Chapter 121: Fatal G City (Part 6)

The string of system announcements left Shen Qingqiu and Xiao Muyu exchanging bewildered looks. After the points were activated, they both noticed their interface vibrating nonstop.

Xiao Muyu looked at her interface and saw her points split into two categories: personal account and team account. The team account showed 20 points. On her account, red +0.5s kept floating up like messages in a livestream chat. Eight “+0.5” entries appeared, and two “+5” entries.

Xiao Muyu frowned deeply. What did this mean?

She quickly glanced at Shen Qingqiu’s. Hers had even more “+0.5” entries, densely packed and constantly rising. A few “+1” entries scattered among them, though no “+5”.

After a moment, Xiao Muyu suddenly understood, and the way she looked at Shen Qingqiu instantly changed.

“How many zombies did you kill?” she asked, exasperated.

Shen Qingqiu had also figured out what the points indicated. She shook her head innocently. “No idea. I saw one, I killed one. I saw two, so I killed two. I didn’t keep count.”

The fire in the building continued to rage. Zombies might not suffocate from smoke, but a fierce blaze could reduce them to charred corpses. So the points, which had briefly stopped, began to tick up again in a flurry of +0.5s.

Xiao Muyu was stunned. Hundreds, maybe even thousands, of zombies were in that building. Who knew how many were burning to death now? She looked at Shen Qingqiu, feeling both annoyed and amused.

“Alright, this isn’t the time to talk about that. Let’s hurry and meet up with Su Jin and the others.” Then, in a low voice, Xiao Muyu added, “Our cards are back online.”

Thanks to Su Jin and the others successfully activating “Loving Family”, Shen Qingqiu and Xiao Muyu could now log in.

An NPC like Lin Jian couldn’t hear the system announcements or see the players’ interface displays, so he had no idea what Xiao Muyu and Shen Qingqiu were talking about.

Xiao Muyu turned to him and waved. “We just spotted my friends, so we’ll be meeting up with them. What about you? Got any plans?”

Lin Jian was silent for a moment. “I’ll stick with you for now. Once I better grasp the situation in G City, I’ll see if I can contact my family outside.”

“Alright, let’s go.” Xiao Muyu hadn’t planned on letting Lin Jian go yet. She still had some things to confirm with him.

Meanwhile, Shen Qingqiu had already messaged Su Jin, telling them to wait. The three moved out, staying hidden as they made their way over.

At this point, it was safe to assume that all the players would be heading this way, meaning the other teams would regroup soon.

This instance had a much larger map than the previous one, so it wasn’t surprising that there were four teams. But considering the system’s usual behavior, Xiao Muyu doubted the teams could all coexist.

She didn’t intend to harm others but wasn’t about to let her guard down. Right now, she didn’t want to run into the other teams. The system announcement had exposed their team and likely drawn unnecessary attention to them. They would have to be more cautious now.

Su Jin, Chen Kaijie, and Zuo Tiantian had hidden beside a hotel. They couldn’t contain their joy when they spotted Xiao Muyu and Shen Qingqiu approaching.

“Leader Xiao, Vice-Leader, we finally found you!” They had all heard the system announcement earlier but couldn’t locate the two. Not wanting to alert other players, they had to lie low until they realized the cards were back online and used Loving Family to get in touch.

Seeing the fire raging in the distance, Su Jin felt a chill run down her spine. She lowered her voice and asked, “Vice-Leader, don’t tell me you set that building on fire?”

Shen Qingqiu laughed. After glancing at Xiao Muyu, she looked at Su Jin with approval. “I didn’t expect you to know me so well.”

Chen Kaijie and Zuo Tiantian clicked their tongues. On the way over, they had been speculating whether Shen Qingqiu had set the fire to guide them there. Chen Kaijie had said it was unlikely, but it was true.

The three were still immersed in the joy of reuniting when they noticed the doctor Xiao Muyu had brought along. A bit confused, one asked, “Leader Xiao, who’s this?”

“This is Dr. Lin Jian. He escaped the People’s Hospital with me,” Xiao Muyu explained.

No one questioned why Xiao Muyu had brought him. They knew she had a good reason for it and accepted the brief introduction.

“Too many people are gathering here. We should find a safer place to discuss our next steps. The most important thing in an apocalypse is survival. That doesn’t just mean avoiding zombies but also stockpiling enough supplies.”

The top priority now was to ensure they could make it through the next ten days.

After Xiao Muyu finished speaking, Chen Kaijie, Su Jin, and Zuo Tiantian pulled out their backpacks.

“We got water, canned food, instant noodles, hardtacks, and snacks,” said Chen Kaijie. “We passed a supermarket on the way and grabbed everything easy to store.”

Shen Qingqiu and Xiao Muyu exchanged a look and smiled at each other. Shen Qingqiu gave Chen Kaijie a hearty slap on the shoulder. “Nice work!”

Chen Kaijie grinned from ear to ear at the praise. “Tiantian suggested it.  Su Jin and I were so focused on finding you two that we almost forgot. Food and water are everything in the apocalypse. It’s still early, so people might not have realized it yet. But the survivors will panic once the water and power are gone.”

