Something wasn’t right.
Bai Zhuo frowned.
If it was just about killing ability users, hadn’t she schemed a few to their deaths before? Those few in Yun City, for instance.
【It’s different, host. The system has its own criteria for judging.】
Bai Zhuo couldn’t help rolling her eyes again. How was this any different from “the merchant reserves the right of final interpretation”?
The system played dead. Bai Zhuo gave a light snort and stopped dwelling on it.
She glanced toward the kitchen. Xue Yanhen stood there with her back to her, cooking noodles over the leftover canned gas, not paying any attention to Bai Zhuo’s side.
Bai Zhuo dug the last drum of gasoline out of her system inventory, poured it into the small generator, and stuffed the empty drum back, the whole thing done in one smooth motion.
Cooking her noodles, Xue Yanhen sniffed the air but didn’t turn around, staying focused on the instant noodles in front of her.
Under this unspoken, tacit understanding, Bai Zhuo tried starting the generator.
Xue Yanhen expected to hear Bai Zhuo’s excited voice any second, but after listening for a good while, there was still only the sound of the generator. She turned to look, puzzled.
Bai Zhuo sat there with an odd expression, holding the radio, and, on closer inspection, looking a bit embarrassed.
“What’s wrong?”
“Uh… the radio runs on batteries.”
Xue Yanhen fell silent too. Radios had long since vanished from their lives, even if they’d used and listened to one as children, those memories had long gone hazy.
“So what do we do?”
Bai Zhuo shut off the generator and rubbed her nose. “Well, at least the generator works. As for batteries, we’ll go take a look outside tomorrow.”
“Okay.”
After eating, Xue Yanhen went to deal with the dishes, giving Bai Zhuo the time and space to stow her things away.
But Bai Zhuo didn’t move. She toyed with the small crystal in her hand and gave the system a mental poke.
【Can this crystal be used to level up the system?】
【It cannot, host. If you wish to level up the system, please complete more missions.】
Bai Zhuo flopped over backward and heaved a long sigh. As if missions were so easy to complete.
The first month after she’d gotten the system, the missions had only been things like going out to scavenge for supplies, or opening a certain number of loot boxes.
Now look at it. Helping Gu Zhun complete his mission was one thing, that data had come from the system. But killing high-tier zombies and ability users? Was that still a mission an ordinary human like her could actually accomplish?
【Host, please don’t sell yourself short.】
Bai Zhuo sighed again. 【Can you awaken an ability in me?】
The system played dead again.
【Forget it. Just open the boxes.】
【Yes, host.】
A pale-blue, semi-transparent light screen surfaced before Bai Zhuo, and a row of ten boxes opened one after another.
She reached up and tapped through them. Aside from the usual purified water and food, she saw a pure-white card.
Universal Keycard , can unlock most present-day door locks and access-control devices without obstruction.
It looked so useful, and yet she couldn’t think of where she’d actually use it.
Bai Zhuo clicked her tongue and rolled herself upright, meeting the gaze of Xue Yanhen, who had just walked in.
Xue Yanhen tilted her head slightly, asking with her eyes what was up.
“This is for you.”
Xue Yanhen looked at the pale-blue crystal Bai Zhuo held out, about the size of a thumbnail, and couldn’t help feeling surprised. “Why give it to me?”
“Just something for you to fiddle with.”
The crystal came from the brain of an evolved zombie. It was useless for leveling up the system, but it might just be useful for abilities.
Bai Zhuo didn’t know what Xue Yanhen’s ability was, she’d never used it, but on the off chance it helped, better to give it to her than keep it herself.
Xue Yanhen gently took the little crystal, then closed her hand around it, holding it in her palm.
She nodded at Bai Zhuo with a smile. “Okay.”
Batteries weren’t hard to find. Early the next morning Bai Zhuo went out without even eating, and in a nearby ransacked convenience store, she found suitable batteries.
Just as she was about to leave with them, footsteps approached from far to near. Bai Zhuo swiftly crouched behind a shelf and stilled her breathing.
The newcomer entered the little store. Bai Zhuo assumed it was someone looking for supplies, but unexpectedly, the person seemed to have the same goal as her, heading straight for these very shelves.
Bai Zhuo silently swore. She loosely clenched her hand, and the frying pan appeared in a flash.
What she didn’t expect was that the moment she lifted her head, she came face to face with the newcomer.
Once they saw each other’s faces clearly, both of them started.
The girl recovered first and couldn’t help laughing. “What a coincidence.”
Bai Zhuo straightened up. “Quite a coincidence indeed. The batteries are over here.”
“Great, thanks.”
Bai Zhuo made to go, but the girl called out to stop her. “If you can, leave Ning City as soon as possible.”
Bai Zhuo halted and looked back, puzzled. “What?”
The girl’s expression was solemn. “Leave Ning City early, and head to Linzhou. There’s a survivor base there with relatively complete facilities and systems, even a massive zombie assault couldn’t break through.”
Bai Zhuo’s heart tightened. She grasped the meaning behind the words in an instant, drew a deep breath, and thanked her in a low voice.
Watching Bai Zhuo hurry off, the girl reached up to touch the scar on her face, took the batteries with a smile, and left the little store with a light step.
Back at their lodging, Bai Zhuo didn’t hesitate for a second, she relayed to Xue Yanhen everything the girl had told her.
“How much of it do you think is true?”
Xue Yanhen mused a moment. “She has no reason to lie to us, and judging by the way she carried herself yesterday, she’s probably someone from the military.”
Bai Zhuo thought so too. If that was the case, then her information should be accurate as well.
“Do we go?”
“We go.”
The two were decisive, but when they’d finished packing and headed downstairs to find a vehicle, they hit a snag.
For one, they didn’t know Linzhou’s location. For another, they were out of gasoline.
Lips pressed together, Bai Zhuo called out to the system in her mind, intending to use up all her remaining loot-box draws.
“How about we find a gas station and take a look?” Xue Yanhen asked with a frown.
Bai Zhuo shook her head. The entire map of Ning City was in her head, and the gas station was too far from where they currently were. With too many things that could go wrong on the round trip, it wasn’t the best plan.
【System…】
“Screech—”
An ear-piercing squeal of brakes rang out as a black off-road vehicle suddenly stopped in front of the two.
The window rolled down, and the girl they’d parted from not long ago waved at them. “Get in. I’ll give you a lift.”
Bai Zhuo’s eyes narrowed slightly. If the warning at the little store had merely been a kindness, then now, wasn’t the other party being just a bit too enthusiastic?
In the apocalypse, the human heart could sometimes be more terrifying than zombies.
The girl rummaged in her pocket and pulled out a badge to show them. “You’ve seen this before, haven’t you? Gu Zhun met with me before he left and mentioned you two, otherwise I wouldn’t have been so kind as to help you again and again.”
That badge…
Bai Zhuo turned her hand over and held up her own to show the girl. The identical wolf’s head gleamed in the sunlight.
It was the badge Gu Zhun had given Bai Zhuo before he left.