Apocalypse Escape: Day One of Survival

What could Zhuang Lei possibly say? He was about to explode with rage.

He had already lost all face; he had to salvage his pride.

So there was no way he was going to say anything nice to make them stay!

’The Earth is a big place. As if anyone couldn’t survive without anyone else. What a joke.’

"Zhuang Jia, give them their things."

"Bro!" Zhuang Jia stomped her foot in frustration.

’These were two teammates on the verge of becoming Second Order Superpower Users!’

’And her brother was just letting them go without even batting an eye?’

’The team had suffered such a huge loss in a single day, and it was all that damn Xu Yu’s fault.’

Zhuang Jia turned and shot Xu Yu a hateful glare.

’This damned Holy Mother... Forget the other teammates; even she and her husband were at their wits’ end with her.’

’How could she still be so naive at a time like this, causing trouble for the team all day long!’

’And her brother was a real moron, being so devoted to such a fake, pretentious woman.’

Zhuang Jia was furious, but under Zhuang Lei’s threatening glare, she reluctantly took out two bags. Still, she couldn’t help but try to persuade them. "Ah Liang, Da Xiong, you should really think this through."

"If you stay with our team, we all know each other well. It makes coordinating in battle much easier, right? It won’t be the same if you go somewhere else."

"Thanks." But Ah Liang and Da Xiong had already made up their minds. Seeing Captain Zhuang and the Holy Mother, Xu Yu, looking at them like they were traitors only made them want to leave sooner.

’They’d already burned that bridge; there was no going back.’

’Just as Captain Xie said, there’s nothing wrong with aiming higher. The smart thing to do was to find a reliable captain sooner rather than later.’

Xie Ning was delighted. She was even happier about finding two good teammates for her captain than she was about collecting supplies.

In her past life, Ah Liang and Da Xiong had been royally screwed over by Xu Yu. Despite becoming Third-stage Superpower Users, they never had enough to eat or warm clothes to wear, and their Contribution Points were pitifully low.

Xu Yu would take her teammates’ supplies and hand them out everywhere to maintain her reputation as the base’s number one Holy Mother.

Whenever Xu Yu went out, people young and old would practically fall over themselves to worship her.

Everywhere she went, she was a beacon of light—a sacred, white light, radiating an air of untouchable superiority.

Xie Ning felt a chill run down her spine and instinctively shrank back.

’She didn’t actually have a problem with Holy Mothers, but shouldn’t they burn themselves to light up the Earth?’

’Using the supplies her teammates risked their lives to get just to play the philanthropist... That was just unacceptable.’

"Ah Liang, Da Xiong, let’s go!" Xie Ning called out to them with a wide grin. "Come back to the base with me. I’ll introduce you to a really reliable captain."

"Thank you, Captain Xie." Ah Liang and Da Xiong had no reason to be suspicious.

’If this powerhouse wanted to harm them, she could do it anytime, anywhere. There was no need to invent a lie to trick them.’

Wang Zongxuan hopped into the small truck and started the engine.

Li Dawei hurried forward, rubbing his hands together as he looked at Xie Ning. "Xie Ning, we had a deal!"

Xie Ning gave him a deadpan look. "After we get back and tally everything, you’ll get thirty percent!"

"What? Didn’t we agree on forty percent earlier? How can you just go back on your word like that!" Li Xiang yelled angrily from behind her brother.

Xie Ning raised her fist. "I’m the one who beat Yan Zhong and captured Lin Yiyi. I’m the one who forced them to reveal the truck’s location! If you don’t want it, then..."

"We’re willing, we’re willing, we’re willing! We’re willing!" Li Dawei blurted out before she could finish, rattling off a dozen agreements.

Everyone: "..."

"Xie Ning, it’s settled then! Thirty percent it is! You can’t go back on your word again." Li Dawei pulled his sister back seven or eight steps. "Let me tell you, integrity is what matters most in a person!"

"This won’t be our last deal, you know!"

Xie Ning gave him a huge eye-roll.

"Xie Ning, we’ll come find you for some water when we get back to the base! I’m telling you, Young Master Zhong from our team awakened the Wood Element. We’ll trade you some baby bok choy for water later! We go way back, so you have to give us a discount. Tell Aunt Song to give us some extra water!"

Xie Ning glanced at the stone-faced, expressionless Zhong Shichong, then turned and walked away.

’For some reason, every time she saw Li Dawei’s face, she just wanted to punch it!’

"Xie Ning, why are you walking so fast? Last time, Grandma Song said that if I learned how to cook, Aunt Song would give us five liters of water for free. That still counts, right? I’m telling you, I learned how to cook! I really learned!!"

Everyone: "..."

’Where did this moron come from? Who needs to *learn* how to cook rice?’

"I used an earth stove to cook a pot of rice, and my brother even said it smelled amazing. A promise is a promise! You have to give us that extra five liters of water later."

Xie Ning slammed the car door with a BANG, her face sour.

Song Youxuan suppressed a laugh. "Ningning, Li Dawei and his sister used to be the type who’d never lifted a finger in their lives. This is some progress, at least."

Xie Ning pursed her lips and snorted.

Song Youzhi drove the pickup truck over to load the goods, but ended up with nothing to show for it, driving the empty pickup all the way back to the base.

He kept muttering to Housekeeper Youen about what a waste of gas it was.

But with the Fierce Tiger Squad and Swift Leopard Team following behind them, there were too many prying eyes. Xie Ning obviously couldn’t just recall the pickup truck into her Space.

The four men—Yan Zhong, Zhao Jian, and the other two—were tied up along with Lin Yiyi and thrown onto the truck Li Dawei had driven over.

Once they returned to the base, they would supposedly be thrown into the base prison to be dealt with.

But Xie Ning... had no intention of letting them live long enough to see the inside of that prison.

’They were now sworn enemies. If she didn’t deal with them, was she supposed to just wait for them to recover and retaliate?’

Xie Ning narrowed her eyes slightly. A wisp of solidified spiritual power twisted into a cord and shot outwards in an instant.

In the second row, Cres abruptly sat bolt upright. He whipped his head around and glared at Xie Ning.

’This woman is courting death, using her Third-stage Spiritual Ability ahead of schedule again.’

’Why the hell is she projecting her spiritual power? Is she trying to get herself killed?’

But right now, Cres couldn’t open his mouth to curse the damned woman.

After all, Xie Ning was in a state of deep concentration. Deliberately disturbing her would only get her hurt.

Not only could he not disturb her, but Cres also had to release a Spirit Barrier to protect her.

No one else in the minivan felt the fluctuation of spiritual power.

But on Li Dawei’s truck, Yan Zhong and the others, who had been hanging their heads in dejection, suddenly shot their eyes wide open.

Yan Zhong thrashed violently, his body snapping upright as if performing a kip-up.

"Ah!" Lin Yiyi, huddled in a corner of the truck, trembled in fear as she watched the four shirtless men’s sudden, bizarre movements.

THUD! Yan Zhong was the first to leap from the truck.

Zhao Jian and the other two immediately followed suit, jumping down as well.

Zhuang Lei, driving the large truck behind them, had no idea the four men would make a death-defying leap from the vehicle to escape.

He couldn’t brake in time, and the front wheels rolled right over the pile of their bodies.

Huddled in the corner of the truck, Lin Yiyi clawed desperately at the air and shrieked, "It’s a Spiritual Ability User! A Spiritual Ability User is attacking us!"

A trickle of blood oozed from the corner of her mouth, and her pupils were dilated and unfocused.

As she lifted a hand, the large black dog lying beside her abruptly sprang to its feet, letting out a furious "WOOF, WOOF, WOOF!"