Chapter 42

Chapter 42: Mystery Instills Awe

Lin Xin and Bai Hanyue looked at the corpses of their several neighbors who had turned into zombies, feeling a trace of sorrow.

Yet it was nothing more than that.

Right now, they couldn’t even guarantee how long they themselves could survive.

The off-road SUV drove slowly down the mountain, finally coming to a stop at the end of the long slope.

The city down below was already engulfed by accumulated floodwaters, looking like a city built upon water!

Stepping out of the car, Li Zekai looked down at the waves tumbling beneath his feet, his eyes wide:

“The water is so deep—how are we supposed to get inside?”

As his words fell, however, he merely felt a sudden shadow flash past his eyes, and the water beneath his feet exploded into a splash of foam!

Before he could even react, a black assault speedboats materialized right there, out of thin air, in the floodwater before him! Original translation by Lhaozi, read at lhaozitranslation.com

Startled, his eyes bulged wide in an instant. Pointing a trembling finger at the assault speedboat, he stammered:

“Y-You… this…”

He looked at Qin Xi, then back at the assault speedboat.

The corners of Qin Xi’s lips curved slightly.

Beside her, Qin Song had already leaped onto the assault speedboat, extending a hand toward her.

Qin Xi reached out to place her hand in his. With a firm tug, Qin Song pulled her right up.

Qin Xi didn’t explain why her spatial dimension still had an assault speedboat.

She felt there was no need to. Original translation by Lhaozi, read at lhaozitranslation.com

Besides, keeping a bit of mystery instills awe in others.

The three behind them hurriedly boarded the assault speedboat as well.

A minute later, the roar of an engine echoed across the quiet water surface. Across the yellow mud-tinted water, the assault speedboat glided rapidly toward the city center.

Qin Xi planned to head to the Municipal Museum first to complete the task of collecting ancient cultural artifacts.

After that, she would head to a community hospital near the museum to gather some medicines and medical equipment.

She had purchased some medicines when stocking up prior to the apocalypse, but not much.

By now, the intensity of the rain had diminished significantly, to the point where the sound of rainfall was barely audible.

The group sat inside the boat cabin, looking out at the chaotic world amidst the flowing water. Original translation by Lhaozi, read at lhaozitranslation.com

Because the rain had lightened, the water level had begun to recede, standing at roughly the height of the fourth floor right now.

Plenty of trash and obstacles floated across the water surface, with corpses and severed limbs occasionally swept past by the current.

For now, there was no need to fear zombies appearing.

Because aside from the zombies trapped inside houses, the zombies outside were all trapped underwater.

They could walk along the riverbed underwater, but they couldn’t swim and had no way of floating up to the surface.

The only threats were mutated birds that might appear overhead… and living humans.

Fortunately, the journey went very smoothly.

The assault speedboat came to a halt outside the third-floor window of the museum. Original translation by Lhaozi, read at lhaozitranslation.com

The height happened to reach the position of the window frame.

Taking a crowbar from Qin Xi’s hand, Qin Song raised it and brought it down hard on the lower-left corner of the glass window.

With a sharp clatter, the window shattered into fragments in an instant.

He used the crowbar to sweep away the broken glass along the frame before vaulting inside.

Two seconds after entering, he leaned out of the window frame, waving at the group:

“Come on in!”

Lin Xin, Bai Hanyue, and Li Zekai went inside first.

Qin Xi climbed up to the window frame from behind, turned back to store the assault speedboat away first, and then jumped inside. Original translation by Lhaozi, read at lhaozitranslation.com

The lighting inside the museum was very dim, carrying a touch of chilly dampness.

The spot where the group entered wasn’t an exhibition hall, but the corridor outside the halls.

This was the third floor. Qin Xi recalled from past visits that the four exhibition halls on this floor displayed cultural artifacts ranging from the Sui Dynasty through the Song Dynasty.

The number of artifacts was quite large, though she wasn’t sure if it would reach five hundred items.

The doors to several exhibition halls were secured with locks.

The metal locks were easily opened by Qin Song.

