Seeing that Ling Lan was alone, the two men went from nervous to relaxed.
“Little girl, I heard your family has food. How about sharing some with us?”
“Why should I?”
“Oh, why should you? Because people like us dealt with most of the zombies. Otherwise, how would you have been able to go outside and look for food?”
“Heh.”
Ling Lan gave a light laugh, her attitude full of contempt.
The two men exchanged a glance before walking toward Ling Lan.
In the next second, the neck of the man walking in front was slashed by an axe, and blood immediately gushed out.
The other man had never expected the young girl to actually attack them, much less slit someone’s throat without hesitation. He was so frightened that he froze in place.
“Please, please let me…”
Before he could finish speaking, Ling Lan finished him off as well.
Bang, bang, bang.
Zhang Ling and her husband thought the two men had succeeded, so they happily ran over to open the door.
As soon as the door opened, two blood covered corpses fell directly in front of the couple.
“Ahhhhhhh!”
Hearing the screams outside, followed by the howls of zombies, Ling Lan casually dusted off her hands.
She was no longer the weak and timid Ling Lan from her previous life. In the apocalypse, the strong preyed on the weak, and strength was the only truth.
She had no intention of wasting time entangling herself with these people.
Anyone who set their sights on her or her belongings had to die. Besides, killing people in the apocalypse was not against the law.
After swallowing thirty seven crystals, her spatial storage expanded again, and her body seemed to undergo another change.
Ling Lan tested her strength, but there was no noticeable difference. She then tested her running speed and was surprised to find that she was much faster than before.
While Ling Lan was excited, the couple downstairs were practically living in hell.
The zombies downstairs had smelled the blood and were constantly slamming into the main entrance. It did not take long before the door was smashed open.
Following the blood trail, the horde of zombies rushed to the second floor and began repeatedly pounding on the door of Zhang Guilan and her husband.
Hearing the screams coming from the corridor once again, Ling Lan pulled her blanket tightly around herself and went back to sleep.
The blood outside her door had already been cleaned up, and she had even sprayed a bottle of insect repellent around the area. The door of her home was firmly blocked, so the zombies could not get inside.
Early the next morning, Ling Lan ate breakfast, armed herself, and went outside to clear out the zombies from the previous night.
With her increased speed, killing zombies became easier and easier. Even when two zombies attacked her at the same time, they could not get close to her.
After dealing with the zombies, she hurried downstairs and used whatever movable objects she could find to block the main entrance.
Since this building now only had their family left, she planned to use the climbing equipment in her spatial storage to climb down from the building in the future.
At nine o’clock that evening, Ling Lan took out a climbing rope and climbed down from the fourth floor.
To avoid disturbing the survivors nearby, she carefully took a small path toward the shopping plaza.
It took about twenty minutes to walk there from the small path. When she reached a point about one hundred meters from the shopping plaza, she stopped.
There were so many zombies in the plaza that it was frightening. No matter how capable she was, there was no way she could deal with so many zombies alone.
Ling Lan thought about it and decided not to take the risk. Just as she was preparing to return home, a deafening rumble suddenly sounded.
Immediately afterward, she heard the sound of machine gun fire, just like something from a television drama.
Several military tanks had actually appeared in the plaza and were firing at the zombies.
At this stage, the zombies had no intelligence. They could not dodge or fight back. As long as they heard a sound or caught the scent of a human, they would rush forward.
One zombie after another fell to the ground. Ling Lan watched with great satisfaction, but remembering the purpose of her trip, she still took a detour and entered the shopping center.
The commotion outside had attracted the zombies’ attention, making the inside much safer.
After dealing with a few scattered zombies, Ling Lan quickly made her way to the supermarket on the basement level.
Because the supermarket had lost power, the meat and frozen food in the freezers had already spoiled. Ling Lan stuffed cookies, chocolate, instant noodles, powdered milk, and other supplies into her spatial storage. She also stocked up on several boxes of fruit before taking some daily necessities.
A beam of light suddenly shone inside.
Ling Lan quickly crouched down and heard footsteps coming from upstairs.
