The Absolute Favorite in the Apocalyptic Rebirth

After leaving the woods, looking back, they could still see the mutated vines slithering through the undergrowth, densely packed and menacing, as if trying to destroy any invaders.

Such a concentrated attack made her scalp tingle. If it weren't for Lou Dian's speed, relying on herself, she probably wouldn't have been able to escape unscathed.

Lou Ling clung to Lou Dian's shoulder, looking back at the woods over his shoulder. She was once again aware of the danger posed by mutated plants, even more so than what she had witnessed in the forest outside the Capital Base. Back then, they hadn't ventured deep into the forest, and the mutated plants they encountered weren't high-level. There hadn't been a high-level mutated plant commanding so many vines in a collective attack.

Here, the old tree resembled a locust tree. Due to the mutation, its branches and leaves had changed. Its mutation level was very high, even to the point where it could summon surrounding mutated plants to fight. Even Lou Dian's space blades couldn't harm it. If it weren't a tree, restricted by its immobility, it would be even more dangerous.

Therefore, it was now certain that the source of the city's blockade was this mutated old locust tree. It must have mutated at the beginning of the apocalypse. Due to its age, it had evolved to a very high level, even able to emit something similar to mental power, sealing off the entire city, trapping both humans and zombies inside.

The two stood before the woods for a while before returning along the same path.

The sun was setting, painting the city's horizon with a brilliant sunset. The afterglow stretched their shadows long and distorted. Such a bright and warm sunset, cast upon the dilapidated streets, brought a desolate feeling of surviving a catastrophe.

It reminded him of the sunset before his death in his past life, just as brilliant. With what kind of mood had he gone to his death then? It seemed he had thought that if there were a next life, he hoped to meet her again. Even if it were in a war-torn chaotic world, it wouldn't matter. He would do his best to protect her, even if it meant dying again. It wouldn't matter, as long as he could die with her. He had prayed so humbly, hoping she wouldn't die somewhere he didn't know, unable to even see her one last time.

However, after opening his eyes, he faced a peaceful era, and the girl who opened the door had a slightly surprised but calm smiling face. He had found what was lost!

The more than half a year after her death, when he had been like a walking corpse, heartbroken, and then the relief after revenge… all seemed to have become a very distant past, so distant that he could bury it in his memories.

"Lou Dian!"

The sudden raised voice brought him back to his senses. Looking down, he saw the girl, more than a dozen centimeters shorter than him, looking up at him with concern. Her bright eyes were so pure that they were captivating.

"What are you spacing out for?" Lou Ling frowned. "Let's go back and discuss it with Sister-in-law and the others. We'll figure out a way to deal with that old locust tree together. If that doesn't work, we can just burn it down!" Lou Ling gritted her teeth. In these times, who cared about laws against setting fires in forests? Besides, the feeling of being trapped by a mutated plant was too frustrating.

Hearing her words, Lou Dian knew she had misunderstood the reason for his earlier distraction, but he didn't refute her. He reached out and touched her face. Although there were traces of sweat, her skin was like congealed fat, soft and smooth, making him reluctant to let go. She was an ability user, so he didn't have to worry that she would age faster than him, nor did he have to worry about their lifespans being unequal. Dying on the same year, same month, and same day was definitely not a problem! The thought made his heart race and his fingertips tremble.

Lou Ling was still chattering about her encounter with the mutated tree, unaware that the man beside her was on a completely different wavelength, even thinking about some perverted questions that she would find creepy. In short, it was great not having telepathy, at least it wouldn't scare her again when she glimpsed his perverted side.

People's Park was some distance from the supermarket. On their way back, they encountered more zombies and spent some time eliminating them. Passing a gas station in the city, they collected all the stored gasoline into their space. So, by the time they returned to the supermarket, it was already dark.

Qiu Rong and the others had become accustomed to their early departures and late returns. In the first few days, they would worry, but later, seeing them return safely every day, although looking tired, they seemed much better than the other two teams of ability users who also went out, so they stopped worrying needlessly.

