Apocalypse Escape: Day One of Survival

The next time this woman appeared, she had become a key figure in a high-ranking team in the Capital and was thriving there.

Even with Zuo Li’s power back then, she couldn’t have easily touched her.

Although she eventually got herself killed, it wasn’t by Xie Ning’s hand.

With a smile in her eyes, Xie Ning looked at the woman whose hands were pinned to the metal staircase frame. ”Any more tricks up your sleeve? Why not show them all at once?”

”Let me go! Let me go now!” Zhou Qing struggled, rattling her hands against the metal frame, which clanged loudly.

Xie Ning landed a heavy punch on her face. ”Don’t waste your energy. It’s useless. Even if you attract more zombies, I’ll just take them all out.”

Zhou Qing’s eyes went wide as she stared daggers at Xie Ning. ”You’d better let me go right now, or you won’t be able to handle the consequences!”

”Hmm? What was that?” Xie Ning took off one of her noise-canceling headphones and smiled at her.

Zhou Qing’s eyes nearly popped out of her head. ”Wh-Why?”

’Why was this woman wearing noise-canceling headphones?’

’No wonder the zombie’s sound waves had no effect on them!’

Zhou Qing seethed with resentment and screamed her previous threat again.

”Oh? Just who’s backing you? Tell me, I’m dying to be scared.” Xie Ning’s hand, wrapped in sharp metal, shot out and gripped her throat.

Zhou Qing’s eyes bulged, and she made a gurgling sound.

The sharp spikes dug into her neck, and trickles of blood flowed slowly down the metal.

’This vicious woman, smiling so pleasantly, actually wants to kill me!’

As this thought crossed Zhou Qing’s mind, a look of terror appeared on her face.

Because of the Metal Spikes, she couldn’t lower her head, fearing they would dig in deeper.

Zhou Qing could only tilt her head back miserably, watching in panic as blood gushed from her neck. She gasped out a plea, ”Don’t... don’t kill me. I... I can help you.”

”I can join you. I’ll join your team and help you fight other people.”

Xie Ning scoffed. ”And you think I’d trust you?”

”I... I can take you to the Barbarian Base. He... they’ve stockpiled a lot of goods, money, riches... I-I mean, Crystal... Crystal Cores and stones.”

”There’s a strange stone mine. If you place a regular cellphone on one of the stones, it will fully recharge in about two or three days. They also have tons of food and daily supplies—they have everything.”

Xie Ning’s lips curled. ”An energy mine?”

’An energy mine has appeared this soon?’

’In my past life, it wasn’t discovered and developed by Chaoyang Base until six months later.’

’This was a huge leap forward in the history of the apocalypse.’

’It’s because scientists were able to extract a very strange substance from the massive energy mine, a substance that could generate power for human bases.’

’Those science fanatics later created small, home-use Energy Stone Generators, which was a huge boon for the wives and daughters in the wealthy districts of the bases.’

’But for poor people like me, using an Energy Stone Generator to have light again was completely out of the question.’

’First off, it was unaffordable. Back then, a single power cartridge cost five hundred First-order Crystal Cores, and that would only provide light for an ordinary family for three days...’

’I’d heard back then that Chaoyang Base took down a fairly large base, rescued a wave of people, and collected a huge amount of supplies. It made Zuo Li so envious she could only curse herself for arriving a step too late.’

’So, it must be the Barbarian Base this woman is talking about?’

Seeing that she had fallen silent, Zhou Qing breathed a huge sigh of relief, inwardly sneering at Xie Ning’s foolish delusion.

’As long as this bitch dares to set foot in the Barbarian Base, I’ll make sure she never comes back alive!’

”You and the Sound Wave Zombie are lingering here under your boss’s orders to spy on the Golden City Base, aren’t you?”

With her head still tilted back, Zhou Qing answered with difficulty, ”You’re overthinking things.”

”When were you planning to launch your sneak attack on the Golden City Base?” Xie Ning pressed with a smile, not waiting for her to finish.

She seemed genuinely curious.

Zhou Qing’s pupils shrank, and for a moment, she didn’t know how to respond.

Gasping breaths caught in her throat, her eyes darted back and forth.

Watching her rack her brain, Xie Ning’s lips curled in amusement. ”What do you think? Should I let you go?”

”I... I can show you a shortcut to sne... sneak into the Barbarian Base. You... you need me, you need...”

Just like that, a Metal Spike plunged viciously into her chest.

Zhou Qing’s eyes widened, looking as if they would tear from their sockets.

”I... I never did anything to any of you! You’re the ones who came... came to this repair shop look... looking for trouble...”

Zhou Qing finally understood. This smiling woman before her was even crazier than she was, stabbing people at the slightest provocation.

Xie Ning snapped her fingers near Zhou Qing’s ear and leaned in to whisper, ”Perhaps... it’s because we were enemies in our past lives.”

’Earlier, when I felt so uneasy, I thought it was just because of the mutated zombies in the repair shop watching us menacingly.’

’Only now did I realize that wasn’t it at all.’

’It was because the Corpse Dominator was hiding in the shadows, staring at us like a viper.’

’Zhou Qing was far from innocent.’

’She had probably sent her zombies to secretly eliminate all the travelers who had passed through this abandoned repair shop recently.’

’Otherwise, why would Zuo Li and I have been attacked by zombies the moment we set foot in this factory district?’

’The Wind-type Zombies and the Sound Wave Zombie went straight for Zuo Li because they were all being controlled.’

’Zhou Qing’s plan was to divide and conquer, intending to first eliminate the more troublesome Thunder Ability User.’

’Too bad for her, she underestimated Zuo Li’s power.’

’Besides, even if Zhou Qing were completely innocent in this life, I still wouldn’t let her go.’

’Because she’s a selfish, callous monster.’

’I don’t subscribe to that nonsense about past-life grudges staying in the past, or how you have to be merciful and let people go in this life as long as they aren’t currently making trouble...’

’No way I’m letting her go!’

’To prevent her from completely screwing me and the Sweet Potato Team over again in this life, it’s much better for her to just die quietly.’

Zhou Qing opened her mouth, feeling several more vicious stabs plunge into her chest.

The madwoman before her, as if afraid she wouldn’t die completely enough, pressed a gun to her forehead.

”Wh-Wh-Why?”

The answer was a single, clean shot to the head.

’Why all the questions? Did I have to wait to be screwed over again, just like in my past life, before I could finally settle the score?’

Xie Ning tilted her head.

’Farewell, Zhou Qing. If hatred is a cycle, I’ll just have to eliminate you swiftly, again and again.’

’Then again, can someone like her even be reincarnated?’

Xie Ning put away her gun, slipped her noise-canceling headphones back on, and watched an Energy Crystal slowly rise from Zhou Qing’s shattered chest. With a cold smile, she collected it into her storage space.

With a wave of her hand, Xie Ning summoned her Gold Element Wings and shot down the metal staircase, flying directly out of the repair shop.

The moment she burst out the door, she saw Zuo Li standing on a nearby earthen wall, one foot planted in a gaping hole in a car’s chassis, strafing back and forth with a machine gun. RAT-TAT-TAT-TAT.

The Sound Wave Zombie was hopping about frantically, trying to get closer to Zuo Li to continue its shriek.

Unfortunately, the continuous hail of bullets from the machine gun kept forcing it back.

By now, the brilliant, golden-red sun had risen above the ruined walls behind them, illuminating the gray, desolate earth.

Suddenly, Zuo Li pulled a grenade from her belt...