“Right—power and supplies are essential. And we’ll need a secure place to stay if we’re going to stockpile supplies.” Xiao Muyu glanced around at the others. She had woken up in the hospital without knowing anything, much less where to live.

Shen Qingqiu shook her head as well.

Only Zuo Tiantian spoke up, “I live in Yaxiang Shuixie.”

“Where?” Xiao Muyu blinked in surprise at the familiar name.

“Yaxiang Shuixie,” Zuo Tiantian repeated.

“No, that won’t do,” Lin Jian quickly cut in before Xiao Muyu could respond. “Unidentified cases have been reported in Yaxiang Shuixie. I’m beginning to suspect the virus might have originated there. It could be even more dangerous.”

Xiao Muyu nodded in agreement. “He’s right. I watched the news about it back at the hospital. We can’t go there.”

Lin Jian thought before offering, “If you don’t mind, you can come to my place. I just moved into a new house less than half a year ago. It’s in a newly built community with good security systems, and the occupancy rate is low, so there might be fewer people. Coincidentally, my wife took my parents and kid to M City for a vacation, so no one’s home. The only downside is that it’s a bit far—over 10km from here.”

Xiao Muyu and the others didn’t have a better option, so they decided to head to Lin Jian’s place. However, Shen Qingqiu suggested they drive. Zombies were bound to appear along the way. Using a car would be faster, allow them to carry more supplies, and reduce the risk of getting scratched or bitten.

“What car are we going to use? And we’d need keys,” Chen Kaijie said, frowning. “It’s not like in the movies where you can hotwire a car to get it to start.”

Shen Qingqiu remained calm. She glanced outside. Flames still roared within the skyscraper. If the system wanted to maintain fairness, it had likely scattered the other teams, too. There were players at the luncheon she attended and some at the hospital where Xiao Muyu woke up. They should all be in place by now.

However, Shen Qingqiu saw only a handful of people around at the moment, which meant everyone likely had the same idea to lay low and avoid contact. This time, she didn’t bother hiding. She stepped into the street and found a car. Its owner was already dead—not by a zombie, but by a car accident.

The keys were still on him. After dragging the body out, she started the engine and drove the car—its front end smashed in—before executing a sharp turn, stopping right in front of the hotel.

“Get in,” she told everyone. “But you’ll have to squeeze together a bit.”

They quickly piled in. Four people in the back was a tight fit. Luckily, no one was overweight, and the car was fairly spacious. They packed in their belongings and shut the doors.

As everyone settled in, Shen Qingqiu heard someone calling from behind. She ignored them and slammed the gas pedal, leaving a cloud of exhaust behind.

The man who had called out watched the car disappear into the distance, his expression dark and unreadable.

On the way, Xiao Muyu and the others found that City G had collapsed, as they had feared. Wandering zombies filled the streets. They even witnessed zombies chasing down a living person, who ultimately became their meal.

“It’s over. Everything is over,” Lin Jian muttered. He had been hoping that the government and military would appear to resolve the situation. However, judging by the current state of things, that was impossible. More than half a day had already passed since the virus outbreak. Rescue should have arrived by now. If there were any.

He even had a terrifying thought: perhaps the entire country had already fallen.

Xiao Muyu and the group came across another car. Its driver had already turned into a zombie. Shen Qingqiu quickly took care of it using the Tang sword Chen Kaijie had drawn previously. After they dragged out the corpse, Chen Kaijie held back his nausea and took the wheel.

“Let’s head to a gas station.” Now that everyone had regrouped, they all thought more carefully. They needed to make sure the two cars had enough fuel.

When they arrived at the nearest gas station, Chen Kaijie parked and looked around. The gas station was deserted, and the vehicles there didn’t even have zombies inside.

Seeing no immediate danger, everyone exited the vehicle. Chen Kaijie took the fuel nozzle and refueled while the others scanned the surroundings.

There were barely any signs of life on the streets. Any survivors were probably hiding indoors by now.

However, Xiao Muyu thought something was off. Seeing no living people was normal, but the lack of zombies? Not so much. A car across the street from the gas station soon caught her attention. The driver’s side window had a large hole through which she could make out a motionless human figure inside. It didn’t seem they had become a zombie.

“Qingqiu?” Xiao Muyu instinctively called out to Shen Qingqiu.

Shen Qingqiu, always in sync with her, had already noticed the situation and nodded. “I see it. I’ll check it out.”

Seeing Shen Qingqiu’s serious expression, Xiao Muyu immediately grabbed her hand and said softly, “Together.” Then she turned to Su Jin and the others and said, “Stay alert. Something might be going on.”

With that, the two walked across the street while Su Jin and Zuo Tiantian gripped their cards, vigilantly keeping a lookout.

Xiao Muyu and Shen Qingqiu were now less than a meter from the car. They saw a woman inside, her head drooping down. She had a hole in her skull that matched the one in the car window, and the contents of her head were gone.

Xiao Muyu felt the hairs on her arms stand on end. Her eyes darted around. She quickly realized it wasn’t just this car. Every vehicle in this disorganized row had similar holes. Some had them in the windshields, others in the passenger-side windows.

