It had been thirty-two days since Su Su left the Shangzhou Restricted Zone.
Shangzhou was a long way from Dongshan Base. Fortunately, Su Su had learned how to drive before, so the journey went fairly smoothly.
Xie Anzhou had taught her many things. Although she did not understand much about the ways of the world, what he had taught her was enough for her to survive alone in an environment like the Apocalypse.
Driving an off-road vehicle she had no idea which 4S dealership she had found, Su Su seemed quite happy. Even her little canine teeth were showing.
She was getting closer and closer to Dongshan Base!
Perhaps sensing her emotional fluctuations, the black liquid threads quietly emerged.
They draped themselves over the back of the seat behind Su Su, swaying gently from side to side.
They should have looked dangerous and frightening, yet at this moment, the black liquid threads somehow looked rather cute.
The passenger seat was piled with the candies Su Su had scavenged from supermarkets and other places along the way.
Xie Anzhou liked sweet things…
“Mo… monster! Help! Help!”
Su Su had just gotten off the highway when she heard cries for help.
Although the source of the disturbance was still more than a thousand meters away, her senses were far beyond those of an ordinary person, allowing Su Su to quickly detect the danger.
“Back up! Everyone, back up!”
Before she even saw anyone, a familiar voice reached her ears.
Su Su stopped the car. Her gaze passed through the chaotic crowd and landed on the enormous mutant brown bear, as well as the familiar figure standing in front of it.
It was Xie Anzhou!
The very man who, despite already being seriously injured, had shielded her beneath his body without hesitation when the explosion occurred.
Even before his death, he had still been worried about her. He had wondered whether she would be bullied in the future if there was no one to protect her.
Even his final words had been:
“Su Su, I love you… Go!”
But how could she leave? How could she bear to abandon him and walk away alone?
Xie Anzhou had taught her so many things. Unfortunately, it was not until the very last moment that Su Su had vaguely understood her feelings for him.
It was something called love.
So she had died with him in the aftermath of that explosion.
Su Su pulled herself back from her drifting thoughts. It was as though the smell of explosives and burning smoke still lingered around the tip of her nose.
She charged toward the brown bear without the slightest hesitation.
Perhaps because of its mutation, the brown bear was the size of a small truck. Its eyes were blood-red, and its fangs were razor-sharp.
Its thick, dark brown fur was stained with sticky black blood.
“Roar! Roar! Roar!”
The brown bear had apparently devoured some other mutant creature. A long tongue covered in black spikes and green slime extended from its mouth.
Su Su swiftly moved behind the brown bear, dodging the attack of its tongue, which stretched several meters.
She moved so quickly that even an afterimage could not be captured.
With strength far beyond that of an ordinary person, Su Su grabbed and shoved the brown bear with her bare hands, sending it flying several meters away.
“Boom!”
The brown bear slammed into a thick tree trunk.
The enormous impact snapped the entire tree in half.
Taking advantage of the brown bear being thrown to the ground, Su Su seized the opportunity and stepped forward, ripping its arm off with her bare hands.
The brutal action made the military personnel watching from a distance instinctively feel a phantom pain in their shoulders.
“She’s… she’s amazing! That’s… that’s way too strong!”
Su Su paid no attention to the exclamations coming from nearby.
She casually tossed the brown bear’s arm aside.
Just as she was about to attack again, a sharp blade of wind suddenly swept past her ear and struck the brown bear as it tried to get back up.
It was Xie Anzhou’s ability, but Su Su had no time to look for him.
She charged forward again, casually picking up a battered iron rod from the ground and driving it straight into the fallen brown bear’s head.
Blood sprayed out, splattering across the side of Su Su’s face.
Looking at the completely motionless brown bear, Su Su muttered,
“So dirty.”
Her hands were covered in blood. It would have been much better if she could use her liquid threads, but that would expose her identity as an Otherworlder, so she could not use them.
The brown bear was completely dead.
Su Su hurriedly turned around, searching for that familiar figure.
“…Xie Anzhou.”
She whispered his name softly, her gaze fixed on Xie Anzhou without moving even an inch.
The man’s sword-shaped brows were as dark as ink. Beneath them, his silver-gray eyes resembled cold stars shimmering in the night.
With just a light glance, it seemed as though he could see straight through a person’s heart, leaving nowhere to hide.
