Apocalypse Escape: Day One of Survival

Despite her extensive knowledge, Xie Ning was still a bit surprised to see the powder.

It looked exactly like the Crystal Core ash left over after expert teams used special tools to extract the refining agent and create Promotion Potions.

Crystal Cores couldn’t be directly absorbed by the human body. Forcing it would likely cause one’s blood to run haywire, resulting in a violent death.

This was a basic principle everyone knew in her past life.

Of course, she wouldn’t be foolish enough to try and absorb a Crystal Core. So after getting the mutated Spiritual System Crystal Core, she admired it in her hand for a moment before casually tossing it into her pocket.

Afterward, she was busy getting home, fighting with the He Family, then cleaning up and packing. By the time she was done, she had completely forgotten about the Crystal Core.

It wasn’t until she felt her pocket while putting on her pants this morning that she was left completely dumbfounded.

’If I can directly absorb the energy from Crystal Cores without my body feeling any adverse effects...’

’Does this mean that in this life, I won’t have to spend a fortune on those High-Level Promotion Potions?’

Xie Ning shook her head as she drove.

’There I go, getting my hopes up again. Pfft, no way I’m that lucky.’

But with the Crystal Core having turned to dust in her pocket, she couldn’t help but let her mind wander.

Besides, she’d had another one of those vivid dreams last night.

The black-and-white scene in her dream was still shaky and unstable, occasionally getting stuck with a ZZZRT and pausing like an old film reel.

Then, the sign for a fruit and vegetable market flashed before her eyes, with a dozen ferocious-looking zombies milling about nearby.

The scene shifted, and Xie Ning saw a van parked behind a half-collapsed building across the street from the market.

In the driver’s seat was an old acquaintance, Chen Chong. His daughter, Chen Jiajia, was in the passenger seat, her mouth moving as she spoke.

Although the image was black and white, it was clearly much sharper than her last vision of the Tianrun Supermarket.

Moreover, she could see across the street from the market, which meant the range of her vision had expanded.

’Could this really be Spiritual Sensing?’

Chen Chong and his daughter were holed up across from the market. ’They’re probably waiting to pick up the scraps,’ she thought.

Judging by the time, they must have been waiting there for a full day and night.

’Cowards. All this time and they still can’t decide whether to fight or flee.’

Xie Ning curled her lip. She wasn’t in a hurry to get there, so she just cruised along in her little van.

She knew that fruit and vegetable market well. Whenever she visited the Song Family Pavilion, she and her mom would often go there to buy fruit for her grandparents.

The storefront was large, and there was a supermarket section on the floor above.

Her main goal this time was to find more bottled water. She’d grab other things as she saw fit.

She couldn’t stuff her villa Space too full, or there’d be no room for the things she’d packed from home.

’The Space is still a bit small,’ Xie Ning sighed inwardly.

Still, compared to the tiny two-square-meter space she had in her past life, she was already quite content with this one.

BANG! BANG! BANG! A few gunshots rang out from up ahead.

Xie Ning was instantly on alert, easing her foot off the gas, ready to make a turn and find a detour at a moment’s notice.

She had spent many summer and winter vacations at her grandmother’s, so she was extremely familiar with all the streets and alleys in the area.

She could take any number of side roads to get near the fruit and vegetable market; there was no need to be reckless and drive straight ahead.

Just as Xie Ning was about to turn, a surreal blast of rock music erupted from up ahead, accompanied by the unrestrained BANG! BANG! of gunfire.

A gaudy gold sports car came tearing toward her, emblazoned with the slogan ”I AM INVINCIBLE.”

A procession of luxury cars followed in its wake, practically beating drums and gongs to announce their arrival.

Several heads poked out of the luxury cars, their owners howling as they brandished iron hammers.

Staggering behind them was a train of over a hundred zombies. At this rate, hordes from every direction were likely converging on their position.

Holy crap... (⊙_⊙)

Seeing the commotion, Xie Ning immediately yanked the wheel, turning into a narrow alley to make her escape.

’Can’t mess with them, can’t mess with them. I’ve run into a bunch of lunatics!’

This was the first time since the apocalypse began that she had ever seen such a brazen, large-scale migration of morons.

She glanced in her rearview mirror and suddenly saw a small camera vehicle keeping pace with the sports car. Someone was standing on it, shouldering a camera, enthusiastically filming the ”thrilling” scene.

Xie Ning: ???

’So, am I being too cautious, or are these people just that amazing?’

’What is going on? Did I just run into some new species of weirdo?’

In the passenger seat of the gaudy gold sports car sat a striking woman with long, flowing hair, who would occasionally turn to fire a couple of shots.

Her aim was true—one shot, one headshot—but they were making far too much noise.

At this rate, they would soon be completely surrounded and overwhelmed by the zombie horde.

Xie Ning’s hands tightened on the steering wheel for a second before she floored the gas, wanting nothing more than to ditch these morons.

”Hahaha, does that little van up ahead actually think it can outrun us?”

”Hilarious! Is it a guy or a girl? Block them, let’s have a chat!”

The group of stylishly dressed young men and women laughed and joked as they followed Xie Ning’s turn into the narrow road.

Xie Ning floored the gas, desperate to shake the idiots behind her, but even with the pedal to the metal, her little van was no match for a sports car.

”Young Master Zhong, looks like the one driving the van is a chick!”

”Hahaha, she’s not a dog, is she? What’s she running for?”

”Probably scared by all the zombies behind us, ahahaha.”

”Let’s pass her and let her cover our rear and deal with this horde, haha.”

”Oh, Mr. Wang, you’re so naughty.”

”We’re just having a little fun, haha. What’s the big deal? Don’t take it so seriously.”

Ever since her superpower advanced to the First Rank, Xie Ning’s speed and hearing had both improved.

She could hear every single word spoken by the partying men and women behind her with perfect clarity.

’I originally didn’t want to bother with them. They’re fucking idiots who won’t last long in this world anyway. Best to let them self-destruct.’

’But now, it seems they’re trying to team up and screw me over?’

’What to do, what to do? Ningning is so scared!’

’I’ll just have to strike first and screw them over before they can do it to me!’

Xie Ning floored the accelerator, resting one hand on the open window. A dozen metal needles suddenly shot from her palm, flying without warning toward the lead gold sports car.

”Watch out!” the beautiful, long-haired woman in the passenger seat cried out suddenly.

But it was too late. A few of the metal needles bounced off the windshield with a TINK, but the rest slammed viciously into the two front tires.

With a sound like PFFT-BANG, both front tires seemed to burst at once.

The expression on Young Master Zhong’s face changed drastically as he wrenched the steering wheel. But no matter how hard he slammed on the brakes, the front of the car inevitably smashed into the wall beside them.

This was a narrow alley, only wide enough for a single car to pass through.

Young Master Zhong’s crash was disastrous. The luxury cars behind him couldn’t react in time, leading to a chain-reaction pile-up.

The last car even mounted the one in front of it before flipping sideways and crashing into the wall.

”AHHHH!” The narrow alley filled with a chaotic cacophony of screams and curses. Absurdly, the heavy metal music from their cars was still blaring wantonly.

”Turn off the music, quick!” The long-haired woman’s expression soured as she hastily pushed open her door and got out.

Xie Ning glanced back with a cold smirk.