Once inside, he unlocked and opened every single display case one by one, while Qin Xi followed behind to collect them into her space.

Bai Hanyue and the other two followed behind, feeling somewhat bored. Original translation by Lhaozi, read at lhaozitranslation.com

They weren’t clear what use Qin Xi had for collecting these things.

As a high-level intellectual holding fast to being a law-abiding citizen, Li Zekai asked Qin Xi:

“Qin Xi, these cultural artifacts belong to the state no matter how you look at it. Down the line, if the government reorganizes, they’ll probably come to collect them too, right?”

Hearing this, Qin Xi turned her head to look at him with an amused smile:

“Are you trying to say I look a bit like a thief right now?”

Li Zekai let out an embarrassed smile, not knowing how to respond.

Qin Xi didn’t mind, nor did she pause her actions:

“You’re thinking too idealistically. By the time the authorities think to come for these things, they’ll likely have been picked clean piece by piece by scavengers, only to be thrown away somewhere when they fail to trade them for survival resources.” Original translation by Lhaozi, read at lhaozitranslation.com

“Being stored away by me right now, there might still be a day when they see the light of day again.”

After all, the items she absorbed into her system space would eventually materialize within it.

These cultural artifacts would surely be displayed in some form as well.

Furthermore, it suddenly struck her—she had never tested whether the plants and animals brought into the space as element points could be taken back out again!

If they could, then once things stabilized down the line, wouldn’t it be fine for her to take these artifacts back out and hand them over to the official base?

In any case, she held no personal interest in these items; leaving them in her space actually felt like a bit of a hindrance!

She planned to test it out when they took a rest later.

Hearing Qin Xi’s answer, Li Zekai actually found it quite logical as well. Original translation by Lhaozi, read at lhaozitranslation.com

Creasing his brows, he looked around the dimly lit exhibition hall, suddenly feeling a bit wistful:

“What you said makes sense too.”

Qin Xi hadn’t expected the task of collecting cultural artifacts to be completed so effortlessly.

She had forgotten that when the zombie outbreak erupted in the dead of night, there would be no people inside the museum.

After clearing out the exhibition halls on the third floor, she ran up to the fourth floor to clear out two more halls, finally amassing five hundred distinct varieties of cultural artifacts.

She immediately heard the system prompt chime inside her mind:

[Ding—Task: Collect 500 ancient cultural artifacts completed. Reward: 500 Points.]

500 Points! Original translation by Lhaozi, read at lhaozitranslation.com

Her spent Points had finally been earned back!

In a great mood, Qin Xi led the group downstairs, returning to the window opened earlier to exit through the window frame once more.

Boarding the assault speedboat, they steered in the direction of the community hospital.

The community hospital was located beside the property management building of a residential complex.

The complex occupied high ground, so the flood level was relatively manageable; compounded by the rapid decline of the water level right now, the flood only submerged up to roughly the second floor.

As the assault speedboat drove through the main entrance of the complex, the buzzing engine noise drew a commotion across the residential buildings.

Just as the assault speedboat came to a halt outside the window of the community hospital, a desperate, hopeful, and terrified shout suddenly erupted from behind them:

“Hey! Help! Help me! Save me! There are still people in this building!” Original translation by Lhaozi, read at lhaozitranslation.com

The group turned their heads to look, seeing a man at a fourth-floor window of the adjacent building just across a fence, frantically waving a piece of red cloth—unclear if it was a towel or something else—toward them in extreme agitation.

Qin Xi and Qin Song cast a single glance over, then withdrew their gazes.

Bringing these three along was to have people for night-watch rotation.

Their team didn’t need any more members!

Seeing Qin Xi and Qin Song turn to jump through the window frame, Bai Hanyue couldn’t help asking with some reluctance:

“Are we… not going to help him?”

Hearing this, Qin Xi’s movement to vault through the window paused. Squatting on the window sill, she tilted her head to look at the worried Bai Hanyue:

“How would we save him? Right now, there’s no official base to take him in. If we rescue him, he can only follow us—but are you willing to share your own food rations with him?” Original translation by Lhaozi, read at lhaozitranslation.com