Chen Wan and Jiang Yanxin tidied up a bit and reminded Qin Ke to take her medicine, while also placing 10 zombie crystals in front of each person.
“Let’s eat today’s crystals, and then we’ll set off,” Chen Wan said, already having eaten three or four of the ten crystals in her hand. She swallowed and decided to eat the rest all at once.
Compared to Chen Wan’s quick consumption, Jiang Yanxin and the others didn’t eat the crystals in handfuls. Especially Yang Yang, the little one treated the crystals like candy, savoring each one before reluctantly eating the next.
“Are we continuing towards Funan City?” Jiang Yanxin asked.
“No, we need to find materials to upgrade the RV first. We have enough crystals for now, but we need 100 small cars and 10 large trucks. We’ll have to try our luck on the highway,” Chen Wan replied after some thought.
“This RV can be upgraded?” Jiang Yanxin asked, surprised.
Chen Wan smiled and explained, “Yes, after upgrading, all its features will improve, and it will be more robust on the outside. We can live more safely inside.”
“I’ll help you,” Qin Ke offered, even though she wasn’t sure what she could do.
Chen Wan looked at Qin Ke, who was eager to find something to do, and sighed. After thinking for a moment, she said, “Once we’re on the highway, we’ll see. Upgrading the RV requires stacking these vehicles together, directly or indirectly contacting the RV. If needed, you can help me park the other vehicles close to the RV.”
“Okay,” Qin Ke agreed, relieved to finally have something to do.
Chen Wan lowered the steel plates on the windows around the RV, leaving only the front windshield exposed. She instructed Jiang Yanxin and the others, “Yanxin, fasten your seatbelts. We’re about to set off.”
“Let’s go!” Yang Yang, with her new hairstyle, happily hugged her little cow toy and snuggled up to Jiang Yanxin.
Jiang Yanxin poked Yang Yang’s cheek and chuckled, “Come on, let’s get your seatbelt on. Hold onto your little cow tightly, or you’ll throw it out when your Mommy starts driving.”
Yang Yang nodded, letting her Mom fasten her seatbelt while holding her little cow tightly.
Jiang Yanxin looked at Yang Yang’s adorable expression, her eyes softening.
Chen Wan was ready to go, stepping on the gas pedal and speeding onto the highway. Of course, they occasionally encountered a few zombies along the way, which Chen Wan hit without hesitation. Ten minutes later, Chen Wan had driven to a nearby highway entrance.
The vehicles were piled up, clearly from when people tried to escape during the apocalypse, only to get stuck. Consequently, there were more zombies here than on the road they had just traveled.
The zombies naturally noticed Chen Wan’s moving target and slowly gathered towards the RV.
From a distance, Chen Wan saw mostly small vehicles and no large trucks, feeling a bit disappointed. She looked at the group of zombies with disdain and decided to stop the car, waiting for them to gather so she could collect more crystals.
Five minutes later, seven or eight hundred zombies had gathered around the RV, with a few daring ones climbing onto the front windshield, baring their blood-red mouths at Chen Wan. Unfazed, Chen Wan stepped on the gas, and the RV accelerated, sending the zombies flying. Meanwhile, more zombies continued to gather, and Chen Wan reversed the RV, crushing the zombies that had gathered behind.
In less than ten minutes, all the zombies attracted by the noise were dealt with by Chen Wan. At the same time, her crystal count reached 3,172, an unimaginable number for ordinary people, considering the time it takes to extract and clean the crystals after killing zombies.
Seeing no large trucks at the highway entrance, Chen Wan decided to try her luck at a nearby highway gas station or service area. With that in mind, she slowly pressed the gas pedal, forcing a path through the various vehicles.
She knew upgrading wouldn’t be easy, especially finding those ten heavy trucks, which would take some time. Chen Wan kept an eye on her surroundings and had the system on alert. Finally, after driving the RV for another ten minutes, they reached a service area. However, the situation there wasn’t great. About a hundred meters from the service area, the road was blocked by various private cars, packed tightly together. There were also many rotting corpses on the ground and zombies staggering towards the RV.
