Chapter 69: Where Does the Road Lead?
Passing through the dense crowd, Lin Jiayao led Huayibai out of the plaza.
Since Survivor’s Light was going to broadcast a warning to stay away from Donghai City, her sister would definitely hear it on the car radio and change their plans.
If her sister wasn’t coming here, there was no need for Lin Jiayao to waste any more effort on Survivor’s Light.
She could even try to find a way to disguise herself as an Awakened—after all, besides Survivor’s Light, no other place had the equipment to distinguish between zombies and Awakened.
The difference between an Awakened and an Infected was their reaction to blood crystals.
If the body rejected the blood crystals and the blood containing them, it meant the person was immune and an ordinary human.
If the blood crystals fused with the body and blood, but the person entered brain death, their body mutating and losing human consciousness, their blood now containing a virus that could infect others, this was an Infected, also known as a zombie.
If the blood crystals fused with the body and blood, enhancing it without affecting consciousness, this in-between state was an Awakened.
So, both Awakened and zombies had blood crystals in their blood; the difference was the presence of the virus.
Survivor’s Light’s infection detectors worked on this principle. The small needles in the wristband pierced the skin and analyzed the blood.
No blood crystals meant ordinary human; blood crystals meant Awakened; blood crystals and the virus meant zombie.
Awakened and zombies, due to the blood crystals, had a natural attraction to each other.
The closer they were, the stronger the attraction, especially between higher-level Awakened and higher-level zombies.
Just like blood crystals fusing together to form a blood crystal stone.
Was the total amount of blood crystals on Earth fixed? Would this mean fewer and fewer, but increasingly powerful, zombies, until only one remained, having consumed all the blood crystals, achieving ultimate evolution?
Lin Jiayao had considered this possibility before, but it was just speculation; she had no proof.
Now, she just needed to find a way to have blood crystals flow through her own blood, to become an Awakened in her sister’s eyes, so she could openly use her abilities.
What abilities, you ask?
A magic pocket, perhaps.
A bottomless pocket from which she could pull out food, water, guns, blood crystals, anything.
As long as she didn’t reveal any zombie-related abilities, her sister would believe her.
Then, she could just be a walking supply depot and sharpshooter.
Thinking this, Lin Jiayao felt that surviving the apocalypse wasn’t so difficult after all.
Although she and her sister wouldn’t be going to Survivor’s Light, there was still one problem to solve here.
Huayibai.
It was a relatively high-level fungal zombie; Lin Jiayao could see the spores surrounding it like a shield.
As long as Huayibai remained in Survivor’s Light, they would never be able to solve the fungal zombie problem.
“Yibai, when I’m ‘away,’ can you still sense where I am?” Lin Jiayao asked.
“When Mommy is away?” Huayibai thought for a moment and nodded. “I can vaguely sense a direction, but it’s blurry; I can’t be certain.”
It could sense her location?
Lin Jiayao had a bad feeling about this.
“Then, can other fungal zombies at your level also sense my presence?” she asked.
“Yes,” Huayibai nodded. “I went to the government building to find you after sensing your presence. They’ll probably all come looking for you too.”
“Hiss…” Lin Jiayao took a sharp breath.
Not only Huayibai, but all other evolved Blood Orb Fungus zombies would also come looking for her?
This wasn’t good.
What if her sister’s body couldn’t resist the spores? If a fungal zombie got close and infected her, it would be a disaster.
“If I told you to come to me, how long would it take?” she asked.
“About twenty days?” Huayibai said after a moment of thought. “Yibai walks slowly.”
Twenty days of non-stop travel to reach her?
That was good news.
At least she had enough time to find a solution.
But she needed a failsafe.
“Can you come to me and… intercept any other spores heading my way?” Lin Jiayao asked. “Can you stop them?”
Huayibai seemed to ignore the rest of her question.
It ran to her, its small fists clenched against its chest, its eyes wide. “Mommy, are you serious? Can I really come find you?”
“Yes… you can come. But once you’re within a kilometer of me, you must control yourself and not spread any spores, understand? You must control it, or you can’t come any closer.”
“Mm-hmm, Yibai understands,” it nodded vigorously.
“Good.” Lin Jiayao was slightly relieved. “Do you have any other questions?”
Huayibai paused, thought for a moment, then nodded.
“Mommy, the Coca-Cola recipe is written on the bottle. Why can’t other humans make it themselves? Why do they have to search for it and buy it? Are they stupid?”
Lin Jiayao took a deep breath, almost choking.
“I didn’t mean those kinds of questions,” she said, resisting the urge to pinch its cheek. “I meant, do you have any questions about what I just said?”
“Yibai understands everything,” Huayibai nodded and then, seeing Lin Jiayao quicken her pace, it hurried to keep up. “But Yibai still doesn’t understand what a cobra without glasses is called—Mmmppph—”
Lin Jiayao’s hand covered its mouth, and she dragged it silently towards the extraction point.
Reaching the extraction point in the mall’s underground parking lot, she finally released Huayibai.
In the sunlight filtering through the windows, Lin Jiayao noticed Huayibai’s face was slightly flushed.
Looking closer, it was the blood-red tendrils spreading beneath its skin, creating the illusion of a blush.
“What’s wrong?” Lin Jiayao asked, initially thinking she had hurt it.
“Nothing, it’s nothing,” Huayibai said softly, its voice barely a whisper. “It’s just… being carried by Mommy made me so happy.”
“Uh…”
Lin Jiayao was speechless.
Was that… carrying?
She hadn’t been gentle; she couldn’t understand why Huayibai considered being dragged like that… carrying.
