Chapter 51

Chapter 51: Wanting to Go to the Base

Upon hearing his words, the group turned their heads to look toward the entrance.

Peering through the narrow gaps in the mud-splattered glass door, they saw a massive zombie wave suddenly appear on the street outside!

The tide of corpses was moving toward the direction where the drone’s broadcast echoed repeatedly. The broadcast seemed deliberate, moving very slowly as if leading the zombies away.

Qin Xi creased her brows.

All of this was far too different.

In her past life at this time, the city was in total chaos; setting aside rescuing survivors to found a base, even the authorities couldn’t even take care of themselves.

It wasn’t until half a year into the apocalypse that the first somewhat formal base appeared in neighboring Haicheng!

Yet in this life, a base had been established so quickly—who had become the variable responsible for this?

Qin Xi felt that what she and Qin Song had done up until now wasn’t enough to trigger a shift in the world line. Original translation by Lhaozi, read at lhaozitranslation.com

Could it be that someone else had also been reborn?

Was it Jiang Yaoyao, whom they hadn’t found yet? Or was it that guy stocking up on supplies whom the snack shop owner had mentioned back when she was hoarding resources?

Curly hair? Could it be the guy who sat next to her on the high-speed train?

Unable to come up with an answer, a sudden wave of anxiety toward the unknown surged in Qin Xi’s heart.

The light before her suddenly went dark, snapping her back to reality.

Looking up, she saw Qin Song using metal plates to seal the interior of the glass door, shutting out the view from outside.

The pharmacy had two floors in total, but only the first floor was utilized, with the second-floor stairwell sealed off by wooden boards.

Lin Xin broke through the wooden boards, and the group headed upstairs. Original translation by Lhaozi, read at lhaozitranslation.com

Because it was sealed off by wooden boards, not much water should have entered the second floor; while there wasn’t much mud on the floor, it was still thoroughly damp.

Qin Xi pulled out a sofa, then walked over to the second-floor window to look outside.

The zombie army was still marching on, showing no signs of thinning out.

From time to time, figures could be seen falling abruptly from the opposite building—unclear whether they were people jumping out in sheer despair, or zombies excitedly leaping off upon hearing the broadcast!

Qin Xi walked back to sit down beside the sofa, pulled out two bottles of water, and asked the other three if they wanted any.

Only Lin Xin took one.

With the five sitting indoors, the atmosphere gradually settled into silence.

Until Qin Song spoke up out of nowhere: Original translation by Lhaozi, read at lhaozitranslation.com

“Now that a base has appeared, what are the three of you planning to do?”

The moment he spoke, all three turned their heads to look over simultaneously.

After a brief moment of silence inside the room, Bai Hanyue spoke first:

“I want to go to the base.“

With more people at the base, it would generally be safer.

Lin Xin nodded as well:

“I think so too.”

Li Zekai, however, pushed up his glasses, remaining silent for a few seconds before speaking: Original translation by Lhaozi, read at lhaozitranslation.com

“I do want to go to the base, but… right now the base has just been established, and the specific situation is still unclear. I want to wait and see a bit more.”

Listening to him, Qin Xi raised an eyebrow; as expected of a research scientist, very rigorous.

Hearing Li Zekai’s words, Bai Hanyue and Lin Xin immediately began to hesitate as well, until Lin Xin finally spoke up:

“Th-Then I’ll wait and see a bit too!”

“Alright.” Qin Song walked over to sit down beside Qin Xi, taking the remaining half-bottle of water from her hand:

“Then over these next two days, take advantage of the time to collect more supplies you need.”

Hearing this, the three exchanged glances and nodded.

Qin Song watched them as he finished the remaining half-bottle of water Qin Xi had left. Original translation by Lhaozi, read at lhaozitranslation.com

Qin Xi sat quietly off to the side, watching the man swallow the last gulp of water. Her fingertips twitched slightly as she averted her line of sight.

The commotion on the street had gradually quieted down, and it was only midday. Qin Xi pulled out a few pieces of bread and milk; after the group finished eating, they got up and headed downstairs.