Chen Wan glanced at the service area and quickly spotted seven or eight neatly parked heavy trucks in the parking lot, along with five or six others clustered together, either due to collisions or other reasons. Chen Wan guessed that something urgent had happened here, and during the scramble for supplies and escape, people were attacked by zombies. Everyone wanted to be the first to leave, leading to the current scene. However, Chen Wan had found all the materials she needed.
The small cars were easy to deal with, packed tightly together. The RV just needed to touch a few of them, and since they were all stuck together, it saved her a lot of trouble. But the ten trucks needed to be driven over and parked close to the small cars to establish a connection with the RV, so she had to get out and drive those trucks.
Qin Ke, seeing Chen Wan had stopped the RV, unbuckled her seatbelt and walked over to Chen Wan, asking, “Is there a problem?”
“There’s a bit of an issue. Upgrading the RV requires establishing a connection with the other upgrade materials. The 100 small cars are easy; the RV just needs to touch them. But the ten trucks need to be driven over and parked close to the small cars,” Chen Wan explained. Meanwhile, the nearby zombies were all heading towards the RV.
“Then I’ll help you drive the trucks. I practiced with these things in the special forces,” Qin Ke offered, knowing that two people working together would be faster than Chen Wan alone.
Chen Wan looked at Qin Ke, still worried about her health. “Are you sure you’re up for it?”
“Don’t worry, I’m feeling much better today. We can finish faster if we work together,” Qin Ke nodded.
“Alright, but we need to clear out the nearby zombies first. If we’re dealing with one or two while driving, it’s manageable, but a large group would be problematic,” Chen Wan said after some thought.
“That’s true,” Qin Ke agreed, nodding. She wasn’t the same Qin Ke who once sought death, and she had promised to watch Yang Yang grow up, so she couldn’t let herself be bitten by zombies so easily.
“Sit tight, I’ll take care of the nearby zombies first.” Chen Wan instructed Qin Ke to sit in the passenger seat beside her. Only then did she press the horn. The area around the service station was surrounded by barren hills and highways, so the horn would only attract the zombies nearby, which shouldn’t be too many. Without much thought, Chen Wan pressed the horn.
Moments later, all the zombies capable of moving began to gather around the RV. Due to the low intelligence of the primary zombies, some were trapped in cars and could only smash their heads through the windows to crawl out. A number of zombies also emerged from the small building in the service area, converging in their direction.
Chen Wan had the system estimate the number, and densely packed, about six to seven hundred zombies swarmed over. Once the zombies had almost surrounded the RV, Chen Wan floored the gas pedal. The sound of “bang, bang, bang” collisions was incessant. Zombies were either knocked flying or crushed directly under the RV. In no time, the area around the RV was covered in dark bloodstains and scattered zombie limbs.
Chen Wan and Qin Ke remained calm. Both had previous careers related to the military and had carried out various missions, so their mental fortitude was beyond that of ordinary people. Moreover, Chen Wan was used to this; it wasn’t her first time doing it, so she was already accustomed to it. What expression could she possibly have? Qin Ke was the same; having been in hellish places, there was nothing left that could scare her.
Yang Yang buried her little head in Mom’s arms, her small hands clutching Mom’s clothes with some worry. Although Mom didn’t let her look, she knew there were many monsters outside, and she was a bit scared.
Jiang Yanxin sensed Yang Yang’s unease in her arms. Holding Yang Yang with one hand, she gently patted Yang Yang’s back to comfort her. She was actually worried herself; every time they left the RV, it was a risk, and this time was no exception.
Meanwhile, the system in Chen Wan’s mind chimed again: “Congratulations to the host for obtaining 710 level 1 zombie crystal cores, bringing the total to 3882.”
Hearing the system, Chen Wan had a rough idea. With a thought, two pistols and some bullets appeared in her hand. She handed one to Qin Ke, along with some bullets, advising, “It’s more reassuring to have a gun. You never know if something unexpected might happen.”
Qin Ke nodded, stored the bullets, and checked the gun to ensure it was functioning properly.
Chen Wan also readied her gun. The reason they didn’t take rifles or similar weapons was mainly due to inconvenience. They just needed to drive the service area’s truck to align with the cars and didn’t plan to do anything else. Therefore, carrying some weapons for self-defense and quick resolution was the best choice.
