Page 9

Dense black specks surged in from every direction, but as though guided by something, they headed straight for Su Cheng and her group.

They were still some distance away, but the pressure was overwhelming!

Su Cheng swallowed and picked up her shovel in frustration. They had only just killed one batch of zombies, and now another was coming!

Wang Zhiyang and Sister Wang picked up the spear and spade respectively.

Apart from the spear, the shovel and spade had been tossed into the vehicle after being used at the gas station. Now they could put all of them to use.

Although Yan Yu had to drive, she still kept the fire axe within reach.

The vehicle was moving fast, but whether the infection and mutation had enhanced the zombies' physical abilities or not, they were running faster and faster, trying to close the distance.

At some point, zombies taking shortcuts had appeared on either side, racing toward the vehicle.

Having killed zombies at close range before, Su Cheng was much calmer now, estimating which directions they might leap onto the vehicle from.

Of them all, Sister Wang was the most frightened. Her hands trembled slightly around the spade.

"Roar! Roar-"

At last, a zombie hurled itself onto the rear of the vehicle, only for Su Cheng to knock it off with her shovel.

Several zombies attacked from the sides, and Yan Yu steered to evade or shake them off.

Thud!

A zombie slid off the windshield, leaving a smear of dark red blood.

"Ah..."

A faint, trembling sound escaped Sister Wang's throat, but no one had time to comfort her.

The obstructing zombies were slowing the vehicle to some extent. They could not wait until all the zombies caught up, or they would be trapped in the horde.

Fortunately, the vehicle was powerful enough. With Yan Yu's driving skills, zombies only occasionally managed to leap onto the opening in the rear window and crawl inside.

Every time, Su Cheng seized the opportunity and shoveled the zombie off!

"I see the tunnel!" Wang Zhiyang shouted delightedly.

Sister Wang's eyes lit up. "Hurry, hurry, hurry!"

They had been charging ahead with the accelerator floored the entire time, experiencing speed and adrenaline firsthand.

Hearing Wang Zhiyang's delighted voice, Su Cheng felt a little more confident as she watched the pursuing zombies barely five meters away.

There were roughly a hundred zombies here, about as many as there had been at the gas station.

Unlike them, the rescue team surely had guns. As long as they had enough ammunition, with the tunnel providing a defensible position, dealing with the zombies behind them should not be a problem.

The moment they entered firing range, muffled, suppressed gunshots rang out, and bullets sped toward the zombies behind them!

The rescue team had set up barricades ten meters from the tunnel entrance, where six armed personnel stood firing at the horde.

The four of them got out and hurried straight through the barricades into the tunnel.

Bullets skimmed past them toward the pursuing zombies. Throughout the process, the rescue team's firepower provided all their protection.

Once inside the tunnel, Wang Zhiyang caught his breath briefly before calling out to the middle-aged man, "Captain Liu!"

Captain Liu kept firing steadily at the zombies and gave Wang Zhiyang a quick glance. "There's a new case on the passenger seat. Move it immediately."

"Understood!"

Two green military vehicles were parked inside the tunnel. Wang Zhiyang ran straight toward the passenger seat of one, remembering to turn back and tell Su Cheng and the other two:

"Thank you. Get into the vehicle in front first. We should be heading to the newly established shelter shortly. Once we get there, I'll thank you properly!"

"Sister Wang, get in first."

"All right."

After Sister Wang got in, Su Cheng and Yan Yu did not immediately follow. They leaned against the tunnel wall together to rest and catch their breath. Only at the sight of the armed personnel holding guns did they truly feel much more at ease.

In another three hours, they could leave this instance.

Had Wang Zhiyang not suddenly appeared, they might have returned to the apartment from inside the convenience store.

But with the rescue squad here and the rescue mission completed, things were not so bad. The points they received in return made the dangers they had faced worthwhile.

Amid the hail of bullets, the zombies fell one after another. Bodies already littered the ground outside the barricades...

"Having guns is great. So cool."

Yan Yu nodded in agreement and sighed regretfully. "Unfortunately, I don't know how to shoot, and the guns in the shop are too expensive."

"If we could bring weapons with enough firepower into this instance, wouldn't surviving become much easier?"

"Yeah. After all, it's only the beginning of the outbreak. But five days in this instance only gets you 100 points. Too much time, too few points. Without triggering the rescue mission, this instance really isn't worth it."

Su Cheng nodded thoughtfully.

"Area clear. Withdraw immediately!"

At Captain Liu's command, the rescue squad boarded the vehicles in an orderly manner. They had eliminated all the pursuing zombies, but the commotion had been considerable. They needed to evacuate immediately to avoid attracting another wave.

"What are you doing?"

Captain Liu watched in puzzlement as Su Cheng and Yan Yu ran toward the SUV.

In front of a battle-hardened soldier like him, Su Cheng felt an indescribable awkwardness. "We'd like to drive this vehicle. Would it be all right if we followed behind the military vehicles?"

Though Captain Liu did not understand, he did not refuse. "All right. Remember to stay close. Don't get separated."

