Chapter 109: No Worries About Pregnancy
This time, Mask had nothing to transfer. The blood crystals collected from the Voodoo Cult were already in the safehouse, so the settlement screen was skipped.
A total of about six blood crystals.
So, she’d only collected about five from the Voodoo Cult members.
It seemed even Voodoo Cult squads weren’t particularly wealthy.
Back in her body, Lin Jiayao transferred the five blood crystals to the warehouse, then used the extra crystals to purchase two Blood Crystal Combat Stimulants, exactly using up the remainder.
She put the two stimulants in the safehouse and opened her eyes.
Only about forty minutes had passed since she logged into Mask, but the sky outside was already turning a dusky orange; nightfall was approaching.
“Sister.”
“What is it?” Lin Xiwan, steering with her left hand, reached out and took her sister’s left hand.
She thought her sister was nervous.
After all, every night drive seemed to bring trouble; their luck was terrible.
But this time, it had been relatively uneventful. Besides encountering that camp’s advance team earlier, they hadn’t seen any other humans or zombies.
Surprisingly safe.
“Can we get through… before dark?” Lin Jiayao asked casually, tracing patterns on her sister’s palm with her finger, looking at the orange sky.
“Probably…?” Lin Xiwan wasn’t familiar with Wuchuan City, but highways generally avoided densely populated areas.
They would likely only pass through the outskirts or some industrial zones, not the city center.
“There’s the exit.” Seeing the highway exit ahead, she breathed a sigh of relief.
The roads had been clear, and they’d reached it faster than expected.
The barrier at the toll station had been smashed, the area littered with wrecked cars and weathered bones.
Several lanes were blocked by abandoned vehicles, covered in a thick layer of dust, clearly having been there for a while.
Their modified jeep couldn’t just drive over them.
“Yao, use your ability and check the surroundings,” Lin Xiwan said, squeezing her sister’s hand gently.
The grassland incident had clearly shaken her; she no longer trusted her own eyes.
“Okay.”
Lin Jiayao put aside the thought of checking the evolution options and placed her right hand on the door’s armrest, activating Blood Crystal Vision and Bone Spike Lurker. The red highlights and the terrain map merged in her mind.
Besides the distant red glow of the city, there were no blood crystals within several hundred meters. It was safe.
“No blood crystal entities nearby,” she said, her eyes returning to normal.
“Good, then let’s rest for a few minutes. I’ll refuel… Do you need to use the restroom?” Lin Xiwan asked.
“Yes,” Lin Jiayao nodded.
“How about you, Xiao Yibai?” She looked back at the little girl.
“Restroom?” Huayibai blinked, then shook her head. “No.”
She lifted the hem of her white dress, showing them. “Yibai doesn’t pee-pee.”
“Hey, hey, hey, girls shouldn’t lift their skirts! Didn’t your mother teach you that?” Lin Xiwan quickly leaned over and pushed Huayibai’s hand down.
Huayibai looked at Lin Jiayao, then back at Lin Xiwan, and nodded. “Mommy told me that.”
“Then why did you do it?” Lin Xiwan sighed, slightly exasperated.
“But Mommy said not to do it in front of strangers,” Huayibai pouted slightly. “She didn’t say anything about… familiar people…”
“What kind of mother is that?!” Lin Xiwan rubbed her forehead. “Just sit tight. I’ll refuel the car.”
She turned off the engine, pressed a button on the key fob, and the trunk slowly opened.
“Yao, wait for me, I’ll be quick.” She patted her sister’s head, went to the back of the car, took out a jerrycan, and then walked towards the fuel tank.
No blood crystals nearby, no signs of human activity within 150 meters; Lin Jiayao wasn’t worried.
Blood Crystal Vision was reassuring; she no longer had to fear being ambushed.
While her sister was refueling, Lin Jiayao opened the system interface and looked at the evolution options.
「Please retain your evolution」
「1、【Bone Spike Lurker Lv.4 (Gray): Increased Lurker precision and range to 200m, can simulate terrain within 100m】」
「2、【Bone Hardening Lv.2 (Gray): Moderately increases your bone defense】」
「3、【Severed Form Lv.1 (Gold): Allows you to abandon your human form, shedding your weak flesh, for a new form better suited for controlling zombies. All bone-related abilities are greatly enhanced】」
She quickly dismissed the first two options and focused on the third.
That Severed Form… she’d seen it before, but had chosen the more sensible… Bone Manipulator Lv.2 instead.
Severed Form… just the name brought to mind Mask’s current appearance.
Literally severing her body, abandoning her weak flesh, becoming just a head, like Mask, controlling zombies with bone spikes.
It seemed powerful… but she hesitated for the same reason as before.
