Awakening

When Ye Zhao woke again, she had no idea how much time had passed. The silence was so complete that a pin drop would have been audible; there were no insects chirping or birds calling. It was pitch-black around her, and the sky was hazy, without even a trace of moonlight.

She was still trapped in the car, her head throbbing dully.

After resting for a while, she took out her phone from her storage with a thought.

There was still no signal.

Twelve hours had passed since her desperate race for survival.

Using her phone's light, she checked herself over. Fortunately, there had been no cars on the road, so the crash had not been too severe. The airbags had absorbed most of the impact. The shattered glass had left quite a few cuts on her body, but none were fatal.

The car door was jammed shut, and she could not open it at all.

Helpless, Ye Zhao summoned the Game Panel. She now had 800 Creation Points. She spent 200 points to create two Strength +1 Attribute Pages and used them.

A faint pearly-white glow entered her body. This time, Ye Zhao pushed the car door open with all her strength.

She practically crawled out of the car. Only then did she discover a shard of glass, about two fingers wide, embedded in her shoulder. The pain made her bare her teeth as she cursed under her breath. That damned Lord Ghost Messenger—could he have had a grudge against her in her past life and deliberately sought revenge?

Luckily, Ye Zhao had bought medicine for external injuries beforehand. She removed the glass, took saline from her storage to rinse and disinfect the wound, then applied Povidone-Iodine for local disinfection. After smearing on some Erythromycin ointment, she wrapped the wound in gauze. Finally, she took two Amoxicillin capsules and one Ibuprofen tablet.

Only after finishing all that did she let out a breath and slump onto the ground.

Her previous life had been tiring, but even all of it combined had not exhausted her as much as these past two days. She had thought she could just lie back and coast on her two million yuan. Heh.

Damn Survival Game, damn Lord Ghost Messenger, damn heavens!

Exhausted as she was, Ye Zhao did not forget that she was still unsafe. She did not dare rest. Struggling to her feet, she climbed back onto the road by the light of her phone's flashlight. The road was littered with rocks and vehicle wreckage. She glanced back once, then continued forward.

After navigating the chaotic, potholed road, the path ahead gradually became smoother. Ye Zhao spent 1 Creation Point to create a sedan, got inside, floored the accelerator, and sped away.

After driving for half an hour, Ye Zhao had not encountered a single person or car.

Could City X and the surrounding hundred-mile radius have been sealed off?

After all, City X now had not only the zombie virus, but nuclear radiation as well.

If it had been sealed off, could Ye Zhao still drive out openly? Or would they just gun her down?

Ten million people were gone already. One more would not matter.

Ye Zhao pulled out her phone and was surprised to discover that it had internet access now.

She slammed on the brakes and pulled the car beneath the shade of a tree before going online. She planned to check the latest news before deciding what to do next.

There was no way City X being flattened in an instant could have been covered up perfectly. The massive explosion and the mushroom cloud soaring into the sky had already caused an uproar.

The topic #WhatHappenedToCityX?# sat prominently at the top of every major social media platform.

[I've been out of contact with my parents for twenty-four hours. They didn't answer when I called before, and now their phones are completely off. Can someone tell me what happened?]

[I've heard every road into City X has been blocked off. No one is allowed in or out. They even evacuated a group of people earlier, so what exactly is happening over there?]

[My coworker went on a business trip to City X the day before yesterday, and now I've lost contact with him too. Are there any City X residents who can come forward and tell us what's going on?]

[All transportation to City X has been shut down. Cars and high-speed rail are suspended, and I've heard even planes have to take detours. Something is wrong with City X!]

[Yesterday's explosion was so loud! I heard it all the way in City Y. It scared my dog into running circles around the house. Did they blow something up in City X? Don't tell me it's aliens!]

[This is a photo my friend took at a highway entrance. It's my first time seeing so many armed police. There are even tanks. Could there really be zombies? I remember someone asking for help online before, saying there were zombies. Do you remember that man in the X University video who could shoot fireballs?]

[X University's official account already came out to debunk it as fake. Why do people still believe it? Hahaha, only idiots would believe there are superheroes in this world!]

[Have you noticed something terrifying? Something this huge happened in City X, and the internet is in such an uproar, but among all these comments, not a single IP address is from City X!]

[So what exactly happened to City X?]

[I have insider information. Don't worry about City X. You'd better worry more about yourselves. Something bad might be coming. Stock up on supplies at home while you can!]

[Hahaha, what could possibly happen? Which shady business is trying to stimulate consumption again? Stocking up on supplies? Don't tell me there really is a zombie virus!]

[...]

Ye Zhao scrolled through a mountain of comments. There were all kinds of speculation, but very little real information about City X. Most people had no idea that City X had fallen because of the zombie virus, much less that it had already become a wasteland!

Other than City X, everything was peaceful.

Was that the reason City X had been destroyed for humanitarian purposes?

As long as the virus in City X did not spread, the zombies in City X did not escape, and the rats and mosquitoes in City X did not fly out... the outside world would be safe.

Zombies could be quarantined, but mosquitoes, rats, and other pests could not be controlled. They could slip through anything, so the best solution was to wipe them all out at once...?

Ye Zhao sucked in a sharp breath. For a moment, she could think of nothing but shock.

She sat there for a while. Her stomach rumbled twice, so she took a bag of bread from her storage, opened it, and took a few bites. Then her nose suddenly grew hot, and blood gushed out. Startled, she hurriedly grabbed several tissues and stuffed them against her nose.

She rarely got nosebleeds. Now she was getting one, which showed just how anxious she was... Ye Zhao suddenly froze. Looking at the blood-soaked wad of tissues, her expression gradually shifted from anxiety to disbelief.

Holy shit!

Was this a side effect of nuclear radiation?!

That was way too fast!

Unable to believe it, Ye Zhao carefully tugged at her hair. Sure enough, she pulled out a large handful.

Ye Zhao: ...

Without another word, she opened the Game Panel, used her remaining 600 points to create six Constitution +1 Attribute Pages, and chose to use them.

The Attribute Pages turned into pearly-white light and entered her body. Although it was a little late, she did not ask to live to a hundred. She only hoped the enhanced Constitution would let her safely survive the next few days.

[Name: Ye Zhao]

[Constitution: 10 (no equipment effects)]

[Strength: 6 (no equipment effects)]

[Speed: 0+47 (equipment effects)]

She wolfed down the rest of the bread, took out water and a towel from her storage to wipe the blood off her body, and changed into clean clothes. Since the previous car had followed her out of the radiation zone, it probably carried quite a lot of radioactive dust and could not be kept.

She replaced all the old things, created a new car, climbed inside, then took a map from her storage to see where she should go next.