Chen Wan and Qin Ke didn’t delay any longer. Besides the pistols, each took a machete for self-defense. Before leaving, Chen Wan went to Jiang Yanxin’s side, kissed Yang Yang’s little face, and coaxed her, “Be good and stay with Mom for a while. Mommy will be back soon to play with you, okay?” Yang Yang nodded her little head, looking at Chen Wan with some reluctance, her small hand holding onto Chen Wan’s hand that wasn’t holding the machete.
Chen Wan looked at Yang Yang’s small hand, feeling a warmth in her heart, and gently coaxed Yang Yang, “Don’t worry, Mommy is so strong, nothing will happen.”
“Mommy, hug~” Yang Yang reached out her small hands, wanting Mommy to hug her again.
Chen Wan immediately put the machete down on the ground beside her, picked up Yang Yang, and gave her a gentle squeeze, softly coaxing, “My little darling is so good. Mommy is going to do something very important. Once it’s done, our RV will be even safer, and those bad things won’t scare my baby anymore, okay?”
Yang Yang buried her little head in Chen Wan’s arms, rubbing against her, obediently responding, “Okay~” “So good, go play, I’ll be back soon to be with you.” Chen Wan gently coaxed, preparing to hand Yang Yang over to Jiang Yanxin.
Yang Yang then reached out her small hand towards Qin Ke, “I want Auntie to hug too~” Qin Ke didn’t expect Yang Yang to think of her, quickly putting down the machete and taking the little one into her arms.
Yang Yang shyly rubbed against Qin Ke’s embrace, her big eyes shining brightly as she looked at Qin Ke. Auntie had made her hair look pretty, and she liked Auntie too.
Qin Ke bounced Yang Yang in her arms, pinching Yang Yang’s small hand to coax her.
Chen Wan was watching Yang Yang act spoiled with Qin Ke when she suddenly heard Jiang Yanxin’s voice.
“You’re only coaxing Yang Yang? What about me?” Chen Wan looked up and met Jiang Yanxin’s eyes. She pursed her lips, unsure how to coax Jiang Yanxin.
Seeing her hesitant expression, Jiang Yanxin chuckled softly, then took two steps to stand in front of Chen Wan, wrapping her arms around Chen Wan’s waist and leaning into her embrace.
Chen Wan’s body stiffened, clearly not expecting Jiang Yanxin to hug her directly. However, having gained some experience over the past few days, Chen Wan quickly relaxed her shoulders, allowing Jiang Yanxin to lean more comfortably, softly saying, “Be good and wait for me to come back. Don’t worry, nothing will happen.”
Jiang Yanxin leaned in Chen Wan’s arms for a while, forcing herself to get up. Over the past few days, she had been spoiled by Chen Wan, accustomed to this warm embrace. If she stayed a little longer, she wouldn’t want Chen Wan to leave.
She just wanted to act spoiled with Chen Wan, not delay their task, so she looked at Chen Wan with bright eyes, reminding her, “Be very careful. I’ve gotten used to sleeping in your arms these days, so don’t get hurt.”
“Don’t worry,” Chen Wan replied softly. When she looked at Qin Ke and Yang Yang again, she saw Qin Ke holding Yang Yang, already far away from them.
Yang Yang was in Qin Ke’s arms, her big eyes watching Mom and Mommy. When she saw Mommy looking at her, Yang Yang waved her small hand at Mommy.
Chen Wan’s ears turned slightly red, as if Yang Yang had caught them doing something they shouldn’t. She gently patted Jiang Yanxin’s back to remind her, “Yang Yang is watching.”
“Let her watch, Yang Yang doesn’t understand. Besides, can’t I hug my own wife?” Jiang Yanxin said, reluctantly getting up from Chen Wan’s embrace.
Chen Wan chuckled softly, saying, “Of course you can hug. Alright, I’ll be back soon, and then you can hug as much as you want.”
“You said it yourself,” Jiang Yanxin murmured, then became serious, “I won’t get in your way this time when you go down to drive. When you have time, remember to teach me how to use a gun. That way, if something happens again, I can help you.”
“Okay, I’ll teach you when I get back. We’re leaving now.” Chen Wan exchanged a few more words with Jiang Yanxin before she and Qin Ke got off the RV.
