[Paper Effigy Door Guardian Talisman] [Type: Wondrous item] [Details: A consumable wondrous item. When affixed to a door or cave entrance, the door guardian creates a barrier that anomalies cannot cross. The stronger the anomaly, the faster the guardian fades. (Cannot stop anomalies already inside.)]
"This is pretty good!"
Su Nian happily peeled off the door guardian talisman. The anomaly hadn't followed him, and he had even picked up a treasure.
Hao Ren and the others had probably entered the city to look for things like this.
He continued uphill on his little electric scooter until an intersection came into view. At its center was a circular flowerbed on a traffic island, surrounded by what had become a graveyard of steel.
Cars lay scattered every which way around the island, some on their sides, others upside down. All had sustained varying degrees of damage, with doors hanging open and windows shattered.
Most horrifying were some of the cars in the center, which had been crushed so badly they looked as though they had gone through a compactor.
Dense red roots in the flowerbed pressed down on the cars like a hideous monstrous claw.
A Ford Raptor stood at the outer edge. With its tall black body, rugged lines, and enormous all-terrain tires, it was almost completely intact, arrogantly looking down on the "corpses" around it.
Su Nian rode his little electric scooter over a dark red fragment of bone and stopped beside the Ford Raptor. Honestly, this was the one he liked best.
Big tires, plenty of power, room for cargo-and most importantly, it was the coolest vehicle there.
The apocalypse did have one upside: everything was free. Anything you wanted was yours for the taking.
Su Nian swung the Sin-Cleaving Butcher's Knife and severed a vine threaded through the wheel hub.
The Raptor's driver-side door was open. Its owner had probably fled in a panic.
"Damn it. Finally found one with the keys inside, and it won't start."
A low curse came from the other side of the circular flowerbed.
"Let's look around the edge. If nothing else works, we'll go back and drive that Wuling Sunshine. It doesn't have an anti-theft chip, so we can hot-wire it."
A middle-aged man with a buzz cut and a broad chest emerged, a timid woman clinging tightly to his left arm.
They spotted Su Nian immediately. He was pulling vines out of the wheel hub.
"Jiang, I think this one looks great. It must be comfortable to ride in."
The woman's eyes lit up as she pointed at the Raptor.
Compared with the other cars, the Raptor really did stand out.
Jiang Hu had also taken a liking to this grown man's toy and wanted to go over to see whether the keys were inside.
If they were, he would simply take it. There was nothing to discuss. With so many people on their side, they robbed anyone they came across except Awakened.
This was the apocalypse. There was no point wasting words.
"Buddy, are the keys to this Raptor inside?" Jiang Hu asked, holding a fire axe in his right hand.
"Whether they are or not, it's mine." Su Nian casually tossed the vine aside.
"Pretty cocky, kid. You think we're still living in a-"
Before Jiang Hu could finish, a blood-red eye opened between Su Nian's brows, radiating an eerie crimson glow.
A Sequence Transcendent!
"Hu, what's wrong?"
"Did you run into another idiot who doesn't know his place?"
Two angry voices rang out.
Three men emerged from behind Jiang Hu, carrying bags and weapons, their faces full of anger.
They spotted the blood-red eye at once, and fear spread across their faces. At a glance, this was either an anomaly or a Sequence Transcendent. They couldn't afford to provoke either.
"We're all in the same convoy! Get over there and clean the boss's truck! Can't you see all that dust on the windshield?"
Jiang Hu barked at them and shook off the woman gripping his left arm.
The three lackeys hurriedly put down their weapons and bags, then climbed onto the Raptor to clean it. Su Nian's eyes flickered, and he changed his mind.
Jiang Hu put away his axe, walked over, and took out a pack of cigarettes.
He had seen Sequence Transcendents in action before. Hao Ren had sent a fat man weighing over two hundred pounds flying several yards with a single kick.
That Gong Qing had merely glanced at a troublemaker, and the man had plunged straight into the gray fog to feed the anomalies.
Even with weapons, the four of them might not be able to take this Sequence Transcendent down. Better to play it safe. If he could latch onto someone this powerful, his position in the convoy would become even more secure.
"Boss, have a smoke. That was all a misunderstanding. Please be the bigger-"
Su Nian lunged forward, driving the Sin-Cleaving Butcher's Knife straight through his chest and heart.
It felt like stabbing a block of tofu. That alone showed how sharp the Sin-Cleaving Butcher's Knife was.
"You..." Jiang Hu tried to speak, but blood surged up his throat and choked off his words. Su Nian pulled out the blade and stepped aside, and Jiang Hu toppled over stiffly.
[Ding! Gained 100 survival points.]
The woman let out a terrified scream.
Su Nian grabbed the man on the driver's side, hauled him off the truck, and slit his throat with one stroke.
[Ding! Gained 100 survival points.]
Next came the woman, who had collapsed onto the ground.
"Don't..."
The dagger plunged straight into her chest.
Su Nian swiftly pulled out the blade and moved to chase the remaining man in the khaki leather jacket.
But the man had already run far down the road below and soon disappeared into the shadows. Chasing him would be too risky.
Su Nian liked the sun. Even a moment out of its light made him uncomfortable.
[Ding! Gained 100 survival points.]
Su Nian looked at the woman's corpse on the ground... Originally, he had intended to use the blood-red eye to scare them off for now. After all, they had numbers and weapons. If he made even one mistake in a fight, it would do him no good.
He had planned to settle the score with them one at a time later.
He hadn't expected them to put down their weapons. In that case, they couldn't blame him for being ruthless.
If he hadn't been a Sequence Transcendent, it was easy to imagine how he would have ended up today.
Anyone who crossed him had to die. Apologies weren't an option.
He tossed the weapons and three bags of supplies into the truck bed. Combined with the food he had brought out earlier, this would last at least two months if he rationed it a little.
Su Nian climbed into the truck and casually brushed the dust off the leather seat.
He had already considered the ignition problem on his way here. The vehicles all had PATS anti-theft systems, so simply connecting the wires would leave them refusing to start.
Ordinary hot-wiring wouldn't work. He would have to bypass the anti-theft module.
But Su Nian had another method.
[Ding! Spend 100 survival points to upgrade the PEPS Push-Button Start Anti-Theft Module?]
"Upgrade!"
At Su Nian's mental command, one hundred survival points vanished.
[Survival points: 1,550]
"Bzz..."
A faint electrical hum sounded, and the dashboard lit up first.
[Ding! Upgrade complete. (Fingerprint ignition)]
A blue fingerprint-sensing pattern appeared on the surface of the start button.
When Su Nian pressed his finger against it, the fingerprint pattern flashed.
Vroom!
The engine roared to life, making the windows tremble slightly. A green indicator lit up on the dashboard, showing successful authorization.
This thing guzzled fuel, but otherwise, it didn't have many drawbacks.
Before Su Nian could enjoy even two seconds of happiness, he spotted a wretched old woman in the shadows, her lips curled into a sinister smile and her venomous eyes fixed on him.
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