A Superhuman Sense of Smell
When they learned they would encounter a hostile convoy, they didn't immediately change direction.
For now, it was only a "premonition." Nie Shufeng's Clairvoyance and Clairaudience hadn't detected the other party yet.
They could wait until they knew how strong the other convoy was before deciding whether to make contact.
Besides, unlike Qian Lei, who could only vaguely sense that there was a risk, Wang Bing could predict it more accurately: the danger existed, but it wasn't great.
In other words, the other convoy was probably weaker than theirs overall.
That made sense. Their convoy now had seven transcendents, a rare sight in the apocalypse.
And according to Wang Bing's divination, if they continued in this direction and took a turn, they would come across a village.
They could replenish quite a few supplies there.
That was why they had decided to stay on this route.
After the convoy had traveled on for a while, Nie Shufeng's voice came over the walkie-talkie.
"Their convoy is pretty big. More than thirty vehicles and over three hundred survivors in total. From what I can tell, there should be four transcendents: one at the second tier and three at the first.
"The way they interact is rather unusual, too. There doesn't seem to be an absolute leader. The transcendents are relatively independent of one another, but they still travel together as a group."
Nie Shufeng's Clairvoyance and Clairaudience only let him see and hear normally.
They couldn't reveal any additional information.
He could only gather information by observing how people interacted and listening to their conversations.
"Of the four transcendents, the only thing I can tell right now is that one young woman's transcendent ability seems to have something to do with cats. Her ride is a cat car. The others haven't shown any signs of what their abilities are."
Wu Zhiyou's voice came over the walkie-talkie. "A cat car? What does that mean? What do cats have to do with cars?"
Chen Fan was curious about that too.
"It's... a cat bus..." Nie Shufeng didn't know how to explain it either. "A combination of a minibus and a cat. Picture it yourself. If you really can't, wait until we meet them and see for yourself."
Over the walkie-talkie, Wu Zhiyou began muttering, "Xiaodu, Xiaodu, what would a combination of a minibus and a cat look like? Generate an image for me."
Wu Zhiyou had downloaded an offline AI assistant on his phone. Although there was no signal after the apocalypse, it still worked. It just wasn't as intelligent anymore, and many of its functions were restricted. Sometimes it acted like an idiot.
Chen Fan tried to picture it, then gave up. Rather than dwell on it, he changed the subject. "What do you say? If we run into them, should we fight?"
Wang Bing's voice came over the radio. "There's a ninety percent chance they'll attack first."
Chen Fan grinned. "Then what else is there to say? Let's kick their asses."
Wu Zhiyou said, "I agree with both hands raised."
Nie Shufeng said, "It's not a hundred percent. We aren't afraid of trouble, but we don't go looking for it either. If they just pass us by, I don't think there's any need to fight."
Chen Fan chuckled. "Then it's up to them. Let's see whether they want to live or die."
The convoy traveled on for roughly another hour.
At last, the outline of another convoy appeared on the horizon ahead.
At the very front of the approaching convoy was a yellow school bus.
A balding middle-aged man in a business suit sat in the passenger seat. After so long in the apocalypse, his suit had grown somewhat tattered.
Apart from the middle-aged man, the driver and the several people sitting in the back of the bus were all young women.
The middle-aged man smoothed the few remaining strands of hair on his head.
He tipped his head back, his nose twitching constantly as though he had caught a scent, an intoxicated expression on his face.
"I smell it. The scent of the strong. They're not weak, but a lot of them are stinky men. I hate stinky men the most. But luckily, there are fragrant, soft young ladies, and neither of the two young ladies is weak. I'm so excited..."
As he spoke, the middle-aged man leaned his face close to the young woman in the driver's seat.
"Quick, do it. I can't wait..."
The young woman at the wheel looked thoroughly disgusted. She raised a hand and slapped him.
It was a hard slap, leaving his face red.
But instead of getting angry, the middle-aged man looked as if he were in ecstasy.
"Thatsh sho good!"
Then the man got up from the passenger seat, moved into the passenger compartment, and suddenly threw his arms around a young woman.
The woman trembled in his embrace.
But the man's expression turned vicious. "How many times have I told you? Fight back! If you still won't listen, I'll fucking kill you all!"
A flash of panic passed through the eyes of the woman in his arms.
Not daring to hesitate any longer, she drove her elbow into the middle-aged man's chin.
The young women in the other seats also rushed over, hatred in their eyes.
They punched and kicked him.
"Aah-Aah-..."
The middle-aged man's ecstatic cries echoed through the bus.
In an SUV in the Fairness Convoy, Nie Shufeng's mouth twitched. He took a drink of water from his orange gourd.
Then he poured a little water from the orange gourd into his hand and washed his eyes.
Fuck, what did I just see? My eyes!
He then picked up the walkie-talkie and said, "I've confirmed a few things about the second-tier transcendent in their convoy. He seems to have a superhuman sense of smell and can pick up our scent.
"Also, he seems to get stronger by taking a beating, but it looks like it only works if women beat him. I can't be a hundred percent sure of that.
"Anyway, the women in our group shouldn't attack him later. No point rewarding him..."
A transcendent who could pick up scents and grew stronger when women beat him...
That brief description was enough for Zheng Alin, Wang Bing, and Li Yuanyuan to imagine all sorts of things, and a chill of disgust ran through them.
"You guys handle him later. I'll deal with someone else," Li Yuanyuan couldn't help saying.
"I don't believe he can get stronger if I cut him down with one stroke," Zheng Alin said irritably.
Nie Shufeng's voice came over the walkie-talkie again. "Friendly reminder: he's a second-tier transcendent, and you're first-tier. It's hard to say who would take whom out in one blow."
Zheng Alin bristled at once. "Damn it, so what if he's second-tier? I'll reach the second tier sooner or later. Damn it, how did you second-tier people break through, anyway? This is bullshit."
Chen Fan grinned.
She wasn't tall, but she sure had a temper.
Second tier? Doesn't anyone with hands have what it takes?
But he didn't say anything. After all, he was a low-key person.
As the group talked, the two convoys drew closer and closer.
Just as Chen Fan was wondering whether the other convoy wasn't planning to cause trouble and would pass them by,
the school bus at the front suddenly swerved sideways across the road, blocking Chen Fan and the others.
A cold smile gradually appeared on Chen Fan's face.
Behind the school bus, the other vehicles in the opposing convoy also came to a stop.
But from the looks of it, they didn't intend to help.
Faint voices drifted from the convoy.
"Pervert Jiang's picked up a scent again."
"Looks like there are beautiful women in the other convoy, and they're transcendents too."
"That dumbass is going to get himself killed sooner or later."
"Leave him alone. We agreed long ago: we can join forces against aberrations, but we don't interfere with each other's personal preferences."
The door of the yellow school bus blocking the road opened.
The balding middle-aged man straightened his suit.
He walked elegantly over to Chen Fan and the others.
He bowed slightly, giving a gentlemanly greeting.
Then he straightened up, forcing a chrysanthemum-like smile onto his face.
"Hello, beautiful ladies of the opposing convoy. May I ask if you're interested in joining the Gentleman Convoy? If you join us, you can enjoy sumptuous food, a comfortable environment, and consistent, long-term emotional support..."