The Convoy's First Iron Rule

"Bzzzt... The current time is 10:23 a.m., October 13, 2030."

"This may be this station's final broadcast!"

"Shanghu has fallen and become a deserted zone!"

"Do not go there! Do not go there!!!"

"To all our fellow survivors: do not stare directly at the red moon for more than three seconds. Do not greet the shadows beneath streetlights. Do not believe that your dead loved ones will come back to life!"

"The flame of humanity... will never go out!"

"Bzzzt..."

Listening to the crackle of static from the radio, Chen Ye felt cold all over.

A suffocating despair hung over the entire convoy.

Shanghu, one of the world's greatest megacities, had now become a forbidden zone for humanity!!!

A few months earlier, supernatural horrors had erupted across the globe.

In a very short time, some smaller countries had become forbidden zones for humanity outright.

Humanity's firearms and explosives were nothing but a joke against these horrors.

The horrors could not be killed-or rather, they were extremely difficult to kill.

Chen Ye had escaped from Jiang City and joined other survivors to form a convoy, intending to head for the survivor base in Shanghu.

Now, Chen Ye rode a sturdy old roadster bicycle amid the convoy, with a large bundle strapped behind the seat containing everything he owned.

Why had he settled for an old roadster instead of getting a car, even with the apocalypse upon them?

Chen Ye had once smashed a car window with a rock and opened the door.

Unfortunately, without the key, he had no way to start it.

As an ordinary person, he simply could not pull out two wires, touch them together, and drive off like people did in the movies.

Without a key, getting a car he could actually use was difficult.

No one had expected the apocalypse to strike so suddenly, or learned those sorts of skills beforehand.

As for why he had not gotten an electric scooter or a motorcycle...

The reason was the same.

Even this old roadster had been the last bicycle left in the bike shed.

The convoy was a motley assortment.

Some drove modified off-road vehicles or buses, while others rode motorcycles.

There were even people driving tiny low-speed electric cars and riding electric scooters.

Of course, plenty rode bicycles too.

After all, a bicycle's range and carrying capacity were far better than anything two legs could offer.

Everyone in this convoy had to remember two iron rules!

Rule one: Do not fall behind! Do not fall behind! Do not fall behind!!!

Rule two: Stockpile as many supplies as possible!!!

The first iron rule took priority over the second.

Even without supplies, there were still ways to survive.

There were always kind people who would give you some.

Or else...

If you fell behind, only death awaited you.

Most of the people in the convoy were survivors who had escaped from Jiang City.

They intended to head for Shanghu.

As Shanghu was one of the country's largest cities, everyone believed it would surely have a way to deal with the horrors.

But before they even reached their destination, they heard the news on the radio.

Shanghu had become a deserted zone.

It was one of the country's largest cities, with tens of millions of people living in that city alone.

And now...

At the news, despairing sobs rose around him.

The little sparks of hope that had once lit their eyes had all faded into ashen despair.

The convoy continued onward in that utterly bleak mood.

An indescribable atmosphere spread through its ranks.

Night fell, and the convoy made camp.

The blood moon quietly rose into the sky, hanging above the treetops and draping a bloody veil over heaven and earth.

An eerie presence instantly suffused the land. The survivors muffled their sobs, seemingly afraid of disturbing the unknowable horrors deep in the darkness.

Night was when the horrors were most active.

Faint cries for help drifted from a distant town that had become a forbidden zone for humanity, luring people into coming to the rescue.

Such tricks were commonplace among the horrors.

Chen Ye took the bundle off his bicycle's rear rack and found his camping pot, portable butane stove, and half a bottle of water.

He had scavenged the camping pot and stove while fleeing.

Along with them, he had also scavenged the hand crossbow at his waist.

In this chaotic apocalypse, people were sometimes more frightening than the horrors.

He tore open the packet, dropped the block of noodles into the pot, poured in half a bottle of water, and lit the stove.

Blue flames licked the bottom of the pot, and bubbles slowly began to rise in the water.

After a moment's thought, Chen Ye added a sausage before leaving it at that.

This was his last canister of fuel. Once it ran out, getting anything hot to eat would probably be difficult.

