Apocalypse Escape: Day One of Survival

”You think you’ve got this in the bag?” Xie Ning’s lips curled. ”Aren’t you a little too confident?”

As she spoke, a tremor ran through her body, and the thin membrane of space around her rippled outwards like waves on water.

”Impossible.” A flicker of astonishment crossed the short, fat man’s eyes.

’How could this woman possibly counter the space barrier I set up?’

’How could the initiative fall into someone else’s hands?’

A fierce glint flashed in the short, fat man’s eyes as a sharp splitting axe suddenly materialized and hurtled through the air toward Xie Ning.

But less than half a meter away from Xie Ning, a single thought from her sent it careening back into the villa’s courtyard.

At the same time, an earthen wall suddenly dropped in front of Xie Ning and Cres.

Two metallic spheres landed on the ground, erupting with incredibly intense Gold Element Energy that instantly shredded the earthen wall.

The short, fat man didn’t even have time to trap them behind the wall and make his next move before he saw the woman violently demolish it. He was furious, but there was nothing he could do.

’He’d been careless. This damn woman wasn’t just a Support Space Ability User—she was an Attack Ability User, too!’

”Cres, Spirit Lock on him,” Xie Ning ordered coldly, her voice devoid of any warmth.

”Right!”

The short, fat man froze, then turned as if to flee downstairs.

But as he turned his head, a cunning glint flashed in his eyes. He abruptly pulled a machine gun from his space and opened fire, spraying bullets at the two of them. RAT-TAT-TAT!

The bullets spun through the air at high speed, only to be stopped by what seemed to be an invisible barrier a meter away from Xie Ning and Cres, where they hung suspended in midair.

A series of crisp clinks and clatters rang out.

Xie Ning had used her Gold Ability to crush all the bullets into tiny pellets, which then fell to the floor with a PITTER-PATTER.

A trace of terror flashed in the short, fat man’s eyes. He leaped down the stairs, his figure gradually fading from view.

”What’s going on with him?” Cres was shocked. He could feel the target of his Spirit Lock slowly disappearing right under his nose.

This had never happened before, and for a moment, Cres was caught completely off guard.

A cold smile touched Xie Ning’s lips. Her Gold Element Energy suddenly condensed into a scimitar in midair and, without warning, slammed down onto the short, fat man’s shoulder.

A long chain suddenly extended from the other side of the scimitar, snaking through the air like a dancing dragon.

Xie Ning gripped one end of the chain and yanked hard.

His eyes wide with disbelief, the short, fat man was dragged out of the faint, dreamlike shimmer of light, and his whole body slammed face-first onto the stairwell landing.

The man grimaced in pain, clutching his bleeding shoulder with one hand while reaching with a trembling hand to pull out the scimitar embedded in it.

Before his hand could even touch the blade, his mind went blank. It felt as if some external force was controlling his hand, forbidding him from touching the Metallic Scimitar.

In that moment of hesitation, Xie Ning was already upon him. Without a word, she stabbed him directly in the heart.

The swift, vicious stab to the heart left the short, fat man completely stunned.

’This isn’t how it’s supposed to go, is it?’

’Shouldn’t she be asking who I am and why I attacked her?’

’Why did she just stab me in the heart without saying a word??’

His eyes flickering with unwillingness, frustration, and extreme aggrievement, the short, fat man weakly reached out, trying to grab Xie Ning’s hand.

Xie Ning simply stared down at him with an indifferent expression, her gaze as cold as if it were laced with poison.

”Still not dead?” She pulled the knife out and stabbed him again, viciously.

Unwilling and indignant, the short, fat man slowly closed his eyes, murmuring, ”Impossible... This is... impossible. How can this be? How can I die just like this?”

He seemed utterly shocked, as if everything had spun completely out of his control.

Before he died, his face was still a mask of horrified disbelief.

Cres ran over with a grim expression and felt for the man’s carotid artery. ”He’s dead.”

”What was that just now? How was he able to appear and disappear like that? To be able to slip away so quietly even under a Spirit Lock... what kind of special superpower is that?”

Xie Ning shook her head. ”Even with a special concealment-type superpower, it’s impossible to escape the Spirit Lock of a High-level Spiritual Ability User.”

”Right?” Cres lifted his chin smugly. ”So you think he’s weird too, don’t you?”

’That old bastard almost got away. Good thing we acted fast.’

Xie Ning took half a step forward.

An Energy Crystal shot out from the short, fat man’s chest, but before it could even get close to her, it was thoroughly doused by a splash of tap water.

With a look of disgust, Xie Ning reached out with two slender, immaculate fingers. The moment she touched the Energy Crystal, it suddenly dissolved at her fingertips.

Xie Ning paused for a moment, but she wasn’t too surprised.

After all, she was a Fourth-tier Space Ability User. It was perfectly normal for her body to naturally absorb the Energy Crystal of another Space System user.

Besides, a single, rice-grain-sized Energy Crystal like this wasn’t nearly enough to boost her to the Fifth Rank.

Xie Ning kicked the axe on the floor up into her hand and tested its weight. ”Let’s go. We’ll check upstairs.”

...

The eastern sky was turning fish-belly white when a series of gunshots, RAT-TAT-TAT, echoed from within the residential building.

Huang Shi Yao had probably never been this miserable and destitute in her entire life.

Although she was being protected, riding on Zhong’s back the whole way, Huang Shi Yao was on the verge of madness from hunger and thirst.

She felt greasy from head to toe, and her face was caked with patches of sticky grime, each one grating on her fragile nerves.

She was so hungry.

’She regretted it so much now. She never should have come out.’

’If she hadn’t, she would still be in her mansion right now, sipping red wine and eating steak, instead of being tormented by this gnawing hunger.’

The entire Special Ability Special Combat Team Three had been nearly wiped out; only four Superpower Users survived.

Two were Power Types, one was Fire Element, and one was Thunder Element. At this point, their superpower energy was completely depleted.

It had been a full day and night since the evening before last, when their Space Ability User had run off with all their supplies.

Huang Shi Yao hadn’t eaten a single grain of rice or had a drop of water. She felt exhausted, starving, and miserable, wishing she could just be lying in her soft, king-sized bed, sleeping soundly.

She swore that if she made it back to the base safely, she would dig that bastard Zhu Zihao out from whatever hole he was hiding in and tear him limb from limb.

”Young Miss, hang in there! The helicopter will be here to pick us up soon.”

”The people from Zone B didn’t come to support us,” Huang Shi Yao said through gritted teeth. ”They must have done it on purpose.”

”Special Ability Special Combat Team One is loyal to the Base Chief’s faction, so it’s not surprising they didn’t come to our rescue,” Zhong said with a bitter smile. ”Young Miss, our only chance now is to get to the rooftop and wait for the helicopter sent by the Chairman.”

”Yaoyao, don’t worry. Your father will definitely send someone to get us. I still have a cookie here, you can have it.”

”Eat? Eat?! I’m dying of thirst! Are you trying to choke me to death with this dry-ass cookie??” Huang Shi Yao glared furiously at the fawning Meng Lanfang.

”Useless old hag!”