There were quite a few people.
She hurriedly stuffed some more things into her spatial storage, then left the supermarket and slipped into a nearby jewelry store whose door was still open. She hid there while observing the situation around her.
Inside the supermarket, a group of fully armed soldiers were methodically loading food into carts.
A man wearing sunglasses stood at the entrance with several people, keeping watch.
“Li Hao, the supplies we collected this time should be enough to keep the base running for a while.”
The man with sunglasses secured his gun, casually lit a cigarette, and remained silent for a long time before speaking.
“There are more and more people at the base, so the demand for supplies is getting greater too.”
After an unknown amount of time, the group finally left the supermarket and began searching the nearby shops.
Ling Lan felt nervous for a moment, but fortunately, she had hidden inside a jewelry store, and no one came in to search it.
The rumbling sound of engines came from outside. Ling Lan immediately ran out and saw the tanks leaving.
A huge group of zombies followed the tanks, completely ignoring the survivors who were scattered around the plaza.
Ling Lan’s eyes lit up. She quickly dug crystals out of the zombies’ heads.
It seemed the military still did not know about the use of crystals, although they probably would soon.
In her previous life, the military was the first to discover the function of crystals. By the time ordinary survivors learned about them, the zombies had already evolved, making it much more difficult to obtain crystals.
This trip has been incredibly rewarding. Not only had she collected a large amount of supplies, she had also obtained more than two hundred crystals.
After returning from this trip, Ling Lan obediently stayed at home and did not go anywhere.
Inside Wanfule Supermarket, Ji Xu and the Fat Man were holding a crystal and examining it.
That night, when they had gone out to search for supplies, they had encountered Ling Lan rummaging through corpses. After observing her for a while, they discovered that the little boy had taken a crystal from the back of a zombie’s head and put it into his pocket.
They had also endured their disgust and dug out a crystal. However, they would never have guessed that the crystal could be eaten. No normal person would think that something taken from the sticky, disgusting brain of a zombie could possibly be edible.
“Ji Xu, let me tell you something. The last time I saw that little boy using a Tang Dao to chop zombies, he was unbelievably ruthless. I bet his family was killed by zombies, so he developed a deep hatred for those things.
Then he became psychologically twisted and started digging these things out as trophies.”
The Fat Man really did have a vivid imagination, probably because he loved reading detective and mystery novels.
“You are right.”
Ji Xu also felt that this was the only possible explanation, so he casually threw the crystal aside and disgustedly washed his hands.
For a long time afterward, whenever Ji Xu thought about this incident, he wanted to beat the Fat Man up and curse himself for being so stupid.
Three days later, the survivors, including Ling Lan and the others, finally received rescue from the East District Base.
In her previous life, S City had two large bases, one in the western district and one in the eastern district.
The bases were controlled by the military, and every day they sent teams out to rescue survivors and collect supplies.
Later, when the zombies underwent their second evolution and ability users appeared, the bases began to split apart. They started recruiting ability users to increase their strength.
The East District Base was a large mechanical equipment processing factory. There were ten employee buildings inside, and they could accommodate a large number of people.
In her previous life, Ling Lan had stayed in the East District, but not long afterward, she encountered a zombie horde while carrying out a mission.
When the survivors saw the military arriving, they felt as though they had seen Buddha himself and immediately shouted for help.
Many people in the apartment complex desperately rushed out of their homes, dragging their families along as they followed the soldiers.
Ling Lan had already started packing up the things in her home. She asked Grandma Tian to carry her younger brother downstairs while she gathered their belongings.
Fortunately, there was not too much food left at home. She took a large bag and put some food and drinks inside her spatial storage while leaving enough visible so that no one would become suspicious.
Only Ling Lan knew about her spatial storage. Grandma Tian would not tell her about it unless absolutely necessary.
Inside the large military truck, Ling Lan saw the two people she had encountered at the fresh food store that day. It seemed that the people from Happiness Supermarket were also going to the base.
The two clearly recognized her as well, but the way they looked at her was strange, with a hint of suspicion in their eyes.