Today, when they returned, they didn't need to knock. The iron gate on the first floor of the supermarket was already open. It was still the same teenager, Pei Zhengxiao, who opened the door. After half a month of recuperation, with the guarantee of at least two meals a day, the teenager's mental state had finally recovered, and his expression was no longer numb.

"Brother Lou, Sister Lou, you're back! Come in quickly!" Pei Zhengxiao said happily.

Lou Ling smiled, took a few candies from her pocket and gave them to him, then put a finger to her lips, making a secretive gesture. The boy's eyes curved into crescents as he smiled, clutching the candies tightly.

Lou Ling was indeed easily softhearted towards children younger than herself. Pei Zhengxiao was the youngest in the supermarket. Before the apocalypse, he was still a middle school student. Other children his age, or younger, had either starved to death, been killed, or fed to zombies in the initial stages. Only he had stubbornly survived, not being eliminated.

Upstairs on the second floor, the survivors looked at them with friendlier expressions, at least much friendlier than towards the original ability users in the supermarket. As for the other ability users, seeing the two return safely again today, they had become somewhat accustomed to it. They even estimated their strength, wondering how daring they were to go out with only two people every day, and directly into the hordes of zombies.

The two went directly into the lounge. Qiu Rong and the others were all inside. Gan Jingcheng and Wang Xin had been moved to another lounge, with two people guarding them. Now, apart from Liu Xia, the woman who claimed to be Wang Xin's woman, the other ability users in the supermarket had already accepted Qiu Rong's presence. Qiu Rong didn't need to bother much, and no one automatically tried to save Wang Xin anymore.

After listening to Lou Dian's report, Qiu Rong's eyes lit up.

"As long as we kill that mutated old locust tree, we can leave this city?" Lou Yan said, her eyes sparkling.

Although the others were happy to finally unravel the mystery of the city's blockade, they knew in their hearts that things were not that simple, otherwise Lou Dian wouldn't have returned first.

Lou Shang patted his younger sister's head. Although this girl usually had good combat abilities, she was still an ordinary person. The family let her make a fuss in the base but were reluctant to put her in danger. Therefore, when Lou Shang woke up and found that Lou Yan had personally followed his sister-in-law to save him, he was very shocked. He instinctively felt that it must not have been his father, elder brother, or Yan Ge's idea. Maybe she had come on her own, at most with their mother turning a blind eye.

Qiu Rong pondered with her head down, also feeling that breaking the city-sealing barrier set by the mutated tree was tricky. Being able to seal all the exits of a city, only allowing entry and no exit, suggested that the mutated tree's level had reached a terrifying height, surpassing the current level of human experts and zombies. It was very unwise for them to deal with it with their current abilities.

"Tomorrow, we'll also go and take a look!" Qiu Rong said immediately. "I don't believe we can't deal with a tree that can't run."

The others had no objections and nodded in agreement.

The next morning, after breakfast, Qiu Rong didn't kick the ability users out. Instead, she gathered everyone in the supermarket, including Gan Jingcheng and Wang Xin, who had been locked up, and announced yesterday's discovery.

Sure enough, after hearing the secret reason for the city's blockade, everyone in the supermarket was excited. Who would want to live like a rat in this city full of zombies, hiding in the dark? They yearned for the established survivor bases with perfect management and complete living facilities. Even if they had to do hard labor in the base, they were willing. Especially after hearing Zhao Wen's propaganda about the Northwest Base during this time, it made those ordinary people yearn for it even more. Even if they were ordinary people, as long as they were willing to work with their hands and feet, or even had a special skill, they could find a way to survive, instead of having their lives controlled by these ability users here.

Qiu Rong glanced around, satisfied with everyone's reaction. Even the ability users showed joy, feeling that after this period of nurturing and training them, it was time to reap the results.

Then, Qiu Rong announced the following plan. She would take thirty people to People's Park to deal with the mutated tree. Success was the only option; failure was not.

The ability users present only hesitated for a moment before deciding to go.

