The Absolute Favorite in the Apocalyptic Rebirth

The sky had just begun to lighten, and the sound of a car engine starting could be heard, then gradually fading away.

Lou Ling rubbed her eyes open and looked out the window. The horizon was showing the first hint of dawn; it was time to get out of bed. She shook her groggy head and was about to get up when a pair of hands reached out, embracing her in a full hug, a heart-stopping warm kiss imprinted on her forehead.

Lou Ling finally woke up, expressionlessly pushing him away, her voice muffled, "The weather is hot, your face is oily, I can't believe you could bring yourself to kiss…" As expected, were all perverts incredibly resilient?

As soon as the words left her mouth, a washbasin appeared in front of her, filled with half a basin of clean water and a clean towel.

She looked up in confusion and saw a pair of long hands reach into the water, wringing the towel dry, then covering her face, washing it for her. After she had cleaned up, the pervert she had just disliked grabbed her, pressed her against the wall, and thoroughly caressed her, it was truly fiery.

It wasn't until she recovered from that suffocating feeling, kicking him a few times, that he reluctantly let her go.

"Of course, I don't dislike you. Does Little Ling dislike older brother?"

In the morning light, the man's gentle eyebrows and eyes resembled a meticulously drawn color manga, adding a touch of indescribable charm, making it more difficult to look away the more one looked. However, the gentler he was, the more vigilant her heart became. She couldn't help but shudder. He even used the words "older brother," clearly indicating that his brainwaves were acting up again. She hurriedly said, "Of course, I don't dislike you!"

Seeing him let go with a smile, Lou Ling quickly jumped to the side, packing her backpack, too lazy to pay him any more attention.

By the time they finished packing and came out, the others had also gathered in the living room, their luggage sorted. Grandpa Mo was preparing breakfast in the kitchen, Chen Kaiwei and two other men were helping, and the two children sat on the sofa, yawning and dozing off obediently. Then, Lin BaoBao, as if leading a pet, pulled Tan Mo out. Upon closer inspection, one could see that she was pinching the pressure point on Tan Mo's wrist.

Lou Ling walked over and greeted them with a smile, "Good morning, BaoBao, Tan Mo."

Tan Mo's expression was dazed, his gaze struggling to tear away from the kitchen. He looked at Lou Ling, momentarily stunned, before saying, "Sister Ling, good morning."

After exchanging greetings, Yan Ge walked over, his attire neat and tidy, glancing at the two girls, smiling like a young master on his way to a pleasure house. He then said, "Those people who promised to keep watch last night and assured us a peaceful stay have all left."

Upon hearing this, everyone recalled the sound of the car engine they had heard earlier. Those people must have taken advantage of the early dawn to slip away.

Lin BaoBao winked at Lou Ling and said, "LingLing's mutant vine is amazing! Not only can it keep watch, but it can also scare people away."

Lou Ling was about to boast about herself when Yi Zheng's voice rang out from behind, "Oh my, Little Sister Lou is truly remarkable! If I were a man, I would definitely marry Little Sister Lou home, capable and beautiful…" Endless compliments flowed from her mouth, her charming voice sounding rather peculiar.

Lou Ling's face twitched. Noticing that the others had already slipped away with stifled laughter, the man beside her, taking advantage of his height, first looked down at her, then at Yi Zheng, who resembled a cunning fox whether she spoke or not, and then led her away, clearly treating Yi Zheng as someone to be wary of.

Unfortunately, Yi Zheng was truly an oblivious person. After watching Lou Ling harvest the mature mutant vine seeds in the courtyard, she also strolled over, completely oblivious to Lou Dian's darkened expression. Had she known that Lou Ling would definitely object to him throwing this clueless woman out, he would have already taken action.

After watching Lou Ling collect the seeds, Yi Zheng was still somewhat unsatisfied. When she turned around and saw the man standing by the door, arms crossed, his dark expression no longer concealed, she couldn't help but ask, "Handsome, what's wrong? Did something bad happen? Come, come, tell big sis, I'll help you sort it out~"

"…"

Lou Ling was dying of laughter inwardly. However, for Yi Zheng's safety, she quickly hopped over, pushing him into the house, and said to Yi Zheng, "Sister Yi, he's fine. But your injury hasn't fully healed yet. Come in and have breakfast; we'll be leaving soon."

Yi Zheng responded with a hum, touched the back of her head, feeling that the handsome man's expression was truly unpleasant. Unable to figure out the reason, she shrugged her shoulders and went back inside.

After breakfast and packing up, they set off again.

With the village bully, Boss Jin, having secretly fled, the village seemed much calmer. The others didn't care whether Boss Jin was there or not, packing their belongings and going their separate ways.

Facing the morning light, the convoy continued their journey.

For the next few days, everything was peaceful, but the road became even more difficult to navigate. It wasn't because of zombies, mutant plants, or mutant beasts, but because the previous heavy rain had caused further damage. The winter snowstorm had already wreaked havoc on the roads, and now with the heavy rain, many hills had collapsed, burying the roads. They had no choice but to store the vehicles in their spatial abilities and proceed on foot, climbing over mountains.

They were still considered lucky. Although no one could predict the extent of Lou Dian's strength, his presence provided a sense of security. Coupled with Tan Mo's zombie-repelling ability, they encountered fewer zombies and zombie beasts along the way. Otherwise, just the attacks from the flocks of zombie crows in the sky would have been enough to doom them.