What if she couldn’t… reattach her head?
Mask’s control method destroyed the zombies’ bones.
If she detached her own head and spine, and couldn’t put them back…
Would she be stuck as just a head, like Mask?
Powerful, yes… but her sister would never accept that!
Her adorable little sister… reduced to a head… even if her sister somehow accepted it, she wouldn’t be able to… cuddle her at night.
If her sister could cuddle a severed head… then there was something wrong with her.
She decided to ask the system.
“System, is that Severed Form transformation… reversible?”
「Irreversible. Once chosen, the system will modify your body accordingly.」
「The host need not worry about failure. System products are guaranteed to be of the highest quality.」
I wasn’t worried about failure!
Lin Jiayao mentally complained, then looked back at the options.
She remembered Mask’s skull deflecting a sniper bullet, and that Voodoo Cult man’s forehead deflecting a rifle bullet.
The bones of evolved zombies and Awakened were incredibly durable, even able to withstand bullets.
So, to avoid being shot in the head, besides the third option, enhancing her own bone density seemed like the best choice.
And with Blood Crystal Vision, she didn’t need a higher level of Bone Spike Lurker. So, the second option was the most practical.
Carefully, she selected Bone Hardening Lv.2.
She didn’t want her sister to return and find her as a severed head, held aloft by bone spikes.
That would traumatize her.
“Click—”
The sound of the gas cap closing; her sister had finished refueling and was putting the jerrycan back in the trunk.
The trunk was connected to the back seat, now separated by a wall of supplies.
“Thump—” The trunk closed.
The air was thick with the smell of gasoline.
“Click—” Lin Xiwan opened the passenger door, looked at her sister, who had opened her arms expectantly, and lifted her out of the car.
“Xiao Yibai, stay in the car. Don’t wander off,” she said to Huayibai. “Sister will be back soon.”
“Okay!”
Huayibai nodded and sat obediently on the equipment box, her hands on her knees.
She didn’t ask to use the restroom; Lin Xiwan assumed she wasn’t thirsty and didn’t think much of it.
Only Lin Jiayao knew the true meaning of Huayibai’s earlier statement: It had no… such function.
Below the skirt were just… decorative, non-functional imitations of human organs; they looked real, but they didn’t produce waste, didn’t feel pain, and couldn’t… get pregnant.
Seeing Huayibai behaving, Lin Xiwan, carrying Lin Jiayao, looked around and then walked towards the abandoned toll booths.
Even in the apocalypse, they still retained some sense of modesty.
If possible, she preferred some privacy.
Standing on the platform of a toll booth, she peered inside, checking for any corpses or other unpleasant surprises.
Just a dusty, moldy wooden table and some dried bloodstains.
Satisfied, she carried her sister inside. After a while, they returned.
Lin Jiayao’s expression was neutral, but Lin Xiwan seemed… thoughtful.
After placing her sister back in the passenger seat, Lin Xiwan returned to the service area and began moving the abandoned vehicles blocking their path, lifting and tossing them aside.
“Screech—”
“Thump—”
“Rumble—”
The sounds of scraping metal and crashing vehicles echoed. She was in a hurry.
Soon, a single lane was clear.
Wiping the dust from her hands, she got back in the jeep and started the engine.
“Whirr—”
The freshly fueled engine roared to life, and she accelerated towards the highway exit.
Lin Jiayao had Huayibai hand her a rifle and several magazines from the back, held the weapon, activated Blood Crystal Vision, and scanned the surroundings.
As the sky darkened, Lin Xiwan turned on the headlights, carefully navigating around the overturned vehicles, scattered rocks, and debris.
Headlights made them a target, but driving without them was too dangerous.
So far, the road seemed clear, no signs of human or zombie activity.
As they passed some buildings, a few Biters emerged, giving chase, but they were easily outrun.
“Hoo…” Lin Xiwan, seeing a clear stretch of road ahead, relaxed slightly. “It seems Wuchuan City is pretty safe, we should be ab—mmpph—”
Lin Jiayao covered her sister’s mouth.
“Don’t jinx it,” she said calmly.
Whenever her sister mentioned things being safe, something bad usually happened.
It made her wonder if they were cursed.
“Clang—”
A sudden impact on the hood, a metallic clang as if hit by a rock.
“Screech—”
Lin Xiwan quickly tapped the brakes, slowing the jeep. Lin Jiayao activated Blood Crystal Vision, scanning the surroundings, even the sky.
Nothing… no red lights nearby, and the sky above was dark, no aerial threats.
Perhaps a rock kicked up by the tires…? But even then, it should have hit the chassis, not the hood…
“Anything?” Lin Xiwan asked, swerving slightly, trying to avoid any potential obstacles.
