Our World Is Growing Bigger

"Hey, if you really want to thank me, could you let me have a look at that blade of yours?"

Ever since she had taken her place outside the car window, her gaze had kept drifting toward Ghost Head.

When Shen Ye remained unmoved, she explained, "I'm just curious. I'm not trying to take it from you."

Shen Ye hesitated a little longer before reluctantly handing over the blade.

His first instinct had been to refuse, but she had risked getting out of her car to help him in such dangerous circumstances. Letting her look at his weapon was hardly a big deal.

After learning everything about Ghost Head, Song Shiya couldn't help marveling. "This blade of yours is ridiculously powerful. Calling it the bane of Weird Objects wouldn't be an exaggeration."

The moment she finished speaking, Shen Ye snatched the blade back.

"So stingy."

Leaving him with that indignant remark, Song Shiya turned and walked away. She was clearly in a much better mood than before.

After eating a little, Shen Ye lay down in the back seat and fell asleep.

It was the most comfortable sleep he'd had in days of fleeing. He slept straight through until the afternoon.

Shen Ye got out of the car and stretched. At the same time, a faint sob reached his ears.

Following the sound, he saw a woman in her thirties crouching by the roadside, crying with her head lowered. It was Lin Wanqiu, who had traded Ghost Head to him.

"What's wrong?" Shen Ye walked over, looking curious.

Lin Wanqiu looked up and saw him. She hurriedly wiped away her tears as she said, "Nothing. Sorry you had to see me like this."

Shen Ye gave her a slight shake of his head.

Under his questioning gaze, Lin Wanqiu hesitated, then told him what had happened.

At some point, Song Shiya had also come over and stood quietly to one side, listening.

Apparently, around noon, Zhao Qian had offered to lend her the tent she had acquired in an earlier trade. She had said the car was too cramped to stretch out in and suggested that Lin Wanqiu set up the tent outside and get some proper sleep.

Lin Wanqiu hadn't thought much of it at the time.

After days of fleeing, eating poorly and sleeping badly, being able to pitch a tent on level ground and stretch out really was a luxury.

She had taken the tent, found an open spot beside the road, set it up, and fallen asleep as soon as she crawled inside.

But when she woke up, the place where the car had been parked was empty.

Only after waiting for quite a while had she finally accepted that she had been betrayed.

"The car's gone. What am I supposed to do now..." The more she thought about it, the more hurt she felt, along with a growing fear of what lay ahead.

Everyone there understood what that meant.

Losing your car was practically a death sentence. Two legs couldn't outrun the monsters lurking in the black fog.

"At least I had the sense to take one precaution." Lin Wanqiu sniffled.

"I took the food out of the trunk beforehand."

She picked up a half-empty backpack from beside her feet. Inside were a few bottles of water, two packets of instant noodles, and some compressed biscuits.

For now, that was the only consolation she had.

But there wasn't a trace of sympathy in Shen Ye's eyes.

It wasn't that he was coldhearted. He had simply seen too much of this.

The apocalypse had only begun a few days ago, yet human selfishness had already been laid bare.

If Zhao Qian and Li Shu could betray Lin Wanqiu today, someone else could betray him tomorrow.

He couldn't look after everyone, nor did he want to.

As for why Zhao Qian and Li Shu had stolen the car and left, he didn't even need to think.

Song Lei was dead. They were afraid of being left without a Sequence Awakened to protect them and wanted to find another way to survive. That was all.

Song Shiya felt much the same.

If her brother were still alive, she might have dared to be generous and give Lin Wanqiu a ride, then let her make other arrangements once they found another vehicle.

But now, there was no way she would let a stranger into her car.

Lin Wanqiu wasn't telling them all this because she expected sympathy or help.

She just needed someone to talk to, a way to pour out the hurt weighing on her heart.

Soon, she took the hint, stood up, and carried her backpack toward An Ning's car.

An Ning was leaning against the car door, watching Lin Wanqiu approach.

Her lips were so dry they had begun to peel, and hunger had left her somewhat dazed.

"Did you need something?" Once Lin Wanqiu reached her, she timidly lowered the window and asked.

Lin Wanqiu told her the story again.

After hearing her out, An Ning fell silent for a while, apparently weighing something up.

Her Guide Sequence had no combat ability, and driving alone really did make her feel insecure.

Although Lin Wanqiu was also just an ordinary person, she would at least provide some company, and they could look out for each other if anything happened.

"You can ride with me for now," An Ning said.

"But once night falls, I hope you'll take turns driving with me."

Ever since awakening her Guide Sequence, she had constantly felt unusually sleepy.

Over the past few nights, she had nearly crashed into the roadside barriers several times while driving.

Lin Wanqiu agreed without a second thought.

Seeing how pale and gaunt An Ning looked, she generously gave her half of her dwindling supply of food and water, calling it payment.

An Ning didn't refuse.

Surely this counts as a fair reward for showing some kindness.

Two days passed quickly.

The four of them traveled south from Xiangnan Province into Yuedong Province.

Thanks to An Ning's Guide Sequence, their little convoy deliberately took quite a few detours, successfully avoiding stretches of road occupied by large numbers of Eldritch.

Even so, the four of them inevitably encountered two Eldritch attacks along the way. Fortunately, there were only a handful of first-tier Eldritch, and Shen Ye dealt with all of them.

That gradually gave the dispirited group hope that they might survive.

That morning, beside a road near Fugang County.

Shen Ye leaned against the Volvo's door, taking long swallows from a bottle of mineral water.

In the other car, An Ning and Lin Wanqiu couldn't help swallowing as they watched him.

They didn't have much water left in their car and had to ration it. They wouldn't dare drink as freely as Shen Ye.

"Are there any gas stations around here? My car's almost out of gas."

As soon as Song Shiya got out, Shen Ye hurriedly asked her.

There had been very few gas stations along the roads they had traveled over the past two days, and they had passed all of them at night.

The Life Disk had detected Eldritch at every station. There was no way he would dare get out to refuel at night.

"Our tank's almost empty too," Lin Wanqiu said, lowering her window.

Song Shiya shook her head. "I'm not really sure anymore."

"Don't you have a map?" Shen Ye asked, a little surprised.

Song Shiya took the map out of the car and spread it across the hood.

"Look at the distance we've traveled over the past few days."

Shen Ye looked where her finger was pointing.

"After we left Snake Village, going by the usual distances, we should have entered Eastern Guangdong yesterday."

"But in reality, it took us a whole extra day to get here."

Shen Ye tossed away his empty bottle and began recalling the road signs they had passed along the way.

Now that Song Shiya had mentioned it, he did feel that the actual length of each stretch of road had been wildly different from the distance marked on the signs.

A possibility suddenly flashed through his mind.

"You mean... the world is growing bigger?"

Then he murmured to himself, "But how is that possible?"