"Is it morning already?"
When he saw his younger sister, Song Lei forced out a smile with great difficulty.
Seeing her brother like this, Song Shiya's eyes instantly reddened.
The bluish-black poison had already spread to his chest. At this rate, it would take no more than a day to cover his entire body.
Her assessment yesterday had been far too optimistic.
Even in her current state of mind, she held back her tears and curved her lips into a smile as she replied:
"Yes, Lei. We survived another day."
Before she could continue, Song Lei's remaining large, rough hand caught her wrist and gave it a gentle squeeze.
Only then did he turn toward Shen Ye. "We guessed early on that you'd awakened sequence power too, but we really didn't expect you to have an uncanny weapon as well."
Shen Ye remained silent, unsure how to respond.
Seeing that he had no intention of explaining, Song Lei continued, "Don't worry. I'm not blaming you. My sister and I couldn't have survived this long without your help."
He paused, his voice growing quieter. "Otherwise, if it had just been the two of us against a second-tier uncanny creature, we wouldn't have stood a chance."
"It's just a shame that all those ordinary people died there because of my decision."
Though his voice was soft, every word took effort, and his eyes were full of regret and self-reproach.
"That bronze disk you took out earlier was an uncanny detection item, wasn't it?" Shen Ye voiced the question on his mind.
"Yes. It's called the Life Disk. Steward Huang brought it."
This time, Song Shiya answered before her brother could. "Once you pay a certain price, it can warn you about the concentration of uncanny energy nearby."
She paused, a trace of tears entering her voice. "But we don't know why the bronze disk failed before we entered the supermarket. It didn't give us any warning at all."
Shen Ye propped up one arm and rubbed his chin.
"Maybe the uncanny item didn't fail. Maybe it was those snake eggs."
"I think the shells blocked the uncanny aura, so the Life Disk couldn't detect it at first."
Only then did understanding dawn on the siblings.
After taking a moment to recover, Song Lei mustered all his strength and spoke again. "There's no point talking about that now."
"Almost everyone in the Rock Carriage Team is dead, and I won't last much longer either."
He took a breath. "So, as captain, I hereby disband the Rock Carriage Team."
Shen Ye froze at those words.
"Lei..." Song Shiya cried out too, but the hand around her wrist tightened slightly, cutting her off.
"After we disband, I hope you'll lead the survivors and keep them alive."
Song Lei looked straight into Shen Ye's eyes, his tone softening further as he pleaded, "For the sake of what happened with Liu Bing, please look after my sister too."
Shen Ye instinctively started to refuse, but Song Lei anticipated it and interrupted him first:
"I know I have no right to ask this of you."
"But think about it. In this apocalypse, one person's strength will never be enough."
"My sister is a Sequence Awakened too, even if she isn't good at fighting."
"Her ability can heal your injuries after a battle. She won't hold you back."
Hearing this, Shen Ye began to waver in his refusal.
Song Shiya said urgently, "Lei, why are you saying all this? I don't need his protection. I'll find a way to cure you!"
Song Lei shook his head, ignoring her words.
He raised his hand with difficulty and stroked her cheek. "Shiya, I know exactly what condition I'm in. Once I'm gone, you have to live a good life for both of us. Don't be stubborn. Talk things over with Shen Ye..."
"No! I don't need anyone's protection but yours..."
As she spoke, she activated her sequence ability again, disregarding her exhaustion.
A gentle white glow poured from her palm and enveloped Song Lei's body, but when the bluish poison touched the light, it began fighting back violently, as though it were alive.
"Ah..."
The intense pain drew a low cry from Song Lei.
Standing nearby, Shen Ye rubbed his nose awkwardly.
First Qin Shuwen, now Song Lei. Why did they all have to entrust their family to me before they died?
No matter how you looked at it, nothing I'd done made me seem like a good person, did it?
Still, seeing Song Lei's suffering and Song Shiya's desperate attempts to heal him, he chose not to stand idly by.
"I'll do my best to protect your sister, as long as it's within my power."
Then his voice grew a little heavier. "As for the others, don't get your hopes up."
"After all, in a world like this, nobody can even guarantee their own survival."
Song Lei struggled to raise his hand and catch his sister's wrist, signaling for her to stop.
Only once the white light faded did he smile through his labored breathing. "That's all I needed to hear."
"Now, can I ask you for one more favor?"
Shen Ye gave him a suspicious look, hesitated, then nodded.
"For the sake of having fought side by side... I hope you'll put an end to my suffering."
Song Shiya's and Shen Ye's eyes widened sharply at those words.
"No!" Song Shiya's voice nearly broke. "Lei, just hold on a little longer. I'll save you! I don't want you to die!"
Tears had already drenched her pretty face.
Song Lei weakly tugged up the corner of his mouth. "I know my own body."
"At the rate the poison is spreading, I won't live to see tomorrow's sunrise."
"Shiya, you'll have to walk the rest of the road yourself."
No matter how unwilling Song Shiya was, she eventually gave her consent herself and let Shen Ye grant her brother a quick death.
And so Song Lei died and was buried in a patch of wasteland beside the road.
Looking at the mound of earth, Lin Wanqiu turned to Shen Ye in panic. "Captain Song is dead. What do we do now?"
"Exactly. Without a Sequence Awakened, how are we supposed to survive?"
"I'm still young. I don't want to die either..."
The slightly younger Li Shu and Zhao Qian chimed in, their faces filled with fear.
They and another girl whose loose hair covered half her face hadn't entered Changchun Village with the others, so they didn't know Shen Ye and Song Shiya were Sequence Awakened too.
Shen Ye turned toward them. "Captain Song made it very clear before he died. The Rock Carriage Team has been disbanded."
"You can come with me, but if you run into danger and want to survive, you'll have to rely on yourselves. I'm only responsible for leading the way."
"Of course, you can also find a carriage team protected by a Sequence Awakened."
His gaze swept over everyone present. "I don't like forcing people."
"Whether you stay or leave is up to you."
After hearing this, Li Shu and Zhao Qian immediately looked hesitant.
While the three of them were considering their options, Song Shiya walked over to the girl whose hair covered half her face and said quietly, "Come with me for a moment."
Soon, the girl followed Shen Ye and Song Shiya to a secluded spot.
Before she could ask any questions, Song Shiya spoke first. "Lin Wanqiu and the others traded with Shen Ye for food, so they had a reason not to enter the village."
"But what about you? An Ning-that's the name they called every time, if I remember right."
"What reason did you have to hide outside?"
She paused. "Don't try to lie. I can tell when someone is lying."
The girl's name was An Ning. She was around 160 centimeters tall, and her loose hair always covered half her face. A flicker of panic appeared on her previously calm features.
She had joined the Rock Carriage Team on the second day of the apocalypse. She rarely spoke to anyone and, like Shen Ye, barely registered among the team.
Song Shiya only knew her name because Steward Huang reported to her after every roll call.
As for her supposed ability to detect lies, that was nothing but a bluff to trick the girl.
Before you continue