Life-and-Death Sprint

Amid the crowd, the girl in black fell to the ground. The woman behind her froze for a moment and was about to help her up, but then seemed to remember something. She staggered back in panic and screamed, "Help! Police! Police! Someone's mutating!"

In just a second, the crowded mass of people opened up an empty space around her.

Two armed soldiers rushed over, their gun barrels aimed at Ye Zhao.

When Ye Zhao snapped out of her fear, she found herself facing the panicked crowd and two dark gun barrels.

Ye Zhao: ...

She immediately raised her hands. "Don't shoot! I haven't mutated!"

"My legs just went weak. It's not mutation!"

Seeing that she spoke clearly, that her pale cheeks were covered in tears, and that her black eyes were bright and clear—none of which were signs of mutation—the two soldiers lowered their guns and reassured her, "Don't be afraid. You're safe now."

Ye Zhao wanted to believe them too, but unfortunately, she had a Golden Finger that allowed her to see the future.

She struggled to her feet and instinctively glanced around. The people nearby still looked at her with wariness and suspicion, but they were no longer as terrified as before. The woman who had screamed behind her earlier even stepped forward to help her up.

"Miss, I'm sorry. When I saw you fall, I thought you were mutating."

"...It's fine. Being cautious is the right thing to do." Ye Zhao spoke absentmindedly as her mind raced through the calculations. There were still roughly a dozen people ahead of her in line. At most, it would take thirty minutes before it was her turn. In other words, thirty minutes from now, this city would become a field of ruins!

Thirty minutes. What could she do?

She could do nothing. She did not even have time to convince the people in charge of the shelter that City X would be destroyed in half an hour!

She dared not spread the news either. There were so many soldiers here, and she could not beat a single one of them. She was afraid they would detain her for a series of interrogations and verification, and then she would perish with them...

There was no time.

There was no time left!

Ye Zhao took out a pen and paper from her backpack, quickly wrote a few words, then crumpled the paper into a ball and clenched it in her palm.

She slung her backpack over her shoulders and tried to leave, but the woman beside her grabbed her again. "Miss, where are you going? Want me to save your place in line?"

Ye Zhao looked at her. The woman could not make out the emotion in her tear-filled eyes and assumed she was simply afraid. Just as she was about to offer a few more words of comfort, Ye Zhao stuffed the paper ball into her hand. "Open it after I leave. Once you've read it, you can give it to the soldiers over there."

With that, she pushed the woman away and hurried outside.

The woman watched her in confusion, wanting to say something, but Ye Zhao gave her no chance to speak and strode away.

This was already the limit of what Ye Zhao could do.

She wiped the tears from her face. It was not that she wanted to cry; it was simply an involuntary reaction to fear. Zombies had not made her cry, and neither had killing people, but now she could not stop the tears no matter what she did.

Ye Zhao swiftly crossed three layers of barbed wire while calculating her Creation Points. She currently had 335 Creation Points. She used them to create thirty-three Speed +1 rings, then combined thirty of them into three Speed +10 rings and put them on her fingers. That brought her total speed to 47.

When her speed had been increased by 14 points before, Ye Zhao had already felt as light as a swallow when she ran. She had no idea how fast 47 points of speed would make her, but it was her only means of escape right now!

Just as she was about to pass through the final layer of barbed wire, a voice called out behind her, "The one in black, stop her!"

Hearing that, Ye Zhao did not dare hesitate. She took off running. No longer concealing herself, she used nearly all her strength and shot forward like an arrow loosed from a bow!

The people chasing after her froze. The girl who had just been nearby had already vanished, leaving behind only an afterimage.

"...Why is she running?"

"How is she so fast?"

"Did she awaken a speed ability?"

"Where is she going? Isn't this supposed to be the Safe Zone?"

A soldier in camouflage held a crumpled note in his hand. Seven words were written clearly on it: City X, nuclear bomb, total annihilation, evacuate!

His companion took the note and glanced at it. "What does this mean?"

"Don't know."

"Could it mean City X is about to be hit by a nuclear bomb? City X may have fallen, but there are at least a million survivors in the city. Who would give such an inhumane order?"

"Should we report it?"

"Report what? It's obviously fake. She's deliberately stirring up panic and trying to turn the public against the Military! Damn running dogs, still trying to cause trouble at a time like this!"

"Not necessarily. Wasn't that girl an ability user? What if she was telling the truth? The X Virus is so dangerous, after all..."

"Have you forgotten? There are other countries too."

Right. They might not bear to do it to their own people, but what about outsiders?

The group exchanged thoughtful looks, then all shuddered at once.

Ye Zhao was fast. She was now faster than ordinary electric scooters and motorcycles, which was far better than she had expected. Most vehicles were heading toward the airport, after all. If she drove out, she might get stuck in traffic within two meters and be trapped there for two hours.

She ran at full speed without daring to stop or look back. She was afraid that even one second of delay would mean death.

All she could do was run for her life, away from City X—as far away as possible!

The wind howled past her ears. She did not know how long she had been running, but her head was spinning and her heart felt like it was about to burst from her chest.

Only when she could no longer see the towering barbed-wire fence erected across the main road in the distance, nor the camouflage-clad soldiers with guns behind it, did she slow down.

The road was packed with people and cars. They all wanted to leave City X, but the tall barbed-wire fence blocked their way.

A crowd surrounded the road, protesting. "Why won't you let us through?"

"It's illegal to restrict our personal freedom!"

"Let us through! I'll sue you!"

"I recorded everything! I'm putting it online so everyone can see how the people's soldiers we support are treating us!"

"..."

Whether it was elderly women rolling on the ground and wailing, children crying out in terror, or even pregnant women screaming that they were about to give birth, none of it could make those iron gates open.

Ye Zhao heard the protests from far away. Her body of flesh and blood could not contend with barbed wire no matter how fast she was, and she was also afraid of being pierced by bullets. She immediately changed direction, jumped off the road, and ran along the fence until she reached the area with the fewest guards.

[Create Grenade*, Creation Points consumed: 1.]

A grenade appeared in Ye Zhao's hand. She pulled the pin and hurled it at the barbed-wire fence.

With a thunderous boom, a hole was blasted through the fence.

Ye Zhao immediately slipped through it and took off running again.

Several soldiers heard the commotion and chased after her. Seeing the black figure already disappear into the distance, they fired two shots. They missed. The men cried out in alarm, "What was that? A mutated zombie?"

"Impossible. Would zombies be smart enough to throw grenades?"

"Damn it, chase her! Whatever that thing is, it can't be allowed to leave City X!"

"Careful! Call someone over to patch up this section of fence!"

Ye Zhao ran onto the road. It seemed the road had been blocked off, and there was not a single car in sight. She immediately spent one Creation Point to create a sports car, floored it, and sped away!

Leave City X—as far away as possible!

Yet only moments later, she suddenly heard a massive boom behind her. Then Ye Zhao felt an enormous shockwave rush toward her from behind. The car was sent flying, and she was hurled far away with it by the blast, crashing heavily into a roadside field. Her vision darkened. She struggled to stay conscious, but in the end, her eyes closed and she passed out.