Chapter 50

Chapter 50: Base

“This will be the norm from now on—you need to get used to it as quickly as possible.”

Qin Xi patted Bai Hanyue’s shoulder, turning around to walk toward the sofa.

For breakfast, Qin Xi and Qin Song ate wontons and soy milk.

Bai Hanyue and the other two, on the other hand, each ate some instant noodles, bread, biscuits, and the like scavenged from the villagers’ homes.

They didn’t have many crystal cores in hand and couldn’t afford to buy food from Qin Xi for every single meal.

While eating, Qin Xi shared today’s plan with the group:

“The floodwaters have just receded, and driving isn’t easy, so we can’t go anywhere too far today. There’s a larger supermarket outside the residential complex, as well as a pharmacy. Although both were soaked by the rainstorm, those packaged foods and daily necessities are still usable. We’ll collect the medicines from the pharmacy and split them fifty-fifty; as for the items in the supermarket, we won’t take any—you guys collect and divide them amongst yourselves. Is that fine with everyone?”

Qin Xi laid out the terms clearly in advance to avoid disputes later on.

Bai Hanyue and the others naturally had no objections. Qin Xi and Qin Song’s willingness to lead them along was already something they felt deeply grateful for. Original translation by Lhaozi, read at lhaozitranslation.com

Otherwise, given the situation outside, they wouldn’t even dare to entertain the thought of going out!

The shocking manner of that person’s death this morning had brought far too huge an impact!

Half an hour later, the group packed their belongings, putting on masks and wind-proof goggles purchased from Qin Xi using crystal cores.

Qin Xi and Qin Song also changed into specially made lightweight rain boots. Once fully gear-equipped, they opened the second-floor window.

The floodwaters on the first floor hadn’t drained away completely, and no one wanted to wade through the muck. Thus, they dropped a rope out through the second floor, intending to utilize the rope to jump down.

Qin Song went down first, followed by Qin Xi.

The three behind lowered themselves sequentially.

Outside the community hospital building, there were temporarily no zombies in sight. Disorganized footprints were scattered across the ground, left behind by that horde of zombies and that person earlier this morning. Original translation by Lhaozi, read at lhaozitranslation.com

Right now, no one knew where those zombies had wandered off to!

The group stepped into a knee-deep layer of foul mud—slick and sticky against their boots—moving carefully toward the exterior of the residential complex.

The complex was dead quiet, making the sound of their squelching footsteps in the mud sound extraordinarily distinct!

Qin Xi held the System-issued Standard Machete in her grip, sensing the increasing number of watchful eyes watching from the upper floors on both sides overhead.

Right at that moment, Lin Xin—who was walking at the back—suddenly let out a startled cry:

“Holy crap, what is that?! Hey… holy crap crap crap!!!”

The several people in front turned their heads immediately, seeing Lin Xin look down at his feet with a face full of horror, while frantically hacking his Standard Machete downward toward his feet!

The blade was swung so fast it created afterimages! Original translation by Lhaozi, read at lhaozitranslation.com

Looking closely, they saw that beside his feet, behind a mud-colored bush, a zombie lying flat on the ground had appeared at some unknown point. The zombie’s head had already been hacked to pulp by him, yet its hand still gripped Lin Xin’s ankle with a death grip!

This sudden grab made the fine hair all over his body stand up on end.

Lin Xin lost count of how many times he hacked down. Stopping his movements, he hurriedly hopped around on trembling legs to shake off the zombie’s hand, stepping back a huge stride before catching his breath!

He couldn’t hold back a mumble:

“Scared the life out of me! Scared the life out of me! I thought I got bitten!”

Rubbing his arms vigorously for a long moment, he finally relieved the chilling sensation across his body. He then poked around inside the zombie’s head using the tip of his blade, turning up a Tier-1 crystal core.

Qin Xi looked over with a soft laugh:

“Not bad—this scare wasn’t in vain!” Original translation by Lhaozi, read at lhaozitranslation.com

Lin Xin pulled a miserable face instantly:

“Then I’d rather pass on this kind of scare!”

Right at that moment, Qin Song—standing ahead of Qin Xi—suddenly spoke up, interrupting their conversation:

“Zombies are heading over. Everyone focus your attention!”