He was tall and upright, with broad shoulders and a narrow waist. His muscles were sleek, firm, and well-defined.
His slender, distinct fingers rested lightly on the long sword at his waist, the veins on the back of his hand faintly visible.
His long, lean legs were wrapped in dark green military trousers.
His military boots struck the ground with each step as he walked toward her, radiating an overwhelming sense of pressure.
“Thank you for your help.”
Seeing his face again and hearing his voice, Su Su felt as though a heavy stone had finally dropped from her heart.
She was finally at peace.
Her eardrums seemed to be repeatedly contracting and expanding.
She looked at him, and everything around her seemed to come to a complete standstill.
Xie Anzhou waved his hand, and a man around the same age as him, with a refined and gentle appearance, walked over.
“Boss.”
The man first nodded at Xie Anzhou before handing a temporary pass to Su Su.
“My name is Ji Xiao. Thank you for your help just now.”
Ji Xiao paused briefly, then put on a polite smile.
“This is a temporary pass for Dongshan Base. If you’re heading to Dongshan Base, things will go more smoothly with this.”
Although he explained it that way, most of the people traveling along this road were heading to Dongshan Base anyway.
Su Su accepted the thin piece of paper from Ji Xiao.
The Apocalypse had been underway for less than a year, and Dongshan Base had only recently been established.
On her way here, Su Su had heard that military personnel would issue temporary passes to people they encountered.
With this pass, she would not be repeatedly questioned by the security personnel when entering the base, making things much more convenient.
“Thank you.”
Su Su thanked Ji Xiao.
Ji Xiao nodded lightly and said nothing more.
Su Su turned around, intending to speak to Xie Anzhou, but the man had already turned and walked away.
She wanted to call him back, but the words seemed to get stuck in her throat.
The current Xie Anzhou did not know her yet.
This realization made Su Su somewhat unhappy.
Seeing Su Su staring at Xie Anzhou’s back, Ji Xiao sighed inwardly.
What a pity…
His boss had a face that could make everyone fall for him, yet he was as cold as an iceberg and completely unmoved.
Not far away, two “suspicious” figures waved at Ji Xiao.
After nodding to Su Su, Ji Xiao walked toward them.
Before he could even reach them, an excited young man grabbed him and nearly made him stumble.
“What is her name? Is she a physical evolution ability user? Those moves just now were incredible!”
Yu Zhan spoke like a machine gun, firing off one sentence after another. His somewhat childish face looked incredibly spirited.
Ji Xiao’s head began to ache from listening to him, so he simply reached out and manually shut Yu Zhan up.
Meanwhile, Tang Ling, who was standing beside Yu Zhan, stared in Su Su’s direction and was completely stunned.
The girl standing in the distance seemed as though every inch and every detail of her had been carefully sculpted by God.
Her long hair fell down her back, as black and soft as seaweed.
Her palm-sized face had exquisite features. She was dazzlingly beautiful, yet her pure and innocent appearance blended into it without the slightest sense of contradiction.
Her skin was as smooth as jade. Beneath her long, curled lashes were a pair of black eyes filled with countless stars.
Her nose was smooth and elegantly upturned, while her full lips resembled rose petals adorned with dewdrops in the morning.
Tang Ling had never seen anyone so beautiful.
She was so beautiful that she seemed almost too extraordinary to belong to the mortal world.
“She’s so beautiful.”
Tang Ling could not help muttering.
Although she was a woman herself, that did not stop her from appreciating beautiful people.
“…Tang Ling…”
Ji Xiao stepped in front of Tang Ling with some displeasure.
Tang Ling had short hair that reached her shoulders. Dressed in a sharp military uniform, she looked exceptionally capable.
As someone who had always been a member of the looks association, Tang Ling thought Su Su was practically a妖精 with the ability to cast enchantments.
Her view was blocked, and a trace of displeasure appeared on Tang Ling’s face.
She was just about to tell Ji Xiao to move and stop blocking her view.
Unfortunately, Xie Anzhou had already begun assembling the team and preparing to leave.
Tang Ling shook her head in disappointment.
She looked toward Su Su, then at the military convoy that was already preparing to depart behind her.
What a pity. There was no time to talk to the beautiful girl.
Seeing Tang Ling grab Yu Zhan by the back of his collar and head toward the military vehicles, Ji Xiao inexplicably breathed a sigh of relief.
It wasn’t as though he was ugly either…