Apocalypse Escape: Day One of Survival

The spray landed on the ice wall, instantly erupting in billows of white smoke and a sharp HISS.

The ice wall appeared to be corroding, continuously churning with white vapor.

Unfortunately, it quickly died down.

The ice wall remained standing in front of Song Kexin, though a hollow the depth of a cup-bottom had been dissolved into its center. It had failed to penetrate all the way through.

”Oh? What a fascinating substance.” Yu Tianfeng’s eyes lit up with a sparkle. ”Quick, quick! Bring that spray can over here and let me take a look.”

Xie Ning’s lips curled. With a flick of her finger, a Space Blade shot out, severing the entire arm of the large man holding the spray can from across the distance.

As the arm flew into the air, the spray can tumbled down, and Yu Tianfeng caught it securely.

”AHHHH!” Seeing their companion’s arm inexplicably severed, the others realized they’d messed with the wrong crowd and quickly turned to flee.

Li Dawei roared, ”And where do you think you’re going?!”

A Fireball from Xu Bailiang then struck another man.

Zheng Heng led his own men in the charge, and with a few swift moves, they subdued all the burly, black-vested thugs.

During the fight, some of the thugs tried to pull out the spray cans at their waists, but Zheng Heng’s group simply twisted their arms until they broke. The cans rolled uselessly to the ground.

As everyone watched, Yu Tianfeng calmly took out a small device and began analyzing the spray.

Xie Ning, meanwhile, led Ji Taixian, Wang Zongxuan, and Xiao Huang Mao over toward the large truck.

Wang Zongxuan and Xiao Huang Mao hopped up to inspect the truck, then reported with a frown, ”It’s just sand, bricks, reinforced concrete, tiles, and stuff like that. No food.”

Xie Ning nodded and patted Ji Taixian on the shoulder. ”Xiao Xian, store the truck.”

Everyone stared, dumbfounded. Their eyes started to turn toward Xie Ning, but then swiveled in unison to lock onto Ji Taixian.

Ji Taixian’s face flushed red under his teammates’ scrutiny. He raised his hand high and waved it forcefully.

And just like that, the large truck vanished before their eyes.

The group then checked the other vehicle. It was full of boxes of medical supplies: disposable syringes, gauze, various medicine vials and plastic bottles, and even boxes of pre-packaged emergency medical kits.

Unsurprisingly, Xie Ning had the young Ji Taixian store this truck as well.

Nearly fifty people from the three teams stared at Ji Taixian, and the intensity of their gazes made his face burn...

’Good grief, why are they all staring like that? The real big shot is always so stoic.’

Fifteen minutes later, everyone was sitting by the roadside. Those who were hot fanned themselves, and those who were thirsty drank water. Yu Tianfeng’s test results were in.

His sharp, phoenix-like eyes were full of bright, curious light. ”Very interesting!”

”According to my initial analysis, this spray can have a certain suppressive effect on a Superpower User’s abilities.”

”However, this current, elementary version of the spray is only effective against Superpower Users below the First Rank.” Yu Tianfeng swirled the vial in his hand, smiling as he looked at the resentful faces in the crowd.

”It’s uncertain whether an upgraded version would also suppress Second Order Superpower Users and above. It might even destroy the energy source within a Superpower User’s body, causing permanent, irreparable damage.”

Li Dawei walked up and landed two heavy punches on one of the men. ”Talk! What were you trying to pull, huh? Some piece of trash from the Oasis Base. Heh. Targeting Superpower Users? How interesting!”

Li Xiang scoffed. ”No wonder a handful of guys like you dared to challenge us. Turns out you had a superpower-suppressing spray and thought you could wipe us all out.”

The thug’s eyes blazed with fury. ”So what if you have superpowers? I’ll—AH, AHHH!”

Before he could finish his curse, Li Xiang rushed over and kicked him hard. ”What did Superpower Users ever do to you? Did we slaughter your whole family? Bunch of lunatics!”

Zhuang Xinyi clenched her small, fair hands tightly and couldn’t stop herself from murmuring, ”Do you have to be so violent? Can’t you even let him finish talking?”

’It’s precisely this sort of high-and-mighty attitude from Superpower Users that makes so many ordinary people resent them, isn’t it?’

’If Superpower Users would just treat ordinary people better and everyone lived in peace, wouldn’t these problems be avoided entirely?’

Li Xiang and his team shot Zhuang Xinyi a look like she was a complete idiot.

Zheng Heng and his teammates, however, were already used to Zhuang Xinyi’s periodic ’Holy Mother’ speeches. It was a common occurrence, so they paid it no mind.

Xie Ning glanced at Yu Tianfeng, who smiled and gave her a subtle nod.

”Yu Tianfeng and I are going to check out the Oasis Base,” Xie Ning said suddenly.

’The fact that they had this kind of superpower-suppressing spray meant it wasn’t made from nothing. The Oasis Base probably has the raw materials or something of the sort.’

Xie Ning turned to Li Dawei and Zheng Heng. ”You all...”

”I’ll go with you!” Li Dawei said, his face filled with righteous indignation.

Zheng Heng nodded as well. ”I’ll go have a look, too. It’s already past one o’clock. The rest of you should head to that small building across the road to rest and get a bite to eat.”

Zhuang Xinyi, clenching her whitened fingers, said, ”Captain, it’s not very safe here, is it?”

”In this world, nowhere is truly safe,” Zheng Feina said with a frown. ”Brother, take Zha Peng with you. He Zhi and I will watch over things here; there shouldn’t be any problems.”

He Zhi shuffled over to Song You’ai’s side and gave an embarrassed smile. ”Aunt Song, could we ask for a bit of water? Um, we could trade you some cherry tomatoes for it, would that be okay?”

”Cherry tomatoes?” Song You’ai repeated, momentarily stunned.

’The fact that they could still trade food for water meant Zheng Heng’s team of youngsters was pretty impressive!’

”Uh,” He Zhi said with another sheepish smile, ”Feina is a Wood Element Superpower User. She can make some cherry tomatoes grow every day.”

She took out a small bag that seemed to hold about three hundred grams of cherry tomatoes. ”How much water do you think this can get us?”

Song You’ai waved her hand magnanimously. ”I’ll give you thirty liters of water. Deal?”

He Zhi’s eyes lit up as she nodded again and again. ”Thank you, Aunt Song! Thank you so much!”

Li Xiang, however, watched from the side, grumbling. ”We traded a whole box of paper for only sixty liters of water. And you get that much for just three hundred grams of cherry tomatoes!”

Song You’ai snapped back irritably, ”Can your butt-wiping paper even compare to someone else’s cherry tomatoes??”

Li Xiang went quiet, but he was muttering to himself internally. ’Once we get to a major base, I’m definitely making my brother recruit some Wood and Water Element Superpower Users! Definitely!’

’This is so infuriating!’

Old Mrs. Song had to suppress a laugh, but she managed. ”Li Xiang, when you learn how to cook for yourself, Grandma will have your Aunt Song give you five liters of water for free.”

Li Xiang’s eyes lit up. ”Grandma Song, are you serious?”

”Of course I am.” The old woman pursed her lips, then took the old man’s hand and started walking toward the small building. ”Let’s go. We’ll go inside and rest our legs. It’s too hot out here.”

As Xie Ning and Yu Tianfeng, along with Zha Peng, Zheng Heng, and Li Dawei, were about to leave, Cres raised an eyebrow and called out, ”Woman, I’m going with you.”