Chapter 108: Kamen Rider p1
The engine’s roar drowned out Huayibai’s muttering; even Lin Xiwan only heard snippets.
She had wanted to ask Huayibai what it was saying, to change the subject.
But remembering the little girl’s… unusual pronouncements, she decided against it.
To avoid further awkwardness.
So, to assert her seniority and experience as an Awakened, she asked her sister about her new ability.
After her personal coaching in the camp, her sister should have a better understanding of how it worked.
Lin Jiayao explained the details of her healing ability.
Hearing that her sister’s secondary ability was such a powerful survival tool, Lin Xiwan was relieved.
Her sister’s survivability had increased; this was good.
And if she was ever injured in battle, her sister could heal her, no need for disgusting blood and flesh consumption, just a simple exchange of saliva.
They were sisters, sharing everything; Lin Xiwan certainly wouldn’t be disgusted by her sister’s saliva.
But the ability’s side effects concerned her.
She had to prevent her sister from coming into direct contact with other Awakened, even ordinary humans.
Even she had felt a strange pull towards her sister; other Awakened, less restrained, might… well, bite her.
Her sister’s naturally cold demeanor, her beautiful face and slender body, and now this alluring ability…
Lin Xiwan doubted anyone could resist her, even if she wasn’t actively trying to tempt them.
I have to become stronger… much stronger… to protect her in this world…
She tightened her grip on the steering wheel.
“The sun is setting,” she said to her sister. “We’ll drive through the night, and if we’re lucky, we’ll reach Kun City by tomorrow afternoon.”
Glancing at the road signs, she added, “We need to pass through Wuchuan City before nightfall. We’ll be there in about an hour. You can sleep if you’re tired. I’ll wake you up when we reach the city.”
“Okay,” Lin Jiayao nodded.
As a C-rank Awakened, Lin Xiwan had the mental and physical stamina to drive for days without sleep.
Putting distance between them and Guangdong Province, and Chongyu City, was their priority.
But passing through Wuchuan City at night was still risky.
She would wake her sister before they reached the city.
Zombies were more active at dusk, easily drawn by the sound of the engine; they needed her sister’s ability to navigate the more densely populated areas.
An experienced driver could easily find detours, but they weren’t experienced drivers, and they didn’t have GPS; their safest bet was to stick to the highway.
The Guangkun Highway led directly to Kun City; following this road was their best option.
“I’m going to take a nap then,” Lin Jiayao said, asking Huayibai for a bottle of water, taking a few sips, and then handing it back.
Having the helpful Huayibai around was convenient; she didn’t have to trouble her sister with such things.
What Lin Jiayao didn’t see was Huayibai carefully opening the bottle after she closed her eyes, licking the cap and the rim, then screwing the cap back on with a satisfied smile.
Neither sister noticed Huayibai’s little… “snack.”
Lin Jiayao was considering which zombie to log into.
Goldie was out; every login with Goldie had been time-consuming and dangerous, often involving intense battles.
And Goldie was slow; if speed was a factor, then the fifth zombie was also out.
She wanted to keep the sixth slot as a reserve, in case she logged in and couldn’t extract within an hour.
The second zombie, the Building-Tree Guardian, was in Kun City; she could use it in emergencies.
And she didn’t want to use the fourth zombie yet.
After the Voodoo Cult team’s annihilation in Fuzhou City, the Voodoo Cult would likely send a sweep team there.
Having the fourth zombie on autopilot was safer.
That left only Mask.
Mask was agile, fast, well-defended, with unique abilities. It should be able to extract within an hour, as long as the extraction point wasn’t too far.
And after building the [Zombie Loot Box], she was low on blood crystals, and Mask, surrounded by controlled zombies, could easily acquire more.
Having made her decision, Lin Jiayao didn’t hesitate. She logged into Mask.
Lin Jiayao’s consciousness sank into darkness.
In a parking lot in Xin City, a head-spider, perched atop an Armored zombie, slowly opened its eyes.
Immediately, she felt a surge of power in her bone spikes.
Before her last extraction, she had just evaded a group of human snipers, leading a horde of controlled zombies across a bridge and into this parking lot.
This feeling of power… it came from the zombies impaled on her bone spikes.
Having not logged into Mask for a while, she was momentarily disoriented by its current form and method of locomotion.
“Crack, crack—”
She detached from the Armored zombie, withdrawing the bone spikes controlling the other zombies.
Instantly, the surrounding zombies, including the Armored one, collapsed, their bones shattered, blood crystals oozing from their bodies.
This was how Mask’s control differed from that of other zombies.
Mask’s bone spikes pierced directly into the spine and bones, instantly fatal.
Even if a zombie somehow survived the initial impalement, withdrawing the spikes was a death sentence.
This also meant she couldn’t use her bone spikes to control her own legs.
“Click, click, click—”
Lin Jiayao moved through the corpses on her six thick bone legs, the thinner tendrils around her collecting the scattered blood crystals and transferring them directly to the safehouse.
After collecting everything, including the blood crystal from the Armored zombie, she only had a little over 100g.
So poor…
But she couldn’t complain; she’d been completely broke after building the Zombie Loot Box.
This was a welcome, if meager, replenishment.
