Apocalypse Escape: Day One of Survival

Twenty minutes later, Zuo Li stood gawking in front of the two warehouses.

The once-empty warehouses were now instantly stuffed to the brim with things Xie Ning had taken out.

Zuo Li looked stunned. She turned her head in astonishment. ”Ningning, have you told anyone else about this Space Ability of yours?”

Xie Ning shook her head. ”Only the people on our team know.”

”Right, right, you absolutely can’t let this get out.” Zuo Li nodded hurriedly. ”A Space this large is equivalent to seventeen or eighteen Space Ability Users combined.”

”Captain, the things in these two warehouses are a total mess.”

”A mess is fine. I’ll have people from my team come over to clean it up. I estimate two days should be enough.”

”Leave it to me to arrange these things. You just act like you don’t know anything about it.” Zuo Li rushed excitedly to Xie Ning’s side and patted her shoulder firmly. ”Xiao Ning, you’ve really done the base a huge favor.”

”With the boost from these supplies, the base will be much better prepared for the upcoming Ice Age.”

”I’ll probably be quite busy from now on,” Zuo Li said, smiling at Xie Ning.

”It’s fine, you go be busy.”

”We’ll transfer the Contribution Points to your account later.” Zuo Li winked at her. ”Ningning, you’ve provided so many supplies to the base this time. Your contribution is immense. The Contribution Points shouldn’t be less than a hundred thousand.”

Xie Ning, however, was indifferent.

She had given these supplies to the base mainly for Zuo Li’s sake.

Besides, she was lazy and really didn’t want to sort through all the miscellaneous junk she’d scavenged from the buildings in Canghua Home.

Furthermore, she already had more than enough supplies for herself and didn’t need to compete with ordinary people over scraps.

As for Zuo Li and the others, the development of the base ultimately relied on its people.

”Thank you,” Zuo Li said solemnly, her eyes smiling.

’Not just anyone would be willing to give so much for the base.’

’After all, the richer you are, the more you want to hoard. In the current situation, no one would ever complain about having too many supplies.’

’Only Sister Ningning!’

Xie Ning was completely unaware that in Captain Zuo’s heart, her image had been elevated to that of a selfless, noble person.

Xie Ning, now branded a good person, walked with Zuo Li toward the courtyard house, chatting as they went.

Halfway there, they suddenly ran into Xiao Qi Zi, who was rushing toward them, so out of breath he could barely speak.

”Cap- Captain! Captain!” Xiao Qi Zi heaved a great sigh of relief upon seeing Zuo Li. ”It’s bad! The base commander wants you at the gate right away!”

”He said a huge, three-meter-tall flower suddenly appeared at the base entrance. It can even swallow cars! He said to hurry, hurry over and see what’s going on.”

Xie Ning paused, then turned to look at Zuo Li, whose lips were pressed into a thin line. ”Together?”

”I couldn’t ask for more.” Zuo Li nodded eagerly, beckoning for Xie Ning to join her as they ran toward the base entrance.

After running for a stretch, Xie Ning took advantage of a moment when no one was around to pull out a brand-new scooter. She pulled Zuo Li on with her, and they sped toward the base gate like the wind.

As soon as the two of them reached the gate, they saw a crowd of people surging inside as if they’d gone mad.

Several base patrol guards were trying to stop people, shouting, ”You can’t go in! You haven’t had a full systemic check-up! You can’t all rush over there!”

”Everyone gather here for inspection! Anyone who causes a commotion by running around wildly, I’ll shoot!”

With two muffled BANGS, the crowd that had been scattering in a panic finally began to quiet down.

”What’s going on?”

Xie Ning pushed the scooter aside to park it and followed Zuo Li to the main gate of the base.

After some time had passed, the base’s main gate had been reinforced by Earth and Gold Element Superpower Users, and it now looked exceptionally sturdy.

”Captain!” The person who had approached saluted Zuo Li. ”A mutated plant has appeared about two hundred meters ahead. We’ve already dispatched several Superpower Users to surround and kill it, but the plant seems to be stronger than Second Order.”

Hearing this, Xie Ning’s eyes lit up. ”Captain, I’m going to go take a look.”

”Hey, wait for me!” Zuo Li, afraid she would get into trouble by underestimating the enemy, gave a few orders to the team members behind her and hurried out after her. ”Slow down!”

Xie Ning had already dashed out of the base gate. She immediately spotted a peculiar-looking giant flower in the distance, its mouth wide open, vigorously chewing on some scrap metal.

It resembled a sunflower, its head full of petals that shone a brilliant gold.

Xie Ning stared up at it for a long moment, as she couldn’t quite make out what the giant flower was chewing.

”Is it eating a car?”

”Yes, it is.” Zuo Li’s face was full of astonishment. ”I’ve never seen a mutated plant this big before.”

”It is indeed quite rare.” Xie Ning was about to step forward when Zuo Li grabbed her arm.

Just then, the Fire Ability User Zhou Tong ran over with Ah Liang and Da Xiong, wiping his face hard. ”Captain, that giant flower must be stronger than Second Order. Several of our brothers have already been defeated.”

”Use a fire attack,” Xie Ning suggested.

Zhou Tong gave a bitter smile. ”Captain Xie, look.”

He raised his hand and fired a blast of Fire Ability from his superpower gun. It was a powerful shot that landed squarely on the giant flower.

”What the...?”

The giant flower shook its body as if the fire attack were merely tickling it. With a few shakes, it flicked off the few stray flames that clung to it.

Xie Ning couldn’t help but stare, dumbfounded. ”What a sentient flower.”

”Captain Xie, this is no time for jokes,” Zhou Tong said with a series of bitter smiles. ”Captain, we need to figure out a way to deal with this, quickly!”

”I’ll do it.” Eager to try, Xie Ning suddenly manifested a golden thorn in her hand.

Zuo Li immediately imbued it with her Thunder Attribute, whispering a reminder, ”Be careful. If it’s not working, fall back immediately.”

At this point, the area around the base entrance was littered with overturned cars.

Those who could crawl out of the cars had done so; those who couldn’t were already long dead.

But five hundred meters away, many more people and vehicles were still blocked.

Many of them had overcome countless hardships just to reach Golden City Base, only to find their way barred by a single flower.

A hint of despair could not help but show on their weathered faces.

It was hard to imagine how long these terrifying days would last.

Xie Ning brandished the sword-length golden thorn in her hand and stabbed straight toward the flower’s roots.

After a few strikes from the golden thorns, the massive flower’s body shuddered back and forth. It opened its saw-toothed petals and began to writhe desperately, as if enraged by Xie Ning’s attack.

When Xie Ning saw that it was twisting for a long time but couldn’t pull itself out of the thick snow, her heart leaped with joy.

’So it’s a mutated plant that can’t move.’

’I should take care of it now, while it’s still relatively weak.’

Xie Ning instantly fired off a dozen more golden thorns with a flick of her wrist, plunging them straight into the flower’s root system and twisting them forcefully.

The Thunder and Gold Element Energy surged rapidly. The giant flower instantly withered, and several car parts fell here and there from its splitting petals.

Finally, half a car crashed down with a BOOM.

The middle-aged man in the driver’s seat, half his face chewed off, stared at them with eyes that would never close.

Zuo Li rushed to Xie Ning’s side and ordered her people to dig the withered cannibal flower out from under the frost and snow.

The more they dug, the more horrified they became.

”Its roots are so dense and long! Could it come back from the dead? And is this the only one?” Xiao Qi Zi couldn’t help but cry out in alarm.

”Keep digging,” Zuo Li ordered through gritted teeth.