The convoy

With its tank full, the Motor Tricycle was ready to move again.

Chen Ye twisted the throttle, listening to the engine roar in bursts, and felt a deep sense of security.

Who said men didn't need a sense of security?

In the apocalypse, fuel in the tank and supplies in the cargo bed were the best security anyone could ask for.

Chen Ye took a deep drag on his cigarette, blew a smoke ring, and twisted the throttle. The Motor Tricycle gave a feeble roar before slowly lumbering into motion.

There was no denying that Chen Ye's Motor Tricycle was badly underpowered.

Even with the throttle cranked all the way, Chen Ye still couldn't keep up with the off-road vehicles and bus ahead.

The convoy had lost more people this time.

Over forty survivors, almost fifty, had entered Longevity Village.

Only a dozen or so had escaped.

More than thirty had remained in Longevity Village forever.

Quite a few of them were survivors who had fled Deer City earlier.

Those survivors had the fewest supplies, so they were also the most desperate to acquire more.

The relatives of those who never made it out had waited in vain, then stayed at the entrance to Longevity Village forever themselves.

When their loved ones failed to emerge from Longevity Village, they too lost the courage to keep living...

The other survivors had no time to grieve. Everyone hurriedly gathered all their supplies and set off to keep up with the convoy.

The survivors who had fled Deer City had one car and two motorcycles.

Through the car's window, Chen Ye saw that the driver of the car from Deer City had changed.

Its original owner had presumably stayed behind in Longevity Village.

The convoy already had two modified off-road vehicles, a bus, a small car, a Senior Scooter, three motorcycles, and Chen Ye's Motor Tricycle.

So although there seemed to be fewer people now, the convoy still had plenty of vehicles.

Several bicycles brought up the rear as well.

That Senior Scooter in particular caught Chen Ye's attention.

The Senior Scooter had been there ever since Chen Ye joined the convoy, and even now, it still hadn't fallen behind.

Chen Ye knew the Senior Scooter's owner, an old man surnamed Zhang.

The old man was always cheerful and had quite a foul mouth. Chen Ye had no idea how he kept it charged.

All the vehicles in the convoy began moving.

They stretched into a long procession beneath the setting sun.

Only the Zhou Sisters' car remained stranded where it was.

Inside the sedan, meanwhile...

Zhou Lan and Zhou Xiaoxiao were both in a miserable state.

Their clothes were already torn to shreds, and they had suffered numerous injuries, making them look particularly pitiful.

Especially Zhou Lan, with her large, glistening eyes. No wonder she had become such a sought-after star.

"Sis, what do we do? We're out of gas. The car won't move!"

Zhou Xiaoxiao spoke anxiously, a hint of frailty in her voice.

After what had happened in Longevity Village, the tomboy seemed to have grown much less tough.

It was their sedan that had given the Zhou Sisters special standing in the convoy, setting them apart from the other survivors.

Without gas, the car was as good as scrap, and the sisters would be no different from anyone else.

"Sis, how about I ask Chen Ye to lend us some?"

Zhou Xiaoxiao had seen Uncle Abao give Chen Ye a can of gasoline earlier.

For some reason, after asking him for help once before...

Zhou Xiaoxiao felt that asking Chen Ye again wasn't so hard.

"Xiao Xiao, do you really think Chen Ye would lend us any?"

Zhou Lan spoke up.

Back in the village, Zhou Xiaoxiao had already asked Chen Ye for help.

Zhou Xiaoxiao naturally understood what her sister meant. Chen Ye hadn't offered them a hand then.

Zhou Xiaoxiao glanced at the Motor Tricycle outside the window, her eyes filled with conflicting emotions.

"Sis, I'll just apologize to him. He's a grown man. Surely he wouldn't hold a grudge against a young girl like me!"

Toward the end, Zhou Xiaoxiao's voice grew softer and softer, her confidence dwindling.

Chen Ye was nothing like the men who used to fawn over her.

The moment Chen Ye had used that old woman as a shield without hesitation, Zhou Xiaoxiao had known he was ruthless.

Besides, this was the apocalypse now.

Not knowing what else to say, Zhou Lan opened the door and went to rummage through the trunk.