She then looked towards the extraction point.
「Extraction Time 1:57:11」
【Extraction Point: 10km】
Ten kilometers?
A short distance for Mask. And if she could control a Sprinter or a Hunter, it would be even faster.
She had only intended to grab some quick blood crystals, not explore, so she crawled out of the parking lot, her body covered in dried zombie blood, and headed towards the extraction point.
But as she reached the road, the roar of an engine, approaching from behind, entered the range of her Bone Spike Lurker.
She looked back and sensed more and more vehicles approaching, crossing the bridge.
What’s going on? Another camp? Coming for me?
“Rat-tat-tat-tat—”
Even without Bone Spike Lurker, she could hear the gunfire.
Not targeting her, a battle.
Trouble…
Several of her thinner bone spikes extended upwards, gripping the second-floor window of a nearby building – Mask was three meters tall; reaching a second-floor window wasn’t a problem.
She pulled herself into the building, hiding in the darkness, and observed the scene below.
Lin Jiayao was on a tight schedule. Whatever was happening, she wasn’t interested in getting involved. She would wait for them to leave before heading to the extraction point.
Just… please don’t fight right in front of the building… I don’t want to get splattered with blood…
Seconds later, the first vehicle entered her 50-meter detection range. A mental image of the vehicle and its occupants formed in her mind.
Unfamiliar faces.
And it wasn’t a Voodoo Cult vehicle.
I’ll just wait for them to pass.
Lin Jiayao moved closer to the window, her three-meter-tall body barely fitting in the small space.
She listened with Bone Spike Lurker.
The second and third vehicles also entered her range; the first was almost out of range now.
“Bang, bang—”
Just as the fourth vehicle entered her range, before its image could even form in her mind, two gunshots, and its rear tires exploded.
“Sizzle—”
“Crash—”
The vehicle, losing control at high speed, swerved and then, hitting the sidewalk, flipped over.
The second and third vehicles immediately stopped, and she heard voices from the second.
“Brother… Let me out, you guys go ahead, my sister’s car just flipped…”
“Zzz… fucking hell… I can’t believe this…”
Curses from the first vehicle, but it quickly made a U-turn, screeched to a halt beside the overturned vehicle, and then, the second and third vehicles also turned, the three jeeps now blocking most of the four-lane road.
About twenty people emerged, each jeep having carried several passengers in the back.
Armed with various rifles and shotguns, they quickly took positions behind the jeeps, covering their teammates who were rescuing the injured from the overturned vehicle.
From the first jeep, a man wearing pink sunglasses, carrying a rifle, emerged. He was wearing only a pair of shorts, his upper body bare, clearly having been in a hurry.
“Rat-tat-tat-tat—”
“Bang, bang, bang, bang—”
“Thump—Thump—”
Intense gunfire echoed through the twilight streets, attracting zombies.
Oh, for fuck’s sake…
Lin Jiayao’s Bone Spike Lurker simulated the scene below, and she felt a headache coming on.
Of all the times for a firefight to break out… right below her…
Her eyeless face turned, searching.
She was on the second floor of a commercial building. Perhaps there was a back exit.
Buildings like this usually had back exits.
I’ll just slip out the back…
“Vroom—”
Suddenly, a fifth vehicle, on fire, sped towards the three jeeps, entering her 50-meter range, its details now clear.
A burning monster truck, a cheering, crazed driver, the vehicle showing no signs of slowing down, and a hand holding a primed grenade out the passenger window.
The Voodoo Cult.
“Retreat—Retreat—Shit!!!”
“Boom—”
The flaming monster truck, like a suicide bomber, smashed through the jeeps’ makeshift barricade and exploded.
“Clang—”
The force of the explosion sent a bumper flying, hitting the window beside Lin Jiayao, shattering it.
And following the first vehicle, the rest of the Voodoo Cult convoy, about seven vehicles judging by the sound of their engines, arrived.
They hadn’t entered her 50-meter range yet, but she could hear them approaching.
A small Voodoo Cult convoy.
The Voodoo Cult’s B-rank Awakened was already dead, which meant there were no B-ranks, or higher, among these newcomers.
The convoy’s leader would be a C-rank, at most.
I could try… a quick sweep.
She wasn’t the same as before, forced to run at the sight of the Voodoo Cult.
She was now their enemy. Any opportunity to weaken them…
She wouldn’t let it pass.
And inflicting casualties on the Voodoo Cult in Guangdong would divert their attention from her and her sister.
A convenient distraction.
The situation below, with the arrival and self-destruction of the Voodoo Cult’s vehicle, had turned instantly. The desperate, drug-fueled attack had broken through the makeshift barricade.
But the rest of the Voodoo Cult convoy hadn’t opened fire.
They were throwing Molotov cocktails, blocking the escape route.
A muscular man in a maid outfit jumped out of the vehicle in the center of the convoy.
His 1.9-meter frame and bulging muscles made the black and white maid outfit look ridiculous, but the “V” symbol on the white apron clearly identified his affiliation.
As he got out, the other Voodoo Cult members, armed, followed, surrounding the scattered survivors.
Near the wreckage of the exploded monster truck, the man in his underwear, “Big Brother,” was struggling to stand, clutching his stomach.
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