Xiao Muyu immediately raised her hand and made a gesture. Su Jin and Zuo Tiantian’s hearts instantly tightened. They glanced at Chen Kaijie.

Chen Kaijie’s hand shook slightly, but he calmly hung the fuel nozzle back in place. He opened the car door and motioned for Lin Jian to get in.

Xiao Muyu and Shen Qingqiu turned around and slowly walked back toward the car. When they were less than three meters away, the two suddenly burst into a sprint.

Simultaneously, Su Jin and Zuo Tiantian yanked open the back and passenger-side doors. As they climbed in, Xiao Muyu and Shen Qingqiu reached the front of the car.

A shadow dropped from above the gas station canopy, landing squarely between the two vehicles with a speed and force that was enough to make anyone’s heart leap in terror.

Shen Qingqiu shoved Xiao Muyu into the back seat and slammed the door. Gripping the car, she slipped through the passenger side and into the driver’s seat. Her left hand twisted the key to start the engine while her right hand closed the door. She did the whole motion fluidly, looking very cool. Su Jin and the others would have cheered if the situation wasn’t so dire.

The shadow was a slender woman but no longer human. When it saw that everyone had gotten into the car, it let out a screech, revealing a mouth full of sharp, terrifying teeth, and leaped onto the car’s roof.

The car rocked heavily. The zombie’s claws slammed downward, piercing through the steel roof and straight toward Shen Qingqiu’s head. She instantly tilted her head aside while Xiao Muyu pressed the stopwatch in her hand.

The monster’s hand froze just above Shen Qingqiu’s shoulder, its clawed fingertips a hair’s breadth from touching her clothes.

Su Jin and Zuo Tiantian stared wide-eyed, their hearts nearly stopping. Their mouths hung open, yet no sound came out, almost like someone had hit a mute button.

Xiao Muyu watched, her face white as a sheet, her heart pounding in her throat. Meanwhile, Shen Qingqiu’s expression hardened. She pulled out her dagger and slashed hard at the zombie’s arm, right along the car roof.

She immediately felt that this zombie’s body was significantly tougher than that of the ones before. Gritting her teeth, she added her other hand for leverage and gave a forceful pull, cutting through the arm.

Thankfully, the zombie’s blood had already clotted, preventing any gory spray that would’ve coated the entire car. Xiao Muyu quickly took off her coat, wrapped the severed limb, and threw it out the window.

“Buckle your seatbelt!” Xiao Muyu called out to Shen Qingqiu. But instead, Shen Qingqiu opened the car door. Everything—the car, people, and the zombie—was frozen in time for ten seconds.

Taking advantage of the stillness, she drove her dagger straight into the zombie’s head.

But time was limited, and she had to return to the driver’s seat to regain control of the car. She had barely sat down when the time stop ended, and the car lurched back into motion.

Shen Qingqiu slammed her foot on the gas pedal, and the car shot forward like a ferocious tiger. The next moment, she pulled off a sharp drift. The zombie’s claws, sharp as blades, gouged four deep scratches into the side of the vehicle before it was flung off.

In the rearview mirror, Shen Qingqiu saw the zombie crash onto the asphalt. It twitched a few times but didn’t get back up.

Even though the three people in the back had been prepared and holding onto the handles, the sudden return to motion still sent them crashing into each other, dizzy and disoriented.

At the same time, the screams Su Jin and Zuo Tiantian had been holding in during the ten-second freeze burst out.

“Vice-Leader!”

“I—I’m fine,” Shen Qingqiu replied. Seeing that she was okay, Su Jin exhaled a trembling breath of relief.

And upon realizing Xiao Muyu had activated the card, she clutched her chest, crying tears of joy. “Thank heavens the cards work now!”

Xiao Muyu just stared blankly at Shen Qingqiu. Shen Qingqiu couldn’t see her expression through the rearview mirror, but she knew she had scared her.

“Muyu reacted quickly. I’m fine,” Shen Qingqiu said, unsure what else to say, hoping her words might offer comfort.

Although the immediate danger seemed to have passed, no one knew what might happen next. There was no time for discussion. Shen Qingqiu pressed on the gas, and the car shot forward like an arrow.

Chen Kaijie, decisive as ever, had already sped ahead earlier. Seeing that they were safe, he didn’t slow down. The two vehicles raced along the road, fleeing the scene.

Once she stabilized herself, Xiao Muyu finally collapsed onto the back seat, closing her eyes to calm her frantic heartbeat.

The system made announcements again.

“Congratulations to Team Lin Shuang for being the second to regroup. +15 points, with 5 points deducted to supply Team Xiao Muyu.

“Congratulations to Team Jiang Wei for being the third to regroup. +10 points, with 5 points deducted to supply Team Xiao Muyu.

“All teams have now regrouped. Please follow the rules carefully and do not test the system’s limits.”

The five members of Team Xiao Muyu looked at each other in confusion. What did that mean? Why were they being given 5 points from each team? Had the system suddenly developed a conscience?

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Author had something to say:

Guess why they were given extra points.