Qin Xi turned her head immediately, and the three behind tensed up right away as well!

In truth, Lin Xin’s initial shout hadn’t been very loud, but the noise from hacking the zombie hadn’t been small at all—especially under these open residential buildings, it even carried an echo.

The number of shuffling zombies walking out gradually increased. Qin Song pointed toward a small gate ahead:

“We’ll exit through the small gate. Clear out as many zombies as possible—don’t let ourselves get trapped inside!” Original translation by Lhaozi, read at lhaozitranslation.com

Everyone’s spirits jolted as they raised their weapons one after another.

Qin Xi tightened her grip on the Standard Machete in her hand. The number of zombies in the complex was still large; although their levels weren’t high, if they got surrounded, it would still be extremely dangerous!

Qin Song had already extended metallic wires toward several zombies ahead. The wires wrapped directly around the zombies’ necks, raising their tips to pierce straight into their skulls in an instant, before snaking back out with the crystal cores—a clean, crisp execution!

Qin Xi’s movements were not a bit slower either. She charged straight toward the approaching zombies, dispatching them essentially one slash per target—fast, precise, and ruthless.

The other three were not to be outdone either. Lin Xin had learned to use his ice supernatural ability to trip up zombies; since the ice blocks he could currently channel were small, he simply cast ice right at the tips of the zombies’ toes and soles.

Once a zombie’s feet froze over, causing it to stumble as it tried to push forward, he would seize the chaos to swing his Standard Machete down!

Meanwhile, Bai Hanyue and Li Zekai stood back-to-back, covering each other while their movements for killing zombies grew increasingly proficient!

Fighting while pushing forward, every time the group cleared out a section of space, they quickly retreated toward the direction of the side gate, ensuring a patch of clear space was always maintained around them! Original translation by Lhaozi, read at lhaozitranslation.com

Before long, the group exited the residential complex. Qin Song casually pulled the iron gate shut behind them, sealing it tight using his metallic ability.

The zombies blocked by the gate pressed against the gap, reaching out toward the group with faces full of craving, only to be dispatched one slash per target by Qin Xi.

[Ding… Successfully killed zombie ×19. Total zombies killed: 36.]

Listening to the mechanical voice in her mind, Qin Xi followed behind Qin Song toward the direction of the supermarket without looking back.

Outside the complex lay the main road. Because it was located at the edge of the urban area, the environment here was exceptionally wide and open.

The road was currently covered in silt, showing deep footprints pressed into the surface—unclear whether zombies had passed through or other survivors had come out!

Right now, however, not a single human figure was on the street.

This proved quite convenient for Qin Xi and her group. Original translation by Lhaozi, read at lhaozitranslation.com

Following the shopfronts outside the complex, the group quickly arrived outside the supermarket entrance.

As usual, Qin Song opened the main door using his ability. The group slipped inside rapidly, and Qin Song locked the door tight from the inside.

The goods inside the supermarket didn’t even require inspection.

Qin Xi simply walked back and forth, packing all packaged food—aside from fresh produce, unsealed rice, flour, grains, and drinks—straight into her spatial dimension.

She then swept over to the adjacent pharmacy, collecting all the medicines in full.

Just as the group prepared to step out of the pharmacy, a massive rumbling sound suddenly echoed outside.

Lin Xin quickly ran to the doorway, pressing against the glass door to look outside.

Before long, a black drone could be seen flying slowly through the airspace above the street. As the drone passed over, a loud broadcast chimed out: Original translation by Lhaozi, read at lhaozitranslation.com

“Ping’an Base has begun accepting survivors starting today. The base is located at the City North New District No. 3 Middle School. The base has food reserves and fresh water. Daily survivor reception points are established at the West District Jinda Shopping Mall, North District Library, and South District Science Museum. Any survivors present may head to the reception points independently, where staff will escort everyone to the base…”

A base?

Qin Xi was startled, raising her head to exchange glances with Qin Song.

What was going on? In this life, a base was actually established this quickly?

Right at that moment, Lin Xin—who was leaning against the door looking outside—suddenly shivered, quickly pulling back from the door and stumbling backward toward the group.

He looked outside the door in panic:

“Outside… so, so many zombies!”