods from the shelves. Carefully, he began clearing and widening the opening.
Leaning against the cold rack, Su Qianqian watched Chen Mo at work. Then she lowered her gaze to the heavy spiked club in her hand.
Finally, her eyes settled on the massive ice-blue crystal deep within the cold storage, where Lin Chen remained sealed.
Inside the crystal, the tug-of-war between the ice-blue storm and the black threads seemed to have fallen into a strange stalemate due to the recent chaos.
But Su Qianqian could still “feel” it—
Those black threads were still stubbornly, slowly taking root… spreading…
Top jungler… just hold on a little longer.
Your Cai Wenji… had found a way.