Stepping out of the pharmacy, the street outside was noticeably quieter. The faint rot and stench of corpses floated in the air, and the mud on the ground—having been trampled over by the horde of corpses—looked far more chaotic, yet the horde had carried away a considerable amount of the mud, making it somewhat easier to walk than before.

Following the shopfronts outside the complex toward the south, the group casually cleared out the supplies inside a snack shop and a small supermarket, though not much else remained.

This residential complex was close to the outer ring road with few shopfronts, so they had to head south.

The city center lay to the south; the closer they got to the city center, the more shopfronts there were, and the more supplies they could find.

Perhaps because the zombies had been drawn away, they encountered very few zombies along the way. Instead, because the zombies were drawn off, living survivors began appearing on the main roads!

Upon spotting Qin Xi’s group, some immediately hid far away in guard. Original translation by Lhaozi, read at lhaozitranslation.com

Others, however, were pleasantly surprised to find other survivors and immediately wanted to join up; noticing this, the group quickly sped up to dodge them.

By dusk, the five had walked and stopped repeatedly, covering a distance of two li [1].

Along the way, they cleared out four more supermarkets, three pharmacies, two individual clothing stores, and a knitwear clothing store.

The knitwear clothing store sold items like underwear, pajamas, socks, and gloves, alongside some short-sleeved shirts, loose trousers, sun-protective clothing, and shoes suitable for older people.

The previous individual clothing stores only carried women’s wear, so the guys hadn’t found many clothes.

In contrast, inside this knitwear store, there were around thirty pieces of men’s clothing—though mostly elderly-style short-sleeved shirts, trousers, and camouflage outfits, it was far better than nothing!

They did find quite a few pairs of shoes, though—a total of around forty pairs in suitable sizes.

Qin Xi collected all these clothes and shoes into her space, leaving behind the shoes in mismatched sizes. Original translation by Lhaozi, read at lhaozitranslation.com

By the time they stepped out of the knitwear store, dusk had settled.

Dead silence lay over the street. The evening glow on the horizon was like fire—looking exceptionally gorgeous, yet filling one with unease.

For night resting, Qin Xi went directly into the residential complex behind them, choosing a building right near the entrance and entering a second-floor home.

Lin Xin was somewhat puzzled:

“Why don’t we stay in the shopfronts outside?”

Hearing this, Qin Xi cast him a light glance:

“I need crystal cores. Now that the zombies outside have been drawn away by the drone, we can only go inside residential complexes to search floor by floor.”

Lin Xin froze on the spot instantly. Original translation by Lhaozi, read at lhaozitranslation.com

Right—having the drone draw so many zombies away was indeed a good thing.

However, for those of them who had already awakened supernatural abilities, wanting to upgrade would be considerably more troublesome!

Just as the two were talking, Li Zekai suddenly raised his voice to interrupt their conversation:

“Wait a moment—don’t talk first!”

The moment he spoke, everyone in the room ceased their movements, looking over to see him creasing his brows tightly, standing in place as if listening intently to something.

Qin Xi and Qin Song exchanged a glance. Right at that moment, a series of muffled thud-thud sounds suddenly entered Qin Xi’s ears!

The noise was very distant, appearing to originate from the north, and continued without pause.

Her eyes turned sharp: “It’s an explosion!” Original translation by Lhaozi, read at lhaozitranslation.com

Bai Hanyue immediately grew uneasy:

“An explosion? At a time like this, how could there be an explosion?”

Qin Song walked up to Qin Xi’s side, placing his left hand gently against her tense spine and patting it softly:

“It’s possible that somewhere in the city, zombies accidentally tripped something—though at this distance, it sounds more like it came from outside the city.”

Qin Xi’s brows knitted tightly, her head snapping up to look at Qin Song:

“Big Brother… are you saying they blew up the zombie horde?”

• Li (里): A traditional Chinese unit of distance. 2 li equals 1 kilometer (approx. 0.62 miles).