Su Cheng climbed into the passenger seat and fastened her seat belt. After all, they still had three hours on the road before they could leave the instance. If they rode with the rescue team, they would have to find an excuse to get out midway.

That was why they had chosen to take a separate vehicle. But neither knew the roads, so all things considered, following the rescue team was the safest option.

When Su Cheng had proposed the idea earlier, Yan Yu had even praised her.

After following the military vehicles for some time, as their departure time approached, the SUV gradually fell farther behind the green military vehicles.

Beep, beep-

Captain Liu saw the SUV falling behind in his rearview mirror and honked to remind them to keep up.

Su Cheng simply leaned out the window, waved, and shouted, "We're going to find our families. Goodbye!"

Hearing her, Wang Zhiyang and Sister Wang both leaned out of the vehicle. "Xiao Yan, Xiao Su! You..."

Their voices gradually faded in the wind.

Yan Yu turned into a side road.

A mechanical countdown sounded in Su Cheng's mind. She exhaled, feeling a trace of happiness. "We're going back to the apartment."

10, 9, 8...

Su Cheng caught the stench of her clothes and felt utterly disgusted. Once she returned to the apartment, she absolutely had to take a nice, comfortable bath.

Yan Yu stopped the vehicle, a faint smile of relief finally appearing on her face. "Let's tackle another instance together if we get the chance."

"Of course!"

"Take whatever supplies you want from the back. Everything I want is already in my backpack."

"Huh?"

...3, 2, 1.

Before Su Cheng could understand what she meant, the countdown ended.

The space around her warped and blurred, and Su Cheng arrived in the void.

[Calculating instance results]

[Congratulations to the owner of Unit 1216 at Apartment No. 1167, Street X, District E, on successfully completing the mission. Total points earned: 400]

[You may select items within the surrounding 2 m² to take with you]

[Notice: Each storage slot can only hold items of the same type, with a weight limit of 3 kg per slot. Living beings and items more than ten times your own size cannot be selected]

Five storage slots appeared before Su Cheng, along with a sixty-second countdown.

All the items Su Cheng had previously placed in the vehicle appeared around her.

They included the water she had left in the vehicle, her canvas bag, the cardboard box of supplies she had loaded, and the shovel.

"Water, medicine, shovel, bread and chocolate, toilet paper."

The items Su Cheng picked up filled the storage slots. If she tried to place different types of items in the same slot, a notice told her they could not be stored together. Once the weight limit was reached, she could not add anything else either.

With only these items to choose from, Su Cheng rummaged swiftly through the supply box without hesitation. When the sixty-second countdown ended, plenty of bread and biscuits remained in the box that she could not take...

[Teleporting...]

[Ding~ Dear owner of Unit 1216, welcome back! The apartment will now provide you with one free medical treatment]

Su Cheng's vision went dark. When she opened her eyes again, she was in a white examination room, lying in a medical pod.

Her body was immersed in green liquid, as though she had returned to the womb and was bathed in amniotic fluid... warm, comfortable, and relaxed.

A woman in a white coat sat on a chair. She adjusted her glasses and recorded Su Cheng's medical information, asking with an indifferent expression, "How do you feel?"

Su Cheng tilted her head back, resting it against the edge of the pod. "Very comfortable. Are you the apartment's doctor?"

"Yes. My name is Lin Deng. You can call me Doctor Lin."

"Are you experiencing any discomfort?"

Su Cheng thought for a moment. "I hit my head earlier. Since then, I've been dizzy from time to time, and I keep feeling a little nauseous..."

Lin Deng swiped through the information on her tablet. "A mild concussion. Nothing serious. After the medicinal bath, you'll recover in one to two days."

"All right. Thank you."

"No need. After five minutes in the medicinal bath, you'll be teleported back to your apartment."

With that, Doctor Lin stopped dividing her attention and focused on recording something on her tablet...

Su Cheng looked away. Doctor Lin seemed to have an aloof personality.

Su Cheng relaxed and enjoyed the medicinal bath. The liquid was probably specially made by the apartment. With its faint, fresh fragrance, it felt ten times better than any bath or hot spring she had enjoyed before. Every pore in her body spoke of comfort...

Even when the five minutes ended and Su Cheng returned to her apartment, she still wanted more.

"Finally back."

Su Cheng looked at the still-unfamiliar apartment, yet inexplicably felt a hint of familiarity.

All the items Su Cheng had selected in the instance appeared on the floor.

But she had no time to sort them out. She was still dripping wet from the medical pod, and her dirty clothes clung uncomfortably to her skin.

Su Cheng went into the bathroom, stripped off her dirty clothes, and tossed them into the trash.

The shower sprayed hot water. The moment it fell on her hair and skin, she felt as though her sticky, filthy body had been transformed. The sensation of the accumulated grime washing away beneath the rushing water was especially stress-relieving.

Su Cheng had always considered bathing a pleasure, especially after exhaustion.

The bathroom held sample bottles of shower gel and shampoo provided by the apartment. They had a fresh lemon fragrance rather than a cloyingly sweet scent, which Su Cheng liked very much.

She spent a full half hour showering, washing herself thoroughly clean. When she emerged wrapped in a bathrobe, she felt especially refreshed and comfortable.