Only Liu Xia was still unwilling, frequently looking at Wang Xin. She was a space ability user, currently only second-tier, not a high level. Moreover, as everyone knew, space ability users were too weak in the early stages. Apart from having a convenient space to store things, their combat ability was not strong. It could be said that they were the key protection targets in a team. Of course, if a space ability user reached the fourth tier and learned skills like space blades and space teleportation, they would become powerful, not inferior to the highly offensive fire and lightning ability users.

Liu Xia had her own plans. She wanted to take advantage of Qiu Rong and the others going out to rescue Wang Xin and help him regain control of the supermarket. She would still be the woman by Wang Xin's side, enjoying supreme treatment.

However, Liu Xia wasn't very bright, blinded by her previous sense of superiority. The others weren't idiots and didn't think about holding back at this time. Even Wang Xin was somewhat disheartened now. After being dealt with during this period, he understood that it was impossible for him to regain control of this supermarket. Moreover, hearing that they could leave this city, Wang Xin was naturally extremely happy and very cooperative with Qiu Rong's orders. In addition, he was a lightning ability user. Although Qiu Rong loathed his previous methods of harming his own kind, she wouldn't dispose of him at this time.

Therefore, whether ability users or ordinary people, the supermarket reached an unprecedented level of unity. Even if they had their own little thoughts, faced with the temptation of leaving, they temporarily suppressed them.

Because of this, Wang Xin was finally untied. After eating something, he quickly recovered his previous state.

Qiu Rong selected thirty people. Among these thirty, six of their own people were brought along, all offensive ability users. Lou Yan, Lou Shang, and others were left behind. If anything happened—for example, if the ability users left in the supermarket became disobedient—Lou Shang would be able to handle it. The rest were ability users from the base, also mostly offensive ability users. However, Liu Xia was specifically named by Qiu Rong to go.

Liu Xia lowered her eyes, concealing the hatred in them, and at the same time, she was somewhat apprehensive, feeling that Qiu Rong wanted to eliminate her during this mission. Otherwise, what was the point of bringing her, a space ability user, along?

"We can collect some supplies on the way. Then, after we leave, we won't need to collect them again. The zombies outside are not easy to deal with," Zhao Wen said casually.

Liu Xia's eyes widened, and her teeth gritted. She thought hatefully, If these people hadn't used their food to feed that group of useless people, would the food have been consumed so quickly?

Zhao Wen walked past with a smile. She didn't need to look to know what this girl was thinking. She scoffed at her mentality of ability users being superior. Moreover, saying that they were collecting supplies was just an excuse. She didn't want her to stay in the supermarket. If they needed to collect supplies, Lou Dian had already collected almost everything and didn't need her help at all. The food originally left in the supermarket had long been eaten. What they were eating now was all collected by Lou Dian in this city. Many people knew this, but only Liu Xia stubbornly refused to believe it.

After packing up, Qiu Rong led everyone to People's Park.

After leaving the supermarket, their group of thirty naturally attracted the attention of the zombies, who pounced on them like wolves and tigers.

During the past half-month, with Lou Dian and Lou Ling hunting zombies in the city, the number of zombies had decreased, but the number was still considerable. Of course, during this half-month, Qiu Rong's training of these ability users had also yielded results. Now, their first reaction when facing zombies was not to run away, but to directly confront and kill them.

After a wave of zombies was killed, the ability users were somewhat in disbelief. They hadn't expected to be able to persevere and kill all the zombies instead of running away. After the joy, these people were busy digging for crystal nuclei.

Qiu Rong didn't stop them. Crystal nuclei were very useful, whether for cultivation or as currency in the base, they were very important. This small matter was allowed.

After they dug out the crystal nuclei, Qiu Rong ordered them to continue.

The supermarket was some distance from the park, and not everyone was a speed-type ability user, so they found a bus on the road, filled it with some gasoline, and drove directly to People's Park.

Author's Notes:

Today's goals:

Lou Ling's goal: Roar! Deal with the mutated tree!

Lou Dian's goal: To die on the same year, same month, same day, and same hour!

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