Apocalypse Escape: Day One of Survival

”Ningning, I don’t know what you’ve been through before. But from now on, I’m here. Let me be with you, okay?”

”Ningning will live a good life. No one has the right to take away your and your family’s chance to survive.”

The man’s voice was gentle as he looked down at her. ”If anyone tries, I’ll get rid of them for you. You won’t have to lift a finger.”

’With a face like Gu Chen’s, paired with that pleasant voice of his, it was far too easy to fool young girls.’

’Luckily, she was an old monster in human guise, so she could just barely resist the charm of his devastatingly good looks.’

Gu Chen reached out and ruffled her little topknot. It felt great and looked adorable. ”Ningning, don’t be mad at me anymore, okay? Look, I have to leave at the crack of dawn tomorrow, just after five! Why should we waste this limited time we have arguing over some unimportant psychos?”

Xie Ning just huffed, giving a noncommittal response.

”Come on, I want to show you something.” Gu Chen took her hand and started walking. ”What have you decided about leaving the base?”

”Although Zhang Defan doesn’t seem to be a major threat to you right now, you’ve forced Zhang’s Faction to hand over so many supplies these past few days. He might not say anything, but he must be furious on the inside.”

Xie Ning sneered, ”As long as they don’t come looking for trouble with me, they’ll get to live.”

’If they didn’t know what’s good for them, Xie Ning wouldn’t mind ensuring Base Chief Zhang died without a son to bury him.’

Maybe one day, she would go to the Capital. After all, the Capital was set to become the largest base in the post-apocalyptic world, the place where the Starfire, humanity’s hope for survival, would be kindled.

But not now. Not yet.

’Right now, she actually had a better destination in mind—one she hadn’t revealed to anyone.’

Based on the current situation, she wouldn’t be staying at Lanshan Tower Lake for long.

Gu Chen led her to a garage, opened the door, and pointed inside. ”Take these. They’ll be useful if you decide to leave the base in the future.”

Xie Ning hurried inside, her almond-shaped eyes wide as she circled the two brand-new, modified military SUVs several times.

The sturdy frames had been reinforced with steel plates on all sides. They had exceptionally high chassis and wide, spacious bodies.

’When this young man decided to act, he truly went above and beyond the ordinary.’

Gu Chen pulled Xie Ning over and started explaining the vehicle’s features. ”There’s a three-dimensional maneuvering gear here. You can load it with things you’ve made, like your Golden Needles, Gold Yo-Yos, and so on.”

”One press and it can clear roadblocks. It can probably fend off ordinary zombies, too.”

The young woman turned to look at him, her eyes shining like stars. ”You modified these?”

Gu Chen nodded. ”I was in a hurry this time. Next time, I’ll modify an RV for you.”

He led her over, opened the trunk, and Xie Ning’s eyes went wide again at the sight of several cases of military weapons inside.

Gu Chen’s expression turned serious. He took out a gun to demonstrate for her. ”This K30 is the latest third-generation superpower gun.”

”Ningning, Xiao Lu and I saw you shooting at the highway entrance last time. You were pretty good. You didn’t look like someone who’s only done some flashy moves for a military training demonstration.”

What could Xie Ning say? She was completely speechless and could only manage a dry laugh.

Gu Chen gave her an amused look but didn’t press the matter, simply handing her the gun to get a feel for it.

”According to preliminary research, some heavy weapons and nuclear arms might accelerate zombie mutation.”

”The Military Research Institute is racing to develop light firearms specifically for dealing with zombies.”

”This type of superpower gun is the newest model with a dual-use mode. When you’re out of bullets, you can power it with your superpower.” He paused for a moment. ”In terms of effectiveness, using your superpower is definitely better, but it also consumes a great deal of your own superpower energy.”

”Right now, it can handle any Superpower User below the Third Rank.”

”Ningning.”

Xie Ning was still immersed in her immense joy. She hummed in response as she felt herself being turned around, her gaze reluctantly pulling away from the lovely military hardware.

”Promise me you’ll protect yourself, okay? Don’t make me worry.”

Xie Ning nodded obediently. ’I absolutely cannot let this young man’s kindness go to waste!’

Gu Chen then led her to the other car, which was packed full of fuel barrels. ”Go ahead and put these away.”

With a wave of her hand, Xie Ning stuffed the cars and everything in them into her personal pocket Space.

Luckily, there was still some room above the two rows of shipping containers, and the two vehicles fit snugly, right up against the ceiling.

Her personal pocket Space was completely full!

Now, even the living room, dining room, terrace, and her mother’s bedroom were stuffed with the millions of points’ worth of supplies she had redeemed over the past two days.

”Xiao Gu, thank you.”

Seeing the young woman thank him so formally, and even calling him ”Xiao Gu,” Gu Chen couldn’t help but laugh.

Xie Ning didn’t see what was so funny. She rummaged through a pile of things in the living room and pulled out two large bundles of Metal Knives packed in big plastic bags from Tianrun Supermarket, handing them over.

She hadn’t been idle these past few days.

Besides occasionally taking a stroll outside the base, she had spent all her free time practicing her superpower by making Metal Knives.

These two large bags contained over a hundred Metal Knives, the fruits of her labor from the past few days.

”Ningning, you’re the best.” Gu Chen smiled, rubbing her cheek.

’The little lady even knows about reciprocating gifts. Isn’t she just the best?’

After receiving so many valuable things from him, Xie Ning felt a little embarrassed giving such a shabby gift in return.

But since Xiao Gu was praising her with such starry, brilliant eyes, she decided to reluctantly accept the compliment.

After a few seconds of consideration, Xie Ning took out a small bag of Crystal Cores and handed it to Gu Chen.

This small bag was from the zombies she had killed over the last two days. She originally planned to absorb them herself—ahem—but the young man had been so good to her, it felt wrong not to give him a decent gift in return.

”Oh, I was just about to tell you, the Pharmaceutical Research Institute has made a little progress in their Crystal Core research these past two days. Did Yu Tianfeng tell you?”

”He’s also involved in that project.”

Xie Ning shook her head.

Gu Chen was secretly pleased that he was one step ahead. ”See? That kid’s not too bright, not telling you about something so important.”

The young woman thought to herself, ’He probably signed a non-disclosure agreement.’

”The word from the research institute is that they seem to be able to extract a strange substance from within the Crystal Cores, which is extremely beneficial for a Superpower User’s advancement.”

”So, the value of Crystal Cores is definitely going to skyrocket. In the future, High-level Crystal Cores will probably be priceless and impossible to find. You should keep these for yourself. I’ve already given the researchers more than enough Crystal Cores.”

Resigned, Xie Ning could only take out a small, Initial Stage Crystal Core and press it into his palm. ”Try this.”

Gu Chen looked down in confusion, but his pupils quickly constricted as he stared at the pinch of Crystal Core dust in his palm.

”How is this possible?”

Regarding Crystal Cores, he had been keeping up with the research institute’s latest reports; he was among those with direct access to firsthand information.

That Crystal Cores could not be directly absorbed by the human body was a point stated clearly in the institute’s foundational reports.

This was because, in addition to the energy that could enhance a Superpower User, Crystal Cores were also filled with other berserk factors and chemical elements harmful to the human body.

Gu Chen was utterly horrified.