“No… no blood crystal entities within three hundred meters.” Lin Jiayao shook her head, her heart pounding.
Not an Awakened? An ordinary human?
Blood Crystal Vision had a major flaw: it couldn’t detect ordinary humans.
“Sister, I can’t see non-blood-crystal entities,” she said, raising her rifle, reminding her sister.
“I know…” Lin Xiwan replied, continuing to swerve, then, “Yao, Yibai, hold on tight!”
She straightened the steering wheel and slammed on the gas.
Ahead was a long, straight stretch of national highway, the road clear, the signs indicating a smooth path to the next highway entrance.
She wouldn’t dodge; she would speed through.
“Vroom—”
The jeep accelerated to 120km/h, its speed still increasing.
The modified engine roared, carrying them swiftly past the buildings on either side.
At this speed, even a skilled sniper would struggle to hit them.
And in a few moments, they would be out of range.
After about twenty seconds, Lin Xiwan slowed down.
Although it was a good car, pushing it too hard would damage the engine.
Even with modifications, the parts weren’t new; they were at least five years old.
Maintaining a steady 120km/h, she asked her sister, “Yao, is anything chasing us?”
Lin Jiayao scanned the surroundings, seeing several red dots inside buildings and by the roadside, then looked back… nothing…
Just as she was about to say they weren’t being followed, she saw a red dot rapidly approaching from above.
And even over the engine’s roar, she heard the buzzing.
Holy shit! A Voodoo Cult flying insect!
“Sister! It’s that flying insect from earlier!” Lin Jiayao shouted, quickly placing the rifle on the dashboard, ready to fire through the roof.
“What?” Lin Xiwan had just asked what was wrong when she heard the buzzing behind them.
She instantly slammed on the gas.
But even at full speed, they were no match for the airborne insect.
“Click—”
Lin Jiayao switched to full auto and fired at the rapidly approaching insect.
“Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang—”
The muzzle flash illuminated the car’s interior, and several bullet holes appeared in the roof.
But the giant insect seemed unaffected, diving towards them.
“It’s coming down!” Lin Jiayao shouted, quickly reloading.
Even her speed, faster than most soldiers, wasn’t enough. The red dot was almost upon them.
“Yibai—!!!”
Just as the giant insect was about to hit them, Lin Jiayao only had time to shout Huayibai’s name and reach out.
“Buzz—”
“Crash—”
The giant insect slammed into the jeep, crushing it like a hydraulic press crushing a lump of butter.
The asphalt beneath them cracked like a spiderweb. Amidst the dust and debris, only a round, blood-red, ladybug-like creature remained, its massive body pressing down on the wreckage.
The jeep had vanished.
“Damn it…” A section of the insect’s exoskeleton opened, and a man climbed out, cursing. “This fucking sucks.”
“Ptoo—”
He spat on the ground and jumped down.
“Always having to run around for support… This is bullshit. Everyone’s waiting, where the hell is that Luo bitch?” He kicked the insect, telling it to move.
“Screech—”
The giant insect clicked its mandibles and, using its spiky legs, slowly stood up, making way.
Just then, a medium-sized Voodoo Cult convoy arrived.
They had been waiting in Southwest Province for the B-rank Awakened to arrive and escort her to Guangdong.
But she was long overdue.
And she had a history of being late, so they were all getting impatient.
Especially the insect pilot.
The later she arrived, the more work for him.
If they couldn’t quickly crush those camps, the more survivors escaped, the more he would have to chase them down, following the Boss’s orders.
Forced overtime.
Just like the car beneath his insect, the fastest camps had already escaped Guangdong.
“Trouble…” The convoy’s headlights illuminated the scene, and the pilot looked at the crushed vehicle beneath the insect.
If he wasn’t mistaken, that car had been flattened, hopefully, there were some blood crystals to salvage.
But looking closely, he frowned.
The car was flattened, but…
Only half-flattened?
Through the shattered windshield, he saw a blood-soaked figure, its hand pushing against the twisted metal of the roof.
The tires and other parts of the vehicle were completely crushed, but the driver and passenger areas had been… protected, even the A-pillars were intact.
An Awakened? No… not just one!
He noticed another girl in the driver’s arms, and on top of that girl, another young woman, seemingly unconscious.
They’re all alive…
“Barong—”
“Buzz—”
As the man shouted in alarm, the beetle beside him spread its spiked wings, creating a gust of wind that cleared the dust and debris.
He rolled out of the way as the beetle took flight, circling the wreckage and landing beside him.
But another figure moved even faster than his insect.
The younger girl, the one who had been in the passenger seat, now on top of the driver, turned, raised her rifle in a perfect supine firing position, and opened fire.
“Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang—”