Perhaps, in Huayibai’s mind, being dragged was the same as being carried.
The extraction timer started its countdown. Lin Jiayao looked at Huayibai and said, “Come find me.”
Then, her consciousness faded, returning to her body.
“Rumble—”
The drumming of rain against the window, accompanied by thunder and the monster truck’s engine.
But Lin Jiayao didn’t move. She looked at the evolution options.
「Please retain your evolution」
「1、【Symbiotic Link Lv.1 (Blue): The split fungal tendrils can connect to other hosts, absorbing or transmitting small amounts of nutrients】」
「2、【Offensive Mimicry Lv.1 (Purple): Allows the dispersed fungal tendrils to attach to the body’s surface and change color, mimicking the appearance of an ordinary zombie to lure enemies into attacking】」
「3、【Visual Illusion Lv.1 (Purple): Upon contact with eyes, the released spores generate a colorless film, altering the target’s vision. The longer the duration, the stronger the rejection reaction, eventually dissolving and being expelled with tears】」
She had seen the first two before. The third was interesting.
This was the fungus’s ability to make itself invisible, the reason for Huayibai’s confidence.
A form of invisibility. As long as the colorless film on the eyes remained undetected, the invisibility would persist.
The Lv.1 duration wasn’t long, and the rejection reaction would eventually expel the film, but it was still a useful ability for surprise attacks.
Without hesitation, Lin Jiayao chose the third evolution.
As before, a wave of warmth passed through her body, and the evolution was complete, quicker than a sneeze.
Lin Jiayao pulled down the damp hood and looked towards her sister.
“Awake?” Lin Xiwan asked, instantly noticing her sister’s movement.
“Mm.” Lin Jiayao nodded and rubbed her eyes, as if just waking up.
Looking at the car’s center console, her heart sank.
She had been planning to turn on the radio, but she suddenly remembered that this Voodoo Cult vehicle was different…
The speakers were external, and her sister had destroyed them.
How could she casually turn on the radio and let her sister hear Survivor’s Light’s warning about Donghai City?
They didn’t have a high-frequency radio anymore.
How could she tell her sister?
She couldn’t just say she’d been there, could she?
Even though she actually had been.
“Perfect timing. We’ll reach the city soon. We’ll find a place to rest and dry our clothes.”
Lin Xiwan sighed softly.
She’d been searching for a car in the rain since dawn, finally finding one around noon, picking up her sister, and driving until now, her clothes constantly wet.
Although her Awakened physique prevented her from getting sick, the discomfort was real.
She wanted to find a clean, dry place to rest.
And of course, to prevent her sister from catching a chill, she would hold her close, sharing her warmth.
But Lin Xiwan’s plan to search for a suitable building was interrupted by her sister.
“Sis, there’s a clothing store, let’s check it out,” Lin Jiayao said, pointing to a store by the road.
“Clothing stores on the main streets would have been looted long ago. There won’t be anything left,” Lin Xiwan said without turning her head.
Lin Jiayao looked at her sister, puzzled. “But… it’s a women’s clothing store.”
In the apocalypse, besides Awakened, stronger men had a higher survival rate.
With the skewed gender ratio, most women’s clothing stores remained untouched due to lack of demand.
“Oh… a women’s clothing store? I didn’t see that.” Lin Xiwan turned the car around and drove towards the store.
Stopping in front of the store, Lin Xiwan said, “Wait here,” jumped out of the car, smashed the display window with her elbow, and went inside.
Moments later, she returned with a large bag of clothes, still in their plastic packaging.
She stuffed the bag into the limited space behind the driver’s seat and started the engine again.
“Why are there so few zombies in Xin City…? Let’s not go too far in. We’ll find a place nearby.” Looking at the relatively empty streets, she started searching for a residential complex.
And Lin Jiayao kept an eye out for any buildings with strangely bulging metal plating, warning her sister to avoid them.
Lin Xiwan didn’t think much of her sister’s behavior, dismissing it as childish curiosity.
Her sister had rarely left their room, let alone visited a new city. A little excitement was normal.
Soon, they found a mid-range residential complex. After scouting ahead to ensure it was safe, Lin Xiwan carried their belongings and her sister towards a relatively clean apartment.
After changing into dry clothes, she also helped Lin Jiayao change into a clean dress, settled her on the wiped-down sofa, and then began her habitual search of the apartment.
She quickly found something unexpected.
A radio without batteries.
Luckily, she also found a pack of unopened batteries in a cabinet below the table where the radio had been placed.
“Yao, look what I found~”
Lin Xiwan walked towards Lin Jiayao, fiddling with the radio, inserting the batteries and expertly tuning the frequency, almost instinctively landing on Survivor’s Light.
“Huh? Are they broadcasting?”
Hearing voices coming from the radio, Lin Xiwan smiled.
But as she sat down beside her sister and listened, her smile froze.
“Zzz… Please avoid traveling to Donghai City… Survivor’s Light… zzz… has encountered a catastrophic crisis… Please believe that we will overcome this… zzz… We haven’t given up… zzz…”
“Fungal zombies… zzz… please take precautions such as wearing masks…”
Lin Xiwan could barely hear the rest of the broadcast. She turned to her sister, stunned.
Lin Jiayao was also looking at her, seemingly waiting for her to speak.
“Yao…” Looking into her sister’s clear, black eyes, Lin Xiwan couldn’t find the words.
She felt more lost than her sister, her thoughts in turmoil.
The beacon that had guided her had crumbled; her destination was gone.
Where could she take her sister now?
Suddenly, she felt her sister’s warm hand on her head, gently stroking her hair.
“It’s okay, Sister. I’m here.”
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