Once the truck was full, it drove toward the base. Along the way, the howls of zombies and the sounds of gunfire could be heard constantly.
Perhaps the survivors had been frightened by the zombies during this period, because no one in the truck spoke.
Ling Lan sat in the corner hugging her backpack, while Grandma Tian held Ling Yun in her arms. The two of them looked weak and vulnerable.
After arriving at the base, each person received a packet of compressed biscuits and a bottle of mineral water.
Ling Lan remembered that when she had entered the base in her previous life, each person had only received two biscuits, and several hundred people had been forced to live together in a warehouse.
This time was the same. Their group was assigned to live in a warehouse.
Carrying her spatial storage around made things extremely inconvenient, so she walked over to the administrator in charge of assigning rooms.
“Hello, sir. Could you arrange a small private room for me and my family?”
The man held a string of keys in his hand. He glanced at the siblings and impatiently told them that if they wanted to live there, they should just live there. Otherwise, they could leave.
However, less than a minute later, Ling Lan and her younger brother had moved into the dormitory building.
The price was two packs of Huanghelou cigarettes and a bottle of cola.
They were assigned to Dormitory 2, Room 607, where they could live alone.
There were two bunk beds in the dormitory. Ling Lan and Grandma Tian pushed the two beds together and then spread out the blankets they had brought from home.
“Grandma Tian, clean up the room first. I will go see if I can find an extra bed and bring one back.”
After leaving the room, Ling Lan saw Ji Xu and the Fat Man moving into the rooms next door and the room beside that one.
It seemed that the things they had taken from the supermarket had been used to bribe the dormitory administrator.
Ji Xu and the Fat Man did not greet Ling Lan. They still felt uncomfortable about the fact that she had been digging around inside zombie heads.
Ling Lan naturally had no idea what the two men were thinking. After walking around outside for a while, she took a simple bed out of her spatial storage and carried it back into the room.
Grandma Tian had already finished cleaning. The room was not large, but it was warm and tidy.
Ling Lan placed the folding bed near the door and pretended to take a sleeping bag out of her backpack before spreading it over the bed.
Seeing Xiao Yun lying obediently in front of the rabbit cage while holding his puppy toy, Ling Lan reached out and rubbed his head.
“Grandma Tian, we will stay here for the time being. You take care of Xiao Yun, and I will find food. We will divide the work between us.”
“Alright. I will listen to Xiao Lan.”
Ling Lan liked Grandma Tian’s personality. She listened to advice, followed arrangements, and did not ask unnecessary questions. She was a very suitable companion and elder.
Ling Lan opened the window. That night, she took out a meat patty and some milk for Ling Yun. She and Grandma Tian ate the biscuits provided by the base, and each of them also ate an apple.
She tried to give the little one as much of the food from her spatial storage as possible, while finding other ways to satisfy her own needs and Grandma Tian’s.
After eating, Ling Lan firmly blocked the door. Grandma Tian took Xiao Yun to bed, and they slept peacefully.
They had not been able to sleep properly for several days. Now that they were in the base, they could finally rest without worry and slept all the way until the next morning.
The base was not forcing ordinary civilians to carry out missions yet, but that might not remain the case for long.
There were also children in the base. Ling Lan let her younger brother play with several children his age. He could not stay cooped up in the room all the time.
“Xiao Bao, slow down!”
A sharp voice suddenly rang out.
Ling Lan turned around and saw an elderly woman who looked to be around sixty years old.
The boy called Xiao Bao was not even two years old. He was still stumbling as he walked.
The little boy joined the other children, and before long, one of the children started crying.
Ling Lan had been lost in thought, but when she heard the crying, she immediately looked over.
Sure enough, her younger brother was crying too.
Ling Lan quickly picked him up and carefully checked whether he was injured.
“Xiao Yun, tell your sister. Does it hurt anywhere?”
Xiao Yun rubbed his eyes hard and cried that there was sand in them.
Ling Lan quickly grabbed her younger brother’s hands. With her other hand, she took out a bottle of mineral water from inside her clothes and washed his eyes.
