Apocalypse Escape: Day One of Survival

Seeing Old Chen glaring at him again, Gu Chen pouted. ”I’ll mention it to my girlfriend later and see what she thinks.”

’If she wants to meet, they can meet. If she doesn’t, I’ll have them all scram from the Capital.’

Secretary Chen breathed a sigh of relief. ”Ah, that’s the right attitude. But you can’t go adding fuel to the fire and badmouthing Mr. Li Weide and his people from the Superpower Academy in front of Miss Xie. Try to be a little more reliable!”

Gu Chen just grunted in response, already walking out of the office.

”I’m busy. I need to find someone to arrange the transfer to the underground shelter.”

”Go on.” Secretary Chen shook his head helplessly, a faint smile on his face.

After saluting the Secretary, Lu Wei hurried out after him.

Zhai Ruobai saw the two of them come out and hurried to meet them. ”So? How’d it go? Did the old man chew you two out?”

”Chew us out for what? Xiao Lu didn’t do anything wrong.” Gu Chen snorted. ”It’s nothing but trivial crap all day long. Who has the time to bother with this?”

”I knew it. When those bastards from the Global Superpower Academy show up, it’s never anything good,” Zhai Ruobai said irritably.

”Captain, the sandstorm outside seems to be getting worse.”

...

Xie Ning was jolted awake shortly after three in the morning by the sound of attacking birds. She got up and ran outside to see that the laser protection shield above had been turned off.

A number of people in protective armor stood before the steps, firing at the flock of birds that kept swooping down.

’We have to find that Spiritual Mutated Bird.’

’Otherwise, these waves of attacks will never end.’

”Ningning, you’re up so early?” Lu Wei, who was directing everyone against the flock of birds, turned at the sound of her voice and strode over to her.

”Yes, the noise woke me up.” Xie Ning nodded. ”Have you seen Cres?”

”That kid insisted on staying up until the early hours of the morning. He’s probably still recovering.”

”How many Spiritual Ability Users do we have on this base?”

This information was collected when everyone first entered the base, so Lu Wei and the others should have the numbers.

”The Spiritual System is extremely rare. Not counting that kid, Cres, there are only about eight or nine.”

”Can you gather them all here?”

”That shouldn’t be a problem.” Lu Wei nodded. ”To gather them to deal with the flock of Mutated Birds?”

”Yes. If I’m not mistaken, as long as we can find that Spiritual Mutated Bird before dawn, we should be able to drive them away.”

”The protection shield still needs another hour to recharge.” Lu Wei gave a bitter smile. ”Until then, we can only rely on manpower to wear down these flocks of birds.”

It has some effect, but these flocks of Mutated Birds are known for their speed. They dodge and weave with incredible quickness, often managing to evade the hails of bullets.

This makes it extremely exhausting for the people shooting below.

Furthermore, having to crane their necks for long periods to shoot and unleash their superpowers causes mental fatigue and irritability, putting everyone in a foul mood.

Xie Ning glanced at him. ”Go gather the Spiritual Ability Users, then get some rest. I’ll watch over things here.”

’Look at Xiao Lu’s dark circles,’ she thought. ’Even his glasses can’t hide how exhausted he is.’

’He probably hasn’t rested for over thirty hours.’

Xie Ning looked up at the chaotic, screeching flock. The sound of concentrated gunfire had once again forced them high into the sky, preventing them from charging into the base as they wished.

The occasional bird that found an opening and dived down was quickly dispatched by the long-range Superpower Users.

The situation was under control for the moment, but this kind of fighting demanded intense concentration from both the gunners and the Superpower Users, heavily draining their stamina and energy.

No one could sustain this for long, so they had to constantly rotate in shifts, trying to hold off the assault until the laser protection shield was back online.

The Spiritual Ability Users lined up before Xie Ning, some of them still bleary-eyed and clearly confused about the situation.

Xie Ning’s gaze swept over them. Cres was not among them.

All told, including herself, there were only ten Spiritual Ability Users.

”We have a difficult mission ahead of us. Can I count on your cooperation?”

A few who were still half-asleep opened their eyes, saw Xie Ning, and jolted, their drowsiness vanishing in an instant.

”Yes!” a few Spiritual Ability Users in the front row shouted, their faces alight with excitement.

Xie Ning nodded slightly. ”All Third Rank or higher Spiritual Ability Users, step forward and stay close to me.”

”Our mission now is to find a very unusual bird. As users of the Spiritual System, we feel a unique resonance with other species of the same system.”

”This is what’s known as an impact resonance in the spirit world.”

”In a moment, I will go up and create a Spirit Net. I need you to help me monitor this net. The instant you detect the slightest fluctuation, alert me.”

The Spiritual Ability User closest to Xie Ning, a member of the base’s Superpower Team One, couldn’t help but ask timidly, ”Miss Xie... are you saying... you’re a Spiritual Ability User?”

’Oh my god, this is insane! Not only is Miss Xie a Sixth Rank Gold Element master, but she’s also a Spiritual Ability User?’

’No, wait... word is she’s also a Space Ability User.’

’Three different systems?’

Everyone stared at one another, completely speechless.

”Come, follow me up!” Xie Ning cast out several Space Blades, which seemed to form a staircase out of thin air in the dark night, and began leading the group upward.

The Spiritual Ability Users had already witnessed such a sight during the great battle the day before.

Back then, Miss Xie had led a group of Fire and Wood Element Superpower Users, running through the air to the center of the battlefield to deal with that enormous mutated plant.

And now, they too were following Miss Xie, ascending the invisible staircase, climbing higher step by step.

It would be a lie to say they weren’t thrilled, but they were also genuinely terrified.

Because they couldn’t see the steps beneath their feet, a few of them couldn’t help but grab the sleeves of the person in front, not daring to look down for a second.

”I’m going to establish the Spirit Net now. Try to concentrate your spiritual power and direct it toward me. Can you do that?”

Both excited and anxious, the Spiritual Ability Users nodded repeatedly. ”We can.”

’Miss Xie is teaching us how to better use our spiritual power, isn’t she?’

’Miss Xie is truly a selfless person. No wonder she was able to give that live demonstration on the city wall, teaching those clueless Space Ability Users.’

This was actually Xie Ning’s first time attempting such a difficult Spiritual System skill, one that would consume a massive amount of her superpower.

She was worried she wouldn’t have the strength to sustain it on her own, which was why she’d called on so many people to help support the effort.

The Superpower Rank of her Spiritual Ability had always been much lower than her Gold and Space System abilities, and its growth was incredibly slow.

Even for her, her Spiritual Ability was only at the Fourth Rank, not as high as Cres’s.

Xie Ning didn’t like to fight battles she wasn’t certain she could win, which was why she had Lu Wei gather all the Spiritual Ability Users to work together.

This way, all the Spiritual Ability Users could also learn from one another and grow together.

The Spiritual Ability User from Superpower Team One gave her a resolute nod. ”Miss Xie, please proceed without any worries. We swear on our lives to protect you!”