That day, the convoy arrived at a bend in the mountain road and had to stop again.

"Landslide, the road is blocked. Get out and climb," Lou Zhan instructed.

Everyone got out and looked ahead, seeing the winding mountain road, the mud and soil sliding down, burying the entire path. It was indeed impassable; they could only climb.

Seeing this, Ah Xin came over and stored one of the vehicles, while Lou Dian directly stored the other three.

Initially, everyone was surprised that Lou Dian could store three vehicles at once. However, after witnessing his overwhelming combat power time and time again, it seemed only natural. It was a subtle shift in perception. Lou Dian never concealed his strength, his absolute power leaving no room for resistance. Whatever he did, it was considered reasonable.

However, despite Lou Dian being the strongest, the group still subconsciously followed Lou Zhan's arrangements. Lou Zhan was still the leader of the team. Compared to Lou Zhan's composure and ability to give clear instructions, Lou Dian, apart from Lou Ling, couldn't be bothered with anyone else. He was unbelievably willful and acted on his whims, completely unfit for the responsibility of a leader.

Therefore, everyone in the team had their roles and cooperated seamlessly. They had no objections to Lou Zhan being the leader.

Yan Ge was also quite satisfied with Lou Dian's concession. Logically speaking, in a team, the strongest should be the leader. However, in his opinion, Lou Zhan, with his strategic thinking and ability to act rationally, was the perfect candidate. Even if Lou Dian was individually powerful, without Lou Ling to keep him in check, who knew what crazy things he might do? He might even drag everyone down with him. Such a reckless leader was simply too dangerous.

After storing the vehicles, everyone shouldered their backpacks, which contained only the essentials: their weapons, a bottle of water, some dry rations. Then, they began their ascent.

They climbed for half a day, finally crossing the collapsed section of the mountain road and returning to the main path, continuing their journey.

After another hour of travel, they arrived at the entrance of a tunnel. After the apocalypse, all power had been cut off. Looking ahead, the tunnel entrance was pitch black, like a monstrous mouth waiting to devour any prey that dared to enter. Everyone felt a sense of unease, their scalps tingling.

To their surprise, there were already a dozen vehicles parked in front of the tunnel, neatly arranged in the open space. When those people saw them approaching, they all looked up. Upon noticing the elderly, women, and children among them, they couldn't help but reveal strange expressions. Especially when their gazes fell upon Lou Ling and the other women, some of their eyes held a naked lust, their eyes scanning them up and down as if appraising objects.

In the post-apocalyptic world, the elderly, women, and children were all vulnerable groups, often seen as burdens to be abandoned. Very few teams would still travel with them. Even if they did have women, apart from capable female ability users, most were merely playthings for men.

Lin BaoBao was the most sensitive to others' gazes. Her expression turned cold, and she glared back at them, her eyes sharp as knives.

Lou Ling also sensed something, but before she could react, Lou Dian had already shielded her behind him, blocking those gazes. However, contrary to expectations, he himself, with his delicate features, dressed in a black shirt and trousers, tall and well-built, also attracted attention. Those men seemed equally interested in this seemingly innocent-looking man.

After the apocalypse, it wasn't just women who could sell their bodies; some handsome men could do the same. The looks in those men's eyes clearly indicated that they saw Lou Dian as such a person.

Yi Zheng was the least bothered. She glanced at those men, then looked away, sauntering over to Grandpa Mo and the others.

After getting out of the car, Yan Ge went over to negotiate with those people. With his silver tongue, he quickly became buddy-buddy with the leader of that group, a man named Liu Xin.

Liu Xin was a muscular man in his thirties, giving off a reliable aura. He was a third-level strength ability user and the leader of this group. However, although Liu Xin possessed great strength, he was not very articulate. Therefore, the one who negotiated with Yan Ge was their deputy leader, a man named Li Shang.

Li Shang was short and somewhat sleazy-looking, his puffy eyes darting around restlessly. Especially when he saw Yi Zheng, his eyes lit up. It wasn't until Yi Zheng walked away, shielded by the other male ability users, that he reluctantly retracted his gaze.

"Are you guys also heading to the Light Base?" Li Shang asked. "We're going there too. We heard that the conditions at the Light Base are very good, so many survivors are heading there. But unfortunately, to get to the Light Base from here, we have to go through this tunnel. It's just that we've heard that there's something terrifying inside. Many people have entered, but none have come out alive. If we were to take a detour, it would take a lot of time. We'd have to turn back and go around another province. Who knows if there will be more blocked roads?"

Yan Ge smiled and said, "So that's how it is. Since it's so dangerous, what are you going to do?"

Li Shang sighed heavily. "What else can we do? We'll have to assess the situation first. Brother, I see that you have quite a few people. Why don't we cooperate?" As he spoke, his gaze swept over the three women in the group, a hint of eagerness flashing in his eyes.

Yan Ge naturally understood that he wanted to use them. He sneered inwardly. If they wanted them to do the heavy lifting, they would have to see if they were capable enough.

Author's Note: Today's goals:

Lou Ling's goal: Pass through the tunnel!

Lou Dian's goal: Keep his little sister hidden!

Everyone else's goal: Be background characters~

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