Apocalypse Escape: Day One of Survival

Gu Chen paused, the Crystal Core in his hand, and glanced at Xie Ning with a smile.

’This girl’s got principles. She always tosses me the Crystal Core from any First-tier Zombie I kill.’

The group hurriedly ran out of the underground parking garage.

When they reached ground level and turned to look back, they saw clusters of flames slowly igniting inside, quickly blocking off the entrance ramp.

"That made a lot of noise. We need to get out of here, fast," Gu Chen said, staring at the fire in the garage before turning to glance at Xie Ning.

Xie Ning met his gaze and nodded firmly. "Let’s go."

The group rushed to the edge of a flowerbed, only to see a small car suddenly drift quickly past them.

"Hey, that’s our car! Our car!! The car!" Ji Taixian yelled in astonishment, pointing ahead while tugging at his lopsided pant legs.

Xie Ning’s gaze sharpened. Two Metal Spikes shot out, pierced the car’s window glass, and held it fast.

"Get back." The moment Gu Chen gave the deep-voiced command, a surge of energy descended.

It instantly flipped the drifting car upside down.

The sight of the densely packed swarm of small rats under the car was enough to make one’s skin crawl.

Several bolts of lightning crashed down, striking the car hard.

The small car suddenly burst into flames, engulfing a huge pile of rats that couldn’t escape in time, which burned with sizzling SQUEAKS.

"Oh, man." Ji Taixian slapped his thigh. "The car’s gone!"

"Is this really the time to be worried about a car?! Watch your feet!" Before Wang Zongxuan could finish his sentence, that idiot Ji Taixian had wrapped him in a thick cotton overcoat.

"What are you doing!"

"Hurry, hurry, put on more layers so you don’t get bitten!"

Xie Ning drew her blade and sliced a fat little rat in two.

As she turned her head, a massive dark shadow lunged through the air, bringing with it a nauseating stench.

A powerful force yanked her back by the waist, sending her crashing into Gu Chen’s arms.

Xie Ning froze, her head tilted back. Her gaze traveled upward to stare at the man’s exquisitely handsome face, now just inches from hers.

Behind her, the spot where she had just been standing caved in without warning. Hundreds of rats swarmed out in a teeming, squeaking mass.

Xie Ning raised her blade and reflexively cut down a fat rat leaping for Gu Chen’s shoulder. "Don’t you have a Fire Ability User on your team?"

"We don’t. But I imagine your metal and my electricity could be combined to extraordinary effect, don’t you think?" The man looked down at her, his charming eyes lifting slightly as his lips curved into a smile.

"Oh my god, how do these things breed? How did so many appear at once?" Ji Taixian yelled while jumping around. "Cousin Shijun, quick, quick, quick! Help me! Help me! My back... something’s biting my back...!"

Panicking, Song Shijun unleashed a Wind Vortex, sending it toward the pile of small rats on Ji Taixian’s back.

Song You’ai, having just disemboweled a few small rats with a Metal Knife, turned her head, her face lighting up with joy. "Junjun, have you awakened a superpower?"

"Yeah, Auntie! Quick, get behind me." Song Shijun tried to use his superpower to control a gust of wind, forming a barrier in front of them.

Any reckless rats that lunged at them were sucked into the Wind Vortex and shredded into pieces like in a meat grinder with a great WHIRRR.

"Amazing," Song You’ai said, a little envious of her nephew.

Ji Taixian quickly draped a thick military greatcoat over Song You’ai. "Auntie, wrap up tight! Don’t get bitten."

Song You’ai was already sensitive to heat, so being wrapped in the thick greatcoat made her break out in a sweat instantly. The corner of her mouth twitched, but she felt too awkward to refuse the well-meaning idiot’s gesture.

"These things breed so much in a single day. Over time, I’m afraid they’ll become a huge hidden danger." Xie Ning pressed two fingers together, conjuring two Metal Spikes several meters long. Beads of sweat formed on her forehead.

"All right, that’s enough. That’s good." Gu Chen raised a hand to steady her as he lifted his right. Crackling lightning shot into the Metal Spikes.

Their two superpowers actually merged together perfectly.

Xie Ning was quite surprised and couldn’t resist stealing a glance at the man.

But unexpectedly, the man noticed her furtive glance.

He lowered his head to look at her, the corners of his lips curving into a warm, gentle smile. "No need to peek. I’m right here. You can look all you want."

Xie Ning: ...

The young woman quickly took two steps back and silently retracted her assessing gaze.

At that moment, the two long Metal Spikes, crackling with electricity, stretched from the edge of the flowerbed to a nearby wall.

Swarms of rats tried to cross, but upon touching the electrified metal, they were met with loud TZZT TZZT sounds.

Everyone who saw this was left nearly speechless.

There had to be hundreds, if not thousands, of them.

Yet none of them could get past the electrified metal wire jointly set up by Captain Gu and Ms. Ning.

Song Shijun, who had been busy fighting the rats, dazedly lowered his hands and stammered, "Whoa... that’s amazing."

Xie Ning had to admit, it was pretty amazing.

But she felt Captain Gu’s handling of the electricity was particularly formidable.

The rats kept coming one after another, but as soon as one touched the wire, the current would surge through its body and arc to countless others.

The ground was littered with rat corpses, and a scorched smell filled the air.

"You’re incredible!" A man with a messy mop of white hair suddenly ran up to Gu Chen and Xie Ning, his sharp, phoenix-like eyes staring at Gu Chen with great interest.

"What are you looking at!" Gu Chen shot back a glare, looking like he was ready to gouge the man’s eyes out.

Captain Gu’s teammates couldn’t bear to watch and silently covered their eyes.

’The captain just said the young lady could look her fill,’ they thought. ’Now a real weirdo shows up to stare at him and he’s not happy about it...’

But Yu Tianfeng’s eyes only sparkled brighter as he stared at Gu Chen. "Um, I don’t believe I caught your name, but... could I study you?"

Xie Ning, standing to one side, silently took half a step back.

She then saw Captain Gu move with exceptional agility. He grabbed the man, who was roughly his own height, and drove a fist into his stomach.

With a heavy THUD, Yu Tianfeng collapsed to the ground, unable to get back up. He curled into a ball, bent over like a cooked shrimp.

Xie Ning actually burst out laughing, and her laughter was surprisingly clear and melodic.

The others could hardly bear to look directly; some turned their heads away, while others coughed awkwardly.

The group in white lab coats, however, came rushing over in a panic, scrambling to help their fallen treasure up from the ground.

They cried out, one after another, "Dr. Yu!" "Dr. Yu!"

Xie Ning roared with laughter, and Song You’ai, still wrapped in the thick greatcoat, quickly tugged her daughter’s sleeve.

’Oh, dear,’ she thought, covering her face. ’My daughter’s gloating is far too obvious!’

Gu Chen turned to look at Xie Ning, his charming eyes sparkling with amusement.

’Huh, so the ever-serious little lady can be amused by a moron like that. I guess he did make a contribution after all.’

"Who are you? How could you be so vicious to our Dr. Yu?!" Fang Jiawen demanded, turning her head to shriek at him in a high-pitched, frantic voice.

Gu Chen’s eyes narrowed slightly as he looked at an older man in his fifties, dressed in a grey suit, who was striding over.

He took the photos Lu Wei handed him, compared them to the faces of Wei Zhengtong’s group, and then glanced at Yu Tianfeng, who was still curled up on the ground, his features scrunched together in a pained grimace.