Shen Hegui's car was a black Cullinan; from what she remembered, it seemed to have been modified and wouldn't be easily smashed.
Yu Ke and Lin Xuan's cars were also impressive—compared to just picking any car off the street, their vehicles were obviously safer.
Shen Hegui said to Jiang Yuntan, "You sit in the back."
"Okay." Jiang Yuntan didn't ask anything and directly opened the door to get in.
The moment she sat down, the zombies in the parking lot heard the sound and came staggering over.
After Shen Hegui and Xue Zhao killed the three zombies near the car, they got into the passenger seat and driver's seat respectively. Yu Ke and Lin Xuan did the same—killing the zombies before getting into their cars.
Three cars drove toward the nearby supermarket. The sound of the cars on the road attracted many zombies, but they had no intention of stopping to fight them. The top priority was to gather enough supplies.
Jiang Yuntan bit her lip and finally spoke up. "My ability has evolved. Now I can store five cubic meters of stuff."
"So fast? Was that crystal core that effective?" Shen Hegui could hardly believe it—that a crystal core could allow an ability user to level up so quickly. He didn't need to ask to know that what she meant by 'five cubic meters' was that she could store five cubic meters for them. Otherwise, she wouldn't have said it in front of Xue Zhao.
Jiang Yuntan shook her head. "No, it wasn't that. After I absorbed the crystal core, I kept practicing all night—taking things out of my space and putting them back in until I was so tired I fell asleep. When I woke up this morning, I found my ability had leveled up."
Even though she made it up, the fact that constant practice helps ability level up was true.
After hearing her words, Shen Hegui fell into thought. A few golden shuriken-shaped objects condensed in his palm. He rolled down the window, and the shuriken shot out, hitting several zombies' foreheads precisely.
Jiang Yuntan: ...
So this was the strength of someone who had served in the military? It seemed that Shen Hegui was indeed a powerful ally in the early stages—no wonder he could be the male lead.
Jiang Yuntan didn't think too much. Through the window, she saw the city that had already taken on a decaying look in just a few days.
The originally clean and tidy streets were now cluttered with cars haphazardly parked in the middle of the road, making driving even more difficult. Collided cars were also stopped on the road, giving a vague glimpse of the tragic scene at the time. And various items were scattered along the road, suggesting that some people had come out to find supplies but hadn't been able to return.
After about forty minutes, they finally stopped at a large nearby supermarket.
The first floor had various jewelry and beauty products, the second floor was an entire large supermarket, the third and fourth floors had various restaurants, the fifth and sixth floors were clothing, bags, and shoes, and above that were entertainment facilities.
"Let's head straight to the second floor first," Shen Hegui said into the walkie-talkie.
But as soon as their cars stopped, zombies drawn by the sound surrounded them. Their tattered, bloody faces pressed against the car windows, slapping them until they rattled. When a zombie's face left the window, a blurry face print remained.
Jiang Yuntan: ...
Shen Hegui said in a low voice, "Yuntan, don't get out yet."
With that, he abruptly opened the door, pushed away the zombie leaning against it, and swiftly killed the zombie to his right. Xue Zhao did the same and got out of the car.
Seeing that they had taken care of the zombies near the car, Jiang Yuntan silently picked up the iron rod beside her, opened the door, and stepped out.
A zombie charged toward her. Jiang Yuntan dodged to its side in a flash, then struck its neck hard. The zombie's head was knocked askew but didn't fall off. Before it could react, she hit it twice more, and the head dropped.
Shen Hegui was initially worried but relaxed a little when he saw this. Still, he moved closer to her direction to avoid any accident where he couldn't save her in time. He would watch out for her safety, but he wouldn't completely lock her in a safe cage. Of course, if she wanted to stay in a relatively safe place, he wouldn't say anything. Bringing her safely back to Jing City was not only his duty to the old man but also his responsibility toward Jiang Yuntan as a younger sister.
Jiang Yuntan breathed a sigh of relief after killing one zombie. She had been a fragile college student before; she had never done anything like this. For now, she had to treat killing zombies like leveling up in a game. Except this was a one-life game—die and it's real—so she had to be extremely careful.
She noticed that zombies would lunge at her, so every time, a split second before they pounced, she dodged to their side and took the opportunity to strike their necks, killing them. In no time, she had killed three zombies this way.
But she understood that this method only worked when there were few zombies. Otherwise, she would be surrounded in no time. She needed more practice, aiming to be like Shen Hegui and the others, who could kill a zombie with one blow.
However, becoming an ability user—even just a speed variant—made her feel much better physically. She wasn't complaining about this ability; when escaping, she could definitely run very fast.
Shen Hegui also noticed that her speed was unusual but said nothing.
As they fought, more zombies were drawn by the noise. Shen Hegui made a quick decision. "Don't get entangled. Go in and find supplies first."
Just as they were about to enter the building, they saw a group of people not far away, also followed by zombies. The group waved at them, asking for help. Shen Hegui ignored them, told Yu Ke and the others to lock the cars, and turned to go inside.
Inside the building, there were still many zombies. Shen Hegui and the others fought their way to the stairs and headed up to the second-floor supermarket. Fortunately, there were no special zombies here, and the group quickly found the stairs to the second floor.
The apocalypse broke out at midnight, so most of the zombies in the supermarket had been attracted later. They weren't everywhere, but there were still quite a few.
Once on the second floor, Shen Hegui said they should split up and each grab the food they needed. Then he took Jiang Yuntan and Xue Zhao and left. Yu Ke and the others knew he wanted to hide Jiang Yuntan's space first, so they helped cover for them.
Jiang Yuntan followed Shen Hegui to the bulk bread and candy area and started collecting. She didn't hesitate—she packed away the rows of bread in front of her. Most of these breads had a shelf life of about six months. Although some had been taken sporadically, the supermarket was large, and plenty remained. She also packed a good amount of the nearby candies and cookies. Shen Hegui and Xue Zhao guarded her left and right, letting her collect.