Steam rose from the pot, and the aroma of instant noodles slowly wafted out.

As steam drifted from the camping pot, Chen Ye sank into thought.

Shanghu had now fallen and become a deserted zone.

Where could I possibly go from here?

He remembered a post he had read online before the horrors erupted.

The post had said, "Horrors cannot be killed. Only by awakening as a Sequence Transcendent can you kill them!"

He had not believed it then, assuming some nutcase was posting absurd nonsense.

After the horrors erupted...

He had shot a horror with his hand crossbow, trying to kill it.

It had done absolutely nothing!

A Sequence Transcendent!?

The post had mentioned many ways to awaken a transcendent sequence.

Some people awakened suddenly, without any warning.

Others could awaken after being injected with a drug called a Sequence Serum.

According to that post, there were hundreds of sequences, each with different abilities.

I really wonder...

What sort of abilities do Sequence Transcendents have?

The aroma of instant noodles rose from the pot on the stove.

Chen Ye had never liked eating instant noodles before.

But under these circumstances, having any to eat was good enough.

Even this bowl of instant noodles was something many people did not have.

Quite a few survivors around him swallowed involuntarily as they smelled the noodles, greed showing in their eyes.

If Chen Ye had not raised his hand crossbow slightly, someone might already have come over to snatch them.

Some people had not eaten in an entire day.

He soon finished the bowl of noodles.

Throughout the meal, Chen Ye never put down the crossbow in his hand.

A luxury like washing dishes would have to wait until he found a plentiful water source.

Every drop of water was precious now.

He lit the last cigarette in his pack, crumpled the empty pack into a ball, and tossed it away.

In an apocalypse like this, cigarettes had become scarce supplies too. Every one smoked was one less left.

The faint glow illuminated the outline of Chen Ye's face.

The rich aroma lingered in his mouth and nose, easing his anxiety and uncertainty a little.

He smoked the cigarette until it tasted burnt before finally throwing it away.

With night upon him, Chen Ye planned to dig out the blanket he had scavenged from a neighborhood of villas and make do with it for the night.

The moment his hand touched the blanket...

A message appeared in Chen Ye's mind.

[Upgrading the blanket costs 129 Slaughter Value. Upgrade?]

Upgrade?

Fifteen minutes later, Chen Ye had figured out what the line of text before him meant.

What he had awakened was not a sequence ability, but an upgrade system.

As long as he wanted to, he could upgrade any item he touched.

The blanket in his hand, for instance, the crossbow at his waist, or the butane stove he had just cooked on.

The only requirement was Slaughter Points.

With enough Slaughter Points, he could even upgrade the blanket into a magic carpet.

After his initial delight, Chen Ye felt as though a bucket of cold water had been dumped over his head.

He did not have any Slaughter Points at all.

Just as disappointment set in, another message appeared.

[Since this is the host's first time using this system.]

[This system can lend the host three hundred Slaughter Points, with a repayment term of one month!]

I can even take out a loan?

Without a second thought, Chen Ye selected the option to accept the loan.

In an apocalypse like this, he might be killed by a horror tomorrow. Only an idiot would refuse the loan now.

With Slaughter Points available, Chen Ye looked at his old roadster bicycle.

Right now, that bicycle was his most important possession.

Upgrading it was definitely the best use of his points.

Chen Ye had seen with his own eyes how those who fell behind never caught up again.

The convoy's first iron rule: Do not fall behind! Do not fall behind! Do not fall behind!!!

[Use all my Slaughter Points to upgrade the bicycle!]

Chen Ye tried issuing a command to the system in his mind.

The system soon responded.

[Confirm spending three hundred Slaughter Points to upgrade the bicycle?]

Chen Ye confirmed immediately.

An hourglass countdown appeared above the old roadster.

[Upgrade countdown: 04:59:59]

[04:59:58]

[...]

The apocalyptic night was quiet.

Perhaps it was because humans had ceased their activities.

Even the stars in the sky seemed more numerous.

If not for the occasional sobs around him, Chen Ye might have felt that the world had never changed at all.

A pale glow began to brighten the horizon.

A system notification startled Chen Ye awake.

[Upgrade complete!]