After a while, Ling Yun could finally open his eyes. They were red and swollen, making him look pitiful.
The parents of the other crying children took them away to wash their eyes, leaving only Ling Lan and Ling Yun, along with the troublesome child.
Since the other child was not even two years old, Ling Lan did not feel comfortable holding him responsible. She simply wanted to take her younger brother and leave.
“Do not leave!”
The old woman actually called out to Ling Lan.
“Is there something you need?”
“Your child made my baby cry. Should you not apologize?”
What the hell! This old monster was acting like a rabid dog that had bitten someone first, yet she was accusing others of wrongdoing.
“Madam, look at my brother’s eyes. They are already swollen. Now look at your precious grandson. He is perfectly fine. How can you accuse us of being at fault first?”
“Hey, you little girl, what do you mean I am accusing you first? I clearly saw your child hit my Xiao Bao. Today, if you do not compensate me, I will not let this go.”
The old woman rolled up her sleeves, looking as though she was ready to fight.
Ling Lan was so angry that she almost laughed.
If the other woman had not been elderly, Ling Lan really might have kicked her.
She was about to say something when a familiar voice suddenly sounded.
“Mom, what happened to the baby? Who bullied my baby?”
Ling Lan immediately understood.
This troublesome child was the son of Xu Lifen and her later husband, Zhang Tianming. He was Ling Lan’s younger half brother.
Xu Lifen also noticed Ling Lan and Ling Yun the next second. She was astonished that the two children were still alive, but that astonishment immediately turned into panic. Her eyes even began to avoid theirs.
Looking at Xu Lifen’s uneasy expression, Ling Lan found the whole thing ironic and could not be bothered to pay attention to her.
This biological mother of hers truly did not care whether the siblings lived or died.
Ling Yun was not familiar with Xu Lifen at all. He had no idea that his biological mother was standing nearby and simply hugged his sister tightly.
“Lifen, you came at just the right time. This family bullied my Xiao Bao. Help me teach her a lesson.”
Xu Lifen did not dare say anything. She was afraid that Ling Lan would expose their relationship. After all, this daughter of hers was no longer the same as before, and who knew whether she might do something reckless.
Unexpectedly, Ling Lan simply carried her younger brother and walked away, completely ignoring her mother.
“Do not leave! You are not allowed to leave!”
“Mom, quickly check whether Xiao Bao has a fever.”
As soon as she heard that her precious grandson might be sick, Grandma Zhang immediately picked up her grandson and fussed over him anxiously.
She no longer cared about Ling Lan and Ling Yun, who had already walked away.
Ling Lan had no expectations or unnecessary feelings toward this woman.
However, when she saw the girl standing not far away, a complicated look appeared in her eyes.
This girl was none other than Xu Lifen’s stepdaughter, Zhang Jing.
Ling Lan knew Zhang Jing’s identity because Zhang Jing had gone to her school to confront her during her third year of high school.
She had cursed Xu Lifen for being a mistress and a homewrecker who had seduced her father and destroyed her family.
When Zhang Jing saw the siblings walking toward her, she sneered and then walked toward Xu Lifen and the others.
In her previous life, Zhang Jing awakened a fire ability during the second evolution and became highly sought after within the base.
Her boyfriend was the son of the person in charge of the base. Combined with this connection and her constantly evolving ability, she became a powerful figure in the base and gradually transformed into someone Ling Lan could only look up to.
Because of Xu Lifen, Zhang Jing hated Ling Lan, and the people in the base also treated Ling Lan with hostility. Ling Lan had suffered quite a lot because of this.
But that would never happen again in this life.
She would work hard to become strong in the apocalypse and would never allow anyone to bully her again.
After they moved in, gunfire continued to ring out from outside the base.
The presence of living humans would attract zombies.
Even a base that looked completely safe still had dangerous factors.
Ling Lan did not care what was happening outside. She would deal with missions after the second evolution.
For now, she simply needed to rest properly and allow her body to slowly absorb the crystals so she could become stronger.
Half a month later, during the night, the sky once again displayed the phenomenon of daylight.