Other survivors had already packed their belongings and were passing the sisters' car.

Although puzzled by what the sisters were doing, none of them stopped. Every face was tense.

Some rode tricycles, while another drove a Senior Scooter.

Others had only their own two legs.

But none of them wanted to fall behind.

"Sis, what are you doing?"

Enduring the pain of her wounds, Zhou Xiaoxiao called to her sister, who was rummaging through the trunk.

Soon, Zhou Xiaoxiao saw her sister pull out a fuel can from the trunk with a secretive air.

At the sight of it, Zhou Xiaoxiao even forgot about her wounds.

"Sis, when did you stash that away? You're amazing!"

Zhou Lan had hidden this can of gasoline during their last supply run. Even her younger sister, Zhou Xiaoxiao, hadn't known about it.

She had saved it for a moment exactly like this.

And so, Zhou Lan and Zhou Xiaoxiao's car began moving too.

The convoy was already gradually picking up speed.

The survivors without any means of transportation were in trouble. They could only grit their teeth and struggle to keep up.

It wasn't that those traveling on foot didn't want to ride in a vehicle or share one with someone else.

In this convoy, every favor came at a price.

Besides, every vehicle was packed, with no spare seats at all.

Fortunately, Captain Chu had chosen a decent route. It was a national highway with a good road surface and no villages nearby.

The breeze carried a slight chill, but felt comfortable against their skin.

Every so often, they came across cars parked along the roadside.

At first, some survivors rushed over in delight when they spotted them, only to return disappointed soon afterward.

Chen Ye wanted to check whether those cars still had any fuel in their tanks.

But the convoy was moving fast, leaving Chen Ye no time to look.

Fortunately, the road remained in good condition.

Had it been a muddy country road...

Never mind the survivors on foot-even Chen Ye would have fallen behind.

His Motor Tricycle simply couldn't handle rough tracks.

Just then, Chen Ye felt something cool touch his face.

He wiped his face with one hand and saw a trace of water.

Chen Ye's expression immediately darkened.

For fuck's sake...

Was it going to rain?

I still hadn't upgraded my vehicle with a canopy.

Meanwhile, Captain Chu's expression was grim as well.

Captain Chu could sense eerie presences ahead of the convoy, behind it, and on both sides.

Some were a little closer, others a little farther away.

The nearest eerie creature was seven or eight kilometers behind the convoy, rapidly closing in.

Captain Chu ordered the convoy to speed up.

As Captain Chu accelerated, the other vehicles picked up speed too.

The convoy accelerated again, leaving the survivors without transportation to suffer.

Chu Che was already prepared to abandon those survivors.

Chen Ye wasn't having an easy time either.

He had his Motor Tricycle's throttle wide open, yet the gap between him and the four-wheeled vehicles kept growing.

Even the motorcycles could leave Chen Ye behind.

The rain grew heavier, soaking Chen Ye's clothes, then his pants and shoes.

Chen Ye's whole body felt as though it were submerged in rainwater.

The vehicles ahead grew farther and farther away.

The survivors behind him had also been left far in Chen Ye's wake.

The downpour obscured Chen Ye's vision.

Chen Ye wiped his face and shook the rainwater from his hand, gaining a brief moment of visibility.

The patter of rain filled his ears.

Layers of dark clouds blanketed the sky, with occasional flashes of lightning.

Chen Ye drove his Motor Tricycle through the torrential rain, all alone.

Between heaven and earth, there was nothing but the pouring rain and Chen Ye's solitary figure.

Chen Ye knew he couldn't stop. If he did, something horrifying was bound to happen.

From what he knew of the man leading them...

Chen Ye knew Chu Che wouldn't do this without a reason!

Fortunately, Chen Ye could still faintly make out the red taillights in the distance, so he hadn't lost the convoy.

At that moment, Chen Ye had only one thought: once they stopped, he absolutely had to upgrade the Motor Tricycle with an enclosed cab.

He also needed to upgrade its power so the convoy wouldn't leave him behind again.

Ideally, he would turn the three-wheeler into a four-wheeler.

He also needed to spend three thousand slaughter points to redeem a method for awakening as a sequence transcendent.

He had no idea whether the slaughter points he'd earned this time would be enough!